In classic Silicon Valley style, it began with an informal group of about a dozen physicians and engineers wanting to invent new medical devices desperately …
Author: Ruthann Richter
Study shows that promoting abstinence, fidelity for HIV prevention is ineffective
PEPFAR, the U.S. government’s signature program for HIV treatment and prevention, has long supported projects in the developing world that encourage sexual abstinence and fidelity. …
New device improves contraceptive options for women in the developing world
Many women in the developing world say they don’t want to get pregnant in the 18 months after childbirth, but they don’t have access to …
The most important letter you may ever write
When most people are asked how they would like to die, they'll tell you they want to go gently and comfortably, with family at their …
Using arts and communication to help physicians improve health, avoid suicide
Physicians are more prone to suicide than members of the general population, as stress, burnout and emotional exhaustion are becoming endemic to the profession. But …
Study shows huge lag in surgery in poor nations
In this country, if you suffer a broken leg, you can be reassured that there is a surgeon available to help fix it and there's …
The “little angel” who helps young Latin American children with cancer
Eduardo Zambrano’s spare office in Stanford Hospital displays some of the essentials of his pathology practice: a large microscope which dominates his desktop and a …
Growing resistance to vital HIV drug raises concern
HIV resistance to the antiviral tenofovir, one of the mainstays of HIV treatment and prevention, is increasingly common following therapy, particularly in low and middle-income …
Clean water for Dhaka, one pump at a time
More than two years ago, Amy Pickering, PhD, and her Stanford colleagues were just starting to field-test a radical new approach to clean up the …
Pedicure soothes lab mice with serious skin disease
Laboratory mice commonly suffer from a skin problem called ulcerative dermatitis – itchy lesions that spur the animals to repeatedly scratch themselves with their hind …
C-section rates up to 19 percent help save women and their newborns, global study finds
Cesarean sections are the most commonly performed operations around the world. But just how effective are these procedures, which have their own risks and complications, …
Using innovation to improve health in the developing world
How can Silicon Valley-style know-how help improve health and lift up the lives of the poor in the developing world? That question was the focus …
From A to ZZZZs: The trouble with teen sleep
When I recently began working on a story on teen sleep for Stanford Medicine magazine, I was afraid I might not find teens who were …
From bedside to patient: an Ebola survivor’s remarkable journey
When Ian Crozier, MD, volunteered to treat Ebola patients in West Africa last year, he couldn't possibly have imagined that he would become a case …
A look at “India’s medical miracle,” the largest ambulance service in the world
A patient in shock arrives via ambulance at Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad, India with a gaping wound in his right hand, blood spattered on his …
Pharmaceutical adventures in India
In the course of a recent trip to India, I developed some minor health problems and found myself doing what many locals do: consulting with …