M. Patricia Rivera Shares Life Lessons as She Takes on Presidency of the American Thoracic Society
In an acceptance speech, Patricia Rivera, M.D., inspired colleagues and trainees with her powerful immigrant story of challenges and success.
Stories
Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment: Boosting New Options for Young People with Advanced Disease
Thanks to a groundbreaking nationwide study with Wilmot Director Jonathan Friedberg at the helm, a practice-changing treatment emerged for young people with Hodgkin lymphoma.
Breast Cancer Survivor Receives Inspiration Award, Talks About New Screening Guidelines
Christine Skivington was honored at Wilmot Cancer Institute’s annual Discovery Ball on May 6, 2023, for her inspiring story. She is the mother of three small children who faced an aggressive type of ...
Wilmot Researchers Discover How to Steer Army of Immune Cells toward Cancer
Life-extending immunotherapies, like CAR T-cell cancer therapy, sometimes migrate to places they shouldn’t go. A Wilmot team discovered the molecule that guides T cells toward tumors, setting the ...
More Proof that Too Many Medications Leads to Adversity for Older Cancer Patients
Polypharmacy is a buzz word for the use of multiple medications. A Wilmot Cancer Institute study shows it can have serious consequences for older adults with cancer.
Supriya Mohile Earns Spot in Top Medical Honor Society for Outstanding Work in Geriatric Oncology
Trailblazer in the treatment of the oldest cancer patients is elected to the distinguished ASCI.
Hereditary Breast Cancer Created a Mother-Daughter “Unbreakable Bond”
Melissa Selner, 38, and her mother, Alice Pena, 71, practically finish each other’s sentences and have been close throughout life. During the last two years, they added breast cancer to their shared ...
Face to Face: Anna Weiss Strives to Bring "Brightness," Vision to the Breast Cancer Program
Anna Weiss, MD, recently joined Wilmot Cancer Institute as a breast cancer surgeon and director of the Breast Cancer Service Line. A Syracuse native, she shares her vision for Wilmot's Breast Care ...
Pressing Issue: The High Incidence of Lung Cancer
The area around Wilmot Cancer Institute has a much higher rate of lung cancer compared to New York state and the rest of the U.S. Wilmot is working to address this statistic through prevention, ...
Wilmot’s Dialogue Magazine: Progress in Lung and Breast Cancer, Community Outreach
Lung cancer weighs heavy in the Rochester region and Wilmot Cancer Institute has multi-pronged strategies to meet the challenge. Read about the data behind lung cancer cases in the region, early ...
Study: Hodgkin Lymphoma Survivors Show Signs of Dementia in Early Adulthood
In a new study, the majority of individuals treated as children for Hodgkin lymphoma who are now in their 30s, showed signs of being an average of 7.7 years older biologically than their peers.
Op-Ed: Mentorship Always Matters, Especially for Black Faculty in Academia
In The Hematologist journal, Wilmot investigator Nikesha Gilmore, Ph.D., discusses the challenges faced by Black faculty members.
What Happens if Your Circadian Rhythms are Out of Whack?
If jet lag, nighttime snacking, lack of sleep, or irregular work schedules factor into your life, a recent study adds to the evidence of cancer risk.
How to Lower Your Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence
Wilmot's Michelle Shayne, M.D., shares practical information anyone can use.
Do Colonoscopies Prevent Colon Cancer?
Recent reports raised questions about colonoscopy, but don't cancel your procedure because it's still the best way to prevent and detect colorectal cancer.
Ovarian Cancer Detection Takes a Step Forward, Thanks to Wilmot
A simple blood test can predict cancer in people who have a lesion or cyst in the pelvic region, according to a new study in the Obstetrics & Gynecology "Green" journal. The non-invasive test, which ...
IT Innovations Led by Wilmot’s Eric Snyder Capture National Attention
Eric Snyder says he’s “out to change the world” — and he’s only half joking. At the very least, the director of Informatics at Wilmot Cancer Institute wants to change the nation’s thinking around ...
“They Started an Avalanche” for Pancreatic Cancer Support
Twelve years ago, three women were separately in search of camaraderie as their families were shaken by pancreatic cancer. They had joined a popular nationwide online discussion forum, and to their ...
Taking Diversity Seriously: Q&A with Ruth O'Regan
Building a more diverse workforce means reaching out to bright minds and persuading them to embrace the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. Wilmot’s associate director for the Cancer ...
New Beginnings: Wilmot's Five-Year Journey to the 'Blue Ribbon'
In September 2021, Wilmot Cancer Institute met a goal set five years ago: To apply to the National Cancer Institute for a P30 Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG). In the following Q&A story, Wilmot ...
Cancer Researcher Spins ‘Gold Dust’ from Courage and Collaboration
At 23 years old, Scott Gerber was a cashier at Dunkin Donuts and admittedly “lost” in a master’s program at the URMC. But he took a risk based on an interest in immunology - and it led to a ...
Wilmot Clinical Trials Office Steps Up Its Game
Many small business growth stories — whether it involves a food retailer, a fashion brand, or even Zoom, which was much less known until 2019 — have things in common with the Wilmot Cancer ...
Meet Wilmot's Pharmacists: Mostly Behind the Scenes, They Ensure Safety and Change Lives
By integrating pharmacists into the inpatient and outpatient clinical teams, Wilmot Cancer Institute is part of a national trend in oncology. Pharmacists act as watchdogs for treatment decisions and ...
Brilliant! Wilmot Researcher Makes Popular Science Magazine's List of Game Changers
Popular Science magazine has named Michael Giacomelli, Ph.D., a member of the Wilmot Cancer Institute, to its "Brilliant 10" list for 2021.
New Dialogue Issue Spotlights the People, Teams, Behind the Scenes that Help Wilmot Succeed
Read the 2021 edition of Dialogue, a magazine for community supporters of the Wilmot Cancer Institute. Filled with inspiring stories about patients and the talented people who work at Wilmot.
Breast Cancer and the COVID Vaccine: What you Need to Know
Women who are being treated for breast cancer, were recently treated, or have survived the disease, should get the COVID vaccine as soon they can, according to Carla Falkson, M.D. She addressed the ...
Avoiding Opioids After Surgery is Okay, Some Cancer Patients Say
Karen Kugel, R.N., a URMC oncology nurse for 30 years, recently released a small study, reported by the Oncology Nursing Society, that showed it is possible to control pain after gynecologic surgery ...
Wilmot Science Moves out of the Lab into a Clinical Trial
Laura Calvi, M.D., achieved what a lot of translational researchers only dream of: For years, she made important discoveries in the lab, but then she was able to turn the project into a clinical ...
Wilmot Oncologists Participate in American Society of Hematology Meeting
Congratulations to all Wilmot Cancer Institute physicians and researchers who were invited to present data at the ASH annual meeting, taking place virtually on Dec. 5 through 8, 2020.
Sometimes Tumors Vanish, but Improvements Still Needed for CAR T-Cell Immunotherapy
Patrick Reagan, M.D., looks at the data on his computer screen and a rare grin spreads across his face. His most recent study results for patients with end-stage mantle cell lymphoma show that an ...
CAR T-cell Therapy: 'Research and Amazing Medicine'
In autumn of 2017, Nicole Zaleski-Conine experienced side effects she chalked up to a host of reasons, but in January 2018, the definitive diagnosis came in: follicular lymphoma that transformed into ...
CAR T-cell Therapy: Finally, a Milestone to Celebrate
Maxine and Dave Wilson finish each other’s sentences. They feel blessed to have each other, given what Maxine has been through. Then, Maxine was unexpectedly diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in ...
CAR T-cell Therapy: The Doctor is a Patient
Patrick Brophy, M.D., physician-in-chief at UR Medicine Golisano Children’s Hospital, says he never looked at his own medical chart. But he knew his health was declining rapidly.
Shingles Vaccine Shows Promise in Lymphoma Patients
New research gives a thumbs up to offering the shingles vaccine to lymphoma patients, who were often not eligible in the past.
Getting a Flu Shot? Skip the Advil, Aleve, for Mild Discomfort
It’s best to avoid common pain relievers after a flu shot because they can dilute the power of the vaccine, according to research conducted at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
Fresh Faces, New Energy: Transforming Research at Wilmot
Wilmot Cancer Institute leadership has enlisted bright minds from across the nation to come here, to Rochester, as part of a team that pledges to defeat cancer.
Fresh Faces, New Energy: Patrick Murphy, Ph.D.
Working with zebrafish, Patrick Murphy, Ph.D., wants to understand some of the most fundamental questions in cancer including how cells divide and change inappropriately.
Fresh Faces, New Energy: Stephano Mello, Ph.D.
