Author Interviews, Dental Research, JAMA, Pain Research / 19.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53575" align="alignleft" width="142"]Dr. Romesh P. Nalliah BDS, MHCM Associate Dean for Patient Services Clinical Professor Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation Michigan Institute for Data Science Director, Synergy Program Dr. Nalliah[/caption] Dr. Romesh P. Nalliah BDS, MHCM Associate Dean for Patient Services Clinical Professor Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation Michigan Institute for Data Science Director, Synergy Program MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We designed and conducted this study because there is a paucity of knowledge related to opioid prescribing for acute dental pain.
Author Interviews, Gender Differences, Heart Disease, Karolinski Institute, Opiods, PNAS / 18.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53563" align="alignleft" width="155"]Mikko Myrskylä PhD Executive Director, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research Professorial Research Fellow, London School of Economics Professor of Social Statistics University of Helsinki Dr. Myrskylä[/caption] Mikko Myrskylä PhD Executive Director, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research Professorial Research Fellow, London School of Economics Professor of Social Statistics University of Helsinki MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Life expectancy in the U.S. increased at a phenomenal pace throughout the twentieth century, by nearly two years per decade. After 2010, however, U.S. life expectancy growth stalled and has most recently been declining. A critical question for American health policy is how to return U.S. life expectancy to its pre-2010 growth rate. Researchers and policy makers have focused on rising drug-related deaths in their search for the explanations for the stalling and declining life expectancy.
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Environmental Risks, Lung Cancer, Occupational Health / 18.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53559" align="alignleft" width="200"]Theresa S. Emory MD Department of Pathology, Peninsula Pathology Associates Newport News, VA  Dr. Emory[/caption] Theresa S. Emory MD Department of Pathology, Peninsula Pathology Associates Newport News, VA MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Cosmetic talc products can contain asbestos, which is the primary cause of malignant mesothelioma. We investigated 75 individuals with malignant mesothelioma, whose only known exposure to asbestos was repeated exposures to cosmetic talcum powder. 83% of the individuals were female and several occurred in barbers/cosmetologists. 16% occurred in individuals younger than 45 years old, and on average the subjects were 11 years younger than predicted, based on SEER data. The asbestos fibers in tissue samples that were examined in 11 cases were identical (anthophyllite and tremolite) to those identified in cosmetic talc.
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Pediatrics / 18.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53554" align="alignleft" width="150"]Adawiyah Jamil, AdvMDerm Associate Professor at Department of Medicine University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Center Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Adawiyah Jami[/caption] Adawiyah Jamil, AdvMDerm Associate Professor at Department of Medicine University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Center Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We commonly observed poor dietary pattern and multiple food restrictions imposed on atopic dermatitis (AD) children by their parents in our daily clinical practice. Food allergy is often associated with AD, however excessive and medically unsubstantiated restriction may lead to various health issues. AD is a chronic skin disease, like any other chronic diseases it affects an individual’s general health. Growth and development are key measures of health in children. We embarked on this study as we were very worried of the consequences of medically unsupervised food restriction, especially those with severe disease.  We were concerned about how our atopic dermatitis children are eating and how to help them.
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, JAMA, Orthopedics, Pediatrics / 17.03.2020

[caption id="attachment_53500" align="alignleft" width="150"]Yun-Han Wang PhD Student Karolinska Institute Yun-Han Wang[/caption] MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yun-Han Wang, PhD Student Karolinska Institute MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use has been linked to increased risk of fracture in adults. Despite an increasing trend in prescription of PPIs in children, there is scarce evidence regarding this safety concern in pediatric patients.
Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus, Pharmaceutical Companies, Vaccine Studies / 17.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53541" align="alignleft" width="180"]Nathalie Charland PhD Senior Director, Scientific and Medical Affairs Medicago  Dr. Machelska[/caption] Nathalie Charland PhD Senior Director, Scientific and Medical Affairs Medicago  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We started to work on solutions as soon as we were able to obtain the appropriate genetic information for the new COVID-19. Medicago is committed to advancing therapeutics against life-threatening diseases worldwide. 
