Recent News

CARDIA Marks 20th Year They say youth is often wasted on the young. Yet, when it comes to reducing coronary heart disease, it is the young who may have the most to gain from following healthy lifestyles starting in their youth, according to findings of the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study.[…]

Free Public Lectures Focus on Ethnicity and Disease Ethnicity distinguishes people in many ways from language to culture. Unfortunately, certain genetic disorders also follow along the same lines and frequently occur among different ethnic populations. Discussing DNA, mutations, and dominant and recessive inheritance, Ira S. Salafsky, MD, assistant professor of clinical pediatrics, will speak on[…]

Questions Raised on Shorter Hospital Stays During the past decade, time spent in-hospital has declined dramatically, even for patients with serious illnesses. This trend raises concern that increasing numbers of patients may be discharged before their conditions are stable, particularly if a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order has been written. A Northwestern University study of Medicare patients[…]

Lupus Discovery May Lead To Improved Drugs In an important development for the treatment of lupus as well as certain cancers, scientists at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University have discovered how autoimmune lupus T cells stave off programmed cell death and drive production of autoantibodies directed against the body’s own DNA. Syamal[…]

Medical Students Meet Their Matches On March 18, “Match Day,” fourth-year Feinberg School of Medicine students learned where they will be going for the next phase of their medical careers. The day marked the culmination of the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) in which graduating medical students are matched with residency positions in the specialties[…]

In Memoriam (Michael Ravitch) Michael M. Ravitch, PhD, associate professor and former director of the Office of Medical Education at the Feinberg School of Medicine, died February 27 in his Evanston, Illinois, home; he was 61. A native of Baltimore, Dr. Ravitch began undergraduate studies at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, wanting to[…]

Longtime Leader of Student Affairs Office to Step Down Compassionate. Understanding. Leader. Friend. Advocate. Words like these pepper conversations about Jack F. Snarr, PhD ’67, associate dean for student programs, who will be stepping down July 1 after 28 years in the position. What students and graduates see as special in Dr. Snarr is simply[…]

Former Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher to Speak on February 25 Members of the Northwestern community are invited to attend presentations by former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, MD, PhD, on February 25, at 1 p.m., in Pritzker Auditorium of Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH), 251 East Huron Street, Chicago, and 7 p.m. in the Coon[…]

Faculty Group Practice’s Cardiology Division Earns Kudos The Division of Cardiology at the Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation (NMFF) was highlighted in the February 2004 issue of Good Housekeeping as the top cardiology program in Illinois. NMFF, the primary full-time faculty group practice of the Feinberg School of Medicine, comprises more than 500 physicians practicing in[…]

Few Disabled Kids Get Mental Health Care A study by a Northwestern University researcher has found that less than half of disabled children with psychosocial problems receive mental health care services. Moreover, the study found differences by age, race/ethnicity, and insurance coverage that suggest inequalities nationwide in access to treatment, underidentification of need, and substantial[…]

NUgene Enrolls 1,000th Participant Traditional banks depend on new deposits to grow and expand—a principle that applies to gene banks too. On January 29 Northwestern’s NUgene project celebrated the enrollment of its 1,000th participant and the recent completion of its pilot year. “Since our project launch in October 2002, NUgene has made significant progress,” says[…]

Amy Paller Named Dermatology Chair Amy S. Paller, MD, a Northwestern faculty member since 1988, has been named chair of the Department of Dermatology at the Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH), effective February 10. In a joint announcement, Lewis Landsberg, MD, Feinberg School dean and vice president for medical affairs, and[…]

February 3, 2004 Soybean Chemical May Treat Prostate Cancer CHICAGO— Genistein is a chemical found in soybeans that blocks development of prostate cancer in laboratory models of the disease. Now, a Feinberg School of Medicine study will determine whether genistein is effective in the treatment of prostate cancer in humans. The principal investigator for the[…]

More Study Needed on Protein-Cancer Link A preliminary study suggests that persistent inflammation, as indicated by increased levels of C-reactive protein in the blood, is a risk factor for the development of colon cancer. However, according to an editorial by Feinberg School of Medicine researcher Boris C. Pasche, MD, the link between chronic inflammation and[…]

All-Campus Research Day Slated for March 4 Approximately 150 poster presentations, plus break-out sessions and seminars, will be featured during the Feinberg School’s All-Campus Research Day on March 4. The event is sponsored by the Northwestern Medical Women Faculty Organization (WFO). Male and female faculty members and students from all disciplines are invited to attend.[…]

“Charlie and the Doctor Factory” Plays January 30 and 31 This year’s In Vivo production, “Charlie and the Doctor Factory,” will be presented Friday, January 30, and Saturday, January 31, on the Thorne Auditorium stage, located at 375 East Chicago Avenue, on Northwestern University’s Chicago campus. Showtime is 7 p.m. both nights. Tickets are $8[…]

Scientists Grow Neurons Using Nanostructures Scientists at Northwestern University have designed synthetic molecules that promote neuron growth, a promising development that could lead to the reversal of paralysis due to spinal cord injury. “We have created new materials that because of their chemical structure interact with cells of the central nervous system in ways that[…]

New PhD/MPH Program Offered A new program leading to both PhD and MPH degrees has been created by the Integrated Graduate Program in the Life Sciences (IGP) and the MPH Program of the Department of Preventive Medicine. This distinctive field of study will train students in both laboratory research and interdisciplinary public health fields. Graduates[…]

In Memoriam (George Pollock) George H. Pollock, MD, PhD, professor emeritus of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine, died of heart disease December 12 in a Houston hospital. He was 80. A native Chicagoan, Dr. Pollack graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago medical school in 1945. His experience treating[…]