Stephano Mello, Ph.D., has always lived for those “eureka” moments in the lab, but it was a series of personal eureka moments that shifted him toward cancer research.
Fresh Faces, New Energy: Isaac Harris, Ph.D.
After a friend died of breast cancer at age 34, Isaac Harris, Ph.D., felt the urgency of his work to better understand how cancer cells grow and resist treatment.
Fresh Faces, New Energy: Rachael Turner, M.D., PH.D.
A family history of cancer pushed Rachael Turner, M.D., Ph.D., into an oncology career, where she’s studying an ovarian cancer biomarker, HE4.
Fresh Faces, New Energy: Ian Kleckner, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Ian Kleckner, Ph.D., M.P.H., has always found the mind-body connection fascinating, and today, his work focuses on discovering whether exercise may help with a common cancer treatment side effect: ...
Fresh Faces, New Energy: Michael Giacomelli, Ph.D.
Michael Giacomelli, Ph.D., has two babies: His daughter, born just as he was setting up his lab in Rochester, and a prized invention, a novel 3D imaging device that helps surgeons detect whether a ...
Fresh Faces, New Energy: Ben Frisch, Ph.D.
Ben Frisch, Ph.D., grew up on a dairy farm and is no stranger to hard work. As a researcher, he’s working to understand how cancer impacts healthy bone marrow.
Fresh Faces, New Energy: Thomas Ciucci, Ph.D.
His interest in science started at a young age, and today Thomas Ciucci, Ph.D., wants to better understand T-cells, in hopes of making them better fighters against cancer.
Fresh Faces, New Energy: Paul Boutz, Ph.D.
Paul Boutz, Ph.D., thought he’d be a paleontologist until he studied under a prominent RNA biologist and shifted his course toward cancer biology.
Fresh Faces, New Energy: Brian Altman, Ph.D.
Brian Altman, Ph.D., began his career studying circadian rhythms, but after losing a family member to lung cancer, his work shifted its focus.
Fresh Faces, New Energy: Jeevisha Baja, Ph.D.
Despite humble beginnings, today, Jeevisha Bajaj, Ph.D., uses some of the most sophisticated tools – including CRISPR technology – to study blood cancers.
Seymour Schwartz, Author of ‘the Surgeon’s Bible,’ Dies at 92
As one of the most distinguished surgeons in America, Seymour I. Schwartz, M.D., edited and co-wrote the textbook used to teach generations of young doctors and led the surgical societies that shaped ...
NCI Funds Urban-Rural Cervical Cancer Screening Research
A new University of Rochester Medical Center study aims to reduce the screening disparity for cervical cancer, a highly preventable disease, with a study conducted at UR Medicine emergency ...
Cancer Investigators Pivot, Take on Coronavirus Research
While other cancer researchers had to temporarily close their labs in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Isaac Harris, Ph.D., and Josh Munger, Ph.D., shifted their focus to the contagion that has ...
Wilmot Leader Earns $1.5M Grant for Breakthrough Clinical Trial
David Linehan, M.D., chief of clinical operations at the Wilmot Cancer Institute, is the inaugural recipient of a $1.5 million award from Gateway for Cancer Research.
Genetic Test Results Have No Bearing on Radiation Therapy Toxicity
Genetic tests for cancer helps doctors and patients figure out the best targeted therapy matched to the tumor’s mutations. But the tests leave questions hanging about radiation therapy — until now.
CLL Wonder Drug has a Downside: Weight Gain
The drug ibrutinib is a highly effective treatment for people with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), but a new Wilmot Cancer Institute study shows that weight gain, as a drug side effect, should be ...
Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Benefits Cancer Survivors with Heart Failure
A pacemaker-like device restored heart function in a group of cancer survivors — mostly women with breast cancer — who had suffered from heart failure as a result of chemotherapy, a study in the ...
Tailor-made for Older Adults, New Tools Improve Oncologist-Patient Relations
A Wilmot Cancer Institute-led study in JAMA Oncology shows that when physicians fully appreciate the concerns of older adults with cancer, such as function and forgetfulness, it elevates patient care ...
NIH Grant Funds Fitness App for Geriatric Oncology
Melissa (Kah Poh) Loh, M.D., a senior instructor at the Wilmot Cancer Institute, has received $1 million to study a mobile exercise app for older patients with cancer. The project will likely ...
What Brings Cancer Patients to the Emergency Room?
Pain, nausea, and shortness of breath are the most common reasons that cancer patients seek emergency treatment, according to a nationwide analysis including the Rochester area and patients from the ...
Study: Innovative Pancreatic Cancer Treatment May Rev Up Immune System
A Wilmot Cancer Institute research team reports that combining a type of radiation therapy with immunotherapy not only cures pancreatic cancer in mice, but appears to reprogram the immune system to ...
New Ovarian Cancer Treatment May Transform Care
Landmark clinical research shows that a new drug can extend the lives of some women with advanced ovarian cancer by nearly two years.
UR Awarded $29 Million for National Leadership in Cancer Control Research
UR Medicine’s Wilmot Cancer Institute is continuing its practice-changing research into cancer side-effects and symptom management with a coveted $29 million grant from the National Cancer ...
Cancer Immunotherapy: Researchers Earn NIH Grant to Improve T-Cell Attack
T-cell immunotherapy is a revolutionary treatment that harnesses a patient’s own immune cells to kill cancer. A Wilmot Cancer Institute scientist received a $2.8 million award to investigate the ...
Investigators Look to a Better Future for Patients with Bladder Cancer
Manny Tuccio, a 53-year-old husband and father of three, has a striking family history of bladder cancer. When he was diagnosed himself, however, his luck started to change because a research boom ...
Scientists Move Closer Toward Ovarian Cancer Detection, Diagnosis
A blood test to detect tumor cells in women suspected of having ovarian cancer has been fine-tuned and evaluated in a pilot study, and now the Wilmot Cancer Institute expects to launch a larger ...
Wilmot Physician Receives National Leadership Award in Cancer and Aging
The National Institute on Aging awarded $1.2 million to Allison Magnuson, D.O., as part of an effort to support talented physicians and scientists who are expected to lead the next generation in ...
Face to Face: Paula Vertino and Her Defining Moments
Meet Paula Vertino, Ph.D., the Wilmot Distinguished Professor in Cancer Genomics, and the cancer institute’s highest-level leadership recruit in several years.
NCI Awards $2M to Wilmot Team for Pancreatic Cancer Research
A Wilmot Cancer Institute researcher has launched an innovative new study, combining radiotherapy and immune therapy as a way to attack pancreatic cancer, a disease known for its dismally low ...
Prostate Cancer Researchers Find Molecular “Switch” to Prolong Survival
Wilmot Cancer Institute scientists believe they have figured out why a commonly used drug to treat late-stage prostate cancer stops working after four or five months and appears to have a dual ...
Wilmot Scientist Meets Urgent Need in Bladder Cancer with New Tool
A Wilmot Cancer Institute scientist developed a new way to study how bladder cancer spreads and to investigate potential new treatments. The tool, which is described in a top medical journal, ...
Researchers Aim to Keep Blood Healthier, Less Prone to Cancer
As the body ages so does the blood, raising the risk of leukemia and other blood cancers. A recent Wilmot Cancer Institute discovery showed a new way in which blood degrades when inflammation ...
Do You Believe Your Incurable Cancer Can Be Cured?
To what extent have you discussed your beliefs about a cure with your oncologist?
Listening to Family Stories Helps Cancer Researchers Identify Gaps in Care
Families of cancer patients described three distinct experiences — “We Pretty Much Knew,” “Beating the Odds,” and “Left to Die” — in the final weeks of their loved one’s life. Wilmot Cancer Institute ...
Soybean Oil or Fish Oil? This Study’s Result Surprised Wilmot Cancer Researchers
Investigators discovered, unexpectedly, that soybean oil was better than fish oil for reducing cancer-related fatigue in breast cancer survivors.
New Study: Metastatic Breast Cancer and a Decade of Survivorship
Researchers were pleased to discover that some women with metastatic breast cancer were still alive 10 years after being treated with radiotherapy to the sites where their cancer had spread. The ...
Whether You Feel 73 or 37, Age Perception Alone Does Not Spur Treatment Decisions
One 80-year-old patient told Wilmot Cancer Institute investigators that he felt 20. A 74-year-old who felt like he was 40 had a goal of outliving his 90-year-old father. But for these vibrant older ...
Lower Doses, at Home. Is This the Future of CLL Treatment?
Wilmot Cancer Institute research shows that giving antibody therapy more often but at lower doses — and perhaps teaching patients how to inject themselves at home — could be a future option for ...
Tissue Stiffness is a "Mosh Pit” Where Cancer Cells Thrive
Imagine being at a packed concert hall with a mosh pit full of dancers creating a wall against outsiders. When targeted drugs try to make their way toward a pancreas tumor, they encounter a similar ...
