“Sue has meant so much to Whitehead as an institution of science, and as a community of scientists, and her passing leaves us diminished in so many ways,” reflects David C. Page, M.D., Director of Whitehead Institute
Building on Babson’s leadership in advancing women-led entrepreneurship, the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership at Babson launched the WIN Lab in Boston in October 2013 as a first-of-its-kind program designed to help women entrepreneurs launch successful businesses.
Working with dot-counting mice running through a virtual-reality maze, scientists from Harvard Medical School have found that in order to navigate space rodent brains rely on a cascade of neural signals that culminate in a single decision that prompts the animal to choose one direction over another.
The Academy of Management Entrepreneurship Division has awarded the Dedication To Entrepreneurship Award to Babson Vice Provost of Global Entrepreneurial Leadership Candy Brush. The award is meant to recognize a small number of individuals and organizations each year who have made extraordinary, long-term contributions that advance the mission and interests of the Division.
David R. Walt, Ph.D., has been elected to the prestigious and exclusive National Academy of Medicine, one in a series of accolades from the national and international scientific communities in recognition of his stellar career as a chemist, engineer, innovator and entrepreneur.
Wellesley College hosts a major two-day symposium, “The Jewett Arts Center: The Modern Campus at Mid-Century & Today,” Friday, October 21, and Saturday, October 22. he symposium will examine the cultural contexts, design strategies, and future uses of historic Modern buildings on American college and university campuses.
Survivors of childhood cancer have poor adherence to federal dietary guidelines in adulthood, a new study finds. Diets lacking essential nutrients may exacerbate the chronic disease burden in a group already at an elevated risk for developing new conditions.
Court orders demanding death row inmates to provide “specific, detailed and concrete alternatives” to a state’s lethal injection protocol compel those inmates to produce evidence that is impossible to obtain without forcing physicians and other clinicians to violate their medical ethics, according to Harvard bioethicists and legal experts. Such orders, therefore, the experts argue, pose an insurmountable hurdle for inmates seeking alternative methods of execution.
A sleep abnormality likely plays an important role in schizophrenia, according to sleep experts at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). In a review of the growing body of evidence linking a reduction in sleep spindle activity to schizophrenia, the researchers suggested that a better understanding of this sleep abnormality’s genetic underpinnings opens the door to new treatments for the psychiatric disorder. Their paper appeared in the October 15 issue of Biological Psychiatry.
Olin College president Richard K. Miller receives international education prize for his contributions to the reinvention of engineering education in the 21st century.
Statistics show Millennials are getting married later in life and are on pace to stay unmarried at rates higher than previous generations.
OpenNotes and health advocate e-Patient Dave team up to remind us just how much has changed in the 20 years since Seinfeld's Elaine tried so desperately to find out what was in her medical record.
This is the first study to demonstrate beneficial placebo effect for lower back pain sufferers who knew they were taking 'fake pills.' Patients who knowingly took placebos reported 30 percent less pain and 29 percent reduction in disability compared to control group. 'Open-labeling' addresses longtime ethical dilemma, allowing patients to choose placebo treatments with informed consent.
The 2016 Wellesley College Alumnae Achievement Award recipients are: Marian Burros ’54, a New York Times and Washington Post food writer and editor who transformed how Americans cook; Maria Morris Hambourg ’71, a preeminent art scholar who changed how the art world looked at photography as the founding curator of the Department of Photographs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and Debra Knopman ’75, a leading researcher and policymaker seeking solutions to our most pressing environmental issues.
The F.W. Olin Graduate School at Babson College is an outstanding business school, according to The Princeton Review’s new 2017 edition of its annual book, The Best 294 Business Schools. Babson has also earned the No. 8 spot for a graduate program providing the Greatest Opportunity For Women. Among the other top 10 colleges and universities are Harvard University, Stanford University, the University of Virginia (Darden), and Columbia University.
High folate (vitamin B9) consumption is associated with an increased risk for a nerve-damage disorder in older adults who have a common genetic variant linked to reduced cellular vitamin B12 availability
Ophthalmologists at Massachusetts Eye and Ear are currently accepting patients who may be candidates for a newly FDA-approved outpatient procedure known as “corneal cross-linking.” Corneal cross-linking is a stabilizing treatment to halt the progression of keratoconus, a degenerative eye condition in which the cornea becomes thin and irregularly shaped. Keratoconus can affect adults and children as young as preteenagers, and may result in progressive vision loss if left untreated. While eyeglasses and contacts can serve as visual aids for these patients, —with advanced cases sometimes requiring corneal transplant surgery — corneal cross-linking is currently the only treatment available that can stop the progression of keratoconus.
