President Trump's doctor said Trump is not currently on oxygen, but would not say whether he ever received oxygen since his COVID-19 diagnosis. USA TODAY

One potential downside to being president of the United States:too much care.

Presidents have always received VIP medicine, but excessive care isnt necessarily good quality care, said Dr. J. Randall Curtis, a professor of pulmonary and critical care at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.

The concern is that having too much focus and too many people involved could result in overtreatment as President Donald Trump is treated for COVID-19 at Walter Reed Military Medical Center.

At a news conference Saturday, officials saidTrump's medical team included threepulmonary critical care specialists, twoinfectious disease doctors, an anesthesiologist, an Army nurse, fourNavy nurses,a clinical pharmacistand the director of the medical center's executive medicine program. That's in addition to the president's physician, Navy Cmdr. Sean Conley.

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Conley said Saturday that he was using a "multi-prong" approach to treat Trump.

"He is receiving all of the standard of care and beyond for routine, international COVID protocols," Conley said. "He's the president. I didn't want to hold anything back. If there was any possibility that it would add value to his care and expedite his return, I wanted to take it."

Curtis acknowledged that as president, Trump and his medical team would want to have lots of input and options. Even so, other physicians noted overtreatment can be an easy trap to fall into with high-profile patients.

It is common for people who hold positions of stature to get more aggressive care because theres pressure to give someone everything imaginable. I would hope his physicians are being very deliberate in the treatment, said Dr. Russell Buhr, a professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of California-Los Angeles.

That could explain why the president is receiving relatively aggressive treatmentfor someone whose physician has described himas doing very well.

I dont think we can speculate on the reasons behind the care, Buhr said.

What do you want to know about Trump and COVID-19? We are answering reader questions. Submit your own using this form.

Remdesivir as a treatment: Trump was given it to fight his COVID-19 infection. What to know about it

Once Trump was hospitalized, his doctors began him on a course of remdesivir, a prominent experimental drugin the fight against the coronavirus that some clinical trials have shown canshorten the duration of the illness.

They later added the steroid dexamethasone, which has been shown to be life-saving in the sickest COVID-19 patients, but potential dangerous earlier in the course of the disease.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19. Here's a look at where he traveled the week before his diagnosis. USA TODAY

A number of doctors and researchers reacted with dismay to the long list of drugs and vitamins Trump had been given during andbefore his hospitalization. Many of them have no strong evidence to support their use and none have been studied in combination.

"It's bad medicine and it's a bad message," said Dr. Vinay Prasad, a hematologist-oncologist at the University of California-San Francisco, who studies health policy, clinical trials and medical decision-making.

Bad medicine because of the lack of proof, he said, and a bad message because it suggests important people don't need to wait for the scientific process to unfold before getting access to unproven medicines.

Some medications will be safe and helpful, others will be unsafe and unhelpful or somewhere in between, and only rigorous clinical trials can reveal the difference, Prasad said.

"The best medicine is not to give drugs that have no proof," he said.

"It is interesting and a bit concerning that they are trying so many therapies that are both experimental and unproven," said Dr. Alden Landry, an emergency medicine physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. "This is not the typical treatment for patients especially at this (early)stage of the virus."

All treatments carry risks, and any one of the therapies Trump is taking might be harmful alone or in combination with other therapies, the doctors said.

What Trump has not been given is hydroxychloroquine, the malaria drug he had touted with little evidence and took briefly himself this spring. Studies since then have shown the drug is ineffective against COVID-19 and can be dangerous.

Trump had asked about the drug, Conley said Saturday, but was not receiving it.

Was Trump ever on oxygen?Health, security experts say America needs 'total honesty' on president's condition

Steroids are commonly given to reduce inflammation during an infection, and dexamethasone has been shown to reduce deaths among the sickest COVID-19 patients.

Earlier in the course of COVID-19, steroids can actually be dangerous, though, because they tamp down the body's immune response, Topol said.

"(My)main concern is the suppression of the immune response he needed," Topol added via email, "nd throwing in unnecessary, and experimental drugs and unknown interactions."

Several doctors also wondered whether adding dexamethasone to the president's prescription list suggests he is more seriously ill than his doctors have admitted.

"If he IS truly sick enough to warrant dexamethasone and his doctors are not just throwing spaghetti at the wall, then the use of dexamethasone means they are minimizing how ill he is in their public pronouncements," said Dr. Nicholas Christakis, a physician and sociologist at Yale University, and author of a forthcoming book on the pandemic, called

.

In one British trial, COVID-19 about 20% of patients who needed oxygen and got dexamethasone died within a month of receiving the drug. "You add in Trump's age and sex and obesity, it is not hard to feel he is facing a risk of death of perhaps 25%," Christakis contined. "That is quite serious, most doctors would say."

When people battle disease, their immune system produces antibodies specific to that illness. With monoclonal antibodies, drug companies try to provide these same protective molecules to boost a patient's immune response.

Conley said Trump received an 8-gram dose of a drug, REGN-COV2, made by the pharmaceutical company Regeneron. It includes a combination of two monoclonal antibodies now being tested against COVID-19. Because it is still considered experimental REGN-COV2 is not yet available to the general public outside of clinical trials.

Dr. James CroweJr., who directs the VanderbiltVaccine Center in Nashville, Tennessee, said the downside of delivering more than one antibody is that it can dilute the power of the most potent one. The plus side is the virus is unlikely to escape when it is hit by two monoclonal antibodies at once, said Crowe, who is developing a different monoclonal antibody with drug giant AstraZeneca.

Regeneron recently released an analysis of its cocktail in 275 patients, showing it to be safe and to reduce a patient's viral load,though there's still no basis yet to conclude whether it is effective.

Dr. Rajesh Gandhi, an infectious disease physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, said he has given a similar drug made by Eli Lilly and Co. to his patientsand is optimistic about the approach.

"We think antibodies are most likely to work if given early," Gandhi said, which is probably why it was tried on the president so soon after his diagnosis. In many diseases, early treatment is more effective, he said, noting that although the antibodies are promising, they are still experimental."

Dr. Ilan Schwartz, an infectious disease expert at the University of Alberta in Canada, agreed that it was reasonable to give Trump the antibody cocktail. "I think there's enough data to support that it's probably safe," he said. "It's certainly not ready for prime time, but in exceptional circumstances, it would be reasonable (to give to a patient)."

Dr. Eric Topol, director and founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California, said he was surprised at how quickly Trump was able to obtain a dose of the experimental antibody mixturewithin just a day of his diagnosis.

"They're pulling out all the stops," Topol said. "You just don't know whether it's because of the VIP syndrome doing too much or whether he's started to show some signs that it's taking a toll on his body."

Remdesivir, sold by Gilead Sciences under the brand name Veklury, is an antiviral developed to treat Ebola that has been repurposed to treat COVID-19. Earlier this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized its use in hospitalized patients, and although there have been shortages, the company now promises hospitals will have an ample supply.

Research shows the drug can shorten by several days the hospital stay of patients who are seriously ill, but not in intensive care.

Remdesivir is generally given in a five-day course, intravenously.

Dr. Brian Garibaldi, a pulmonary critical care doctor treating the president, said Saturday that Trump received his first dose Friday night and "our plan is to continue a five-day treatment course." It's not clear whether that means Trump will stay at Walter Reed until he finishes the treatment.

Conley said he tried the combination of the antibodies and remdesivir because the two work in different, complementary ways.

"We're maximizing all aspects of his care," Conley said, "attacking this virus in a multi-prong approach."

Several of the doctors interviewed by USA TODAY supported the decision to try both drugs, though they noted that they've never been studied in combination.

Experts were perplexed by the remainder of items on the medication list released Friday, which included vitamin D, zinc, the antacid Pepcid, melatoninand aspirin. It's not clear whether Trump continued taking these after being hospitalized.

For vitamin D, research has shown that people who have low levels of the vitamin in their bodies fare worse when they contract COVID-19, but bringing levels above normal appears to do nothing. It's not clear whether Trump has a deficit of vitamin D, which is produced during exposure to direct sunlight and is also found in some foods.

