Category Archives: In the News

Lichens, Letters and Brain Mapping

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  • Lichens are even cooler than we thought! According to research published yesterday in Science, reported on by Ed Yong at the Atlantic, the NY Times here, and doubtless others, the symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae embodied by lichens is more complex than previously believed. I am really lichen this news and the reminder of how much more we have to learn about the natural world.
  • Among the letters published in responds to an Upshot piece in the NY Times about the large number of research science graduates in relation to professorships was one from Joseph Deasy of MSK’s Medical Physics Department. He wrote to remind readers that there are still many challenges to humanity which could be explored by scientists provided policy changed to fund their work.
  • Last but not least, Carl Zimmer reported in the NY Times about new work published Wednesday in Nature that describes a greatly expanded map of the distinct areas of the human brain.

MSK at @ASCO 2016 – How did we do this Year?

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Another ASCO meeting has come and gone and MSK continues to make its mark at the conference. Contributing a total of 304 abstracts this year, MSK stands at a 3% increase over the number of abstracts that were presented at the 2015 Annual Meeting (296 abstracts).

The visual represents the total MSK contribution to ASCO 2016 with the larger, blue spheres indicating a higher number of abstracts presented by the individual.

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Musical Healing, ICU Communication Win, The Lounge, and more!

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Holly Mentzer, a music therapist from MSK’s Integrative Medicine Department raises the spirits and brings peace to patients across the hospital. The music therapists at MSK offer both individual and group sessions as well as art and movement therapy to ease pain, build social connections, and provide comfort to patients. Holly brings her harp to Garrett Lambert’s isolation room and they “make the enclosed room feel like a serene, welcoming space as she and Lambert harmonize.”

A study jointly led by Shannon Carson, MD (UNC Chapel Hill), Judith Nelson, MD, JD, and Christopher Cox, MD (Duke) published on July 5 in JAMA showed that ICU clinicians were as effective at communication and family support as specialized palliative care teams for families of chronically ill patients in the ICU.
Citation: Carson SS, Cox CE, Wallenstein S, et al. Effect of Palliative Care–Led Meetings for Families of Patients With Chronic Critical Illness: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2016;316(1):51-62. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.8474. Continue reading →