For Chronic Leukemia Patients, the News Just Got Even Better
Several chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients at the Wilmot Cancer Institute took part in two groundbreaking, nationwide phase 3 studies that are changing the way doctors treat the disease. The ...
Delving Where Few Others Have Gone, Leukemia Researchers Open New Path
A Wilmot Cancer Institute study uncovers how a single gene could be at fault in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), one of the deadliest cancers. The breakthrough gives researchers renewed hope that a ...
NCI Awards $3M Grant to Study Geriatric Oncology
The National Cancer Institute award $3 million to Supriya Mohile, M.D., for a collaborative, five-year research project stemming from the Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot initiative.
Researchers Glimpse into ‘Real World’ of Cancer and Financial Hardship
Nearly one in five older patients with advanced cancer have financial problems that may cause them to delay treatment to cover food and housing costs, which leads to stress and poor quality of life, ...
Scientists Uncover Valuable Gene Activity for Precancerous Cysts, Cancer in Pancreas
A Wilmot Cancer Institute study revealed the actions of a key gene and its surrounding network that causes cysts in the pancreas, as well as how cancer arises from the cysts. The work could someday ...
Melanoma Linked with CLL, Wilmot Recommends Close Monitoring
While studying a large group of individuals with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a Wilmot Cancer Institute scientific team made an important discovery — these patients had a sizable 600 percent ...
Scientist Seeks Solutions for Cancer Patients with Dry Mouth
For several years, Wilmot Cancer Institute scientist Catherine Ovitt, Ph.D., has been investigating ways to protect and regenerate the salivary gland, which can be damaged during radiation treatment ...
“Fighting” Cancer May Detract Men from Palliative Care
Men with advanced cancer are 30 percent less likely than women to consider palliative care, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center study.
Liver Cancer Research Might Pave Way for Prevention
Based on new data from the Wilmot Cancer Institute, researchers now understand more about the gene mutations and risk factors that work together to jump-start the second most common type of liver ...
Wilmot Scientists Win Awards, Give Talks, at Nation’s Largest Cancer Meeting
At the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in the coming days, Wilmot Cancer Institute physicians and scientists are presenting data and giving talks on a variety of ...
American Society of Clinical Oncology Honors Wilmot Physician with National Award
Supriya G. Mohile, M.D., M.S., an oncologist at the Wilmot Cancer Institute and trailblazer in the growing field of geriatric oncology, has been named the 2018 winner of the B.J. Kennedy Award by the ...
Simple Post-Surgery Step Reduces Bladder Cancer Recurrence
Flushing the bladder with a common chemotherapy drug immediately after surgery significantly reduces the chances of bladder cancer returning, according to a major study led by Edward M. Messing, ...
Researchers Partner with Moms to Overcome Breastfeeding Obstacles
The message, “breast is best” may be familiar and powerful, but it’s not enough to get some women to breastfeed. A new University of Rochester Medical Center project creates a partnership with ...
NCI Awards Omar Aljitawi, M.D., $1M to Study Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Cancer
Thanks to a $1 million National Cancer Institute grant, a Wilmot Cancer institute hematologist and oncologist is launching a clinical trial using hyperbaric oxygen therapy to improve the recovery of ...
After testicular cancer is cured, remain alert in the future
Because testicular cancer has a 95 percent cure rate, it is easier for men to move on and forget about it. But new research in the Journal of Clinical Oncology shows that it’s prudent for patients to ...
Research is Changing the Game for Melanoma Treatment
Wilmot Cancer Institute patients with advanced melanoma (stage III) now have more options for treatment, thanks to research co-authored by a University of Rochester Medical Center surgical oncologist ...
Pancreatic Tumors May Require a One-Two-Three Punch
One of the many difficult things about pancreatic cancer is that tumors are resistant to most treatments because of their unique density and cell composition. However, in a new Wilmot Cancer ...
Newest Data Links Inflammation to Chemo-brain
Inflammation in the blood plays a key role in “chemo-brain,” according to a published pilot study that provides evidence for what scientists have long believed.
Wilmot Scientists Reap Awards, Presentations at Hematology Meeting
Wilmot Cancer Institute has a longstanding strength in the study of blood cancers—and from Dec. 9-12, many of our scientists will be presenting research at the 59th annual meeting of the American ...
Open, Honest Talk about Death Does No Harm
Talking through bad news can be good for the doctor-patient relationship—debunking a common myth among patients, according to a study co-authored by the University of Rochester Medical Center’s ...
Scientists Link Pancreatic Cancer Survival to Four Genes
Alterations in four main genes are responsible for how long patients survive with pancreatic cancer, according to a new study in Jama Oncology.
“Bubbles” Boost Search for Treatment to Aid Head and Neck Cancer Patients
A scientific team at the University of Rochester is using innovative technology to discover preventative treatments for salivary gland radiation damage typical for head and neck cancer patients—and ...
UR’s Seymour Schwartz, Surgery Icon, Honored on National Stage
Fifty years ago when Seymour I. Schwartz, M.D., finished writing the first-edition manuscript of a textbook that’s known as the “surgeon’s Bible,” there were no CT scans, no biomarkers, and the most ...
FDA Approves Landmark Cancer Therapy; Wilmot Among First to Offer It
UR Medicine’s Wilmot Cancer Institute will be among the first sites in the world to offer CAR T-cell therapy —a new type of immunotherapy—to adults with aggressive lymphoma. The engineered gene ...
Study Reveals Complex Biology, Gender Differences, in Kidney Cancer
A new study is believed to be the first to describe the unique role of androgens in kidney cancer, and it suggests that a new approach to treatment, targeting the androgen receptor (AR), is worth ...
Urology Researcher’s Study Highly Cited by Fellow Scientists
A bladder cancer study led by Carla Beckham, M.D., Ph.D., is one of the top 25 percent most-cited papers published by the journal PLOS ONE in 2016.
Better Studies Needed to Prevent Pain, Tingling, in Hands and Feet from Chemotherapy
Clinical trials to test treatments for chemotherapy-related neuropathy are tricky to conduct, and therefore better study designs would allow scientists to identify beneficial ways to prevent or treat ...
In Lifetime of Achievement, URMC Hematologist is Grateful for Opportunities, Longevity
Marshall A. Lichtman, M.D., a University of Rochester hematologist/oncologist and former dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry, will receive one of the highest honors in his field from the ...
Scientist Investigates Muscle Loss among Children with Cancer
A University of Rochester Medical Center researcher received $1.7 million to study and potentially treat the muscle loss that often plagues childhood cancer survivors as they age.
“Code Blue” Equals Lower Survival for Cancer Patients
Patients with advanced cancer who suffer cardiac arrest in the hospital have a survival rate of less than 10 percent — half the rate of other patients without cancer, according to a nationwide study ...
Can the Sunshine Vitamin Help Lymphoma Patients?
Being deficient in vitamin D has been linked to poorer survival in many cancers, including lymphoma. A new $3 million grant to the Wilmot Cancer Institute allows oncologists to evaluate whether ...
Are We on the Heels of a Gene Signature for High-Grade Breast Cancer?
A pathology researcher at the University of Rochester Medical Center believes she’s discovered an important phenomenon in normal-looking breast tissue that could foreshadow an aggressive tumor known ...
#ILookLikeASurgeon: Female Surgical Residents Reflect on Training at URMC
They’ve been mistaken for many other types of hospital employees. A few times, patients would only speak to their male counterparts. But when Bianca, Candice, Kristin, and Sandra officially end their ...
From Cashews to the Genome: Takeaways from Major Cancer Meeting
The value of eating nuts, the potential of immunotherapy, and the arrival of new precision treatment cocktails were among the many things that Wilmot doctors learned while recently attending the ...
Wilmot’s Rising Stars, Veterans, Bring Know-how to Oncology Peers
Two junior researchers at the Wilmot Cancer Institute —a post-doctoral associate and a fellow—each won merit awards from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and will be among the ...
Scientists Light the Way for Immune System to Attack Cancer
The science behind harnessing the immune system to fight cancer is complicated, but a University of Rochester Medical Center laboratory discovered a simple, practical way to use light and optics to ...
Ronald Epstein Honored for Humanism in Medicine
The Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) is honoring Ronald Epstein, M.D., with the 2017 STFM Gold Humanism Award. The award recognizes an STFM member each spring for attributes of humanism ...
Testicular Cancer Survivors Report Lasting Side Effects of Treatment
Nearly 80 percent of a large group of young men who survived testicular cancer reported having at least one health problem later due to treatment toxicity, says a new Journal of Clinical Oncology ...