Author Interviews, Opiods / 17.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53537" align="alignleft" width="200"]Amir Pashmineh, MBS Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine Amir Pashmineh[/caption] Amir Pashmineh, MBS Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The opioid buprenorphine is a mu and nociceptin receptor partial agonist, and serves as an antagonist to kappa and delta receptors. These properties contribute to this medication being a first-line evidence-based agent in Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) treatment. There have been policy changes intended to increase buprenorphine (which goes by brand names Suboxone or Subutex) availability, but access remains below optimal levels. Relative to methadone, buprenorphine is more expensive. The “abstinence only” mentality of 12-step programs for addiction treatment continues to be influential. The objective of this study was to extend our pharmacoepidemiology knowledge regarding utilization and characterize the regional disparity in distribution in the U.S. over the last decade. Data was obtained from Drug Enforcement Administration’s Automated Reports and Consolidated Ordering System (ARCOS), a comprehensive drug reporting system of controlled substances from their point of manufacturing to point of sale and distribution.
Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus / 16.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_24691" align="alignleft" width="115"]Sibaji Sarkar Ph.D Instructor of medicine Boston University School of Medicine Boston Dr. Sibaji Sarkar[/caption] Sibaji Sarkar, Ph.D. Adj. Professor Quincy College, Quincy, Boston MA MBC College, Wellesley MA RC College, Boston, MA  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: COVID-19 infection is spreading and nothing is out there now to stop it. Hopefully, vaccines will be made and will be useful but that may take months if not a year. Researchers are also testing the use of other anti-viral drugs. COVID-19 uses (angiotensin converting enzyme receptor 2) ACE2 on capillary membranes of lungs to attach and then enter by endocytosis. ACE and ACE2 are two different types of receptors. ACE inhibitors are regularly in use as blood pressure lowering drugs. Unfortunately, ACE inhibitors have very les affinity for ACE2. Theoretically, if COVID-19 and any ACE2 inhibitor share similar binding site on ACE2 or at least bind in close proximity, assuming the virus is a big particle, it should fully or partially block viral entry. That will reduce or delay disease progression.
Author Interviews, JAMA, Pediatrics, Weight Research / 16.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53491" align="alignleft" width="200"]Ashlesha Datar, PhD Senior Economist Director of Program on Children & Families USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) University of Southern California Dr. Datar[/caption] Ashlesha Datar, PhD Senior Economist Director of Program on Children & Families USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) University of Southern California  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Prior research, including our own work, has suggested that there might be some kind of social contagion or social transmission in obesity. So we wanted to explore that avenue further. In the present study, we showed teens in military families a set of human body figures with varying body sizes and asked them to choose the figure that best captured their ideal body size.
Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus, Vaccine Studies / 13.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Cynthia Liu,  Ph.D. Manager, Scientific Information CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society Columbus, OH 43210 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The outbreak of COVID-19 caused by the new virus SARS-CoV-2 has overwhelmed the health systems in many countries and been declared by WHO as a pandemic which will continue to affect global public health and world economy. This threat calls for an intensified effort in the development of therapeutic agents and vaccines. CAS is a not-for-profit division of the American Chemical Society that specializes in scientific information solutions. Our team includes hundreds of scientists that build a global data collection of curated scientific content from both journal articles and patent applications as well as chemical and biological substance collections. With this report, our team hopes to support the efforts of R&D organizations seeking to address this crisis by providing an up-to-date overview of recent relevant publications and insight into potential therapeutic agents, including both small molecules and biologics.
