Medical Research Centers

08 Jan

Posted at 20:32h in Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, JAMA, Surgical Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52688" align="alignleft" width="200"]Mehra Golshan, MD, MBA Dr. Abdul Mohsen & Sultana Al-Tuwaijri Distinguished Chair Surgical OncologyDirector of Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School Dr. Golshan[/caption] Mehra Golshan, MD, MBA Dr. Abdul Mohsen & Sultana Al-Tuwaijri Distinguished Chair Surgical OncologyDirector of Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Triple negative breast cancer is an aggressive form of breast cancer that often requires chemotherapy. In this study we provided neoadjuvant chemotherapy with or without a PARP inhibitor and showed that many women who were originally ineligible for breast conservation (lumpectomy) became eligible after treatment. If lumpectomy was tried it was usually successful.  Many more women in the US compared to Europe and Asia chose mastectomy when lumpectomy was an option even when genetics is negative.

08 Jan

Posted at 20:08h in Author Interviews, Fertility, NIH, Supplements
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52643" align="alignleft" width="133"]Enrique Schisterman, Ph.D. Chief, Epidemiology Branch, DIPHR Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development NICHD Dr. Schisterman[/caption] Enrique Schisterman, Ph.D. Chief, Epidemiology Branch, DIPHR Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development NICHD MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Small studies indicated that zinc and folic acid supplements for men might improve semen quality as both zinc and folic acid are involved in DNA transcription and have antioxidant functions. But no large-scale randomized trials have been done to assess efficacy, which is important since dietary supplements are largely unregulated, and FDA cannot regulate supplements until after they come to market. Some male fertility-targeted supplements are already among the most commonly sold supplement products, despite the lack of data to guide their use. 

08 Jan

Posted at 20:03h in Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Brain Injury, JAMA, Pediatrics, UCSF
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52671" align="alignleft" width="179"]Benjamin N. Breyer MD, MAS, FACS Associate Professor Departments of Urology and Epidemiology and Biostatistics University of California, San Francisco Dr. Breyer[/caption] Benjamin N. Breyer MD, MAS, FACS Associate Professor Departments of Urology and Epidemiology and Biostatistics University of California, San Francisco Vice-Chair of Urology Chief of Urology, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center Director, UCSF Male Genitourinary Reconstruction and Trauma Surgery Fellowship MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: There has been a large increase in upright scooter usage among adults as a mode of transportation. It's convenient for commuters and may encourage greater use of public transit leading to less car traffic in cities.

06 Jan

Posted at 16:42h in Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Brain Injury, Medical Imaging, UCSF
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52640" align="alignleft" width="180"]William G. Mantyh, MD Clinical Fellow, UCSF Memory and Aging Center Weill Institute for Neurosciences UCSF Dr. Mantyh[/caption] William G. Mantyh, MD Clinical Fellow, UCSF Memory and Aging Center Weill Institute for Neurosciences UCSF MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Similar to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other dementing illnesses, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition associated with abnormally folded tau protein in the brain. CTE is thought to be caused by exposure to repetitive head trauma, and recently has been the subject of intense media coverage given the frequency of CTE found in brains of deceased former American professional football players. CTE is almost impossible to confidently diagnose during life as the symptoms are diverse and vary from patient-to-patient. Symptoms can include impairments in memory, multi-tasking, behavioral/mood regulation, and movement. As there are no blood, imaging, or other tests for this disease, one active area of research is developing a test to help doctors diagnose this condition. As tau tangles in CTE are similar in many respects to those in Alzheimer’s disease, there was hope that PET tracers that detect tau in AD might also work in CTE. Flortaucipir (FTP) is probably the most widely used tau tracer in AD. Recent work has reported some signal from FTP-PET in symptomatic former NFL players and other patients at risk for CTE (Stern et al. New Engl Jour Med 2019; Lesman-Segev et al. Neuroimage Clinical 2019). The overall signal was lower than that observed in Alzheimer’s disease, and, in lieu of correlations with post-mortem findings, it was unclear how well FTP binds to tau pathology in CTE.

