A genetic tweak can make light work of some nervous disorders. Using flashes of light to stimulate modified neurons can restore movement to paralyzed muscles. Ziv Williams, assistant professor of neurosurgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, is quoted.
An independent group could not replicate the results of a highly cited heart regeneration protocol, while others say they have succeeded. Richard Lee, professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is quoted.
By copying the blueprints found in nature, Jeffrey Karp, associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and his team of researchers are making advances in cardiac surgery, neo-natal care and drug delivery.
A dramatic advance in creating stem cells for research received a serious blow Tuesday when a Japanese scientist who led the work was accused of fraud by her own institute.
Two dozen rural states stretching from Maine to Mississippi and Montana are clamoring to increase their share of federal research dollars now disproportionately awarded to Boston-area institutions and scientists. Barrett Rollins, the Linde Family Professor of Medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Harry Orf, principal associate in genetics at Massachusetts General Hospital, are quoted.
When young and middle-aged adults started showing up at the hospital with liver failure last spring, doctors in Hawaii struggled to find the thread that connected the patients. They found it in the form of a popular sports supplement, OxyElite Pro. Research by Pieter Cohen, assistant professor of medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance, is cited.
The national standard-setting group, the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), rolled out an updated policy that will allow patients to completely opt out of recommended testing for genetic mutations that could indicate specific disease risks. Robert Green, associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, was a lead writer of the original ACMG recommendations.
Surgeon General nominee Vivek H. Murthy, instructor in medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, will address graduates of the Medical School and School of Dental Medicine at Class Day on May 29.
Japan’s top research body on Tuesday accused the lead writer of stem cell papers hailed as a game-changer in the field of medical biology of misconduct involving fabrication, but the scientist called the findings unacceptable.
A large study published Tuesday adds to the growing body of research concluding that screening mammograms save relatively few lives from breast cancer while discovering many cancers that wouldn’t have caused problems if left alone. Nancy Keating, associate professor of health care policy, is the senior author of the study.
