“The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is the leading voice advocating for insulin affordability and is working to ensure that all...
The FDA has the final say on the standards and requirements for medical device manufacturing. Its risk-based classification system is...
Dr. Kleiman[/caption]
Norman Kleiman, PhD, MS
Department of Environmental Health Sciences
Mailman School of Public Health
Columbia University, New York, NY
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster caused the evacuation of 300,000 persons from the cities and villages surrounding the nuclear power plant complex. Pets and belongings were left behind, and the Soviet authorities ordered all animals within the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone killed. Some dogs evaded destruction, and some 300+ descendants of these animals live primarily at two locations today, immediately surrounding the Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) complex and about 10 km away in Chornobyl city. What is relatively unknown to the general public is that Chornobyl is not a desolate, abandoned wasteland. Some thousands of individuals work there every day in continuing cleanup activities and at two new fuel reprocessing facilities built near the damaged reactor. These areas have been substantially remediated, and the average radiation levels are relatively modest. The dogs, which, while feral, are accustomed to human interaction, live near the workers and are not currently exposed to high radiation levels. In contrast to lower radiation levels, there is a toxic mixture of heavy metals, organics, pesticides, and unknown chemicals left over from years’ long cleanup efforts and the decay of a large former military-industrial complex at the NPP.
Since 2016, the NPP authorities have brought in teams of veterinarians and volunteers to spay, neuter, and vaccinate the dogs to protect the workers and deal with a growing population. At the same time, some scientists joined the teams to obtain various kinds of biospecimens (hair, urine, feces, blood, saliva, parasites) to examine the animals’ health and learn how this toxic environment may have affected them or their offspring. Since dogs are human companion animals and live closely with us, any information we learn about health risks to the dogs may be relevant to protecting human workers and inform us about the kinds of health risks posed by ecological and environmental disasters in the future.
Dr. Hulstrøm[/caption]
Veronica Hulstrøm MD, PhD
Senior Director
Clinical Project Lead for RSV Older Adults
GSK
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The AReSVi-006 phase III trial is designed to investigate the efficacy and safety of GSK’s respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine candidate for adults aged 60 years and above. The phase III trial is a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, international trial with 24,966 participants who received either the investigational vaccine or placebo.
Hyuna Sung, PHD
Senior Principal Scientist, Cancer Surveillance Research
American Cancer Society
Kennesaw, GA 30144
Dr. Gulati[/caption]
Nicholas Gulati, MD, PhD
Director, Early Detection of Skin Cancer and Oncodermatology Clinic
The Kimberly and Eric J. Waldman
Department of Dermatology
Mount Sinai Health System
New York, New York
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What is dupilumab primarily used for?
Response: Dupilumab is a monoclonal antibody that inhibits a specific part of the immune system known as Th2 cells, which are important in the development of various diseases including atopic dermatitis (eczema) and asthma. Therefore, dupilumab has become one of the major treatments for these conditions. Given the increasing use of this drug, it is important to understand the safety of it in terms of cancer development, as that is currently largely unknown.
Prof. Myeong-Ki Hong[/caption]
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Myeong-Ki Hong, MD PhD
Professor of Cardiology
Yonsei University College of Medicine
Severance Cardiovascular Hospital
Seoul, Korea
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The background of this study was to compare the long-term clinical outcomes between the two distinct strategies regarding statin intensity in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).
One is to titrate statin intensity to meet a target low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) level (treat-to-target strategy), the other is to maintain high-intensity statin without a target goal (high-intensity statin strategy).
Dr. Lazarus[/caption]
Philip Lazarus, PhD
Boeing Distinguished Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Professor, Dept of Pharmaceutical Sciences
College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Washington State University
Spokane, WA 99210
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Smoking and tobacco use remains a major health issue. Smokers use cigarette over the course of the day because the levels of nicotine, the addictive agent in cigarettes and other forms of tobacco, dimmish with time in the bloodstream due to the breakdown of nicotine by enzymes in the body. By inhibiting the breakdown of nicotine in smokers, one would expect that the levels of nicotine would remain higher after smoking a single cigarette, and that these individuals may not require lighting up another cigarette so quickly, reducing the number of cigarettes smoked over the course of a day. This could have a profound effect on reducing the overall harm incurred from smoking or from using other forms of tobacco.
