Author Interviews, Gender Differences, JAMA, University of Michigan / 14.02.2025

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Farrah Madanay, PhD Postdoctoral Research Fellow Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine Michigan Medicine University of Michigan MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Patients are increasingly using online forums to evaluate their physicians, with not only star ratings but also written narrative reviews. These reviews tend to fall into two dimensions: interpersonal manner, which includes comments about the physician’s attitude, behavior, and communication; and technical competence, which includes comments about the physician’s knowledge, skill, and outcomes. These two dimensions are important for patient-centered care and align with research from social psychology. Whereas prior studies have revealed gender differences in workplace assessments and overall star ratings of physicians, little is known about physician gender differences in patients’ online written reviews. We were curious whether physician gender differences were prevalent in patients’ written reviews and consistent across physician specialties, from generalists, like primary care physicians, to proceduralists, like surgeons. We collected physician profile, rating, and review data from one of the largest commercial physician rating and review websites. We focused on physicians from three primary care specialties (family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics), and three surgical specialties (general surgery; orthopedic surgery; and cosmetic, plastic, and reconstructive surgery). Our final sample included 345,053 online reviews received by 167,150 U.S. physicians between 2015 and 2020. We used hand-coded reviews to train an advanced natural language processing algorithm to classify all reviews for the presence and valence of patients’ comments of physicians’ interpersonal manner and technical competence. We then conducted multilevel logistic regressions to analyze differences by female or male physician gender in interpersonal manner and technical competence comments and whether those comments were associated with review star ratings. (more…)
Laboratories, Medical Research Centers, Pharmaceutical Companies / 12.02.2025

Clinical trials are a fundamental part of medical research, ensuring the safety and efficacy of new drugs, medical devices, and treatments. A Clinical Research Organization (CRO) plays a pivotal role in managing and conducting these trials efficiently. From regulatory compliance to data management, CROs provide expertise that helps sponsors navigate the complexities of clinical research.

What is a Clinical Trials CRO?

A Clinical Research Organization (CRO) is a specialized service provider that assists pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and medical device manufacturers in conducting clinical trials. These organizations offer comprehensive services, including study design, patient recruitment, monitoring, regulatory compliance, data collection, and statistical analysis. CROs streamline the clinical trial process, reducing time and costs while ensuring compliance with regulatory authorities such as the FDA and EMA.

Key Services Offered by Clinical Trials CROs

  1. Protocol Development – Designing a scientifically sound and regulatory-compliant study protocol.
  2. Regulatory Compliance – Ensuring adherence to FDA, EMA, and other global regulatory requirements.
  3. Patient Recruitment and Management – Identifying and enrolling eligible patients for clinical trials.
  4. Site Selection and Monitoring – Identifying qualified research sites and ensuring compliance with Good Clinical Practice (GCP).
