Black men are more likely to get prostate cancer and more than twice as likely to die from the disease than other men. Edward Schaeffer, MD, PhD, has developed a research team to better understand this problem. In this show he talks about his latest discoveries, which are paving the way to precision medicine for aggressive prostate cancer. Schaeffer is the chair of the Department of Urology at Northwestern and a Northwestern Medicine urologist with a specialized practice in prostate cancer.

COVID-19 can be a multi-system disease, impacting many organs and the entire nervous system. Igor Koralnik, MD, has been investigating the neurological complications of the disease and published the first study focused on long-term neurologic symptoms in COVID-19 “long haulers.” He explains the study and what he is seeing in the Neuro COVID-19 Clinic at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Atopic dermatitis — or eczema — affects about 10 million children in the U.S., and the itching that accompanies this condition can cause pain and distress for kids who can’t always verbalize or quantify how much they’re suffering. But a new wearable sensor developed by Northwestern University scientists could help better monitor scratching and assess the effectiveness of therapies for eczema and other conditions that cause itch. Steve Xu, MD, MSc, talks about the wearable sensor and the critical role it could play in bringing much-needed relief to patients.

Recently, the director of the CDC officially recommended that pregnant women receive the vaccines for COVID-19. However, pregnant women are less likely than non-pregnant women to get vaccinated and are at greater risk of hospitalization and death from the disease. Emily Miller, MD, MPH, has been caring for pregnant patients at Prentice Women’s Hospital since the onset of the pandemic. She shares results from a new study on the benefit of maternal vaccination and speaks to the history of excluding pregnant women from clinical trials.

Listen to a conversation on COVID-19 vaccine safety featuring Eric G. Neilson, MD, and Robert Murphy, MD.

Many Chicago caregivers say their children have experienced mental health issues after pandemic-related school closures and remote learning upended their daily lives. A recent survey of more than 32,000 caregivers of Chicago Public School students found that around a quarter of these children and adolescents were described as stressed, anxious, angry or agitated since these measures took place. Black and Latinx participants experienced significantly more of these stressors. Tali Raviv, PhD, associate professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Feinberg explains the results and offers insight.

COVID-19 vaccines are being doled out across the nation, almost exclusively to adults. Pfizer’s vaccine has been authorized for ages 16 and up and Moderna’s vaccine for 18 and up. So when might younger children be vaccinated for COVID-19? And what needs to happen before then? William Muller, MD, PhD, offers insight.

The drug semaglutide, typically prescribed for treatment of Type 2 diabetes, was used in a phase 3 clinical trial as a treatment for obesity with very promising results. Northwestern’s Robert Kushner, MD, led this study published in the New England Journal of Medicine and shares the results.

Mercedes Carnethon, PhD, a Northwestern Medicine epidemiologist and population science expert, talks about how COVID-19 is affecting Black, Indigenous, Latinx and other people of color the most and what can be done to help these vulnerable communities as the pandemic continues and vaccine rollout lags behind.

Since SARS-CoV-2 was discovered in Illinois over a year ago, Feinberg scientists have been tracking the evolution of the disease in the Chicago area. Ramón Lorenzo Redondo, PhD, research assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, is part of the team leading this work. He talks about the team’s research, the new COVID-19 variants and how the vaccines on the market today stand up to them.