Author Interviews, Columbia, Heart Disease, Mediterranean Diet, Women's Heart Health / 13.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53518" align="alignleft" width="177"]Dr. Riddhi Shah, PhD AHA SFRN Postdoctoral Research Fellow Division of Cardiology Columbia University Medical Center New York, New York Dr. Shah[/caption] Dr. Riddhi Shah, PhD AHA SFRN Postdoctoral Research Fellow Division of Cardiology Columbia University Medical Center New York, New York MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The Mediterranean Diet, characterized by higher intakes of plant foods including plant proteins, monounsaturated fat, fish, and lower consumption of animal products and saturated fat, has long been associated with reduced cardiovascular risk and greater longevity, but the molecular mechanisms underlying these associations have not been fully elucidated. We evaluated associations of an Alternate Mediterranean Diet Score, reflective of adherence to this diet pattern and adapted for US populations, and its components with markers of endothelial inflammation directly measured in endothelial cells harvested from women, including oxidative stress, nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB), and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene expression.
Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus, CT Scanning, Global Health, Medical Imaging / 13.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53511" align="alignleft" width="191"]Soheil Kooraki  MSR MS, MD Dr. Kooraki[/caption] Soheil Kooraki  MSR MS, MD on behalf of Dr. Ali Gholamrezanezhad MD and co-authors Department of Radiological Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles Los Angeles, California MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: COVID19 is a novel strain of the coronavirus family causing pneumonia. Two similar strains were discovered in 2003 and 2012 to cause the so-called SARS and MERS outbreaks, respectively. Radiologists need to be prepared for the escalating incidence of COVID-19. We reviewed the literature to extract the epidemiologic and imaging features of SARS and MERS in comparison with known imaging features of COVID-19 pneumonia to have a better understanding of the imaging features of the COVID19 pneumonia in acute and post-recovery stages.
Author Interviews, Lyme / 13.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53507" align="alignleft" width="200"]Dr-Donal BIsanzio Dr. BIsanzio[/caption] Donal Bisanzio PhD DVM Senior Epidemiologist RTI International MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The number of reported cases of Lyme disease has steadily increased since the year 2000. The Centers for Disease Control Prevention (CDC) estimates that nearly 30,000 cases are reported each year with close to 270,000 unreported cases. The high fraction of unreported cases is linked with the absence of specific disease symptoms, which can deter physicians from an initial diagnosis. Another critical factor causing underreporting is the low accuracy of methods used to test Lyme disease. These factors show us that some counties that are currently considered Lyme disease-free may only have this status due to underreporting. RTI International, in collaboration with Columbia University, built a model to show factors affecting the diffusion of case reporting in the north-eastern U.S. from 2000 to 2017 and identify which counties may be experiencing underreporting. The model used publicly available data published each year by the CDC on cases reported at the county-level merged with information on vector distribution and data obtained by satellite surveys. The model included 855 counties located in 31 states in the West North Central, East North Central, New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Southern regions of the U.S. The final product was a map showing the probability of counties of the north-eastern U.S. to report Lyme disease cases. 
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, JAMA / 13.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alyson Haslam, PhD Nutritional Epidemiologist Center for Indigenous Health Research and Policy Oklahoma State University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Checkpoint inhibitor drugs for the treatment of cancers have received a lot of attention in recent years because of their ability to induce responses in certain tumors. To quantify the eligibility and response of these drugs in the US population, we published an article about a year ago (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2732329). Since that publication, there were several confirmatory studies that failed to show a benefit in important outcomes such as overall survival or progression-free survival, and the US FDA made some revisions to certain checkpoint inhibitor drug labels. This prompted us to re-evaluate the eligibility of these drugs.
Author Interviews, Colon Cancer, JAMA, Weight Research / 13.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Laurent Bailly MD, PhD Département de Santé Publique, CHU Nice, Hôpital Archet 1. Niveau1 NICE France  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Obesity is known to increase cancer incidence and notably colorectal cancer incidence. Bariatric surgery is an effective treatment of obesity however the association of this surgery with the colorectal cancer remained controversial. We used the French National Health Insurance Information System to conduct a nationwide retrospective cohort study, between 2009 and 2018, of patients hospitalized in France with a diagnosis of obesity. We followed more than 1 million obese individuals aged 50 to 75 years and free of colorectal cancer at baseline, some of them did undergo bariatric surgery and others did not.
