Current Releases
Dr. Mark Weiss Joins the Department of Medical Oncology at Jefferson
(Published 11-16-2009) Mark Weiss, M.D., will join the Thomas Jefferson University, Department of Medical Oncology as Director
of Hematologic Malignancies. Dr. Weiss will be professor of Medical Oncology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson
University. He comes to Jefferson after a 19-year career at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.
Jefferson’s Walter J. Koch Receives MERIT Award Grant
(Published 11-6-2009) Walter J. Koch, Ph.D., F.A.H.A., director of the Center for Translational Medicine in the Department
of Medicine of Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, has been awarded a Method to Extend Research in Time
(MERIT) Award from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health.
Jefferson Awarded Multi-Million Dollar NIH Grant to Create a Center of Excellence for Autoimmune Diseases
(Published 10-29-2009) The Department of Neurology at Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience has been awarded a multi-million
dollar grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the creation of a center of excellence to study autoimmune diseases
from basic science research to its translation into clinical applications. The five-year grant initially totals over $4 million,
but could be as much as $10 million by the end of award period. The center is one of nine in the country and the only one
in the Pennsylvania.
Study Finds Lifestyle Changes Delay Onset of Diabetes by Four Years
(Published 10-28-2009) An ongoing research study has found that patients who adopted a
healthier lifestyle have a 34 percent lower risk of developing diabetes. Those patients
who embraced the lifestyle changes also experienced drops in heart disease risk factors
including blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides. The study, sponsored by the
National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Indian Health
Service, and the American Diabetes Association, was conducted in 27 centers nationwide
and included over 3,800 patients who were at a high risk of acquiring the disease. The
Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study (DPPOS) is a continuation of the Diabetes
Prevention Program (DPP) which began in 1996. DPPOS will continue through 2013.
Jefferson trial site Principal Investigator Serge Jabbour, M.D., Interim Director, Division
of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolic Diseases Jefferson Medical College, Thomas
Jefferson University and his co-authors report their findings in the October 29th online
edition of the The Lancet.
Jefferson First Hospital in Pennsylvania to Offer New Device Allowing Patients with Spinal Cord Injuries to Breathe Without
a Ventilator
(Published 10-26-2009) Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (TJUH) in Philadelphia is the first hospital in Pennsylvania to
offer a FDA-approved device that helps individuals with certain types of spinal cord injuries breathe on their own again.
Michael Weinstein, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Surgery at Jefferson, is among the first surgeons in the
United States to implant the NeuRx DPS™ in patients with spinal cord injuries who lack voluntary control of their diaphragms.
The device provides electrical stimulation to muscle and nerves in the diaphragm. When the muscle is stimulated, the diaphragm
contracts and creates a vacuum-like effect in the chest cavity that allows air to fill the upper and lower parts of the lungs.
When this contraction eases, the air is expelled from the lungs – essentially the same as regular breathing.
Jefferson Receives Chest Pain Center Accreditation
(Published 10-20-2009) The Chest Pain Center in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
(TJUH) recently received full Cycle II accreditation with PCI (percutaneous coronary intervention) from the Accreditation
Review Committee of the Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC). With the rise of chest pain centers came the need to establish
standards designed to improve the consistency and quality of care provided to patients. SCPC’s accreditation process insures
centers meet or exceed quality-of-care measures in acute cardiac medicine.
Researchers Identify Mechanism that Helps Bacteria Avoid Destruction in Cells
(Published 10-9-2009) Infectious diseases currently cause about one-third of all human deaths worldwide, more than all forms
of cancer combined. Advances in cell biology and microbial genetics have greatly enhanced understanding of the cause and mechanisms
of infectious diseases. Researchers from Thomas Jefferson University, the Pasteur Institute in Paris, and Yale University
reported in PLoS ONE, a way in which intracellular pathogens exploit the biological attributes of their hosts in order to
escape destruction.
Gordon Schwartz, M.D., M.B.A., to Lead Jefferson Breast Care Center
(Published 10-8-2009) Gordon Schwartz, M.D., M.B.A., has been appointed director of the Jefferson Breast Care Center at the
Kimmel Cancer Center (KCC), and will also return to the full-time faculty as a professor in Jefferson’s Department of Surgery.
With more than 40 years of clinical and educational experience, Dr. Schwartz is an internationally renowned expert in breast
diseases.
New Study Finds Way to Stop Excessive Bone Growth Following Trauma or Surgery
(Published 9-23-2009) A recent United States Army study found that excessive bone growth, also known as heterotopic ossificiation
(HO), affects up to 70 percent of soldiers who are severely wounded during combat. A much smaller percentage of the civilian
population also suffers from HO following trauma or invasive surgery. The excessive bone forms within muscles and other tissues
causing severe pain, reduced mobility and even local paralysis if untreated. A new study by Thomas Jefferson University researchers
found a way to prevent HO in animal models by shutting the process off in its early stages. The study, reported in September’s
Journal of Orthopaedic Research, is expected to lead to clinical trials and may hopefully provide a new, effective and safe
treatment for HO.
New Rabies Vaccine May Require Only a Single Shot…Not Six
(Published 9-21-2009) A person, usually a child, dies of rabies every 20 minutes. However, only one inoculation may be all
it takes for rabies vaccination, according to new research published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases by researchers
at the Jefferson Vaccine Center.
Jefferson First Hospital in City to Offer New, Non-Invasive Tinnitus Treatment
(Published 9-18-2009) The Jefferson Balance and Hearing Center of the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery
at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital is the first hospital in Philadelphia to offer the FDA-cleared Neuromonics Tinnitus
Treatment. This therapy is proven to interact, interrupt and desensitize tinnitus by delivering a customized neural stimulus,
embedded in clinically modified music.
Warren R. Maley, M.D., Joins the Department of Surgery at Jefferson
(Published 9-16-2009) Warren R. Maley, M.D., recently joined the Department of Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
(TJUH), and will serve as the director of the Live Donor Liver Transplant Program. He has also been named an associate professor
of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. Dr. Maley has performed extensive research in the
fields of Liver Transplantation and Surgical Therapy to improve patient safety and care.
Heartburn Help: Jefferson First in Philadelphia to Offer New, Incisionless Surgical Treatment for Acid Reflux Disease
(Published 9-15-2009) Thomas Jefferson University Hospital is the first hospital in Philadelphia, and the Delaware Valley,
offering endoluminal fundoplication (ELF) – an incisionless surgical treatment option to provide long-term elimination of
gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), one of the most common gastrointestinal diseases affecting hundreds of thousands of
people, in which the esophagus becomes inflamed by digestive acid backing up from the stomach, resulting in heartburn.
