Category Archives: Medicine

Combatting the Crisis

Each day in the United States, 144 people die from opioids. As if that’s not startling enough, an estimated 2 million Americans are addicted to prescription opioids, and more people die each year from overdoses than car crashes. National leaders in 2017 declared America’s opioid epidemic a public-health emergency — a designation typically reserved for … Continue reading Combatting the Crisis

Progress, Measured in Increments

This is not a story about a stunning scientific breakthrough or a cure for a debilitating and deadly disease that haunts individuals and families. No, this is a story about slow, steady, incremental progress. About mitigating symptoms and minimizing side effects; about a long-term battle against a lifetime illness for which a partial reduction in … Continue reading Progress, Measured in Increments

Small connections, big implications

In most research, there’s no such thing as “minor details” or “the small stuff.” This is especially true for Xiaolan Yao, Ph.D. Her research team makes and uses three-dimensional models of proteins, and for those models to be accurate, every atom counts. She and her team — currently two graduate students and two undergraduates — … Continue reading Small connections, big implications

Unlocking the genetics of disease

In the world of genetics and molecular research, scientists are exploring a phenomenon of gene functions they call the double-edged sword. On the one hand, a particular gene is shown to have a destructive effect, leading to disease in the human body. On the other, that same gene protects the body from other illnesses. For … Continue reading Unlocking the genetics of disease