Scientists at Harvard Medical School have spotted DNA mutations linked to a common brain tumor that more often affects women, in a study that may pave the way for treating the sometimes fatal disease with drugs targeting genes that spur its growth. Rameen Beroukhim, HMS assistant professor of medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, was the senior author on the study.
In a leap forward in understanding the basic science of one of the most lethal cancers, two groups of researchers have found mutations in most melanomas that are unlike any they have seen before in cancer. Levi A. Garraway, HMS associate professor of medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, was one of the researchers. Immaculata De Vivo, HMS associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is quoted.
Laying claim to one of the state’s largest remaining independent hospitals, Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center said Thursday it signed a letter of intent to acquire Jordan Health Systems Inc., the parent of 155-bed Jordan Hospital in Plymouth. Kevin Tabb, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and HMS lecturer on medicine, is quoted.
Massachusetts General Hospital has hired the first woman to lead its huge Department of Medicine. Katrina Armstrong, a professor of medicine and obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Pennsylvania, will become physician-in-chief of the medicine department on April 15.
Leana Wen, HMS clinical fellow in medicine and Joshua Kosowsky, HMS assistant professor of medicine, both emergency physicians at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, co-authored the new book, “When Doctors Don’t Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests” and both were guests on The Diane Rehm Show to discuss the book.
Turns out a good night’s rest is good for business. One-third of American workers aren’t sleeping enough to function at peak levels, and that chronic exhaustion is costing billions of dollars in lost productivity, according to researchers from Harvard Medical School.
Celgene’s drug Abraxane prolonged the lives of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer by almost two months in a clinical trial, researchers reported, signifying an advance in treating a notoriously difficult disease but not as big a leap as some doctors and investors had hoped. Robert Mayer, the Stephen B. Kay Family Professor of Medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, is quoted.
Further coverage of George M. Church, the Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics at HMS, quelling the story reported over the past few days about cloning Neanderthals.
Despite expert recommendations meant to encourage talks, many still do not spend their final days the way they would have chosen. Lachlan Forrow, HMS associate professor of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, is chair of the panel. Angelo Volandes, HMS assistant professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, led a study about end-of-life preferences.
