BIDMC News and Notes
11/20/2009 (10:33:51am)Tags: violence recovery Arab-Israeli conflictComments: (0)
Robi Damelin lives in Tel Aviv and lost her son to a sniper while he was on military reserve duty in March, 2002. Mazen Faraj lives in Bethlehem and lost his father in April 2002 when a member of the Israeli Defense Force mistook the bag of groceries for something else.
Damelin and Fraj channeled their grief into the Parents Circle-Families Forum, created in 1995 as a way to spearhead a reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians.
Damelin and Faraj will tell their stories -- and their efforts to stop violence and bloodshed -- in a special forum sponsored by BIDMC's Center for Violence Prevention and Recovery on Wednesday, Dec. 16.
The event is free and open to the public who RSVP by Dec. 11. For more information or to reserve a spot, contact Margaret Brevig
11/20/2009 (9:43:22am)Tags: noneComments: (0)
Amy Ship, a primary care physician at BIDMC, has been named this year's "Compassionate Caregiver" by the Kenneth B. Schwartz Center.
Ship's personal and professional story was highlighted at last night's annual awards gala in Boston and in a story on NECN.
11/18/2009 (4:14:13pm)Tags: noneComments: (0)
BIDMC neurologists Alvaro Pascual-Leone, MD, PhD, and Daniel Tarsy, MD, have been awarded grants totaling more than $1.5 million from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF) to conduct investigations aimed at improving the quality of life for patients with Parkinson's disease.
Pascual-Leone, Director of BIDMC's Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, will oversee a three-year $1.498 million grant to investigate the use of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) therapy to control symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
Tarsy, Director of BIDMC's Parkinson's Disease Center, will lead a study comparing two types of speech and voice therapy to determine which is more effective in treating the decreased voice volume experienced by many Parkinson's patients.
For more, click here.
11/17/2009 (9:57:13am)Tags: breast cancer mammographyComments: (0)
BIDMC oncology social worker Hester Hill offers her observations on U.S. Preventive Service Task Force's new recommendations to woman about mammography and breast self-examinations.
A quick summary:
"This is clearly very different from what we have all been told for years. It is, however, not so different from what doctors have known and what the evidence has demonstrated. Mammograms are not as good a screening test in younger women as they are for post-menopausal women. The reason for this is the difference in breast tissue; dense tissue makes it more difficult to read the scans."
11/16/2009 (3:06:04pm)Tags: cardiovascular care Thomson ReutersComments: (0)
BIDMC has earned a spot in the Thomson Reuters annual study identifying the 100 U.S. hospitals that set the nation's benchmarks for inpatient cardiovascular care.
The study examined the performance of 971 hospitals by analyzing outcomes for patients diagnosed with heart failure and heart attacks and for those who received coronary bypass surgery or percutaneous cardiovascular interventions (PCI) such as angioplasties.
The study, in its 11th year, found the top performing hospitals perform over 50 percent more cardiac surgeries than peer hospitals.
For more details, click here.
11/12/2009 (3:23:11pm)Tags: quality top hospital patient safetyComments: (0)
Atrius Health and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center are expanding their relationship to establish a new model of health care delivery between a large ambulatory multi-specialty practice and a leading academic medical center, according to Gene Lindsey, MD, president and CEO of Atrius Health.
The boards of directors from Atrius and BIDMC both voted Wednesday evening to build the expanded relationship.
For more details on what this will mean, click here.
11/9/2009 (1:10:25pm)Tags: noneComments: (0)
Emergency preparedness is the watchword at all health care facilities these days.
Go behind the scenes with the BIDMC Emergency Management Team as it held its first full-scale decontamination drill at night, simulating the Emergency Department response to a "dirty bomb" explosion at a nearby college campus.
11/9/2009 (12:44:44pm)Tags: archives Ruth FreimanComments: (0)
Long before BIDMC was born in 1996, Beth Israel and New England Deaconess hospitals were leaders in health care with a long history of personalized patient care and community service.
