DoM DEIA Week Art Exhibit Submissions Are Now Open!!

The DoM is looking to celebrate and share the stories of our uniquely diverse community. DoM Faculty, staff, and trainees are encouraged to submit artwork of any subject and any medium (paintings, photos, poetry, sculpture, needlework, etc.) for display during the inaugural DoM DEIA Week. The art will be displayed on Tuesday, March 19th in the Wilkins Board Room.

Security will be provided. Pieces should be framed if possible. More information will be provided to those who submit artwork.

Click here to submit your artwork!!

AY 24 Evans Junior Faculty Research Merit Awardees!

We are delighted to announce the AY 24 Evans Junior Faculty Research Merit Awardees.

The awardees for AY 24 are: Tara Bouton, MD, MPH & TM (Infectious Diseases) and Simeon Kimmel, MD, MA (General Internal Medicine). These individuals were selected based on their very strong research accomplishments and exceptional promise as investigators! We had 21 very highly qualified applicants for the award! Although it was difficult to select awardees from such a talented pool of faculty, we can be assured that the number of highly talented junior faculty portends a very bright future for research in the Department of Medicine.

Please join us in offering congratulations to our outstanding AY 24 Evans Junior Faculty Research Merit Awardees!

DoM Faculty Member In The Media: COVID and flu cases rise in Mass. as experts urge more vaccination

The uptick has public health experts urging people to get vaccinated and do what they can to stop the spread of respiratory illnesses.

Dr. Sabrina Assoumou, an infectious disease physician at Boston Medical Center and an associate professor at Boston University, said people are still not getting as severely ill when they contract COVID due to the degree of immunity many have through previous vaccinations or infections.

But still, she pointed to the ongoing deaths due to COVID in the United States, which have stayed above 1,000 per week for the last few months across the country.

“That’s just too many, especially at a time when we have a vaccine that could prevent this,” Assoumou said. “And the reason why you want to get vaccinated right now is because, as we're learning, the virus is changing, and we also have what we call waning immunity. So the protection is waning.”

State data shows that about 18% of Massachusetts residents have gotten a recent COVID vaccine, and about 37% have gotten the flu shot.

Experts advised that the problem isn’t just about how severe the infection is upfront. COVID can turn into long COVID, a wide-ranging set of health problems including brain fog and severe fatigue — some of which can be debilitating — that people can experience for months or even years after being infected. The flu, too, can bring about other long-term health complications.

“Probably the biggest argument around trying to avoid COVID, and even flu for that matter, is that there are higher risks for medical problems after you get these infections,” said Dr. Lou Ann Bruno-Murtha, the division chief of infectious diseases at Cambridge Health Alliance.

“It’s not just the infection itself: it’s that the inflammation caused by the infection puts you at risk for other comorbidities and problems down the road,” Bruno-Murtha added. “And certainly, long COVID is still a thing that we want to avoid — there's previously healthy people that are currently suffering from long COVID. So if you can avoid long COVID, or avoid having a cardiac complication after influenza, you're going to be well ahead of the game.”

Courtesy of Massachusetts Water Resources Authority

Assoumou said that, for those who think they’ve been infected, the federal government is making more free COVID tests available.

“If you’re at high risk for complications from COVID, you could consider wearing a high-quality mask in indoor public settings and also trying to avoid crowds,” Assoumou said. “And if you’re sick, please stay home so that we can protect the community.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people who test positive for COVID should isolate for at least five days and wear a high-quality mask if they have to be around others, at home or in public. But the CDC recommends continuing to isolate if symptoms persist past five days.

Bruno-Murtha added that there is one bright spot in the respiratory illnesses picture in the state right now: the number of infections caused by RSV is going down.

“The good news is RSV seems to have peaked and is subsiding. So that’s great news for our young children, neonates that are really at risk for that to be a really severe disease,” said Bruno-Murtha.

MORE HEALTH

• COVID is everywhere again. Here's what public health officials say you should do.

• Masking returns at many Massachusetts hospitals — and not just because of COVID

• With holiday season underway, COVID ticks up in Boston area

Public health experts have also been reminding those who get COVID to talk to their doctor about getting treated — promptly — with the antiviral drug Paxlovid, which is highly effective at preventing severe disease after infection.

Some patients and even clinicians have been concerned about what has been described as a kind of viral rebound after the five-day Paxlovid treatment ends.

But Assoumou pointed out that the CDC has looked into that recently and found that there was “no consistent association between treatment and rebound.”

