Focus: Hidden - Boston Metro

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Researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School have described, for the first time, the adult brain’s ability to compensate for a near-complete loss of auditory nerve fibers that link the ear to the brain. The findings, published in the current issue of Neuron, suggest that the brain’s natural plasticity can compensate for inner ear damage to bring sound detection abilities back within normal limits; however, it does not recover speech intelligibility. This imperfect hearing recovery may explain a common auditory complaint, in which some patients report difficulties understanding speech despite having normal hearing thresholds.

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A new study finds that providing zinc supplements to older adults in nursing homes increased their serum zinc levels and improved their immune response, providing potential protection against infection. The research group’s previous work found that nursing home residents had low zinc levels.

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The severity of the criminal penalty for human trafficking in the U.S. has no effect on the number of suspects who are arrested and prosecuted for the crime, according to a wide-ranging new study by Northeastern criminologist Amy Farrell and her research partners.

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The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce has awarded Lori Laffel, M.D., MPH, Chief of the Pediatric, Adolescent and Young Adult Section at Joslin Diabetes Center and Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, the Achievement in the Professions distinction for the 2016 Pinnacle Awards.

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Whitehead Institute researchers have created a new mouse-human modeling system that could be used to study neural crest development as well as the modeling of a variety of neural crest related diseases, including such cancers as melanoma and neurofibromatosis. Mouse-human chimeras would fill an important gap in disease research, as existing models do not accurately mimic key disease processes, including solid tumor initiation and progression, and are of little value for studying diseases with long latencies, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

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The University of California San Diego’s incoming Alzheimer’s research czar talked with Alzforum about where he wants to take the embattled Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study and neurodegeneration research in the region.

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Babson College Professor Patricia Greene has received an award for her ‘Outstanding Contributions in Women’s Research’ from the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship® (USASBE) and its Special Interest Group – Minority and Women Entrepreneurship.

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According to a new study led by researchers at Tufts University, 92 percent of both large-chain and non-chain restaurants serve meals exceeding recommended calorie requirements for a single serving. The researchers suggest offering consumers smaller portions at lower prices.

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A pioneer in developing life-saving therapies for a deadly heart arrhythmia has called on electrophysiologists to reexamine a widely used technique to guide the treatment of the faulty electrical impulses responsible for these abnormal heart beats.

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The Wolf Foundation announced earlier this week that it has awarded the Wolf Prize in Medicine to C. Ronald Kahn, M.D., Chief Academic Officer and Senior Investigator at Joslin Diabetes Center and the Mary K. Iacocca Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

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Three Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers, writing in a special issue of JAMA published today, make the case for policies and practices that give terminally ill patients more control over how and where they will die

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While no cure is in sight, ALS experts see reason to feel hopeful about research progress and possible new treatments.

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Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at BIDMC and MetroWest Medical Center have signed a clinical affiliation agreement that will expand access to clinical services west of Boston and strengthen the organizations' ability to provide comprehensive and coordinated care.

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Researchers at Tufts University are collaborating with the United States Military Academy on a first-of-its-kind, five-year longitudinal study of how West Point develops character and leadership in its cadets, a project that could help predict which practices produce successful officers and influence character and leadership education in schools, businesses, and other organizations.

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Babson College Professor Heidi Neck has been named President of the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship® (USASBE). Neck serves as Babson’s Jeffry A. Timmons Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies, and as Faculty Director of the college’s Symposia for Entrepreneurship Educators (SEE)—programs designed to further develop faculty from around the world in the art and craft of teaching entrepreneurship and building entrepreneurship programs.

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A study in aged mice shows that excess folic acid intake causes lowered immune function because important immune cells, called natural killer (NK) cells, are less effective.

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Several of the world’s most influential leaders in global economic policy will take part in a public dialogue, entitled “Addressing Global Inequality,” on January 31, 2016, at Wellesley College’s Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute for Global Affairs. The event will feature Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund; Sri Mulyani Indrawati, managing director and chief operating officer of the World Bank; and Mark Malloch-Brown, former deputy secretary general and chief of staff for the United Nations. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright ’59, a Wellesley alumna who founded the Institute, will also take part in the public dialogue. This year’s Institute addresses the complicated issues related to global inequality.

