Learning to care when you can no longer cure
Starting this fall, medical school students will be
required to participate in a new program designed to help them address the
physical, emotional, cultural, and spiritual needs that patients face at the
end of life. The medical school developed the program in collaboration with the
nursing and divinity schools, Yale Religious Ministries, and the Palliative
Care Services of Yale-New Haven Hospital. Students will work through
interactive cases online and participate in workshops facilitated by faculty
from each school to learn how to recognize spiritual distress in patients and
how to provide support and encouragement. The medical school received funding
through the Connecticut Cancer Partnership and the state's Department of Public
Health to launch the program, which will be made available to other Connecticut
institutions for use in palliative care education.
Pioneering researcher in cell biology joins the Yale
faculty
James E. Rothman ’71, one of the world's leading cell
biologists, will serve as chair of the medical school's Department of Cell
Biology and will launch the Center for High-Throughput Cell Biology at Yale's
new West Campus. Rothman comes to Yale from Columbia University's College of
Physicians and Surgeons. "Jim Rothman is one of the most brilliant researchers
of our time," says Dean Robert J. Alpern, who credits Rothman with revolutionizing
the field of cell biology. Rothman graduated summa cum laude from Yale College with a degree in
physics. At the new Yale Center for High-Throughput Cell Biology, Rothman will
lead multidisciplinary teams of scientists to develop tools and techniques that
will provide fresh insights into disease and identify new molecular targets for
therapy.
Understanding the mysteries of immunity
Yale medical school researchers have figured out how
a key component of many vaccines activates an immune system response, a finding
that opens up promising new avenues of research on better ways to prevent
infections. In a paper that appeared in an online edition of the journal Nature, a team of
scientists led by Stephanie C. Eisenbarth ’01, ’03PhD, a fellow in laboratory
medicine, and Richard A. Flavell, Sterling Professor and chairman of
immunobiology, describe one way aluminum hydroxide, a chemical catalyst or
"adjuvant" used in many vaccines, helps fight off pathogens. Researchers
believe that knowing how these adjuvants work to activate the immune system
will help them find new ways to bolster immune system responses and provide
long-term protection against pathogens.
Professor donates mammography van to Ugandan hospital
When Assistant Professor of Medicine Ken Miller heard
that Yale was selling a mammography van, he decided to buy it and donate it to
Mulago Hospital, in Kampala. The hospital already uses mammography for the
diagnosis of established tumors, but this marks the first time it will be made
available for screening. Fred Okuku, a third-year resident in internal medicine
at Makarere University, spent several months at Yale, studying ultrasound and
mammography in preparation for running the program. The van, staffed by a
driver, a nurse, and a technician, will screen women in suburban Kampala. The
service will be publicized on the radio, and brochures will educate women about
the early signs of cancer and the fact that, if caught early, many cancers are
treatable.
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