News
Successful Fourth Annual Summer Research Program (SURP) Symposium
The Division of Graduate Medical Sciences (GMS) at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) hosted the fourth annual summer research symposium on Thursday, Aug. 1, showcasing research projects conducted by visiting students. Karen Antman, MD, BUMC Provost and BUSM Dean welcomed attendees and thanked them for contributing to the success of the program. The SUmmer Research Program (SURP), a... More
Pediatric Neurologist joins Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine
Alcy Torres, MD, will join Boston Medical Center (BMC) in the department of pediatric neurology and Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) as an assistant professor of pediatrics on Aug. 1. Torres, who has been named one of the city’s best pediatric neurologists by Boston Magazine and other organizations, has dedicated his life to pediatric... More
Architecture of a Fruit Fly: New Clues for Reducing Electrical Surges in the Human Brain
A research team at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) has identified an important and novel connection between genes that guide the body plan of the common fruit fly and nerve cells in humans that underlie disorders such as epilepsy and anxiety. Results from this study, conducted by faculty within the department of pharmacology and... More
BUSM and Boston Medical Center Partner with Jawaharlal Institute of India to Study TB
Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) are partnering with the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) to study tuberculosis (TB). This research is supported by a five-year, $2.5 million grant from the Indo-U.S. Vaccine Action Program (VAP). The joint program, based in Pondicherry, India, will establish cohorts of... More
Framingham Heart Study Carries on, Despite Budget Cuts
65-year-old core contract loses 40 percent of funding The Framingham Heart Study, the nation’s longest running large-scale analysis of cardiovascular disease, is facing a budget reduction of $4 million, or about 40 percent of the money it receives through its core contract with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The study will remain open, More
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... More
Dangerous YouTube Challenges: Fun or Deadly?
“What’s so challenging about cinnamon? ” asks GloZell Green, a comedienne and YouTube personality, before she pours cinnamon into a ladle and proceeds to ingest it in one gulp. Seconds later, viewers watch puffs of cinnamon powder spew from her mouth as though from an erupting volcano. GloZell proceeds to scream and grasp for... More
BUSM’s Sege Named Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Social Policy
Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) professor and Boston Medical Center (BMC) physician Robert Sege, MD, PhD, was named a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) in Washington D.C. The CSSP is a nonpartisan Washington D.C. nonprofit that works with policymakers and communities across the country to promote smart... More
MED Researchers’ Latest Networking Tool
BU Profiles shares expertise, spurs collaboration Imagine a LinkedIn for academic researchers only, and you’ve got the general idea behind BU Profiles, a web-based research networking system aimed at helping researchers build a professional network and find expertise and connections that can supercharge collaborations. The system, which launched on the Boston University Medical Campus in February... More
BU Researchers Conduct Innovative Internet-Based Fertility Study
BU researchers are studying whether selected lifestyle factors can affect fertility, miscarriage and adverse birth outcomes over a 12-month period. PRESTO (PREgnancy STudy Online) is an innovative online fertility study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and conducted by researchers at Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston... More
Physicians Slow to Implement HPV Vaccination and Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines
Despite recent breakthroughs in cervical cancer prevention resulting in new vaccination and cervical cancer screening guidelines, a Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) study published this month’s American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that physicians are slow to implement these guidelines into their practices. Researchers found that less than one third of obstetrician-gynecologists vaccinate their eligible... More
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 is... More
Pediatric Residents get a Reality Check during Poverty Simulation
Goal: Keep food on your table, keep the lights on in your house, keep your kids in school, and get to work. Sounds easy enough, right? Does it still sound easy when your family’s budget is consistently $250 short of what you critically need? This was the challenge posed to 35 new pediatric residents of the Boston... More
BUSM Investigator Receives National Blood Foundation Grant for Blood Disease Research
