Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Gender Differences, Genetic Research, Nature / 13.05.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nolan Kamitaki PhD Harvard Medical School MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Previous work from our lab found that the strongest common genetic association to schizophrenia is driven in part by copy number variation of the C4 genes.  Given that lupus and Sjogren's syndrome, two autoimmune disorders, have association patterns that span the same region of the human genome, we wondered if part of the signal for these diseases may also arise from variation of C4 given that both have hypocomplementemia as a characterizing trait.   The other main finding is that these associations appear to be sex-biased, where the protection from each additional copy of the C4 gene was greater in men than in women.  When we went back to the data used in the previous study from our lab association C4 variation to schizophrenia, we found that the effect was stronger in men there as well.  Although the expression of C4 at the RNA level does not appear to differ between men and women, we saw that men had more C4 protein in both cerebrospinal fluid and blood plasma, suggesting that this may explain the greater genetic association in men. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gender Differences, Heart Disease, Karolinski Institute, Opiods, PNAS / 18.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: 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. (more…)
Author Interviews, Education, Gender Differences, JAMA, Race/Ethnic Diversity, Yale / 24.02.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Katherine A. Hill, BA, BS Yale School of Medicine New Haven, Connecticut MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Previous studies have shown that mistreatment is a common and damaging experience for medical students. However, there is little research on whether the prevalence of medical student mistreatment varies by demographic factors such as student sex, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Endocrinology, Gender Differences, Genetic Research, Science / 22.02.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lawrence C. Layman, M.D. Robert B. Greenblatt, M.D., Distinguished Chair in Endocrinology Professor & Chief Section of Reproductive Endocrinology, Infertility, & Genetics Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology Director, REI Fellowship Program Co-Director, MD/PhD Program Department of Neuroscience & Regenerative Medicine Department of Physiology Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: I have taken care of many transgender patients over the past 20 years. We think there is a biological basis for transgender identity rather than choice. Animal models suggest that exposure to estrogen or testosterone at a critical time during development will render an animal of either sex to behave as male with aggressive behavior and they will mount females. If this pathway is blocked, then the end result is more receptive, female sexual behavior. We thought that variants in genes involved in metabolizing these hormones in the brain could play some role in transgender identity. Because the cost of sequencing all genes was similar to the cost of looking for changes in just these genes, we performed whole exome sequencing (sequencing the protein coding regions of genes) on about 30 transgender patients. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Dermatology, Gender Differences, JAMA, Melanoma / 12.02.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Arash Mostaghimi, MD, MPA, MPH Director, Inpatient Dermatology , Brigham and Women's Hospital Instructor, Harvard Medical School Department of Dermatology Brigham and Women's Hospital MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Smaller studies have demonstrated increased risk for skin cancer among gay men.  Prior to this study this data had not been confirmed in a nationally representative database. (more…)
Author Interviews, Education, Gender Differences, Neurology, UC Davis / 27.01.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Allison Brashear, M.D., M.B.A. Dean, UC Davis School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Why is the demand for neurology services and neurologists increasing?  Response: The American Academy of Neurology estimates that by 2025 the number of neurologists in practice will increase to 18,060 but some 3,400 more will be needed to meet the demand for their services. The 58% increase in the number of residency positions in the National Resident Matching Program since 2008 also reflects the growing demand. The higher prevalence of neurologic conditions, aging U.S. population and more patients having access to the health care coverage are the major driving forces. (Note: source of NRMP neurology trend data comes from a physician/resident forum posted May 2019 https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/growth-trends-in-neurology-residency-positions.1375918/) MedicalResearch.com: Why is neurology included among the less desirable fields of medicine (similar to nephrology, infectious disease, endocrinology etc.) for medical students and residents to pursue?  Why is burnout and dissatisfaction so high? Response: According to the American Academy of Neurology, a minority of medical students choose to train in neurology each year, with approximately 3.1% matching into a neurology residency in 2018. The newer generations of neurologists value lifestyle and time off work more than their predecessors. According to a recent American Medical Association survey, neurology tied with critical care as the medical specialty with the highest stress levels and burnout. Too many administrative tasks, too many hours at work, increased computerization of practice and insufficient compensation were among the top causes of burnout. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Gender Differences, Genetic Research / 21.01.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alejandro Cáceres PhD Juan R. González, PhD Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) Barcelona, Spain. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Men have more risk and worse prognosis to cancer than women. There are many environmental factors but also biological differences. We find that the loss of function of six genes (DDX3Y, EIF1AY, KDM5D, RPS4Y1, UTY and ZFY) in chromosome Y is one of the biological factors for the differences between sexes in relation to cancer risk and prognosis.