Author: Gina P Orlando

BUSM Researchers Call for Individualized Criteria for Diagnosing Obesity

With soaring obesity rates in the U.S., the American Medical Association has classified obesity as a disease. This major shift in healthcare policy brings much needed medical attention to obese patients. However, this definition of obesity focuses on a single criterion of Body Mass Index (BMI), which includes a large group of persons with high […]

BUSM Researchers Find MC1R is a Potent Regulator of PTEN

A person’s skin pigment, which determines hair color and skin tone, is influenced by the melanocortin-1 (MC1R) gene receptor. For the population’s one to two percent of redheads, a mutation in MC1R accounts for their red hair color and typical light skin. Now researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Boston University School […]

Marathon Bombing Victims Aided by Rapid Response, Imaging of Injuries

The Boston Marathon bombing brought international attention back to the devastating effects of terrorism. There were numerous victims with severe injuries that needed immediate attention. A novel study in Arthritis Care & Research, a journal published by Wiley on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), presents cases from Boston-area hospitals where victims were […]

BUSM/BMC Researcher Receives NIH Grant to Study Gonococcal Vaccine Development

Lee Wetzler, MD, associate program director for research in the section of infectious diseases at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and an attending physician in the section of infectious diseases in the department of medicine at Boston Medical Center, was awarded a four-year, $2.35 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to […]

Two BUSM Faculty Receive Alzheimer’s disease Grants

David Harris, MD, PhD, chair and professor of biochemistry and Benjamin Wolozin, MD, PhD, professor of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics and neurology at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), have received Massachusetts Neuroscience Consortium (MNC) Awards. Each will receive a $250,000 grant allowing their teams to explore new therapeutic targets for Alzheimer’s disease.   Harris […]

BUSM Study Reveals B cells as Therapeutic Targets to Alter Obesity-Associated Inflammation and Type 2 Diabetes

New research from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) reveals that B cells regulate obesity-associated inflammation and type 2 diabetes through two specific mechanisms. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, indicates the importance of continuing to explore B cells as a therapeutic target to treat these diseases. Barbara Nikolajczyk, PhD, […]

BUSM Study Reveals Potential Target to Better Treat, Cure Anxiety Disorders

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have, for the first time, identified a specific group of cells in the brainstem whose activation during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is critical for the regulation of emotional memory processing. The findings, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, could help lead to the development of effective […]