A new program funded by the Autodesk Foundation will allow students to concentrate on healthcare-related projects including an infant warmer created by Design that Matters. The baby warmer is designed to provide a warm, clean environment for infants in resource-poor settings. The program is part of Affordable Design and Entrepreneurship (ADE).
A new study finds that children and teens with autism spectrum disorder may be more likely to be obese and stay obese during adolescence than their peers without autism spectrum disorder.
Hundreds of millions of people rely on Internet or app-based symptom checkers to help make sense of symptoms or self-diagnose diseases. The first direct comparison shows human doctors outperform digital ones in diagnostic accuracy.
The Academy of Management Entrepreneurship Division has awarded the Mentor Award to Babson Entrepreneurship Professor Zach Zacharakis. The Mentor Award recognizes extraordinary contributions in the area of mentoring. The award is one of two career service awards that recognizes long-term contributions made towards the mission of the Division.
Though first documented 70 years ago, the Zika virus was poorly understood when it burst onto the scene in the Americas in 2015. In one of the first and largest studies of its kind, a research team lead by virologists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has characterized the progression of two strains of the viral infection. The study, published online this week in Nature Medicine, revealed Zika’s rapid infection of the brain and nervous tissues, and provided evidence of risk for person-to-person transmission.
At a glance: • Marrying advanced math with standard blood-sugar tests, Harvard Medical School scientists have devised a more accurate way to measure three-month average blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. • The new model offers a more precise alternative to the current gold-standard test by accounting for the age of a person’s red blood cells. • Average blood sugar is the best predictor of long-term diabetes complications and the cornerstone of disease management. • In addition to assessing disease status, measuring a person’s average blood sugar can help detect new-onset diabetes and identify people on the cusp of developing it.
Using an unbiased screen in yeast, a team of Whitehead Institute and Stanford University scientists have identified dozens of prion-like proteins that could change the defining characteristics of these unusual proteins.
Nikhil U. Nair, Ph.D., of Tufts University School of Engineering, has been honored with the 2016 National Institutes of Health Director's New Innovator Award for his work on engineering naturally-occurring, safe, gut bacteria to treat inborn errors of metabolism (IEMs), a relatively poorly-studied family of debilitating genetic disorders that affect patients from birth.
In cases of severe ocular trauma involving the cornea, wound healing occurs following intervention, but at the cost of opaque scar tissue formation and damaged vision. Recent research has shown that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) — which can differentiate into a variety of cells, including bone, cartilage, muscle, and fat cells — are capable of returning clarity to scarred corneas; however, the mechanisms by which this happens remained a mystery – until now. In a study published online today in Stem Cell Reports, researchers from Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear have identified hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), secreted by MSCs, as the key factor responsible for promoting wound healing and reducing inflammation in preclinical models of corneal injury. Their findings suggest that HGF-based treatments may be effective in restoring vision in patients with severely scarred corneas.
Olin College is participating in the first ever SXSL: White House Festival of Ideas, Art, and Action, which will be held on October 3, 2016.
Babson College Entrepreneurship Professor Heidi Neck has received the Schulze Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year Award (SEEYA). She is recognized as a trailblazer in American entrepreneurship education and stands out among her peers for a demonstrated ability to drive entrepreneurship education forward.
Olin College students develop a device to assist blind sailors in match racing.
At OpenNotes we spend a lot of time talking about how note sharing can help patients, but this week we’re honoring National Health Information Technology week by bringing some attention to the positive impact OpenNotes can have on doctors, nurses and other health care providers. OpenNotes is one aspect of health information technology that can foster communication and engagement between clinicians and patients, bringing greater joy to clinicians in their practice. Meet Peter Elias, MD, who says OpenNotes transformed his primary care practice.
Structural virologist Ekaterina Heldwein of Tufts University School of Medicine will map out herpesviruses thanks to a five-year Faculty Scholars grant, a new program sponsored by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Simons Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
First-year students from the Babson College Class of 2019 raised more than $20,000 for local social service agencies through the college’s award-winning Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship (FME) course that requires all first-year undergraduate students to start and run a business, and donate profits to charity.
Genomic analysis of 142 ethnic groups spanning the range of human diversity has yielded insights into modern human variation and ancient population dynamics The effort has resulted in the largest whole-genome data set of under- and unstudied populations and is accessible to scientists worldwide The results enrich the catalog of population-specific genetic variants linked to disease and may help inform the development of precision-targeted diagnostic tests and treatments
A $15 million gift from the Jaharis Family Foundation will provide medical students at Tufts University School of Medicine with a new, state-of-the-art gross anatomy lab and scholarships for students focused on family medicine.
