News
2013 University Lecture Nov. 6: The D-Lightful Vitamin D for Health, Given by BUSM’s Holick
Professor of Medicine, Physiology, and Biophysics at BU School of Medicine Michael F. Holick, PhD, MD, will be delivering the 2013 University Lecture on Wednesday, Nov. 6 on the Charles River Campus. Dr. Holick will speak on The D-Lightful Vitamin D for Health. Since 1950, the University Lecture has offered members of the BU community and... More
Higher-Level TB Research to Begin at NEIDL
Boston Public Health Commission gives go-ahead BU’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories will begin doing tuberculosis research at a higher biosafety level in the coming months, following approval of the work by the Boston Public Health Commission. The research will be transferred from another lab on the Medical Campus. TB researchers Igor Kramnik, a School of Medicine... More
Families Prone to Longevity Offer Clues to Disease Risk
People with longer life spans also are less likely to suffer from osteoporosis, cancer and other health problems, suggesting that longevity-prone families may be “an important resource to discover genetic and environmental factors” that keep people healthy longer, a study led by a BUSPH researcher has found. The study, published in the open-access journal Frontiers in... More
BUSM Researchers Study Epigenetic Mechanisms of Tumor Metastasis for Improved Cancer Therapy
A review article by researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) suggests that epigenetics may be a useful target to stop the growth, spread and relapse of cancer. The findings are published online in Volume 14 of the International Journal of Molecular Sciences. The term epigenetics refers to the external modifications to DNA that turn genes... More
Apply for New Endowed Professor Position: Genetics
BUSM has established a new endowed professor position, the Aubrey Milunsky Professor of Human Genetics. Any faculty member with a superb research program in a discipline related to human genetics is encouraged to submit an application. For the purposes of this position, human genetics is broadly defined. It is considered to encompass... More
BUSM Professor, BMC Physician Receives Award for Advancing Research on Tobacco Smoke’s Effect on Lungs
Avrum Spira, MD, MSc, the Alexander Graham Bell professor of medicine and chief of the division of computational biomedicine at Boston University School of Medicine, is the recipient of the Alton Ochsner Award Relating Smoking and Disease. The award will be presented to Spira today at the Opening Session of the Annual Meeting of the... More
Seeking New Homes for Gently Used Lab Equipment
Attention researchers! Did you know that there is a resource to facilitate the reuse/recycle of surplus research equipment within the BU Medical Campus community? Visit the BUMC Equipment Exchange. This week the Exchange is featuring a donation from the Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology: a JEOL 100S TEM microscope. This one owner scope can be fitted... More
BUSM’s Streeter Continues to Find Connections Between Yoga, Improved Mood
Yoga – whether it’s your cup of tea or not – may be more than just a form of alternative exercise according to BUSM Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology Chris Streeter, MD. In her research published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Streeter found that those who practiced yoga, compared with walkers, had greater... More
Social Service Barriers Delay Care among Women with Abnormal Cancer Screening
A recent study performed by researchers at Boston Medical Center (BMC), Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH), and Tufts Medical Center found that women with multiple barriers to healthcare, especially those with social barriers such as problems with housing and income, experienced delays in cancer screening follow up... More
Two BU Profs Inducted into Institute of Medicine
MED’s Jack, SPH’s Jette earn honor for research, service Two BU professors have been inducted into the Institute of Medicine (IOM), a branch of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) that confers membership on people in the health and medical fields who combine outstanding professional achievements with a commitment to service. Among the 70 new IOM... More
GSDM-Led Team Identifies Molecular Explanation for Sjogren’s
A collaborative research team led by GSDM Professor of Molecular & Cell Biology and Associate Dean for Research Dr. Maria Kukuruzinska has identified a molecular explanation for at least a subset of cases of the disabling autoimmune disease Sjogren’s Syndrome. The team’s findings are published in the journal Laboratory Investigation. Sjogren’s Syndrome (SS) is a complex... More
Transporting Nutrients into Cells without Energy or a Transporter: BUSM Researchers Make a Case for Free Fatty Acids
The current global epidemic of obesity-linked diabetes and its associated consequences -cardiovascular, neurological and renal diseases - is a growing public health problem for which therapeutic options are limited. In obesity, fatty acids, derived mostly from adipose tissue, alter lipid metabolism in other tissues such as liver and skeletal muscles. Both impaired fatty acid metabolism and... More
Focusing on Weight May Be Hazardous to Your Health
SPH Bicknell lecturer: what’s wrong with approach to obesity epidemic This summer there was much rejoicing in the public health community over the recently announced falling obesity rate among preschoolers in many states, the first time in decades the rate has gone down. “Although obesity remains epidemic, the tide has begun to turn for some kids in... More
