A Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researcher has compiled evidence from more than 100 publications to show how obesity increases risk of 13 different cancers in young adults. The meta-analysis describes how obesity has shifted certain cancers to younger age groups, and intensified cellular mechanisms promoting the diseases.
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have cracked the evolutionary mystery of why chimpanzees and gorillas walk on their knuckles: The short explanation is that these African apes climb trees and they are mobile on the ground.
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine is ranked #25 of all research-oriented medical schools in the nation and #1 in Ohio, according to the annual ranking of graduate schools released today by U.S. News & World Report. “This recognition is testimony to the outstanding quality of our faculty and students,” said Pamela B. Davis, MD, PhD, dean of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and the university’s senior vice president for medical affairs. “Our placement among the top 25 medical schools in the United States and as number one in Ohio reflects our commitment to excellence in medical education and research.” The rankings are based on two general factors: 1) statistical criteria such as amount of research funding obtained by faculty members, faculty-to-student ratios, and measurable qualifications of admitted students, such as Medical College Admission Test scores; and 2) peer assessments from medical and osteopathic school deans nationally, deans of ac
Children with mild to moderate asthma do not benefit from a common practice of increasing their inhaled steroids at the first signs of an asthma exacerbation, according to clinical trial results published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers found short-term increases in inhaled steroids did not prevent attacks in children aged 5 to 11, and may even slow a child’s growth.
In a study that has implications for humans with inflammatory diseases, researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and colleagues have found that, given over a six-week period, the artificial sweetener sucralose, known by the brand name Splenda, worsens gut inflammation in mice with Crohn’s-like disease, but had no substantive effect on those without the condition. Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease of the digestive tract, which can lead to abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, bloody stools, weight loss, and fatigue. About 10-15 percent of human patients report that sweeteners worsen their disease.
New research from Case Western Reserve University has experts re-thinking what was previously believed about the patterns of serial rapists—that they don’t stick with the same modus operandi.
Diagnostic and treatment advances are helping patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy—one of nine major types of muscular dystrophy that affects males—live into their 30s and beyond, raising challenges in such areas as education, vocation, levels of independence, personal relationships, emotional health, and intimacy. To address these shifting circumstances, as well as reflect promising new treatment options, new guidelines aimed at physicians who care for DMD patients have recently been issued.
"Growth mindset interventions," do not work for most students in most circumstances, according to a new study co-authored by Case Western Reserve University researchers.
Richard Martin, MD, professor of pediatrics, reproductive biology, and physiology at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, and director of neonatal research programs and Drusinsky-Fanaroff Chair in Neonatology at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, has been selected as the recipient of the 2018 Mary Ellen Avery Neonatal Research Award.
An international team of researchers led by a Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine scientist has uncovered a novel mechanism in which a protein—neuregulin 3—controls how key neurotransmitters are released in the brain during schizophrenia. The protein is elevated in people with schizophrenia and other severe mental illnesses, but the study is the first to investigate how it causes such severe mental illness.
Case Western Reserve and Cleveland Clinic are leading development of a computerized tissue-imaging program that could soon help identify which lung cancer patients are likely to face an earlier recurrence of the disease.
Biomedical engineers at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Mass. are growing tracheas by coaxing cells to form three distinct tissue types after assembling them into a tube structure-without relying on scaffolding strategies currently being investigated by other groups.
Exercise has numerous, well-documented health benefits. Could it also play a role in preventing and reducing substance misuse and abuse in adolescents? This is the intriguing question that a team of investigators from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Cleveland Clinic seeks to answer. In a review article recently published in Birth Defects Research, the trio of researchers supplies a rationale for the use of exercise, particularly assisted exercise, in the prevention and adjunctive treatment of substance-use disorders – including alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, opioids, and heroin.
In one of the first successes of its kind, researchers have inhibited the spreading of cancer cells from one part of the body to another. In doing so, they relied on a new model of how cancer metastasizes that emphasizes epigenetics, which examines how genes are turned on and off.
A research team at Case Western Reserve is asking an important question about the self-evident paradox standing in the way of our generally accepted theory of how the Earth's inner core formed. The "inner core nucleation paradox" suggests that there is now satisfactory solution to account for the existence of a solid inner core. So, now what?
A team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have used Nobel prize-winning microscope technology to see full length serotonin receptors for the first time. The tiny proteins—approximately a billionth of a meter long—are common drug targets, despite limited available information about their structure. Now, new images published in Nature Communications provide snapshots of the receptors, including details about molecular binding sites that could lead to more precise drug design.
It is a parent’s nightmare: a child is born apparently healthy, then stops meeting developmental milestones at one year old. Her verbal and motor skills vanish, and irregular breathing, seizures, and a host of other problems appear. The cause is Rett syndrome—a devastating genetic, neurologic disorder that typically affects girls, resulting in severe disability and often accompanied by autistic behavior. Most Rett patients will live into middle age and require specialized full-time care. There is no cure, but researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have been working to find ways to restore brain function and reverse disabilities associated with Rett syndrome.