That history has been carefully preserved in an archives maintained by one of the hospital's longest serving staff members. Archivist Ruth Freiman has held the job for 30 years, following 20 years of service as a volunteer.
The BIDMC Board of Directors recently honored her commitment by designating the Ruth and David Freiman Archives at BIDMC. Dr. David Freiman was the former Chief of Pathology at Beth Israel Hospital and assisted with the development of the archives during his retirement.
Take a tour of the archives with this remarkable woman.
11/4/2009 (1:33:14pm)Tags: noneComments: (0)
BIDMC has instituted new patient and visitor guidelines and restrictions to help protect the medical center's most vulnerable patients - and everyone - now that the flu has become widespread.
Visitors with symptoms of the flu are asked to delay their visits until they are well. Areas of the hospital that care for patients most vulnerable to the flu have instituted the most stringent guidelines. For example, on many of our floors, children under 12 are no longer allowed to visit.
Visit the Flu Facts page on bidmc.org for updated guidelines and restrictions as well as tips on fighting the flu, caring for someone with the flu and when to call a doctor.
11/4/2009 (1:31:29pm)Tags: noneComments: (0)
Here's a moving story about a young auto accident victim and a remarkable recovery, made possible in part by the trauma team at BIDMC.
10/28/2009 (10:37:55am)Tags: hand hygiene infection controlComments: (0)
BIDMC's latest effort to improve hand hygiene is a contest among units to see who can score the highest in terms of compliance.
BIDMC Bowl-a-rama (Knock Down the Germs) is highlighted in this post on the OSHA Health Care Advisor blog.
10/27/2009 (12:08:24pm)Tags: NIH transplant carbon monoxideComments: (0)
Leo Otterbein, PhD, a scientist in the Division of Transplantation at BIDMC whose novel research has revealed medical applications for carbon monoxide gas, has been awarded a $1.4 million, four-year EUREKA grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The award will enable Otterbein to continue to study the underlying biology behind this seemingly paradoxical idea and, if successful, could lead to new therapies for a range of medical applications from adjunct cancer treatments to fighting bacterial infections to helping kidney-transplant patients avoid organ rejection.
An acronym for Exceptional, Unconventional Research Enabling Knowledge Acceleration, EUREKA grants are part of an initiative unveiled last year by the NIH to fund innovative research and test new, unconventional ideas.
To learn more about Otterbein's work, click here.
10/27/2009 (11:49:24am)Tags: RFID pumps technologyComments: (0)
Instead of a floor by floor search of the hospital it recently only took two elevator rides and a walk across Brookline Avenue to track down a missing medication delivery pump.
"I renamed RFID to Really Finds Infusion Devices," David Mangan, a clinical pharmacist supervisor, says with a laugh.
RFID actually stands for Radio Frequency Identification. All of BIDMC new pumps feature this tracking device. Mangan had loaned one pump to a floor to practice accessing the medication library. But the test pump had accidentally gone into general circulation, and Mangan quickly alerted Clinical Engineering.
"We were not concerned for patient safety about this pump being in general circulation," Mangan says. "The medication library on this pump was accurate, but set up differently than what nurses are used to."
It took technology toordinator Pam Dicapua and Clinical Engineering Manager Dick Hatch, Manager 30 minutes to locate the pump thanks to RFID.
Hatch says the RFID tags on each pump send out a signal to access points around the hospital, pinpointing the floor a particular pump is on. If this system had not been in place, Clinical Engineering staff would have had to manually search each of the medical center's 1,275 pumps.
"This saved us from searching through two million square feet of office space," Mangan says.
For realizing the test pump had gone into general circulation, Mangan was honored by BIDMC's Board of Directors during their Oct. 21 meeting.
To lean more about the "Caller Outer of the Month," click here.