  5. Data Management and Biostatistics – Collecting, analyzing, and interpreting trial data.
  6. Safety Monitoring – Assessing adverse events and ensuring patient safety throughout the trial.
  7. Quality Assurance – Conducting audits and inspections to maintain data integrity and protocol adherence.
  8. Medical Writing and Reporting – Preparing regulatory submissions, study reports, and scientific publications.
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Author Interviews, Cannabis, JAMA, Pediatrics, UCSD / 30.01.2025

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: John Bellettiere, PhD Assistant Adjunct Professor Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health & Human Longevity Science University of California, San Diego MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response:  Smoking is the most common method of cannabis use and generates harmful emissions.  Cannabis is often smoked indoors, which exposes non-smokers, including children, to these emissions. Our research analyzed in-home cannabis smoking practices to determine if there is an association between this behavior and the detection of cannabis biomarkers in children. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Lymphoma, Nutrition, University of Pennsylvania / 24.12.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Shan Liu, PhD, Postdoctoral fellow Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Our study provides evidence that the efficacy of CAR T cell immunotherapies can be influenced by an important lifestyle factor: diet.   MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Response:  Our study found that a ketogenic diet can enhance CAR T cell function through its metabolite, β-Hydroxybutyrate (BHB). Importantly, instead of altering the diet, providing BHB via oral supplementation in our preclinical model is sufficient to improve the anti-tumor function of CAR T cells. However, it's important to note that we’re still in the early stages, and we’re not yet recommending any dietary changes or supplements for patients. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, NEJM, NIH, OBGYNE / 05.12.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Diana W. Bianchi, M.D. Senior Investigator Center for Precision Health Research Director, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development National Institutes of Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The ability of prenatal cell-free DNA (cfDNA) sequencing to incidentally detect maternal cancers has been demonstrated by several retrospective studies from commercial or national laboratories. However, there are no standardized approaches to the identification and medical management of prenatal screening results that might indicate a maternal cancer. We sought to prospectively identify DNA sequencing patterns and other biomarkers that could distinguish which women with nonreportable or unusual cfDNA sequencing results had cancer and to determine the best approach for diagnostic work-up of pregnant people who receive these results. (more…)
Author Interviews, Health Care Systems, JAMA, Pharmacology, University of Pittsburgh / 31.10.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Katie J. Suda, PharmD, M.S., FCCP Professor of medicine with tenure Associate Director, Center for Pharmaceutical Policy and Prescribing University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Our pharmaceutical supply chain is global where the manufacturing process for one drug may occur in multiple countries. Sometimes there are breakdowns in the pharmaceutical supply chain which may threaten access to medicines. Breakdowns in the supply chain occur for medicines manufactured in the U.S. and by international partners. While breakdowns in the supply chain occur for hundreds of drugs each year, not all result in a decrease in available supply (a “drug shortage”) because of action taken by manufacturers, pharmacies and drug regulators (e.g., the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [FDA]). Drug shortages are a critical concern to public health as pharmacies, clinicians, and patients struggle to identify safe and effective alternatives. In addition, drug shortages have been associated with adverse patient outcomes and medication safety events. Recently, drug shortages have gotten worse with shortages occurring with increasing frequency and lasting longer. There has also been a shift in the types of medicines in shortage from drugs primarily used in hospitals, such as injectables, to oral medicines frequently used to manage outpatient conditions. Countries have different regulatory authority and policy which may impact how drug supply chain breakdowns result in drug shortages. We wanted to know if there are differences between the U.S. and Canada in the frequency that national drug shortages occur after supply chain breakdowns are reported in both countries. Canada is a good comparator to the U.S. because Canada has similar drug regulatory standards and manufacturing inspections. Prescription drug coverage is also similar for the two countries where half of prescriptions are reimbursed through public insurance and half through private insurance and out-of-pocket. (more…)
Author Interviews, Mental Health Research, University of Michigan / 27.10.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Daniel J. Kruger, PhD University of Michigan MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: A team of researchers from the University of Michigan and University at Buffalo teamed up with psychedelic advocates and therapists to document some of the challenges with psychedelics. They surveyed over a thousand psychedelic users about their adverse experiences and the experiences they have heard from others. Most reported being frightened, sadness, loneliness, and feeling their body tremble or shake at times. Some people experienced panic, paranoia, felt that they are dead, or that the state they were in would last forever. One in ten participants had adverse physical reactions.  For most people having these experiences, they are rare or happen sometimes, but they are still significant. Most of the people that experienced a severe adverse event did not have guidance from someone who was knowledgeable about psychedelics. A small portion of participants knew about an incident of inappropriate sexual contact by a psychedelic sitter, guide, or practitioner, the perpetrators were mostly underground guides and friends or acquaintances. (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Medicare, UCLA / 15.10.