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Education, Gender Differences, JAMA, Race/Ethnic Diversity / 08.01.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Imam Xierali, PhD Associate Professor / UT Southwestern Medical Center Dallas, Texas MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Despite the continued efforts in academic medicine to increase the representation of women and minorities underrepresented in medicine (URM), there is a lack of information on trends in dermatology department faculty diversity and how they compare with those in other clinical departments. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gender Differences, JAMA, Occupational Health, Surgical Research / 05.01.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Matilda Anderson MBBS MBS General Surgery Trainee/Public Health/Researcher Footscray, Victoria, Australia MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Female representation in the surgical workforce is increasing.  Previous studies have shown higher infertility rates and adverse pregnancy outcomes in this population.  We aimed to accurately define the available research in this area and provide some basic recommendations about how workplaces can support their female surgical residents and surgeons. On a more personal note- Dr Anderson is a female surgical resident and have seen countless pregnant colleagues remove themselves from operating rooms with the concern about how the conditions may affect their pregnancies.  Dr. Anderson met Associate Professor Goldman at Harvard University (a leading expert on occupational reproductive hazards) and collaborated to explore this area further. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gender Differences, OBGYNE / 03.12.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Amanda N. Sferruzzi-Perri University Lecturer in Physiology Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellow & Lister Institute Fellow University of Cambridge MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Having a pregnancy in advanced age (35 years or older) is often associated with a series of risks and complications for both the mother and her baby. These include preeclampsia (raised blood pressure in the mother during pregnancy), gestational diabetes (diabetes in the mother that develops onset in pregnancy), stillbirth and fetal growth restriction. There is also evidence from work in experimental animals that offspring from mothers who have entered pregnancy at an older age, are at heightened risk of heart problems and high blood pressure as young adults and particularly so, if they are male rather than female. We wondered whether these sex-related differences may derive from the way in which the male and female fetuses were supported within the womb, in an aged mother during pregnancy. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Gender Differences, Stroke / 30.11.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Cheryl Carcel MD Research Fellow, Stroke & Women's Health Program Conjoint Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney Associate Lecturer, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney The George Institute for Global Health | Australia MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: This study builds on previous findings of differences in the presentation, treatment and outcome for women and men who experience stroke. For this analysis, we pooled five large international, multicenter, randomized controlled trials that included the following: the Intensive Blood Pressure Reduction in Acute Cerebral Hemorrhage Trials (INTERACT-1 and -2 studies), the alteplase-dose arm of the Enhanced Control of Hypertension and Thrombolysis Stroke study (ENCHANTED), the Head Position in Acute Stroke Trial (HeadPoST), and the Scandinavian Candesartan Acute Stroke Trial (SCAST). (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Gender Differences, Pediatrics / 17.11.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Markus Boos, MD, PhD Member of the Society for Pediatric Dermatology. Attending pediatric dermatologist Seattle Children's Hospital Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics University of Washington School of Medicine  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Our understanding of the cutaneous health of sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, asexual, intersex, nonbinary, etc.) remains nascent. This dearth of understanding of the unique needs of SGM children is even more pronounced. This 2-part review article provides practical advice on how to best engage with young SGM patients and serve the distinct needs of this minority population, with a specific emphasis on dermatologic conditions. (more…)
Author Interviews, Education, Gender Differences, JAMA / 13.11.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Shannon Ruzycki, MD, MPH, FRCPC, (she/hers) General Internist & Clinical Lecturer Department of Medicine Department of Community Health Sciences Cumming School of Medicine University of Calgary MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: After hearing about the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine 2018 report to congress on sexual harassment of women in academia, our Department Head asked myself and Dr. Aleem Bharwani to study experiences of gender inequity or equity in our Department. We conducted an in-depth, 18-month mixed methods study of women and men in our Department, including semi-structured interviews and survey. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Gender Differences, JAMA / 02.11.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nina Niu Sanford, M.D. Assistant Professor Dedman Family Scholar in Clinical Care UT Southwestern Department of Radiation Oncology Dallas TX MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Minority racial/ethnic groups present at later stages of cancer and have worse stage-specific survival rates.  Cultural competency represents a single element within the dynamic and trans-disciplinary field of health disparities, but is an important modifiable factor for both providers and health organizations that could be associated with disparities in cancer outcomes. There have been longstanding initiatives and training requirements in medical education specifically designed to improve provider cultural competency over the past couple of decades, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has recently outlined goals for improving cultural competency within its policy statement on cancer disparities. Moreover, ASCO health disparity policies have recently highlighted the association between racial/ethnic disparities in cancer outcomes and a “lack of access to high-quality care that is understanding and respectful of diverse traditions and cultures plays a significant role.”  