Warren symposium follows legacy of geneticist giant

If we want to understand how the brain creates memories, and how genetic disorders distort the brain’s machinery, then the fragile X gene is an ideal place to start. That’s why the Stephen T. Warren Memorial Symposium, taking place November 28-29 at Emory, will be a significant event for those interested in neuroscience and genetics. Stephen T. Warren, 1953-2021 Warren, the founding chair of Emory’s Department of Human Genetics, led an international team that discovered Read more

Mutations in V-ATPase proton pump implicated in epilepsy syndrome

Why and how disrupting V-ATPase function leads to epilepsy, researchers are just starting to figure Read more

Tracing the start of COVID-19 in GA

At a time when COVID-19 appears to be receding in much of Georgia, it’s worth revisiting the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Emory virologist Anne Piantadosi and colleagues have a paper in Viral Evolution on the earliest SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequences detected in Georgia. Analyzing relationships between those virus sequences and samples from other states and countries can give us an idea about where the first COVID-19 infections in Georgia came from. We can draw Read more

CT scan

Detecting Lung Cancer at a Higher Rate

The findings from a recent study show the risk of dying from lung cancer could be reduced by 20 percent by use of a low-dose helical computed tomography (CT) scan.  With 160,000 deaths each year related to cigarette smoking, this type of screening could save up to 32,000 lives each year.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) launched the multicenter National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) in 2002,  led at Emory by radiologist and researcher Dr. Kay Vydareny.  This trial compared two ways of detecting lung cancer: low-dose helical (spiral) computed tomography (CT) and standard chest X-ray, for their effects on lung cancer death rates in a high-risk population.

Both chest X-rays and helical CT scans have been used as a means to find lung cancer early, but the effects of these screening techniques on lung cancer mortality rates had not been determined. Over a 20-month period, more than 53,000 current or former heavy smokers ages 55 to 74 joined NLST at 33 study sites across the United States. In November 2010, the initial findings from NLST were released. Participants who received low-dose helical CT scans had a 20 percent lower risk of dying from lung cancer than participants who received standard chest X-rays.

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New technology enables precision in jaw reconstruction

Steven Roser, MD

According to experts in restorative dentistry, when people have misaligned jaws where the upper and lower teeth don’t match, the functional impact ranges from articulation and speech problems to problems with eating.

When jaw reconstruction is required, the outcome must be precise but first, as suggested by the best dentist Briarwood, the patient’s jaw must be examined to decide whether this reconstruction is needed or not. The way people eat and bite is a very sensitive mechanism, and teeth have to meet in a certain way in order to bite and chew correctly. You can visit sites like durhamdental.net to schedule an appointment with a dentist.

Planning the surgery is the key.

A new system being used by Emory oral and maxillofacial surgeons helps them reach a level of preoperative planning that they had not been able to achieve before.

The system takes data from the patient obtained through CT scan (Computed Tomography) and optical scanning, and puts it into a software program that has been developed to allow the surgery to be performed virtually on the computer. This preoperative planning assists in the construction of an accurate intra-operative guide.

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Medical imaging experts on quality and safety

Recently, a great deal of media coverage has focused on radiological services such as CT scans, and questions have been raised over the safety related to the increasing use of those services and the amount of radiation they deliver.

Medical imaging procedures, such as CT or CAT scans, are considered by experts to be highly useful for the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of many medical conditions including cancer, heart disease, trauma, and liver and kidney disease. The recent increase in attention and exposure via the media is valuable, say Emory experts, in highlighting rapidly improving imaging technologies and the importance of ensuring such scans are performed in a setting where there is carefully monitoring to minimize associated radiation exposure.

CT scanner

CT scanner

Emory’s Department of Radiology is well-recognized for its expertise in all subspecialty areas of radiology and medical imaging, as well as its breadth and depth of medical physicists, researchers and educators.

Carolyn Meltzer, MD, William P. Timmie Professor and chair of the Department of Radiology in Emory’s School of Medicine, says, “Emory radiologists are the physician experts in imaging, most receiving more than 13 years of extensive training. In fact, radiologists receive substantive training in radiation biology and safety that is linked to their board certification.”

According to Kimberly Applegate, MD, vice chair of Quality and Safety for Emory’s Department of Radiology, commented on safety recently in the New England Journal of Medicine. She wrote in the article, “The medical community should continue to work together across disciplines to use existing knowledge about radiation protection to ensure that imaging is warranted and optimized.”

When patients do need imaging, they should ask if the imaging personnel are credentialed and the protocols used are weight-based and indication-based, to ensure quality, notes Applegate. Emory subspecialty radiologists work in multidisciplinary clinical teams to make sure that imaging is used appropriately, she adds.

In order to minimize radiation exposure, Emory Radiology adheres to the following guidelines: CT protocols are optimized by subspecialty-trained radiologists to ensure quality and safe imaging procedures. Further, explains Applegate, low radiation exam protocols are used when appropriate and CTs or X-rays are not performed on pregnant patients unless it is a medical emergency.

Further, in accordance with ACR (American College of Radiology) guidelines, Emory Radiology does not offer whole body screening CT exams. These tests result in unnecessary radiation and often lead to additional unneeded tests, says Applegate.

Click here for more information about radiation safety and what Emory is doing to educate all stakeholders in medical imaging and to ensure safe, high quality imaging. To learn more about medical imaging and expected radiation levels visit RadiologyInfo.

For a summary of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) report on American radiation exposure from all sources, including medical imaging, visit The NCRP report 160: Ionizing Radiation Exposure of the Population of the United States (2009).

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