Recent News

January 3, 2006 Walking Slows Artery Disease CHICAGO—A study in the January 3 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine shows that walking three times a week, even in an unsupervised exercise program, can significantly improve walking ability and slow progression of peripheral artery disease (PAD). PAD often causes leg pain because of impaired blood[…]

December 6, 2005 Feinberg Project, Armstrong Foundation Form PartnershipCHICAGO—The Education in Palliative and End-of-Life Care (EPEC) for Oncology Project, based at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation have formed a national partnership to improve communication between health care professionals and cancer survivors. Linda Emanuel, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and[…]

December 7, 2005 Depression Factors: Poor Health, Poverty, Minority Status CHICAGO—Preliminary results from the STAR-D project, one of the nation’s largest studies of depression, show that chronic depressive episodes are common and associated with poorer physical health, lower quality of life, socioeconomic disadvantage, and minority status. Findings of this study highlight the common occurrence of[…]

December 21, 2005 Poor Fitness Raises Heart Disease RiskCHICAGO—Poor cardiorespiratory fitness affects one of five persons aged 12 to 49 years in the United States, with a disproportionate impact on adolescents, adult females, and non-white minorities. The most striking indication of the health burden of poor fitness in the U.S. population is the strong association[…]

December 7, 2005 Medicare Fraud Settlement Causes Oncologists to Lose Income CHICAGO—Many oncologists will earn 30 to 50 percent less a year as a consequence of a $1.1 billion Medicare fraud settlement with two leading cancer drug manufacturers, according to a study in the December 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The study[…]

December 20, 2005 Contact: Wendy Leopold at 847/491-4890 or atw-leopold@northwestern.edu Audiologist Suggests iPod Users Take PrecautionsEVANSTON, Ill.—Turn ’em down and turn ’em off. That’s the advice of Dean Garstecki, PhD, a Northwestern University audiologist and professor, when it comes to using those ever-present earbuds favored by iPod and MP3 music listeners everywhere. In the 1980s,[…]

December 13, 2005 Astronaut-Physician Continues Research at Northwestern CHICAGO—In May 2004 Northwestern University orthopaedic surgeon Robert L. (Bobby) Satcher, MD, PhD, was one of two physicians selected for NASA’s 2004 astronaut class. The 11-member group began training last summer at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. A specialist in child and adult bone cancer, Dr.[…]

Contact: Megan Fellman at (847) 491-3115 or atfellman@northwestern.edu Protein in Lou Gehrig’s Disease Linked to Neuron Death EVANSTON, Ill.—French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot first described amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 1869, but nearly 140 years later little is known about the cause of the devastating neurodegenerative disease, and there is no cure. What is known about[…]

In Memoriam (Melvyn Bayly Jr.) Melvyn A. Bayly Jr., MD ’71, emeritus associate professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology at the Feinberg School, died October 31 of cancer. He was 60. A faculty member since 1978, Dr. Bayly received emeritus status shortly before he passed away. Dr. Bayly spent his career at his alma mater[…]

November 8, 2005 Researchers Discover New Form of Cancer Gene RegulationCHICAGO—The Quaking gene, first described as a mutation in mice that causes rapid tremor, is thought to suppress tumor formation and protect humans from cancer. Now, a team of researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Wisconsin has shown that the Quaking gene likely[…]

Estrogen Alters Brain ‘Wiring’ EVANSTON, Ill.—Researchers at Northwestern University and Columbia University have found that “wiring” in female rat brain memory area expands and retracts in relation to the amount of estrogen present during the estrous/menstrual cycle. A study describing this research was presented November 14 by Northwestern’s Aryeh Routtenberg, PhD, professor of psychology and[…]

In Memoriam (Stanley Huff) Dermatologist Stanley E. Huff, MD ’44, professor emeritus of dermatology, died October 29 of renal disease in Hospice of the North Shore, Skokie, Illinois. He was 87. Dr. Huff joined the faculty in 1949 and was granted emeritus status in 1987. A long-time private practitioner in Evanston, he routinely volunteered his[…]

November 7, 2005 Contact: Megan Fellman at (847) 491-3115 or atfellman@northwestern.edu ITEC Makes Award to RND PharmaceuticalsEVANSTON, Ill.—The Illinois Technology Enterprise Center (ITEC)–Evanston at Northwestern University has invested $25,000 in RND Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company located in Palatine. RND is dedicated to the discovery, development, and commercialization of proprietary small molecule therapeutics[…]

Alumnus Details American Red Cross Katrina Effort Every day American Red Cross volunteers freely give their time and effort to carrying out the commitment of the nonprofit organization: the alleviation of human suffering. When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in August, the destructive strength of this storm tested the fortitude of victims and relief[…]

Mechanism Found That Promotes Melanoma Spread CHICAGO—Researchers at Northwestern University have discovered a key signaling mechanism that may promote the ability of highly aggressive malignant melanoma cells to metastasize, or spread from a primary tumor to distant sites within the body. Results of their study, published in the November issue of Cancer Research, suggest that[…]

Primrose Oil Component Cuts Levels of Cancer Gene CHICAGO—Gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), a substance in evening primrose oil and several other plant oils used in herbal medicine, inhibits action of Her-2/neu, a cancer gene that is responsible for almost 30 percent of all breast cancers, Northwestern University researchers report. “Breast cancer patients with Her-2/neu-positive tumors have[…]

November 7, 2005 Searle Family Commits $10M to Recruit Biomedical ResearchersCHICAGO—Northwestern University has received a $5 million grant from the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust to support recruitment of outstanding biomedical faculty at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. The Searle family anticipates that this award will be followed by successive grants to[…]

November 21, 2005 Stem Cell Microenvironment Reverses Malignant MelanomaCHICAGO—Northwestern University researchers have demonstrated how the microenvironments of two human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines (federally approved) induced metastatic melanoma cells to revert to a normal, skin cell-like type with the ability to form colonies similar to hESCs. The researchers also showed that these melanoma cells[…]