Research Shows Exercise is a Boon for Cancer Patients
Exercise and/or psychological therapy work better than medications to reduce cancer-related fatigue and should be recommended first to patients, according to a Wilmot Cancer Institute-led study ...
Evidence Points to Fish Oil to Fight Asthma
University of Rochester Medical Center scientists have discovered new essential information about omega 3 fatty acids contained in fish oil and how they could be used for asthma patients.
UR Mindfulness Expert Writes Book on Humanity in Medicine
Ronald Epstein, M.D., a University of Rochester Medical Center professor of Family Medicine, Psychiatry, Oncology, and Medicine, has written the first book for the general public about mindfulness in ...
Wilmot Discovery Improves Use of Umbilical Cord Blood as Cancer Therapy
A clinician/scientist, who studies ways to make cord-blood transplants for leukemia and lymphoma patients safer and more effective, recently reported a new finding in the journal, Blood. An ...
Chemo-brain Among Women with Breast Cancer is Pervasive, Study Shows
The largest study to date of a condition known as “chemo-brain” shows that women with breast cancer report it’s a substantial problem after chemotherapy for as long as six months after treatment, ...
Scientists Find New Gene Tool for Predicting Course of Prostate Cancer
Researchers from UR Medicine’s Wilmot Cancer Institute and Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo reported in the journal Oncotarget, they have discovered a possible new tool for predicting whether ...
Repurposed Drugs May Offer Improved Treatments for Fatal Genetic Disorders
University of Rochester Medical Center researchers believe they have identified a potential new means of treating some of the most severe genetic diseases of childhood, according to a study in PLOS ...
Immunotherapy Study Involving Wilmot Makes Headlines at National Meeting
Wilmot Cancer Institute physicians and patients were part of a groundbreaking immunotherapy study that’s taking center stage this week in the world of cancer research.
Scientists Investigate Cancer Radiotherapy to Make Improvements
A University of Rochester Medical Center study shows that when tumors are treated with radiotherapy, the benefits can be hijacked by the treatment’s counteraction to also trigger inflammation and ...
Wilmot Scientists Exploit Cell Metabolism to Attack Cancer
Cancer cells have their own unique ways of reproducing, involving a shrewd metabolic reprograming that has been observed in virtually all types of cancer but not in normal cells. Now, University of ...
Voices of Patients and Oncologists Must be Heard, Study Says
Specifically training oncologists and their patients to have high-quality discussions improves communication, but troubling gaps still exist between the two groups, according to a new study in JAMA ...
As Leukemia Evolves, Stem Cells Hold Keys to Newer Therapies
A recent study by University of Rochester Medical Center researchers proves why leukemia is so difficult to treat and suggests that the current approach to drug development should be adjusted to ...
Researchers Look to Improve Late-Stage Liver Cancer Therapy
Scientists discovered a potential therapy for late-stage liver cancer based on earlier work showing that the androgen receptor (AR), the protein that makes testosterone functional, plays a major role ...
New Grant to Wilmot Oncologist Focuses on Ovarian Cancer Gene Target
The Wilmot Cancer Institute’s Richard G. Moore, M.D., has identified a gene (HE4) that plays a major role in ovarian cancer, and he recently received a coveted Mary Kay Foundation cancer research ...
What Are Your Chances of Living Two Years? Doctors, Cancer Patients, Not on Same Page
Misunderstandings about prognosis between patients with advanced cancer and their doctors was common, in a study reported in JAMA Oncology, and the vast majority of patients didn’t know that their ...
Pancreatic Cancer Network Awards $2M to Wilmot Investigator
The national Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PANCAN) granted its most competitive award, for $2 million, to David C. Linehan, M.D., to support a large, multicenter clinical trial testing an ...
URMC Team Revises Understanding of Genetic Code
Scientists for years have known that the genetic code found in all living things contains many layers of complexity. But new research from the University of Rochester cracks the code more deeply, ...
Chemotherapy and Exercise: The Right Dose of Workout Helps Side Effects
Researchers at the University of Rochester Wilmot Cancer Institute discovered something simple and inexpensive to reduce neuropathy in hands and feet due to chemotherapy—exercise.
Return-to-Learn as Important as Return-to-Play after Concussion
Student-athletes who get a concussion often return to school within a week but still have significant problems in the classroom and cannot perform at a normal academic level, according to a new ...
Is It Time for New Strategies to Treat Aggressive Prostate Cancer?
A new URMC study confirms that androgen deprivation therapy, which initially shrinks aggressive prostate tumors, is a double-edged sword that ultimately might fuel the spread of cancer.
Wilmot Patient Grateful for Clinical Study, Recovering at Home
Ed Foster, the first patient to participate in a national clinical trial of a new immunotherapy for lymphoma at the Wilmot Cancer Institute, is healthy enough to be home in Elmira.
Immune-stimulating Drug, with Chemo, Shrinks Pancreas Tumors
The results of an early (phase 1b) clinical trial for pancreatic cancer show that an experimental therapy can control tumors well enough to make some patients eligible for surgery, according to data ...
Wilmot Embarks on “first real big test” of Immunotherapy for Lymphoma
UR Medicine’s Wilmot Cancer Institute is part of a national clinical trial for an innovative new therapy that involves engineering a patient’s own immune cells to attack cancer, in this case lymphoma.
Report Recommends More Treatment, Research, for Gulf War Vets
The cause of Gulf War illness is still a mystery but focusing on treatments and interventions might help the veterans of Operation Desert Storm as well as the troops of the future, according to an ...
URMC Partners with Private Company to Create Tissue Bank for Cancer Research
The University of Rochester Medical Center announced it’s collaborating with Indivumed, a Germany-based company, to establish a bank of human tissues and tumor samples that are expertly preserved and ...
What Frogs Can Teach Us About Tumors
Researchers at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry have developed a new model of cancer in frogs to study how tumors grow, spread, and manipulate immune cells. These ...
Scientists Discover Stem Cells Capable of Repairing Skull, Face Bones
A team of Rochester scientists has, for the first time, identified and isolated a stem cell population capable of skull formation and craniofacial bone repair in mice—achieving an important step ...
Dirk Bohmann to Lead Basic Science Research at URMC
Dirk Bohmann, Ph.D., an accomplished molecular biologist and scientific leader at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, has been appointed Senior Associate Dean for Basic ...
By Asking, “What’s the Worst Part of This?” Physicians Can Ease Suffering
When patients suffer, doctors tend to want to fix things and if they cannot many doctors then withdraw emotionally. But by turning toward the suffering, physicians can better help their patients and ...
Is Chemical Exposure in Mothers, Babies, Linked to Poor Vaccine Response?
Early life exposures to toxic chemicals such as PCBs and DDT dampen an infant’s response to the tuberculosis vaccine, according to a new study from the University of Rochester Environmental Health ...
Clinical Trial Results Show New Drug is Better for CLL Patients
Older adults with chronic lymphocytic leukemia may now have an alternative to toxic chemotherapy as their first treatment, according to a national study co-authored by a UR Medicine Wilmot Cancer ...
Using the Power of Optics, Scientists Make Predictions about Breast Cancer
A University of Rochester biomedical engineering lab discovered a new way to judge whether breast cancer cells are likely to spread, by viewing tumor biopsies with a powerful multi-photon laser ...
UR Scientist Wins Novo Nordisk Award to Develop Obesity Drug
University of Rochester Medical Center researcher Richard P. Phipps, Ph.D., won a top scientific award from the pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, to collaborate on a new obesity therapy based on his ...
Wilmot Cancer Institute’s Research Director Wins $6.3M Outstanding Investigator Award
Hartmut “Hucky” Land, Ph.D., the Robert and Dorothy Markin Professor of Biomedical Genetics at the University of Rochester, received a newly established multimillion dollar award from the National ...
UR Collaborates on Nationwide Study for New Parkinson’s Treatment
In a 60-site clinical study to investigate whether the drug inosine can slow early Parkinson’s disease, the University of Rochester Medical Center was selected as the coordinating center for data ...
Wilmot Cancer Institute Joins OmniSeq Genomic Network
UR Medicine’s Wilmot Cancer Institute is joining the OmniSeq Genomic Network, an organization of institutions being formed to help define the future of advanced genomic diagnostics for cancer. ...
Wilmot Scientists Aim at a Genetically Lethal Strain of Leukemia
Researchers at UR Medicine’s Wilmot Cancer Institute have developed what they believe to be the first mouse model to investigate why a certain subset of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients responds ...
UR Professor Ron Epstein Has Four Papers Ranked As ‘Landmarks’ in Medical Education
An article led by Ronald M. Epstein, M.D., and published in 2002 is among the top-five most widely cited medical education articles in the last century. Three other manuscripts either authored or ...
