Breakthroughs

Millions of people are now living with COVID-19 and their long-term outcomes are unknown. Northwestern's Dr. Jeffrey Linder says more research studies on this group are needed to provide better information about COVID-19 care before, during, and beyond the hospital.

A team of Northwestern scientists have come together from across disciplines to develop a COVID-19 antibody test designed for at-home use. Elizabeth McNally, MD, PhD, is part of the team working on this test to determine prior exposure to the virus.

Although COVID-19 doesn't necessarily discriminate, some communities are far more susceptible to the disease. People who are black or African-American are more likely to contract the virus - and to die from it. Clyde Yancy, MD, discusses reasons for these outcomes and the need to fully address health care disparities in America.  

Monitoring patients and frontline health care workers for symptoms of COVID-19 could get much easier with a small wireless sensor developed by scientists at Northwestern and the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. Northwestern’s John A. Rogers explains. 

While the world anxiously awaits a vaccine for COVID-19, some physicians on the front lines are trying new or repurposed therapies in an effort to help COVID patients. Dr. Benjamin Singer, a Northwestern physician-scientist, discusses his experiences in the ICU during this time and his recently published letter warning against the use of unproven therapies.

This is an update to the Jan. 28, 2020 episode about Northwestern's Karla Satchell's effort to lead an investigation into the structure biology of the components of COVID-19. The goal is to ultimately understand how to stop it from replicating in human cells through a medication or vaccine.  

In mid-March, the early days of Chicago's COVID-19 outbreak, older adults with multiple chronic conditions didn’t think the disease would affect them and reported not changing their behaviors, according to the results of a Northwestern Medicine. Michael Wolf led this study and explains the results.

Judith Moskowitz, PhD, MPH, is a social psychologist and professor of Medical Social Sciences at Feinberg who studies the impact of positive emotion on health-related and other life stress. She discusses her research and things you can do to increase positivity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As an epidemiologist and infectious disease physician, Chad Achenbach, MD, MPH, has shared his expertise on a variety of global public health crises such as Ebola and Zika outbreaks. In this episode, he sheds light on the global emergence, epidemiology and response to COVID-19.

Abel Kho, MD, is the director of the new Institute for Augmented Intelligence in Medicine at Feinberg. He discusses his vision for the institute and how AI can enhance healthcare.  

This talk was given at Northwestern Medicine on March 17, 2020 by Dr. Michael Ison. He discusses the virology and epidemiology of COVID-19 as well as predictors of patient outcome and strategies to manage patients with the infection.  

A new Northwestern Medicine study published in JAMA Pediatrics has revealed that more stringent negligence laws, which hold adults responsible for safe storage of firearms, may have potential to reduce firearm fatalities in children. Hooman Azad, a third-year medical student at Feinberg and first author of the study explains.    

Most people with peripheral artery disease, PAD, have great difficulty walking and few treatments to help. Preliminary results of a new Northwestern Medicine study suggest that cocoa may have a therapeutic effect on walking performance in people with PAD. Dr. Mary McDermott led this study and shares the results.

An important finding detailed in a new Northwestern Medicine study warns of the role certain kinds of meat may play in increasing cardiovascular disease risk and premature death. Norrina Allen, PhD, led this research and shares details about the study.

Microbiologist Karla Satchell, PhD, is leading a national effort to investigate the structure biology of the components of the new coronavirus virus (2019-nCoV) and ultimately understand how to stop it from replicating in human cells through a medication or vaccine. This work is being done with the Center for Structural Genomics of Infectious Diseases at Northwestern, which is funded by the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases.  

When we read about college and youth sports today, it's usually about the dangers to health - mainly, concussions. However, a new study led by Nina Kraus, PhD, director of Northwestern's Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, BrainVolts, has found that athletes have healthier brains than non-athletes. 

In this bonus episode, Clyde Yancy, MD, and Donald Lloyd-Jones, MD, ScM, offer tips for people to consider in the new year, that can improve their health. Lloyd-Jones suggests experimenting with different tactics to lose or maintain weight, such as intermittent fasting.  "The important thing, if you need to lose weight, is to find out what works for you. It doesn't really matter how you do it, as long as you do it," Lloyd-Jones says. "75 percent of Americans are overweight or obese; we are the fattest nation there has ever been. It is not anyone's fault, but it is something we have to do something about." If losing weight feels like an overwhelming goal, Lloyd-Jones suggests people concentrate on not gaining any additional weight instead. Yancy often quotes to his patients a phrase coined by Northwestern physician Neil Stone, MD: "eat less, do more and know your numbers (such as blood pressure)." But Yancy says he would add one more idea to that phrase: maintain a healthy social life.  "Remain engaged with pe

Of the thousands of studies published by Northwestern scientists in 2019, some of the most discussed came from the field of cardiology. Two Northwestern physician scientists, Dr. Clyde Yancy and Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones, review some of these findings and share their thoughts on advances in cardiology to come in 2020.