“So I really hope and I wish that we would get the word out, that if your health care professional thinks you're qualified, please take Paxlovid,” Assoumou said. “And I would not worry about rebound, because I would much more prefer to be at home with a stuffy nose than in a hospital because I did not take the Paxlovid.”

Both Assoumou and Bruno-Murtha emphasized that people can safely and conveniently get their flu shot and COVID shot at the same time, and that the current COVID vaccines are effective against the most prevalent variants circulating now.

“We are so fortunate in that regard,” Bruno-Murtha said. “Everything we know — the preliminary, even unpublished data — seems to show that for vaccines: really, really, truly miraculous.”

Author

Mark Herz

January 04, 2024

Original Post

2024 DoM Staff Appreciation Events

Keep an eye out for more information!

Congratulations to the DoM Inaugural M.A.D.E. Graduates!!!

Join us in congratulating this year's M.A.D.E. graduates!!

2023 Department of Medicine Fellowship Match List!

Announcing Fellowship Match & Future Positions! – Internal Medicine Residency Program

Senior Residents
Graduating Class of 2024

Gabrielle Barbera, Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship, Rutgers R. W. Johnson Medical School - Newark, NJ
Danielle Bellavance, Chief Medical Resident, Boston Medical Center/VA - Boston, MA
Shreya Bhatia, Geriatric Medicine Fellowship, Boston Medical Center - Boston, MA
Abbi Cerezo, Hospitalist, University of Utah - Salt Lake City, UT
Samantha Chua, Gastroenterology Fellowship, Boston Medical Center - Boston, MA
Alejandro De La Hoz Gomez, Infectious Diseases Fellowship, Massachusetts General Hospital - Boston, MA
Harshitha Dudipala, Hematology & Oncology Fellowship, University of California San Diego - San Diego, CA
Benjamin Eromosele, Chief Medical Resident, Boston Medical Center/VA - Boston, MA
Adriana Flores, Pulmonary & Critical Care Fellowship, Boston Medical Center - Boston, MA
Taylor Francoeur, Hematology & Oncology Fellowship, University of Massachusetts - Worcester, MA
Rohan Ganti, Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship, Rutgers, R. W. Johnson Medical School - Newark, NJ
Philip Hewes, Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellowship, University of Massachusetts - Worcester, MA
Garen Kroshian, Cardiovascular Disease, Boston Medical Center - Boston, MA
Alan Manivannan, Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Fellowship, Boston Medical Center - Boston, MA
Zachary Milstone, PRIMER Research Chief Resident, Boston Medical Center - Boston, MA
Connor O’Neill-Dee, Nephrology Fellowship, Boston Medical Center - Boston, MA
Sahaj Patel, Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellowship, Weill Cornell Medicine-Cornell University - New York, NY
Scott Place, Chief Medical Resident, Boston Medical Center/VA - Boston, MA
Max Rosenthaler, Chief Medical Resident, Boston Medical Center/VA - Boston, MA
Caroline Ross, Chief Medical Resident, Boston Medical Center/VA - Boston, MA
Sabetta Singh, Chief Medical Resident, Boston Medical Center/VA - Boston, MA
Quinn Solfisburg, Hematology & Oncology Fellowship, Boston Medical Center - Boston, MA
Natalie Sun, Gastroenterology Fellowship, SUNY Downstate - Brooklyn, NY
Abigail Tami, Gastroenterology Fellowship, Geisinger Health System - Danville, PA
Carly Taylor, Hospitalist, Boston Medical Center - Boston, MA
Tracey Yee, Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship, University of Vermont - Burlington, VT
Marcel Yibirin Wakim, Chief Medical Resident, Boston Medical Center/VA - Boston, MA

Chief Medical Resident
Graduating Class 2023

Laura Burns, Hematology & Oncology Fellowship, MD Anderson Cancer Center - Houston, TX
Sophie Claudel, Nephrology Fellowship, Boston Medical Center - Boston, MA
Chad Hinkle, Infectious Disease Fellowship, University of Chicago - Chicago, IL
Juan Rodriguez, Pulmonary & Critical Care Fellowship, Boston Medical Center - Boston, MA
Esther Saul, Pulmonary & Critical Care Fellowship, Boston Medical Center - Boston, MA
Ayelet Shapira-Daniels, Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship, Boston Medical Center - Boston, MA
Karina Verma, Hematology & Oncology Fellowship, Boston Medical Center - Boston, MA
Alex Yeo, Pulmonary & Critical Care Fellowship, Boston Medical Center - Boston, MA

