Breakthroughs

Our understanding of how viral infections can affect the brain has changed dramatically in recent years, and the COVID-19 pandemic and research into long COVID has accelerated some of this new knowledge. Igor Koralnik, MD, chief of Neuro-Infectious Diseases and Global Neurology in the Department of Neurology at Feinberg has studied the long-term neurological effects of COVID-19 and developed tools to support patient recovery. In this episode, Koralnik shares the latest research on long COVID and talks about recent findings from his lab identifying a common virus in the brains of some patients with Parkinson's disease that may influence how Parkinson's develops.

A novel functional MRI (fMRI) technique has been developed by Northwestern Medicine investigators to more accurately assess blood flow in the spinal cord. In this episode, Molly Bright, DPhil, explains how his noninvasive method could one day help clinicians detect early signs of neurological disease or injury, monitor recovery and guide treatment decisions for patients with spinal cord conditions.

Lyme disease, the bacterial infection transmitted by ticks, is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States, with nearly half a million people diagnosed and treated each year, according to the CDC. Two pivotal studies on Lyme disease from the lab of Brandon Jutras, PhD, provide important insights into what may cause persistent Lyme disease symptoms in a subset of patients. This research points to some promising new directions for both diagnosis and therapeutic intervention.

The tiniest parts of the cell may provide new insights into challenging neurodegenerative diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). New research from Northwestern University has revealed a key mechanism underlying the development of motor neuron diseases, such as ALS, offering new insights into potential treatment options. This new finding published in the Journal of Neuroscience, comes from the lab of Vladimir Gelfand, PhD, and may help inform the treatment of ALS and other motor neuron diseases.

One of the many ways the Human Longevity Laboratory at Feinberg is studying aging is through the lens of the retina. Manjot Gill, MD, a Northwestern Medicine retina specialist, explains the unique multi-disciplinary approach of the lab and how she is using AI in retinal imaging to predict biological age and help validate interventions that may slow aging. She is vice chair of clinical performance in the Department of Ophthalmology and Professor of Ophthalmology and Medical Education.

Brian Garibaldi, MD, the founding director of Northwestern Medicine's new Center for Bedside Medicine, discusses the importance and future of bedside medicine. A renowned pulmonologist and medical educator, Garibaldi addresses how modern technology can integrate with traditional clinical skills to improve diagnosis, deepen patient relationships and reduce physician burnout. He also explains how the new center aims to train the next generation of physicians to understand and embrace the power of the physical examination and the doctor-patient relationship.

Sachin Patel, MD, PhD, is the chair and Lizzie Gilman Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Feinberg and diretor of the Stephen M. Stahl Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience. In this episode, he talks about the current mental health crisis in this country, his research and vision for the department. Since this episode was originally released, Patel has published findings in the journal, Cell Reports, which uncovered new insights into the synaptic connections of subgroups of interneurons. These findings may improve the understanding of fear responses and could inform new targeted therapies for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Viral pneumonia can cause severe lung damage and make recovery long and life-threatening for patients. Current treatments only provide support, not repair, but Northwestern Medicine scientist Benjamin Singer, MD, wants to change that. In this episode, he details a recent discovery from his team that found laboratory-modified T-cells or induced regulatory T-cells (iTregs), can promote lung tissue repair in mice with severe influenza pneumonia. Singer discusses this breakthrough and how it could lead to an effective cellular therapy for patients with severe viral pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome in the future.

We're resharing an episode from October 2022. How are habits – both good and bad – formed in the brain, and what role do habits play in diseases of the brain? These are some of the questions neuroscientist, Talia Lerner, PhD, is investigating in her lab. Her recent study, published in Cell Reports, may change the overall understanding of how habits are formed and could be broken. Since this episode was first recorded in fall 2022, Lerner's team has published new research looking at sex differences. In a paper in Neuropsychopharmacology, her team discovered how novel sex-specific mechanisms control how stress hormones impact dopamine transmission and motivation.

Uniting scientists and harnessing the power of the immune system to fight disease is at the heart of the Center for Human Immunobiology (CHI). Stephanie Eisenbarth, MD, PhD, leads the center, and she is also the chief of Allergy and Immunology in the Department of Medicine. Since this episode was first recorded in fall 2022, Eisenbarth's team has launched a clinical trial to study a new treatment for food allergy. She has also brought together more than 150 trainees and faculty through the CHI. Here, she discusses the variety of immunology research taking place within the center and the continued work to discover and translate innovative science into cures for immune-related diseases.