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Frank F. Zhou  |  he/him MD Candidate, Class of 2025 David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What is Lecanemab used for?  How is it given to patients? Response: Lecanemab is a new infusion therapy for Alzheimer's disease. Its dosing is based on each patient's body weight (10 mg/kg every two weeks), but the drug is only available in 500 mg and 200 mg single-use vials, meaning that any leftover drug in vials must be thrown away. Given that lecanemab is expected to cost Medicare billions of dollars each year, we hypothesized that discarded drug could result in significant wasteful spending. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, JAMA, Microbiome, NYU / 01.10.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jiyoung Ahn, PhD Professor of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine Associate Director for Population Science, NYU Perlmutter Cancer Center NYU Langone Health Smilow Research Building New York, NY 10016 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We found that oral bacterial species are linked to a collective 50% increased risk of developing head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Some of these microbes have previously been shown to contribute to periodontal disease, a serious gum infection that can erode the jawbone and the soft tissues surrounding the teeth. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, Environmental Risks, NIH, Pediatrics / 27.08.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rick Woychik, Ph.D. Director of the National Toxicology Program Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Principal Investigator Mammalian Genome Research Group Division for Intramural Research at NIEHS MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Since 1945, the use of fluoride has been a successful public health initiative for reducing dental cavities and improving general oral health of adults and children. There is a concern, however, that some pregnant women and children may be getting more fluoride than they need because they now get fluoride from many sources including treated public water, water-added foods and beverages, teas, toothpaste, floss, and mouthwash, and the combined total intake of fluoride may exceed safe amounts.   Therefore, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) conducted a systematic review of the published scientific literature on the association between fluoride exposure and neurodevelopment and cognition. The NTP released their findings in a State of the Science Monograph on August 21, 2024, and posted to the NTP website. A corresponding meta-analysis on children’s IQ has been accepted by a scientific journal for publication later in 2024. The NTP started this work in 2016. As with all research documents intended for publication, the NTP fluoride monograph and meta-analysis underwent rigorous scientific evaluation.  The evaluation process has involved many steps. The draft fluoride monograph received significant critical feedback during peer-review by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM), from other external experts, and from experts in several federal health agencies.  After modifications were made, additional evaluation following a rigorous scientific framework was conducted by subject matter experts organized by the NTP Board of Scientific Counselors. I am very pleased that this document is now complete and available for reference. Since fluoride is such an important topic to the public and to public health officials, it was imperative that we made every effort to get the science right. I commend the report authors, the NTP Board of Scientific Counselors, and countless subject matter experts who participated in this evaluation. The monograph represents a thorough review of the data, and the various interpretations of the data, to accurately reflect what we know and where additional research is needed. (more…)
Author Interviews, Autism, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Genetic Research / 26.08.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Caroline Dias, M.D., Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Pediatrics-Developmental Pediatrics University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus       Christopher Walsh, M.D., Ph.D. Chief, Division of Genetics and Genomics Bullard Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology at Harvard Medical School and researcher who has used material donated to the brain bank     MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Many different types of genetic variants contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. Copy number variants are large pieces of genetic material that are duplicated or deleted. We have known for many years that many copy number variants at certain genetic locations are linked to autism. Because these copy number variants may include lots of different genes, it has been difficult to understand how these copy number variants alter human brain function. Furthermore, although animal models are important, autism is in many ways defined by differences in uniquely human cognitive and social functioning. Better understanding of how these copy number variants change human brain function will shed light on universal mechanisms that regulate neurodevelopment. We studied a copy number variant called dup15q, that is associated with almost 40-fold higher rates of autism vs. the general population. We studied post-mortem human brain tissue from individuals with dup15q, individuals with autism not related to dup15q, and neurotypical controls, to better understand how the human brain is impacted by dup15q. We focused on frontal cortex, an important brain region in executive function and social perspective taking. We applied cutting edge techniques that allow us to assess individual cells in the brain.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Johns Hopkins, Nutrition / 22.07.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Shutong Du Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research Department of Epidemiology, Bloomberg School of Public Health Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We know that ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are high in salt, added sugars, unhealthy fats, and artificial additives and have undergone multiple industrial processes. These foods have been linked to adverse health outcomes like weight gain and cardiovascular diseases. Despite these risks, current diabetes guidelines do not address UPFs. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Genetic Research, JAMA, Karolinski Institute, Prostate Cancer / 05.07.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Anna Plym PhD Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health Department of Urology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death among men, with approximately one third of the deaths occurring before the age of 75 years. There is a need for a better understanding of the risk factors for those early deaths. Our previous research has indicated that inherited factors play a major role. (more…)