Wilmot Researchers Define Unique Group of High-Risk Lymphoma Patients
The goal for many cancer patients is to reach the five-year, disease-free mark, but new research from UR Medicine’s Wilmot Cancer Institute suggests that two years might be a more practical survival ...
$4M NIH Award Expands Joint Training of Deaf Scholars in Rochester
The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry has received nearly $4 million for a program that would serve as a national model to educate post-doctoral students who are deaf or ...
Pancreatic Cancer Group Backs Wilmot Research to Stop Metastasis
Scientists at the Wilmot Cancer Institute are working toward doubling the survival rates for pancreatic cancer by 2020—and to help achieve that goal the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network recently ...
Exercise as Chemo-brain Treatment Featured at Oncologists’ National Meeting
Cancer patients might feel their best if they simply maintain or only slightly increase their physical activity throughout chemotherapy instead of letting it decline, according to a University of ...
Low Vitamin D Linked to Worse Prognosis in Type of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
A new study found that people with lower vitamin D levels prior to treatment for follicular lymphoma succumb to the disease or face relapse earlier than patients with sufficient vitamin D levels in ...
Pathologist Wins Breast Cancer Award to Study Bone Metastasis
A University of Rochester Medical Center scientist, who is studying an “all-in-one” agent to be used when breast cancer spreads to the bone, received a $50,000 grant today from the Breast Cancer ...
E-Cigarette Vapors, Flavorings, Trigger Lung Cell Stress
Do electronic cigarettes help people quit smoking? As the debate continues on that point, a new University of Rochester study suggests that e-cigarettes are likely a toxic replacement for tobacco ...
Another URMC Milestone: FDA Approves High-Tech Breast Imaging System
After more than a decade of development and data-gathering -- including breast scans on nearly 700 women and 79 patents issued -- the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a breast-cancer ...
Decoding Fat Cells: Discovery May Explain Why We Gain Weight
University of Rochester researchers believe they’re on track to solve the mystery of weight gain – and it has nothing to do with indulging in holiday eggnog.
Concussions Derail Batting Performance for MLB Players
The message, “when in doubt, sit it out” flashed on video boards throughout the World Series, with good timing: A new analysis of Major League Baseball statistics shows that concussed players may not ...
Wilmot Awarded $3M to Study Yoga for Cancer-Related Insomnia
Armed with a $3.1 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, the Wilmot Cancer Institute is launching the first study ever to test whether a unique yoga therapy can treat insomnia among cancer ...
Wilmot Scientist Earns Exceptional Investigator Award to Study Chemo-Brain
Michelle C. Janelsins, Ph.D., M.P.H., of UR Medicine’s Wilmot Cancer Institute, has received an NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, the highest honor conferred by the National Institutes of Health ...
Making PhDs More Employable: New Education Initiative Paves the Way
Preparing graduate students and post-doctoral trainees for jobs outside of academia is the goal of a new career-training program at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, ...
CDC Renews Support, $4M, for Deaf Health Research at UR
The Rochester Prevention Research Center (RPRC): National Center for Deaf Health Research (NCDHR) received a $4.35 million award from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to continue ...
UR Awarded $18M for Cancer Control Studies; Grant Among Largest in Decade
As a result of longstanding research strength, the Cancer Control & Survivorship program at UR Medicine’s Wilmot Cancer Institute has been selected to receive an $18.6 million, five-year grant for a ...
Baby Aspirin? Many Doctors Don’t Recommend, Despite Guidelines
A majority of middle-aged men and women eligible to take aspirin to prevent heart attack and stroke do not recall their doctors ever telling them to do so, according to a University of Rochester ...
Wilmot Cancer Institute Scientists Receive $2M Award from NCI
The National Cancer Institute awarded more than $2 million to a team at the Wilmot Cancer Institute to continue its study of a gene network that controls cancer progression, with a focus on ...
Bruce Smoller to Lead Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Department
Effective July 1, Bruce R. Smoller, M.D., an international leader in the study of skin diseases, will take his place as chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University ...
Wilmot Cancer Institute Opens Comprehensive Breast Care Facility at Pluta
The Wilmot Cancer Institute announces the opening of UR Medicine’s Comprehensive Breast Care at Pluta. The Henrietta facility will serve as the home for the renowned multidisciplinary breast cancer ...
UR Medicine Launches Wilmot Cancer Institute, $30M Campaign for Cancer Research
UR Medicine today announced the creation of the Wilmot Cancer Institute, a new organizational structure for all of its clinical and research programs in cancer, including its growing network of ...
Gene Discovery Links Cancer Cell ‘Recycling’ System to Potential New Therapy
University of Rochester scientists have discovered a gene with a critical link to pancreatic cancer, and further investigation in mice shows that by blocking the gene’s most important function, ...
2nd Annual Warrior Walk Honors Cancer Survivors
UR Medicine’s Wilmot Cancer Center is sponsoring its second Warrior Walk in celebration of National Cancer Survivors Day on Sunday, June 1, on the University of Rochester’s River Campus.
Off-Season Doesn’t Allow Brain to Recover from Football Hits, Study Says
Six months off may not be long enough for the brains of football players to completely heal after a single season, putting them at even greater risk of head injury the next season.
URMC Physician-Couple Gives $750K Gift to Orthopaedics
Eva K. Pressman, M.D., chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Henry A. Thiede Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Seth M. Zeidman, M.D., a neurosurgeon who is a member ...
Like Hand-Washing, Blood Transfusions Linked to Infections
Doing fewer blood transfusions reduces infection rates by nearly 20 percent, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association co-authored by Neil Blumberg, M.D., professor of ...
Like Hand-Washing, Blood Transfusions Linked to Infections
Blood transfusions are among the most common treatments for hospitalized patients nationwide, but doing them less often reduces infection rates by nearly 20 percent, according to a study in the ...
UR Distinguished Alumnus Alejandro Zaffaroni Dies in California
Alejandro Zaffaroni, who earned his Ph.D. at the University of Rochester in 1949 and went on to become a world renowned biotechnology entrepreneur and innovator of drug delivery systems, died ...
What Does Compassion Sound Like?
“Good to see you. I’m sorry. It sounds like you’ve had a tough, tough, week.” Spoken by a doctor to a cancer patient, that statement is an example of compassionate behavior observed by a University ...
Researcher Awarded $2M to Train Patients, Use iPods, for Decision-Making
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) approved funding of $2.056 million for a University of Rochester Medical Center team to study how to reduce disparities and improve ...
Mental Fog with Tamoxifen is Real; Scientists Find Possible Antidote
A team from the University of Rochester Medical Center has shown scientifically what many women report anecdotally: that the breast cancer drug tamoxifen is toxic to cells of the brain and central ...
URMC/RIT/NTID Awarded $2.1M to Jointly Train Deaf Scientists
The nation’s first educational program specifically tailored to deaf and hard-of-hearing people pursuing graduate degrees in biomedical or behavioral science begins Sept. 1 in Rochester, N.Y., a ...
URMC Study Clarifies Surgical Options for Kidney Cancer
Surgery is often the first step in treating kidney cancer, and new data from the University of Rochester Medical Center, which contradicts earlier research, questions whether removal of only the ...
Socioeconomic Status Plays Major Role in Opioid Pain Control
Patients in moderate to severe pain in emergency rooms across the U.S. are less likely to receive opioid pain medications if they are black, Hispanic, poor, or have less education, compared to more ...
American Cancer Society Awards $2M for Diverse Cancer Research
A pair of grants from the American Cancer Society will support two University of Rochester Medical Center researchers to improve patient-centered care and communication; and to gain a better ...
Wilmot Cancer Researchers Awarded $2M to Study Age-Related Care
We’ve all known middle-aged people who seem older because of health problems and 75-year-olds who seem younger because they’re very healthy. Scientists want to know if measuring a cancer patient’s ...
URMC Offers Free Skin Cancer Screenings May 11
The University of Rochester Medical Center has partnered with the Rochester Dermatologic Society and the American Academy of Dermatology to host a free cancer screening on Saturday, May 11 from 8 ...
Researchers Identify New Pathway, Enhancing Tamoxifen to Tame Aggressive Breast Cancer
Tamoxifen is a time-honored breast cancer drug used to treat millions of women with early-stage and less-aggressive disease, and now a University of Rochester Medical Center team has shown how to ...
Biggest Risk of Aggressive Prostate Cancer Falls on Older and African American Men
Even for people diagnosed with asymptomatic, early prostate cancer, the odds that their disease is high- or intermediate-risk and thus more aggressive is increased for people 75 and older and for ...
URMC Orthopaedics Research Student Wins National Video Contest
A University of Rochester M.D. /Ph.D. student won first place in a video contest sponsored by the Orthopaedic Research Society, for a three-minute film using simple images and narration to explain ...