Data also suggestspatients with low levels of zinc in their blood fare worse with COVID-19 than those with normal levels. But again, there is no evidence that supplementing with zinc improves COVID-19 outcomes.

Researchers have suggested that melatonin, a natural sleep aid, may help reduce inflammation and therefore provide benefit to COVID-19 patients, though studies into its effectiveness are just beginning.

The antacid famotidine, sold over the counter as Pepcid, also has been discussed as a possible treatment for COVID-19. The heartburn medicine is generally considered safe, and there is some data suggesting a benefit, but the research did not meet a high standard, and the improvement seen could have happened just by chance, Massachusetts General's Gandhi said.

The Infectious Disease Society of America's treatment guidelines, which Gandhi helps write, recommends against using the medicine to treat COVID-19 outside of a clinical trial, "not because it has a lot of side effects it's an antacid, it's available over the counter it's just that there's not good evidence that it has a benefit," he said.

Aspirin is another head-scratcher, Prasad and others said.

It is not uncommon for people who have had heart attack or stroke to take a baby aspirin a day to prevent a repeat, but there is no evidence the president takes it for that purpose. Because aspirin can thin the blood, it is generally not given to reduce a fever, which Trump had on Friday.

Prasad said he's not sure why Trump would be given any one of these unproven therapies, no less the combination. "I have some question marks about why he's taking them," Prasad said. "They're not likely to be beneficial."

Contact Karen Weintraub at kweintraub@usatoday.com and Elizabeth Weise at eweise@usatoday.com

Health and patient safety coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation and Competition in Healthcare. The Masimo Foundation does not provide editorial input.

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Trump is receiving lots of medical care, and some doctors wonder if it's too much. - USA TODAY

The Indiana University Board of Trustees has approved three new degrees, including a doctorate in the medical field and a master's in the accounting field.

During its meeting Oct. 1, the trustees supported three proposed degrees:

Regenerative medicine is a field that involves replacing or regenerating human cells, tissues or organs to establish, restore or enhance normal function.

The Ph.D. program in regenerative medicine and technologies will be offered by the Indiana Center for Regenerative Medicine and Engineering and the Department of Surgery at the IU School of Medicine. The program, open to practicing medical doctors, will provide an avenue for cutting-edge research that can be used in new ways to treat patients.

Before this approval, IU had no graduate-level programs for students seeking a degree in regenerative medicine and technologies. The labor market demand for such graduates is considered strong, with jobs in biotechnology companies, academic laboratories, and medical device manufacturing and logistics companies.

Changes in the accounting field and large employers' expressed needs have prompted the development of a new Master of Science in accounting curriculum that will prepare students for the emerging data-focused professional services workplace. With the proliferation of data and analytics techniques applications in the business world, integrated accounting, data and analytics competencies are required for the best job placements.

The new Master of Science in accounting with data and analytics degree will be offered by the Kelley School of Business. It will replace the current, traditional Master of Science in accounting degree as the residential offering on the Bloomington campus. The traditional Master of Science in accounting will continue to be offered through the Kelley School's online programs and will target "career switchers."

Students who seek the flexibility of an online format, have an interest in studying the foundations of sustainability and want to apply that knowledge to complex socio-environmental problems can find that opportunity in a new offering at IU Northwest, through the College of Arts and Sciences. The Bachelor of Arts in sustainability studies is a collaborative online degree, and was previously approved at IUPUI, IU East, IU Kokomo, IU South Bend and IU Southeast.

Regional demand for energy and sustainability specialists and the demand for "green" jobs are expected to grow over the next 10 years. Graduates with the degree could find jobs such as an energy analyst, environmental health and safety specialist, or an occupational health and safety technician.

The degrees approved by IU's trustees still await final approval by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.

Originally posted here:

3 new degrees approved, including Ph.D. in regenerative medicine - IU Newsroom

EDITORS NOTE: Were making some of our coronavirus pandemic coverage free for nonsubscribers. You can read those articles here and subscribe to our newsletters here.EDITORS NOTE: Were making some of our coronavirus pandemic coverage free for nonsubscribers. You can read those articles here and subscribe to our newsletters here.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the dangerous disease COVID-19. Some of the presidents staff and individuals he has met recently have also tested positive for the virus, and results on a long list of White House and campaign staff are pending. Trump was taken to Walter Reed Military Medical Center Friday afternoon, where he will remain, White House officials say, for a few days. But what awaits himand the country he still leadsas he deals with this virus?

Despite his 74 years and overweight frame, Trump has always tried to portray himself as vigorous, healthy, and even athletic. While depicting his thinner 77-year-old opponent Joe Biden as doddering, slow, and senile, Trump has tried to give the impression that he is Bidens junior by far, more than the three chronological years that separate them.

He has similarly, and repeatedly, depicted the COVID-19 risk as somebody elses problem. Older people with heart conditions might have to be concernedcertainly not Trump.

On Sept. 21, Trump looked out over a mostly mask-free crowd in Swanton, Ohio, and beamed, Wow, this is a big crowd. This is a big crowd. The crowd roared. And Trump brushed off concern about masks and COVID-19, saying: It affects elderly people. Elderly people with heart problems. If they have other problems, thats what it really affects. Thats it. But it affects virtually nobody. Its an amazing thing.

The federal government defines seniors and elderly, for most medical, retirement, and tax purposes, as individuals over 65 years of age, which clearly puts Trump in the category he dismissed in Swanton as virtually nobody. Does he suffer from any underlying conditions, other than his weight, that may put him at additional risk? We dont really know, because in his constant struggle to appear youthful, covering up his thinning hair and playing record-breaking hours of presidential golf, Trump has made sure that no genuine medical work-up reaches the public.

His Manhattan physician, Harold Bornsteina wild-haired, colorful figure who looks more like a hippie than a board-certified gastroenterologistin August 2016 certified, His health is excellent, especially his mental health.And in a December 2015 statement he said was dictated to him by a Trump aide and written hastily while a limousine waited outside, he wrote that then-candidate Trumps physical strength and stamina were extraordinary.

Former White House physician Ronny Jackson, who is now the Republican Partys candidate for the 13th Congressional District in Texas, has benefited tremendously since coming to the presidents attention in 2017. White House staff and Trump campaign officials have raised funds for his shot at a congressional seat and advised his campaign. Back in January 2018, Jackson, then a U.S. Navy rear admiral, conducted the first and only official medical examination of the president at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. In a press conference following Trumps checkup, Jackson said his patient had incredible genes, performed beautifully on a cognitive test, and claimed that if he had adhered to a better diet over the past 20 years, he could have lived to be 200, according to the New York Times. Shortly after that, Trump nominated Jackson to head the Department of Veterans Affairsa move that was foiled by allegations that the Navy doctor had handed out medicines to officers without medical indications.

Over the years, Trump and his staff have let slip tidbits of his real health status. He reportedly takes Propecia to fight hair loss, daily aspirin to prevent heart attacks, the cholesterol-lowering statin Crestor, and regular doses of the antibiotic tetracycline to deal with the colorful rosacea blotches that occasionally appear on his cheeks. According to the White House physicians office, Trump is also taking supplements of zinc, vitamin D, melatonin to combat insomnia, and the histamine-blocker famotidine. None of this is particularly remarkable for an older, overweight American manexcept that Trump goes to great lengths to not be labeled as such.

This year, concerns have been raised about incidents of Trumps slurred speech and apparent trouble walking. In June, the president had obvious difficulty descending a ramp following a speech to West Point cadets. During the speech, he struggled to hold and drink from a glass of water. In a June 14 tweet, Trump said the ramp was very slippery, and in a subsequent speech, with much fanfare, he showed a cheering crowd that he was able to hold a glass of water with one hand.

Eleven months ago (Nov 2019) President Trump made a surprise, unscheduled visit to Walter Reeds hospital, where he remained for two days. Trumps doctor, Sean Conley, declined to reveal the reason for the two-day medical visit, though he pointedly dismissed the President underwent tests for cardiac or neurologicconditions.