Given the above, we wished to assess access to culturally competent providers among patients with cancer by race/ethnicity. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gender Differences, HPV / 16.09.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Ashish A. Deshmukh UT Health School of Public Health Houston MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The HPV vaccination is recommended for females and males for prevention of 6 cancers (cervical, oropharyngeal, anal, penile, vaginal, and vulvar). Nearly 43,000 HPV-associated cancer cases are diagnosed every year in the US. Yet, it is extremely unfortunate and something that continues to bother us that HPV vaccination coverage remains low (50% in 2018) in the US and completion rate is nearly 5% lower in boys. Different from some industrialized nations where vaccination policy is school-based, vaccination policy in the US is clinic-based and parents are generally responsible for making vaccination decisions for their children. Generally, there are two main factors that drive parents’ decision-making: (1) how much knowledge they have of HPV and (2) recommendation from a healthcare professional. We analyzed the National Cancer Institute’s Health Information National Trend Survey (HINTS) of over 6000 participants focusing on their knowledge of HPV and HPV vaccination and whether participants received any vaccination recommendation from their health care provider.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Columbia, Gender Differences / 06.09.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Morgan Philbin, PhD MHS Assistant Professor Department of Sociomedical Sciences Columbia University School of Public Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Marijuana is the most frequently used substance in the United States (US) after alcohol and tobacco. In 2017, 15.3% of the US population ages 18 and up reported past-year marijuana use (MU) and 9.9% past month use. Individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB), also report higher levels of marijuana use and marijuana use disorder than their heterosexual counterparts. Researchers have begun to explore potentially modifiable factors, such as state-level marijuana policies, that affect marijuana use and related outcomes at the population-level and within subgroups—though as of yet not among sexual minority populations. We therefore examined whether LGB individuals living in states with medical marijuana laws (MMLs) have higher levels of marijuana use and marijuana use disorder compared to LGB individuals in states without MMLs. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, End of Life Care, Gender Differences, JAMA / 16.08.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Nathan Stall, MD Geriatrician and Research fellow Women’s College Research Institute       Dr. Paula Rochon, MD, MPH, FRCPC Periatrician and Vice-President of Research Women’s College Hospital     MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The advanced stages of the dementia are characterized by profound memory impairment, an inability to recognize family, minimal verbal communication, loss of ambulatory abilities, and an inability to perform basic activities of daily living. Nursing homes become a common site of care for people living with advanced dementia, who have a median survival of 1.3 years. In the advanced stages of the disease, the focus of care should generally be on maximizing quality of life. Our study examined the frequency and sex-based differences in burdensome interventions received by nursing home residents with advanced dementia at the very end of life. Burdensome interventions include a variety of treatment and procedures that are often avoidable, may not improve comfort, and are frequently distressing to residents and their families. We found that in the last 30 days of life, nearly one in 10 nursing home residents visited an emergency department, more than one in five were hospitalized, and one in seven died in an acute care setting. In addition, almost one in 10 residents received life-threatening critical care; more than one in four were physically restrained; and more than one in three received antibiotics. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gender Differences / 16.08.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jack Turban MD MHS Resident Physician in Psychiatry The Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital Harvard Medical School MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Gender identity conversion efforts are attempts by a professional (for example a therapist, counselor, or religious advisor) to make a transgender person cisgender. The practice has been labelled unethical and ineffective by major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association. Accordingly, many U.S. states have made this practice illegal. Other states, however, have deferred passing bans on gender identity conversion efforts. Some state legislators have argued that such bans are unnecessary because this practice doesn’t occur in their state. (more…)
Author Interviews, Education, Gender Differences, JAMA, Surgical Research / 07.08.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Maria S. Altieri, MD, MS Invasive Surgery Stony Brook, NY MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: For majority of residents, training years coincide with prime child bearing years.  Historically, surgical residency has not been conducive for having children, as it is one of the most demanding experiences, requiring long hours, high stress levels, and the acquisition of clinical and technical skills over a short period of time. However, with recent trends towards a more favorable work-life balance and the 80-hour work week, more male and female residents are having children or considering having children during training.  Thus, the topic of parental leave during residency is becoming more fundamental.  However, there is little research on the attitudes of residents towards their pregnant peers and parental leave. We wanted to examine the perceptions of surgical trainees towards parental leave and pregnancy during residency.  Through understanding the perceptions of current residents, obstacles could be identified which could lead to potential changes in policies that could help to normalize parenthood and parental leave during surgical training.    (more…)
