Dr. Augustine M.K. Choi, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine and provost for medical affairs of Cornell University, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine.

The academy recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.Choi is among 100 new members elected to the body in 2020, announced Oct. 19 in conjunction with NAMs annual meeting.

I am deeply honored to be elected by my peers to the National Academy of Medicine and to join the ranks of such a distinguished group of physicians and scientists, Choi said. The academys recognition of my research is truly humbling, and I would like to thank my colleagues and my mentees whose collective efforts have advanced the field of pulmonology. Im also grateful for the academys recognition of my commitment to elevating diversity, equity and mentorship in academic medicine. I look forward to continuing this work and sharing my expertise and service with NAM.

Dr. Choi is an exceptionally talented physician, scientist and leader whose contributions to pulmonary and critical care medicine have made a lasting impact on the fields of medicine and science, said Martha E. Pollack, president of Cornell University. I congratulate Dr. Choi on his election to the National Academy of Medicine.

Established in 1970, the National Academy of Medicine is an independent organization that works to address critical issues in health, science, medicine and related policy, and is part of the larger National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM). New members are elected annually by current members. NAM now counts more than 2,300 active members around the world. As part of their election, new members commit to volunteer their service in NASEM activities.

An international authority in pulmonary and critical care medicine, Choi has pioneered research involving the use of gaseous carbon monoxide to treat human diseases, including sepsis and pulmonary fibrosis, as well as non-pulmonary diseases.

In addition to more than 375 publications and multiple National Institutes of Health grants, Choi has received numerous honors and awards. These include the Ho-Am Prize in Medicine, often referred to as the Korean equivalent of the Nobel Prize, and the 2015 J. Burns Amberson Lecture, which recognizes a career of major lifetime contributions to pulmonary research. He is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.

A renowned leader in academic medicine, Choi has elevated diversity and mentorship to pillars of Weill Cornell Medicines mission, alongside patient care, research and education. Choi has launched several programs and initiatives to foster a culture of diversity and inclusion in medicine, which include establishing the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Office of Institutional Equity, and Diversity Week, an annual event that showcases cutting-edge research and initiatives focused on enhancing diversity and reducing healthcare disparities at Weill Cornell Medicine and nationwide.

Choi has also built a strong culture of mentorship through initiatives like the institution-wide Mentoring Academy, a JumpStart program to provide financial support and mentorship to early-career scientists, and an annual faculty award to recognize excellence in mentoring.

Choi is an enthusiastic champion of advancing equity in health care and supporting aspiring doctors and scientists mental health and well-being. In 2019, he spearheaded an expansion of Weill Cornell Medicines scholarship program to offer debt-free medical education for all students who qualify for financial aid. Choi also conceptualized and hosted the inaugural National Conference on Medical Student Mental Health and Well-Being, believed to be the first comprehensive, multidisciplinary forum to examine the mental health needs of medical students.

Choi received his bachelors degree in 1980 from the University of Kentucky and his medical degree in 1984 from the University of Louisville. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Duke University and a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Recruited to Weill Cornell Medicine in 2013, Dr. Choi served as the Sanford I. Weill Chairman and professor of medicine in the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Department of Medicine and as physician-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center until his appointment as dean in 2017.

Elaine Meyer is a freelance writer for Weill Cornell Medicine.

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Choi elected to National Academy of Medicine | Cornell Chronicle - Cornell Chronicle

Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine has named Claus Weimann director of Philanthropy.

Weimann joined OUWB on Aug. 3. In his new role, Weimann is a member of the Leadership Team of OUWB Stephan Sharf Dean Duane Mezwa, M.D., as well as the OUWB Advisory Board.

His primary responsibilities are overseeing and directing the fundraising activities for OUWB, primarily to help secure financial support to fund scholarships for the schools students.

Most recently, Weimann worked at University of Michigan-Flint, where he was a special advisor to the universitys provost and a fundraiser.

Weimann, who has spent his career in development and fundraising, said hes excited about his new role at OUWB.

I feel like OUWB really has momentum and an American entrepreneurial spirit that I really like and appreciate, he said. Things are not put in stone from an institution that is 200-plus years old there are opportunities to still be a pioneer and build things.

In fundraising we call that grass roots, he added. I really like that thats where I feel at home.

That really changed my life

Weimann, originally from northern Europe, earned two degrees in International Business: a bachelors from AKAD University of Hamburg and a masters from AKAD University of Dusseldorf.

He began his career in development and fundraising in Cologne, Germany with an NGO following what he describes as a life-changing experience.

That experience consisted of eight months he spent living in the slums of El Salvador, where he taught English and sports at a school sponsored by the European Union.

I loved it, he said. I loved seeing how the euros and dollars that arrived really made a huge change.

That really changed my life, he added.

Upon his return to northern Europe, Weimann cold-called the person in charge of the program (Mano Amiga) he had worked for in El Salvador and essentially asked if he could get involved with fundraising.

He said I need somebody like you right herecome here next week, he said. I made the four-hour drive to Cologne and thought it was going to be a little interview, but he actually approached me to work for him. He said he wanted people who are authentic, went through (the experience in El Salvador), and can tell the story. It was totally mind blowing for me.

Weimann

Weimann said he learned a lot during his experience working for Mano Amiga and it opened doors for more opportunities.

Subsequent to Mano Amiga, Weimann served as director of fundraising at Cologne Business School and director of development at St. Augustin University.

In 2015, Weimann, along with his wife and children, moved to Michigan. Weimann was hired as a senior major gift officer at University of Michigan-Flint. He would go on to become associate director of Education Abroad and Corporate Development Officer.

All about supporting students

Weimann said he was drawn to OUWB by the schools commitment to being a collaborative, diverse, inclusive, and technologically advanced learning community, as outlined in its mission statement.

OUWB states that theyre the school that cares about individuals and I really like that its just phenomenal to be part of that, Weimann said.

Weimann said he has seen the difference such levels of care can make in the lives of people who need it most, including one of his children who has struggled with juvenile arthritis.

To see how a physicians empathy and caring can change the world and light it up for a young child really sparked my interest in putting my full passion into supporting students that want to be doctors, he said.

With regard to immediate goals at OUWB, Weimann said its all about supporting students.

I want to talk about the great stories that happen, the connections we build, how students are supported, and the very exciting programs in the pipeline, he said.

Weimann said he also hopes to be able to have helped a wider swath of people understand more about the OUWB community and why they should consider supporting the school.

In a year, I really hope to say that we have gained supporters and ambassadors of the many people we connected with because we inspired them with the work we are doing at OUWB, he said.

For more information, contact Andrew Dietderich, marketing writer, OUWB, atadietderich@oakland.edu.