In a single previous study, smokers who used a CBD inhaler exhibited a 40% reduction in cigarette use. In addition, while cannabis users are often smokers, previous studies have indicated that they smoke less cigarettes than non-cannabis-using cigarette smokers. In previous studies published in 2021, we found that major cannabinoids present in cannabis like THC and CBD inhibit major metabolizing enzymes in our body, including several that are important in drug metabolism. We hypothesized that CBD and its major active metabolite, 7-hydroxy (OH)-CBD, may also be inhibiting one or more of the enzymes important in the metabolism (or breakdown) of nicotine.
Dr. Roca[/caption]
Anna Roca PhD
MRC Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Fajara, The Gambia
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Context specific interventions are needed to decrease the high burden of severe neonatal morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Severe bacterial infections are a main cause of neonatal mortality in the continent. Oral intra-partum azithromycin is a cheap intervention easily scalable. Before embarking on this trial, we conducted a proof-of-concept trial that showed the intervention reduced maternal and neonatal bacterial carriage of the most prevalent bacteria causing neonatal sepsis in the continent.
Dr. Khullar[/caption]
Dhruv Khullar, M.D., M.P.P.
Director of Policy Dissemination
Physicians Foundation Center for Physician Practice and Leadership
Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Economics
Weill Cornell Medicine, NYC
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: From prior research, we know that there are racial/ethnic differences in the acute impact of COVID-19, including higher rates of hospitalization and death among Black and Hispanic individuals compared to white individuals. Less is known about whether there are differences in the rates or types of long COVID by race and ethnicity.
Alexia Aguilar[/caption]
Alexia Aguilar
Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
Scranton, PA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Traditional antidepressants like Zoloft and Lexapro have three major drawbacks.
Dr. Gaudino[/caption]
Mario FL Gaudino, MD, PhD, MSCE, FEBCTS, FACC, FAHA
Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Professor in Cardiothoracic Surgery (II)
Assistant Dean for Clinical Trials
Professor of Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research at Weill Cornell Graduate School
Director of the Joint Clinical Trials Office (JCTO)
Director of Translational and Clinical Research, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Chair Coronary Artery Task Force, European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery
Weill Cornell Medicine | NewYork – Presbyterian Hospital
Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: It is well-documented that women undergoing CABG have higher mortality and morbidity when compared with men. They are referred to surgery later than men, with more cardiovascular risk factors than men, and present more frequently with heart failure or in non-elective settings. However, overall CABG outcomes have improved over time, and so we sought to evaluate national trends in outcomes specifically in women.
If you have recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, or indeed another memory-based illness, you will understandably be feeling as...
Dr. Martens[/caption]
Christopher R. Martens PhD
Assistant Professor
Director, Delaware Center for Cognitive Aging Research
Department of Kinesiology & Applied Physiology
University of Delaware
Newark, DE
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: One of the main issues with Alzheimer's disease is an impaired ability to make energy in the brain. NAD+ is critically involved in the creation of energy within cells and there is strong evidence that nicotinamide riboside (NR), a precursor to NAD+, can restore brain function in mice that exhibit similar characteristics as people with Alzheimer's disease.
We had previously studied the effects of NR in healthy older adults and wanted to see whether it is even capable of getting into brain tissue. We used remaining blood samples from our original study and measured the amount of NAD+ within tiny "vesicles" in the blood that we are quite confident originated from the brain and other neural tissue
William A. Petri, MD PhD
Wade Hampton Frost Professor of Medicine and
Vice Chair for Research of the Department of Medicine
Professor of Medicine, Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology, and Pathology,
Medicine: Infectious Diseases and International Health,
Medicine: Infectious Diseases and International Health
Dr. Ditah Chobufo[/caption]
Dr. Muchi Ditah Chobufo MD MPH
Cardiology Fellow
West Virginia University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Ischemic heart diseases are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the USA. Also, there exists alarming ethnic disparities in mortality rates following acute myocardial infarction. To this effect, significant efforts have been deployed over the years to curb its burden and reduce extant disparities. It is in this light that we set out to analyze general and ethnic specific trends in acute myocardial infarction related age adjusted mortality rates (AAMR) in the entire USA from 1999-2020.
