BU Now » Ron Rosenberg

Health experts can’t predict how dangerous swine flu might be

Ron Rosenberg — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:15:27 +0000

New York City is well prepared for the potential outbreak of swine flu, even ahead of other major metropolitan centers. But that’s not enough said Al Ozonoff, School of Public Health associate professor of biostatistics.

I believe that New York City has done a very good job of planning and preparation. That being said, nobody really knows what to expect coming into this flu season. We don’t know exactly what to prepare for.

Contact Al Ozonoff, 617-638-5866, aozonoff@bu.edu

A big step towards personalized medicine

Ron Rosenberg — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:54:08 +0000

An agreement in which Abbott Laboratories will develop a specific genetic test to screen non-small cell lung cancer tumors to identify potential patients for a proposed oral cancer drug being developed by Pfizer, was hailed as an important development in the new era of personalized genomic medicine, by Avi Spira, MD. He is Associate Professor of Pathology andLaboratory Medicine.

“This is a very big step if they can first identify the subset that will benefit prior to treatment.”

Contact Avi Spria, 617-414-6980, aspira@bu.edu

Initial swine flu forecasts are “suspect”

Ron Rosenberg — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:19:57 +0000

The first official forecast that the global swine flu pandemic, expected to return to the USA this fall, could lead to two million people hospitalized and between 30,000 and 90,000 deaths are “suspect” and contribute to a “climate of scaremongering and shaky science,” claims Al Ozonoff. He is a School of Public Health associate professor of biostatistics who has researched real-time survillance systems for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Contact Al Ozonoff, (617) 638-5866, aozonoff@bu.edu

The escalating costs of treating obesity

Ron Rosenberg — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:00:22 +0000

Medical spending for an obese person averages $1,400 more a year than an individual of normal weight – a health-related expenditure that has doubled from nearly a decade ago and includes treating diabetes, heart disease and other ailments found in those overweight, according to a recent study. Caroline Apovian, MD, Boston Medical Center Director of Clinical Research at the Obesity Research Center, can discuss ways of changing behavior and health outcomes to reduce obesity.

Contact Caroline Apovian, 617-414-1816, apovian@bu.edu

Chinese develop live mice by reprogramming skin cells

Ron Rosenberg — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:48:23 +0000

The ability of Chinese scientists to reprogram skin cells of mice to a primordial, embryonic state that resulted in the birth of live offspring may bring scientists a step closer to creating medically useful stem cell lines for treating human disease. “The novelty resides in producing mice using induced pluripotent stem cells in the most stringent assay of pluripotency [a term for cells that give rise to all tissues in the body]” said Gustavo Mostoslavsky, MD, PhD., assistant professor of medicine.

Contact Gustavo Mostoslavsky, (617) 638-6532, gmostosl@bu.edu

New obesity rate: 1 in 7 low-income preschoolers

Ron Rosenberg — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:23:45 +0000

The latest report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates obesity rates have stablized to one in seven preschoolers from low-income families and the childhood obesity epidemic is leveling off among youngsters in this group. Caroline Apovian,MD, a BU associate professor of pediatrics and Boston Medical Center Director of Nutrition and Weight Management, can discuss the prevalence of obesity in preschoolers from low income families.

Contact Caroline Apovian (617) 414-1816, capovian@bu.edu

Finding Alzheimer’s risk poses little distress

Ron Rosenberg — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:56:34 +0000

If you learned from a genetic test that your risk for Alzheimer’s disease increased, how would you feel? A study of 162 healthy adult children of patients with Alzheimer’s found that people who inherited a key gene showed no more test-related stress, depression, or anxiety than those who did not, according to Dr. Robert Green, lead author of the School of Medicine study, that examined the psychological reprecussions.

Contact Dr. Robert Green, (617) 638-5426, rcgreen@bu.edu

For seniors, a few drinks cuts dementia risk

Ron Rosenberg — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:18:40 +0000

Alcohol consumption — one to two drinks a day — lowers the risk of dementia, based on a six-year study of people aged 75 years or older. Although there is no explanation why a moderate amount of alcohol is good for the brain, Robert Stern, Co-Director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Clinical & Research Programs, cited studies where the reverse — abstinence — lowers the risk of liver disease, breast cancer, colorectal disease, and diabetes.

Hospitalizations of obese kids and teens nearly doubles

Ron Rosenberg — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:11:26 +0000

Obese children hospitalized for such related conditions as asthma, diabetes, gallbladder disease, pneumonia and mental disorders soared dramatically, both in patient numbers and total costs. The published study prompted Caroline Apovian, MD, Boston Medical Center director of the Obesity Research Center, to call for a national health plan effort “to stave off a curtailed healthy future for our kids.”

No historic agreement at G-8 summit on cutting greenhouse gas emissions

Ron Rosenberg — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:28:13 +0000

Leaders at the Group of Eight summit meeting failed to make a breakthrough to cut in half the global production of greenhouse gases by 2050 as India and China claimed an unfair burden when their economies are growing rapidly. But Adil Najam, co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and a BU professor of international relations, disputes their reasons and can discuss the failure to resolve the deep split among G-8 countries.

Contact Adil Najam (617) 358-4000, anajam@bu.edu