Inherited methylation—a form of epigenetic regulation passed down from parents to offspring—is far more dynamic than previously thought and may contribute to changes in the brain and other tissues over time. This finding by Whitehead Institute scientists challenges current understandings of gene regulation via methylation, from development through adulthood.
Genes play a role in how people with type 2 diabetes at high risk of cardiovascular disease risk respond to intensive glycemic control as an intervention to prevent the disease.
On September 28, 2016, the Davis Museum at Wellesley College will unveil "the Davis. ReDiscovered," a total transformation of the Museum’s permanent collections galleries, reshaped and reconceived to present the breadth and strength of the Museum’s encyclopedic holdings.
Massachusetts Eye and Ear opened a new otolaryngology (ear, nose, throat) practice at 65 Walnut Street in Wellesley, Mass., on September 19. Mass. Eye and Ear, Wellesley is the hospital’s 18th suburban site designed to bring the expertise of Mass. Eye and Ear specialists to the surrounding greater Boston area.
Most cancers have a sweet tooth but—mysteriously—some tumors prefer fat over sugar. Now, a study from Harvard Medical School reveals how these cancers develop their appetite for fat.
Researchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear have discovered a new mutation in a highly antibiotic-resistant strain of E. coli that resists clearance by the body’s own immune system by inhibiting white blood cells that ordinarily kill and remove bacteria. In a paper published online today in JAMA Ophthalmology, the researchers describe the case that led them to discover the mutation, and offer suggestions for how to recognize and address this particular microbe if encountered in the future.
Our brain pays more attention to food when we are hungry than when we are sated. Now a team of scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has shed light on how the needs of the body affect the way the brain processes visual food cues. In two newly-published studies, the researchers examined – with unprecedented resolution – the brain circuits responsible for the differences in the way the brain responds to visual food cues during hunger versus satiety.
Researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear have, for the first time, identified rapidly proliferating cells (known as “neural crest-derived progenitor cells”) in the corneal endothelium of specimens from normal corneas and from corneas with Fuchs’ Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy (FECD), a condition in which the cells responsible for keeping the cornea clear die prematurely — often leading to blindness. The findings, published in the American Journal of Pathology, hold promise for new therapies to be developed using the proliferating cells to return normal clearing abilities to the cornea in patients with FECD.
Harvard Medical School has launched Library of Evidence, a free, publicly accessible online resource to help clinicians choose the most appropriate imaging tests based on the best available research evidence. • The resource is designed to avert unnecessary imaging and contain rising health care costs associated with this practice. • The Library debuts on the eve of a new federal law that mandates the use of evidence-based decision-support systems by clinicians caring for federally insured patients. • Over time, the Library will expand to include other domains of clinical decision-making, such as choosing appropriate medications or ordering other tests and procedures.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators report they have discovered a type of immune antibody that can rapidly evolve to neutralize a wide array of influenza virus strains – including those the body hasn’t yet encountered.
Tufts University researchers have discovered a new technique for generating rapidly-differentiating human neural stem cells for use in a variety of tissue engineering applications, including a three-dimensional model of the human brain, according to a paper published today in Stem Cell Reports.
William G. Kaelin, MD, professor in the Department of Medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, has been named a winner of the 2016 Lasker Award for medical science by the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation.
Researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear have, for the first time, linked symptoms of difficulty understanding speech in noisy environments with evidence of cochlear synaptopathy, a condition known as “hidden hearing loss,” in college-age human subjects with normal hearing sensitivity.
OpenNotes is pleased to announce that ten extraordinary advocates for health care quality and improvement are the founding members of the OpenNotes Advisory Board.
A weight-loss drug dampened the response to food cues in regions of the brain associated with attention and emotion, leading to decreases in caloric intake, weight and body mass index (BMI), a team led by scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) reported. In the first study of the drug lorcaserin in the human brain, the research revealed the mechanism underlying the drug’s efficacy and provides insight into which individuals may benefit most from the medication. The paper was published today in the journal Diabetes, the journal of the American Diabetes Association.
Lonza Houston, Inc., a global leader in viral gene and cell therapy manufacturing, and Massachusetts Eye and Ear, the world’s largest vision and hearing research center, have entered into a strategic agreement that provides customers the ability to in-license Anc80 and other Anc-AAVs for the clinical development and commercialization of novel gene therapies. The agreement is designed to accelerate gene therapy drug development across the field in order to address diseases in need of treatments and thereby ultimately reach more patients.
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