Skip to contents
In This Issue:
Marc Pfeffer, MD, PhDChis Cannon, MDTobias Kurth, MD, ScDMike Farzan, PhDEva Schernhammer, MD, DrPh
Marc Pfeffer, MD, PhD, principal investigator of the VALIANT clinical trial – the largest international investigation of heart attack survivors – presented results of his comparison between ACE inhibitors and ARB therapy at the Annual American Heart Association Meeting on Monday, November 10. The findings were also simultaneously published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Pfeffer’s research proved that valsartan is as effective as a proven dose of captopril in reducing the risk of second heart attack. Coverage was detailed in the The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, The Boston Globe and the Boston Herald.Chris Cannon, MD, was also a leading voice at the AHA meeting, weighing in on the topic of cholesterol-lowering drugs. His perspective as a top researcher in this field was included in articles published by The Associated Press, USA Today, Reuters, Newsday, and ABC News.Based on data collected from the Women’s Health Study, Tobias Kurth, MD, ScD, and his BWH research team found that a woman’s risk of bleeding stroke directly correlates to the number of cigarettes smoked. The data also indicated the women who stopped smoking had no increased risk. This study was published in the journal, Stroke on November 13 and was covered by The New York Times.In a study published in the November 26 issue of the journal, Nature, research teams from BWH and the Children’s Hospital Boston identified the first receptor for the SARS virus. The discovery, led by BWH microbiologist Michael Farzan, PhD, provides scientists with instant information on how to block the virus from infecting cells, fueling further research into potential inhibitors, animal models and vaccines. The Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal and Reuters covered the findings. Eva Schernhammer, MD, DrPH, presented new cancer data from the Nurses’ Health Study at the American Association for Cancer Research 2nd Annual Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Meeting on October 27. Her abstract presentation showed that women who were regular aspirin users over a long duration had a 58 percent increased risk of pancreatic cancer. In addition to coverage by The Associated Press, articles appeared in The New York Times, Newsday and the Boston Herald. In another Nurses’ Health Study investigation, Sunmin Lee, ScD (not pictured), published findings on the relationship between caregiving for grandchildren and a woman’s risk of heart disease. The research appeared in the November issue of the American Journal of Public Health. Local television stations WBZ-TV (Channel 4) and WLVI (Channel 56) interviewed Lee along with reporters from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. In the November issue of the journal, CANCER, BWH researcher Brian Liu, PhD (not pictured), published an article describing his discovery of a new marker for prostate cancer that may improve upon the shortcomings of the current PSA test. Applying state-of-the-art tissue analysis technology, Liu identified a protein, named PCa-24 that accurately detected cancer in 94 percent of cases. News of the discovery appeared on WCVB-TV (Channel 5) and in The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, and The Wall Street Journal.