Author Interviews, Hepatitis - Liver Disease, JAMA, USPSTF / 12.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_42708" align="alignleft" width="143"]Dr. Michael Barry MD Director of the Informed Medical Decisions Program Health Decision Sciences Center at Massachusetts General Hospital Physician at Massachusetts General Hospit Professor of Medicine,Harvard Medical School Dr. Barry[/caption] Dr. Michael Barry MD Director of the Informed Medical Decisions Program Health Decision Sciences Center at Massachusetts General Hospital Physician at Massachusetts General Hospital Professor of Medicine,Harvard Medical School MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Hepatitis C affects more people today than ever before, many of whom are younger. If left untreated, it can cause serious, lifelong health problems due to liver damage. The good news is that hepatitis C infection is both preventable and treatable, with recent evidence showing that new treatments for adults are highly effective. Knowing this, we’ve broadened our guidelines to recommend screening for hepatitis C in all adults between the ages of 18 and 79.
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, JAMA, NIH, Social Issues / 12.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53451" align="alignleft" width="200"]Dr. Adan Z. Becerra PhD Senior Epidemiologist for the  NIH Social and Scientific Systems Washington, District Of Columbia Dr. Becerra[/caption] Dr. Adan Z. Becerra PhD Senior Epidemiologist for the  NIH Social and Scientific Systems Washington, District Of Columbia MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Previous studies have shown that disparities in insurance coverage by immigration status exist in the United States such that immigrants compared to nonimmigrants are less likely to have insurance. However, most studies have been cross sectional with few studies investigating long term trajectories of insurance coverage over time. We addressed this gap in the literature by following a cohort of adults for 24 years from before until after reaching Medicare age-eligibility.
Author Interviews, Beth Israel Deaconess, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Cost of Health Care, Geriatrics, JAMA, Medicare / 12.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53434" align="alignleft" width="160"]Rishi K. Wadhera, MD Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians Cardiovasular Diseases Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Dr. Wadhera[/caption] Rishi K. Wadhera, MD Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians Cardiovasular Diseases Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: In the U.S., income inequality has steadily increased over the last several decades. Given widening inequities, there has been significant concern about the health outcomes of older Americans who experience poverty, particularly because prior studies have shown a strong link between socioeconomic status and health. In this study, we evaluated how health outcomes for low-income older adults who are dually enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid have changed since the early 2000’s, and whether disparities have narrowed or widened over time compared with more affluent older adults who are solely enrolled in Medicare (non-dually enrolled).
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Genetic Research, JAMA, Stanford / 12.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_41598" align="alignleft" width="200"]Dr-Allison W. Kurian Dr. Kurian[/caption] Allison W. Kurian, M.D., M.Sc. Associate Professor of Medicine (Oncology) and of Epidemiology and Population Health Director, Women’s Clinical Cancer Genetics Program Stanford University School of Medicine Stanford, CA 94305-5405 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Genetic testing is increasingly relevant for the care of cancer patients. However, little was known about the prevalence of inherited mutations in cancer susceptibility genes among the most common group of women with breast cancer: those diagnosed after menopause and without a strong family history of cancer. 
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Columbia, OBGYNE / 11.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53473" align="alignleft" width="161"]Matthew E. Spotnitz, MD, MPH Departments of Biomedical Informatics and Obstetrics and Gynecology Columbia University Medical Center, Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics, and Medical Informatics Services New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, New York Dr. Spotnitz[/caption] Matthew E. Spotnitz, MD, MPH Departments of Biomedical Informatics and Obstetrics and Gynecology Columbia University Medical Center Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics, and Medical Informatics Services New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, New York MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Our take home message is that copper and hormonal IUDs may have different physiological effects on the female genitourinary system.
