Author: awesterb@bsdad.uchicago.edu

March 12,2019 Janet Rowley Research Day


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The Department of Medicine’s 2019 Janet D. Rowley Research Day will be held on Tuesday, March 12, 2019.  Dr. Rowley devoted her life to science and is considered one of the most important scientists of the 20th century for her transformative contributions to cancer biology and cancer treatment.  This year’s keynote speaker will be Ross Levine, MD, Director of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Center for Hematologic Malignancies and  Laurence Joseph Dineen Chair in Leukemia Research. Dr. Levine’s talk entitled “Genetics and Therapy of Clonal Hematopoiesis and Myeloid Malignancies: Bedside to Bench and Back” will take place at Medicine Grand Rounds at noon in … Read More

Robert Grossman,PhD Receives Distinguished Service Professorship


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Robert L. Grossman, PhD (Section of Computational Biomedicine & Biomedical Data Science) has been named the Frederick H. Rawson Distinguished Service Professor in Medicine, Computer Science and the College. The Jim and Karen Frank Director of the Center for Translational Data Science at the University of Chicago, he has served as the chief research informatics officer of the Biological Sciences Division since 2011. Dr. Grossman is the principal investigator for the National Cancer Institute Genomic Data Commons, a platform for the cancer research community that manages, analyzes, integrates and shares large-scale genomic datasets in support of precision medicine. The GDC was used by more than 100,000 researchers in the … Read More

New RNA sequencing strategy provides insight into microbiomes


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Researchers from the University of Chicago have developed a high-throughput RNA sequencing strategy to study the activity of the gut microbiome. The new tools analyze transfer RNA (tRNA), a molecular Rosetta Stone that translates the genetic information encoded in DNA into proteins that perform basic biological functions. Developing a clear picture of tRNA dynamics will allow scientists to understand the activity of naturally occurring microbiomes, and study their responses to environmental changes, such as varying temperatures or changing availability of nutrients. In a new study published in Nature Communications, a team of scientists led by Tao Pan, PhD, professor of … Read More

CAR T-cell update: therapy improves outcomes for patients with B-cell lymphoma


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In their phase-2 study of tisagenlecleucel (marketed as KYMRIAH®), published on-line Dec. 1, 2018 in the New England Journal of Medicine, an international team of researchers evaluated 93 patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). They found that 52% of those patients responded favorably to the therapy. Forty percent had a complete response and 12% had a partial response. Sixty-five percent of those patients—recruited from 27 sites in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia—were relapse free one year later, including 79% of the complete responders. The median progression-free survival for patients in this trial, known as JULIET; NCT02445248, … Read More

Dr. Marshall Chin and researchers from Google are working to make sure software algorithms used in health care result in better treatment for everyone.


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Machine-learning algorithms and artificial intelligence software help organizations analyze large amounts of data to improve decision-making, and these tools are increasingly used in hospitals to guide treatment decisions and improve efficiency. The algorithms “learn” by identifying patterns in data collected over many years. So, what happens when the data being analyzed reflects historical bias against vulnerable populations? Is it possible for these algorithms to promote further bias, leading to inequality in health care? Marshall Chin, MD, MPH, the Richard Parrillo Family Professor of Healthcare Ethics at the University of Chicago Medicine, is working to ensure equity across all areas of … Read More

Michelle Le Beau,PhD- Elected to ACS Board of Directors


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The American Cancer Society has named Michelle M. Le Beau, PhD, director of the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center, to its board of directors, with a term beginning on Jan. 1, 2019. Directors are elected for a two-year term. The all-volunteer board is responsible for setting policy, establishing long-term goals, monitoring general operations, and approving the organizational outcomes and allocation of resources. “I am honored to join the board of the American Cancer Society – a key partner in the global fight against cancer,” said Le Beau. “I look forward to working with ACS leadership on our shared mission … Read More

UChicago Medicine named one of the country’s top teaching hospitals


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The  University of Chicago Medicine (UCM)  has been named a “Top Teaching Hospital” for the third year in row by The Leapfrog Group.  Only 53 of the nation’s academic medical centers received the honor . Leapfrog assessed  performance across many clinical measurements, including infection rates, maternity care, and  UCM’s  capacity to prevent medication errors. Other requirements for the top teaching hospital designation included:   ·         Fully meeting the standard for ICU physician staffing ·         Fully complying with Leapfrog’s never-events policy ·         Receiving an A grade in hospital safety ·         Ranking in the top of our peer group based on Leapfrog’s … Read More

Non-coding genetic variant could improve key vascular functions


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Atherosclerotic disease, the slow and silent hardening and narrowing of the arteries, is a leading cause of mortality worldwide. It is responsible for more than 15 million deaths each year, including an estimated 610,000 people in the United States. In the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of physicians, geneticists and biologists describes a previously unknown genetic factor that can either raise or reduce the risk of coronary artery disease or ischemic stroke. The researchers found that a common non-coding sequence of DNA — known as rs17114036 and located on chromosome 1p32.2 — … Read More

Mapping genetic differences in breast cancer can improve care for underserved populations


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A study comparing DNA and RNA data from Nigerian breast cancer patients to patients in a United States database found that certain aggressive molecular features were far more prevalent in tumors from Nigerian women than in black or white American women. In the Oct. 16, 2018 issue of Nature Communications, the study’s authors say those differences in multiple molecular features could in part explain disparities in breast cancer mortality for women from Nigeria, and perhaps other West African nations. “In the era of precision medicine our data provide insights that could reduce the number of deaths from breast cancer across … Read More