Featured series 
Tag: Massachusetts General Hospital
-
Nation & World
A decade of breakthroughs
The Harvard Stem Cell Institute is now 10 years old. What began as an idea embracing cross-disciplinary research quickly became a generator of scientific discoveries.
-
Nation & World
Partners, from grade school to Medical School
Fraternal twins Rosh and Roshan Sethi have shared much of their lives, including at Yale as undergraduates and sharing an apartment while enrolled at Harvard Medical School. Now preparing to graduate, they’re anticipating diverging careers, with Roshan exploring radiation oncology and Rosh head and neck surgery.
-
Nation & World
New hope for treating ALS
Harvard stem cell scientists have discovered that a recently approved medication for epilepsy might be a meaningful treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, a uniformly fatal neurodegenerative disorder.
-
Nation & World
Solving the problem of shape-shifters
Investigators at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) may have found a way to solve a problem that has plagued ligand-mimicking integrin inhibitors, a group of drugs that have the potential to treat conditions ranging from heart attacks to cancer metastasis.
-
Nation & World
Imbalance in microbial population found in Crohn’s patients
A multi-institutional study led by investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT reports that newly diagnosed Crohn’s disease patients show increased levels of harmful bacteria and reduced levels of the beneficial bacteria usually found in a healthy gastrointestinal tract.
-
Nation & World
Vaccine holds promise against ovarian cancer
A novel approach to cancer immunotherapy — strategies designed to induce the immune system to attack cancer cells — may provide a new and cost-effective weapon against some of the most deadly tumors, including ovarian cancer and mesothelioma.
-
Nation & World
Major step in preventing type 2 diabetes
Researchers at the Broad Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital, both Harvard affiliates, have identified mutations in a gene that can reduce the risk of individuals developing type 2 diabetes. If a drug can be developed that mimics the protective effect of these mutations, it could open up new ways of preventing this devastating disease.
-
Nation & World
Nutritional supplement slows onset of Huntington’s
The first clinical trial of a drug intended to delay the onset of symptoms of Huntington’s disease (HD) reveals that high-dose treatment with the nutritional supplement creatine was safe and well tolerated by most study participants. Neuroimaging also showed a treatment-associated slowing of regional brain atrophy, evidence that creatine might slow the progression of presymptomatic…
-
Nation & World
Discovering where HIV persists in spite of treatment
HIV antiviral therapy lets infected people live relatively healthy lives for many years, but the virus doesn’t go away completely. If treatment stops, the virus multiplies again from hidden reservoirs in the body. Researchers may have found HIV’s viral hiding place — in a small group of recently identified T cells with stem cell-like properties.
-
Nation & World
Color-coded labels, healthier food
Using color-coded labels to mark healthier foods and then displaying them more prominently appears to have prompted customers to make more healthful long-term dining choices in their large hospital cafeteria, according to a report from Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital
-
Nation & World
Viral infections may have met their match
A Massachusetts General Hospital-led research team of Harvard affiliates has identified an immune cell protein that is critical to setting off the body’s initial response against viral infection.
-
Nation & World
Researchers find drug that could halt kidney failure
A drug approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis may also turn out to be the first targeted therapy for one of the most common forms of kidney disease, a condition that almost inevitably leads to kidney failure.
-
Nation & World
When depression and anxiety loom
Two new books from Harvard Health Publications are aimed at people who have more than normal levels of anxiety and depression but fall short of clinical definitions.
-
Nation & World
How ‘traffic light’ labels promote healthier eating
A simple, color-coded system for labeling food items in a hospital cafeteria appears to increase customers’ attention to the nutritional value of their food choices, and encourage the purchase of the healthiest items.
-
Nation & World
Improving cord blood transplants
They began with a discovery in zebrafish in 2007, and now researchers at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) have published initial results of a Phase Ib human clinical trial of a therapeutic that could improve the success of blood stem cell transplantation. This marks the first time that HSCI has carried a discovery from…
-
Nation & World
When bacteria fight back
After the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report on the threat from drug-resistant bacteria, David Hooper, a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and an authority on the subject, discussed the issues during a question-and-answer session.
-
Nation & World
Destination space
Jessica Meir, an assistant professor of anesthesia at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, is the latest member of the Harvard community given a chance to head to space, joining moon-walkers and Hubble Space Telescope repairmen as she trains to become a NASA astronaut.
-
Nation & World
Nerve damage and fibromyalgia
About half of a small group of patients with fibromyalgia — a common syndrome that causes chronic pain and other symptoms — were found to have damage to nerve fibers in their skin and other evidence of a disease called small-fiber polyneuropathy.
-
Nation & World
A cross-country collaboration
Amy Wagers and Emmanuelle Passegué have found that cancer stem cells actively remodel the environment of bone marrow, where blood cells are formed, so that it is hospitable only to diseased cells. This finding could influence the effectiveness of bone marrow transplants.
-
Nation & World
Multitasking against obesity
Specialists examines the country’s obesity problem from several angles at an HMS-MGH forum.
-
Nation & World
Hansjörg Wyss doubles his gift
Founding donor Hansjörg Wyss doubled his gift to Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering from $125 million to $250 million to the University to further advance the institute’s pioneering work.
-
Nation & World
Major weight loss tied to microbes
In a study conducted by Harvard and MGH researchers, gut microbes of mice underwent drastic changes following gastric bypass surgery, and transfer of the microbes into sterile mice resulted in rapid weight loss.
-
Nation & World
Doctors can feel their patients’ pain
A novel experiment illuminates the importance of the doctor-patient relationship, providing the first data into the underlying neurobiology of the caregiver.
-
Nation & World
HMS partners with NFL Players Association
he National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) has awarded Harvard Medical School a $100 million grant to create a transformative 10-year initiative — Harvard Integrated Program to Protect and Improve the Health of NFLPA Members.
-
Nation & World
Push for name-brand drugs
More than a third of U.S. physicians responding to a national survey indicated they prescribed brand-name drugs when appropriate generic substitutes were available.
-
Nation & World
AA benefits vary between sexes
A new study finds differences in the ways that participation in Alcoholics Anonymous helps men and women maintain sobriety.
-
Nation & World
Blankets to warm the heart
When Madeline Meehan makes her annual donation to Harvard Community Gifts, she won’t just be providing handmade blankets to sick children, she’ll also be helping her mother’s labor of love. This is one of a series of Gazette articles highlighting some of the many initiatives and charities the can be supported through the Harvard Community…
-
Nation & World
‘Stem cell tourism’ growing trend
A Harvard panel examined the problem of clinics around the world that provide stem cell treatments for intractable conditions. Although there is no medical evidence of the treatments’ effectiveness, such clinics have drawn thousands of patients from many countries.
-
Nation & World
Meditation’s positive residual effects
A new study has found that participating in an eight-week meditation training program can have measurable effects on how the brain functions even when someone is not actively meditating.
-
Nation & World
Probing sleep’s drowsy mystery
Harvard researchers have worked for years to understand better the familiar mystery of sleep, highlighting not only what happens when we close our eyes, but also the effects on us when we don’t.
