By Cara Plott, a second-year medical student at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. I am sick of needing to text my friends and family to ask whether they have been shot. On Nov. 7, my friend traveled to Thousand Oaks, California, to visit her family. Late that night, a gunman shot and […]
Perspectives in Research
Never a Dull Moment in Cardiology
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchIf it sounds like it’s too good to be true, then it probably is. This proverb may come across as pessimistic; however, it seems to be ringing true for Piero Anversa. Anversa made waves in the field of cardiology with his studies on cardiac muscle regeneration and the proposed use of cardiac stem cells to […]
Are llamas the Key to Curing the Flu?
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchInfluenza kills up to 646,000 people worldwide each year. While we have all heard about the importance of receiving the annual flu vaccine, it reduces the risk of illness by approximately 60 percent at best. Last year, during one of the deadliest flu seasons in recent memory, the vaccine was only about 40 percent effective. […]
Science Has New Advocates on Capitol Hill in Wake of Midterm Elections
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchIn the wake of midterm elections, nine new STEM professionals will take seats in the U.S. Congress, eight in the House and one in the Senate. Since the 2016 elections, I have been party to countless discussions with other scientists expressing concern about the deliberate shift away from an evidence-based approach in policymaking. The shift […]
Thinking Outside the Brain
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchGenetics began in the garden — Mendel’s pea experiments revolutionized and developed the field and principles we know and study today. Similarly, my scientific journey began with plants. In college, I studied the model organism Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, which is unique in its ability to thrive in total darkness, whereas most plants rely on photosynthesis. My […]
The Interplay of Hormones and Infectious Diseases: How Our Sex Can Impact Our Risk of Getting the Flu
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchWith the long days of summer well behind us, and crunchy leaves and cool temperatures beckoning us forward, we all have to prepare for winter in our own ways. For most, hopefully, that includes getting a flu vaccine! The vaccine is an important tool in our arsenal against influenza, but unfortunately, it is not sufficient […]
Uncovering a Food Preference Signal in an Overlooked Brain Region
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchThis October marks the publication of my first lead author scientific article, the culmination of my thesis work thus far. Simply put, I found a previously unknown brain signal in the ventral pallidum that reports how good a food outcome was relative to the other available options. What does this signal mean, and why might […]
Hope for Treating Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchThink back to when you were a kindergarten-age kid. Your teachers seemed like giants, and you likely had limitless energy to run around, jump, and play tag with your classmates. Now, imagine that every time you tried to run after your friends at the playground, you waddled everywhere and fell frequently. Imagine that whenever you […]
From Crisis to Consensus: Guidelines Aim to Reduce Over-Prescribing of Abused Drugs
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchEvery day, 115 Americans are killed by opioid overdose. That this number is so strikingly high underlines the language of ‘“epidemics” and “emergencies” in politicians’ speeches and newspaper headlines. Thousands of articles and millions of research dollars have become components of a concerted effort to understand, quantify and alleviate the opioid epidemic in the United […]
Solving the CAR-T Conundrum
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchThe development and commercialization of cancer immunotherapies, a class of treatments that fights cancer by fortifying the immune system, has advanced at a rapid pace. Prior to 2017, most cancer immunotherapies were composed of antibodies that selectively flag cancer cells for destruction by other cells in the immune system. In mid-2017, the FDA approved Kymriah […]