10/26/2009 (2:36:13pm)Tags: breast cancer mammographyComments: (0)
There is a new digital mammography van now in Boston - one of the first such digital mobile vans in the country - thanks to the support of national and local foundations and businesses,
The vans are scheduled at several BIDMC-affiliated health centers including the Bowdoin Street Health Center in Dorchester.
In 2002, the City of Boston launched the Mayor's Cancer Crusade that included the purchase of a mammography van to offer breast screenings at local health centers. Operated by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the program has provided more than 25,000 mammograms to 11,000 women, 60 percent of whom speak a language other than English. Sixty confirmed diagnoses of breast cancer have been made and thousands of women have benefited from breast health education programs.
10/26/2009 (11:26:39am)Tags: obstetrics gynecology community healthComments: (0)
The South Cove Community Health Center offered a warm welcome to Dr. John Yeh, the newly appointed Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), the hospital affiliate of SCCHC, where more than 300 Asian-American babies are born each year.
Among those on hand were, from left: Hee Man Chie, MD, Obstetrician/Gynecologist, SCCHC; John Yeh, MD Chief OB/GYN, BIDMC; Helen Chin Schlichte, Vice Chair, Board of Directors, BIDMC; Steven Tang, MD Board member, SCCHC; April Tang; Board member, SCCHC; Board of Overseers, BIDMC; Cindy Chen Board member, SCCHC.
For more on the visit, click here.
10/23/2009 (1:00:37pm)Tags: intensive care patient-centered care qualityComments: (0)
BIDMC has been honored by an international group of critical care specialists for its work to improve the experience of patients and family members in intensive care units (ICUs).
The Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), with 14,000 members in 80 countries, named BIDMC the winner of the 2010 Family-Centered Care Award, given annually to one hospital or ICU to "recognize innovation that improves the care provided to critically ill and injured patients and their families."
To learn more, click here.
10/21/2009 (4:12:54pm)Tags: noneComments: (0)
BIDMC has been named to the 2009 Harvard Pilgrim Hospital Honor Roll, which includes hospitals whose performance was among the top 25 percent of those measured nationally on a set of composite quality metrics.
For more information, click here.
10/21/2009 (3:54:15pm)Tags: surgery science educationComments: (0)
Students at Madison Park and Brookline high schools recently got a chance to view surgery up close and personal.
The classes taught by Julie Joyal Mowschenson, RN, combines classroom lessons with putting the theory into action by running simulated medical cases on a robotic patient at Harvard Medical School.
For more, click here. And to see the Boston Globe's coverage, click here.
10/16/2009 (12:34:34pm)Tags: noneComments: (0)
BIDMC geneticist John Rinn, PhD, whose research has helped uncover a new class of RNA, has been named to this year's "Brilliant 10" list of top young scientists by Popular Science magazine. The list appears in the magazine's November issue.
Check out Rinn's accomplishments and those of his nine other brilliant colleagues.
10/16/2009 (12:28:28pm)Tags: noneComments: (0)
BIDMC has been honored with an Institutional Leadership Award from MassEcon, a private, non-profit partnership of business, industry leaders, and government dedicated to fostering economic growth in the Commonwealth.
The award will be presented at a Nov. 24 luncheon that will also recognize 17 other companies from across the state. The Sixth Annual Team Massachusetts Economic Impact Award is the only event of its kind in Massachusetts recognizing companies for their outstanding contributions to the Massachusetts economy.
To learn more, click here.
10/13/2009 (1:42:41pm)Tags: research NIHComments: (0)
BIDMC has been awarded $38.2 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
BIDMC scientists received a total of 69 grants across all medical-center departments, including surgery, neurology, pathology and a wide swath of divisions within the Department of Medicine including cardiology, hematology/oncology, nephrology, gastroenterology and geriatrics.
For more details, click here.
10/13/2009 (1:30:05pm)Tags: noneComments: (0)
Clifford B. Saper, MD, PhD, Chairman of BIDMC's Department of Neurology has been elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM).
