Colleges
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First Human Bladder Transplant Performed at UCLA Health
A historic surgery, the result of years of research, opens the door for improved treatment of non-functioning bladders. A UCLA Health surgical team has performed the first-in-human bladder transplant, marking a major advancement in organ transplantation. The procedure was successfully completed at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center on May 4, 2025. The team was led by Dr. Nima Nassiri, a…
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Chemo-immunotherapy approach shows potential benefit in patients with advanced HPV-negative head and neck cancer
Researchers from the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center demonstrated the potential of a novel treatment approach including immunotherapy to treat advanced human papillomavirus (HPV)-negative head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). More than half of study participants had 50% or more of their tumors shrink after receiving the immunotherapy drug nivolumab with chemotherapy, followed by response-adaptive chemo-radiation…
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Functional MRI provides ‘roadmap’ for surgery in previously inoperable areas of the brain
Adèle Noyer’s parents noticed the indentation in her chest as a baby. Both her father and grandfather had slight hollows, a condition called pectus excavatum, or “sunken chest syndrome,” where rib cartilage pushes the breastbone inward. By third grade, Adèle struggled to keep up with friends and became easily breathless. Her pediatrician referred her to a surgeon at UCLA Health.…
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Former U.S. attorney general chooses UChicago Medicine for robotic and minimally invasive heart surgery
When former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft needed heart surgery, he considered only one place: the University of Chicago Medicine. He also knew the surgeon he wanted: robotic cardiac surgery pioneer Husam H. Balkhy, MD. “My aspiration was to go to the very best place possible,” said John Ashcroft, who served under former President George W. Bush from 2001 to…
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Vocal cord surgery for rare tumor gives ABC7 anchor her voice back
Samantha Chatman noticed that her smooth, warm timbre was becoming increasingly hoarse. The weekend morning anchor and investigative reporter for Chicago’s ABC7 initially thought the cause was her allergies or asthma. But after the hoarseness grew worse, she took the advice of her pastor in February 2024. “He said, ‘You probably want to see an ear, nose and throat specialist…
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Combination approach shows promise for treating rare, aggressive cancers
UCLA research finds that combining immunotherapy with chemotherapy is safe and effective for people with advanced small cell cancers in the bladder and prostate. A research team led by UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center investigators has shown that combining pembrolizumab, an immunotherapy drug, with standard chemotherapy can improve treatment outcomes for patients with small cell bladder cancer and small…
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‘Too many more years to live’: Tinley Park woman becomes living donor for husband needing kidney transplant
LaVerne Bartee, 51, had never donated blood before. But in October 2022, the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital events and communications manager was working near a hospital blood drive and decided to donate on a whim. A few weeks later, she discovered she had the same blood type as her husband with kidney failure who was on the…
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Unlocking the potential of patient-derived organoids for personalized sarcoma treatment
Investigators at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed the largest collection of sarcoma patient-derived organoids to date that can help improve understanding of the disease and better identify therapies that are most likely to work for each individual patient. The approach, described in Cell Stem Cell, uses patients’ own tumor cells to replicate the unique characteristics of…
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Dr. Robert Ojiambo
“There is existing evidence that if you spend time in sedentary behavior, you are conserving energy, and this conserved energy has negative health implications.” Dr. Robert Ojiambo joined Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) in July 2024 and currently holds the position of Associate Professor of Physiology and Biophysics. His research focuses on human energy balance and the relationship between energy intake,…
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WCM-Q program promotes professionalism in medical education in a highly diverse culture
A symposium and webinar series offered by the Division of Continuing Professional Development at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) addressed the challenges associated with fostering professionalism in medical education in Qatar’s highly diverse multicultural context. The symposium, titled Fostering Professionalism in Medical Education: Exploring Effective Approaches for Diverse Learners, features a full day of interactive sessions led by highly experienced WCM-Q…
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