In November 2019, an anonymous alleged White House staffer wrote in a book titled A Warning: I am not qualified to diagnose the presidents mental acuity. All I can tell you is that normal people who spend any time with Donald Trump are uncomfortable by what they witness. He stumbles, slurs, gets confused, is easily irritated, and has trouble synthesizing information, not occasionally but with regularity. Those who would claim otherwise are lying to themselves or to the country.

Combined, these pieces of evidence suggest that Trump may have some of the underlying health conditions that put COVID-19 patients at risk for severe outcomes.

If current reports are accurate and the president has already displayed symptoms of fatigue and breathing difficulties, he may soon become too ill to do his job, as was the case with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. As one of my friends put it while she struggled at home with the virus, It feels like an elephant is sitting on my chest. In the coming days, the severity of Trumps illness will become more apparent, including whetherlike Johnsonhe requires respiratory support.

More worrying, from the point of view of Trumps role as commander in chief, is increasing evidence that SARS-CoV-2 can infect the brain and cause cognitive dysfunctions, including hallucinations, severe headaches, dizziness, and impaired judgment. The list of neurological symptoms connected with COVID-19 is very long, including confusion, delirium, senility, and permanent brain damage. These, and other brain-associated symptoms, may persist for months.

Assuming the president is willing to undergo state-of-the-art treatmentforgoing the hydroxychloroquine, forsythia, bleach, and other alleged treatments he has in the past espousedhe may ask Anthony Fauci and his staff at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to consult on his case. Based on the latest scientific findings, they might urge a blood test to determine whether Trump is part of a genetic minority14 percent of severe COVID-19 caseswhose DNA programs antibodies that attack type I interferons, molecules now known to be crucial to the bodys ability to fight off the virus.

According to the White House, the President was transported to Walter Reed Friday afternoon, and underwent an infusion treatment with monoclonal antibodies, made by Regeneron a targeted immunological treatment that has not yet been approved by the FDA.

If he wishes to take advantage of the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma therapy, receiving possibly beneficial blood products from COVID-19 survivors, he should start that treatment immediately, as clinical evidence points to whatever benefits it may provide as occurring in the earliest stages of the disease. Given his alleged cholesterol issues and the possibility that slurred speech and walking/balance issues are related to an underlying heart condition, Trumps physicians should pay close attention to his cardiac performance. There is increasing evidence that SARS-CoV-2 directly attacks and destroys heart muscle cells and causes longer-term heart problems and blood clotting throughout the body, even in people who had apparently asymptomatic infections. Another controversial treatment, the Ebola drug remdesivir, may help stave off severe outcomesbut like plasma therapy, its benefits are greatest if taken immediately. Physicians in the United Kingdom routinely now give a cheap steroid, dexamethasone, to COVID-19 patients to control dangerous overreactions against the virus on the part of patients immune systems. And, of course, Fauci or any other qualified physician would advise the president to get more sleep than usual and remain in bed.

Given the great lengths Trump has gone to appear younger than his true 74 years and hide his medical history from public scrutiny, it is difficult to predict how his body will manage the virus. From a public health point of view, he clearly must remain in strict quarantine for a minimum of two weeks after he is symptom-free, in order to protect others from his contagion. Medically, he may prove that, as he said months ago, its just like the flu, recovering in a few days. But given what is known about his health, weight, and age, Trump may face a tough battle with the coronavirus.

At a minimum, both for his personal health and the safety of others, Trump can no longer hold mass campaign rallies. The scheduled Oct. 15 debate against Biden, planned for Miami, should be canceled. The Oct. 22 Nashville debate may also need to be reconsidered, possibly moved to a virtual format. Vice President Mike Pences schedule should be reassessed, keeping him close to the White House, where, should the presidents condition worsen significantly, he may be called on to assume Oval Office duties.

Someone introduced the virus into the White House circle, possibly exhibiting a failure to quarantine, wear masks and practice social distancing. Its worth noting that in addition to the President and First Lady, four people who attended the small, mostly mask-free September 26 ceremony in the White House Rose Garden have tested positive. All were seated in the front three rows at the gathering, during which Judge Amy Coney Barrett was formally nominated to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition, three reporters who covered the event today tested positive, bringing the total to nine people, linked to a small, tightly-knit assemblage.

While many commentators and internet afficionados have greeted news of the president and first ladys illness with sarcasm and smirks about Trump shunning masks and downplaying the COVID-19 crisis, this disease has created a time of reckoning for the nation. There is nothing amusing or sarcasm-inviting about an ailing president of the United States, especially when he is a man of high-risk health facing a viral enemy as serious as SARS-CoV-2.

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Trump Has Treatment Options for Coronavirus. None of Them Are Good. - Foreign Policy

Researchers from Critical Analytics for Manufacturing Personalized-Medicine (CAMP), an interdisciplinary research group at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MITs research enterprise in Singapore, have been awarded Intra-CREATE grants from the National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore to help support research on retinal biometrics for glaucoma progression and neural cell implantation therapy for spinal cord injuries. The grants are part of the NRFs initiative to bring together researchers from Campus for Research Excellence And Technological Enterprise (CREATE) partner institutions, in order to achieve greater impact from collaborative research efforts.

SMART CAMP was formed in 2019 to focus on ways to produce living cells as medicine delivered to humans to treat a range of illnesses and medical conditions, including tissue degenerative diseases, cancer, and autoimmune disorders.

Singapores well-established biopharmaceutical ecosystem brings with it a thriving research ecosystem that is supported by skilled talents and strong manufacturing capabilities. We are excited to collaborate with our partners in Singapore, bringing together an interdisciplinary group of experts from MIT and Singapore, for new research areas at SMART. In addition to our existing research on our three flagship projects, we hope to develop breakthroughs in manufacturing other cell therapy platforms that will enable better medical treatments and outcomes for society, says Krystyn Van Vliet, co-lead principal investigator at SMART CAMP, professor of materials science and engineering, and associate provost at MIT.

Understanding glaucoma progression for better-targeted treatments

Hosted by SMART CAMP, the first research project, Retinal Analytics via Machine learning aiding Physics (RAMP), brings together an interdisciplinary group of ophthalmologists, data scientists, and optical scientists from SMART, Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Duke-NUS Medical School, MIT, and National University of Singapore (NUS). The team will seek to establish first principles-founded and statistically confident models of glaucoma progression in patients. Through retinal biomechanics, the models will enable rapid and reliable forecast of the rate and trajectory of glaucoma progression, leading to better-targeted treatments.

Glaucoma, an eye condition often caused by stress-induced damage over time at the optic nerve head, accounts for 5.1 million of the estimated 38 million blind in the world and 40 percent of blindness in Singapore. Currently, health practitioners face challenges forecasting glaucoma progression and its treatment strategies due to the lack of research and technology that accurately establish the relationship between its properties, such as the elasticity of the retina and optic nerve heads, blood flow, intraocular pressure and, ultimately, damage to the optic nerve head.

The research is co-led by George Barbastathis, principal investigator at SMART CAMP and professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, and Aung Tin, executive director at SERI and professor at the Department of Ophthalmology at NUS. The team includes CAMP principal investigators Nicholas Fang, also a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT; Lisa Tucker-Kellogg, assistant professor with the Cancer and Stem Biology program at Duke-NUS; and Hanry Yu, professor of physiology with the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS and CAMPs co-lead principal investigator.

We look forward to leveraging the ideas fostered in SMART CAMP to build data analytics and optical imaging capabilities for this pressing medical challenge of glaucoma prediction, says Barbastathis.

Cell transplantation to treat irreparable spinal cord injury

Engineering Scaffold-Mediated Neural Cell Therapy for Spinal Cord Injury Treatment (ScaNCellS), the second research project, gathers an interdisciplinary group of engineers, cell biologists, and clinician scientists from SMART, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), NUS, IMCB A*STAR, A*STAR, French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), the University of Cambridge, and MIT. The team will seek to design a combined scaffold and neural cell implantation therapy for spinal cord injury treatment that is safe, efficacious, and reproducible, paving the way forward for similar neural cell therapies for other neurological disorders. The project, an intersection of engineering and health, will achieve its goals through an enhanced biological understanding of the regeneration process of nerve tissue and optimized engineering methods to prepare cells and biomaterials for treatment.