Saper is one of the country's leading neuroscientists studying the brain circuitry that controls basic physiologic functions. His work has greatly extended the understanding of the body's wake-sleep cycles, brain responses to immune stimulation, and the brain's control of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and has helped lead to advances in treating sleep disorders, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.
Election to the IOM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. Established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute is one of four distinguished organizations that make up the National Academies, which provide scientific and technological advice to the nation.
For more, click here.
10/13/2009 (1:12:38pm)Tags: flu emergency careComments: (0)
BIDMC emergency room physicians Peter Smulowitz and Stephen Epstein have been discussing a new poll by the American College of Emergency Physicians that expresses concern about readiness for an H1N1 outbreak.
Smulowitz tells WCVB-TV that pandemic planning should continue with the idea that all hospitals are prepared for a worst-case scenario.
And Epstein repeats the message on WBZ-AM, along with some common sense tips on how to care for yourself.
10/8/2009 (3:41:30pm)Tags: noneComments: (0)
BIDMC's men (and women) in blue have gone green.
When Chief Operating Officer Eric Buehrens and Facilities Senior Vice President Walter Armstrong discovered that Public Safety was in the market for a new vehicle, they asked Chief Chris Casey to check out a hybrid model.
"I talked with my lieutenants and agreed that it could be a win-win," Casey said. "We would get a much needed second car while meeting a medical center goal to go green for energy savings and emissions reduction."
Casey worked with BIDMC's Sustainability Coordinator, Amy Lipman. She estimates the Ford Fusion hybrid will save the medical center $1,300 a year in gas.
"The new strategic plan includes a hybrid replacement policy," Lipman said. "As we replace existing cars, we hope to replace them with hybrids. Because we do a lot of around-town driving and idling, the kind of driving where hybrids are at their best and traditional cars are at their worst, hybrids are a much better fit for us."
10/8/2009 (3:30:48pm)Tags: Red Sox first aidComments: (0)
At the heart of BIDMC's relationship with the Red Sox is the skill, enthusiasm and commitment to service that a team of BIDMC staff brings to every home game.
Last Saturday, representatives of that team - BIDMC First Aid - took to the field during pre-game ceremonies and received a hearty cheer from Fenway fans before the start of the game against the Cleveland Indians.
"The First Aid team has had a busy year, not only having the Red Sox games, but five concerts as well," said Sue Pacheco, RN, and leader of the First Aid team.
Some Fenway First Aid Facts
*Thirty BIDMC nurses, physicians and technicians from the Emergency Department, the post-anesthesia care unit, intensive care units and operating rooms rotate through the First Aid and the Green Monster stations for all home games - including the upcoming play-offs.
*Staff receive anywhere from 25 to 70 visits per game at the First Aid station. Last year more than 2,000 patrons were treated with almost 200 transferred to BIDMC.
*Staff treats cuts, injuries from foul balls and heat related illness to name a few.
10/5/2009 (12:36:18pm)Tags: pathology educationComments: (0)
Pathology residents at BIDMC are going to be learning a lot -- about themselves.
A new course will let them learn about genetic tests marketed to consumers, by testing their own DNA in search of genes linked to various illnesses.
The Boston Globe's full story is here.
10/5/2009 (12:25:56pm)Tags: BID-Needham fluComments: (0)
While the Dimock Center, the BIDMC-affliated community health center in Roxbury, offered a free flu shot clinic on Saturday, BID-Needham officially cut the ribbon on a new emergency room and 20 additional beds that may come in handy during flu season.
Check out the WCVB-TV story that includes an interview with Dimock and BIDMC doc Hope Ricciotti, as well as Needham CEO Jeff Liebman and chief nursing officer Penny Greenberg.
10/2/2009 (3:48:50pm)Tags: Red Sox back spasmsComments: (0)
Hearts may be beating a little easier around New England with word that Josh Beckett appears to have his back spasms under control.
BIDMC physical therapist Kathy Shillue talks to Gary Gillis about what causes back spasms and how they are treated in the latest installment of Red Sox Health News.
