In experiments on mice, stem cells were genetically engineered to produce and secrete toxins which kill brain tumours, without killing normal cells or themselves. Khalid Shah, associate professor of radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, is lead author of the research.
Women who are at their peak fertility, yet certain they do not want babies of their own – finding a doctor to perform sterilization can be challenging, even impossible. Deborah Bartz, assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is quoted.
The rise of injuries among developing athletes — especially those who specialize — has been widely noted. Sports medicine professionals estimate that overuse problems account for about half of all pediatric sport injuries. Mininder Kocher, professor of orthopedic surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital, is quoted.
Paul Farmer, Kolokotrones University Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine and head of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, authored this essay about the reasons for Ebola’s rapid spread and how stronger global health systems can help stop it.
The car-service at the tap of a smartphone announced a one-day UberHEALTH pilot program in partnership with Harvard Medical School’s Vaccine Finder program to deliver free flu shots on-demand. John Brownstein, associate professor of pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, is quoted.
Nearly 800,000 Texans are getting health insurance for the first time under the Affordable Care Act, but more than 6 million more are uninsured and looking for other options. Many of them are turning to places they say are both affordable and convenient — places like Walmart. Ateev Mehrotra, associate professor of health care policy, is interviewed.
New recruits enter the Army with roughly the same rates of mental problems as their civilian peers, but those disorders can persist for longer amid the demands of service than in civilian life, according to conclusions drawn in two recently published papers. Anthony Rosellini, research fellow in health care policy and lead author of the paper on mental disorders, is quoted. Ronald Kessler, McNeil Family Professor of Health Care Policy, is a senior author on both papers.
According to experts, a poorly conceived set of standards has the potential to be, at best, fruitless and, at worst, detrimental to the youngest kids who are on the frontline of the Common Core. Gene Beresin, professor of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, is quoted.
According to the 2000 report, 44 percent of geneticists and almost a third of other life scientists admitted to withholding data requested by other researchers, despite best practices that encourage sharing for scientific progress. In a recent follow-up study, researchers found that NIH policy changes requiring grant applications to include plans for sharing acquired data have had an impact. Eric Campbell, led the research.