Spinal cord injury (SCI), affecting between 250,000 and 500,000 people yearly, is expected to incur higher societal costs as compared to other common conditions such as dementia, multiple sclerosis, and cerebral palsy. SCI can lead to temporary or permanent changes in spinal cord function, including numbness or paralysis. Currently, even with the best possible treatment, the injury generally results in some incurable impairment.

The research is co-led by Chew Sing Yian, principal investigator at SMART CAMP and associate professor of the School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering and Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at NTU, and Laurent David, professor at University of Lyon (France) and leader of the Polymers for Life Sciences group at CNRS Polymer Engineering Laboratory. The team includes CAMP principal investigators Ai Ye from Singapore University of Technology and Design; Jongyoon Han and Zhao Xuanhe, both professors at MIT; as well as Shi-Yan Ng and Jonathan Loh from Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, A*STAR.

Chew says, Our earlier SMART and NTU scientific collaborations on progenitor cells in the central nervous system are now being extended to cell therapy translation. This helps us address SCI in a new way, and connect to the methods of quality analysis for cells developed in SMART CAMP.

Cell therapy, one of the fastest-growing areas of research, will provide patients with access to more options that will prevent and treat illnesses, some of which are currently incurable. Glaucoma and spinal cord injuries affect many. Our research will seek to plug current gaps and deliver valuable impact to cell therapy research and medical treatments for both conditions. With a good foundation to work on, we will be able to pave the way for future exciting research for further breakthroughs that will benefit the health-care industry and society, says Hanry Yu, co-lead principal investigator at SMART CAMP, professor of physiology with the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS, and group leader of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology at A*STAR.

The grants for both projects will commence on Oct. 1, with RAMP expected to run until Sept. 30, 2022, and ScaNCellS expected to run until Sept. 30, 2023.

SMART was. established by the MIT in partnership with the NRF in 2007. SMART is the first entity in the CREATE developed by NRF. SMART serves as an intellectual and innovation hub for research interactions between MIT and Singapore, undertaking cutting-edge research projects in areas of interest to both Singapore and MIT. SMART currently comprises an Innovation Centre and five interdisciplinary research groups (IRGs): Antimicrobial Resistance, CAMP, Disruptive and Sustainable Technologies for Agricultural Precision, Future Urban Mobility, and Low Energy Electronic Systems.

CAMP is a SMART IRG launched in June 2019. It focuses on better ways to produce living cells as medicine, or cellular therapies, to provide more patients access to promising and approved therapies. The investigators at CAMP address two key bottlenecks facing the production of a range of potential cell therapies: critical quality attributes (CQA) and process analytic technologies (PAT). Leveraging deep collaborations within Singapore and MIT in the United States, CAMP invents and demonstrates CQA/PAT capabilities from stem to immune cells. Its work addresses ailments ranging from cancer to tissue degeneration, targeting adherent and suspended cells, with and without genetic engineering.

CAMP is the R&D core of a comprehensive national effort on cell therapy manufacturing in Singapore.

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SMART researchers receive Intra-CREATE grant for personalized medicine and cell therapy - MIT News

As a frontline healthcare worker, Jean Abac is committed to overcoming any fear and doing her part in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. She has been working seven days a week as a nurse at three area hospitals.

Supporting patients needs is especially meaningful for her because she knows that there is now a nursing shortage and those on the job can be concerned even reluctant about providing care, particularly at the bedside, to those diagnosed with coronavirus.

Right now is the time to help, says Jean, who splits her work hours among the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, Olympia Medical Center and West Hills Hospital. Nurses have a huge responsibility. We signed up to be in this position. This is our job and that holds a lot of importance. You take an oath to be a part of a greater good.

Jean, 29, a resident of the Palms area of Los Angeles, emigrated from the Philippines as a teen and benefited from being selected as a United Health Foundation Diverse Scholar. The program, an initiative to promote diversity in the health care industry that was created and is funded by the United Health Foundation, will help pay for her continuing education to become a nurse practitioner.

The nursing profession is a family affair. Her fianc, Spencer, is also a nurse and he is working six days a week. They keep each other motivated. Were just trying to do our best to make the most of whats currently happening, says Jean, whose biological father is also a nurse in a nursing home. Her mother previously worked overnight shifts as an in-home caregiver.

Over the past nine years that Jean has been a nurse, she has learned to become a more effective health care provider by making, what she calls, cultural connections. She strives to be empathetic with all the patients she serves. Shes quick to acknowledge their ethnic or racial backgrounds (such as conversing in Tagalog with fellow Filipinos) and create a general sense of familiarity and acceptance. She has also learned a handful of key words in Spanish that she says work like magic in making a difference with Latinos and helping them cope with issues of vulnerability.

In my daily interactions with my patients, I try to really get to know them on a personal level, and especially learn what makes them laugh, she says. When in the hospital, theres just way too many things that scare people, especially the big unknowns like waiting for their diagnosis or what will be the prognosis once they start their treatments.

The trauma that comes with a sickness and diagnosis is one that Jean knows firsthand. During nursing school, she was treated for a serious condition that could have led to cervical cancer. And now, as the deadly COVID-19 pandemic continues, there is the constant threat of exposure.

There are a lot of worries among me and my co-workers. Some get sick and then you worry if you will get sick and that youll bring it home to your loved ones, she says, referring to COVID-19. But we all signed up to help every patient with every kind of disease.

Jeans award as a Diverse Scholar will help her continue to develop and grow in her career. She wants to be a role model for younger generations and help recruit others into nursing. Shes trying to emulate the professional mentors who played such a big role for her when she first became a nurse.

Its very humbling, she says. I feel such great purpose knowing that I was part of allowing patients to receive a second, third or however many chances theyve been granted again in life. Were only here for a short time and knowing that you were part of lengthening somebodys life a little longer so that they can share more laughs, loves and memories with other people is an unexplainable feeling.

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Your Column Here - Kindness is the Best Medicine - - Santa Monica Daily Press

The aggressiveness of early breast cancer and the overall prognosis of patients with the disease is highly dependent on the presence of aberrations in the tumor. HER2 overexpression, in particular, is found in 10% to 40% of breast tumors, which make tumors with these characteristics less responsive to the hormone therapy and cytotoxic agents most commonly used for the treatment of breast cancer.1

Although HER2 positivity has been identified as a predictive factor of response to chemotherapy, it remains controversial considering that responses to chemotherapy can vary in patients with certain disease characteristics. Once trastuzumab (Herceptin), the first targeted therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer entered the paradigm, it was clear that patients had more options,1,2 but, experts were unaware of how far targeted therapies could go in terms of improving outcomes.

Treatment should be individualized based on the patients presenting characteristics, including tumor size, lymph node status, and hormone receptor status, Kari B. Wisinski, MD, medical oncologist, UW Health and the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, told Targeted Oncology, in an interview.

Individualizing therapy for our patients with HER2-positive disease can help us improve outcomes and decrease toxicity for our patients, added Sara Tolaney MD, MPH, associate director, Susan F. Smith Center for Women's Cancers, director, Clinical Trials, Breast Oncology, and senior physician, at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and assistant professor of medicine, at Harvard Medical School.

Before the Agent Boom in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer

As a newly introduced targeted therapy in the field of HER2-positive breast cancer in 1998, trastuzumab added to cytotoxic chemotherapy demonstrated a significant improvement in disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, according to results from the N9831 trial (NCT00005970). The result was a 10-year DFS rate of 73.7% with the addition of trastuzumab compared with 62.2% with chemotherapy alone (HR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.53-0.78) and the 10-year OS rate achieved was 84% versus 75.2% (HR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.54-0.73).3

As scientific advances were made, trastuzumab continued to be used with chemotherapy, but novel targeted therapies also emerged in the landscape.2

The Thriving Targeted Therapy Research in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer

Many targeted therapies are now FDA approved as treatment of patients with early HER2-positive breast cancer and, unsurprisingly, many of the regimens used in clinical trials for these patients include trastuzumab or are intended to be administered after trastuzumab treatment is completed.

