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Thanks to you and your generous support, our MGH Research Scholars are accomplishing extraordinary things each day. Together, we’re taking new discoveries as far as we can, as fast as we can — toward new possibilities in disease prediction, prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

We hope you find this update informative and inspiring. Please email us your comments and questions, and be sure to visit our website for more news and updates.
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LAB DAY Provides a Behind-the-Scenes Look at Mass General Research

The event gave friends and supporters of the Mass General Research Institute a chance to hear firsthand from MGH Research Scholars who are tackling some of the toughest challenges in science and medicine.
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Stroke Researchers Map Sex-Related Differences in Stroke Severity, Outcomes

An international research team led by Natalia Rost, MD, MPH, Samana Cay MGH Research Scholar 2019-2024, studied 1,058 brain imaging scans of patients who had suffered acute ischemic strokes.

Their goal was to better identify the sex-specific effects of lesion patterns affecting similar regions of the brain in both men and women, and to create a map of lesion “constellations” or clusters that may account for the higher severity of stroke in females.

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How Cancer Cells That Spread to Lymph Nodes Avoid Immune Disruption

Lymph nodes are critical to the body’s immune response against tumors but paradoxically, cancer cells that spread, or metastasize, to lymph nodes can often avoid being eliminated by immune cells.

New research by Timothy Padera, PhD, Rullo Family MGH Research Scholar 2021-2026, provides insights on why cancer cells that spread to lymph nodes can often avoid being eliminated by immune cells, and identifies a way that the blood pressure drug losartan could help overcome this immune evasion.
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How Cancer Cells That Spread to Lymph Nodes Avoid Immune Disruption

Lymph nodes are critical to the body’s immune response against tumors but paradoxically, cancer cells that spread, or metastasize, to lymph nodes can often avoid being eliminated by immune cells

New research by Timothy Padera, PhD, Rullo Family MGH Research Scholar 2021-2026, provides insights on why cancer cells that spread to lymph nodes can often avoid being eliminated by immune cells, and identifies a way that the blood pressure drug losartan could help overcome this immune evasion.

Learn more.

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Improving Cancer Care for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness

Travis Baggett, MD, MPH, MGH Research Scholar 2021-2026, was recently featured on the American Cancer Society’s TheoryLab Podcast, where he discussed his research seeking ways to reduce the burden of lung cancer in individuals experiencing homelessness.

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A Better Way to Diagnose a Devastating Side Effect of Cancer

Cytologic (cell-based) assessment of patient cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is the current standard for diagnosing leptomeningeal disease (LMD), a serious complication of cancer.

However, this invasive diagnostic test has low sensitivity, resulting in chronic underdiagnosis.

In a retrospective study, a research team led by Priscilla Brastianos, MD, Terry and Jean de Gunzburg MGH Research Scholar 2021-2026, demonstrated that analyzing CSF for cell-free DNA detected LMD with greater accuracy and sensitivity than cytological analysis, pointing to a potential new diagnostic strategy.

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