Follow OUWB onFacebook,Twitter, andInstagram.

NOTICE: Except where otherwise noted, all articles are published under aCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. You are free to copy, distribute, adapt, transmit, or make commercial use of this work as long as you attribute Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine as the original creator and include a link to this article.

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Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine names Weimann director of Philanthropy - News at OU

And in September, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and three other members of Congress called on the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate their use, warning that they risk embedding racism into medical practice.

Some medical institutions have stopped using race corrections in some tests. MGH and Brigham and Womens Hospital, for example, no longer adjust the results of a popular test for kidney functions, called eGFR. Critics worried the adjustment had tended to make kidney functions of Black patients look better, possibly concealing genuine problems and causing dangerous delays in needed medical care. Last week, a new study from Brigham and Womens Hospital concluded that eliminating race correction in kidney disease tests would qualify up to one in every three Black patients for more advanced care and that might result in more effective treatment of the disease.

There have been several reports of computer algorithms that produce racially biased results, such as facial recognition programs that can accurately identify white people, but not Black people. Earlier this year, a Black man in Michigan was arrested after facial recognition software falsely identified him as a criminal suspect. Such problems are usually a byproduct of the software development in this case, using too few photos of Black people to train the software to recognize dark-skinned faces.

Racial corrections for medical diagnostic tests were created on purpose. Consider the spirometer, used to measure lung capacity. The devices often require doctors to enter the race of the patient prior to the test, based on research dating back as far as the 19th century that indicates Black people have lower lung capacity than white people.

Other examples include an algorithm used to estimate the risk to the health of a pregnant woman planning to give birth vaginally, if she has previously undergone a caesarean birth. The race-adjusted algorithm predicts that vaginal birth is more dangerous for Black and Hispanic women than for white women. But for most women, vaginal deliveries result in fewer complications and faster recovery times. Vyas speculates that the algorithm may discourage doctors from offering vaginal deliveries to women of color, who already face a higher rate of maternal mortality.

The problem, according to Vyas, is that doctors and scientists are treating race as a clear-cut biological reality when it isnt. Research in population genetics has shown that apart from features such as skin color and hair texture, theres not that much difference genetically among people of different races. And the differences are bound to diminish even further, as interracial marriage becomes routine in the United States.

We know that race is not a biologic category, said Vyas. Its not genetic. Its a social construct.

Still, a variety of tests appear to show real differences between Black and white patients. The race correction for eGFR kidney tests was developed after large-scale research studies found that the test tended to underestimate kidney function in Black people.

Another example of the biology vs. environment tension involves the coronavirus. In a new paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine reported that a gene associated with higher risk of contracting COVID-19 is more commonly found in the nasal tissues of Black people than white people. This genetic difference could help explain why such a high percentage of Black people in the US get infected.

But that doesnt prove that race is the reason. Vyas argues scientists should look for other explanations, such as the effects of systemic racism. For example, Black people are more likely to live in poverty, which exposes them to greater health risks. Vyas also said the psychological stress of coping with constant racism could affect the health outcomes of Black patients.

"Its not okay to just mention race without talking about racism, Vyas said.

The lead authors of the Mount Sinai study take note of this too, arguing that environmental and social factors play a role in the activation of genes. This could explain why Black people are more vulnerable to COVID-19.

Even a physician who helped develop the race-corrected algorithm for kidney tests agreed the practice has its limitations. But Lesley Inker, director of the Kidney and Blood Pressure Center at Tufts Medical Center, cautioned that failing to take race into account could also lead to faulty diagnoses in some cases.

For example, diabetes is the number-one cause of kidney failure among Black people. But because of potential side affects, current medical practice advises not administering two of the most effective drugs for diabetes to patients with low eGFR scores. Removing race correction from the kidney test would lower the scores of Black patients and make some of them ineligible for diabetes drugs that could help save their kidneys.

This is complex, and theres lots of pros and cons and balancing acts which should be considered prior to acting, Inker said.

Inker warns that giving up on these corrections too quickly might be dangerous. For instance, cardiologists have recently adopted a new way of assessing heart disease risk that takes race into account. For years, doctors have relied on data from a massive study of heart disease in Framingham, which began in 1948 and continues to this day. But the population of that study is overwhelmingly white. Now doctors supplement that data with an algorithm based on data from thousands of Black patients, and have found that the new approach is better at providing early warning of heart disease in Black people.

Melissa Simon, who heads the Center for Health Equity Transformation at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, said doctors need more data to understand the different health outcomes between Black and white people. In 2015, the National Institutes of Health launched a Precision Medicine Initiative that hopes to use genetic data and detailed information about a patients lifestyle and habits to determine the ideal course of treatment for each individual. Simon hopes that kind of highly personalized medicine could eliminate the need for race-based diagnostics altogether.

Updated with a new study on race correction in kidney disease tests.

Hiawatha Bray can be reached at hiawatha.bray@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeTechLab.

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A new push to remove race-based assessments in medicine - BetaBoston

Stony Brook Medicine Media Contact: Kali Chan

Email: Kali.Chan@stonybrookmedicine.edu

Cell Phone: 631-487-4092

Stony Brook Medicine Partners With Nassau & Suffolk County To Discuss the Importance of Getting Your Flu Vaccine

WHEN:

Tuesday, October 20, 2020 from 7pm 8pm

WHAT:

Long Island is entering a critical flu season with a potential spike in COVID-19 expected in the fall and winter months. Populations with traditionally low flu vaccination rates, such as African-Americans, Native Americans and Hispanic/Latino populations, need to be informed about why getting the flu vaccine is especially important this year. Getting a flu vaccine will not protect against COVID-19, but the flu vaccine reduces the risk of flu illness, hospitalization and death. It also saves healthcare resources to care for patients with COVID-19 at a time when hospitals may be near or over capacity.

This Tuesday, October 20 join trusted health experts and Health Commissioners from the Suffolk and Nassau County Departments of Health, for a FREE Zoom webinar The Flu and You: What You Need to Know from 7 to 8 PM. They will answer your questions about the flu vaccine and provide sound advice for maintaining your and your familys health during this unprecedented public health crisis, with a potential second wave of coronavirus cases this winter.

PRESENTORS:

Please submit questions for speakers in advance at: stonybrookmedicine@stonybrookmedicine.edu

Register for this FREE Zoom Webinar at bit.ly/sbmflu

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MEDIA ADVISORY: Stony Brook Medicine Partners With Nassau & Suffolk County To Discuss the Importance of Getting Your Flu Vaccine - Stony Brook...