Several new targeted therapies have emerged in the last several years for HER2-positive breast cancer. First of all, we have pertuzumab [Perjeta], the anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody, which has been supported in the neoadjuvant setting as well as in the adjuvant setting. There is neratinib [Nerlynx], which is an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is now approved as an extended duration anti-HER2 treatment following completion of 1 year of trastuzumab in the adjuvant setting, Wisinski explained.Lastly, we have recent data for T-DM1 [trastuzumab emtansine; Kadcyla], which is now FDA approved in the post-neoadjuvant setting in patients with residual disease after standard upfront chemotherapy and anti-HER2 directed therapy. Each of these 3 medications has significantly changed our landscape.

One of the most revolutionary clinical trials exploring the use of novel targeted therapies in patients with breast cancer is the I-SPY-2 platform trial, which includes a subset of patients with HER2-positive disease. I-SPY-2 is a series of mini studies of novel drugs combined with chemotherapy compared with single-agent standard of care, which is the combination of paclitaxel plus trastuzumab followed by doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide. The trial includes 4000 patients.

The combination treatment arms being explored in I-SPY-2 include AMG 386 with or without trastuzumab, AMG 479 (Ganitumab) plus metformin, MK-2206 with or without trastuzumab, T-DM1 plus pertuzumab, pertuzumab plus trastuzumab, talazoparib (Talzenna) plus irinotecan, patritumab plus trastuzumab, durvalumab (Imfinzi) plus olaparib (Lynparza), and cemiplimab (Libtayo) plus durvalumab plus olaparib. The monotherapy arms include ganetespib, ABT-888, neratinib, PLX3397, pembrolizumab (Keytruda), SGN-LIV1A, tucatinib (Tukysa), and cemiplimab, in all breast cancers.4

Aside from the I-SPY-2 trial, vaccine therapies including the HER2-sensitized dendritic

cell vaccine (NCT0338755), the dendritic cell vaccine compared to the WOKVAC vaccine (NCT03384914), and TPIV100, another HER2 vaccine (NCT04197687) are under investigation in phase 1/2 clinical trials.

There have also been studies of combination chemotherapy like trastuzumab plus chemotherapy (NCT03894007), which is a phase 2 study evaluating treatment before surgery in patients with HER2-amplified early breast cancer. Therapeutic strategies that are even further along in the pipeline are immune checkpoint inhibitor monotherapy and immunotherapy and chemotherapy combination that first demonstrated efficacy in other diseases.

The immunotherapy agents and combinations currently under investigation for early HER2-positive breast cancer include the phase 2, open-label, randomized, multicenter trial of paclitaxel plus pembrolizumab versus pembrolizumab alone (NCT03747120); the phase 2 trial of doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and paclitaxel plus nivolumab (Opdivo; NCT03742986) in inflammatory breast cancer, which includes patients with HER2-positive disease in 1 arm who will be treated with added trastuzumab and pertuzumab; as well as the single-arm, open-label study of M7824 ahead of standard neoadjuvant therapy (NCT03620201), which is evaluating patients with stage II or III HER2-positive breast cancer.

Expanding the Possibilities of Trastuzumab

Trastuzumab is considered a standard chemotherapy backbone in the landscape of HER2-positive breast cancer.1 To keep the efficacy going, Wiscinski suggests using trastuzumab not only to escalate but also to de-escalate treatment.

One of the strategies that still needs to be considered is not just escalating treatment with these newer agents, but also the idea of deescalating for smaller HER2-positive breast cancer. In particular, I am thinking about either the regimen of paclitaxel with trastuzumab or T-DM1 as a single-agent, Wiscinski stated. Overall, the escalation treatment strategy is sometimes appropriate, but other times, de-escalation is a critical thing for treating HER2-positive breast cancer.

Tolaney also noted, during an interview, that de-escalation plays a critical role in how patients with HER2-positive breast cancer are treated.

By tailoring adjuvant therapy based on response to preoperative therapy, we are able to escalate therapy for patients with residual disease, and de-escalate for patients with pathologic complete response, Tolaney stated.

The de-escalation strategy is an area of active research as well. Currently, the CompassHER2-pCR study (NCT04266249), the PALTAN study (NCT02907918), and the TOUCH trial (NCT03644186) are all investigating de-escalation of trastuzumab-containing regimens.

Wiscinski noted, however, that challenges do exist with this strategy and should be explored future.

An unmet need is having better predictors of who needs an escalation treatment and who can have their treatment de-escalated. For example, right now we rely a lot on nodal status and tumor size, but there could potentially be genomic markers or diagnostic tests that could help us identify which patients have very HER2-sensitive disease and potentially could be treated with less chemotherapy, she explained.

References:

1. Kurebayashi J. Biological and clinical significance of her2 overexpression in Breast Cancer. Breast Cancer. 2001;8(1):45-51. doi:10.1007/BF02967477

2. Sharifi M, Wisinski KB. Advances in the treatment of early-stage her2-positive breast cancer. Clin Adv Hematol Oncol. 2020;18(8):482-492.

3. Perez EA, Romond EH, Suman VJ, et al. Trastuzumab plus adjuvant chemotherapy for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive breast cancer: planned joint analysis of overall survival from NSABP B-31 and NCCTG N9831. J Clin Oncol. 2014;32(33):3744-3752. doi:10.1200/JCO.2014.55.5730

4. The I-SPY 2 Trial. I-SPY2 website. Accessed October 2, 2020. https://bit.ly/36qn2Kk

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Trastuzumab-Containing Regimens and Novel Drugs Mark the Precision Medicine Era of HER2-Positive Breast Cancer - Targeted Oncology

Aimed at offering Global Regenerative Medicine Market: Size and Forecast with Impact Analysis of COVID-19 (2020-2024) report readers with updated information as well as market relevant cues to leverage uninhibited growth in the Global Regenerative Medicine market, this intricately researched, designed, and articulated real-time reference of the market is a culmination of in-depth research mettle and best in class primary and secondary research initiatives that collectively influence a favorable growth trajectory in the Global Regenerative Medicine market.

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Novartis AGMedtronic PlcBristol Myers Squibb (Celgene Corporation)Smith+Nephew (Osiris Therapeutics, Inc.)

Global Regenerative Medicine market Segmentation by Type:

Type IType IIType III

Global Regenerative Medicine market Segmentation by Application:

Application IApplication IIApplication III

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Key Regions:

North AmericaEuropeAsia PacificROW

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1. A team of expert research veterans, practicing best in industry roles to derive real time developments in the Global Regenerative Medicine market, affecting growth.2. Systematic segment-wise analysis to identify growth reckoning segment.3. A thorough historical study to decode future growth trajectory.4. Rear view analysis of opportunity landscape and barrier analysis and threat identification.5. Astute analysis of the competition spectrum to identify market leaders and their growth favoring business tactics.

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Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.

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Global Regenerative Medicine Market 2020 Growth Analysis, Trends, COVID-19 Analysis and Forecast to 2024, Key Manufacturers- Novartis AG, Medtronic...

Police departments have been participating in the national Drug Take Back event since 2010 to collect extra and unused prescription medications. (WYDaily file/Courtesy Williamsburg Police Department)

If youre looking to clean out your medicine cabinet, then October is the perfect time to do it.

The York-Poquoson Sheriffs Office, James City County Police and the Williamsburg Police Department are each hosting Drug Take Back events on Oct. 24 from 10 a.m.- 2 p.m.

The event is a Drug Enforcement Administration regulated event.

Too often, unused prescription drugs find their way into the wrong hands. Thats dangerous and often tragic, Shelley Ward, spokeswoman for YPSO, wrote in an email.

Thats why its great to see hundreds of folks from across our area safely and anonymously clean out their medicine cabinets, Ward added.

In a non-COVID year, local law enforcement agencies typically hold events like this twice a year. But Williamsburg Police Officer Aundrea Holiday said the department had to cancel their April Drug Take Back.