10/1/2009 (5:21:23pm)Tags: noneComments: (0)
NECN took a tour of the $30 million expansion at BID-Needham, which includes a new, bigger emergency department and 20 new patient rooms.
Check it out -- and stop by the grand opening on Saturday.
9/30/2009 (1:33:04pm)Tags: noneComments: (0)
For a second year in a row, BIDMC has been named an American Heart Association Gold Start! Fit-Friendly Company.
The medical center achieved gold status by recognizing the importance of a healthy workplace for staff and by offering ways to get physically fit.
"This award recognizes BIDMC's continued commitment to enhancing the health of their employees through innovative wellness programs that promote a more active and healthy lifestyle," said Jenifer Babineau, Fitness and Wellness Manager, Tanger Be Well Center. "BIDMC supports employees in these efforts by increasing heart healthy menu options in the cafeterias, subsidizing membership to the Tanger Be Well Center and providing a smoke free work environment."
Adult Americans spend the majority of their waking hours at work, many in sedentary careers - amplifying the risk for medical problems such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. Obesity alone costs American businesses $12.7 billion in medical expenses and $225.8 billion in health-related productivity losses per year.
Start! Fit-Friendly Companies Program participants implement various options to encourage physical activity, nutrition and culture enhancements such as on-site walking routes, healthy food options in cafeterias and vending machines, annual employee health risk assessments and online tracking tools.
9/28/2009 (2:39:28pm)Tags: workforce development Comments: (0)
A recent after-work event to celebrate the work of BIDMC staff participating in classes and other activities to further their careers was a welcome break for busy students. But for some the celebration was brief - they were gearing up for class at 6 p.m. that very night.
It was typical of the juggling of school, work, family and more that marks the lives of the 350 BIDMC and New England Baptist Hospital staff members participating in the Employee Career Initiative (ECI).
To learn more, click here.
9/28/2009 (12:44:57pm)Tags: noneComments: (0)
It seems like a small thing for most men -- and it is. Until you get older.
While some of the testing methods are unpleasant, the failure to be aware of the health of your prostate can lead to other, more uncomfortable consequences.
That's why Drs. Martin Sanda and Andrew Wagner discuss prostate awareness with Gary Gillis in the latest installment of Red Sox Health News.
9/25/2009 (1:20:24pm)Tags: Red Sox BIDMCComments: (0)
Normally, BIDMC staff are at Fenway Park standing by as part of the medical team or in the stands thanks to the $5 ticket program. But on a sunny, warm September afternoon, four teams of 10 staff members found themselves studying their line-ups before walking out to a play softball on the field of dreams.
But as the Official Hospital of the Boston Red Sox and Red Sox Nation, BIDMC staff are invited to play an afternoon of softball in the outfield each summer. Since the original game was rained out in July, the lucky team members got to live their dreams this week.
For a photo slide show of the afternoon, click here.
For a video, click here.
9/25/2009 (11:50:27am)Tags: noneComments: (0)
Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Needham is poised to formally take the wraps off a $30 million expansion that includes a new emergency department and 20 state-of-the-art patient rooms.
To get a flavor of the addition, click here. And to read the Needham Times' coverage, click here.
9/25/2009 (11:37:00am)Tags: pain Red SoxComments: (0)
With the baseball playoffs looming, the Patriots in full swing and Bruins and Celtics seasons just around the corner, athletes, injuries and pain is becoming a major focus for many fans.
Dr. Zahid Bajwa a pain specialist and Director of Education and Clinical Pain Research at BIDMC's Arnold Pain Center, talks to Gary Gillis about ways that athletes -- and all oof us -- can deal with pain.
9/24/2009 (1:02:17pm)Tags: noneComments: (0)
The BIDMC Board of Directors has honored three people for their leadership and service.