An experimental drug called NU-9 was invented at Northwestern University by Richard Silverman, PhD. It has been approved for clinical trials for the treatment of ALS and found to improves neuron health in animal models of Alzheimer's disease according to a new Northwestern Medicine study published in PNAS. This discovery is giving scientists hope that the drug could be effective in multiple neurodegenerative diseases by addressing the underlying mechanisms of these diseases. Silverman and Northwestern University Alzheimer disease expert, William Klein, PhD, discuss the potential of NU-9 in this episode.

A Northwestern Medicine clinical trial led by Rod Passman, MD, could improve the way we care for millions of people with atrial fibrillation, but it is facing an unexpected challenge. There has been a pause in federal funding to Northwestern University that could impact this study's progress. While the trial has not been ordered to stop, all National Institutes of Health funding to Northwestern University has been frozen, raising questions about how long this potential life-saving work can go on without a resolution.

Each year, more than 800,000 Americans suffer a heart attack and many of those who survive are left with irreversible scarring and the slow progression towards heart failure. In this episode, Edward Thorp, PhD, explains how his team is exploring immune cells that influence the heart's ability to heal after such injuries. In Thorp's lab, they are uncovering fundamental molecular mechanisms by which the immune system regulates wound repair, reduces inflammation and regenerates tissue.

New evidence shows that a one-time intervention can lead to lasting improvement in the lives of young people struggling with mental health problems. In this episode, Jessica Schleider, PhD, associate professor of Medical Social Sciences, explains how she is using this approach to scale single-session interventions (SSIs) to reach more people in need of mental health services.

In this episode, Minjee Kim, MD, shares results of recent studies she has conducted to better understand the role of inadequate sleep on long-term metabolic health in pregnant women and middle-aged adults. She also discusses a new AI-based intervention that could bring a better night of sleep to those who need it.

In this episode, Rodrigo Braga, PhD, explains recent advances in his Human Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, using precision functional MRI technology, that is helping us better understand how the brain is working. He details recent findings published in Science Advances that provide new understanding of how the brain works during and after social interactions, which could lead to new ways to treat anxiety and depression.

What could be the world's smallest pacemaker was recently developed at Northwestern University and details of the device were published in the journal Nature. This incredible innovation, about the size of a grain of rice, from the lab of John Rogers, PhD, is designed to be an alternative to bulky, wired temporary pacemakers. In this episode, Rogers discusses how Northwestern engineers and Feinberg investigators came together to develop this innovative solution to meet a need for patients.

A Northwestern Medicine study published in Nature Medicine, used a new technique called spatial transcriptomics to examine the brain's response to Alzheimer's therapies, revealing new molecular targets that could enhance the effectiveness of current therapies and not just slow the disease, but potentially improve patient outcomes. David Gate, PhD, assistant professor of Neurology in the Ken and Ruth Davee Department of Neurology and director of the Abrams Research Center on Neurogenomics, led this research.

A new $11.7 million award from the National Institute of Mental Health aims to help Northwestern Medicine investigators move the dial on the youth mental health crisis by targeting early warning signs of mental health risk in toddlers, rather than waiting until diagnosable and severe conditions are present later in childhood. In this episode, Lauren Wakschlag, PhD, who is co-leading this grant, explains how the team will implement evidence-based developmental decision tools to determine "when to worry" about young children's mental health.

Women are living longer, healthier lives, but ovarian aging still impacts fertility and hormone production as it always has. In this episode, Francesca Duncan, PhD, discusses novel research into maintaining ovarian function, longer. This work could someday help prevent or slow down age-related changes to the ovaries, offering hope for better health as women age.

Scientists from Northwestern Medicine, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have uncovered the first rare genetic disorder linked to a long non-coding RNA gene. In this episode, Gemma Carvill, PhD, explains how this discovery, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, came to be and the critical roles non-coding regions of the genome may have in human health.

With a new $20 million grant from the National Institute on Aging, Northwestern investigator, Linda Teplin, PhD, is extending the work of the Northwestern Juvenile Project to study the long-term consequences of incarceration on age-related conditions, including Alzheimer's and other age-related diseases. This project is the only large-scale longitudinal study of its kind tracking health and outcomes of detained juveniles in the years following their release.

Understanding the systemic drivers of health disparities within marginalized populations is complex. In this episode, Michelle Birkett, PhD, explains how she uses network and quantitative methodologies to study the health of marginalized populations, particularly sexual and gender minority youth. She also discusses her new center, the Center for Computational and Social Sciences in Health, and the importance of transdisciplinary research.