URMC Orthopaedists Connect Science, Common Health Burdens
At a major orthopaedics meeting this weekend, researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center are showcasing studies that merge some of the most significant modern health problems -- ...
Cancer Cell Metabolism Yields New Insights on Leukemia
University of Rochester Medical Center scientists have proposed a new reason why acute myeloid leukemia, one of the most aggressive cancers, is so difficult to cure.
NY Law: Following Mammography, Physicians Must Notify of Breast Density
A New York state law that went into effect Jan. 19, 2013, could impact up to half of all women who get annual mammograms, according to Avice O’Connell, M.D., director of Women’s Imaging at the ...
URMC Study: How to Relax, Relieve Queasiness from Chemotherapy
The University of Rochester Medical Center is launching a large study across upstate New York, in its continuing quest to help cancer patients cope with nausea during chemotherapy by using relaxation ...
Another Good Reason to Quit Smoking in New Year: Less Back Pain
A University of Rochester Medical Center analysis of more than 5,300 patients followed for eight months during treatment of spinal disorders showed that cigarette smokers reported far more pain than ...
Studying Marrow, URMC Researchers Accelerate Blood Stem Cells
University of Rochester Medical Center scientists are testing a new approach to speed a patient’s recovery of blood counts during a vulnerable period after a stem-cell transplant, according to a ...
Being Neurotic, Conscientious, a Good Combo for Health
Under certain circumstances neuroticism and conscientiousness can be good for your health, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center study.
Researchers Build on Diabetes-Liver Cancer Connection
Diabetes mellitus is associated with a higher risk of having advanced liver cancer at the time of diagnosis, suggesting that the presence of diabetes may promote more invasive tumor biology, a ...
URMC, Deaf Community, Study How to Improve Research Participation
Documents that explain life-saving medical procedures or how to take part in research can be difficult to understand, but with a $600,000 grant the University of Rochester Medical Center is studying ...
Jack Hall, Influential Statistics Expert and Former University Chair, Dies
W. Jackson “Jack” Hall, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of Statistics, Professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, and an international authority on statistical designs for ...
Musculoskeletal Research Lab Earns Spotlight at National Meeting
The URMC laboratory of Matthew J. Hilton, which studies the molecular gatekeepers for cartilage development and disease, has an inordinate number of researchers receiving awards and making ...
Rochester Athena Winner and URMC Orthopaedist Honored at International Athena Event
Judith F. Baumhauer, M.D. M.P.H., winner of the 2012 Rochester Athena Award, was selected from a pool of more than 6,000 past and present Athena award recipients, as one of 30 for special recognition ...
Knee Surgeries Skyrocket with More Aging, Active Adults
Total knee arthroplasty is one of the most common and costly elective surgeries in the United States, with a volume that soared 162 percent since 1991 among those receiving Medicare benefits, ...
URMC Geneticists Verify Cholesterol-Cancer Link
University of Rochester Medical Center scientists discovered new genetic evidence linking cholesterol and cancer, raising the possibility that cholesterol medications could be useful in the future ...
NIH Awards $7.5M, Designates URMC Orthopaedics as Center of Research Translation
The University of Rochester Medical Center was granted a $7.5 million Center of Research Translation (CORT) award for programs designed to find new therapies for arthritis and bone healing. With a ...
URMC Biostatistics Chair Named Institute of Mathematical Statistics Fellow
Robert L. Strawderman III, Sc.D., Chair of the Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology at the University of Rochester Medical Center, has been named Fellow of the Institute of ...
URMC Researchers Connect New Genetic Signature to Leukemia
University of Rochester Medical Center scientists believe they are the first to identify genes that underlie the growth of primitive leukemia stem cells; and then to use the new genetic signature to ...
Many Options, Good Outcomes, for Early-Stage Follicular Lymphoma
A University of Rochester Medical Center study challenges treatment guidelines for early stage follicular lymphoma, concluding that six different therapies can bring a remission, particularly if the ...
Would Sliding Back to pre-PSA Era Cancel Progress in Prostate Cancer?
Eliminating the PSA test to screen for prostate cancer would be taking a big step backwards and would likely result in rising numbers of men with metastatic cancer at the time of diagnosis, predicted ...
NY Funds Medical Training at Rochester Clinic
The University of Rochester Medical Center received a $344,000 state grant for a three-year project to expand and improve training and education of URMC medical students and residents who deliver ...
Study Links PTSD to Hidden Head Injuries Suffered in Combat
Even when brain injury is so subtle that it can only be detected by an ultra-sensitive imaging test, the injury might predispose soldiers in combat to post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a ...
URMC Research: Protecting Hearts of Childhood Leukemia Survivors
About 75 percent of children with leukemia who take chemotherapy face life-threatening heart problems as they age, but an international study led by a University of Rochester Medical Center ...
Listening in, Researchers Learn About End-of-Life Communication
What is the best way to talk to someone about prognosis and quality of life when serious illness strikes? It turns out that no one had studied that question through direct observation, until the ...
“Just Do It!” Not Good Enough for Cancer Patients, UR Researchers Say
Exercise generally helps the nation’s 12 million cancer survivors, and researchers are working toward being able to prove, with scientific certainty, that prescriptions for daily yoga or 20 minutes ...
Vitamin D + TB Vaccine: Allies in Fight Against Bladder Cancer?
The tuberculosis vaccine is often used as a treatment for bladder cancer, and adding vitamin D might improve the vaccine’s effectiveness, according to new research from the University of Rochester ...
How To Know When a ‘Rash’ is Serious? Video Chat!
Rose Ferrara looks as spry at 97 as some people do at 77, but if a health concern arises outside of a regularly scheduled doctor’s appointment she would rather not leave her comfortable home to get ...
URMC Leads International Consortium to Fight Deadly Bone Infections
Serious, drug-resistant staph infections are a growing problem in health care in the United States and across the globe. In a coordinated effort to stop these superbugs, investigators from the ...
Gary Morrow, Ph.D., Receives National Mentorship Award
To honor a 36-year career during which he has mentored more than 50 young professionals in medicine and science, Gary R. Morrow, Ph.D., M.S., today received the Distinguished Research Mentor Award ...
A Sprinkle of “Pixie Dust” Reduces Post-Surgical Infection in Spine
Scattering a gram of powdered antibiotic (vancomycin) directly into a spinal surgery wound appears to be a safe, cost-effective way to achieve low post-operative infection rates, according to a ...
Koning Breast Scanner Receives European Regulatory Approval
A University of Rochester Medical Center startup company that developed an imaging system to detect breast cancer, announced that it has obtained a key approval from the European Union signaling that ...
Report Highlights Understudied, Unwelcome Side of Cancer Treatment
The number of cancer survivors in the United States has tripled since 1971 and yet gains in survival have come at the price of second malignancies and cardiovascular disease, according to a ...
Cornell U. Scholar to Chair URMC Department of Biostatistics
Robert L. Strawderman III, Sc.D., professor of Biological Statistics and Computational Biology and Statistical Science at Cornell University, and professor in the Department of Public Health at ...
URMC Finds Leukemia Cells Are “Bad to the Bone”
University of Rochester Medical Center researchers have discovered new links between leukemia cells and cells involved in bone formation, offering a fresh perspective on how the blood cancer ...
Judith F. Baumhauer Named 2012 Athena Award Winner
Orthopaedic surgeon Judith F. Baumhauer, M.D., M.P.H., professor and associate chair of academic affairs in the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of Rochester Medical Center, today was ...
Evolving URMC Studies Uphold Precision Radiation to Control Cancer
The University of Rochester Medical Center has been a leader in the study of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for the past decade, and three of the latest research projects show that SBRT ...
URMC Ortho Chair Addresses Bisphosphonates for Osteoporosis
Regis J. O’Keefe, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the URMC Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, discusses concerns regarding the use of bisphosphonates for patients with osteoporosis.
Edward Schwarz, Ph.D., to head The Center for Musculoskeletal Research
Edward M. Schwarz, Ph.D., the Burton Professor of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, has been appointed to the additional role of director of URMC’s Center for Musculoskeletal Research (CMSR).
URMC Study: Most Cancer-related Blood Clots Occur in Outpatients
In a study of nearly 18,000 cancer patients, University of Rochester Medical Center researchers found that when blood clots develop – a well-known and serious complication of cancer treatment – 78 ...
Impressive Show at ASH Meeting Highlights Progress in Wilmot Research
James P. Wilmot Cancer Center researchers had a strong showing among the top presenters at this year’s annual meeting for the American Society of Hematology (ASH), December 10 to 13, in San Diego.