Statistics show when you leave the unused medication around, then it gets into the hands it shouldnt be, whether it be teenagers or young kids, Holiday said. We can go ahead and destroy it safely. Its a win-win for the community.

She added flushing prescription medication and other drugs is not an effective nor safe way to dispose of these items because it gets in the waterways.

All locations are accepting prescription solid dosage medications, including tablets and capsules. Intravenous solutions, liquid medications, over-the-counter medications, injectables and needles will not be accepted, nor will illicit substances, including marijuana and methamphetamines. E-cigarettes and vaping devices will only be accepted if the batteries have been removed.

Williamsburg Police collaborated with the Williamsburg Fire Department across the street so they are allowed to accept over the counter medications and sharps, such as needles, at their location.

The James City County Police Department will have their drug take back at the county Law Enforcement Center on 4600 Opportunity Way.

Williamsburg Police is having their event at the Williamsburg Fire Department on 440 N Boundary St. There will be a drop box outside so people can remain in their vehicles when dropping off medication.

The YPSO will have their Drug Take Back at the Department of Public Works on 105 Service Drive. In an effort to keep people safe, deputies will go vehicle to vehicle with a container to collect medications.

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Need an excuse to clean out your medicine cabinet? Here it is - WYDaily

Sir, As individuals and members of the Irish Palliative Medicine Consultants Association (IPMCA), we are gravely concerned by any proposal to legislate for assisted suicide and euthanasia in Ireland.

Based on our collective experience over many decades of providing specialist care to thousands of individuals in Ireland and their families each year, we have closely observed the experiences of people who have lived and are living with serious illness.

The threats of the proposed Bill to healthcare in Ireland, to the true meaning of the doctor-patient relationship and to the future of what we know compassionate and supportive specialist palliative care to be are many. We worry about the impact on people who already struggle to have their voices heard in our society older adults, the disabled, those with mental illness and others. We worry that the most vulnerable are those who may be made to feel a burden to their families and come under pressure to end their lives prematurely.

Our experiences tell us that many in our society dont really know what dying is like, or how rare it is that severe pain cannot be controlled. Most people do not see that within the easing of physical, psychological or spiritual distress and addressing peoples fears, hopes, sadness and loss, the goal of palliative care remains to enhance the living of each life which often transforms the experiences of living, dying and bereavement for individual patients and their families.

We are convinced that as dying with dignity is already present within healthcare in Ireland, no change to our current laws is required. Yours, etc,

FEARGAL TWOMEY,

Consultant Physician

in Palliative Medicine,

Limerick and

Chairman of the Irish

Palliative Medicine

Consultants Association;

Prof TONY OBRIEN,

Clinical Professor

of Palliative Medicine,

University College Cork;

Dr MARIE TWOMEY,

Consultant in Palliative

Medicine,

St Lukes Hospital,

Dublin 6;

Dr NORMA OLEARY,

Consultant Physician

in Palliative Medicine,

Our Ladys Hospice

and Care Services and

St Jamess Hospital,

Dublin 8,

Dr VAL OREILLY,

Consultant in Palliative

Medicine,

Limerick;

Prof KAREN RYAN,

UCD Clinical Professor,

Consultant in Palliative

Medicine;

Dr DENISE HAYES,

Consultant in Palliative

Medicine,

University Hospital

Waterford;

FAITH CRANFIELD,

Consultant in Palliative

Medicine,

St Francis Hospice

Blanchardstown and

Connolly Hospital,

Dublin 15;

MARIAN CONROY,

Consultant Physician in Palliative Medicine,

UL Hospitals Group and

Milford Care Centre, Limerick;

Dr MAGS CLIFFORD,

Consultant in Palliative Medicine

Cork Kerry Community Healthcare,

Kerry Specialist

Palliative Care Services,

University Hospital Kerry;

Dr CATHRYN BOGAN,

Consultant in Palliative Medicine

North West Hospice,

Sligo University Hospital;

Dr AISLING OGORMAN,

Consultant Physician

in Palliative Medicine,

Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer,

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland,

Louth & Meath Specialist Palliative

Care Services,

Dchas Centre,

Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital,

Drogheda;

Dr CLARE MCALEER,

Consultant in Palliative Medicine ,

Beaumont Hospital,

and St Francis Hospice, Raheny;

Dr BARBARA

SHEEHY-SKEFFINGTON,

Locum Consultant

in Palliative Medicine,

Our Ladys Hospice and Care Services,

and St Jamess Hospital, Dublin;

Dr. BERNADETTE BRADY,

Consultant in Palliative Medicine,

Tallaght University Hospital;

Dr EILEEN MANNION,

Clinical Lecturer

in Palliative Medicine, NUIG,

Consultant in Palliative Medicine,

Galway University Hospital and Roscommon,

Clinical Lecturer in Palliative Medicine, NUIG,

Consultant in Palliative Medicine,

Galway University Hospital

& Portiuncula University Hospitals;

DR MAEVE OREILLY,

Consultant in Palliative Medicine,

St Lukes Hospital, Dublin,

Locum Consultant in Palliative Medicine,

UL Hospitals Group

and Milford Care Centre, Limerick.

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Palliative medicine and dying with dignity - The Irish Times

CHICKEN soup has been known and loved throughout the world for centuries. a little research shows this dish may have its origins in ancient Greece or perhaps in China (the Chinese being the first to think of adding noodles), but that it is also practically synonymous with traditional Jewish cooking.

Besides being tasty and comforting, chicken soup is also known for the curative properties that have earned it the nickname of Jewish penicillin. And chicken soups health benefits arent just another folktale told to get you to clean your plate (or rather, bowl).

Science Daily says that researchers from the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Section of the Nebraska Medical Center studied how chicken soup interacted with blood samples and found that it did seem to have an anti-inflammatory effect that could possibly work to inhibit respiratory problems.

While researchers couldnt determine exactly what ingredient in the chicken soup was working to reduce inflammation, clinical dietitian Sandy Allonen gives her take on just how chicken soup works its magic.

She calls its clear broth warm and soothing, something that makes it a great source of hydration while youre sick, especially if you have a sore throat. She also notes that even the salt, as well as the other seasonings, can help combat the feeling of dull taste buds, while the veggies have vitamins and minerals that can help build a healthy immune system to fight off viruses and helpyour body recover from illness more quickly.

The carbs in the noodles will help fill you up, satisfy, and re-energize you, while the chicken is not only packed with immune-boosting protein as well as vitamins and minerals of its own but also contains high levels of tryptophan, a substance that Allonen says helps your body produce serotonin that can enhance your mood. Even the steam can help, if you serve your soup piping hot, by opening up airways, making it easier to breathe and producing a mild anti-inflammatory effect that can help relax your muscles and soothe the discomforts of cold symptoms.

Whether you make homemade chicken soup or open up a can, better stock up before cold and flu season hits. It may not be a miracle cure, but chicken soup really is the best medicine.

We hope you enjoyed this article Chicken soup really is the best medicine..

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Chicken soup really is the best medicine - Euro Weekly News

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) Major news for COVID-19 patients fighting the virus.

On Wednesday, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine said that it is operating one of the 25 nationwide sites that will test therapies aimed at treating early-stage COVID-19 cases.

This trial is part of the National Institutes of Health ACTIV initiative.

Pitt School of Medicine says it aims to develop a treatment that can prevent people with COVID-19 from progressing, which will later require them to go to the hospital.

They say the first drug being studied in the trial is an antibody treatment made by pharmaceutical company Lilly. Researchers say Lillys antibody was shown to help people with COVID-19.

According to the university, phase 2 of the trial is already underway. 110 participants will be recruited nationwide to receive an antibody. Theyll be compared to 110 participants who will receive a placebo. If the medication produces positive results, without significant safety concerns, it will advance to phase 3.

Researchers are looking for people to participate in the study. For more information to see if you qualify, click here.

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Pitt School Of Medicine Launches COVID-19 Therapy Testing Site - CBS Pittsburgh

The Wayne State University School of Medicine community will examine issues of racism, discrimination and health inequities during Diversity Week, beginning with the Racism in Medicine and Detroit Summit on Oct. 5.