Dr. MIller[/caption]
Dr Jessica Miller, PhD
Murdoch Children’s Researcher and
Professor David Burgner,
Murdoch Children’s Group Leader, Infection and Immunity
Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
Royal Children's Hospital
Victoria Australia
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Early reports following the initial COVID-19 lockdowns showed huge variation in changes to preterm birth and stillbirth rates, deeming it difficult to understand the pattern worldwide. It was uncertain if the observed variations were due to differences in study design and methodology, immediate impacts of lockdowns or changes in health service utilization. Previous reports from single populations or facilities were unlikely to be representative of the population and could not be compared across populations. Lockdowns affected health, social and economic factors that could lead to reductions in preterm birth rates. Changes in hygiene practices and abruptions to traffic following lockdown led to alterations in non-COVID infections and air pollution, which are known to trigger inflammation and contribute to preterm birth.
Given the uncertainty in the earlier reports, we aimed to conduct a rigorous, standardised analysis using high-quality, total-population data from across the world in order to summarize and compare rates across countries. Our large global study included 52 million births between 2015-2020 from 26 countries and represents one of the first large-scale analyses of birth outcomes during the early months of COVID-19.
Yuxia Wei[/caption]
Yuxia Wei | PhD Student
Unit of Epidemiology
Institute of Environmental Medicine
Karolinska Institutet
Stockholm | Sweden
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Diabetes is traditionally known for having two types (type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes). However, it is becoming increasingly clear that diabetes is much more complex than this traditional classification. Several attempts have been made to address this heterogeneity and in 2018, a Swedish ground-breaking study proposed that there are five distinct subtypes of diabetes in adults. They have been replicated in different populations and it has been shown that there are differences between the subtypes in terms of genetics and risks of complications. Another way of elucidating the relevance of these subtypes is to investigate whether the influence of known risk factors for diabetes is different on different subtypes. Our study is one of the first attempts to address this. We used a study design known as Mendelian randomization, to investigate the influence of childhood obesity on these diabetes subtypes that typically occur after age 35. This work was a collaboration between Karolinska institutet in Stockholm, University of Bristol in the UK and Sun Yat-Sen University in China.
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_60090" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Leyba[/caption] Katarina Leyba, MBA, MD University of Colorado School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background...
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Siri Choragudi Medical Student University of Miami Gil Yosipovitch, MD Professor and Stiefel endowed Chair of Medical Dermatology at the Dr Phillip...
Dr. Wadhera[/caption]
Rishi K. Wadhera, MD, MPP, MPhil
Section Head, Health Policy and Equity,
Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Center for Outcomes Research
Associate Program Director
Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Assistant Professor of Medicine,
Harvard Medical School
@rkwadhera
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: High and rising prescription drug costs in the United States contribute to medication non-adherence and financial strain among adults with cardiovascular risk factors or disease. As a result, addressing prescription drug costs in patients with chronic conditions has become a national priority.
In response to these growing concerns, federal policymakers passed the Inflation Reduction Act on August 16, 2022, which aims to address high out-of-pocket drug costs for adults enrolled in Medicare Part D, by placing a $2000 annual cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs and expanding eligibility for full low-income subsidies to individuals that reduce deductible costs and prescription copayments (among several other provisions). It is unclear how these provisions will affect Medicare beneficiaries with cardiovascular risk factors and/or conditions.
Dr. Stevermer[/caption]
James Stevermer, M.D., M.S.P.H.
Vice chair for clinical affairs
Professor of family and community medicine
University of Missouri
Medical director of MU Health Care Family Medicine–Callaway Physicians,
Dr. Stevermer joined the U.S. Preventive Service Task Force in January 2021.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Genital herpes is a common sexually transmitted infection (STI) that unfortunately has no cure and cannot accurately be detected in people who do not have signs of the condition. The current screening tests have limitations and there is a high chance that test results will say a person has the condition when they do not. In addition, the available treatments are focused on managing symptoms and preventing the condition from reoccurring. As a result, the Task Force concluded that the harms of screening outweigh the benefits.
Dr. Goodrich[/caption]
Jesse Goodrich PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Population and Public Health Sciences
Keck School of Medicine
University of Southern California
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of persistent chemicals that are known to interfere with hormones and metabolism. In our previous research, we have found that PFAS exposure is associated several specific diseases, especially in children and adolescents. These include obesity, type 2 diabetes, liver disease, and even liver cancer. However, we are still only just starting to fully understand all of the health effects of the many different PFAS in existence. Previous studies have focused primarily on one or two main PFAS. However, there are over 9,000 known PFAS, and people are exposed not just to a single PFAS but to mixtures of many PFAS. Importantly, the combination of these chemical exposures may affect us differently than single exposures alone.