Aging, Author Interviews / 11.03.2020

Specialist Healthcare BusinessHealthcare is now the fastest-growing industry in the US, and currently employs over 18 million people. With an increasing number of patients with chronic and mental health conditions, and a steady rise in the number of elderly patients, specialized healthcare businesses could help to take care of growing needs. Depending on your professional field, setting up your own healthcare business could involve developing apps to help manage common chronic conditions, offering counseling to alleviate the stress of bereavement, or assisting a rapidly aging population.
Alcohol, Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard / 11.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53445" align="alignleft" width="167"]John F. Kelly, Ph.D., ABPP. Recovery Research Institute Elizabeth R. Spallin Professor of Psychiatry in Addiction Medicine Harvard Medical School  Dr. Kelly[/caption] John F. Kelly, Ph.D., ABPP. Recovery Research Institute Elizabeth R. Spallin Professor of Psychiatry in Addiction Medicine Harvard Medical School   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Alcohol use disorder is one of the leading causes of disease, disability, and preventable death worldwide. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a widespread international recovery support organization designed to address it. While it has remained popular and influential for many decades, until recently the quantity and quality of the research on AA and clinical treatments designed to stimulate AA involvement – Twelve-Step Facilitation (TSF) treatments – had not been evaluated adequately. This systematic review and meta-analysis used the rigor of the Cochrane review system to subject AA/TSF to the same scientific standards as other clinical interventions.  
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care / 10.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53363" align="alignleft" width="200"]Olivier Wouters, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Health Policy Department of Health Policy (COW 2.06) London School of Economics and Political Science Dr. Wouters[/caption] Olivier Wouters, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Health Policy Department of Health Policy London School of Economics and Political Science London MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Although both Democrats and Republicans consider lowering prescription drug prices a priority, lobbyists and campaign donors in the pharmaceutical industry may counteract efforts by federal and state governments to decrease these costs. In this study, I tracked every dollar spent by the pharmaceutical and health product industry on lobbying and campaign contributions in the US from 1999 to 2018. These data were obtained from the Center for Responsive Politics and the National Institute on Money in Politics—two non-profit, non-partisan US organizations. 
Allergies, Asthma, Author Interviews, Dermatology, Pediatrics / 10.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53396" align="alignleft" width="121"]Marcella Aquino, M.D. Hasbro Children's Hospital Department of Pediatrics Division of Allergy & Immunology Associate Professor of Pediatrics Dr. Aquino[/caption] Marcella Aquino, M.D. Hasbro Children's Hospital Department of Pediatrics Division of Allergy & Immunology Associate Professor of Pediatrics   [caption id="attachment_53397" align="alignleft" width="107"]Daphne Koinis-Mitchell PhD                                    Professor (Research) in the Departments of Psychiatry and                                    Human Behavior and Pediatrics Dr. Koinis-Mitchell[/caption] Daphne Koinis-Mitchell PhD Professor (Research) in the Departments of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and Pediatrics Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Providence, Rhode Island 02903   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Urban minority children with asthma are at increased risk for sleep loss and poorer sleep quality secondary to socio-contextual stressors (poverty, stressors of urban living) and the underlying challenges related to following possibly complex asthma treatment regimens. Atopic dermatitis (AD) is very frequently seen in children with asthma and increases the risk for poor quality sleep, for example difficulty falling asleep, awakenings during the night, difficulty awakening in the morning, and/or daytime sleepiness. 
Author Interviews, Fertility / 10.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Julia Stern (Jünger) Georg-August-University Göttingen Georg-Elias-Müller-Institute of Psychology Biological Personality Psychology Göttingen  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The main background for this study was the Good Genes Ovulatory Shift Hypothesis. This Hypothesis is quite famous in evolutionary social sciences. It claims that women’s mate preferences should shift across their ovulatory cycle, regulated by changing hormone levels (mainly estradiol and progesterone). More precisely, when fertile, women should be sexually attracted to men who displayed assumed indicators of genetic quality, e.g. dominant behavior, whereas when not fertile, women should prefer to mate with potential long-term partners. This Hypothesis has received criticism in the recent years, because of studies not finding any evidence for it, studies with positive evidence were criticized for methodological problems, and studies claiming that previously presumed indicators of good genes do not really display good genes at all. All this criticism led to a debate about the existence of mate preference shifts across women’s ovulatory cycle. My colleagues and I wanted to contribute to this debate by conducting a large study with strong research methods.