BMJ, Gender Differences / 25.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Crystal Lee BMedSc(Hons), MIPH, PhD, MBiostat Senior Research Fellow School of Psychology and Public Health La Trobe University Honorary Research Fellow The Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise & Eating Disorders The University of Sydney Adjunct Senior Research Fellow School of Public Health | Curtin University  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response:  Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Primary care has been shown to play an important role in the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Yet, studies in Australia and elsewhere from as far back as two decades ago identified gaps in the management of CHD patients in primary care. We analysed records of 130,926 patients with a history of CHD from 438 general practices across Australia to determine whether sex disparities exist in the management of CHD according to current clinical guidelines. (more…)
Aging, Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, Gender Differences, Hormone Therapy, JAMA, Menopause, Weight Research / 05.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rachel Zsido PhD student Department of Neurology International Max Planck MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We integrated measures of brain network structure, visceral adipose tissue (VAT), serum estradiol levels, and cognitive performance from 974 participants in order to shed light on potential mechanisms underlying cognitive health. We believe it is imperative to assess sex-specific risk trajectories in brain aging and cognitive decline, especially given the known sex differences in both VAT accumulation patterns and estradiol fluctuations across the lifespan. Thus, we aimed to answer three questions in men and in women: 1) Does visceral adipose tissue exacerbate the association between age and brain network structure, 2) Does estradiol mitigate the negative association between VAT and brain network structure, and 3) What does this imply for healthy cognitive aging in men and women?  (more…)
Author Interviews, Gender Differences, Sleep Disorders / 16.06.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ambra Stefani, MD Sleep Disorders Clinic Department of Neurology Innsbruck Medical University Innsbruck, Austria  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common neurological disorder, affecting up to 10% of the general population in Europe and North America. It is a sensorimotor disorder characterized by unpleasant sensations and an urge to move, mainly involving the legs. These symptoms appear or worsen in the evening/at night and improve with movement. Background for this study was the idea that there might be gender differences in the phenotypical presentation of RLS, as the pathogenesis of this disease is multifactorial and gender specific factors also play a role. (more…)
ASCO, Author Interviews, Education, Gender Differences, Surgical Research / 04.06.2019

MedicalResearch.com – Responses Marina Stasenko, MD Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Sexual harassment is a form of discrimination that includes gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention, and sexual coercion. A recent report in Fortune magazine noted that over half of US women have experienced sexual harassment at some point in their lives. Until recently, much of the conversation about sexual harassment in the workplace has been relegated to private discussions behind closed doors. However, the MeToo movement has shined a spotlight on the pervasive nature of sexual harassment in various fields, like media and business world. Although there are more female physicians in practice today than ever before, with women accounting for over 50% of young physicians, sexual harassment and gender disparities continue to plague the field of medicine. Despite the large female representation, gynecologic oncology is not immune from gender disparities. The Society of Gynecologic Oncology is a professional organization of over 2000 physicians, scientists, allied health professionals, nurses, and patient advocates dedicated to the care of patients with gynecologic cancer. As of 2015, 46% of members of the SGO were women, and that number is steadily growing. SGO leadership is also increasingly female – with 2 of the last 3 presidents being women. Despite the large female representation, gynecologic oncology is not immune from gender disparities. The 2015 SGO practice survey noted that while 22% of male Gynecologic Oncologists held the rank of professor, only 11% of their female counterparts held the title. They also noted that the mean annual salary for male physicians was nearly 150,000$ greater than salary for female physicians. Given the fact that there is little objective data on sexual harassment in gynecologic oncology, the objective of our study was to evaluate perceptions of sexual harassment and gender disparities among physician members of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, Gender Differences / 24.05.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tom Chang PhD, BS, MIT Associate Professor of Finance and Business Economics Marshall School of Business MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: There have been many studies showing that women prefer higher indoor temperatures than men, however nobody looked at the effect of temperature on performance. We show that the battle for the thermostat is not just about the comfort. It is much more – in our experiment, women’s cognitive functioning is the best at high temperatures, whereas men’s at low temperatures. Significantly, the positive effect of increased temperatures on women’s performance is much stronger than the negative effect on men. The most surprising was that the effect of temperature on women is so strong. For instance, at low temperatures, men outperform women in a simple math task. However, when we increase the temperature, women become better and better (1.76% increase of solved tasks with each 1 Celsius increase), and at high temperatures women and men perform on the same level – the gender difference disappears.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Gender Differences, Psychological Science / 15.05.