Following a multiyear process of self-reflection and review, Jeffrey S. Flier, dean of the faculty of medicine at Harvard University, has announced the establishment of a new Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI). It will officially become a Quad-based department on July 1, 2015. Isaac “Zak” Kohane, co-director of the HMS Center for Biomedical Informatics, director of the Countway Library of Medicine and the HMS Lawrence J. Henderson Professor of Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, will be the department’s inaugural chair.
Gay and bisexual men are at increased risk of acquiring the virus that leads to AIDS if they have mental health problems, according to a new study. Matthew Mimiaga, associate professor of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, led the research.
Researchers looked at more than 9,000 clinic visits for headaches over 10 years and found that the number of patients referred for a CAT scan or MRI, or referred to a specialist, like a neurologist, essentially doubled over the decade, and that counseling about lifestyle changes that could help prevent or treat headaches, fell considerably. John Mafi, research fellow in medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, led the study.
Massachusetts residents with HIV are twice as likely as patients nationally to have the disease under control, according to a report from the state Department of Public Health with wider implications for other states and nations seeking to curb the spread of the virus. Kenneth Mayer, professor of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Bisola Ojikutu, assistant professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, are quoted.
Marvin Wang, assistant professor of pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital, authored this opinion piece about the benefits of later school start times.
Steven Schlozman, assistant professor of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, authored this blog post about nostalgia as a powerfully positive psychological force.
Widespread uncontrolled inflammation, multiple organ failure, and death were the results of lymphocytic cytomegalovirus (LCMV) infection in mice that had been immunized with a vaccine that solely elicited a T helper cell response, according to research. The results suggest vaccines that activate multiple arms of the immune system are likely to be safest and most effective. Dan Barouch, professor of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, led the research. Bruce Walker, professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, is quoted.
Harvard has newly invested tens of millions of dollars in oil and gas companies, rebuffing campaigners’ demands to sever the wealthy university’s ties to the companies that cause climate change. Jim Recht, assistant professor of psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance, is quoted.
Midazolam’s ongoing use has alarmed experts because it is relatively untested in execution settings. David Waisel, associate professor of anaesthesia at Boston Children’s Hospital, is quoted.