Newswise (New York, NY October 19, 2020) Brendan G. Carr, MD, MA, MS, Chair of Emergency Medicine for the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Mount Sinai Health System, and Judy H. Cho, MD, Dean of Translational Genetics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Director of The Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine, have been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). Election to the NAM is considered one of the highest honors in health and medicine, recognizing individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. With their election, Mount Sinai has 25 faculty members in the NAM.

The recognitions of Dr. Carr and Dr. Cho are well deserved for their groundbreaking contributions to emergency medicine and translational genetics, says Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Carrs research has focused not only on improving the emergency care system for time-sensitive conditions such as trauma, stroke, cardiac arrest, and sepsis, but also on creating a more distributed and innovative approach to increasing access to acute care. Likewise, Dr. Cho is committed to improving care through personalized medicine and the understanding of each patients unique genes. She has enhanced genetic research, clinical implementation, and data platforms to ensure Mount Sinai remains at the forefront of genetic discoveries and implementation.

Emergency Medicine A leading voice in emergency medicine, Dr. Carr played a central role in coordinating Mount Sinais response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has dedicated his career as an emergency medicine physician and health policy researcher to seamlessly combining research, policy, and practice to advance acute care delivery. Before joining Mount Sinai in February 2020, Dr. Carr held faculty positions at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Outside academia, Dr. Carr has worked within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during both the current and previous administrations to improve trauma and emergency care services at the national level. His roles have included Senior Advisor and Director of the Emergency Care Coordination Center within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, focusing on integrating the emergency care system into the broader health care delivery system. He previously supported the Indian Health Services initiatives to improve emergency care delivery, and worked with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense to integrate military and civilian health care response during disasters and public health emergencies. Dr. Carr has advised and supported major not-for-profit foundations, the World Health Organization, and the National Academy of Medicine.

He conducts health services research that connects disciplines including epidemiology, health care policy, business, economics, and health care delivery system science. His work has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. He has published and lectured widely on systems of care for trauma, stroke, cardiac arrest, and sepsis.

Ive spent my career focused on improving access to high-quality emergency care and am extremely humbled to be recognized by my peers with this honor. The recent COVID-19 surge reminded us of the importance of building robust systems that meet the needs of the communities that we serve. Im incredibly grateful for the opportunities Ive been given and the mentors that have helped to guide my career, says Dr. Carr. I am particularly grateful to be honored alongside my Mount Sinai colleague.

Translational Genetics Dr. Cho is an internationally recognized expert on the genetics and genomics of inflammatory bowel disease. As Dean of Translational Genetics, she leads strategic planning and integration of translational genetics research and care across school departments and institutes, with a focus on the rapid application of genetic and genomic discoveries to improve patient care. She also holds the Ward-Coleman Chair in Translational Genetics as well as professorships in Genetics and Genomic Sciences, and Medicine.

In 2013, Dr. Cho joined the Icahn School of Medicine faculty following appointments at the Yale University School of Medicine and the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. For the past five years, she has been Director of The Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine and overseen the BioMe Biobank program, a pioneer in the movement toward diagnosis and classification of disease according to the patients molecular profile.

Science generally, and genetics especially, is a team sport; this recognition reflects many, many close collaborations over the years, says Dr. Cho. It is a privilege to try to advance science to help patients, and genetic discovery provides a particularly powerful means of prioritizing novel therapeutic targets.

Dr. Cho also leads an independent research program that is generously funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other extramural sources, and chairs the External Advisory Committee of the Wellcome Trust Centers for Human Genetics and Cellular Genetics. She has been Principal Investigator of the Data Coordinating Center for the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Genetics Consortium of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) since 2002 and chaired its Steering Committee for 16 years. Previously, she served on the American Society for Clinical Investigation Council and the NIDDK External Advisory Council, and chaired the Genetics of Health and Disease Study Section at the NIH. In 2014, Dr. Cho received the Crohns and Colitis Foundations Lifetime Achievement Award in Basic Science.

New members are elected to the NAM by current, active members through a selective process that recognizes leaders making major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care, and public health. Established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences, NAM is a national resource that provides independent, objective analysis and advice on health issues.

The elections of Dr. Carr and Dr. Cho bring Mount Sinais total membership in the prestigious group to 25 current and emeritus faculty members: Joseph D. Buxbaum, PhD Neil S. Calman, MD, MMS Dennis S. Charney, MD Kenneth L. Davis, MD Robert J. Desnick, MD, PhD Angela Diaz, MD, MPH Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD Bruce Gelb, MD Alison M. Goate, DPhil Kurt Hirschhorn, MD Yasmin L. Hurd, PhD Philip J. Landrigan, MD, MSc Helen S. Mayberg, MD Diane E. Meier, MD Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD Maria Iandolo New, MD Peter Palese, PhD Ramon E. Parsons, MD, PhD Lynne D. Richardson, MD Hugh A. Sampson, MD Albert Siu, MD, MSPH Barbara G. Vickrey, MD, MPH Rachel Yehuda, PhD.

About the Mount Sinai Health System

The Mount Sinai Health System is New York Citys largest academic medical system, encompassing eight hospitals, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai is a national and international source of unrivaled education, translational research and discovery, and collaborative clinical leadership ensuring that we deliver the highest quality carefrom prevention to treatment of the most serious and complex human diseases. The Health System includes more than 7,200 physicians and features a robust and continually expanding network of multispecialty services, including more than 400 ambulatory practice locations throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, and Long Island. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 14 on U.S. News & World Report's Honor Roll of the Top 20 Best Hospitals in the country and the Icahn School of Medicine as one of the Top 20 Best Medical Schools in the country. Mount Sinai Health System hospitals are consistently ranked regionally by specialty by U.S. News & World Report.

For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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Mount Sinai Doctors Elected to National Academy of Medicine for Contributions to Emergency Medicine and Translational Genetics - Newswise

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Oct. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey (RMA New Jersey), world-renowned leaders in the field of infertility treatment and research, will present over 30 clinical abstracts at the ASRM 2020 meeting including data from the PROV-ET Trial which investigated the predictive value of an aneuploid diagnosis with PGT-A and the impact of trophectoderm biopsy, a finalist for the 2020 ASRM Prize Paper Award.

"From the United States to Spain to the UK and all around the world, I'm incredibly proud of our research teams at IVIRMA and the work presented at ASRM," said Dr. Richard T. Scott, Jr., CEO of IVIRMA Global. "While last year was a tremendous year for our research team winning four awards at the ASRM, we haven't let up in 2020. For us, it's about advancing the field one question and one patient at a time, all the time."