Sharon Wright, MD, Jane Mataw and Howard Wolk were recognized at the annual meetings of the BIDMC boards. To get the details, click here,
9/24/2009 (12:58:45pm)Tags: noneComments: (0)
Stephen Kay of Chestnut Hill has been elected chair of the Board of Directors at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, retuning to a post he last held at the former Beth Israel Hospital.
To learn more about the new chairman -- as well as additions to the bpoards of trustees and overseers, click here.
9/22/2009 (9:51:03am)Tags: primary care patientsComments: (0)
National Public Radio took a look at a trial underway at BIDMC and two other hospitals that would enable patients to see the notes their doctors right about them.
Funded through a $1.4 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Pioneer Portfolio, the 12-month OpenNotes© Project will bring together approximately 100 primary care physicians and 25,000 patients to evaluate the impact on both patients and physicians of sharing the comments and observations made by physicians after each patient encounter.
Physicians and patients at Geisinger Health Systems in Pennsylvania and Harborview Medical Center in Seattle will also participate in the 12-month trial.
9/16/2009 (2:29:11pm)Tags: noneComments: (0)
BIDMC honored Lois E. Silverman's accomplishments as she concludes her four-year tenure as the hospital's first female chair of the Board of Directors with a celebration at the Mandarin Oriental.
Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart was a surprise special guest at an event that also included the traditional bestowing of a ceremonial white coat. All llving former board chairs joined in the ceremony.
The gala also featured a "white coat" ceremony, where Silverman was joined by all living past board chairs. The group includes:
Back row, from left: John Hamill, New England Deaconess Hospital, 1991-1994; Robert M. Melzer, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 1999-2002; Eliot I. Snider, Beth Israel Hospital, 1983-1985; Carl S. Sloane, BIDMC, 2002-2005; Alan W. Rottenberg, BIDMC, 1996-1999.
Front row: Edward H. Linde, BIH, 1989-1991; Edward I. Rudman, BIH 1992-1994; Silverman; Norman B. Leventhal, BIH, 1979-1982; Stephen B. Kay, BIH, 1994-1996 and incoming BIDMC 2009.
To read more, click here.
9/16/2009 (1:55:56pm)Tags: health care costs Mitchell RabkinComments: (0)
Dr. Mitchell Rabkin, CEO emeritus of the former Beth Israel Hospital -- and an active Havard Medical School professor -- takes a look at some of the problems any effort to reform our nation's health care system will face.
In an op-ed in today's Washington Post, Rabkin and John S. Cook point to two major flaws that need to be addressed:
-Fee-for-service payment. This worked reasonably well decades ago when there was less to know, less the physician could do, and less he or she could charge for. But with the abundance of technologies and treatment possibilities now available, fee-for-service is inflationary and will continue to be so. This is becoming widely recognized, but few have come up with effective ways to deal with our nation's ever-rising cost.
-In general, physicians are not accountable for cost. The actions for containing costs are largely in the hands of the insurers. Payment policies, shaped pretty much by Medicare, give insurers the decision on what to pay for and what not, and how much to pay. That has neither controlled inappropriate rise in health care costs nor cut down on unnecessary care.
9/16/2009 (1:40:11pm)Tags: kidney cancer NCIComments: (0)
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has awarded Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) an $11.5 million, five-year SPORE grant to focus on cancers of the kidney.
Michael Atkins, MD, Deputy Director of BIDMC's Division of Hematology/Oncology, will oversee the grant, which involves collaborations with Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Massachusetts General Hospital via the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center.
As the only NCI-funded SPORE focused on cancers of the kidney, this grant aims to improve detection, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of kidney cancer, which affects about 54,000 Americans each year and causes approximately 14,000 deaths.
SPORE grants (Specialized Program of Research Excellence) are designed to promote interdisciplinary and translational research that rapidly moves scientific discoveries to a clinical setting to directly benefit patients. This grant is a renewal of a previous $13.3 million kidney cancer SPORE awarded to Atkins and his team of collaborators in 2003.
For more detail, click here.
