Harvard University has received a $50 million gift from businessman and alumnus Len Blavatnik to support a major initiative aimed at bridging the “valley of death” — the gap between basic biomedical research and the emergence of new therapies for patients. Greg Verdine, the Erving Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology and of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at FAS, is quoted.
Researchers report that millions of people experience significant side effects from medications every year. Sharon K. Inouye, HMS professor of medicine at Hebrew SeniorLife; Jerry Avorn, HMS professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Cornelia Cremens, HMS assistant professor of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital; and Brent Forester, HMS assistant professor of psychiatry at McLean Hospital, are quoted.
We’re used to controversies around the teaching of evolution but here’s one place you might be surprised to learn Darwinian thinking is still struggling to take hold: medical schools. It’s not that the medical establishment doubts evolution, it’s just that traditionally it hasn’t viewed it as particularly relevant to taking care of patients. A paper co-authored by Jeffrey S. Flier, dean of the faculty of medicine at Harvard University, is mentioned.
While doctors and nurses can make mistakes with medications in hospitals, a new study says drug errors often happen at home and can lead to harm. Christopher Landrigan, HMS associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, wrote a commentary accompanying the new study.
The Marathon bombings two weeks ago cast a bright spotlight not only on the courageous first responders, and volunteers at the scene, but also on the extraordinary people who work in health care in the Boston area. Beth Lown, HMS associate professor of medicine at Mount Auburn Hospital, was a co-author of this op-ed.
A Boston psychiatrist wants the brain of slain marathon bomb suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev studied like a crime scene to look for evidence that his boxing career may have left his brain damaged and possibly prone to depression and aggression. In an op-ed published in The Boston Globe, Michael Craig Miller, HMS assistant professor of psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, argued that neuroscientists should be given the chance to examine Tsarnaev’s brain.
Forensic psychologists say there are a number of mental health conditions that could cause a young man — even one who is intelligent and seemingly well adjusted, as some acquaintances have described Dzhokhar Tsarnaev — to fall under the malicious influence of a father figure. Harold Bursztajn, HMS associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, is quoted.
Believing in God could lead to better outcomes after psychiatric treatment, a small new study suggests. David H. Rosmarin, HMS instructor in psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at McLean Hospital, is the lead researcher.
Many academic medical centers across the country are chasing “translational science” — the kind of discoveries that will produce medical products, treatments and services for patients. William Chin, executive dean for research at HMS, is quoted.