Nearly one million people in the U.S. are living with Parkinson's disease, a condition for which there is still no known cause or cure. Joseph Mazzulli, PhD, has led two recent studies published in Neuron and Nature Communications uncovering previously unknown cellular mechanisms driving the disease. These studies highlight the potential for new therapeutic targets, including restoring neuronal function for patients with Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

New research from the lab of Issam Ben-Sahra, PhD, could rewrite textbooks on our understanding of cellular metabolism and potentially identify new targets for cancer and metabolic diseases such as obesity. The discovery, published in the journal Science, has been praised for its rigorous simplicity and underscores the importance of understanding the molecular mechanisms that underlie specific biological processes.

Jeffrey Gordon, MD, often called "the father of microbiome research," is the 2024 recipient of the Mechthild Esser Nemmers Prize in Medical Science. In this episode, Gordon discusses the impacts of his long career in gut microbiome research, which has profoundly transformed our understanding of human health. Specifically, he shares the evolution of groundbreaking approaches to treating malnutrition and childhood undernutrition with microbiota-targeted therapies.

The MYC oncogene is notorious in the cancer research world because it is implicated in many advanced or aggressive cancers such as treatment-resistant prostate cancer. In this episode, Sarki Abdulkadir, MD, PhD, shares how his team bucked the conventional notion that the MYC gene is "undruggable" and uncovered a handful of compounds that block MYC gene activity, making prostate cancer tumors sensitive to hormone therapy and opening up a potential new therapeutic target for treatment-resistant prostate cancer.

A team of Northwestern Medicine scientists are conducting a new longitudinal cross-sectional study to investigate why some people see to age faster than others. In this episode, John Wilkins, MD, associate director of the Human Longevity Laboratory at the Potocsnak Longevity Institute, shares details of the study, which will eventually include a variety of interventions aimed at slowing down the aging process.

Northwestern Medicine physician-scientist Jaehyuk Choi, MD, PhD joins the show again to discuss another breakthrough. This time for lupus, a chronic autoimmune condition affecting 300,000 Americans that can cause inflammation in many body parts, including joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart and lungs. Findings by Choi and his lab members not only elucidate the underlying mechanisms of lupus but also suggest potential therapeutic strategies.

For decades, Marcus Peter, PhD, has drilled into an area of research focused on cell death and the roles of toxic and protective short RNAs, with the goal of developing a novel form of cancer treatment. Now, this same line of research has led Peter's team to uncover new insights into the cause of Alzheimer's disease. In this episode, Peter explains his pioneering work in investigating RNA interference in diseases and explains how his lab's latest novel discovery may have relevance to an array of neurodegenerative diseases beyond Alzheimer's.

New advances in digital pathology are revolutionizing the analysis of disease, paving the way for greater accuracy and efficiency when it comes to diagnostics, predicting outcomes and treatment. In this episode, Lee Cooper, PhD, discusses the future of digital and computational pathology and his research on machine learning and pathology, including a recent study published in Nature Medicine on using AI in predicting clinical outcomes for breast cancer patients.

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine is home to a team of premier faculty and staff biostatisticians who are a driving force of data analytic innovation and excellence. In this episode, Denise Scholtens, PhD, a leader in biostatistics at Feinberg, discusses the growing importance of the field of biostatistics and how she leverages her skills to collaborate on several projects in Maternal and Fetal Health.

Northwestern Medicine scientists are at the forefront of research investigating the most effective ways of treating obesity in children and teens and improving their access to care. In this episode, Justin Ryder, PhD, a clinical and translational obesity scientist at Feinberg, talks about the use of new GLP-1–based medications for childhood obesity and his work on several NIH-funded projects focused on understanding how pediatric obesity impacts chronic disease risk and how biology drives weight regain.

An estimated 32,000 Americans are currently living with ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. Northwestern investigators have uncovered novel cellular mechanisms involved in two types of genetic ALS that might lead to future targeted therapies. Evangelos Kiskinis, PhD, shares insights on these findings recently published in Science Advances and Cell Reports.

Inflammation is a common feature of many diseases and Northwestern Medicine investigators have identified how a calcium channel contributes to inflammation in the brain and lungs. This could aid in finding new types of therapeutics for inflammation-related diseases and conditions. In this episode, Murali Prakriya, PhD, discusses the evolution of this groundbreaking research in ion channels as well as his latest findings published in Nature Communications.