9/15/2009 (4:57:22pm)Tags: noneComments: (0)
Sunday's second annual Reason to Ride bike-a-thon was "a marvelous success," according to founder Tom DesFosses of Peabody.
And marvelous success might be an understatement. The event, which raises funds for cancer research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, has raised more than $40,000 so far, with donations still arriving - more than twice as much as last year.
You can read the full Salem News account here.
9/14/2009 (2:19:33pm)Tags: Heart Walk CVIComments: (0)
BIDMC's CardioVascular Institute team broke past records and raised more than $30,000 for the American Heart Association's cardiovascular research and education programs at the annual Heart Walk Saturday, Sept. 12.
In the CVI tent prior to the walk, Red Sox pitching ace Luis Tiant signed autographs and encouraged the more than 100 team while the walkers mingled.
9/11/2009 (9:35:05am)Tags: noneComments: (0)
BIDMC researcher Jack Lawler enjoys working at the basic level of science. The pathologist and his lab work at teasing out the various mysteries of a family of proteins known as TSPs, or thrombospondins, which could provide pathways to helping in specific medical research areas, such as heart disease, arthritis, wound healing, and cancer.
They will be able to a lot more than to a $711,148 grant Recovery Act grant from the National Heart Lung Blood Iinsstute's Division of Intramural Research, Cell Biology and Physiology Center.
To learn more, including a video of Lawler, click here.
9/11/2009 (8:24:53am)Tags: media health care reformComments: (0)
Cleaning out my e-mail I found this excellent link to a Newshour with Jim Lehrer discussion about how the media are covering the debate over health care.
Panelists include Roger Sergel of ABC News, Trudi Lieberman of the Columbia Journalism Review and Tom Rosensteil of Project for Excellence in Journalism.
Check it out here.
9/10/2009 (2:03:59pm)Tags: noneComments: (0)
Carolyn Bernstein, MD, a specialist in headache medicine, has joined Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center as a full-time member of the Arnold Pain Center.
Bernstein joins the departments of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine and Neurology from Cambridge Health Alliance, where she was the Director of the Women's Headache Center and a staff neurologist for 18 years.
9/10/2009 (11:33:29am)Tags: noneComments: (0)
BIDMC President and CEO Paul Levy has some thoughts on how the nation will be able to afford health care reform.
Writing for the New York Times, Levy says broader access cannot be paid for without additional costs.
It's a theme he follows through on in an interview on NECN.
9/10/2009 (11:23:56am)Tags: neurology multiple sclerosisComments: (0)
BIDMC researchers have found the virus responsible for PML (progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy) can be reactivated in multiple sclerosis patients being treated with natalizumab (Tysabri).
The findings appear in today's issue of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)
PML is a rare brain disease that typically affects AIDS patients and other individuals with compromised immune systems.
For more on the study, click here. For a look at some coverage, click here.
9/10/2009 (9:31:56am)Tags: Red Cross 9/11 Red SoxComments: (1)
BIDMC and the Red Sox are teaming up with the American Red Cross for the annual 9/11 Blood Drive.
From 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET at Fenway, or 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Boston City Hall, you will have the opportunity to remember and honor those we lost on 9/11 by giving others an opportunity to survive.
If coming into Boston isn't convenient, call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE to find a location near you.
And for more on the Red Sox perspective, click here.
9/9/2009 (4:05:42pm)Tags: noneComments: (0)
Laurence A. Turka, MD, an international leader in the fields of transplantation immunology and transplantation research, will join the faculty of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Harvard Medical School, effective Nov. 1.
Turka comes to BIDMC from the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Medicine, where he is the C. Mahlon Kline Professor of Medicine and formerly Chief of the Department's Renal Division. A distinguished leader in the field of immune tolerance research, Turka serves as a Deputy Director of the Immune Tolerance Network, an NIH-funded consortium of researchers working together to establish new treatments for diseases of the immune system. As editor-in-chief of the prestigious Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI), Turka is also a prominent voice in clinical and translational research.
To learn more, click here.
