The Fall of a Stem-Cell Star
(Published 12-24-05, Philadelphia Inquirer) Hwang Woo Suk, who reached star status in South Korea after creating “Snuppy,”
the world’s first cloned dog, plummeted from grace yesterday after an investigation found that he lied about many of the stem-cell
lines he said he created in a paper published in May in the journal Science.
The initial news was exciting because it opened up possibilities in gene therapy and transplant research, said Lorraine Iacovitti,
Ph.D., associate director of the Farber Institute for Neurosciences and professor of neurology at Jefferson Medical College
of Thomas Jefferson University.
“You could theoretically study defects and try to correct them and take the healthy cells and put them back in the person’s
body with no rejection of tissue,” said Dr. Iacovitti. “That’s a major breakthrough if it’s real.”
Scientists are beginning to worry that one researcher’s fabrication will lead to an even stronger backlash against their work.
“I hope people don’t try and take advantage of this situation,” Dr. Iacovitti added. “The fraud is in the science, it has
nothing to do with the fact that it involved an embryonic source.”
The Farber Institute for Neurosciences
Department of Neurology
Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience
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Jefferson researchers discover connection between troubling behavior in med school and problems in practice
(Published 12-22-05, USA Today) In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia have
found that doctors who are disciplined by state medical boards, were three times as likely as their colleagues to have exhibited
unprofessional behavior in medical school.
Jefferson Medical College
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Fighting S.A.D.
(Published 12-21-05, WPVI-TV(ABC))Today marks the official start of winter, meaning a long, gray haul until spring for some
people. But there's help available for those who feel their moods plummet this time of year.
In a study at Thomas Jefferson University, light therapy is being used to treat seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. Participants
in the study spend the first 30 to 45 minutes of their day in front of a flourescent light box. Time invested amidst the glow
of the flourescent lights uplifts the participant’s mood and leaves their body feeling “energized.”
Brenda Byrne, Ph.D., research assistant professor in the department of Neurology of Thomas Jefferson University, says it has
been proven light box therapy works against SAD.
To better treat SAD, the department of Neurology at Thomas Jefferson University is conducting research and testing newer devices
like light-emitting diodes.
Department of Neurology
Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience
Media Coverage:
WPVI-TV(ABC)
Low Brain Estrogen May Boost Women's Alzheimer's Risk
(Published 12-19-05, Health Day) New research suggests that low levels of estrogen in the brain may raise women's risk of
developing Alzheimer's disease.
"This will help to invigorate research in this area," said Sam Gandy, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Farber Institute for Neurosciences
at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. "This will give us a reason to continue to try to work at protocols for hormone
replacement therapy that might be beneficial. I'm very excited."
Under some circumstances, women placed on hormone replacement therapy (HRT), experience a decline in their risk of Alzheimer's,
Dr. Gandy said. Clinical trials have been largely disappointing, however, and have not shown any preventive role for HRT,
Dr. Gandy adds.
"The idea is if we had strong enough evidence that estrogen per se was really good for Alzheimer's, we could then work on
developing estrogen molecules specifically for the brain estrogen receptor and which would leave the peripheral estrogen metabolism
alone," Dr. Gandy explains.
Farber Institute for Neurosciences
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A study of overactive bladder and work impairment
(Published 12-19-05, Philadelphia Inquirer) A recent study suggests that too many trips to the bathroom can hamper an employee's
productivity during business hours.
For one year, researchers at Thomas Jefferson University studied more than 2,800 patients with overactive bladder, of whom
1,100 were employed. The working folks were found to have experienced more job interruptions, physical limitations and difficulty
concentrating and less productivity at work than people who were considered healthy.
Department of Health Policy
Department of Urology
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2005 Women of Distinction Vijay Rao Chair of the department of radiology, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
(Published 12-18-05, Philadelphia Business Journal) “Excellence was the way of life”
A strong family background gave Vijay Rao a push into the medical world
Vijay Rao had to look no further than her childhood home to see the value of an education.
In 1947, before Rao was born, her family’s hometown in India was partitioned into what is now Pakistan. So her father moved
his wife and five children to New Delhi with nothing but his background in medicine and reputation as a physician. There he
built a successful practice and raised a family of physicians and engineers.
“I really think what’s most important is if you have some kind of education you can be self-sufficient,” Rao said.
Department of Radiology
Media Coverage:
Philadelphia Business Journal
Division of Labor
(Published 12-5-05, US News & World Report)
In 2003, when Dr. Louis Weinstein, Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, proposed
the idea of “laborists” in an editorial in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, a new breed of obstetrician
was born.
Laborists devote their full time and attention to mothers in labor, without worrying about an office full of patients. Dr.
Weinstein theorized that laborists could help solve one of the profession's most vexing problems: grueling daily schedules.
Working 70 or 80 hours a week, Dr. Weinstein says, "doesn't make sense."
"When things go wrong in labor and delivery, they go wrong exceedingly quickly," adds Dr. Weinstein. "If you aren't responsive
in minutes, the baby may be damaged or die and mom may die. And if I'm in the office seeing patients and a nurse calls me,
by the time I get there it may take me 20 minutes." Having laborists work exclusively in a single hospital drastically cuts
down on response time, and may ultimately save the lives of the mother and child.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Media Coverage:
US News & World Report
Risk of disease may rise for women
(Published 12-02-05, The Oneonta Daily Star) Women who work night shifts may have a greater risk of developing breast cancer
than their counterparts who work during the day, researchers at the Bassett Research Institute announced Thursday.
“We have uncovered, for the first time, strong evidence that exposure of humans to artificial light during the night is a
new risk factor for breast cancer,” said Dr. David Blask, a researcher at the institute in Cooperstown.
The study found that women who were exposed to high levels of very intense light produced less melatonin. This is the first
definite evidence directly linking an important part of the brain’s biological clock mechanism with cancer growth in humans.
The study was published in the December edition of Cancer Research.
In the study, blood was drawn from healthy women and then transferred into rats. Researchers monitored the women during the
day, night, and at night after they were exposed to 90 minutes of bright fluorescent light. When the blood was transferred
into the rats, tumors fed by blood with lower levels of melatonin grew faster than tumors fed by blood with higher levels
of melatonin. The tumors that grew the fastest were fed by blood from women exposed to fluorescent light at night.
“In industrial countries, breast cancer is very prevalent,” said co-author George C. Brainard, Ph.D., professor of neurology
at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. “It’s a serious and broad medical problem. Breast
cancer is epidemic in industrialized societies and is increasing rapidly in the developing world for reasons that have remained
a mystery for decades.”
Department of Neurology
Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience
Media Coverage:
The Oneonta Daily Star
Science News
