Focus: Hidden - Philly Metro

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Saint Joseph's University President Mark C. Reed, Ed.D., announced today the appointment of Rabbi Abraham Skorka, Ph.D., as University Professor beginning in the fall of 2018. He will work closely with the directors of the University’s Institute for Jewish-Catholic Relations to develop and expand its educational and research programs with the goal of promoting deeper understanding between Catholics and Jews.

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Studies have shown that talking with teens about sex-related topics is a positive parenting practice that facilitates important sexual health outcomes with heterosexual adolescents. But for LGBTQ youth, the topic of sexuality and sexual health is often ineffectively addressed at home.

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African Americans with atrial fibrillation (AF) – a quivering or irregular heartbeat that can lead to a host of dangerous complications – have a significantly higher risk of stroke than Caucasians with the condition, according to new research published today in HeartRhythm by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The new findings build on previous studies examining the impact of race on the risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF), which is linked to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other complications. It’s well reported that African Americans have a lower risk of developing AF as compared to Caucasians, but until now, there was little data on the additional risks that come with AF for each race.

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Researchers have shown for the first time that a key protein called KMT2D involved in the epigenetic regulation of gene expression guides this renewal.

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An antibody used to treat the skin disease psoriasis is also effective at reducing aortic inflammation, a key marker of future risk of major cardiovascular events.

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Children who have heart surgery as infants are at risk for hearing loss, coupled with associated risks for language, attention and cognitive problems, by age four. In a single-center group of 348 preschoolers who survived cardiac surgery, researchers found hearing loss in about 21 percent, a rate 20 times higher than is found in the general population.

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The percentage of cancer survivors without health insurance decreased substantially after implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), reports a study in the March issue of Medical Care, published by Wolters Kluwer.

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New prevention and treatment approaches can reduce serious health risks due to peanut allergy in children, according to an article in the March issue of The Nurse Practitioner, published by Wolters Kluwer.

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A comprehensive evaluation by clinical researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania identified a neurological syndrome that left U.S. government personnel serving in Havana, Cuba with persistent memory and thinking dysfunction, as well as vision and balance problems after hearing unusual noises in their homes or hotel rooms. The team published their findings today in JAMA.

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During the first week of spring semester, a group of Swarthmore students used putt-putt golf and animal fun to help raise close to $11,000 for local persons with disabilities.

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New guidelines developed collaboratively by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) offer clinicians much needed recommendations for assessment and management of side effects related to immune checkpoint inhibitors.

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A kinase inhibitor called cabozantinib could be a viable therapy option for patients with metastatic, radioactive iodine-resistant thyroid cancer. In a trial initiated and led by the Abramson Cancer Center and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, tumors shrunk in 34 out of 35 patients who took the drug, and more than half of those patients saw the tumor size decrease by more than 30 percent.

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Penn Medicine Announces its new Center for Connected Care to centralize the health system’s telemedicine activities.

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Replenishing a naturally occurring heart protein could improve stem cell therapy after a heart attack

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— Jamie Shuda, EdD, a prominent K-12 educator and researcher at Penn Medicine, has been named co-recipient of the 2018 Elizabeth W. Jones Award for Excellence by the Genetics Society of America (GSA) for “extraordinary contributions to genetics education.”

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It’s well known that the human body functions on a 24-hour, or circadian, schedule. The up-and-down daily cycles of a long-studied clock protein called Rev-erb coordinates the ebb and flow of gene expression by tightening and loosening loops in chromosomes, according to new research.

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E. John Wherry, PhD, a cancer and immunology researcher at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and one of the most highly cited investigators in his field, has been awarded a “Convergence 2.0” research grant by Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C) to investigate immune system response to cancers.

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A simple three-factor tool can help doctors estimate survival time in patients with long bone metastases (LBMs)—advanced cancer that has spread to the bones of the limbs, reports a study in the February 7, 2018, issue of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The journal is published in partnership with Wolters Kluwer. Reliable survival estimates in these cases can help prevent overtreatment and undertreatment.

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Saint Joseph's University is pleased to announce that it has signed an articulation agreement with Villanova University's M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing that will provide priority admissions consideration for SJU students in Villanova's BSN Express Program. The 14-month second degree program incorporates all of the standard components of Villanova's nursing program in a concentrated timeframe.

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A novel antibody-based therapy that blocks the excessive formation of collagen clusters is safe and effective in multiple animal models of fibrotic disease

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Pressure-related skin injuries, a nurse-sensitive quality indicator in hospitals, are associated with increased morbidity and higher costs of care. There’s been much attention focused on hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPI) in the adult population.