Allergies, Author Interviews, Duke / 25.06.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Soman Abraham PhD Grace Kerby Distinguished Professor of Pathology Duke University. Dr. Abraham led the research when working in the Emerging Infectious Diseases Research Programme at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The degranulation of mast cells (MCs) is a process that leads to allergic symptoms, ranging from itching, redness, and swelling of the tissue to severe and potentially life-threatening anaphylaxis involving multiple organ systems. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 10 per cent of the global population suffers from food allergies. As allergy rates continue to rise, so does the incidence of food-triggered anaphylaxis and asthma worldwide. In view of the fact that allergic diseases are difficult to prevent or treat, we sought to understand the underlying basis for anaphylactic reactions. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, University of Pittsburgh / 09.05.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Roderick J. O’Sullivan PhD Associate Professor Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology UPMC Hillman Cancer Center University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: For a few years, my group has had the good fortune of collaborating with Dr. Ivan Ahel. Ivan is a world leader in the field of ADP-ribosylation. His work has identified major gaps in our understanding of ADP-ribosylation. This includes his lab discovering that DNA bases can be ADP-ribosylated in bacteria and that a poorly characterized enzyme known as TARG1 could be involved in that process. In discussing this work with Ivan, we were confident that DNA ADP-ribosylation also exists in human cells and that showing this could be pretty important. The problem was that identifying a part of the genome where it might be present, so we could study it, was not so obvious and challenging. But we had a hunch that telomeres could be one part of the genome where it could happen!! Telomeres are really special structures located at the ends of each human chromosome. They demarcate the physical end of each chromosome and prevent chromosomes from becoming entangled – which if it happens, is catastrophic for cells. Our hunch was based on the evidence from other studies that telomeres are natural targets of PARP1, the enzyme that catalyzes most of the ADP-ribosylation in human cells. I then discussed this idea with Anne Wondisford, a medical scientist trainee in the lab, who liked the idea and designed a series of experiments to test it. (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, JAMA, Nutrition / 07.05.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Marta Guasch-Ferré, PhD Associate Professor and Deputy Head of Section, Section of Epidemiology University of Copenhagen Group Leader, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Nutrition Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response:  Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats and contains compounds with antioxidant activity that may play a protective role for the brain. Olive oil as part of a Mediterranean diet appears to have a beneficial effect against cognitive decline. Higher olive oil intake was previously associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality. But its association with dementia mortality was unknown. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Gender Differences, UCLA / 25.04.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yusuke Tsugawa, MD, PhD Associate Professor of Medicine & Health Policy and Management, UCLA Director of Data Core, UCLA Department of Medicine Statistics Core Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA Los Angeles, CA 90024   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Prior studies have found that female and male physicians practice medicine differently. For example, female physicians are, on average, more likely to abide by clinical guidelines and spend more time listening to patients. However, evidence was limited as to whether such differences have clinically meaningful impact on patients’ health outcomes, which was the aim of this study. (more…)
Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus, JAMA, Technology, UCSD, Vaccine Studies / 25.04.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: John W. AyersJohn W. Ayers, PhD MA Vice Chief of Innovation | Assoc. Professor
Div. Infectious Disease & Global Public Health University of California San Diego Since the World Health Organization declared an ‘infodemic’ of misinformation, there have been surprisingly few achievements to celebrate. X's Community Notes have emerged as an innovative strategy to address misinformation as reported in the latest issue of JAMA.
Before the inception of Community Notes, social media companies employed various tactics to tackle misinformation, including censoring, shadowbanning (muting a user or their content on a platform without informing them), and adding generic warning labels to problematic content. However, these efforts were typically undisclosed meaning their effectiveness could not be studied.

In late 2022, X introduced Community Notes. This novel approach empowers volunteer, independent, anonymous, and ideologically diverse contributors to identify posts containing misinformation and to rectify misinformation by appending informative "notes" to suspect posts. The process is controlled by the public, instead of decision-makers at the company. Most importantly the system is open-sourced so it can be studied by external scientists.

