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The National Institutes of Health awarded a $2.9 million grant to Tulane University neuroscientist Dr. Stacy Drury to lead a research network that will set methodological standards for studying a part of the chromosome that scientists increasingly recognize as an important biological marker of...In the News Imported
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Tulane medical students hold head-shaving fundraiser for cancer research - Jan 16, 2020
Several Tulane University School of Medicine students participated in the annual St. Baldrick’s Day event on Jan. 15 in the lobby of the Tulane Medical Center. The event is a head-shaving fundraiser that benefits St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the national, volunteer-driven charity committed to supporting research to find cures for childhood cancers. The students have raised over $7,000 for this year’s event. For more information on St. Baldrick's...
For Auld Lang Syne, My Dear... - Dec 23, 2019
Now that 2020 is here and Tulanians are preparing for the excitement of new challenges and opportunities, let’s take a moment to reflect and show gratitude for the university community and this year’s accomplishments. Below are Tulane Today's most-read stories of 2019:
A team of researchers, including two from Tulane University, identified a rare new species of pocket shark. The specimen was caught in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 and brought...
NIH taps Tulane neuroscientist to lead effort to standardize research in genetic aging - Dec 03, 2019
The National Institutes of Health awarded a $2.9 million grant to Tulane University neuroscientist Dr. Stacy Drury to lead a research network that will set methodological standards for studying a part of the chromosome that scientists increasingly recognize as an important biological marker of aging and age-related diseases.
Drury will launch the Telomere Research Network to establish best practices for measuring telomere length in...
American College of Surgeons honors Tulane resident for volunteer service in Haiti - Dec 03, 2019
The American College of Surgeons (ACS) recently awarded one of its highest honors for volunteerism to former Tulane surgery resident Alison Smith, MD, PhD, for her work to provide medical care to the people of Haiti.
Smith, who received the Resident Volunteerism Award, was one of only five surgeons across the nation honored with ACS humanitarian and volunteerism awards.
“Alison has made an incredible contribution to the maintenance of health...
Study finds common cold virus can infect the placenta - Dec 02, 2019
Researchers have shown that a common cold virus can infect cells derived from human placentas, suggesting that it may be possible for the infection to pass from expectant mothers to their unborn children.
The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, was led by Dr. Giovanni Piedimonte, professor of pediatrics and vice president of research at Tulane University.
“This is the first evidence that a common cold virus can infect the human placenta,”...
Two Tulane physicians awarded high honors from American Heart Association - Nov 27, 2019
The American Heart Association recently honored two Tulane University physicians, cardiologist Dr. Keith Ferdinand and epidemiology professor Dr. Paul Whelton, with national awards for their outstanding contribution to the field of cardiology and cardiovascular research.
The AHA’s Council on Clinical Cardiology presented Ferdinand with the 2019 James B. Herrick Award, which award honors a physician whose scientific achievements have...
Tulane celebrates dedication of John W. Deming Department of Medicine - Nov 25, 2019
Tulane University School of Medicine recently celebrated the dedication of the John W. Deming Department of Medicine and the formal unveiling of a portrait of the department’s namesake, Dr. John Winton Deming (M ’44), on the seventh floor of the Hutchinson Building downtown.
John Deming’s wife of 50 years, Bertie Deming Smith, her children, Cathy Pierson (G ’78, SW ’89), Bebe Heiner and Claiborne Deming (A&S ’76, L ’79), and extended family...
Fulbright Scholar Rida Iftikhar Wants to Make a Difference for the People of Pakistan - Nov 22, 2019
After five years of medical training, Rida Iftikhar earned an MPhil in Histology and published a first-author paper (2016) while working as a surgical pathologist at the Army Medical College in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. However, she wanted to make a broader impact in her field by developing cost-efficient, scalable techniques for cancer diagnostics that could be accessible to outpatient facilities throughout Pakistan. Rida realized that she would...
Fulbright Scholar Travels 8700 Miles from Zimbabwe for a Biomedical Sciences PhD at Tulane - Nov 21, 2019
Benjamin Bhunu was looking for opportunities to study abroad after graduating with a first-class honors degree in biochemistry from the University of Zimbabwe, located in the capital city, Harare. In the year after he graduated, he visited the EducationUSA Advising Center, sponsored by the US Embassy. There he learned about the Fulbright program and began the arduous 18-month selection process that brought him to the Tulane Graduate Program in...
Tulane Medicine alumna gives lecture on living a significant life - Nov 13, 2019
Tulane alumna Sophia Omoro, MD, challenged her audience to dedicate their lives to actions more than results, at a talk Wednesday, Nov. 6, sponsored by the Tulane Group on Women in Medicine and Science (GWIMS).
Her lecture, titled “How Significant Are You?” advised the audience to discover “what you were brought into existence to do – not be” as the key to living a significant life. Omoro, a native of Kenya who graduated from...
Human impact on the Mississippi River region, planet is subject of Tulane conference - Oct 31, 2019
The New Orleans Center for the Gulf South at Tulane University will host an international gathering Nov. 10-16 devoted to the human impact on and around the Mississippi River region basin and the planet.
"Anthropocene River Campus: The Human Delta" is the culmination of a year-long study of the Mississippi River related to such key themes as flow of commodities, river engineering and evolutionary stability, and claims to property and access.
The...
Study finds topsoil is key harbinger of lead exposure risks for children - Oct 14, 2019
Tracking lead levels in soil over time is critical for cities to determine lead contamination risks for their youngest and most vulnerable residents, according to a new Tulane University study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study, which focuses on New Orleans but could serve as a model for cities around the world, is the first to show how long-term changes in soil lead levels have a corresponding impact in...
Tulane researcher is editor of journal issue honoring 40th anniversary of key cancer discovery - Oct 01, 2019
It’s the most important suppressor of growth in cancer tumors and the most intensively studied molecule in biomedical research, yet scientists are still unraveling the mysteries of p53 almost 40 years after its discovery.
Leading p53 researcher Hua Lu, PhD, of Tulane University School of Medicine, was chosen to edit a special edition of the Journal of Molecular Cell Biology dedicated to the history of p53 research. The issue includes articles...
Ten students join first allied health program at School of Medicine - Sep 23, 2019
In January, 10 students will begin training in the first cohort of Tulane School of Medicine’s first allied health program, the master’s degree as a pathologists’ assistant (PA). The program is one of 13 such programs in the United States and the only one in the Gulf South.
A pathologists’ assistant — not to be confused with a physician assistant — is a highly trained allied health professional with two years of dedicated study in anatomic...
Leaving a legacy - Sep 23, 2019
During his long career at Tulane University School of Medicine, Dean Baker Ellithorpe, MD (M ’62, I ’63, R ’68, F ’71), became known for his passion for helping patients with cystic fibrosis. He included Tulane School of Medicine in his estate plans by creating a professorship to ensure his mission lives on.
Ross Klingsberg, MD (A&S ’88, M ’02, F ’08), an associate professor at the School of Medicine, is the inaugural Dean Baker Ellithorpe,...