{"id":19405,"date":"2026-02-03T08:43:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T13:43:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/surgery\/?p=19405"},"modified":"2026-02-03T09:58:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T14:58:14","slug":"nature-highlights-dr-adam-akermans-diagnostic-innovations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/surgery\/nature-highlights-dr-adam-akermans-diagnostic-innovations\/","title":{"rendered":"Nature Science Journal Highlights Dr. Adam Akerman\u2019s Diagnostic Innovations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-8870\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/854\/2019\/03\/CT-XMD-AkermanAdam-170705-200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"244\" height=\"326\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/854\/2019\/03\/CT-XMD-AkermanAdam-170705-200.jpg 1077w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/854\/2019\/03\/CT-XMD-AkermanAdam-170705-200-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/854\/2019\/03\/CT-XMD-AkermanAdam-170705-200-767x1024.jpg 767w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/854\/2019\/03\/CT-XMD-AkermanAdam-170705-200-768x1025.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/854\/2019\/03\/CT-XMD-AkermanAdam-170705-200-600x801.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 244px) 100vw, 244px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Dr. Akerman and his team were recently featured for their groundbreaking work in blood-based detection of aortic aneurysms, a condition that can silently weaken the body\u2019s largest artery and become fatal. Traditional detection relies on CT scans, which are costly and expose patients to ionizing radiation.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Akerman\u2019s team has developed a novel approach that combines blood analysis of molecular markers with AI-driven imaging data to predict aneurysm presence and even reconstruct the aorta from a single blood sample. This method is faster, less invasive, and adaptable to diverse patient populations, including those historically underserved or at higher risk due to genetic conditions.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-19413\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/854\/2026\/02\/Akerman_research-team-scaled.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"411\" height=\"287\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Read the full article: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/d42473-025-00386-2\" data-outlook-id=\"d125c2da-5474-4059-8c5a-2d85ca69f779\">Blood-based screening for aneurysms<\/a> and access the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/collections\/eahdjfhggj\">Technology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Akerman laboratory group welcomes collaboration with the UNC community and external partners to scale and test this technology. Those interested in learning more or participating in trials can contact Dr. Adam Akerman directly at: <a href=\"mailto:adam_akerman@med.unc.edu\" data-outlook-id=\"ef6fc24b-fd32-44ed-aa43-ccd8b5df8760\">adam_akerman@med.unc.edu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr. Akerman and his team were recently featured for their groundbreaking work in blood-based detection of aortic aneurysms, a condition that can silently weaken the body\u2019s largest artery and become fatal. Traditional detection relies on CT scans, which are costly and expose patients to ionizing radiation. Akerman\u2019s team has developed a novel approach that combines &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/surgery\/nature-highlights-dr-adam-akermans-diagnostic-innovations\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Nature Science Journal Highlights Dr. Adam Akerman\u2019s Diagnostic Innovations\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119782,"featured_media":19408,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2,208],"tags":[],"featured-item":[],"class_list":["post-19405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-research","odd"],"pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Nature Science Journal Highlights Dr. Adam Akerman\u2019s Diagnostic Innovations | Department of Surgery<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/surgery\/nature-highlights-dr-adam-akermans-diagnostic-innovations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nature Science Journal Highlights Dr. Adam Akerman\u2019s Diagnostic Innovations | Department of Surgery\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Akerman and his team were recently featured for their groundbreaking work in blood-based detection of aortic aneurysms, a condition that can silently weaken the body\u2019s largest artery and become fatal. 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