Planned and hosted by members of the schools Learning Communities, the Black Medical Association, and the Institutional Justice and Inclusion External Senate Committee, organizers said they designed the summit and the weeks events to be beneficial for all students with all areas of expertise.

Those organizers include members of the schools Racism in Medicine and Detroit Summit and Diversity Week Task Force, Sara Saymuah, Capricia Bell, Suma Alzouhayli, Manvir Sandhu, Ashleigh Peoples and Ntami Echeng.

While the topics of racism, discrimination and institutional injustices are complex and can be uncomfortable to discuss, the task force members said, these issues and topics influence our patient population and the way we practice medicine. The emphasis on social determinants of health and the influence of racism and discrimination in medicine is a growing topic. Coming from Detroit, a center for urban excellence, comes with a greater expectation of experience with these topics in real time.

The Oct. 5 summit, which begins at 6 p.m.,will introduce the history of racism in the Detroit community, medical education and in medical practice.

Year 1 and Year 2 students can receive a maximum of four clinic service-learning hours by taking part in the weeks events. The Oct. 5 summit will count for two hours for Year 2 students only. To be eligible, students must complete pre- and post-event surveys.

All events are free and are scheduled to take place via Zoom from 6 to 8 p.m. Register for each event separately at the associated links below.

The weeks agenda and topics include:

Oct. 5: Racism in Medicine and Detroit Summit. Medicine can be learned anywhere. Learning how structural racism influences the Detroit community and medical education will provide context for the urban excellence training at the WSU School of Medicine and the unique skills needed to care for an underserved population. Featuring Rhonda Dailey, M.D.; Carmen McIntyre Leon, M.D.; Ijeoma Nnodim Opara, M.D.; and Lewis Graham. You can submit questions for the panelists here.

Oct. 6: Racism as a Form of Trauma,6 to 7:30 p.m., featuring Carmen McIntyre Leon, M.D., followed by a dialogue circle facilitated by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. If you can begin to understand how racism in all forms has negative effects on individual and community health you can begin to understand how to combat this for yourself and for the people and patients you care for. The impact of racism is complex, but learning how to define and categorize responses to various forms of racism will help you piece together how you can make positive impacts moving forward. This event is co-sponsored by the Latino Medical Student Association.

Oct. 7: Our Identities and Intersectionality, 6 to 7 p.m., featuring Arash Javanbakht, M.D.How does your identity benefit or hinder your performance in certain spaces? Do you feel confident in some but shy in others? Why is that? What factors are at play? Attend to learn more about the importance of understanding your identity. Co-sponsored by the Islamic Medical Student Association and the National Arab American Medical Association NextGen. This will be followed by Smores and Wards, Medical Education and Discrimination, 7 to 8 p.m. What really happens on rotations? The sharing of stories can provide benefit in learning but also in building a supportive community around injustices experienced by your fellow medical students. What would you do if you encountered this? What will/would you do if you see this done to a fellow classmate?

Oct. 8: Healthcare and Vulnerable Communities, 6 to 7 p.m., featuring Ijeoma Nnodim Opara, M.D. Racism embedded in the structure of our society and institutions deters many from beginning to understand how we got here and why. However, the future of medicine and the future of our communities that we entered this profession to care for depends on it. By attending this session you will learn about the structural influences of health disparities and more importantly how to combat them. Co-sponsored by the American Medical Womens Association and the Cass Clinic. Followed by COVID-19: Racism and Health Inequity Zoom-talk, 7 to 8 p.m. Youve probably learned about the health disparities that the COVID pandemic blatantly exacerbated. But did you get a chance to talk about what this means for the Detroit community, current or future health advocacy efforts, or for you as a future physician? Join the discussion, learn the opinions of other students and share your insight. There is a need for transparency and collaboration amongst students, faculty and practicing physicians, and this could be where it starts.

Oct. 9: Allyship for Our Peers and Patients, 6 to 7 p.m., featuring Kevin Wang, M.D. Regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation - there is a place for you in social justice advocacy in the medical field. Everyone is welcome, and more importantly everyone is needed. This event can help you understand what it means to be an ally and how to use your powers effectively. Co-sponsored by LGBT+ People in Medicine. Followed by How to Be a Better Ally, 7 to 8 p.m., featuring Latonya Riddle-Jones, M.D.; Diane Levine, M.D.; Elizabeth Secord, M.D.; the Corktown Health Centers Patrick Yankee; the Callen-Lorde Community Health Centers Andrew Goodman, M.D.; and Henry Fords Ruth Ellis Center. Now that youve learned about racism, identity, advocacy and allyship, this is your opportunity to put them all together. By attending this panel you will hear how experts have pieced together these complex concepts and how they use them to make a positive impact. The discussion will be guided based on personal experiences and episode 10 from the podcast The Happiness Lab: How to Be a Better Ally.

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Diversity Week kicks off with Racism in Medicine and Detroit Summit on Oct. 5. - The South End

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Editas Medicine, Inc. (Nasdaq: EDIT), a leading genome editing company, today announced that management will participate in the following upcoming investor conference:

Chardan Virtual 4th Annual Genetic Medicines ConferenceFireside ChatDate: Monday, October 5, 2020Time: 10:30 a.m. ET

The event will be webcast live and may be accessed on the Editas Medicine website in the Investors and Media section. Archived recordings will be available for approximately 30 days following the event.

About Editas MedicineAs a leading genome editing company, Editas Medicine is focused on translating the power and potential of the CRISPR/Cas9 and CRISPR/Cas12a (also known as Cpf1) genome editing systems into a robust pipeline of treatments for people living with serious diseases around the world. Editas Medicine aims to discover, develop, manufacture, and commercialize transformative, durable, precision genomic medicines for a broad class of diseases. For the latest information and scientific presentations, please visit http://www.editasmedicine.com.

Investor ContactMark Mullikin(617) 401-9083mark.mullikin@editasmed.com

Media ContactCristi Barnett(617) 401-0113cristi.barnett@editasmed.com

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Editas Medicine to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conference - GlobeNewswire

Friday, October 2, 2020

The Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine is being honored today as a recipient of the 2020 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. Presented annually, the national Health Professions HEED Award recognizes U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. Insight Into Diversity magazine made the announcement today (Friday, October 2). As an award recipient, the college will be featured, along with 45 other recipients, in the December 2020 issue of the magazine.

Dean Willie Reed said the award is a great reflection of the colleges deep and abiding commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This award makes an important statement about the way in which our college doesnt just talk about diversity and inclusion, but lives it, Dean Reed said. The Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine is playing a leadership role nationally with model initiatives that advance diversity and inclusion in veterinary medicine.We are working diligently to make measurable progress as a college and as a profession in being truly welcoming and supportive of everyone and this award documents that fact.

This is the second year Purdue Veterinary Medicine has been named as a Health Professions HEED Award recipient. PVM continues to raise the bar in diversity, equity, and inclusion through its innovative programming and leadership, said Dr. Latonia Craig, the colleges assistant dean for inclusive excellence. We are so thrilled for PVM to receive this award. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion lie at the heart of PVMs mission. We have a supportive college community that makes every effort to ensure we bring our core values to life daily. This work is not easy, but we do it because thats just who we are, Dr. Craig explained. You can have diversity without inclusion, but at PVM, we strive to create an environment that welcomes and includes each student, faculty, and staff member. We hope that our efforts will inspire others to engage in this work in the best way they know how.

INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine selected Purdue Veterinary Medicine for the award because of its multiple diversity and inclusion initiatives. In February, the college launched its five-year diversity strategic plan, which continues to receive praise for its thoroughness and commitment to inclusive excellence. PVMs role in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in veterinary medicine is long-standing. Award-winning programs such as Vet Up!, led by Dr. Craig, and This is How We Role, led by Dr. Sandra San Miguel, associate dean for engagement, each received INSIGHT Into Diversity magazines Inspiring Programs in STEM Award in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Other programs include PVMs new and popular virtual Learning Cafs, a monthly series of 50-minute critical conversations surrounding diverse topics chosen by the PVM community.