George Murphy, PhD, assistant professor of medicine in the division of Hematology and Oncology at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and co-director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM) at Boston University and Boston Medical Center has received a two-year, $75,000 research grant from the National Blood Foundation to investigate blood disorders. Murphy’s laboratory studies... More
Boston University Study Identifies Molecular Circuitry that Helps Tuberculosis Survive for Decades
In a study from Boston University's National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL), researchers have generated a map of the cellular circuitry of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of human tuberculosis (TB). This information, which is being published online as an Advanced Online Publication in the journal Nature, sheds new light on the bacterium's ability to survive inactive... More
BUSM/BMC Radiologist Named Deputy Editor of Leading Radiology Journal
Ali Guermazi, MD, PhD, professor of radiology at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and section chief of Musculoskeletal Imaging at Boston Medical Center (BMC), was appointed a Deputy Editor of the Radiology Editorial Board by the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Guermazi is the first faculty member from either institution to take on... More
Medical Schools Using Social Media for Faculty Development
Physicians and scientists at academic medical centers face many competing demands for their time. Efforts to help them improve their teaching or scholarship traditionally have taken place in face-to-face lunchtime workshops. As clinical volume and the difficulty of obtaining external funding increases, faculty members have less opportunities to devote to their own professional development. Researchers from... More
BUSM Researcher Warns Banned Fountain of Youth Drug May be Making a Comeback
Despite it being more than 30 years since the “fountain of youth drug” Gerovital H3 was banned in the United States, it may be making a comeback. In an editorial published in this month’s Journal of the American Geriatrics Society BUSM researcher Thomas Perls, MD, points out that a few U.S.-based anti-aging and longevity clinics... More
Weekly Yoga Class Yields Similar Lower Back Pain Relief as Twice Weekly Classes for Low-Income Minority Patients
Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) have found that a weekly yoga class provided similar lower back pain relief and reduced the need for pain medication as twice weekly classes in lower income minority patients. The results of the study indicate that patients interested in trying yoga for... More
Fertility peaks around age 30 for both males and females, Boston University study finds
A new study co-authored by researchers from the BU Schools of Public Health and Medicine found that declines in fertility occurred slightly later than previous studies have suggested. Most previous studies have been conducted in fertility clinic populations or populations using natural family planning, whereas this study was conducted in a population of... More
BUSM’s Anurag Singh, PhD, Receives Top American Lung Association Grant
Anurag Singh, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at Boston University School of Medicine, has received an American Lung Association (ALA) Lung Cancer Discovery Grant to expand his research on targeted therapies for drug resistant cancers. The Lung Cancer Discovery Grant, an award of $100,000 per year for up to two... More
BUSM researcher awarded the prestigious Research Scholar Award from the American Cancer Society
Mikel Garcia-Marcos, PhD, assistant professor in the department of Biochemistry at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) was recently awarded a Research Scholar Award from the American Cancer Society. The four-year, $650,000 award will fund his project titled “molecular mechanisms and validation of a novel target in cancer.” One out of four people in the U.S. More
BMC, BUSM Geriatrician Honored with Ewald W. Busse Award
Thomas Perls, MD, MPH, a geriatrician at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), has been honored with the Ewald W. Busse Research Award. One of the most prestigious in the field of gerontological research, the award is given every four years in conjunction with the World... More
Four MED Profs Earn Top Honors
Recognized for teaching, mentorship, and medical expertise Four School of Medicine faculty members were recently honored for their excellence in teaching, devotion to students, and respect for patients. “Boston University School of Medicine very much values its master teachers,” says Karen Antman, Medical Campus provost and MED dean. “Alumni comment on the dedication of the faculty to... More
A Vacation Home Becomes a Dental Sanctuary in Teacapan, Mexico
A group of American and Canadian ex-patriots once found a beautiful, but poor fishing village in Mexico and chose to live half the year there. They wanted to give back to this community that gave them the chance to live in such beautiful surroundings. So they teamed up with Project Stretch to build and run... More