Dartmouth Medicine Fall 2003
Dear Reporter, Editor, or News Director:
The power of one-on-one: The science of modern medicine is a potent force. But even in the 21st century, the art of medicine is powerful stuff, too. Dartmouth has a new program that is helping medical students learn to appreciate in a deeper way the humanity of the patients they will serve during their careers. See page 32. (HTML)
A smoking gun on the silver screen: Dartmouth researchers recently released a pair of studies demonstrating new aspects of the link between glamorized smoking in the movies and teens' propensity for starting to smoke. See page 3. (HTML)
Helping stanch the tragedy of AIDS in Africa: Dartmouth has an affiliation with a university in Tanzania, through which doctors on both continents are trying to mitigate the devastation AIDS is wreaking in Africa. See page 4. (HTML)
Can the "sunshine vitamin" help banish breast cancer?: A recent Dartmouth study showed that vitamin D may boost the cancer-killing effect of radiation therapy. The next steps are to get FDA approval for the specific form of the vitamin used, and then to run a clinical trial. See page 5. (HTML)
Helping little patients cope with big "ouches": The Children's Hospital at Dartmouth won a national award for the clinical effectiveness of its PainFree project, which reduced the rate of ineffective pediatric sedations from 15% to zero. See page 9. (HTML)
A new way to make therapeutic proteins: Pooled expertise from Dartmouth's engineering and medical schools has led to a radical new way to make biopharmaceuticals--by growing them in yeast. Now a biotech start-up company is working to commercialize the process. See page 46. (HTML)
Two of the nation's "few" deaf medical students: Two members of Dartmouth Medical School's fourth-year class are deaf. They don't have many counterparts elsewhere (no national numbers are kept for deaf students), but patients have responded positively to their ability to be empathetic. See page 12. (HTML)
Research ranging from beta carotene to bulging arteries: New studies have shown that when smokers and drinkers take beta carotene, it may raise their cancer risk; that aspirin may help to defeat staph infections; that there's a promising new method of detecting aneurysms--often-fatal bulges in artery walls; and that fly eggs may be useful in studying human cell-division errors. See page 16. (HTML)
A possible answer to the prion puzzle: A Dartmouth expert in prions is taking a biochemical approach to tackling the cause some of the most devastating neurodegenerative diseases known. See page 10. (HTML)
If you'd like to pursue any of these stories, you can contact:
- Hali Wickner, communications director for Dartmouth Medical School, at 603/650-1520.
- Deborah Kimbell, media relations manager for DHMC, at 603/653-1913.
Or feel free to give me a call; my direct line is 603/653-0770.
Dana Cook Grossman
Editor