The HEED Award process consists of a comprehensive and rigorous application that includes questions relating to the recruitment and retention of students and employees and best practices for both, continued leadership support for diversity, and other aspects of campus diversity and inclusion, said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. We take a detailed approach to reviewing each application in deciding who will be named a HEED Award recipient. Our standards are high, and we look for institutions where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being done every day across their campus.

The other recipients of the 2020 Health Professions HEED Award include three other veterinary schools:

Click here for more information about the 2020 Health Professions HEED Award.

Writer(s): Kevin Doerr | pvmnews@purdue.edu

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Purdue Veterinary Medicine Receives 2020 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award - Purdue Veterinary News

Michigan Medicine is participating in a nationwide study funded by the National Institutes of Health that will seek to discover the cause of several unusual forms of diabetes. For years, doctors and researchers have been stymied by cases of diabetes that differ from known types. Through research efforts at Michigan Medicine and 19 other U.S. research institutions, the study aims to discover new forms of diabetes, understand what makes them different, and identify their causes.

The Rare and Atypical Diabetes Network, or RADIANT, plans to screen about 2,000 people with unknown or atypical forms of diabetes that do not fit the common features of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

A person with atypical diabetes may be diagnosed and treated for type 1 or type 2 diabetes, but not have a history or signs consistent with their diagnosis. For example, they may be diagnosed and treated for type 2 diabetes but may not have any of the typical risk factors for this diagnosis, such as being overweight, having a family history of diabetes, or being diagnosed as an adult. Alternately, a person with atypical diabetes may respond differently than expected to the standard diabetes treatments.

Were excited to contribute to the RADIANT study through our deep commitment to understand and better treat rare and unusual forms of diabetes, says Elif Oral, M.D., an endocrinologist at Michigan Medicine. Michigan Medicinehas pioneered this field throughthe work of Dr. Stefan Fajan by defining Maturity-Onset Diabetes of the Young and we carried the torch in our current division through the work of Dr. Peter Arvans lab and our clinical translational studies in lipodystrophy.

RADIANT researchers will build a comprehensive resource of genetic, clinical, and descriptive data on previously unidentified forms of diabetes for the scientific and healthcare communities.

The studys researchers will collect detailed health information using questionnaires, physical exams, genetic sequencing, blood samples, and other tests. People found to have unknown forms of diabetes may receive additional testing. Some participant family members may also be invited to take part in the study.

We are thrilled that Dr. Orals team at the University of Michigan Elizabeth Weiser Caswell Diabetes Institute has been chosen for this important study, says Martin G. Myers, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., director of the Institute. In addition to helping to understand the causes of diabetes, Dr. Orals work has the potential to identify new and better treatments for patients in the RADIANT study and for others with diabetes.

USF is the studys coordinating center, and the lead centers include Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and the University of Chicago. The Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Baylor serve as the genomic sequencing centers for the project. University of Florida, Gainesville, provides the studys laboratory services. Other participating centers are:

Support for the study is provided through NIDDK grants U54DK118638 and U54DK118612.

Excerpt from:

Michigan Medicine participates in first nationwide network to study rare forms of diabetes - University of Michigan Health System News

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fellowships

When emergency medicine was still the new kid on the block in the 1990s, fellowship opportunities for graduates were few and far between, and the only options were EMS, pediatric emergency medicine, and toxicology. This made each graduate's choice a little easier in many ways. You could take a clinical job and make as much money as you could ($100 per hour was good money then), or you could take an academic position that paid considerably less (around $120,000 a year).

Funny what a few decades will do. Literally hundreds of fellowship positions are available to EM graduates these days with many optionsacademics, research, sports medicine, critical care, simulation medicine, global health, population health, palliative care, telemedicine, and clinical ultrasound. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education 2020 match results demonstrate that a substantial percentage of the three most popular EM fellowship programs went unfilled. (See table.)

These data come from the 2020 National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) report for fellowships, and this sample of fellowships in emergency medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, and surgery shows that almost half of the available positions for the three most common EM fellowships did not fill. Clinical ultrasound trailed all of them by filling only 45 percent of programs. On the bright side, this created a buyer's market for pending EM grads, and 92 percent of the applicants to these fellowships matched.

Perhaps even more interesting were the number of new clinical ultrasound and EMS positions available this year22 for clinical ultrasound, even though fewer than half of those positions filled in 2019. EMS was the same: Seventy-six percent of the available positions filled in 2019, and 10 positions were added in 2020, but the match rate fell to 62 percent. At least toxicology moved in the right direction by decreasing from 54 to 51 available positions in 2020, and the percentage of positions that filled went from 67 to 76 percent.

All of this is ironic given the popularity of emergency medicine residency training. Matching into an EM program is relatively competitive compared with other specialties that require three years of post-graduate training. Emergency medicine filled nearly all of its positions for the past 20 years, and 2020 was no different.

I have not mentioned pediatric emergency medicine as a common fellowship for EM graduates because the majority of these positions fill with graduates of pediatrics residencies. Some unpublished reports claim they outnumber EM grads by as many as 20 to 1. (ALiEM. Feb. 20, 2015; https://bit.ly/3aKjbrO.)

Pediatric EM programs are balancing the positions to applicantsall 191 positions matched in 2019, and 99 percent filled in 2020, with only two new positions added. Looking at matches since 2016, 98 percent of pediatric emergency medicine positions filled, but only 77 percent of applicants matched.

What should we make of all of this? First, look at the sample of fellowships in the table for internal medicine and surgery. These fellowships have been around for decades. They have few unfilled programs, and at least 97 percent of the programs filled (except for thoracic surgery at 90 percent). The 2020 NRMP fellowship report lists 66 different types of fellowship training, and 47 of these (71%) filled at least 75 percent of the available positions. Thirty-four (52%) filled at least 85 percent.

To be sure, money drives a lot of these findings. Cardiology and gastroenterology fellowships generate considerably higher incomes compared with the income from just residency training in internal medicine. By contrast, EM fellowships typically do not provide higher levels of income compared with EM residency training alone. This discourages potential EM fellowship applicants from giving up one or two years of high compensation with no future financial reward.

The other interesting finding in the sample of non-EM programs in the table is that 63 to 77 percent of applicants matched. The exception is pediatric surgery, with only 55 percent of applicants matching.

It is evident that emergency medicine puts little thought into when and what to offer as additional post-graduate training through a fellowship. Academic centers are still creating programs in specialties with saturated markets and little chance of routinely filling. This wastes the efforts of academic faculty to perform meaningful work. The amount of time to build and maintain a post-graduate program is considerable. Yet once a fellowship graduate moves to another academic center, he begins work on developing a new program.

This has been particularly true with clinical ultrasound. At the turn of the millennium, there was only one program; now there are 129. That's an average of more than six new programs every year for 20 years. There are only 11 fellowship specialties listed in the NRMP report with more programs. None comes anywhere close to having as many unfilled positions as clinical ultrasound.

The academic centers for emergency medicine need to think strategically about building fellowship programs in tune with demand. There is an expanding number of niche interests in our specialty, and opportunities are available to exploit the low supply of experts in these areas. The current supply and demand for many EM fellowships can produce a dangerous situation in which program directors searching for someone to fill their program select an unqualified applicant. This could create problems in the emergency department when caring for complex patients with residents.

It may be a better time than ever for pending EM graduates to consider fellowship training. It's easy to embrace the idea of making as much money as you can. The explosion of new EM residency programs combined with a skyrocketing number of advanced practice providers, however, means having a niche skill may be the difference between getting and holding on to a great job versus having your hours cut or being forced out.

Dr. Cookis the program director of the emergency medicine residency at Prisma Health in Columbia, SC. He is also the founder of 3rd Rock Ultrasound (http://emergencyultrasound.com). Friend him atwww.facebook.com/3rdRockUltrasound, follow him on Twitter@3rdRockUS, and read his past columns athttp://bit.ly/EMN-Match.

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After the Match: The Emergency Medicine Fellowship Glut : Emergency Medicine News - LWW Journals