Rochester Research Identifies Health Disparities with Deaf ASL Users
Using communication tools that enabled deaf people to identify health priorities in their own community, a University of Rochester survey found higher rates of obesity, partner violence, and suicide ...
Routine Head Hits in School Sports May Cause Brain Injury
The brain scans of high school football and hockey players showed subtle injury -- even if they did not suffer a concussion – after taking routine hits to the head during the normal course of play, ...
When Doctor Becomes Patient, There’s Much to Learn
Colleen Fogarty, M.D., jokes that the process of being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009 was a little too much like a trip to Jiffy Lube, in an essay in which she urges her colleagues to refocus ...
Rochester Study: Age a Big Factor in Prostate Cancer Deaths
Contrary to common belief, men age 75 and older are diagnosed with late-stage and more aggressive prostate cancer and thus die from the disease more often than younger men, according to a University ...
Scientists Look to Immune System to Handle Follicular Lymphoma
University of Rochester Medical Center researchers found more evidence that T cells going awry in the microenvironment – or the tissue immediately surrounding the tumor – may play a role in the ...
URMC Orthopaedic Surgeon Wins Prestigious Fellowship
John C. Elfar, M.D., was awarded the North American Traveling Fellowship by the American Orthopaedic Association, an honor considered to be one of the most exclusive in the field of orthopaedic ...
URMC Research Could Extend Life of Arthritic Joints
A medication already approved to build bone mass in patients with osteoporosis also builds cartilage around joints and could potentially be repurposed to treat millions of people suffering from ...
URMC Pathologist Honored for Advancing Knowledge of Breast Cancer
David Hicks, M.D., director of Surgical Pathology at the University of Rochester Medical Center, received a prestigious award Sept. 13, 2011, from the College of American Pathologists (CAP) for his ...
URMC Orthopaedics Chair Selected for Key National Advisory Position
Regis O’Keefe, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the University of Rochester Medical Center Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, has been appointed to the prestigious NIH Council of Councils.
Less-Toxic Chemo Improves Outlook for Advanced Bladder Cancer
New data from the University of Rochester Medical Center confirms that an easier, two-drug chemotherapy regimen given to bladder cancer patients prior to surgery shrinks locally advanced tumors and ...
URMC Researchers Exploring Keys to Melanoma Progression
Melanoma is devastating on many fronts: rates are rising dramatically among young people, it is deadly if not caught early, and from a biological standpoint, the disease tends to adapt to even the ...
URMC Surgeon Becomes President of National Orthopaedics Society
Judith F. Baumhauer, M.D., M.P.H., has been a trailblazer for years in the field of foot and ankle orthopaedics and today is no different: She was installed as president of the American Orthopaedic ...
URMC Symposium Celebrates Decades of Pivotal Orthopaedics Research
The Center for Musculoskeletal Research (CMSR) is conducting its first annual scientific symposium on July 15, in the Flaum Atrium, and the adjacent Class of ’62 Auditorium and Forbes Mezzanine. ...
Chemo-Induced Nausea Remains Big Problem, URMC Study Says
A large, phase III study of four commonly used drug regimens to treat chemotherapy-induced nausea concluded that while two regimens were better at managing patients’ queasiness, none were totally ...
Perfect Storm: Cancer, Aging, and Too Few Data
When an 80-year-old gets cancer, the conventional thinking has been that treatment in most cases would be too risky. A group of geriatric oncologists is pushing a new, national agenda, however, that ...
Doctor Who Wrote Syllabus on Cancer in Elderly Shares Personal Side to Data
When John Bennett, M.D., gives the B.J. Kennedy Lecture at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) on June 5th -- titled “Cancer and the Older Patient: Let’s Waltz Together” -- he will ...
As Cancer Survivorship Grows, So Do Questions of Related Health Issues
Treating cancer often represents a double-edged sword, as gains in survival years can be offset by other serious health problems related to the treatment, including second cancers.
URMC Studies Quality of Doc-Patient Conversations about Cancer
A $2.9 million University of Rochester Medical Center research project will test a powerful new intervention to improve the quality of discussions among oncologists, patients, and families in the ...
Researchers Home In on Genetic Signature of Esophageal Cancer
University of Rochester Medical Center researchers have pinpointed two genes that are amplified in the worst cases of esophageal cancer, providing data to support a new investigational treatment that ...
URMC Leads Push for New Approaches to Brain Injury
In the race to more accurately diagnose the severity of head injuries quickly and without a CT scan, a University of Rochester Medical Center expert has a leading role in two important nationwide ...
Aggressive Breast Tumors Linked to Vitamin D Deficiency
Low vitamin D levels among women with breast cancer correlate with more aggressive tumors and poorer prognosis, according to a new University of Rochester Medical Center study highlighted this week ...
Medical Sleuthing Linked Muscle, Kidney Problems to Kava Tea
When a 34-year-old bicyclist was found collapsed on a roadside and rushed to the University of Rochester Medical Center emergency room on the verge of kidney failure and muscle breakdown, doctors ...
Vitamin D May Help Explain Racial Differences in Blood Pressure
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is more common and often more deadly in blacks than in whites, and a new University of Rochester study shows that low vitamin D levels among black people might ...
UR Deaf Health Disparities Group Wins National Excellence Award
The National Center for Deaf Health Research (NCDHR) recently won accolades for putting community-based participatory research into action. The NCDHR was one of 11 research groups that won a ...
Wilmot Scientists Describe Current, Future Challenges in Lymphoma
A special edition of the highly regarded Journal of Clinical Oncology, placed online this week, spotlights James P. Wilmot Cancer Center physicians who write about progress and opportunities in ...
Wilmot Cancer Researcher Honored as Minority Scholar
Amin Ismail, Ph.D., a postdoctoral scientist at the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center, is among 50 minority scholars being honored at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting, April ...
Pre-Conception and Early Pregnancy Iron Deficiency Harms Brain
A mother’s iron deficiency early in pregnancy may have a profound and long-lasting effect on the brain development of the child, even if the lack of iron is not enough to cause severe anemia, ...
American Sign Language Makes Debut in CDC Scientific Journal
Thanks to a group of deaf and hearing Rochester, N.Y., pioneers, a medical journal for the first time has served up a scientific article online with a new twist: an accompanying web video in American ...
Pathology Study Tracks Uterine Changes with Mifepristone
Research continues to show that the controversial abortion drug mifepristone might have another use, as a therapeutic option besides hysterectomy for women who suffer from severe symptoms associated ...
Researchers Unzip MRSA and Discover Route for Vaccine
University of Rochester Medical Center orthopaedic scientists are a step closer to developing a vaccine to prevent life-threatening methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections ...
URMC Orthopaedics Research, Clinical Work, Highlighted at Meeting
The University of Rochester Medical Center Orthopaedics faculty made a strong showing last week at the Orthopaedics Research Society annual meeting Jan. 13 to 16, 2011, in Long Beach, Calif. Several ...
University of Rochester, RIT, Tackle Need for Health IT Professionals
The University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology have joined forces to bolster two crucial elements of health care reform in the United States—the widespread application of ...
Researchers Find Genetic Target for Deadly Lymphoma Subtype
Scientists reported in the journal Nature online that they’ve discovered a new gene mutation that drives activated B cell lymphoma, thereby providing a new route to attempt to stop the dangerous ...
Decades after Childhood Radiation, Thyroid Cancer a Concern
When children are exposed to head and neck radiation, whether due to cancer treatment or multiple diagnostic CT scans, the result is an increased risk of thyroid cancer for the next 58 years or ...
Breast CT Imaging System Marches Forward, as Pain-Free Tool to Aid Mammograms
While questions persist about the best ways to detect breast cancer early, a CT imaging system developed at the University of Rochester Medical Center and first unveiled four years ago is in a better ...
Everyone Should Boost Intake of Vitamin D, IOM says
The nation’s top scientific advisory panel today recommended that most children and adults modestly increase their intake of vitamin D, known as the “sunshine vitamin,” from a daily dietary intake of ...
Study Clarifies Needs of Rural-Dwelling Elderly
A novel project set in a rural community near Rochester, N.Y., to screen elderly people for unmet needs showed that, indeed, there is a great opportunity to match older adults with professional ...
UR Researchers Seek Potential New Therapy for Rare Fibrosarcoma
University of Rochester Medical Center orthopaedic researchers have identified a new strategy to make a rare soft tissue tumor more sensitive to chemotherapy, and during the investigation they ...
HHS Funds Expansion of UR Family Medicine Program
The University of Rochester Family Medicine residency program was awarded a $1.9 million federal grant, which will add two positions per year for the next five years, in response to a critical ...
Lack of Vitamin D: More Evidence Connected to Breast, Colon Cancer
Two new vitamin D studies from the University of Rochester Medical Center suggest intriguing ties between a deficiency of D and breast and colon cancer, particularly among African Americans.