Teens are reporting struggles with their mental health at unprecedented rates, but resources to help these young people deal with anxiety or depression can be difficult to access. In this episode, Ashley Knapp, PhD, assistant professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Robert Simmons, MA, director of social services and public safety at Oak Park Public Library, discuss an innovative community partnership between Northwestern Medicine investigators and a Chicagoland library and how it could be a model for future health interventions.

Thanks to advancements in synthetic biology, scientists are now engineering bacterial communities with the goal of using these cells to monitor and treat diseases. In this episode, Arthur Prindle, PhD, explains how his lab is reprogramming bacteria that may be used in the future to detect disease and deliver therapeutics for many different conditions, including cancer, diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease.

A new study published in the journal Nature details breakthrough T-cell immunotherapy research from Northwestern Medicine. In this episode, Jaehyuk Choi, MD, PhD, senior author of the paper, explains how a gene mutation found in T-cells of patients with lymphoma could hold the key to a potent cancer-fighting immunotherapy for solid tumor cancers, which account for 90 percent of all cancers.

When most of us think about dopamine, we think about reward signals. But new research from Northwestern Medicine, published in Nature Neuroscience, has found a genetic subtype of dopamine neurons that do not respond to rewards at all, and instead, fire when the body moves. Rajeshwar Awatramani, PhD, and Daniel Dombeck, PhD led this work. In this episode they explain how the results could change the field of dopamine research

As the primary investigator of The NIH Toolbox®, Richard Gershon, PhD, has led a team of hundreds of scientists to develop and evolve state-of-the-art digital assessments of cognition, motor, sensation and emotion which has been used by clinicians, investigators and academics for nearly two decades. In this episode, Gershon explains how the third version of The NIH Toolbox® app developed for the iPad, provides test batteries for cognition, motor, emotional and sensory functioning.

Mitochondria are widely known as cellular "powerhouses" for their role in producing energy for cells. But pioneering research from Northwestern Medicine investigators over the last 20 years has proven mitochondria are also major players in lung disease, cancer, brain disease and immune-related diseases. Navdeep Chandel, PhD, a 2023 recipient of the Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, leads this research. In this episode he discusses how his team's recent findings could advance the design and implementation of new therapies.

Northwestern Medicine is dedicated to improving outcomes for patients who are in need of organ transplants. Daniela Ladner, MD, MPH, is leading research that sheds light on the barriers to transplantation as the founding director of the Northwestern University Transplant Outcomes Research Collaborative (NUTORC). She discusses the groundbreaking research that makes Northwestern a leader in organ transplantation.

Both long-term alcohol consumption and binge drinking can speed up biological aging, according to a Northwestern Medicine study published in the journal Aging. Lifang Hou, MD, PhD, chief of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention in the Department of Preventive Medicine led the study and discusses the link between genetics and lifestyle in the context of preventing disease.

Mozziyar "Mozzi" Etemadi, MD, PhD, is supporting the transformation of healthcare delivery and patient care at Northwestern Medicine by bringing engineers into direct contact with clinical providers. In this episode, he talks about the explosion of artificial intelligence in healthcare in recent years and how Northwestern Medicine is using this technology to improve healthcare delivery and patient care.

Treating cancer has become increasingly difficult as cells develop resistance. Northwestern investigators have sought to address this issue on the cellular level through the development of a novel FateMap tool, used to predict the future behavior of cancer cells before they are exposed to cancer-fighting drugs. In this episode, Yogesh Goyal, PhD, discusses his latest research, published in Nature, and how his lab is addressing complex problems through an interdisciplinary approach.

The launch of the Simpson Querrey Lung Institute for Translational Science (SQLIFTS) at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine aims to expedite the discovery and implementation of innovative lung disease treatments through a patient-centered approach. In this episode, Scott Budinger, MD, the new executive director of the institute, discusses its launch and how it aims to transform lung disease research and clinical care.

The global prevalence of Parkinson's disease has doubled in the past 25 years. While research into this extremely diverse neurodegenerative disorder is very active, there is much left to be uncovered about the underlying cause of the disease. Recently, Northwestern Medicine investigators have discovered novel genetic factors contributing to the risk of Parkinson's disease, which may lead to potential therapeutic targets. Steven Lubbe, PhD, assistant professor of Neurology at Feinberg, discusses these findings recently published in the journal Brain.