An experienced interdisciplinary team of psoriasis and computational researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (CWRU SOM) and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center (UHCMC) has received a $6.5M, 5-year grant from the National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). The grant supports a Center of Research Translation in Psoriasis (CORT) at CWRU and UHCMC.
Leading cancer researcher, Alex Huang MD, PhD, has received a $450,000 Basic Science grant from Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation to study targeted approaches for effectively eliminating metastatic osteosarcoma.
Billions of US taxpayer dollars have been invested in Africa over the past 15 years to improve care for millions suffering from the HIV/AIDS epidemic; yet health systems on the continent continue to struggle. What if the investments and lessons learned from HIV could be used to improve care for those with other serious chronic conditions? With this question in mind, researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, along with investigators and clinicians based in Uganda, borrowed an HIV/AIDS innovation to seek inroads against rheumatic heart disease in sub-Saharan Africa.
Doctors have long treated heart attacks, improved asthma symptoms, and cured impotence by increasing levels of a single molecule in the body: nitric oxide. The tiny molecule can change how proteins function. But new research featured in Molecular Cell suggests supplementing nitric oxide—NO—is only the first step. Researchers have discovered previously unknown enzymes in the body that convert NO into “stopgap” molecules—SNOs—that then modulate proteins. The newly discovered enzymes help NO have diverse roles in cells. They may also be prime therapeutic targets to treat a range of diseases.
Feelings about the frequency of rape or other forms of sexual assault in a neighborhood are significantly tied to women’s—but not men’s—perceptions of its safety, according to new research.
Teens whose mothers used cocaine during pregnancy are more likely to have aggression and attention problems—known predictors of later drug use and sexual risk-taking. With a new three-year, $840,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers at Case Western Reserve University now hope to learn how and when these issues may develop differently in boys and girls—and how best to address behavioral problems caused directly and indirectly by in utero cocaine exposure.
Microscopic yeast have been wreaking havoc in hospitals around the world—creeping into catheters, ventilator tubes, and IV lines—and causing deadly invasive infection. One culprit species, Candida auris, is resistant to many antifungals, meaning once a person is infected, there are limited treatment options. But in a recent Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy study, researchers confirmed a new drug compound kills drug-resistant C. auris, both in the laboratory and in a mouse model that mimics human infection.
Walmart was once considered the future of grocery shopping, offering consumers a slew of discounted choices, compared to the competition. Yet, market trends point toward a faster, cheaper, smaller and more streamlined experience. The result: One of the most common shopping experiences in American life is fundamentally changing, according to a new study in the journal Strategy and Leadership.
Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and collaborators have received a five-year, $2.8 million grant from the National Institute on Aging to identify FDA-approved medications that could be repurposed to treat Alzheimer’s disease. The award enables the researchers to develop computer algorithms that search existing drug databases, and to test the most promising drug candidates using patient electronic health records and Alzheimer’s disease mouse models.
Researchers have applied Nobel prize-winning microscope technology to uncover an ion channel structure that could lead to new treatments for kidney stones. In a recent study published in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, researchers revealed atomic-level details of the protein that serves as a passageway for calcium across kidney cell membranes.
A class of anti-inflammatory drugs already FDA-approved for rheumatoid arthritis could “purge” the reservoir of infected immune cells in people infected by HIV, according to new research.
Fish sense water motion the same way humans sense sound, according to new research out of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Researchers discovered a gene also found in humans helps zebrafish convert water motion into electrical impulses that are sent to the brain for perception. The shared gene allows zebrafish to sense water flow direction, and it also helps cells inside the human ear sense a range of sounds.
In a pair of publications, researchers have shown how cells adapt to stressors—like water loss—by reprogramming their internal signaling networks. The studies describe previously unknown mechanisms that cells use to send signals between cellular machinery and avoid cell death. According to the authors, drugs that enhance the adaptation mechanisms could help cells stave off multiple diseases, including type 2 diabetes. The studies were published in Cell Reports and Molecular Cell.
Squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue, also known as oral tongue cancer, is an aggressive form of cancer that generally affects older people. Patients with the disease often find it difficult to eat, swallow food, or speak. Reasons for its generally poor prognosis include late detection, before pain usually starts and only when physical symptoms such as lesions are present, and a propensity for spreading to other sites in the body. But in a potential harbinger of hope for arriving at an earlier diagnosis and treatment, in a new study published in Oncotarget, a team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center has found that bacterial diversity and richness, and fungal richness, are significantly reduced in tumor tissue compared to their matched non-tumor tissues. This raises the prospect that certain bacteria and fungi, in sufficient amounts and in possibly interactive ways, may play a pa
The most lethal form of breast cancer could have a new treatment option, according to new research out of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers showed triple-negative breast cancer cells are highly vulnerable to interferon-β—a potent antimicrobial that also activates the immune system. The new study shows interferon-β impairs breast cancer cells’ ability to migrate and form tumors. The study also suggests interferon-β treatment could improve outcomes for certain breast cancer patients.
Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have received two grant awards, in partnership with investigators from other institutions, from the National Institutes of Health to conduct major studies on Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of memory loss and other forms of dementia in older persons.
One hypothesis for how autism develops is excessive neuron production in the prenatal period, leading to a transient but significant increase in brain size in the first few years of life in about one-quarter of children with the disease. But the precise timing and cause of this overgrowth is poorly understood. Seeking to help solve this mystery, Tony Wynshaw-Boris, MD, PhD, has received two five-year grants totaling more than $5 million from the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health to uncover links between abnormal embryonic brain development and autism.
Mark A. Griswold, PhD, a professor in the Department of Radiology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, has been elected to the National Academy of Inventors 2017 Fellows Program, the highest professional distinction accorded to academic inventors.
For his life’s work, Farouk El-Baz will receive the 2018 Inamori Ethics Prize from the Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence at Case Western Reserve University during a ceremony and academic symposium Sept. 13-14.
Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have discovered how unusually long pieces of RNA work in skin cells. The RNA pieces, called “long non-coding RNAs” or “lncRNAs,” help skin cells modulate connective tissue proteins, like collagen, and could represent novel therapeutic targets to promote skin repair.
Researchers at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, are focusing their efforts on adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer research. More than 50 leaders from top cancer research institutions will gather this Friday, December 8, in Atlanta to identify a strategic plan for combating AYA cancer for the next three to five years.
In a Science Translational Medicine study published today, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researchers found that CJD patients also harbor infectious prions in their skin, albeit at lower levels. In the study, the researchers collected skin samples from 38 patients with assistance from the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and measured their prion levels. Using a highly sensitive in vitro assay developed and conducted by Byron Caughey’s group at the NIH, they detected prion protein aggregates in the skin samples from all of CJD patients. Prion levels were 1,000-100,000 times lower in the skin than in the brain, and only detectable by this extremely sensitive assay. The researchers further demonstrated that such skin prions are infectious, since they are capable of causing disease in humanized mouse models.
Researchers at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have developed a computer program to find new indications for old drugs. The computer program, called DrugPredict, matches existing data about FDA-approved drugs to diseases, and predicts potential drug efficacy. In a recent study published in Oncogene, the researchers successfully translated DrugPredict results into the laboratory, and showed common pain medications—like aspirin—can kill patient-derived epithelial ovarian cancer cells.
A team of researchers led by Kath Bogie, DPhil (PhD), a biomedical engineer and associate professor of orthopaedics and biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and colleagues from Case Western Reserve and other institutions, has received a $1.8M, three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop an implantable muscle stimulator for preventing pressure ulcers and deep tissue injuries to the buttocks. These serious medical conditions, which are caused by lying or sitting in one place for long periods of time, can lead to severe pain and infection, even death.
Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, and University of Pittsburgh have received a four-year, $9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop enhanced infrared light technology (infrared neuromodulation) for potentially treating a variety of diseases, including cardiac arrhythmias, high and low blood pressure, asthma, sleep apnea and diarrhea, one of the leading killers of children worldwide.
Study suggests ways marketing and clinical treatment can influence behavior
New national research led by Jonathan Lass, MD of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center has found that corneal donor tissue can be safely stored for 11 days before transplantation surgery to correct eye problems in people with diseases of the cornea. This is four days longer than the current conventional maximum of seven days in the United States.
Discrimination endured by black shoppers forces them to downplay their race or shy away from an activity among the most common and celebrated in American culture, according to new research.
Many people around the world, especially in Asia, wear face masks to protect against air pollution. Do they work? Sanjay Rajagopalan, MD, Herman Hellerstein, professor of cardiovascular medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and chief of cardiovascular medicine at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, has received a $2 million National Institutes of Health grant to help find out if face masks really protect against air pollution.
A research advance co-led by Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine’s Kumar Alagramam, PhD, may stop the progression of hearing loss and lead to significant preservation of hearing in people with Usher syndrome type III, a form of hereditary hearing loss linked to defects in the sensory “hair” cells in the inner ear. USH3 is caused by a mutation in the clarin-1 gene.
Immune cells are normally associated with fighting infection but in a new study, scientists have discovered how they also help the nervous system clear debris, clearing the way for nerve regeneration after injury. In a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine showed certain immune cells—neutrophils—can clean up nerve debris, while previous models have attributed nerve cell damage control to other cells entirely.
A team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have discovered how uncontrolled vitamin A metabolism in the gut can cause harmful inflammation. The discovery links diet to inflammatory diseases, like Crohn’s disease and inflammatory bowel syndromes, and could inform nutritional interventions.
RSS
Medicine keyboard_arrow_right
Sciencekeyboard_arrow_right
Life keyboard_arrow_right
Business keyboard_arrow_right
Journal News keyboard_arrow_right
By Location keyboard_arrow_right
Meetings, Grants, and Events keyboard_arrow_right