A study led by John Meara, HMS associate professor of surgery at Children’s Hospital Boston, found that performing Caesarean deliveries extensively in 49 poor countries would save 16,800 mothers’ lives annually and prevent many fistulas — vaginal tears so severe that they reach the rectum, causing lifelong anguish.
As the cost of mapping a person’s genome falls, some experts and health-care companies are predicting that genome sequencing will one day become common practice in doctors’ offices and hospitals as a means of guiding prevention and treatment of illnesses. Robert C. Green, HMS lecturer on medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is leading a trial to see what patients and their primary-care doctors do with the genetic information, including changing lifestyle, prescribing drugs and ordering additional tests.
Thousands of people in the U.S. are undergoing DNA testing for research purposes and aren’t receiving the results, even when the information has life-or-death consequences. Alexander Wait Zaranek, HMS research fellow in genetics and Robert C. Green, HMS lecturer on medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, are quoted.
Colon cancer screenings that don’t require laxatives are almost as effective as colonoscopies and may encourage more people to be tested, researchers said. Michael Zalis, HMS associate professor of radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, is the study’s lead author.
The first National Alzheimer’s Plan sets a deadline of 2025 to finally find effective ways to treat, or at least stall, the mind-destroying disease. Reisa Sperling, HMS associate professor of neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is quoted.
Massachusetts General Hospital in the next few weeks will launch a large, long-awaited test of whether a controversial cutting-edge proton beam therapy is more effective than standard radiation treatment for prostate cancer. Jason Efstathiou, HMS assistant professor of radiation oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Karen Marcus, HMS associate professor of radiation oncology at Children’s Hospital Boston, are quoted.
Donald Berwick, HMS lecturer on health care policy, wrote an editorial in today’s Boston Globe about bills now under consideration by the Massachusetts House and Senate for controlling health care costs in the state.
The Harvard School of Public Health is working with the Rwandan Ministry of Health to teach a course called Global Health Delivery in the village of Rwinkwavu twice a year. Paul Farmer, the Kolokotrones University Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine and chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine; Agnes Binagwaho, Rwanda’s minister of health and HMS senior lecturer on social medicine; and Joseph Rhatigan, HMS assistant professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and director of Curriculum Development for Global Health Delivery Training Programs, are quoted.
With the help of Boston scientists, one family turned the unthinkable into a future ruled by hope. Research by Christopher Walsh, the Bullard Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology at Children’s Hospital Boston, is featured. Edward Gilmore, HMS instructor in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Boston, is also quoted.
More and more dogs are around campus during exams to help students relax and maybe even crack a smile or two. The HMS resident therapy dog, Cooper, is featured. Loise Francisco-Anderson, HMS research fellow in microbiology and immunobiology, owns Cooper and is quoted in the article.
Noting that India has the ability to be a “global hub” in the bio-pharma and healthcare sector, industry leaders have said that steps need to be taken to realize the huge untapped potential in this field. William W. Chin, HMS executive dean for research, is quoted.
Donald Berwick, HMS lecturer on healthcare policy and former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), will address HMS and HSDM degree candidates on May 23 as Class Day speaker.