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The Division of Clinical Informatics at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) / World Health Organization have signed a framework agreement to collaborate in supporting the advancement of eHealth in Latin America and the Caribbean.

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The most complicated of the age-relating dementing diseases just got a little clearer. Marked by degeneration of both the mind and the body, dementia with Lewy bodies combines aspects of both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. DLB has for years languished in the shadows of its eponymous cousins when it came to recognition and research funding, but a recent, once-in-a-decade international conference showcased progress in better defining what DLB is and setting the stage for therapy trials.

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The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Tufts University have signed a memo of understanding paving the way for the School of the Museum of Fine Arts to become part of Tufts in 2016. When finalized, this would expand the 70-year relationship between the SMFA and Tufts, giving faculty and students enriched programmatic opportunities and enhanced access to museum resources.

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A new study at Massachusetts Eye and Ear showed that in some cases of vestibular schwannoma, a sometimes-lethal tumor often associated with neurofibromatosis 2 (NF2), secretions from the tumor contain toxic molecules that damage the inner ear. The findings, published online in Scientific Reports, explain why some vestibular schwannomas cause hearing loss even though they are not large enough to compress nearby structures that control hearing.

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In a report published in the journal Neuron, an international team of researchers defined the makeup of the cellular structures through which nerve cells communicate with each other, revealing new and elegant features of the sites that wire the brain.

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The Boston University Questrom School of Business announced today that Peter Fox-Penner, renowned expert in energy policy, sustainability and business strategy, will join the School as Professor of the Practice on January 1, 2016. Dr. Fox-Penner will lead initiatives to expand the School’s education programs in the field of sustainability, including the creation of a University-wide Institute for Sustainable Energy.

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Now researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have identified a key protein produced in the liver that aids in accelerating the growth of these cells.

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Whitehead Institute researchers have created a map of the DNA loops that comprise the three dimensional (3D) structure of the human genome and contribute to gene regulation in human embryonic stem cells. The location of genes and regulatory elements within this chromosomal framework will help scientists better navigate their genomic research, establishing relationships between mutations and disease development.

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Scientists have made several kinds of mice in the hope of mimicking ALS and frontotemporal dementia, diseases caused by mutations in the C9ORF72 gene. Early results indicate that the mutated genes generate unusual RNAs and proteins, but that losing the normal C9ORF72 gene does not kill neurons.

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The Vestibular Disorders Association (VEDA) has recognized Steven D. Rauch, M.D., Director of the Vestibular Division at Mass. Eye and Ear and Professor of Otolaryngology at Harvard Medical School, with the 2015 Champion of Vestibular Medicine Award. Dr. Rauch is an otologist and researcher specializing in disorders of the ear and vestibular system, a complex network that relies on sensory inputs to maintain the body’s position and balance.

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Massachusetts Eye and Ear researchers surveyed 337 patients with hearing loss to better understand the language they use with communication partners to disclose their disability. Their findings, published online in the journal Ear and Hearing on October 28, 2015, may be used to develop resources for health care professionals to provide their patients with strategies to disclose hearing loss successfully and effectively in interactions with others.

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A large multi-center clinical trial has found that a combination of antiviral medications can eradicate hepatitis C infection in more than 90 percent of patients with advanced liver disease.

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Biologists at Tufts University have succeeded in inducing one species of flatworm to grow heads and brains characteristic of another species of flatworm without altering genomic sequence. The work reveals physiological circuits as a new kind of epigenetics – information existing outside of genomic sequence – that determines large-scale anatomy.

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A gentle vibration therapy known as stochastic resonance stimulation, when used in specially developed mattresses, can successfully treat preterm infants in the NICU who are experiencing apnea and related symptoms.

