Our spleens filter out toxins from our blood and help us fight infections. But serious infections can overpower our bodies' ability to fight them off, …
Month: September 2014
NIH Director highlights Stanford research on breast cancer surgery choices
The director of the NIH, Francis Collins, MD, this morning weighed in on a topic that has garnered much attention lately: the type of surgery …
Stanford students design "enrichments" for lions, giraffe and kinkajou at the San Francisco Zoo
My job took me to the zoo. It was a rather unorthodox assignment for a medical writer, but one of our faculty at Stanford medical …
So my life will be shorter than I’d hoped – what should I do differently?
We’ve partnered with Inspire, a company that builds and manages online support communities for patients and caregivers, to launch a patient-focused series here on Scope. …
Gut bacteria may influence effectiveness of flu vaccine
Past research has shown that the microbes living in your gut can dictate how body fat is stored, hormone response and glucose levels in the …
How can health-care providers better leverage social media to improve patient care?
A growing number of Americans are turning to the Internet for health information and many are using social media tools to engage with patients like …
Should we worry? Stanford's global health chief weighs in on Ebola
As Ebola rampages across western Africa, Stanford Magazine sat down with Michele Barry, MD, who directs Stanford's Center for Innovation in Global Health. Barry knows …
Abraham Verghese discusses stealing metaphors and the language of medicine at TEDMED
Few of us pay close attention to metaphors used in the language of medicine. Instead, our focus is typically on words relating to symptoms, test …
Grand Roundup: Top posts for the week of Sept. 7
The five most-read stories this week on Scope were: Skin cancer linked to UV-caused mutation in new oncogene, say Stanford researchers: Researchers here have identified …
William Dement: Stanford Medicine’s "Sandman"
Sixty years before he would be referred to as the "Father of Sleep Medicine," William Dement, MD, PhD, got kicked out of a class for …
Tiny hitchhikers, big health impact: Studying the microbiome to learn about disease
I don't know about you, but I'm fascinated with the idea of the "microbiome." If you're unfamiliar with the term, it describes the millions upon …
Science is like an ongoing mystery novel, says Stanford neurobiologist Carla Shatz
We all know that Carla Shatz, PhD, director of the interdisciplinary institute Stanford Bio-X, is a pioneering scientist -- her work in early brain development …
Proteins from pond scum revolutionize neuroscience
I wrote a story recently about a cool technique called optogenetics, developed by bioengineering professor Karl Deisseroth, MD, PhD. He won the Keio Prize in …
Lloyd B. Minor, Stanford medical school’s dean, shares five principles of leadership
One of the highlights of this past weekend's Medicine X was a course - "Navigating Complexity and Change: Principles of Leadership" - taught by our …
Studying the drivers of metastasis to combat cancer
Today we're launching Biomed Bites, a weekly series created to highlight some of Stanford Medicine's most compelling research and introduce readers to promising scientists from …
Defining a “public-health emergency” in an age of complex health threats
When chemicals used in coal mining were spilled into the Elk River in West Virginia in January, the governor declared a state of emergency the …