Dr. Emre Seli, Chief Scientific Officer at IVIRMA Global and Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at Yale School of Medicine, highlighted the scope of the work presented at the 2020 ASRM Meeting, "IVIRMA Global has generated nearly 80 pieces of clinical research this year, much of which has the potential to help patients from Manhattan to Madrid and everywhere in between, today." Dr. Seli added, "This year's body of research presented just at ASRM covers a wide-range of topics facing our field including COVID-19, ovarian rejuvenation, genetic embryo testing, non-invasive embryonic testing to male fertility, and a survey study of the largest series of gay and bisexual men pursuing parenthood."

"It's like working at Apple. You have access to cutting edge technology to investigate the key issues and bring the most innovative solutions to patients," offered Dr. Nola Herlihy, second-year REI fellow, RMA New Jersey Jefferson University Fellowship Program. "I'm pleased that my colleagues Dr. Julia Kim, Dr. Brett Hanson, Dr. Amber Klimczak, and I were able to contribute to the RMA 2020 ASRM research effort so deeply."

The research presented by RMA at the 2020 ASRM includes:

Visit http://www.rmanetwork.com for a full list of accepted abstracts.

About Reproductive Medicine Associates (RMA)RMA is the U.S.-based network of fertility clinics that are part of IVIRMA Global. Founded in 2017 when the Valencian Infertility Institute (IVI) merged with RMA, IVIRMA Global comprises the largest group dedicated to assisted reproduction in the world.

IVIRMA Global currently has more than 70 centers in 11 countries with clinics in the United States, Spain, Portugal, Italy, United Kingdom, Panama, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. Self-funded research, a fundamental pillar of the organization, supports the group's high success rates around the world.

To learn more about RMA, visit http://www.rmanetwork.com.

Christina Halper GoriniVictoryPublic Relations[emailprotected]

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Oct. 19, 2020 12:45 UTC

Partnership Accelerates Development Path for Mirvetuximab in Greater China and Expands Huadong Medicines Oncology Portfolio with Innovative ADC

Combines ImmunoGens Lead Clinical Program with Huadongs Regional Oncology Expertise

ImmunoGen to Receive $40 MillionUpfront Payment and is Eligible to Receive Up to $265 Million in Potential Development, Regulatory, and Commercial Milestone Payments

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ImmunoGen Inc.. (Nasdaq: IMGN), a leader in the expanding field of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for the treatment of cancer, and Hangzhou Zhongmei Huadong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Huadong Medicine Co., Ltd., today announced that the companies have entered into an exclusive collaboration to develop and commercialize mirvetuximab soravtansine in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan (Greater China). ImmunoGen will retain all rights to mirvetuximab in the rest of the world.

This collaboration provides ImmunoGen with access to the second largest pharmaceutical market in the world via Huadong Medicines development, regulatory, and commercial capabilities, while supporting Huadong Medicines growth strategy to build a deep portfolio of oncology, endocrinology, and autoimmunology candidates. Mirvetuximab adds a compelling late-stage oncology asset to Huadong Medicines portfolio.

"With extensive regional experience, the right development and regulatory capabilities, and access to a deep local network of hospitals and clinics across Greater China, Huadong Medicine is an ideal partner for us, said Mark Enyedy, ImmunoGens President and Chief Executive Officer. This collaboration reflects mirvetuximabs potential to deliver meaningful value to ovarian cancer patients as well as our ability to translate our work in ADCs into long-term relationships that create sustainable value for ImmunoGen and our partners. We look forward to working closely with Huadong Medicine to develop and commercialize mirvetuximab in Greater China as we advance the mirvetuximab program and prepare for the first potential commercial launch in the United States in 2022.

"ImmunoGen is a leader in the development of ADCs for the treatment of cancer and this partnership provides us with a late-stage asset that will enable us to further expand our pipeline of innovative oncology programs, said Liang Lu, Chairman of Huadong Medicine. The compelling clinical data generated to date highlights mirvetuximabs potential to be a promising therapy for an extremely difficult to treat disease and we look forward to beginning its development as we seek to meet the growing needs of ovarian cancer patients in Greater China."

Under the terms of the agreement, ImmunoGen will receive an upfront payment of $40 million and is eligible to receive additional milestone payments of up to $265 million as certain development, regulatory, and commercial objectives are achieved. ImmunoGen is also eligible to receive low double digit to high teen royalties as a percentage of mirvetuximab commercial sales by Huadong Medicine in Greater China.

Huadong Medicine will be responsible for the development as well as potential regulatory submissions and commercialization of mirvetuximab in Greater China pursuant to input from a joint steering committee comprised of individuals from both companies. Huadong Medicine will also have the opportunity to participate in global clinical studies of mirvetuximab conducted by ImmunoGen. ImmunoGen will continue to be responsible for the development and commercialization of mirvetuximab in the United States and other geographies.

ABOUT MIRVETUXIMAB SORAVTANSINE

Mirvetuximab soravtansine (IMGN853) is a first-in-class ADC comprising a folate receptor alpha (FR)-binding antibody, cleavable linker, and the maytansinoid DM4, a potent tubulin-targeting agent to kill the targeted cancer cells.

ABOUT IMMUNOGEN

ImmunoGen is developing the next generation of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) to improve outcomes for cancer patients. By generating targeted therapies with enhanced anti-tumor activity and favorable tolerability profiles, we aim to disrupt the progression of cancer and offer our patients more good days. We call this our commitment to target a better now.

Learn more about who we are, what we do, and how we do it at http://www.immunogen.com.

ABOUT HUADONG MEDICINE

Huadong Medicine Co., Ltd. (SZ.000963) is a leading Chinese pharmaceutical company based in Hangzhou, China. Founded in 1993, Huadong Medicine has fully integrated R&D, manufacturing, distribution, sales and marketing capabilities. Huadong Medicines product portfolio and pipeline are specialized in oncology, immunology, nephrology and diabetes. The Companys annual revenue in 2019 exceeded 5 billion USD. Huadong Medicine has 12,000 employees among which 1,000 are dedicated to R&D. Huadong Medicine possesses one of the most extensive commercial coverage and marketing capabilities in China. Patient Centered, Science Driven is Huadongs value. For additional information, please visit http://www.eastchinapharm.com/en.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release includes forward-looking statements based on management's current expectations. These statements include, but are not limited to, ImmunoGens expectations related to: the occurrence, timing, and outcome of potential pre-clinical, clinical, and regulatory events related to ImmunoGens product candidates. For these statements, ImmunoGen claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Various factors could cause ImmunoGens actual results to differ materially from those discussed or implied in the forward-looking statements, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are current only as of the date of this release. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from such expectations include, but are not limited to: the successful execution of the collaboration with Huadong and their development and commercialization efforts; the timing and outcome of ImmunoGens pre-clinical and clinical development processes; the difficulties inherent in the development of novel pharmaceuticals, including uncertainties as to the timing, expense, and results of pre-clinical studies, clinical trials, and regulatory processes; ImmunoGens ability to financially support its product programs; risks and uncertainties associated with the scale and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting impact on ImmunoGens industry and business; and other factors more fully described in ImmunoGens Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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ImmunoGen and Huadong Medicine Announce Strategic Collaboration to Develop and Commercialize Mirvetuximab Soravtansine in Greater China - BioSpace

Newswise DALLAS Oct. 19, 2020 Ralph DeBerardinis, M.D., Ph.D., a professor at the Childrens Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI), has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine.