Alumni

Jinal Gandhi, Hematology & Oncology Fellowship, Montefiore Medical Center-Einstein - Bronx, NY
Daniel Gonzalez Izundegui, Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship, University of Texas Southwestern-Dallas - Dallas, TX
Claude Hardy, Addiction Medicine Fellowship, Massachusetts General Hospital - Boston, MA
Abdulaziz Malik, Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship, Tufts Medical Center - Boston, MA
Emily Mann, Hematology & Oncology Fellowship, Boston Medical Center - Boston, MA
Kaitlin McCarter, Rheumatology Fellowship, Brigham & Women’s Hospital - Boston, MA
Kristina Moller, Hospice & Palliative Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center - Boston, MA
Sofia Shaikh, Gastroenterology Fellowship, University of Rochester - Rochester, NY
Jasmine Vakhshoorzadeh, Pulmonary & Critical Care Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh, PA

Save the Date: DoM DEIA Week | March 18-22

The DoM will hold its first annual Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Week the week of March 18, 2024. In the DoM, we are dedicated to fostering a workplace that values and celebrates diversity, promotes equity, ensures inclusion, and prioritizes accessibility. We firmly believe that our collective differences make us stronger, and we are committed to creating an environment where all individuals, regardless of their background, feel valued, respected, and empowered.

Please join us in celebrating and educating our community about a wide range of identities and backgrounds that make individuals in our department unique.

Center of Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease Announces First FDA-Approved Gene Therapies for SCD

DECEMBER 8, 2023 (Boston) – Boston Medical Center (BMC), a national leader in the treatment of sickle cell disease for more than 50 years, announced today that it will offer the first-ever gene therapies for sickle cell disease, including one that uses a type of novel genome editing technology. The new therapies leverage the latest advances in medical science to alleviate the severe painful vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs) associated with sickle cell disease, in a long-awaited step toward equity for a disproportionally impacted Black patient population.

The announcement comes as the FDA today granted approval of a new gene editing therapy, jointly developed by Boston-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics of Switzerland, along with approval of a separate gene therapy developed by bluebird bio of Somerville, Mass., for sickle cell disease. BMC is the only hospital in New England to offer the therapies to eligible adults with sickle cell disease.

“Boston Medical Center has a longstanding commitment to providing advanced clinical care to those with sickle cell disease,” said Dr. Jean-Antoine Ribeil, MD, PhD, Clinical Director of the Center of Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease at Boston Medical Center and an internationally renowned hematologist who has dedicated his career to the development of gene therapies for patients with sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia. “The new gene therapies can be life changing for eligible patients who are impacted by sickle cell disease and the extreme pain that it causes, with previously limited treatment options.”

Sickle cell disease is a debilitating and chronic disease that afflicts more than 100,000 Americans and predominantly impacts people of African descent, representing 1 out of every 365 births. The disease is caused by a gene mutation that makes blood cells misshapen which can lead to strokes, organ damage and episodes of agonizing pain. Those with sickle cell disease often rely on regular blood transfusions to ease pain and reduce risk of additional complications.

The new Vertex Pharmaceuticals treatment is the first therapy to treat a genetic disease with the CRISPR gene-editing technique. Vertex began clinical trials on the therapy in the United States in 2018. The SCD clinical trial enrolled a patient population that was predominantly of African ancestry. The FDA reviewed the safety and effectiveness of the treatment in that trial before today’s approval.

Bluebird bio’s new therapy, also approved by the FDA following clinical trials, is a one-time gene therapy that has the potential to resolve vaso-occlusive events and is custom-designed to treat the underlying cause of sickle cell disease.

Both treatments will be offered to select, eligible adult sickle cell patients at BMC as part of its Center of Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease, which is the largest center of its kind in New England, serving approximately 600 adult and pediatric patients annually. The introduction of these therapies gives those with sickle cell disease more options to try to achieve a life without chronic pain.

The BMC Center of Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease has long taken an innovative and multidisciplinary approach to caring for patients suffering from this debilitating disease. The Center pairs hematologists with specialists, such as pulmonologists, nephrologists, and primary care doctors who understand the needs and many complications of patients with sickle cell disease. The addition of cutting-edge gene therapy to its suite of services reflects BMC’s ongoing commitment to this population and to being a leader in offering advanced, equitable care to its patients.

For more information on BMC’s Center of Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease visit their website or connect on Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn.

Original Article

Dr. Naomi Hamburg Receives The Hans Klaus Breddin Vas International Honorary Award

Join us in congratulating Dr. Hamburg!