University of Chicago Medical Center News

Common pain relief medication may encourage cancer growth

john.easton@uchospitals.edu (John Easton) — Thr, 19 Nov 2009 12:00:00 CDT

Although morphine has been the gold-standard treatment for postoperative and chronic cancer pain for two centuries, a growing body of evidence is showing that opiate-based painkillers can stimulate the growth and spread of cancer cells. Two new studies advance that argument and demonstrate how shielding lung cancer cells from opiates reduces cell proliferation, invasion and migration in both cell-culture and mouse models.

Bears QB Jay Cutler to meet with teens affected by diabetes at University of Chicago Kovler Diabetes Center on World Diabetes Day

john.easton@uchospitals.edu (John Easton) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:00:00 CDT

Bears quarterback Jay Cutler will visit the University of Chicago's Kovler Diabetes Center on World Diabetes Day--Saturday, November 14--from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to share his experience with diabetes with teens affected by the disease and tour some of the world's leading diabetes-research laboratories.

Katie Couric to be honored by University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation Women's Board

pbutera@bsd.uchicago.edu (Paul Butera) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:00:00 CDT

The University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation Women's Board is honoring Katie Couric, anchor of the CBS Evening News, for her tireless efforts in the crusade for early detection and cancer awareness. The board will present its Partners in Discovery award to Couric at its 43rd Annual Cancer Ball, Saturday, November 14.

Health care accounts for eight percent of U.S. carbon footprint

robert.mitchum@uchospitals.edu (Rob Mitchum) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:00:00 CDT

The American health care sector accounts for nearly a tenth of the country’s carbon dioxide emissions, according to a first-of-its-kind calculation of health care’s carbon footprint.

Miniature microscope can improve disease detection, diagnosis and treatment

john.easton@uchospitals.edu (John Easton) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:00:00 CDT

New imaging technology using one of the world's smallest flexible microscopes enables physicians to look--at the cellular level--at living, moving tissue in the lungs and gastrointestinal tract so they can make a rapid diagnosis or carefully select tissue for biopsy.

Medical Center neurosurgery team receives high ranking from University HealthSystem Consortium in mortality

john.easton@uchospitals.edu (John Easton) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:00:00 CDT

The University of Chicago's neurosurgery service risk adjusted mortality rate was ranked second among 105 academic medical centers, behind only one other academic medical center, in the University HealthSystem Consortium’s (UHC) Clinical Outcomes Report for July 2008 through June 2009.

Protein critical for insulin secretion may be contributor to diabetes

robert.mitchum@uchospitals.edu (Rob Mitchum) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:00:00 CDT

A cellular protein from a family involved in several human diseases is crucial for the proper production and release of insulin, new research has found, suggesting that the protein might play a role in diabetes.

Comfort food: Chocolate, water reduce pain response to heat

robert.mitchum@uchospitals.edu (Rob Mitchum) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:00:00 CDT

People often eat food to feel better, but researchers have found that eating chocolate or drinking water can blunt pain, reducing a rat's response to a hot stimulus. This natural form of pain relief may help animals in the wild avoid distraction while eating scarce food, but in modern humans with readily available food, the effect may contribute to overeating and obesity.

University of Chicago receives $42 million in stimulus funds for biological and medical research

Robert.mitchum@uchospitals.edu (Rob Mitchum) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:00:00 CDT

Researchers at the University of Chicago have been awarded more than $42 million in research funding from the National Institutes of Health, part of a $5 billion boost for medical research from the federal economic stimulus package.

Social isolation worsens cancer

greg.borzo@uchospitals.edu (Greg Borzo) — Wed, 30 Sept 2009 12:00:00 CDT

Using mice as a model to study human breast cancer, researchers have demonstrated that a negative social environment (in this case, isolation) causes increased tumor growth. The work shows--for the first time--that social isolation is associated with altered gene expression in mouse mammary glands, and that these changes are accompanied by larger tumors.

Protein research wins NIH award

greg.borzo@uchospitals.edu (Greg Borzo) — Wed, 30 Sept 2009 12:00:00 CDT

A University of Chicago researcher is among the first to win a new award from the National Institutes of Health aimed at supporting research that “has the potential to transform the way we think about and conduct science,” according to NIH Director Francis Collins, PhD, MD.