Latest Clinical & Research News
On October 19th, 2018, the HeartMate 3 Left Ventricular Assist System (LVAD) was approved by the FDA as a destination therapy for patients with advanced heart failure who are not eligible for a heart transplant.
Treating cancer is always a challenge, but elderly patients can add another level of complexity. For that reason, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute banded together to create the Older Adult Hematologic Malignancy Program.
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Over a decade ago, Christopher Crum, MD, of Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center (DF/BWCC), helped design the protocol that revealed the fallopian tubes to be the origin of most high-grade serous carcinomas (HGSCs), the tumor type afflicting over two-thirds of women with ovarian cancer.
Uterine leiomyomatas, also known as uterine fibroids, are the most common pelvic tumor in women. About 75 percent of women will develop fibroids, and the average affected uterus has six to seven of these tumors. Cynthia Morton, PhD, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital is active in studying gene variants that cause fibroid tumors and can influence risk as well.
For clinically complex patients who present with signs or symptoms of cancer, the Cancer Diagnostic Service (CDS) at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center (DF/BWCC) can expedite a diagnosis and avoid unnecessary testing and delays.
Metabolism is a hot topic in immunology. Immune cells carry out diverse functions by exploiting different pathways of taking in nutrients and generating energy. Accordingly, metabolic processes such as glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation are now front and center in understanding how cells behave in the context of normal and pathogenic immune responses. Read More
The inflamed joint is a complex place. Many different types of cells must interact with each other to initiate and sustain inflammation and tissue injury. These include both those resident in the joint before inflammation started and cells that were recruited or developed later. To get a handle on this complexity, investigators need methods that can provide highly detailed portraits of individual cells. A major goal of the Joint Biology Consortium’s Cellular Systems Core, directed by Dr. Jim Lederer, is to accelerate research by JBC members through two such methods: cytometry by time of flight (CyTOF) mass cytometry and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). Read More
A single genetic variant in PTPN22 has been known for over a decade to convey risk for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but exactly how remains a mystery. Led by rheumatologist and researcher Dr. I-Cheng Ho, investigators at BWH are using the JBC to understand PTPN22 as a regulator of citrullination, the post-translational protein modification of arginine that plays a leading role in RA biology. Read More
Conducting high-quality translational research in rheumatology is increasingly difficult. Major projects often require a range of methods, from patient recruitment to cutting-edge ‘omics technologies to big-data bioinformatics. Most research groups lack the expertise to cover this range, and so must either limit the scope of their work or expend substantial effort working outside their “comfort zone” to achieve their research goals. Neither of these options efficiently advances the science of rheumatology.
Cynthia Morton, PhD
In the effort to identify genetic drivers of fibroids, the lab of Cynthia Morton, PhD, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) is at an international crossroads. In recent years, Morton and investigators worldwide have been studying the molecular and genetic background of fibroids that may contribute to their development and growth.