05 Jan

Posted at 21:48h in Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Dermatology, Science
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52636" align="alignleft" width="180"]Dr. D. Branch Moody, MD Principal Investigator Associate Physician, Brigham and Women's Hospital Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Dr. Moody[/caption] Dr. D. Branch Moody, MD Principal Investigator Associate Physician, Brigham and Women's Hospital Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Is the CD1a molecule found on the skin's Langerhans cells? Response: With increasing industrialization worldwide, people apply cosmetics and other consumer products to the skin, leading to contact dermatitis, which is becoming increasingly common. Immunologists know that T cells participate in dermatitis reactions. However, T cells usually recognize and respond to antigens that are peptides rather than the non-peptide antigens that cause contact dermatitis.

02 Jan

Posted at 23:44h in Author Interviews, Johns Hopkins, NEJM, Weight Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52623" align="alignleft" width="230"]Mark P. Mattson, Ph.D. Adjunct Professor of Neuroscience Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Dr. Mattson[/caption] Mark P. Mattson, Ph.D. Adjunct Professor of Neuroscience Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The usual eating pattern of most people in modern societies is breakfast, lunch, dinner plus a snack(s) every day.   Animals used for most biomedical research – rats and mice – are usually fed ‘ad libitum’ (food is always available for them to eat).    During the past 25 years, myself and the many scientists who trained in my laboratory discovered that when rats or mice are fed intermittently such that they have no food every other day or eat only during a 4-6 hour time period each day, their overall health improves in many ways.  Animals on such intermittent fasting (IF) regimens exhibit signs of slowed aging and they live much longer than those fed ad libitum. The editors of the New England Journal of Medicine invited me and Rafa de Cabo (a former postdoc in my laboratory at the National Institute on Aging) to write this review article for two main reasons.   First, there have been a sufficient number of studies demonstrating the health benefits of IF in humans and knowledge of the underlying mechanisms to justify a review article.  Second, many physicians are being asked about IF by their patients and the physicians are not privy as to if they should recommend IF and how to prescribe specific IF eating patterns and follow-up to increase the likelihood that the patient will be successful in changing their eating pattern. 

02 Jan

Posted at 22:20h in Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, JAMA, OBGYNE, Pediatrics, Weight Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52619" align="alignleft" width="200"]Elvira Isganaitis, M.D., M.P.H. Pediatric Endocrinologist, Joslin Diabetes Center Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School Boston, MA 02215 Dr. Isganaitis[/caption] Elvira Isganaitis, M.D., M.P.H. Pediatric Endocrinologist, Joslin Diabetes Center Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School Boston, MA 02215 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The concept that a mother's nutrition prior to and during pregnancy is important for health outcomes in the offspring is now well accepted. For example, women intending to get pregnant must take prenatal vitamins, and are encouraged to attain a healthy weight before conception. However, much less is known about how a father's nutritional status may influence childhood health outcomes.  Based on studies in animals, exposure to undernutrition, high-fat diet, or stressful experiences in fathers can result in increased risk of obesity and diabetes in the offspring. These effects are mediated in part by epigenetic mechanisms (i.e. changes in gene expression due to differences in DNA methylation, histones, or other non-genetic mechanisms).

19 Dec

Posted at 02:33h in Author Interviews, JAMA, Opiods, Pediatrics, University of Michigan
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52464" align="alignleft" width="200"]Kao-Ping Chua, MD PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics Susan B. Meister Child Health Evaluation and Research Center University of Michigan Dr. Kao-Ping Chua[/caption] Kao-Ping Chua, MD PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics Susan B. Meister Child Health Evaluation and Research Center University of Michigan MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Opioids are frequently prescribed to adolescents and young adults aged 12-21 years – in a recent study, 1 in 8 patients in this population were prescribed opioids during the year. At the same time, almost 30% of the 3000 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2016 among adolescents and young adults involved prescription opioids. Given the frequency of opioid prescribing and the risk of overdose, it is important to understand how to prescribe opioids safely to adolescents and young adults. However, there have been few studies that examine which opioid prescribing patterns are associated with prescription opioid overdose in adolescents and young adults. Prior studies examining these patterns have focused on older adults, particularly U.S. Veterans, so the generalizability of these findings to younger populations is unclear.

