URMC In the News

USNews & World Report (July 18) tapped Ruth Lawrence to remark on a new Mexico-based study showing that breast-fed babies suffer fewer GI infections.

A front page article in the New York Times (Aug. 5) featured neurologist Irene Richard in a Q&A exploring the emotional toll of Parkinson’s disease.

The Washington Post (July 29) cited Shanna Swan's research showing that phthalates, chemicals commonly used in making plastics, could lead to reproductive problems in baby boys. Swan’s study helped catalyze Congress' proposed ban on using such chemicals in children's products.

ABC News (Aug. 13) included comments from Timothy Quill, who advocates the importance of alleviating despair in cancer patients to help reduce their risk for suicide.

Iwona Cygankiewicz's research – the first study to highlight heart rate turbulence (HRT) as a useful predictor for sudden death in heart failure patients – was highlighted both in the USNews & World Report (Aug. 8) and Business Week (Aug. 8).

CBS News (Aug. 8) and WebMD (Aug. 7) shared social worker Kim Hober’s insight into why a new CDC trend report shows that men are twice as likely to adopt as women.

CBS News (Aug. 15), MSNBC (Aug. 15), Newsweek (Aug. 15) and many others reported on Frederick J. Marshall's clinical research, which led to approval of Xenadine, the first drug to treat Huntington's disease. While the drug doesn’t cure the disease, it does relieve one of its hallmark symptoms: jerky, involuntary movements that force many patients to live as shut-ins.

The New York Times (Aug.11) spotlighted Wilfred Pigeon’s advice on how to overcome insomnia – without pills.

ABC News (Aug. 14) asked Alice Pentland to weigh in on new research suggesting that moisturizers might increase the risk of developing skin cancer.

The Washington Post (July 23), along with other major media outlets, included Jennifer Pryor’s discovery of a key protein that helps distinguishes malignant melanomas from benign moles.

Eric Singer spoke to the U.S.News and World Report (Aug. 5), stressing the urgency of early screening for men who have prostate cancer in their family history.

Arthur Papier wrote to the New York Times (Aug. 6), shattering the stereotype that most dermatologists focus on cosmetic procedures; rather, he wrote, most spend their time treating skin cancers and other skin diseases.

ABC News (Aug. 23) showcased Lianping Xing’s research, which explains how an enzyme called Smurf1 helps to drive rheumatoid arthritis-related bone loss.

Faculty Accomplishments

Craig Jordan, Ph.D., director of the Wilmot Cancer Center’s Translational Research Program for Hematologic Malignancies and associate professor of Biomedical Genetics, was recently named a Stohlmann Scholar by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Stohlman Scholars are named in memory of Frederick Stohlman Jr., M.D., a major figure in stem cell physiology and blood cell cancer research. Jordan is one of five scientists nationwide to receive the prestigious designation for his work with myeloid leukemia stem cells, from which cancers derive and relapses evolve.

Having served nearly 30 years as department chair and dean of the National University of Iran’s Dental School, Aliakbar Bahreman, D.D.S, M.S., was awarded for his dedication to and achievement in administration, education and research. He is the first dentistry faculty member to be named Professor Emeritus at the National University in Tehran, at which he was also awarded the highest medal in research. Bahreman has been full-time faculty member at Eastman Dental Center since 2003, teaching in orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, and general dentistry programs. He continues to visit Iran, where he provides lectures to dentistry residents.

Susan Gross Fisher, M.S., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Public Health Sciences at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, recently received a Presidential Citation for her role in a collaborative, national study of head and neck cancers. She is an accomplished researcher in caner epidemiology, and currently serves on the editorial board at two scientific journals, Journal of Clinical Oncology and Leukemia Research.