Federal Shutdown Shuts Down Some BU Research
D.C. brawl touches Boston Alan Jette has been trying to save the government a little money. The School of Public Health professor has been researching cost-effective ways to assess applicants claiming work disabilities so that they can receive Social Security benefits. But his research has been has been halted by, um, a putative attempt to save the... More
BUSM’s Pokines Edits New Taphonomy Textbook
James Pokines, PhD, DABFA, assistant professor in the Forensic Anthropology Program at Boston University School of Medicine, recently co-edited a groundbreaking reference book, Manual of Forensic Taphonomy. The word ‘taphonomy’ derives from ancient Greek, ‘tapho’ referring to ‘burial’ and ‘nomos’ to ‘laws.’ The book presents the first update in the entire field in more than... More
Trauma-Related Psychophysiologic Reactivity Identified as Best Predictor of PTSD Diagnosis
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and several other institutions including the National Center for PSTD, VA Boston Healthcare System, Suffolk University, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University, have determined that psychophysiologic reactivity to trauma-related, script-driven imagery procedures is a promising biological predictor of a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis. These findings appear... More
GSDM News: Matthew Green DMD 15 Appointed NSRG New England Rep
Beginning Sept. 1, BU Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) student Matthew Green DMD 15 began a one year term as the New England Regional Representative for the American Association for Dental Research (AADR) National Student Research Group (NSRG). AADR NSRG is a student-run organization motivated by a mission to cultivate a rich environment... More
Richard Babayan Recognized by American Urological Association
Professor and Chairman of the Department of Urology at BU School of Medicine Richard K. Babayan, MD, has received the Joseph B. Dowd, MD, New England Section Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Babayan also serves as the Chief of Urology at Boston Medical Center. In recognizing Dr. Babayan, New England Section President, Dr. Mark Plante stated... More
Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection Associated with All-cause and Liver-related Mortality in HIV-infected Patients with Alcohol Problems
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center(BMC) have found that chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with all-cause and liver-related mortality in a group of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients with alcohol problems. The findings appear online/in the current issue of Addiction. HCV is a known cause of cirrhosis... More
GSDM Volunteers Assist People with Disabilities
On the sunny and crisp fall day in September, volunteers representing the Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) participated in the Bay Cove Human Services annual wellness fair at the Gill Wellness Center in Jamaica Plain. Bay Cove Human Services is a private, non-profit corporation that provides a wide range of services... More
MED’s Field of Dreams
Garden, recreation space offers students welcome respite Just over a year ago, Karen Antman was strolling past the newly opened Medical Student Residence on Albany Street when she spotted students tossing a football in the small courtyard abutting the building. The tight space called for some creative, and potentially dangerous, catches. “They kept careening into the benches... More
Boston University Researchers Test Effectiveness of Behavioral and Medication Treatments for Patients with Alcoholism and Anxiety
Domenic Ciraulo, MD, chair of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and David H. Barlow, PhD, professor of psychology at Boston University (BU), have collaborated to study the effect of behavioral and medication treatments on patients with alcoholism and anxiety. The findings, published in the journal Behaviour Research and Therapy, suggest that Transdiagnostic cognitive... More
Register for the BUMC and VA Boston Joining Forces TBI/PTSD Conference
Second Annual BUMC and VA Boston Joining Forces TBI/PTSD Conference Wednesday Dec. 11 9 a.m.-3 p.m. BUSM Instructional Building, Hiebert Lounge (14th floor) Learn about the latest updates from renowned PTSD and TBI researchers and clinicians Agenda: 8:45-9:15 a.m. Registration 9:15 a.m. Introductions and discussions of the programs, Drs. Hohler and Kaplan 9:30-10 a.m. PTSD clinical speaker, Dr. John Bradly 10-10:30 a.m. PTSD research... More
MED Prof Earns Drucker Award
Brian Jack redesigned hospital discharge procedures The problem first came to Brian Jack’s attention 10 years ago. The School of Medicine professor and chair of family medicine noticed that patients at Boston Medical Center (BMC), like patients at most hospitals, were leaving without a good understanding of how to care for themselves in the short term. More
Federal Court Supports NIH Review of Biolab Safety Risks
BU’s NEIDL moves closer to full operation In an action that moves BU’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) closer to full operation, a federal court judge has ruled that a Final Supplementary Risk Assessment prepared by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) adequately analyzes the risks associated with research involving pathogens at BioSafety Level 3... More