DeBerardinis, who is also a UT Southwestern professor of pediatrics and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator, is known for his significant discoveries in cancer metabolism and research into childhood conditions known as inborn errors of metabolism. He is among 100 new members of NAM announced today. With his election, UT Southwestern now has 17 NAM members among its faculty. DeBerardinis is also the second member of CRI to be elected to NAM, along with Sean Morrison, Ph.D., director of CRI.

NAM recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and a commitment to service. Along with the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering, NAM advises the nation and the international community on critical issues in health, medicine, and related policies.

Im so grateful to the academy for recognizing our work and for the people in my lab whose creativity and perseverance are responsible for the discoveries that led to this honor, says DeBerardinis, who is also chief of the division of pediatric genetics and metabolism at UT Southwestern and an attending physician at Childrens Health. I am fortunate to be in an environment at UT Southwestern and Childrens Health that values mechanistic, disease-focused research and cultivates the collaborative environment at CRI that has made our research possible. Thanks also to my family for their patience and support, and to all the patients who have participated in our studies over many years.

DeBerardinis achievements include helping to pioneer a new way to study altered metabolism directly in cancer patients. This has allowed his team to uncover the mechanisms by which tumors use nutrients to produce energy and to identify metabolic pathways that allow tumors to grow and spread. The approach provides researchers with insights impossible to obtain in the laboratory and is now being used to study metabolism in nearly a dozen forms of human cancer.

Recently, the DeBerardinis laboratory discovered that lactate is metabolized by human tumors growing in the lung, a finding that challenges a nearly century-old observation known as the Warburg effect that considered lactate to be a waste product of tumor metabolism. The finding opens new avenues for the study of potential therapeutics as well as new imaging techniques in lung cancer the worlds leading cause of cancer deaths.

Election to the prestigious National Academy of Medicine recognizes the pioneering contributions which Dr. DeBerardinis has made to science and research in pediatric genetics, oncology, and metabolism, says Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D., president of UT Southwestern. This important distinction reflects the quality of research underway at the Childrens Medical Research Institute at UT Southwestern and we are grateful for Dr. DeBerardinis leadership and visionary approach to cancer research.

Podolsky, who is also a NAM member, holds the Philip OBryan Montgomery Jr., M.D. Distinguished Presidential Chair in Academic Administration, and the Doris and Bryan Wildenthal Distinguished Chair in Medical Science.

"Dr. DeBerardinis is a distinguished physician, scientist and visionary who is most deserving of being elected as a member of the National Academy of Medicine,"said Christopher J. Durovich, president and chief executive officer at Childrens Health. "Dr. DeBerardinis' recognition as a HHMI investigator and an elected member of the Association of American Physicians as well as his election to NAM exemplify his extraordinary contributions to science and research in pediatric genetics, oncology and metabolism. We are proud of his commitment to advance knowledge and bring research to the bedside to find cures for our most vulnerable patients."

DeBerardinis earned his medical and doctorate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. At the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), he became the first trainee in the combined residency program in pediatrics and medical genetics and received several awards for teaching and clinical care. From 2004 to 2007, DeBerardinis completed his postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Craig B. Thompson, M.D., in the Penn Cancer Center. DeBerardinis joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2008 and the CRI shortly after its founding in 2012. He was elected into the Association of American Physicians in 2020.

At UT Southwestern, DeBerardinis holds the Joel B. Steinberg, M.D. Chair in Pediatrics, and is a Sowell Family Scholar in Medical Research. At CRI, he is the Robert L. Moody, Sr., Faculty Scholar and director of the Genetic and Metabolic Disease Program (GMDP). DeBerardinis is affiliated with the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development/Center for Human Genetics and the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, both at UT Southwestern.

Morrison is an HHMI investigator, a professor of pediatrics at UT Southwestern and aCancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas(CPRIT) Scholar in Cancer Research. He holds the Kathryne and Gene Bishop Distinguished Chair in Pediatric Research at Childrens Research Institute at UT Southwestern and the Mary McDermott Cook Chair in Pediatric Genetics.

Current NAM members at UTSouthwestern and the year of their induction are: Morrison, Ph.D. (2018), Joseph Takahashi, Ph.D.(2014),Podolsky (2009),Bruce Beutler, M.D.(2008), Luis Parada, Ph.D. (2007),Ellen Vitetta, Ph.D.(2006),Steven McKnight, Ph.D.(2005),Helen Hobbs, M.D.(2004),Eric Olson, Ph.D.(2001),Norman Gant, M.D.(2001),Kern Wildenthal, M.D., Ph.D.(1999),Carol Tamminga, M.D.(1998),Scott Grundy, M.D., Ph.D.(1995),Jean Wilson, M.D.(1994),Michael Brown, M.D.(1987), andJoseph Goldstein, M.D.(1987).

About CRI

Childrens Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) is a joint venture of UT Southwestern Medical Center and Childrens Medical Center Dallas, the flagship hospital of Childrens Health. CRIs mission is to perform transformative biomedical research to better understand the biological basis of disease. Located in Dallas, Texas, CRI is home to interdisciplinary groups of scientists and physicians pursuing research at the interface of regenerative medicine, cancer biology and metabolism. For more information, visit: cri.utsw.edu. To support CRI, visit: give.childrens.com/about-us/why-help/cri/

About UTSouthwestern Medical Center

UTSouthwestern, one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institutions faculty has received six Nobel Prizes, and includes 23 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 17 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 13 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. The full-time faculty of more than 2,500 is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UTSouthwestern physicians provide care in about 80 specialties to more than 105,000 hospitalized patients, nearly 370,000 emergency room cases, and oversee approximately 3 million outpatient visits a year.

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Cancer Metabolism Researcher Ralph Deberardinis Elected to The National Academy of Medicine - Newswise

ANN ARBOR, Mich. Michigan Medicine is notifying 1062 patients about an email that may have exposed their email addresses and health information to others.

Emails containing information about an Inflammatory Bowel Disease event were sent to patients in late September without the blind copy function being used to hide email addresses, so patients email addresses were visible to all recipients.