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Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Mental Health Research, NIH / 19.04.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sharon Dekel PhD Principal Investigator Director of the Postpartum Traumatic Stress Disorders Research Program Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School Boston, MA, 02114 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Maternal psychopathologies affect a significant number of American women and are the leading complications of childbirth and a significant contributor to maternal death. Maternal (physical) morbidity in the US remain the highest among all countries in the West, suggesting that some women will have a traumatic childbirth experience. The most common mental illness associated with trauma is posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD stemming from childbirth is estimated to affect 6% of delivering women (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28443054/). In high-risk groups, for example women who have unscheduled Cesareans the rate is estimated at 20% or higher (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31041603/.). Although we screen for postpartum depression in hospitals in the USA there is no screening for what we define as childbirth-related PTSD (CB-PTSD). The overarching goal of the Dekel Lab is to develop novel and patient-friendly screening tools to identify women with this disorder. As importantly traumatic childbirth disproportionality affects Black and Latina women (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35598158/). (more…)
Author Interviews, Health Care Systems, Kidney Disease, NEJM, NIH, UT Southwestern / 04.04.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Miguel A. Vazquez, MD Professor of Internal Medicine University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The main reason to conduct our trial was to improve the care of patients with coexistent chronic kidney disease CKD),  type 2 diabetes and hypertension.   Patients with this triad are at high risk for multiple complications, end stage kidney disease and premature death.   There are effective interventions for these conditions.  Unfortunately, detection and awareness of CKD is low and many patients do not receive interventions that could be beneficial In our study in patients with the coexistent triad of chronic kidney disease, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension the use of an electronic algorithm to identify patients from the electronic health record and practice facilitators embedded in four large health systems to assist primary practitioners deliver evidence-based care did not lower hospitalizations when compared to usual care. (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, JAMA, UC Davis / 25.03.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Charles DeCarli, MD, FAAN, FAHA Victor and Genevieve Orsi Chair in Alzheimer's Research Distinguished Professor of Neurology Director, Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and Imaging of Dementia and Aging (IDeA) Laboratory Department of Neurology and Center for Neuroscience University of California at Davis Sacramento, CA  95817   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The overall health of the U.S. population has improved dramatically over the last 100 years, Individuals are also living longer resulting in an increasing percentage of the population at risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD).  Recent data from the Framingham Heart study, however, finds that dementia incidence may be declining.  While many factors such as greater educational achievement and medical management of vascular risk factors may explain part of this effect, early life environmental differences also likely contribute. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Infections, JAMA, Multiple Sclerosis, Neurological Disorders / 19.03.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Marianna Cortese, MD, PhD Senior Research ScientistDepartment of Nutrition Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public HealthBoston, MA 02115   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: In a study published in Science in 2022, we reported compelling evidence that infection with the Epstein-Barr virus is the leading cause of Multiple Sclerosis. This is a follow-up study to investigate more in depth whether the antibody response to EBV is distinct in individuals with MS compared to individuals without MS and whether there is a part of EBV that the immune response is particularly targeting. For this purpose we assessed the immune response to all protein parts (peptides) of EBV and their association with MS. Previous studies could only look at parts of EBV and this is the first study looking at all EBV peptides. Antibodies to EBV (especially to a protein called EBNA1) are known to be overall higher in individuals with MS, so we also tested whether immune response overall or the immune response to specific EBV protein parts was more important. If the immune response to a specific EBV protein part (peptide) would be standing out or distinguishing individuals with MS, we hypothesized, it could point to a specific mechanism of how EBV may cause MS, i.e. it could point for example towards “molecular mimicry”, which is when antibodies targeting a pathogen start targeting a body-own structure (for example in the brain) which resembles the protein parts of the pathogen. (more…)
Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus, Infections, NYU / 14.03.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Mukundan G. Attur, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Medicine NYU Grossman School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response:  The study investigates the potential protective effects of a genetic variant of IL1RN against inflammation and severe outcomes, particularly in COVID-19. Previous research indicates that carriers of this genetic variant may experience less severe radiographic knee osteoarthritis and decreased inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Given the emergence of cytokine release syndrome in COVID-19 patients, the researchers sought to understand whether the same genetic variant could offer protection against inflammation and potential death in COVID-19 cases. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, COVID -19 Coronavirus, Imperial College, NEJM / 29.02.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Adam Hampshire Ph.D. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Brain Sciences Professor in Restorative Neurosciences Imperial College London MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Cognitive symptoms after coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), are well-recognized. Whether objectively measurable cognitive deficits exist and how long they persist are unclear. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Biomarkers, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Heart Disease / 27.02.