16 Dec

Posted at 00:56h in Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Cognitive Issues, JAMA, Supplements
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52478" align="alignleft" width="160"]Pieter A. Cohen, MD Department of Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance Somerville, Massachusetts Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts Dr. Cohen[/caption] Pieter A. Cohen, MD Department of Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance Somerville, Massachusetts Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: There has been increasing interest in the use of over-the-counter supplements to help improve memory and cognitive function.  However, prior studies have suggested that these types of supplements might contain unapproved investigational drugs.

11 Dec

Posted at 00:34h in Author Interviews, Epilepsy, NEJM, NIH
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52433" align="alignleft" width="160"]Robin Conwit, M.D Program Director, Division of Clinical Research NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Dr. Conwit[/caption] Robin Conwit, M.D Program Director, Division of Clinical Research NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Approximately one-third of patients with intractable status epilepticus do not respond to benzodiazepines, often the first line medications given in the emergency department, leaving doctors to decide among three commonly prescribed anti-convulsants. In this study all of the anti-convulsants were equally effective. The trial gives doctors a way to clear the air of arguments that one of these drugs works any better than the others, or that any one of them is a lot safer.  It gives doctors a reason to choose a dosing strategy in status epilepticus for levetiracetam, which has otherwise been controversial and non-standard.  

10 Dec

Posted at 02:23h in Author Interviews, Health Care Systems, University of Pittsburgh
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52414" align="alignleft" width="188"]Hayley Drew Germack PhD Assistant Professor of Acute and Tertiary Care University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing Dr. Hayley Drew Germack[/caption] Hayley Drew Germack PhD Assistant Professor of Acute and Tertiary Care University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The rate of rural hospital closures has been increasing over the last ten years. Rural hospitals close for a number of reasons including poor hospital economic health tied to uncompensated care and community factors, like a local aging population. Rural hospital and unit closures have been tied to decreased access to emergency and specialty care for patients including decreased access to obstetric-gynecological services and increase travel time for appointments. A recent paper also found a 6% increase in mortality in conditions needing emergent attention after rural hospital closures. We examined the impact of hospital closures in rural counties on the counties’ supply of physicians.

09 Dec

Posted at 16:29h in Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Global Health, JAMA, Pediatrics, Vaccine Studies
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52391" align="alignleft" width="135"]Emily Parker Hyle, M.D. Assistant Professor of Medicine Massachusetts General Hospital Dr. Emily Parker Hyle[/caption] Emily Parker Hyle, M.D. Assistant Professor of Medicine Massachusetts General Hospital MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We found that many children who were planning to travel internationally were eligible for MMR vaccination prior to departure but often did not receive it - especially if they were aged 6 months to 6 years. That is because most children do not routinely receive their first dose of MMR till 12-15 months of age and their second dose of MMR till 4-6 years of age. However, ACIP recommendations are different for children who are traveling internationally. The risk of being infected with measles is much higher outside of the US, so it is recommended that children older than 1 year have had 2 MMR vaccinations and that children 6-12 months receive 1 MMR vaccination prior to travel. MMR vaccination is a safe and effective way to greatly reduce the risk of measles infection. 