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In general, the term “medical futility” applies when, based on data and professional experience, no further treatments, procedures or tests will provide benefit and may, in fact, be more burdensome and create undue suffering for the patient and the patient’s family.

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How does psychological stress translate into physical health effects? A key piece of the puzzle may be found in specialized cellular structures known as mitochondria, according to a pair of articles in the January issue of Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

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In 1987, National Football League players went on strike. As a response, NFL teams scrambled to fill their rosters with “replacement players,” individuals who had some experience with college or professional football, but who weren’t part of NFL rosters that year. The replacement players themselves became a footnote in sports history. It turns out these players may actually play a critical role in football today - by helping us understand how playing in the NFL affects long-term health. In our recent study, published in JAMA, we compared the life expectancies of professional NFL players who debuted between 1982 and 1992 to the life expectancies of replacement players from the 1987 strike.

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• World Cancer Day 2018 highlights the global equity gap in accessing early detection, treatment, and care services • UICC calls for more equal access to reduce premature cancer and non-communicable disease deaths by 25% by 2025 in line with WHO targets • Consolidated country-by-country statistics on cancer incidences and mortalities, national cancer control plans and registries and access to radiotherapy based on latest GLOBOCAN and WHO data

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When it comes to the physical scars surgery leaves behind, a new study shows patients and doctors often don’t assess their severity the same way. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found patients and physicians disagreed in their scar evaluations 28 percent of the time, with patients more likely to focus on the depth of the scar while physicians were more likely to emphasize coloration and texture.

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The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing’s (Penn Nursing) Eileen T. Lake, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Jessie M. Scott Endowed Term Chair in Nursing and Health Policy, Associate Professor of Nursing, Associate Professor of Sociology, and the Associate Director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, has been named the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Research in Nursing & Health.

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Updated results from a global clinical trial of the CAR T-cell therapy, tisagenlecleucel, a landmark personalized treatment for a high-risk form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), reveal that children and young adults continued to show high rates of durable, complete remission of their disease. Most side effects were short-lived and reversible.

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NCCN Reaches New Records for Guidelines, Resources, and Programs with eight million copies of the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) downloaded by more than one million people across the globe in 2017.

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The risks of penile reconstruction surgery (phalloplasty) appear higher in female-to-male transgender (transmale) patients undergoing gender confirmation surgery, compared to native male (cismale) patients undergoing phalloplasty for other reasons, reports a study in the February issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

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For older women undergoing mastectomy for breast cancer, direct-to-implant (DTI) breast reconstruction provides good outcomes in a single-step procedure, while avoiding some of the inconvenience and risks of staged approaches to breast reconstruction, reports a study in the February issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

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A study of 30,000 children with earaches, strep throat and other common infections found that narrow-spectrum antibiotics had fewer adverse effects than broad-spectrum antibiotics. A more selective approach is better, said researchers.

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Bursting oxygen-filled microbubbles in breast cancer makes tumors three times more sensitive to radiation therapy in preliminary tests with animal models of the disease

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With $9.3 million in awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing) takes the lead for research funding for the 2017 fiscal year, among other schools of nursing.

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A report of two young children with burns of the esophagus caused by swallowed button batteries from "fidget spinners" highlights a risk of severe injuries involving these popular toys, according to a series of reports in the January/February Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition (JPGN). Official journal of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) and the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, JPGN is published by Wolters Kluwer.

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As these services grow and attempt to become more mainstream, concerns among the medical community abound about their safety and effectiveness, particularly given that most of these services and products are unregulated, much like the supplement industry.

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Intermountain Healthcare has endorsed the The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) Imaging Appropriate Use Criteria (NCCN Imaging AUC™). Intermountain will aggregate the NCCN AUC for lung cancer with its own AUC and utilize the content for decision support.

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Contrary to long-established dogma, the eye can host an active immune response that could both heal injury and contribute to loss of vision.

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– Injuries are a major public health problem in the United States, accounting for nearly 60 percent of all deaths among Americans between the ages of 1 and 44 years. Survivors of traumatic injuries often face significant physical and mental health challenges, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

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The Penn Center for Inherited Cardiovascular Disease has received a $5 million commitment from Mark Winkelman and his family. The generous donation from Winkelman, a former chair of the Penn Medicine Board, will help support and build upon the center’s personalized, family-based approach to care and strengthen its research efforts.

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Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can be debilitating and standard treatment can take months, often leaving those affected unable to work or care for their families. But, a new study demonstrated that many PTSD sufferers can benefit from an expedited course of treatment. In the first study of its kind, Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy was found to be as effective when administered over two weeks as when it is provided over eight weeks for treating PTSD in active-duty military personnel.