Since the early 1990s, chemotherapy followed by an autologous stem cell transplant has been the standard of care for high-risk neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer that starts in nerve cells outside the brain, especially in the tissues of the adrenal glands, and sometimes the neck, chest, or pelvis. Before children receive chemotherapy to destroy the neuroblastoma, some of their healthy blood stem…
Organ-on-a-chip study reveals mechanism that destroys and replaces nearby blood vessels, driving malignancy. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most insidious forms of the disease, with an average of only 9 percent of patients alive five years after diagnosis. One of the reasons for this dismal outcome is that pancreatic cancer cells are able to escape from tumors and enter…
Achieving or maintaining a healthy body weight is one key to preventing cardiovascular disease. But even experts don’t agree on the best way to achieve that goal, with some recommending eliminating carbohydrates and others emphasizing reducing fats to lose weight. Few studies have investigated the effects of these specific macronutrients on cardiovascular health. Get more HMS news here In a…
When children have respiratory infections, clinicians tend to blame gastroesophageal reflux, based on the assumption that bacteria-laden stomach contents rise into the mouth and are then aspirated. As a result, clinicians often recommend a type of anti-reflux surgery called fundoplication to treat these infections. Yet, despite undergoing this procedure, many patients don’t improve. A new study by Rachel Rosen, MD, MPH, and her…
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)—the accumulation of liver fat in people who drink little or no alcohol—is increasingly common around the world, and in the United States, it affects between 30 and 40 percent of adults. Currently, there are no approved drugs for the treatment of NAFLD, which is predicted to soon become the main cause of chronic liver problems…
Harvard scientists have combined organ-on-a-chip and stem-cell technologies to make a powerful tool for diabetes research and beta-cell transplantation. By combining two powerful technologies, scientists are taking diabetes research to a whole new level. In a study led by Harvard University’s Kevin Kit Parker and published in the journal Lab on a Chip on Aug. 29, microfluidics and human, insulin-producing beta…
Medulloblastoma is a malignant childhood cerebellar tumour type that comprises distinct molecular subgroups. Whereas genomic characteristics of these subgroups are well defined, the extent to which cellular diversity underlies their divergent biology and clinical behaviour remains largely unexplored. Here we used single-cell transcriptomics to investigate intra- and intertumoral heterogeneity in 25 medulloblastomas spanning all molecular subgroups. WNT, SHH and Group…
Teaching a computer to behave like a zebrafish wasn’t Martin Haesemeyer’s goal. In fact, the research associate in the labs of Florian Engert, professor of molecular and cellular biology, and Alexander Schier, the Leo Erikson Life Sciences Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, was hoping to build a system that worked differently than zebrafish with an eye toward comparing how…
The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences has received a 2019 Innovations in Research and Education Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges. The school’s submission, “Integrating Career and Professional Development in the PhD Curriculum,” tied for third place in the competition developed to highlight innovations that support the next generation of researchers. “Graduate students often delay career planning until…
Traumatic brain injuries, as well as infectious diseases such as meningitis, can lead to brain swelling and dangerously high pressure in the brain. If untreated, patients are at risk for brain damage, and in some cases elevated pressure can be fatal. Current techniques for measuring pressure within the brain are so invasive that the measurement is only performed in the…