04 Dec

Posted at 13:59h in Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Health Care Systems, Hepatitis - Liver Disease, UC Davis
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52353" align="alignleft" width="200"]Barbara J Turner MD, MSED, MA, MACP Senior Advisor, Gehr Family Center for Health Systems Science Professor of Clinical Medicine Keck School of Medicine, USC Dr. Turner[/caption] Barbara J Turner MD, MSED, MA, MACP Senior Advisor, Gehr Family Center for Health Systems Science Professor of Clinical Medicine Keck School of Medicine, USC  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Chronic hepatitis C (HCV) infection affects millions of persons in the United States but especially minorities and persons from low income communities. Current national guidelines recommend testing all baby boomers (born 1945 – 65) for HCV with the aim of ultimately curing those with chronic HCV infection with a short course of highly effective medication.  However implementation of these guidelines faces many hurdles in “safety net” practices serving vulnerable populations.

26 Nov

Posted at 00:42h in Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Colon Cancer, JAMA, Omega-3 Fatty Acids
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52246" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Song[/caption] MINGYANG SONG, MD, ScD Assistant Professor, Epidemiology Harvard T.H. Chan School Of Public Health Assistant Professor of Medicine Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit Massachusetts General Hospital MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Increasing data indicate that high intake of omega-3 fatty acid may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. Since effects of nutritional factors on risk of cancer, a slow-developing disease, typically emerge only after several years, it is useful to study the effect of preventive agents on cancer precursors such as colorectal polyps. Colorectal polyps are small growths on the lining of the colon or rectum. Most polyps are harmless, but some can become cancerous.

26 Nov

Posted at 00:38h in Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Cannabis, JAMA, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52232" align="alignleft" width="158"]Bertha K. Madras PhD Director, Laboratory of Addiction Neurobiology Psychobiologist, Substance Use Disorders Division, Basic Neuroscience Division Professor of Psychobiology, Department of Psychiatry Harvard Medical School Dr. Madras[/caption] Bertha K. Madras PhD Director, Laboratory of Addiction Neurobiology Psychobiologist, Substance Use Disorders Division, Basic Neuroscience Division Professor of Psychobiology, Department of Psychiatry Harvard Medical School MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Parent use of marijuana is rising, and I wondered whether this could be associated with offspring use of specific substances and across several substances
  • Several fathers have confided in me that they used marijuana to bond with their sons. They became horrified after witnessing their sons progress to using other drugs, especially heroin.
  • In general, living with a parent using substances or having substance use disorders is an explicit risk for use of substances among young offspring. Yet, few studies have directly examined whether parental marijuana use elevates the risk for opioid misuse among adolescent and young adults living with parents.  Most importantly and to the best of our knowledge, none of the existing research  simultaneously explored frequency of  parental marijuana use and whether it related to adolescent and young adult offspring’s marijuana, tobacco, alcohol use, and opioid misuse.

15 Nov

Posted at 22:53h in Abuse and Neglect, Electronic Records, Yale
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52179" align="alignleft" width="133"]Edward R. Melnick, MD, MHS Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine Program Director, Yale-VA Clinical Informatics Fellowship Program Principal Investigator, EMBED Trial Network Yale School of Medicine New Haven, CT 06519  Dr. Melnick[/caption] Edward R. Melnick, MD, MHS Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine Program Director, Yale-VA Clinical Informatics Fellowship Program Principal Investigator, EMBED Trial Network Yale School of Medicine New Haven, CT 06519  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We know that physicians are frustrated with their EHRs and that EHRs are a driver of burnout. This is the first study to measure these issues nationally. We included a standardized metric of technology from other industries (System Usability Scale, SUS; range 0-100) on the AMA’s 2017 physician burnout survey. This metric has been used in >1300 other studies so we can compare where the EHR’s usability is to other everyday technologies. We are also able to measure the relationship between physicians’ perception of their EHR’s usability and the likelihood they are burned out.

