Category: News
Loehr, Cavanaugh Lead VCAG Project to Enhance Care For Patients Who Have Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction
Heart failure is a common cause of hospitalization and re-hospitalization, particularly in individuals over the age of 65. And approximately half the people who are hospitalized with heart failure (HF) have reduced ejection fraction (HRrEF). A normal ejection fraction is more than 55%, while heart failure with reduced ejection fraction is 40% or less, which means the amount of bl … Read more
Chemotherapy Plus Immunotherapy Before Surgery is Beneficial For Invasive Bladder Cancer Outcomes
Tracy Rose, MD, MPH A new study is the first to report the beneficial use of chemotherapy plus immunotherapy before surgical removal of the bladder in muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). Researchers at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center led the study, reporting that the regimen reduced the invasiveness of the cancer in 56 percent of patients in a phase II clinical … Read more
Novel CRISPR-Based Malaria Diagnostic Capable of Plasmodium Detection, Species Differentiation, and Drug-Resistance Genotyping
Jessica Lin, MD MSCR CRISPR-based diagnostics are a new class of highly sensitive and specific assays with multiple applications in infectious disease diagnosis. SHERLOCK, or Specific High-Sensitivity Enzymatic Reporter UnLOCKing, is one such CRISPR-based diagnostic that combines recombinase polymerase pre-amplification, CRISPR-RNA base-pairing, and LwCas13a activity for nucleic … Read more
Parr Interviewed By The Scientist About the Development of CRISPR Diagnostics
Jonathan Parr, MD Jonathan Parr, MD, MPH, assistant professor in the division of infectious diseases, was interviewed for an article in The Scientist about the development of CRISPR diagnostics. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers have been striving to develop low-cost tests to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in patient samples. Now, a team of researchers base … Read more
Trends and Variation in Length of Stay Among Hospitalized Febrile Infants ≤ 60 Days Old
John R. Stephens, MD Researchers in recent studies have suggested that hospitalized febrile infants aged ≤60 days may be safely discharged if bacterial cultures are negative after 24–36 hours of incubation. John R. Stephens, MD, professor of medicine and pediatrics in the division of hospital medicine, is first author of a paper published online in Hospital Pediatrics, ahead of p … Read more
Ascertaining Framingham Heart Failure Phenotype From Inpatient Electronic Health Record Data Using Natural Language Processing: a Multicentre Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Validation Study
Carlton Moore, MD, MS Carlton Moore, MD, professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases, is first author of a retrospective observational study design of patients hospitalized in 2015 from four hospitals participating in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. Using free-text clinical notes and reports from hospitalized patients, the study team wanted … Read more
Evaluation and Management of Heart Block After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement
Anthony Mazzella, MD UNC Cardiology Fellow Anthony Mazzella, MD, is first author of a paper published in Cardiac Failure Review. Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has developed substantially since its inception. Improvements in valve design, valve deployment technologies, preprocedural imaging and increased operator experience have led to a gradual decline in length o … Read more
Emerging Therapies For AML With Myelodysplasia-Related Changes: Slowly But Surely Moving the Needle
David Phillips, MD, and Josh Zeidner, MD Patients with acute myeloid leukemia with myelodysplasia-related changes (AML-MRC) have historically poor outcomes with conventional chemotherapy regimens. Davis Phillips, MD, internal medicine resident, and Josh Zeidner, MD, associate professor of medicine in the division of hematology, published an article that reviews the data for exist … Read more
Transitioning Focus Group Research to a Videoconferencing Environment: A Descriptive Analysis of Interactivity
Cristine Henage, Ed.D The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted face-to-face interactions in healthcare research, with many studies shifting to video-based data collection for qualitative research. Cristine Henage, Ed.D, is first author of a study that describes the interactivity achieved in a videoconferencing focus group of seven primary care providers discussing deprescribing opioids an … Read more
Trial To Reduce Antimicrobial Use in Nursing Home Residents With Alzheimer Diseases and Other Dementias (TRAIN-AD): A Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial
Laura Hanson, MD, MPH Antimicrobials are extensively prescribed to nursing home residents with advanced dementia, often without evidence of infection or consideration of the goals of care. Laura Hanson, MD, MPH, professor of geriatric medicine and medical director of the UNC Palliative Care Program, tested the effectiveness of a multicomponent intervention to improve the managem … Read more
Nephrology Team Introduces Vascular Access Education Materials
Click on the image above to watch a new video from the UNC Kidney Center that will provide education for patients. ASN Kidney News recently recognized the UNC Kidney Center’s new vascular access education materials. Guided by 105 stakeholders, the UNC Kidney Center developed mixed-media vascular access education materials (video and brochure) to support individuals preparing for … Read more
Rosh Hashanah and Hispanic Heritage Month
On Monday September 6, at sunset, Jewish communities in North Carolina and around the world will celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. On Wednesday, September 15, Hispanic Heritage Month begins. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is one of Judaism’s holiest days. Rosh Hashanah commemorates the creation of the world and marks the beginning of the Days of Awe, a 10-day per … Read more