Dartmouth Medicine Spring 2001
Dear Reporter, Editor, or News Director:
Inside the Spring 2001 issue of Dartmouth Medicine, (to request a printed copy, call 603-653-0772 or e-mail dartmed@Dartmouth.edu), read about:
A congenital heart abnormality that used to be invariably fatal: Fifteen years ago, babies born with a condition called hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) always died. Today, there are a variety of treatment options, and HLHS survivors are living longer and longer. But in that variety lies a problem: which treatments are best for which babies? The condition is so rare that researching them has been difficult--until Dartmouth pediatrician Pam Jenkins came along. See page 8.
Some unusual lessons a U.S. urologist learned in Egypt: When Dartmouth urologist Marc Cendron took part in an international medical mission to Egypt, he figured he'd be doing a good bit of teaching. But unexpectedly, he also learned a lot from his Egyptian counterparts. "I think [it] has improved my skills as a physician," he says of his overseas work. See page 7.
Why biofilms are bad business: Biofilms are communities of bacteria attached to a surface--and when that surface is a catheter line or an artificial hip, for example, they can cause all sorts of problems. More than 65% of hospital-acquired infections are due to biofilms, and microbes in a biofilm are up to 1,000 times more resistant to antibiotics than microbes in planktonic form. These facts and more are shared by Dartmouth microbiologist George O'Toole, a pioneer in biofilm research. See page 24.
Sending medical textbooks to Russia in Ben and Jerry's shipments: That was how an international collaborative got its start--when the son of a Dartmouth faculty member was working in Russia for the Ben and Jerry's ice cream company. The initiative has now blossomed into a major effort to help out the country's beleaguered medical libraries. See page 10.
The Dartmouth research that underlies the Leapfrog Group: The Leapfrog Group, a much-heralded national consortium of businesses, is using its health-care purchasing clout to push for the adoption of several patient-safety measures. The effort has its foundation in research done by a Dartmouth team headed by surgeon John Birkmeyer. See page 13.
Klots gshur 4 spo shiurf; po juvne weemps wism: Imagine if that's about as much sense as you could make of the label on your prescription bottle. A recent Dartmouth-sponsored conference was aimed at helping northern New England health-care professionals deal with the problem of "health illiteracy"--which may affect as many as 45% of patients. See page 11.
The mysteries of motor proteins: Research by a member of Dartmouth's biochemistry faculty into how cell division takes place is answering some questions about the specific mechanisms and proteins involved in chromosome replication. The work holds promise in the area of cancer, for most anticancer drugs interfere in some way with cell growth, as well as of conditions such as Down's syndrome, which involve errors in the segregation of chromosomes during meiosis. See page 15.
If you'd like to pursue any of these stories, contact:
- Hali Wickner, communications coordinator for Dartmouth Medical School, at (603) 650-1520.
- The Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Office of Public Affairs, at (603) 650-7041.
Or feel free to give me a call; my direct line is (603) 650-4058.
Dana Cook Grossman,
Editor