13 Nov

Posted at 01:37h in Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Cost of Health Care, Rheumatology
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52139" align="alignleft" width="200"]Natalie McCormick, Ph.D. Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Clinical Epidemiology Program Division of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology, Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Arthritis Research Canada Dr. McCormick[/caption] Natalie McCormick, Ph.D. Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Clinical Epidemiology Program Division of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology, Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Arthritis Research Canada  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) have improved the health and productivity of many people living with moderate-to-severe inflammatory rheumatic diseases. They are also among the highest-spend drugs in the USA, with substantial out-of-pocket costs that pose barriers to treatment initiation and adherence. To understand the drivers of ongoing bDMARD spending growth, and effective ways of containing costs, we analysed drug spending data for all bDMARD claims in Medicare Part D, Part B fee-for-service, and Medicaid over 2012 to 2016, isolating the impact of changes in drug prices from changes in utilisation. 

09 Nov

Posted at 21:19h in Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Cost of Health Care, Dermatology, JAMA, Rheumatology
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Emily S. Ruiz, MD, MPH Director, High-Risk Skin Cancer Clinic, Dana Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School, Dermatology Brigham And Women's Faulkner Hospital  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Innovation in oncology has led to increased development and market entry of anticancer drugs. For example, from 2009 to 2013, the US FDA approved 51 oral and systemic anticancer drugs for 63 indications. Prices for anticancer drugs have risen faster than inflation over time, especially for older drugs, and prices in the US have largely been set by market forces rather than novelty or efficacy. Understanding the evolving cancer economic landscape requires consideration of annual and cumulative rates of change for key metrics, such as total spending, drug cost per beneficiary, out-of-pocket cost, and utilization. This study sought to weigh the proportional impacts of rising drug costs and utilization on increased Medicare Part D spending for a cohort of oral anticancer drug utilized from 2013-2017. 

09 Nov

Posted at 21:11h in Author Interviews, JAMA, Sexual Health, STD, Technology, UCSD
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52020" align="alignleft" width="200"]Alicia Nobles, PhD, MS Research Fellow Department of Medicine UC San Diego Dr. Nobles[/caption] Alicia Nobles, PhD, MS Research Fellow Department of Medicine UC San Diego  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are at record-high rates according to the Centers for Disease Control. Between STDs being highly stigmatized infections and people lacking access to health care, people may elect to turn to social media to connect with others. This is precisely why social media sites are so popular - because they do allow for people to talk with others rapidly. Reddit, a social media site that rivals Twitter with 330 million active users and is the 6th most visited website in the United States, is organized into online communities, many of which discuss health topics. We monitored all r/STD (www.reddit.com/r/STD/) posts, where users can find “anything and everything STD related,” from its inception in November 2010 through February 2019.  

05 Nov

Posted at 20:50h in Author Interviews, Beth Israel Deaconess, Emergency Care, Health Care Systems, JAMA
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Laura Burke, MD, MPH Department of Emergency Medicine Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Boston, MA 02215Laura Burke, MD, MPH Department of Emergency Medicine Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Boston, MA 02215  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: There has been a lot of attention to the growing intensity and costs of emergency care, but relatively little study of how outcomes have changed in recent years for patients using the ED. We examined 30-day mortality rates for traditional Medicare beneficiaries age 65 and older using the emergency department (ED) from 2009-2016 and also examined how their rates of hospitalization have changed over time.  

30 Oct

Posted at 21:09h in Author Interviews, Columbia, Infections
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52005" align="alignleft" width="165"]Barun Mathema PhD Assistant Professor,Epidemiology Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University Dr. Mathema[/caption] Barun Mathema PhD Assistant Professor,Epidemiology Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: In 2005 a major outbreak of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) causing over 90% mortality was reported in rural town of Tugela Ferry, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The strain that caused the outbreak was resistant to all first and most second line antibiotics. This strain has since been recovered throughout the district and accounts for over 79% of all XDR-TB. We were interested in understanding the basic epidemiological and evolutionary forces that enabled this strain to proliferate. More simply, when and where this strain emerged, and how and why it became dominant. 

23 Oct

Posted at 17:40h in Author Interviews, Cannabis, JAMA, UCSD
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51918" align="alignleft" width="158"]John W. Ayers, PhD, MA Vice Chief of Innovation | Assoc. Professor Div. Infectious Disease & Global Public Health University of California San Diego Dr. Ayers[/caption] John W. Ayers, PhD, MA Vice Chief of Innovation | Assoc. Professor Div. Infectious Disease & Global Public Health University of California San Diego MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Touted as a “cure all,” researchers have documented unfounded claims that  cannabidiol (CBD) treats acne, anxiety, opioid addiction, pain, and menstrual problems. You can buy CBD droplets, massage oils, CBD gummies, or even ice cream. But public health leaders have been mostly silent on the subject because they lacked data that demonstrates just how popular CBD is and the future trajectory might be. To fill this data-gap we analyzed Google search queries that mentioned “CBD” or “cannabidiol” emerging from the United States from January 2004 through April 2019 and forecasted searches through December 2019. Rather than relying on self reports, where some might not be willing to discuss CBD openly, our strategy allowed us to directly observed millions of instances of people seeking out information or even shopping for CBD online.

18 Oct

Posted at 21:22h in Author Interviews, Education, University of Michigan
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51825" align="alignleft" width="133"]Chithra R. Perumalswami, MD, MSc Research Fellow Center for Bioethics & Social Sciences in Medicine University of Michigan Dr. Perumalswami[/caption] Chithra R. Perumalswami, MD, MSc Research Fellow Center for Bioethics & Social Sciences in Medicine University of Michigan  [caption id="attachment_51839" align="alignleft" width="133"]Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil Professor, Deputy Chair, and Residency Program Director Department of Radiation Oncology and Director Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine University of Michigan Dr. Jagsi[/caption] Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil Professor, Deputy Chair, and Residency Program Director Department of Radiation Oncology and Director Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine University of Michigan MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Burnout is a syndrome characterized by a sense of decreased personal accomplishment, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization. It can lead to increased depression, illness, suicide, and absences from work. Physician burnout has reached epidemic proportions and physician-scientists are not immune from it. They are a critical part of the healthcare workforce who are responsible for translating innovative bench research to the bedside of patients, and in recent years have faced increasing pressures. 

18 Oct

Posted at 16:00h in Author Interviews, Dermatology, Nature, Stanford
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Stephen J. Galli, MD Mary Hewitt Loveless, MD Professor Professor of Pathology and of Microbiology and Immunology Department of Pathology Stanford University School of Medicine Center for Clinical Sciences Research Stanford, CA and Nicolas Gaudenzio PhD Unité de Différenciation Epithéliale et Autoimmunité Rhumatoïde INSERM, Université de Toulouse Toulouse, France MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We took a lead from existing clinical data showing that patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis, an increasingly common disorder producing skin pathology, also have elevated levels of neuropeptides in their blood, particularly one neuropeptide, named “substance P”, whose level is correlated with disease severity. These patients also have high levels of mast cell-specific proteases in the blood, indicating that mast cells, which are innate immune cells present in the skin, and which can be activated when exposed to substance P, might play an essential role in modulating inflammatory and allergic processes. Based on these observations, our teams (Galli Lab at Stanford University, USA and Gaudenzio Lab at Inserm Toulouse, France) decided to focus on the possible interactions between sensory neurons, which are a source of substance P, and mast cells. The results of this work have now been published in the journal Nature Immunology.

10 Oct

Posted at 19:03h in Author Interviews, Fertility, Yale
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Emma Xiaolu Zang, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Sociology, Yale University New Haven, CT MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: In the past decade, Generation Xers—individuals born between the early or mid-1960s and early 1980s—have outnumbered Baby Boomers (i.e. individuals born 1946-64) and currently make up a larger segment of the United States (US) labour force. There is a debate on whether college-educated women in Generation X have spawned a major shift in labor and fertility behaviors compared with their Baby Boomer counterparts because they are less ambitious in balancing family and career and tend to prioritize child-rearing. This study finds some support for this argument. Results reveal that Total Fertility Rates (TFRs) are increasing across cohorts for all educational groups and the increase is greatest for college-educated women. The increase in cohort TFR among college-educated women is being primarily driven by an increasing proportion of those with two children transitioning to a third birth. 