To address this challenge, we used an innovative approach to study design to examine how exposure to PFAS impacts biological processes which may underly the development of many different diseases in adolescents and young adults. To do this, we first measured thousands of naturally occurring chemicals, known as metabolites, in people's blood. Then, using a new biostatistical method developed by our team, we identified how exposure to a mixture of several PFAS impacted each individual chemical. Finally, we used this information to determine which biological processes are changed by PFAS exposure.
Dr. Yann Le Guen[/caption]
Yann Le Guen, Ph.D.
Assistant Director, Computational Biology
Quantitative Sciences Unit
Stanford Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Apart from aging, the strongest contributing factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease is a specific allele of the APOE gene, which has three common alleles E2, E3, and E4. While E3 is the most common and considered as the reference, E2 is associated with decreased Alzheimer’s disease risk and E4 is associated with increased Alzheimer’s disease risk. Notably the prevalence of E4 among Alzheimer’s patient is high with about 60% of these carrying at least one E4 allele, while solely about 30% Americans carry one E4 allele. It’s worth emphasizing that individuals with an E4/E4 genotype have an exponential increased in their risk to develop AD (10 times as likely than the reference E3/E3 genotype), and individuals with an E3/E4 genotype have an intermediate risk.
Though, most studies of Alzheimer’s disease genetic have been focused on European ancestry, this is beginning to change thanks to NIH’s efforts to fund more studies in non-European ancestry individuals. Our study built on these recent efforts to assess the Alzheimer disease risk associated with an APOE variant (R145C) present in about ~4% African Americans, but extremely rare in Europeans.
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Nora Volkow MD Laboratory of Neuroimaging, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Dardo Tomasi PhD Laboratory of Neuroimaging, National...
Michael Liu[/caption]
Michael Liu, MPhil
Rhodes Scholar,MPhil in Evidence-Based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation.
Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Over the past few decades, research has shown that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals have worse health outcomes and face unique challenges related to their experiences and costs of care. These disparities are driven by “minority stress” associated with belonging to a marginalized group. Such stressors erode health through a range of structural and interpersonal forces, including employment discrimination, family rejection, and internalized stigma
One early analysis established national baseline estimates for LGB health outcomes using 2013-2014 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data. Since then, there have been substantial shifts in social policy and public opinion that may have differentially affected sexual minority subgroups. The US Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges guaranteed the constitutional right to same-sex marriage across all states. Over the last decade, states have expanded rights and protections for LGB populations related to employment and housing discrimination, sexual orientation conversion efforts, HIV criminalization, and religious exemptions. Public support for LGB-related issues has also been increasing with more representation in media, uptake of LGB-affirming policies, and advocacy efforts.
No studies have assessed national trends in health status or healthcare access among specific sexual minority subgroups amid the rapidly shifting sociocultural and policy landscape. Thus, we sought out to evaluate if and how health status and healthcare access have changed between 2013 and 2018 in the US among LGB adults, and whether differences relative to their heterosexual counterparts have changed over time.
Dr. Itagaki[/caption]
Shinobu Itagaki, MD, MSc
Assistant Professor
Cardiovascular Surgery
Icahn School of Medicine at
Mount Sinai, New York, NY
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Were the transplants from a single donor?
Response: The heart transplantation is the gold standard therapy for end-stage heart failure patients. As the kidney is affected by the heart function, it is common that the heart transplant candidates have some degree of kidney dysfunction as well. In these cases, the candidates are considered for simultaneous heart and kidney transplantation from a same donor. Unlike isolated heart transplantation, where the indication and benefits have been well established, simultaneous heart and kidney transplantation has less clear indication and benefits. This uncertainty is also complicated by the competing interest with isolated kidney transplantation candidates who in general wait longer on the waiting list.
Dr. Shaw[/caption]
Natalie Shaw, M.D., MMSc.
Principal Investigator
Head of the Pediatric Neuroendocrinology Group
Dr. Shaw holds a secondary appointment in NIEHS
Reproductive and Developmental Biology Laboratory.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly describe the two affected conditions?
Dr. Shaw: Congenital arhinia is a rare congenital malformation characterized by the complete absence of an external nose and internal olfactory (smell) structures. It is frequently associated with eye and reproductive defects. Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) type 2 is a form of muscular dystrophy that presents in young adulthood. Both conditions are caused by mutations in the gene SMCHD1. In FSHD type 2, we know that loss of SMCHD1 activity leads to expression of a toxic protein called DUX4 in muscle. The cause of arhinia was unknown.