Editorial on bilateral vs single coronary bypass surgery
John Puskas, chief of cardiac surgery at Emory University Hospital Midtown, recently had an editorial in the journal Circulation on the topic of coronary bypass surgery. Specifically, he says that many cardiac surgeons are reluctant to employ bilateral internal thoracic artery grafts (as opposed to a single graft), even though there is a long-term benefit, […]
Striking graph showing gene-stress interactions in PTSD
This graph, from a recent paper in Nature Neuroscience, describes how variations in the gene FKBP5 make individuals more susceptible to physical and sexual abuse, and thus more likely to develop PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). The paper is the result of a collaboration between Elisabeth Binder and her colleagues at the Max Planck Institute of […]
Seeing in triangles with grid cells
When processing what the eyes see, the brains of primates don’t use square grids, but instead use triangles, research from Yerkes neuroscientist Beth Buffalo’s lab suggests. She and graduate student Nathan Killian recently published (in Nature) their description of grid cells, neurons in the entorhinal cortex that fire when the eyes focus on particular locations. […]
Tangled up with tau
Pathologist Keqiang Ye and his colleagues have identified a new potential drug target in Alzheimer’s disease. It’s called SRPK2 (serine-arginine protein kinase 2). Depleting this enzyme from the brain using genetic engineering tools alleviates cognitive impairment in an animal model of Alzheimer’s. The result suggests that drugs Cheap Oakleys that target this enzyme could be […]
Dissecting how chronic stress leads to depression
How can we study depression and antidepressants in animals? They can’t talk and tell us how they’re feeling. Previously, researchers have used the model of “behavioral despair,†with examples of the forced swimming test or the tail suspension test. Several psychiatrists have been arguing that a new framework is needed, which better simulates aspects of […]
Antiviral sugars in human milk
Biochemists Rick Cummings and David Smith have a paper in Journal of Biological Chemistry describing antiviral sugar molecules present in human milk. The first author is postdoctoral fellow Ying Yu. Cummings and Smith are pioneers in the field of glycomics, studying the sugar molecules that decorate our proteins and coat our cells. They have found […]
AHA meeting highlights — an Emory-centric view
Poring over the abundance of information presented at major scientific meetings is like trying to drink from a firehose. Imposing an Emory-centric filter on this year’s American Heart Association Scientific Sessions meeting in Los Angeles, here are three highlights, with a shoutout to the AHA journal Circulation, which provides a database of meeting abstracts. Alginate […]
Cilia = not silly
Please check out the news story on “Cilia guide neuronal migration in developing brain,” illustrating the dynamic role played by cilia. Cilia are tiny hair-like structures on the surfaces of cells, but in the brain they are acting more like radio antennae. In developing mouse embryos, Emory and UNC researchers were able to see cilia […]
Should you move your loved one with dementia into a nursing home?
Deciding to move a loved one into a nursing home is an incredibly difficult one. It is absolutely heartbreaking to send a parent, relative or close friend away to a nursing facility like the one at carltonseniorliving.com/community/pleasant-hill-downtown/ because we recognize that they are struggling in their day-to-day lives to take care of themselves as well […]
On the FastTrac to entrepreneurship
A recent feature in Nature Jobs highlights the growing trend of entrepreneurship training for scientists. Emory’s Office of Technology Transfer, together with their counterparts at UGA and Georgia Tech, organized a six week FastTrac entrepreneurship course which just wrapped up last week. An article in Emory Medicine describes this course, which was also offered in […]