Breakthroughs

Music-based medical interventions can have remarkable therapeutic benefits for patients diagnosed with cognitive impairments such as Alzheimer's disease, dementia and Aphasia. Cognitive Behavioral Neurologist Borna Bonakdarpour, MD, explains how he is using and studying these clinical interventions through the new Northwestern Music and Medicine Program.  

A novel gene therapy promoted transfusion independence in more than 90 percent of adult and pediatric patients with transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia. Study co-author Jennifer Schneiderman, MD, discusses results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine .

Man's best friend is helping scientists find new treatments for brain tumors. Amy Heimberger, MD, is a board-certified neurosurgeon with extensive training and experience in the field of immunology. She is part of a promising new study in canine glioblastoma that could lead to more effective human glioblastoma clinical trials.

Sachin Patel, MD, PhD, is the new chair and Lizzie Gilman Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Feinberg and psychiatrist-in-chief at Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Norman and Ida Stone Institute of Psychiatry. In this episode, he talks about the current mental health crisis in this country, his research and vision for the department.

According to the CDC, more Americans died of gun-related injuries in 2020 than in any other year on record. Judith Moskowitz, a social psychologist and professor of Medical Social Sciences at Feinberg, talks about how her NIH-funded research and intervention programs will be used to address stress and burnout in Chicago's front-line violence prevention workers through the READI Chicago program.

David Gate, PhD , assistant professor of The Ken & Ruth Davee Department of Neurology, discusses his study on the detrimental role the immune system plays in Lewy body dementias. Gate's new research published in Science suggests pathways toward unprecedented treatment therapies for this devastating disease.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. and according to a new Northwestern Medicine study published in the journal Circulation , about sixty percent of women in the U.S. have poor heart health before becoming pregnant. Study authors Sadiya Khan, MD and Natalie Cameron, MD, explain the results of the study and what needs to be done to reverse this alarmi...

In response to the first successful animal heart transplant into a human patient, internationally renowned transplant surgeon Satish Nadig, MD, PhD, reviews some of the scientific developments that have culminated in this moment, and stresses the ongoing need for other experimental strategies. Dr. Nadig is also the new director of Feinberg's Comprehensive Transplant Center.

Gregory Smith, professor of Microbiology-Immunology at Feinberg, has been investigating a path to long-needed vaccine development for herpes virus. He recently published findings in the journal Nature that bring the possibility of a preventive vaccine a step closer. 

Since coming to Northwestern in 2013, Deborah Smith Clements, MD, chair of Family & Community Medicine, has established three thriving family medicine residency programs and has been an advocate for improving the residency match process, health policy and social justice. She talks about her work, leading her department through COVID-19 and her recent Distinguished Service Award from Illinois Acade...

Immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment over the last few decades, though not for glioblastoma — the most common and deadly malignant brain tumor. However, Northwestern Medicine neurosurgeon Adam Sonabend, MD, shares promising research on the potential benefits of immunotherapy for certain glioblastoma patients.

What do we know about the effectiveness of COVID-19 boosters, and how might they better protect us from new variants such as omicron? Alexis Demonbreun, PhD, assistant professor of Pharmacology, offers insight. She is the author of a new study that shows COVID-19 boosters seem to supercharge antibody response.

Millions of molecular proteins are swimming through our body's cells and many studies have discovered that these proteins are the main drivers of all human diseases. Scientists are now mapping proteins the way the Human Genome Project mapped genes. Northwestern's Neil Kelleher is at the forefront of the Human Proteoform Project and explains how it could lead to more targeted and effective diagnost...

Regenerative nanomedicine is being used to develop new therapies for devastating conditions such as severe spinal cord injuries. Northwestern's Dr. Samuel Stupp is a pioneer in the field of r egenerative nanomedicine and recently published a paper in the journal Science that details how a new injectable therapy uses synthetic nanofibers to reverse severe spinal cord injuries in animals and how thi...

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered one of the earliest signs of Parkinson's disease, proving that damaged neuronal mitochondria alone can cause symptoms of the disease, according to a study published in Nature. Senior author D. James Surmeier, chair of the Feinberg department of Neuroscience, who has over 30 years of experience in the field, explains the importance of these findings...

People who are Black make up the largest group of minorities in need of an organ transplant. In 2019, Northwestern Medicine launched the African American Transplant Access Program to help address this problem. Founding director of the program Dinee Simpson, MD, talks about the barriers to organ transplant for Black patients and how she is working to bring down those barriers in Chicago with innova...

People who are Black make up the largest group of minorities in need of an organ transplant. That's according to the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 2019, Northwestern Medicine launched the African American Transplant Access Program to help address this problem.  Dinee Simpson, MD, is the founding director of the program and an Assistant Professor...

This spring , the World Health Organization began using the Greek alphabet to label key variants of SARS-CoV-2 . The Greek names make it easier to talk about variants with the public , but in the scientific community these variants are being discussed and studied at the molecular level to learn as much as possible about their evolution, replication and mutation. Judd Hultquist, PhD, shares  insigh...

While there are more treatments now than ever before for n euromuscular diseases   like muscular dystrophy , patients who have very specific gene mutations associated with these diseases have few options. Dr. Elizabeth McNally says a discovery in her lab could lead to a new therapy for muscular dystrophy, including its rare forms.

As the Delta variant of SARS-CoV - 2 is causing breakthrough infections in some vaccinated people around the world, scientists at Northwestern Medicine are developing and studying potential next - generation COVID-19 vaccines that could be more effective at preventing and clearing breakthrough infections. Pablo Penaloza-MacMaster, a ssistant p rofessor of Microbiology-Immunology at Feinberg, discu...

As heart conditions like arrhythmia become increasingly common, heart monitoring is becoming an even more important tool for disease prevention and treatment. Northwestern Medicine cardiac electrophysiologist Rod Passman, MD, who has over three decades of experience in the field, reviews the history of cardiac monitoring and looks to the future. He details his pioneering use of implantable heart m...

Esophageal diseases are extremely common , and symptoms such as trouble swallowing, chest pain, regurgitation and choking diminish quality of life. There can also be psychosocial effects for patients with these diseases that includes hypervigilance — a heightened focus on physical symptoms — and symptom-specific anxiety such as fear of choking. Identifying patients with issues could help providers...

A recent survey of more than 32,000 caregivers of Chicago Public School students found that around a quarter children and adolescents were described as stressed, anxious, angry or agitated in the months after remote learning began. Black and Latinx participants experienced significantly more of these stressors. Dr. Tali Raviv, associate professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Feinberg e...

Dean Eric G. Neilson, MD, and Robert Murphy, MD, talk about COVID-19 vaccine safety and effectiveness. This conversation was recorded May 7, 2021. 

Recently, the director of the CDC officially recommended that pregnant women receive the vaccines for COVID-19. However, pregnant women are less likely than non-pregnant women to get vaccinated and are at greater risk of hospitalization and death from the disease. Emily Miller, MD, MPH, has been caring for pregnant patients at  Prentice Women's Hospital  since the onset of the pandemic. She shares...