Latest Boston University School of Medicine Stories

A Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) study shows a mind-body class elective for medical students helps increase their self-compassion and ability to manage thoughts and tasks more effectively. The study, published in Medical Education Online, also discusses how this innovative course may help medical students better manage stress and feel more empowered to use mind-body skills with their patients. Allison Bond, MA, a third-year medical student at BUSM, served as the paper's first...

Results of a pilot study suggest that a virtual patient advocate (VPA) could help influence positive changes and help women have healthier pregnancies. Developed at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Northeastern University, "Gabby" is an innovative tool developed to deliver preconception care (PCC) to African-American women through interactive conversations online. The study results, which are published online in the American Journal of Health...

A study conducted by researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) provides new evidence that longwave ultraviolet light (UVA) induces a protein that could result in premature skin aging. The findings demonstrate that aspects of photoaging, the process of skin aging by chronic exposure to ultraviolet radiation, could be linked to genetic factors that accelerate the aging process when induced by the environment. The study, published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology,...

Physicians from the Departments of Pediatrics and Family Medicine at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) are proposing that current pediatric guidelines and practices could be implemented within a Patient Centered Medical Home model to address social determinants of health. The article, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), also suggests that these guidelines could reduce socioeconomic disparities in health care for all...

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have pinpointed a genetic signature for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) from airway cells harvested utilizing a minimally invasive procedure. The findings provide a novel way to study COPD and could lead to new treatments and ways to monitor patient's response to those treatments. The study is published online in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease...

Research from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) shows that improving vitamin D status by increasing its level in the blood could have a number of non-skeletal health benefits. The study, published online in PLOS ONE, reveals for the first time that improvement in the vitamin D status of healthy adults significantly impacts genes involved with a number of biologic pathways associated with cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD), infectious diseases and autoimmune diseases. While...

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have, for the first time, identified a specific group of cells in the brainstem whose activation during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is critical for the regulation of emotional memory processing. The findings, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, could help lead to the development of effective behavioral and pharmacological therapies to treat anxiety disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, phobias and panic attacks....

A new study from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) shows that tissues derived from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells in an experimental model were not rejected when transplanted back into genetically identical recipients. The study, published online in Cell Stem Cell, demonstrates the potential of utilizing iPS cells to develop cell types that could offer treatment for a wide range of conditions, including diabetes, liver and lung diseases, without the barrier of immune...

PHILADELPHIA, June 14, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Frances E. Jensen, MD, has been named Chair of the Department of Neurology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She comes to Penn Medicine from Boston, where she is currently Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and a senior neurologist at both Brigham and Women's Hospital and Children's Hospital, Boston. Starting August 13, Jensen will become the 11th chair to lead Penn's Department of...

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have identified a novel group of proteins that accumulate in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease. These findings, which appear online in the Journal of Neuroscience, may open up novel approaches to diagnose and stage the progression likelihood of the disease in Alzheimer patients. Alzheimer's disease is presumed to be caused by the accumulation of β-amyloid, which then induces aggregation of a neuronal protein,...