The patient information involved is limited, as the email only included an email address and an invitation for the event. The data did not contain addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, credit card, debit card or bank account numbers so the risk of identity theft occurring is extremely low.

General medical records were not in the information that was emailed.

As soon as Michigan Medicine learned of the error, no additional emails were sent. Separate emails were sent to explain the error, and included a request that the recipients delete the prior email.

Affected patients were mailed letters Oct. 16 notifying them of the breach.

Patient privacy is extremely important to us, and we take this matter very seriously. Michigan Medicine took steps immediately to investigate this matter and is implementing additional safeguards to reduce risk to our patients and help prevent recurrence, said Jeanne Strickland, Michigan Medicine chief compliance officer.

To prevent future errors like this, the department involved will be adopting different processes for sending emails to patients.

Michigan Medicine officials believe the risk of identity theft is low because of the limited information involved. However, it is always recommended to monitor patient insurance statements for any transactions related to care or services that have not actually been received. Patients were sent a list of suggested steps to protect against identity theft.

Affected Michigan Medicine patients are expected to receive letters in the mail notifying them of this incident within the next few days. Patients who have concerns or questions may call the University of Michigan IBD Program at 734-647-2964 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. or email debratan@med.umich.edu.About Michigan Medicine: At Michigan Medicine, we advance health to serve Michigan and the world. We pursue excellence every day in our three hospitals, 125 clinics and home care operations that handle more than 2.3 million outpatient visits a year, as well as educate the next generation of physicians, health professionals and scientists in our U-M Medical School.

Michigan Medicine includes the top ranked U-M Medical School and the University of Michigan Health System, which includes the C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital, Von Voigtlander Womens Hospital, University Hospital, the Frankel Cardiovascular Center and the Rogel Cancer Center. Michigan Medicines adult hospitals were ranked no. 11 in the nation by U.S. News and World Report in 2020-21 and C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital was the only childrens hospital in Michigan nationally ranked in all 10 pediatric specialties analyzed by U.S. News and World Report for 2020-21. The U-M Medical School is one of the nation's biomedical research powerhouses, with total research funding of more than $500 million.

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Michigan Medicine notifies patients of email information breach - University of Michigan Health System News

Dan Egan 98

I remember the very first time I did CPR on somebody. It was a young person who died from an opioid overdose. I was a 16-year-old kid, and a volunteer on our town ambulance squad. I went home that night and, as I was sitting down to dinner, I was like, How do I eat with these hands? I did this thing on this person and hes not alive anymore. It was a very profound moment for me of realizing the full spectrum of life. That really stuck with me.

Being on the ambulance squad meant that all my interactions with medicine were in the emergency room. I just couldnt get enough of it. The summer before I went to college, I got a job as a clerk in the emergency room at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, New Jersey, close to where I grew up. I would go home on all my breaks and work a full-time schedule. I saw physicians working in the ER and that was my dream. They were kind of my idols of what I wanted to be when I grew up. I would take in as much as I could about everything that was going on.

A lot of people have a sensationalized idea of what its like to be an emergency physician because of TV. The vast majority of what we do is not life-threatening emergencies. Most of the cases are abdominal pain, chest pain, dizziness, and vague symptoms where we have to figure out what it is, like solving mysteries.

People use the phrase organized chaos for what the ER is. Theres a ton of people around, theres all sorts of alarms, theres noise. Depending on where you work, you could have emotionally distressed patients, you can have people in pain. There is so much stimulation. And, you have to somehow learn how to live in the midst of all that and still maintain your ability to really pay attention to people. Even when youre in a conversation, you always have to be listening to everything around you listening for the subtle clues, the change in that alarm or someone moaning differently than they did five minutes ago. You have to be totally aware of your surroundings at all times.

Even in kindergarten, I can remember saying, I want to be a doctor.

My mother was originally an ER nurse and when I was 5 years old she switched to school nursing. She also volunteered with the ambulance squad. When she would go out on a call, Id be waiting for her to get home to tell us about it. I was always fascinated.

As soon as I was able to, I joined the squad. I took the first part of the certification course the summer before I turned 16. At the time, I was also doing a community theater production. So, I was in rehearsals with all these other teenagers, and I would be sitting in the corner of the auditorium reading my EMT book and studying while everybody else was socializing and hanging out because I wanted to do this so badly.

My birthday was in August and my mom and I put ourselves on call that day. The first call was someone having acute heart failure. We left our house with a little blue flashing light on the car, and then got the ambulance. My heart was just racing. I saw all these medical procedures and we took the person to the hospital and it was this huge high. That was probably a pivotal moment for me in realizing this is what I wanted to do with my life.

There was this moment about five years into my career when my father got sick and I experienced medicine from the other side, as a family member. His disease spread and they were going to stop treatment. At that appointment, it felt like there was no holding his hand, just this impersonal, robotic speech: Mr. Egan, the cancer is going to take your life.

I was so angry. I realized we have to bring in the human piece of medicine more. People relive those moments over and over in their heads I know my father did and its just one of those things Ive really tried to focus on. I have to break bad news not only about death, but also about a diagnosis someone isnt expecting. How do you do that and provide compassion? Theres that piece of forgetting the doctor thing, forgetting the white coat thing, and just being another human being.

I had been working in emergency medicine in New York City for 14 years. It hit me that something bad was happening when we started to hear about COVID-19 cases on the West Coast. When I saw the uptick in New Rochelle, just outside New York, that was the moment that I was like, Its here. Are we ready?

All of sudden, it was a tsunami. There were all these patients and everybody coming in with symptoms that seemed like they might have it, and we were realizing it was so widespread we had to assume everybody had it. Overnight, our world changed.

In the beginning, there was a lot of fear and anxiety. Whats happening? Am I going to get sick? Are my colleagues going to get sick? There were so many questions. There was also this sense of pride for our specialty. This is what we do. We respond to disasters. We mobilize and we just go with it. But this was a whole new world. Everyone kept saying, This is a sustained mass casualty incident.

We were wearing masks and goggles and protecting ourselves from every single patient. When you walked through the ER, everyone had an oxygen mask on. We had recliner chairs all along the hallway with people who were on oxygen. There were a ton of people on ventilators. We didnt have anybody who was there with belly pain. They just disappeared. It was the strangest thing in the world. I remember I sent out a tweet in the beginning, Where have all the gallbladders gone? I just wanted a gallbladder. Everybody was there for COVID. It was crazy.

There were a ton of phone calls. Before the pandemic, families were there and it was helpful, but now, with literally no visitors, people were calling nonstop. We had this really increased level of awareness that we had to make sure families felt like they could talk to and hear from us. I would do my best to have these conversations, even just for updates. When I could tell them I knew who their family member was, that they werent an anonymous patient alone in a corner, that I was taking care of them, there was always this huge, palpable sense of relief.

The hardest thing was not being able to answer peoples questions well. Normally, you know whats going on with someone. Ive got years of experience in dealing with certain diseases and can realistically tell families whats going to happen. This was the new unknown and it was so hard to be able to give people any kind of reassurance.

I had a younger patient whom we had to put on a ventilator. I called his wife and was trying to convey the message that he was really, really sick and that we needed to put him on a breathing machine. I was going to bring her into the room before we did this was really early on, when family could still come inside and let her talk to him. I didnt know if he was going to survive. He was younger so I was thinking maybe he would. But I didnt have the sense she was totally processing how bad this was.

About 10 days later, I looked him up and saw that he had died. I thought, Oh my gosh, I saw their last conversation. And I dont think it was how she ever imagined her last conversation with her husband being. He was in so much distress that he barely said anything. I remember that case vividly. Not being sure what to tell her, not being able to predict what his course would be, and just being really shaken when he didnt make it.

In the ER, we all are wondering when, and if, life will go back to normal. Certainly, the recent surges and cases elsewhere in the country are making us all really anxious in this part of the country. Were still wearing masks all the time. Were getting badge-size pictures of our faces smiling because theres this loss of human connectedness when you cant actually see someones facial emotions. When I walk into a room, I like to smile and laugh and shake hands and all of thats gone. And it would be really upsetting to me if that doesnt ever come back. Weve talked a lot about the whole human piece of this and the attentiveness and I think a lot of people were really affected by it. I think its going to be on all of our radars in the future to take that extra minute to try and engage the family, to make sure patients are not feeling alone.

This summer, I became the program director of the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency, which is where I actually did my residency. Theres something about working with new doctors thats inspiring and brings me back to the fundamental core of why I went into medicine. To see their optimism and excitement for the future is invigorating.

One of the things thats really hard in emergency medicine is theres a lot of burnout. I tell residents when they first start out, Youre going to see more tragedy, as well as awesomeness, in your first couple months than most people will see in their life.

Looking forward, I think the passion and joy for me is about working with the next generation of physicians and being involved in helping to shape them as doctors.

In the emergency room, you see everything a spectrum of ages and disease, people who are homeless, people who dont have access to care so they come to us for a medication refill. You see people who are dying or having strokes or heart attacks. Its truly the entire spectrum of medicine and society.

I think the pandemic has highlighted the importance of emergency medicine and the people whose job it is to respond to a crisis. Theres a huge amount of pride in who we are and what we do. We go to work and sacrifice, potentially, our own well-being for other people.

I keep telling people that for the rest of our lives were going to be talking about having lived through this experience and what it was like and how we got through. For many, its going to be a pivotal moment in their careers. Some people are going to say, This is too much. Others are going to say, This is why we do this, to be here when the world really needs us.

Words by Daniel Egan 98, as told to Liz Leyden forTCNJ MagazinePictures by Bill Cardoni

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The chaotic pulse of the emergency room drew Dan Egan '98 into medicine. And he's never changed heart, even through a pandemic. | News - The College...

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News) At WVU Medicine, the experts with the Maternal-Fetal Medicine program are strongly committed to providing world-class care for the women of West Virginia and the surrounding region who have complicated or high-risk pregnancies.

Dr. Annelee Boyle, associate professor and director of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Labor and Delivery Services for WVU Medicine, said her team specializes in any and everything that could make a pregnancy more complicated.

This includes services for maternal medical disorders such as diabetes, heart disease, or cancer or complications with the pregnancy itself, Boyle said.

If you break your water early, if youre going into pre-term birth, or if you actually have twins, triplets, quadruplets, etc., she said. Maternal-Fetal medicine is really providing the highest level of care to the patients that need it. At J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, we have the ability to provide the highest level of care for both babies and mothers.

Her team is comprised of six board-certified maternal-fetal medicine specialists.

We really coordinate care for moms and babies with potentially any other specialist in the hospital, she said. "So if a baby is going to need heart surgery after birth, we're coordinating with our pediatric cardiologist, our pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon, our neonatologist, and potentially even our geneticist. Or if a mother has heart disease, we may be coordinating with our adult cardiology specialist or ICU team and our anesthesia colleagues.

In addition to seeing patients at Ruby Memorial in Morgantown, the specialists with the Maternal-Fetal Medicine program are also able to see patients remotely via telemedicine services, Boyle said.

We have telemedicine outreach, so if you do whats called a MyWVUChart video visit, we can actually communicate with you through secure video and telephone links so that you dont have to drive all the way up to Morgantown if its a consult, like looking at sugars for diabetes management, she said. Certain things were going to have to see you in person for, but this allows us to expand our reach.

It is also possible to schedule a telemedicine appointment at a number of WVU Medicines satellite locations throughout the state, Boyle said.

We also have telemedicine uplinks, so if you dont have a smartphone or dont have cell service where you live, we can also do it through our different satellite offices, she said. You can come into the office for a regular OB appointment, then hop on the computer screen with us as well.

The program regularly serves mothers from Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, Boyle said.

I will see anybody who walks through my door or calls me up on the phone, she said. We are a safety net we provide care for anybody that others are unwilling or unable to care for.

The Birthing Center in the new WVU Medicine Childrens Hospital, which is scheduled to open in the summer of 2021, will positively impact the health and wellbeing of the region for generations to come, Boyle said.

The advantage to Morgantown compared to what you see up in Pittsburgh is that we will not have to separate mom and babies ever, she said. So if a mother has a complex cardiac condition, shell deliver at the same hospital. Her baby might be in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit), but they are in the same physical space as opposed to being across town from each other.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the experts with the Maternal-Fetal Medicine program have worked to ensure that partners arent separated during labor, Boyle said.

From the very beginning, we advocated for our patients, so that no woman would have to give birth alone, she said. I know that has been a big fear, but I would say that our hospital leadership is exceptionally open to providing the best care possible for everybody and really defers to the physicians and nursing staff as the folks who are on the ground advocating for the patients.

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WVU Medicine's Maternal-Fetal Medicine program: The highest level of care for babies and mothers - WV News

There are currently 117 Albertans in hospital, 18 in ICU. There have been 292 deaths, an increase of four from Friday.

The province conducted 58,183 tests in the past 72 hours 16,021 on Oct. 16, 12,556 on Oct. 17 and 13,578 on Oct. 18.

Brooks has six new cases since Friday and now has 14 active cases.

With a rate of more than 50 active cases per 100,000 people, Brooks is now on the provincial Watch list; Brooks rate is 72.6 The city was a hotspot of COVID-19 cases early in the pandemic but had kept active cases below five for the past few months.