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Massachusetts Eye and Ear investigators have shown that sound deprivation in adult mice causes irreversible damage to the inner ear. The findings, published in PLOS ONE, suggest that chronic conductive hearing loss, such as that caused by recurrent ear infections, leads to permanent hearing impairment if it remains untreated.

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Whitehead Institute researchers have determined the organization of a protein complex that is critical during chromosome segregation. Without the foundation it supplies, the link between chromosome and kinetochore would fail, as would chromosome segregation and cell division.

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In one of the first studies of its kind, Tufts researchers show that even among Americans in their mid-70’s and older, being more active, including walking at a reasonable pace or distance, is linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular events.

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A new study from researchers at Tufts University found that coconut oil controlled the overgrowth of a fungal pathogen called Candida albicans in mice. In humans, high levels of C. albicans in the gastrointestinal tract can lead to bloodstream infections, including invasive candidiasis. The research suggests that it might be possible to use dietary approaches as an alternative to antifungal drugs in order to decrease the risk of infections caused by C. albicans.

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A clinical trial among more than 300 patients has found that the drug ranibizumab (Lucentis) is highly effective in treating proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), a complication of diabetes that can severely damage eyesight.

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Backed by a growing body of research, investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute are calling for all hospitals to establish bereavement programs for families of deceased patients.

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New research led by scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center helps explain the role of an immunosuppressive pathway associated with irritable bowel disease, a condition that develops in genetically susceptible individuals when the body's immune system overreacts to intestinal tissue, luminal bacteria or both.

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The Harold Hamm Diabetes Center at the University of Oklahoma awarded C. Ronald Kahn, M.D., Chief Academic Officer and Senior Investigator at Joslin Diabetes Center and the Mary K. Iacocca Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, the Harold Hamm International Prize for Biomedical Research in Diabetes in a ceremony in Oklahoma City, OK.

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Nearly 100 entrepreneurs from the Boston area will introduce their ventures to a crowd of fellow entrepreneurs, investors, partners, and members of the community at Babson’s signature Rocket Pitch event on November 5th, 2015. Eligible businesses include those run by current students at Babson College, Wellesley College, and Olin College of Engineering, as well as Babson alumni.

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Researchers have identified a small molecule that treats animal models of aged related macular degeneration and retinopathy of prematurity by preventing the overgrowth of blood vessels that are characteristic of these two retinal diseases.

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Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center announced today the launch of a new research center that will use rigorous scientific methods to evaluate and transform the delivery of care for cardiovascular conditions in the United States.

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Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center researchers Anders Berg, MD, PhD, and David Friedman, MD, are awarded the 2015 Dvorak Young Investigator Award for their investigations into the genetic changes underlying kidney disease.

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A Tufts University chemist has discovered a way to select specific surfaces of single-crystal ice for study, a long-sought breakthrough that could help researchers answer essential questions about climate and the environment.

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All four hospitals in the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) system have been recognized for their commitments to patient safety with "A" grades in The Leapfrog Group's Fall 2015 Hospital Safety Score.

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The Commonwealth Foundation for Cancer Research has pledged $20 million to the Bridge Project, a collaborative research program of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT and Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC), to accelerate the translation of interdisciplinary cancer solutions toward the clinic.

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A new method to grow 3D organoid cultures of pancreatic tumors directly from patients' surgical tissue offers a promising opportunity for testing targeted therapies and drug responses and personalizing treatments in a rapid, cost-effective manner.

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MyICU, a new two-way communication tool created by patients, family members, clinicians and others at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), aims to help make the ICU stay a little bit better.

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Most science and engineering majors don't have the flexibility to take courses outside their core technical field. The Gordon Institute at Tufts University's School of Engineering is launching a one-year M.S. in innovation & management to equip recent engineering and science graduates with additional skills needed to lead in the technology sector.

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A discovery made by investigators from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Boston University School of Medicine may help lead to the development of a cell-based regenerative therapy which could be used to restore thyroid function in cancer patients or children born with congenital hypothyroidism.