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rosangela Akemi Hoshi, Ph.D. Lemann Foundation Cardiovascular Research Postdoctoral Fellowship Center for Lipid Metabolomics Divisions of Preventive and Cardiovascular Medicine Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston, MA  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you describe the IgG N-glycan profile? Response: Glycans are sugar coatings of proteins, made of monosaccharide building blocks, that are involved in a variety of biological pathways.  Different sugar structures can dictate or modify the protein’s activity through specific interactions with cellular receptors. For example, proteins lacking glycans have a reduced level or a complete loss of function. Glycans are of such importance that the 2022 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded for glycan-based science. In this study, we examined glycans attached to Immunoglobulins G (IgG) and their link with incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) due to their impact on IgG inflammatory properties. Since inflammation is not only a cause, but also an aggravating factor and a mediator of a worse prognosis in cardiometabolic disorders and CVD, we investigated whether different glycan structures may characterize an at-risk phenotype for CVD development. Determining glycan profiles involved in multiple conditions can serve prognostic and diagnostic purposes. Yet, unlike other types of macromolecules, glycans are still not as much explored, characterizing a promising but underappreciated class that should be further investigated. (more…)
Author Interviews, Nature, Technology, University of Pittsburgh / 26.02.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jishnu Das, Ph.D. Center for Systems Immunology Departments of Immunology and Computational & Systems Biology, Assistant Professor School of Medicine University of Pittsburgh MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study? How does this new AI model work?  How is it different from other models? Response: Modern multi-omic technologies generate an enormous amount of data across scales of organization, and with differing resolution. While recent machine learning methods have harnessed these to predict clinical/physiological outcomes, they are often black boxes that do not provide meaningful inference beyond prediction. Differences in data generation modalities, redundancy in the data, as well as large numbers of irrelevant features make inference of biological mechanisms from high-dimensional omic datasets challenging. To address these challenges, we developed a machine learning technique called SLIDE (Significant Latent Factor Interaction Discovery and Exploration). We reasoned that features that are directly measured by current technologies are constrained by strengths and weaknesses of current platforms. So, while some observed features may be excellent correlates of outcomes of interest, inferring biological mechanisms from these multi-omic datasets requires us to delve beyond the observable into the hidden states, i.e., latent factors. These hidden states encapsulate the true drivers of underlying biological processes and capture a complex multi-scale interplay between entities measured by these datasets. Our method moves beyond simple biomarkers/correlates (“the what”) to hidden states that actually explain clinical/physiological outcomes (“the how” and “the why”). (more…)
Author Interviews, Respiratory, Social Issues, University of Michigan / 31.01.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Wilson N. Merrell Ph.D. Student Department of Psychology University of MichiganWilson N. Merrell Ph.D. Student Department of Psychology University of Michigan MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: From the common cold to COVID-19, people get sick all the time. Because our social worlds don’t pause just because we are feeling ill, we often still need to navigate in-person events ranging from work and school to first dates and family dinners even while we’re feeling under the weather. In these kinds of social situations, do we always tell others when we’re feeling sick, or are there times when we may want to downplay our illness? After all, we tend to react negatively to, find less attractive, and steer clear of people who are sick with infectious illness. To the extent that we want to avoid these negative social outcomes while sick, it therefore makes sense that we may take steps to cover up our sickness in social situations. Given that this concealment could serve individual social goals (like allowing you to connect with others) at the cost of broader harms to public health (through the spread of infectious disease), we found this behavior both theoretically novel and practically timely. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Genetic Research, Hearing Loss, Lancet, Pediatrics / 29.01.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Zheng-Yi Chen, D.Phil. Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surger Harvard Medical School Boston, MA MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?  Would you briefly explain the process and indication Response: This clinical trial is to use gene therapy to treat a type of genetic hearing loss. Genetic hearing loss mainly affects children. One in 600 newborns can have genetic hearing loss. There is no drug treatment for any type of hearing loss except for cochlear implants, which have limitations. This study focuses on a type of genetic hearing loss, DFNB9, due to a missing gene called Otoferlin. Without Otoferlin,  children are born with complete hearing loss and without the capacity to speak. The goal of the trial is to study if gene therapy is safe and efficacious in treating children so they can regain hearing and the ability to speak. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brain Injury, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Inflammation / 14.01.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Samir Mitragotri Ph.D. Hiller Professor of Bioengineering Hansjorg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering Area Chair, Bioengineering Core Faculty Member, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering Harvard John A. Paulson School Of Engineering And Applied Sciences MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has a heavy burden on the world, affecting ~70 million people globally each year. Despite its prevalence, there are no clinically approved treatments beyond symptom management. There is an urgent need to develop effective therapies to alleviate the damage caused by TBI.   MedicalResearch.com:  What do macrophages typically do?  As part of the innate immune system, macrophages migrate to areas of injury to eat pathogens or debris and manage inflammation in response to injury or infection. However, in the majority of cases of TBI, there is no actual infection from a foreign pathogen, leading to excessive inflammation that spreads damage beyond the initial impact. (more…)