A priest, a minister and a rabbi walk into Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center to ingest psilocybin, the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms. Although this probably sounds like the beginning of a great joke, new advancements in the field of psychedelic medicine are no laughing matter. After nearly 50 years of prohibition, academic studies and clinical(...)
Did You See This?
Nobel Prize Winning Research May Lead to New Therapies for Cancer, Alzheimer’s
Posted by | Did You See This?, Perspectives in ResearchYoshinori Ohsumi of the University of Tokyo was recently awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in mechanisms for autophagy. What is autophagy? From the Greek roots “auto,“ or self, and “phagia,” or eating, the word literally means self-eating. In cell biology, autophagy describes the way that cells recycle unneeded(...)
The Making of a Terrorist
Posted by | Did You See This?As we approach the final months of 2016, few would dispute that it has been one of the most politically tumultuous years in recent memory, punctuated by a hugely polarizing election, colossal political shifts, rising domestic gun violence — especially in the form of mass shootings — and horrifying terrorist attacks. Amid this discord and(...)
Implementing Precision Medicine in an Academic Hospital
Posted by | Did You See This?Precision medicine, or personalized medicine, is a growing field that uses big data to treat the individual patient. It uses tools such as DNA sequencing and bioinformatics to ask, “What are the individual characteristics of my patient?” — for example, in her genetic makeup, environment or in the mutation profile of her tumor — and(...)
Willpower and Self-Control: Tools of the Trade
Posted by | Did You See This?, Perspectives in ResearchWe confront challenges to our self-control every day. For those of us in the fields of science and medicine, the intense and fast-paced nature of our work only heightens the magnitude of these challenges. Do you leave early for happy hour or push through to finish setting up that last qPCR run? Do you break(...)
Vaccination Woes: HPV Vaccination Rates Remain Low
Posted by | Did You See This?, Perspectives in Research, Recently PublishedI was first offered the HPV vaccine during my college years. Although I had been counseled about the importance of the vaccine at that time, the steep price for the three-vaccine series kept me from getting it. With each injection costing $190, it was simply something I could not afford. By the time I started(...)
The Rising Cost of Pharmaceuticals
Posted by | Did You See This?, Perspectives in ResearchLast weekend, my husband and I visited our local pharmacy to pick up a prescription refill. The pharmacist chatted with us cheerfully as she rang us up at the cash register. Suddenly, her typing stopped. “Wow,” she finally said. “This is expensive.” The small pill bottle sat in her palm as she read off the(...)
Platelet-Rich Plasma: An Emerging Therapy for Musculoskeletal Injuries
Posted by | Did You See This?, Perspectives in ResearchAthletes engaging in sports often experience injuries to the muscles, tendons and ligaments. Due to frequent use, the shoulder, elbow, knee and ankle-joints are more susceptible to musculoskeletal soft tissue injuries than other joints. Musculoskeletal injuries account for about 30 percent of annual visits to primary physicians in the United States. Traditional treatments have included(...)
Local and National Precision Medicine Initiatives Aim to Individualize Medical Care
Posted by | Did You See This?“You can match a blood transfusion to a blood type — that was an important discovery. What if matching a cancer cure to our genetic code was just as easy, just as standard? What if figuring out the right dose of medicine was as simple as taking our temperature?” President Obama posed these questions in(...)
Where the Presidential Nominees Stand on Science and Technology
Posted by | Did You See This?, Events and HappeningsDuring the last seven and a half years, President Barack Obama has been a reliable advocate for science and technology. Just recently, the Office of Science and Technology Policy released a report highlighting 100 achievements fostering research and promoting innovation during President Obama’s two terms. As the country prepares for a new president to take(...)