Breast-Healthy Lifestyle Worthwhile, URMC Study Confirms
Having a family history of breast cancer can lead some people to wonder if their risk is out of their control. However, a study of more than 85,000 postmenopausal women observed that regular physical ...
URMC Discovers New Trigger for Kidney Cancer’s Invasive Behavior
Scientists have unlocked a strong interaction between two proteins involved in kidney cancer that help to explain the menacing invasiveness of this particular disease, according to a University of ...
UR Research Center for Deaf Honored for Community Work
This week is Rochester Deaf Awareness Week, and the University of Rochester Medical Center is getting special recognition.
URMC Lands $15M to Expand Bioterrorism Research
The University of Rochester Medical Center once again has received federal bioterrorism funding, allowing investigators to build on several new discoveries made during the past five years to improve ...
UR Discovers New Way to Boost Vaccines, Seeks Patent
As the medical community searches for better vaccines and ways to deliver them, a University of Rochester scientist believes he has discovered a new approach to boosting the body’s response to ...
Wilmot Obtains Nearly $2M in Cancer Stem Cell Funding
Two large federal grants received this summer will allow researchers at the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center to continue their work into stem cells that give rise to cancer.
URMC Deaf Health Research Group Launches Online Directory
The National Center for Deaf Health Research (NCDHR), at the University of Rochester, is introducing an online resource and referral directory for deaf and hard-of-hearing people, as well as their ...
URMC Receives $1.5M to Study Safety of Blood Transfusions
This week it was announced that blood researchers Neil Blumberg, M.D., and Richard Phipps, Ph.D., at the University of Rochester Medical Center, were among a select group of investigators nationwide ...
Filtering Donor Blood Reduces Heart, Lung Complications
Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) have discovered another reason to filter the foreign white cells from donor blood: the resulting blood product is associated with ...
Stem Cell Disruption Induces Skull Deformity, UR Study Shows
University of Rochester Medical Center scientists discovered a defect in cellular pathways that provides a new explanation for the earliest stages of abnormal skull development in newborns, known as ...
Androgen Receptor May Explain Male Dominance in Liver Cancer
A University of Rochester study helps to explain why men get liver cancer more often than women and opens the door for a new treatment pathway, by showing a direct link between the androgen receptor, ...
Panel Enacts New Standards for Breast Tumor Testing
Testing for estrogen and progesterone biomarkers following a breast cancer diagnosis is critically important to treatment decisions, yet an international panel that included a University of Rochester ...
Rochester Study Connects Workplace Turmoil, Stress and Obesity
A new study that provides a snapshot of a typical American workplace observed that chronic job stress and lack of physical activity are strongly associated with being overweight or obese.
Nurses’ Research Settles a Common Cancer Concern: Skin Care
Given the complexity of cancer treatment, skin care may seem like a small matter. However, a nurse at the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center knew that skin issues were a constant source of anxiety for ...
Love of Dance Leads UR Medical Student to Garth Fagan
University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry student Tracy L. Fuhrmann was able to complete her education by combining two passions -- dance and medicine -- in a research project that could ...
Cancer Researcher Receives Innovation Award for Pioneering Ideas
Joshua C. Munger, Ph.D., an assistant professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, has received a prestigious Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Innovation Award, which recognizes promising ...
URMC Study Links Vitamin D, Race, and Cardiac Deaths
Vitamin D deficiency may contribute to a higher number of heart and stroke-related deaths among black Americans compared to whites, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center study.
UR Study Reveals Chemo’s Toxicity to Brain, Possible Treatment
Researchers have developed a novel animal model showing that four commonly used chemotherapy drugs disrupt the birth of new brain cells, and that the condition could be partially reversed with the ...
Wilmot Scientists Share Latest Research at National Conference
Scientists at the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center who investigate lymphoma and leukemia were among the top presenters at the American Society of Hematology 51st Annual Meeting, Dec. 5-8, 2009, in New ...
Pilot Study Relates Phthalate Exposure to Less-Masculine Play by Boys
A study of 145 preschool children reports, for the first time, that when the concentrations of two common phthalates in mothers’ prenatal urine are elevated their sons are less likely to play with ...
Common Pain Relievers May Dilute Power of Flu Shots
With flu vaccination season in full swing, research from the University of Rochester Medical Center cautions that use of many common pain killers – Advil, Tylenol, aspirin – at the time of injection ...
CDC Funds Pioneering Weight Loss Research in Deaf Community
The University of Rochester Medical Center and its partners in the deaf community are setting out to tackle a common problem – obesity – by using a unique approach.
UR Researcher Eyes Collagen to Follow Tumor Metastasis
A Medical Center scientist has been awarded $3.5 million to study how breast cancer cells use collagen fibers to spread, and to investigate whether the process can be predicted and disrupted.
Blood Transfusion Study: Less is More
A new study suggests that blood transfusions for hospitalized cardiac patients should be a last resort because they double the risk of infection and increase by nearly five times the risk of death.
Study Calls for “Staging the Aging” When Cancer Strikes
Just as it is important to know the stage of cancer at diagnosis, a new study proposes that older people with cancer should be further classified or “staged” into subgroups based on other health ...
When Health Goes, Doctor-Patient Relationship Should Grow
The cornerstone of a good doctor-patient relationship begins with the doctor’s ability to clarify a patient’s preferences and values, especially during a difficult diagnosis, a commentary in the ...
Controversial Cancer Stem Cells Offer New Direction for Treatment
A University of Rochester Medical Center researcher sorts out the controversy and promise around a dangerous subtype of cancer cells, known as cancer stem cells.
Income, Education, Important Factors in Heart Disease Risk
Doctors who ignore the socioeconomic status of patients when evaluating their risk for heart disease are missing a crucial element that might result in inadequate treatment, according to a University ...
Dioxins in Food Chain Linked to Breastfeeding Ills
Exposure to dioxins during pregnancy harms the cells in rapidly-changing breast tissue, which may explain why some women have trouble breastfeeding or don’t produce enough milk, according to a ...
Thomas Pearson Elected to Hopkins Society of Scholars
Thomas A. Pearson, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., the Albert D. Kaiser Professor, Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, and senior associate dean for clinical research at the University of Rochester ...
HRT-Breast Cancer Risk Stays Same, Regardless of Family History
The risk of developing breast cancer due to taking hormone replacement therapy appears to be the same for women with a family history of the disease and without a family history, a University of ...
Rochester Participates in Landmark Children’s Study
Families in the Rochester area will be able to take part in the nation’s largest study of the health and well-being of children from birth to age 21, through a multimillion federal grant awarded to ...
Poor Sleep Quality Leads to Poorer Prognosis after Stroke
Stroke victims tend to do worse if they also have diagnosed or undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea prior to having the stroke, according to a study presented April 28, 2009, at the American Academy ...
New Speaker Scheduled for Saward-Berg Lecture
Despite the cancellation of Obama-appointee David Blumenthal, M.D., the annual Saward-Berg lecture will go forward with a new speaker and a new time.
Wristbands Ease Nausea with Cancer Treatment
Cancer patients who wore acupressure wristbands had much less nausea while receiving radiation treatment, making the bands a safe, low-cost addition to anti-nausea medication, according to a study in ...
Blood Test for Brain Injuries Gains Momentum
A blood test that can help predict the seriousness of a head injury and detect the status of the blood-brain barrier is a step closer to reality, according to two recently published studies involving ...
Rochester Researchers Show Proof of Rituximab’s ‘Vaccine’ Effect
The drug rituximab may have an effect against follicular lymphoma (FL) similar to that of a vaccine against the flu, which may help to explain why the drug continues to work in some people long after ...
Abnormal EKG Can Predict Death in Stroke Patients
People who suffer an ischemic stroke and also have an abnormality in the heart’s electrical cycle are at a higher risk of death within 90 days than people who do not have abnormal electrical activity ...
Outspoken Health Care Reformer, Obama Advisor, Visits URMC
THIS LECTURE IS CANCELLED. David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P., a key health care advisor to President Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign, will speak at the University of Rochester Medical Center on ...
University of Rochester Launches iTraining for Emergency Responders
When an emergency squad pulls up to the home of an elderly person in distress in upstate New York, chances are the paramedics have received a new brand of high-tech training using a video podcast, ...
First Genome-Wide Expression Analysis Yields Better Understanding of Leukemia
In a collaborative study published Feb. 9, 2009, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), scientists performed a genome-wide expression analysis comparing highly enriched normal ...
Rochester Study Raises New Questions about Controversial Plastics Chemical
A University of Rochester Medical Center study challenges common assumptions about the chemical bisphenol A (BPA), by showing that in some people, surprisingly high levels remain in the body even ...