Author Interviews, Biomarkers, Lung Cancer, Stanford / 09.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53410" align="alignleft" width="149"]Professor Dr. Andreas Keller Stanford University School of Medicine Office Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences  Chair for Clinical Bioinformatics Saarbrücken, Germany Prof. Keller[/caption] Professor Dr. Andreas Keller Stanford University School of Medicine Office Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences Chair for Clinical Bioinformatics Saarbrücken, Germany MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Lung cancer is among the three most common cancers and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The overall low survival rate of patients with lung cancer calls for improved detection tools to enable better treatment options and improved patients’ outcomes. To detect lung tumors, liquid biopsy-based strategies are increasingly explored, that are biomarkers, which are identifiable in body fluids such as human blood. The clinical application of biomarkers is, however, largely hampered by the relatively small numbers of cases that have been analyzed in the majority of the preclinical studies including the studies on lung cancer. 
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, JAMA, Nutrition, Social Issues / 09.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53418" align="alignleft" width="160"]Alon Peltz, MD MBA MHS  Department of Population Medicine Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute Dr. Peltz[/caption] Alon Peltz, MD MBA MHS  Department of Population Medicine Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Thank you for taking an interest in our study. This study represented a collaboration between investigators from Harvard Medical School and Boston University School of Medicine. SNAP is an important U.S. federal aid program that serves nearly 40 million persons annually with well-established health, nutrition, and financial benefits. Families can be eligible for the SNAP program under “federal” rules or “categorical eligibility” rules that extend SNAP support to otherwise ineligible families who receive benefits under certain social assistance programs, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. In July 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed new SNAP policies that would limit qualifications via the categorical eligibility route. Although these new policies have not been finalized, it is estimated that 1 in 10 U.S. families currently participating in SNAP may lose their benefits. We wanted to investigate the potential ramifications of these changes to help inform policymakers of the vulnerabilities of the families who receive SNAP benefits and may be at risk for disenrollment if the proposed policies are implemented.
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Infections / 07.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53428" align="alignleft" width="162"]Dr. Steve Miller MD MBA Chief Clinical Officer Cigna Dr. Miller[/caption] Dr. Steve Miller MD MBA Chief Clinical Officer Cigna MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: With diagnoses of coronavirus increasing, Cigna is committed to helping contain the virus, removing barriers to testing and treatment, and giving peace of mind to its clients and customers.
Author Interviews, Infections, Technology / 06.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Arni S.R. Srinivasa Rao, PhD Professor, Division of Health Economics and Modeling, DPHS Director - Laboratory for Theory and Mathematical Modeling Department of Medicine - Division of Infectious Diseases Medical College of Georgia Department of Mathematics, Augusta UniversityArni S.R. Srinivasa Rao, PhD Professor, Division of Health Economics and Modeling, DPHS Director - Laboratory for Theory and Mathematical Modeling Department of Medicine - Division of Infectious Diseases Medical College of Georgia Department of Mathematics, Augusta University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response:  This is a methodological study with a flowchart, algorithm, and theory to enable quicker identification of individuals at risk of coronavirus based on CDC's guidelines on COVID-19. 
Author Interviews, Melanoma, Psychological Science / 05.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53405" align="alignleft" width="160"]Dr. Sinead Langan. FRCP MSc PhD Professor of Clinical Epidemiology Wellcome Senior Clinical Fellow Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine London, U.K. Dr. Langan[/caption] Dr. Sinead Langan. FRCP MSc PhD Professor of Clinical Epidemiology Wellcome Senior Clinical Fellow Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine London, U.K. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Psychological stress is commonly cited as a risk factor for melanoma, but clinical evidence is limited. We wanted to test the hypothesis that acute severe stress increases the risk of melanoma and melanoma progression.