08 Oct

Posted at 17:29h in Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Outcomes & Safety, Stanford
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51734" align="alignleft" width="200"]Daniel Tawfik, MD, MS Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Stanford University School of Medicine Dr. Tawfik[/caption] Daniel Tawfik, MD, MS Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Stanford University School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Professional burnout is very common among health care providers and is frequently associated with poor quality of care in the published literature. However, we know that reporting biases are common in many fields of literature, and these biases typically result in exaggerated effects being published relative to the true effect. Research on burnout and quality of care appears especially vulnerable, because many studies are not pre-specified or have several potential methods of analysis. If the studies or analyses with more impressive results are more likely to be published, this would result in a skewed picture of the relationship between burnout and quality of care.

07 Oct

Posted at 16:44h in Author Interviews, Critical Care - Intensive Care - ICUs, End of Life Care, Primary Care, Pulmonary Disease, University of Pennsylvania
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51756" align="alignleft" width="180"]Gary Weissman, MD, MSHP Assistant Professor of Medicine Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Division Palliative and Advanced Illness Research (PAIR) Center University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine  Dr. Weissman[/caption] Gary Weissman, MD, MSHP Assistant Professor of Medicine Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Division Palliative and Advanced Illness Research (PAIR) Center University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: There are millions of hospitalizations every year in the United States (US) that include a stay in an intensive care unit (ICU). Such ICU stays put strain on health system resources, may be unwanted by patients, and are costly to society. As the population of the US gets older and more medically complex, some have argued that we need more ICU beds and a larger ICU workforce to keep pace. We hypothesized that some proportion of these ICU admissions could be prevented with early and appropriate outpatient care. Such a strategy would alleviate some of the strains and costs associated with ICU stays. If an appreciable proportion of ICU stays were preventable in this way, it would strengthen support for an alternative population-health based framework instead of further investments in the ICU delivery infrastructure. 

07 Oct

Posted at 16:23h in Author Interviews, Dermatology, Environmental Risks, General Medicine, JAMA, Melanoma, Stanford
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_18136" align="alignleft" width="150"]Eleni Linos, MD DrPH, MPH Assistant Professor UCSF School of Medicine Dr. Linos[/caption] Eleni Linos MD MPH DrPH Professor of Dermatology and Epidemiology Stanford University  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: We know that tanning beds are harmful: people who use tanning beds are more likely to get skin cancer. Sexual minority men are much more likely to use tanning beds and also more likely to get skin cancer. In a separate study we discovered that one reason sexual minority men use tanning beds is if it is convenient: e.g. if close to home, cheap, and easy. (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/bjd.17684). Recent research showed that tobacco retailers cluster in LGB neighborhoods: https://sph.unc.edu/sph-news/more-tobacco-retailers-in-lgbt-neighborhoods-may-explain-smoking-disparities/. This made us wonder if tanning salons also cluster in neighborhoods with more gay men. 

05 Oct

Posted at 11:47h in Author Interviews, HIV, Infections, STD, UCSD
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51649" align="alignleft" width="150"]Dr-Martin Hoenigl Dr. Hoenigl[/caption] Martin Hoenigl, MD Assistant Professor UCSD MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Technology has changed the way men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) seek sex. Over 60% of MSM in the US use the internet and/or smartphone-based geospatial networking apps to find sex partners. Grindr™, a sophisticated geosocial networking app, is the most frequently used dating app among MSM in the United States. Previous research has shown that MSM who use Grindr™ have a greater frequency risky sexual behavior, and more sexual partners, but little is known about the association between Grindr™ use and prevention behavior such as the use of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). We evaluated risk behavior, PrEP use, and Grindr™ usage among MSM receiving community-based HIV and bacterial sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening in central San Diego. Participants who tested negative for HIV and who were not on PrEP were offered immediate PrEP.