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Wai-Man (Raymond) Liu, PhDAssociate ProfessorResearch School of Finance, Actuarial Studies & StatisticsCollege of Business & Economics BuildingThe Australian National UniversityProf. Wai-Man (Raymond) Liu, PhD Associate Professor Research School of Finance, Actuarial Studies & Statistics College of Business & Economics Building The Australian National University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: In our study, we studied survey responses of over 26,000 people from the largest Australian household survey over a period of 14 years. The survey was funded by the government called “The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey”. The survey was conducted by the Melbourne Institute. In the survey more than 9,500 of these respondents had experienced the death of a close friend. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gender Differences, Johns Hopkins / 23.04.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kellan E. Baker, MPH, MA Centennial Scholar PhD Candidate Health Policy Research Scholar Department of Health Policy and Management Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: This study shows that transgender adults in the U.S. today have significantly worse health-related quality of life than cisgender (non-transgender) adults, as measured by self-reported health status and number of recent days of poor physical or mental health. The study is important because it quantifies the gap in health-related quality of life between transgender and cisgender people, and it relies on a survey that allows us to believe that these findings are likely true not just for the people who answered the survey but for the U.S. as a whole. Health-related quality of life is a very broad term that describes a person’s whole sense of well-being—we might think of it as the answer to the question, “how are you doing these days?” The answer has to do not just with your physical health but also your mental health, your outlook on your life and your community, your feelings of wholeness and happiness. Sources such as the National Academy of Medicine and the U.S. Transgender Survey have documented that transgender people face discrimination in areas of everyday life such as housing, health care, and public spaces. Encounters with discrimination don’t just keep transgender people from getting services they need: they hurt trans people both physically and mentally.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Endocrinology, Gender Differences, Social Issues / 18.04.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Eider Pascual-Sagastizabal, PhD Professor of Evolutionary Psychology and Education University School of Education of Bilbao (Leioa) University of the Basque Country  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The search for markers of aggression during childhood is a particularly relevant area of research, since the results of intervention and prevention during this developmental stage are more promising than those obtained during later stages. The psychobiological approach to aggressive behavior is of particular importance, as it analyzes the joint, interactive influence of both psychological and biological variables. We have found that there are different interactions on a biological and psychological level that could account for aggressive behavior in children. More deeply, empathy and hormones could together account for aggressive behavior. In fact, the interactions were different for boys and for girls.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Gender Differences, JAMA, Surgical Research / 16.04.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nelya Melnitchouk, MD,MSc Director, Program in Peritoneal Surface Malignancy, HIPEC Dr. Melnitchouk is an associate surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital (BWFH) and instructor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Current literature on women in surgery show that female physicians, particularly those in procedural specialties, face many challenges in balancing responsibilities between work and home. We hypothesized that these challenges may affect career satisfaction more negatively for physician mothers in procedural specialties than those in nonprocedural specialties. In our study, we found that physician mothers in procedural specialties who had more domestic responsibilities were more likely to report a desire to change careers than those in nonprocedural specialties.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Gender Differences, Heart Disease, JAMA, Johns Hopkins, Women's Heart Health / 14.04.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Erin D. Michos, MD, MHS, FACC, FAHA, FASE Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology Associate Director of Preventive Cardiology Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Victor Okunrintemi, MD, MPH Department of Internal Medicine East Carolina University Greenville, North Carolina  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?   Response: Women are less physically active than men on average, and the lack of regular physical activity has been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and poorer health outcomes. Although recommendations encouraging regular physical activity has been in place for decades, we do not know how much of these recommendations are met, particularly among high risk women with established cardiovascular disease for secondary prevention. This study was therefore designed with the aim of describing the 10-year trends for the proportion of women with cardiovascular disease who do not meet these recommend physical activity levels, overall and by key sociodemographic groups, and the associated cost implications. (more…)
Author Interviews, Endocrinology, Gender Differences, Hormone Therapy / 26.03.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Joshua Safer, MD, Executive Director Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery Mount Sinai Health System Senior Faculty, Medicine, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The standard trans feminizing hormone regimen includes estrogen both to suppress testosterone and so that the individual has sufficient circulating sex hormone in the body for good bone health. After orchiectomy, there is no need to suppress testosterone because the levels are very low and it is common to cut the estrogen dose in half.  Cis women with premature ovarian failure often take about 2 mg of estradiol daily so that dose has seemed reasonable for trans women without testes.  However, when my co-author Sira Korpaisarn and I checked estradiol levels and gonadotropins (pituitary hormones, LH and FSH) as a guide to dosing, we found that based on that testing, trans women may require higher doses of estrogens than the 2 mg that we expected. (more…)