With the proliferation in personal blogs and consumer websites such as Yelp and Angie’s List, there has been an increase in claims brought by doctors against former patients, and sometimes their relatives, over negative ratings and reviews they have posted on the Internet, lawyers say.
President Barack Obama’s public-private initiative to create an activity map of the human brain will cost more than $3 billion, projections say, or $300 million annually for 10 years and all involved hope that the initiative will move brain science forward with the same kind of money and focused effort that drove the Genome Project. George Church, the Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics at HMS, is quoted.
A method described in Nature this week makes X-ray crystallography of small molecules simpler, faster and more sensitive, largely doing away with the laborious task of coaxing molecules to form crystals. Jon Clardy, the Hsien Wu and Daisy Yen Wu Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at HMS, wrote an editorial accompanying the paper.
A new study concludes that one of the most common and effective forms of bariatric surgery, called Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, melts away pounds not - or not only - by re-routing the digestive tract, as long thought, but by changing the bacteria in the gut. Lee Kaplan, HMS associate professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, is the senior author of the study.
A video game that uses a computer-generated layout of a building can help to prepare the blind to navigate the venue in real life by improving their spatial awareness, according to researchers. Lotfi Merabet, HMS assistant professor of ophthalmology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, led a team that developed the software used in the game.
A massive collaboration between cancer researchers at more than 160 institutions worldwide has nearly doubled the number of genetic regions known to be associated with three major cancers: breast, ovarian, and prostate. Leif Ellisen, HMS associate professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Philip Kantoff, HMS professor of medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, are quoted.
A unique video series hopes to help patients and families understand their options at life’s end. Angelo Volandes, HMS assistant professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, is the co-founder of the nonprofit foundation Advance Care Planning Decisions.
One of the drugs in the pipeline to treat hepatitis C, called miravirsen, may be able to stop the virus with little side effects, according to researchers. Judy Lieberman, HMS professor of pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, is quoted.