Lethbridge and Lethbridge County are also both on the Watch list at 135 and 99.1, respectively.

The city and county have seven outbreaks between them and with case counts rising in recent weeks.

On Tuesday there are 97 schools in the province where outbreaks have been declared. Alberta Healths threshold for declaring an outbreak in school is two cases being in a school while infectious within 14 days.

No local schools are classified as having outbreaks on the provincial website.

The website Support Our Students is tracking instances of cases in schools across the province. Elm Street School and Herald School were added to the list on Oct. 5, and Ecole St. John Paul II has been on it since late August.

There 2,102 cases in the South Zone There are 191 active cases and 1,884 recovered. There are currently four COVID-19 cases in hospital in the South Zone, two in the ICU. A death in Lethbridge County brings the zone death total to 27.

Cypress County has totaled 34 cases one new active case and the rest recovered.

The County of Forty Mile has 43 total cases. There are three active cases and the rest are recovered.

The MD of Taber has 45 total cases one new active and the rest recovered.

Special Areas No. 2 has 17 total cases, two active cases and the rest recovered.

Brooks has 1,145 total cases 14 active and 1,122 are recovered. Brooks has recorded nine deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 37 cases four active cases, 31 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The County of Warner has 65 total cases. There are two active cases, 62 are recovered cases and there has been one death in the county.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 350 cases. There are 134 active cases, 214 recovered and there have been two deaths. Lethbridge County has 112 cases, 25 active cases, 86 recovered and there has been one death.

The figures on alberta.ca are up-to-date as of end of day Oct. 18, 2020.

Saskatchewan reported 126 new cases of COVID-19 over the weekend, three in the South Zones.

Saskatchewan has a total of 2,396 cases, 398 considered active. There are 1,973 recovered cases and there have been 25 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

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Two new COVID-19 cases in Medicine Hat and two more recovered - CHAT News Today

This section includes announcements of important events in our livesbirths, graduations, engagements, marriages, and deaths. If you want to share an event with your community, please send a photo and a written piece to[emailprotected]

Mary Schonfield

Mary Schonfield unexpectedly passed away September 12th, 2020 at the age of 72.

Mary moved to Southern Humboldt in 1971 where she met and married Stuart. They built their dome home from scratch and then proceeded to bring into this world two lovely daughters, Laurel and Johanna.

Mary worked at Redwoods Rural Health Center, where she started out at the front desk and moved on to work as a medical assistant. In her late forties Mary took her love of medicine and caring for people to the next level, attending UC Davis Medical school and graduating with her Physician Assistant (PA) license. Mary brought her new expertise back to Southern Humboldt where she served the community for many years as a PA.

Mary and Stuart eventually moved to Santa Cruz to be near their two daughters. Mary continued her work in providing accessible health care to everyone, working at a Planned Parenthood Clinic on the Central Coast.

Mary was an avid gardener, turning every greenspace into a lush bounty for birds, bees and butterflies alike. She inspired her neighbors to rip out their lawns and gifted her children with an endless supply of plant clippings to make their yards beautiful. As a voracious reader, Mary was often reading multiple books at once and used books to show her children and grandchildren the endless possibilities in the world.

Mary and Stuart built a marriage based on love, respect and equality, and their match may have even been destiny, for when Stuart needed a kidney transplant, not only was Mary willing but she was a match. She gave Stuart a kidney and nearly 20 more years of health by her selfless act. She loved her family deeply and she will be greatly missed by family and friends.

If Mary had one parting thing to say, it would be

Vote him out.

Mary is survived by her husband Stuart Schonfield, daughters Laurel and Johanna, and three beautiful granddaughters.

Due to Covid-19 there will be no Memorial service. If you would like to communicate with Marys family and/or share a story or memory of Mary please email [emailprotected].

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Mary Schonfield: She Had a Love of Medicine and Worked at Redwoods Rural Health Center - Redheaded Blackbelt

FIGS, a scrubs start-up, apologized for the video and pledged to donate $100,000 to the American Osteopathic Association, an organization for DOs, after the video generated backlash among Twitter's vibrant medical community.

In the now-deleted video, which was meant to show how one of its pairs of women's scrub pants looked in action, a bespectacled model played a DO and pretended to scan through the book "Medical Terminology for Dummies," which she held upside down.

On Twitter, a handful of women health care professionals and DOs quickly criticized the video's contents and FIGS for producing it.

Brenna Hohl, a first-year medical student from North Carolina, told CNN she found the ad disrespectful, particularly as health care workers face the brunt of coronavirus exposure.

"In the midst of a pandemic, we should be supporting and building up our health care workers, not bringing them down like this," she said.

After addressing the video briefly in two now-deleted tweets, FIGS co-founders Heather Hasson and Trina Spear apologized for publishing the video, which they said was "offensive" and "particularly disparaging" to women in medicine and DOs.

"Our mission at FIGS has always been to empower medical professionals," the co-founders said in a statement to CNN. "Beyond a lapse in judgment, the bottom line is -- our processes at FIGS failed. We are fixing that now. It will never happen again."

Some women in medicine say video was harmful

But some women in health care said they are turned off by the brand after the video.

"The 'silly and dumb, but sexy' look in ads and other media contributes to harmful gender stereotypes," she told CNN. "When girls see this, they start feeling like this is what is 'cool,' and start yearning to be like this."

YouTube influencer and family physician Dr. Mike Varshavski encouraged medical students to stop wearing scrubs from the brand.

Some also came to the brand's defense.

"If I was judged on a single mistake, then my career would have ended as a 3rd year medical student when labs weren't updated before rounds and I didn't have the newest creatinine," she wrote in an impassioned Instagram post. "Watch [FIGS] closely, I promise you from this point forward they will ALWAYS have the updated creatinine."

FIGS vows to improve

News of the brand's commitment to change softened critics slightly. In a statement to CNN, Dr. Kevin Klauer, a DO and CEO of the American Osteopathic Association, said that while he was "appalled" by the "ill-conceived" clip, he was working with FIGS to right its wrongs.

FIGS also will hire health care consultants to assist with future product shoots, according to Hasson and Spear.

Hohl called it a "step in the right direction" but said there's more that could be done -- namely, featuring "a wider range of health care practitioners," rather than mainly doctors and nurses, in their ads.

In response to the brand's apology, many doctors of osteopathic medicine and medical students who were openly critical of the brand later said they were glad to see the brand take responsibility.

However, many said they won't accept an apology without action -- noting that they plan to monitor to see whether the company continues to improve.

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Popular scrubs company FIGS generates backlash from women in medicine and DOs after insensitive video - CNN