MGH Research Scholars Notebook: Volume 3
Welcome to the Volume 3 of the MGH Research Scholars Notebook, a roundup of recent news about investigators in the MGH Research Scholars program.
Andrew Chan, MD, MPH
Stuart and Suzanne Steele MGH Research Scholar
Dr. Chan was quoted in an article on Health Day, “Study Confirms Lifesaving Value of Colonoscopy.”
Nir Hacohen, PhD
MGH Research Scholar
Dr. Hacohen is quoted in the article “Promise Seen in Personal Vaccines Made Just to Treat Your Cancer,” which appeared on WBUR’s CommonHealth Blog. “I compare it to the tricorder in "Star Trek," where they measure some things and they're like, ‘Let me get back to you tomorrow with an antidote.’ And they create it, they synthesize it. Amazingly, this is exactly what we're doing. We're saying, ‘We're going to go and make the medicine for you that is the antidote to that.’"
Dr. Hacohen’s research “Beating Resistance to Immunotherapy in Metastatic Melanoma,” was also featured in the Mach 2018 Advances at Mass General Cancer Center newsletter.
J. Keith Joung, MD, PhD
Charles and Ann Sanders MGH Research Scholar (2011-2015)
Desmond and Ann Heathwood MGH Research Scholar (2016-present)
Dr. Joung was featured in this STAT article about gene editing technology. According to the article, although there are still concerns that CRISPR might run amok inside patients and cause dangerous DNA changes, recent advances suggest that the risk is not as high as earlier research suggested and that clever molecular engineering can minimize it.
Dr. Joung was also the co-author of an article in Science, “Gene therapy comes of age.” According to the article, nearly 50 years after the concept was first proposed, gene therapy is now considered a promising treatment option for several human diseases.
David Langenau, PhD
MGH Research Scholar
Dr. Langenau’s study identifying a common protein that drives a highly fatal form of T-cell leukemia was highlighted in this article on the Mass General website, “Langenau Lab identifies a little-known protein with a big role in T-cell leukemia.”
Matthais Nahrendorf, MD, PhD
Weissman Family MGH Research Scholar
A recent research study from the Nahredorf lab was featured in this Mass General press release and in this article on the Mass General Research Institute blog, “Macrophages Found to be the Source of a Ripple Effect of a Life-Threatening Heart Condition.”
Harald Ott, MD
Charles and Sara Fabrikant MGH Research Scholar
Dr. Ott's research into organ regeneration was featured in his story on the Futurism website, “Refurbished Organs Could Save Millions on the Transplant List.”
Mark Poznansky, MD, PhD
Steve and Deborah Gorlin MGH Research Scholar
The Mass General Giving Site recently featured an article on an innovative new approach to improve slow or ineffective wound healing that was developed by the team at Dr. Poznansky’s Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center. Slow or ineffective wound healing in diabetic and elderly individuals causes enormous discomfort, increases the risk of infection and increases the cost of care.
Elsie Taveras, MD, MPH
Ofer and Shelly Nemirovsky MGH Research Scholar
The research of Elsie Taveras, MD, MPH, was featured in an article in the New York Times; “A Before-School Exercise Program May Help Children Thrive.” “In my experience as a pediatrician and parent, kids naturally love to move,” she says. “They revel in it. We have socialized that love out of them.”
Gary Tearney, MD, PhD
Mike and Sue Hazard MGH Research Scholar
Remondi Family Endowed MGH Research Institute Chair
The research of Dr. Tearney, is highlighted by Bill Gates in this People Magazine article. Dr. Tearney’s work is supported in part by the Gates Foundation. “Almost half the kids who survive malnutrition don’t develop physically or mentally because of something that happens to the bacteria in their guts," Gates told People. "We are now working on a device that’s the thickness of a string, that can be swallowed and can show us exactly what’s going on in there. That’s very exciting.” Dr. Tearney’s research was also mentioned in the Gates Foundation’s annual letter for 2018.
Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH
Steve and Deborah Gorlin MGH Research Scholar
Dr. Walensky was featured in the article “Improving Health Care, Conference by Conference,” in MD Magazine®. “There’s no greater feeling than coming off the podium and having people say, ‘That was a great talk,” Walensky told MD Magazine®. “There’s a fulfilling component to that.”
Dr. Walensky was also quoted in this Forbes.com article detailing the impact of proposed federal budget cuts on infectious disease research.
MGH Research Scholars
The MGH Research Scholars program is a philanthropic initiative that provides unrestricted funding for forward-thinking medical researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital.