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More in-depth discussions about Mayo Clinic Research departments, programs, initiatives, etc.
March 20, 2020
Mayo Researchers Develop Unique Tool, Lab to Study Vaping
By Advancing the Science contributor 
Jon Ebbert, M.D., is sympathetic to the plight of the patients he sees who are struggling with addiction. “I saw a lot of addiction growing up,” he tells Rochester Magazine’s Steve Lange. “I know the damage it can do.” Dr. Ebbert, a Community Internal Medicine physician and researcher in Mayo Clinic’s Nicotine Dependence Center, also understands why […]
Tags: Alexandra Ward, COVID-19, Jon Ebbert, lung disease, medical research, Nicotine Dependence Center, vaping
February 14, 2020
Filling hearts instead of test tubes
By Advancing the Science contributor
Editor’s note: This story is not about Mayo Clinic research, but rather about a part of a researcher’s life that builds hope in little hearts, and gives him joy. It’s 10 a.m. on a Thursday, and Merrick Ducharme is up to his elbows (OK, his wrists) in slime. The gooey, gluey mixture is not one […]
February 13, 2020
Embracing clinical research with ‘both feet and hands’
Adrian Vella, M.D., says medical careers run like a hereditary condition in his family. “My father is a physician, my brother is a surgeon, and there are lots of medical people on my mother’s side as well.” So it was almost inevitable that, from an early age, he thought about becoming a physician as well. […]
Tags: Adrian Vella, Center for Clinical and Translational Science, clinical research, clinical trials, diabetes, endocrinology, Henry Schultz, K Sreekumaran Nair, Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education, Michael Jensen, Robert Rizza
February 11, 2020
Clinical Decision Support: Making It Easy to Do the Right Thing
By Advancing the Science contributor
According to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, clinical decision support provides clinicians, staff, patients or other individuals with knowledge and person-specific information, intelligently filtered or presented at appropriate times, to enhance health and health care. At Mayo Clinic there are a range of activities surrounding the development, optimization and implementation […]
Tags: anesthesiology, artificial intelligence, clinical informatics, Justin Kreuter, Matthew Warner, Mayo Clinic Laboratories, patient safety, shared decision making
February 6, 2020
Improving the quality of life for the aging population in Rochester and beyond
By Advancing the Science contributor
By Adolfo Espitia Jr., public affairs intern Diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension some years ago, Elizabeth, now 65, was left with a debilitating condition that prevented her from even light activities. She had to rely on her husband to take care of their home. Finally, the medications she had taken for 10 years stopped working, forcing […]
Tags: aging, Center for Clinical and Translational Science, geriatrics, Kogod Center on Aging, population health, Robert Pignolo
February 5, 2020
“I Just Didn’t Understand”: On a Mission to Cure ALS
By Advancing the Science contributor
By Barbara J. Toman For Veronique Belzil, Ph.D., the fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is personal. In 2000, while working as a psychologist in Canada, she watched her husband’s uncle succumb to the disease. “The progression was so fast and his condition was so sad,” she says. “I just didn’t understand how this could […]
Tags: ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Center for Individualized Medicine, DNA, epigenetics, Lou Gehrig's disease, Veronique Belzil
February 3, 2020
Merging minds to accelerate research discovery
By Advancing the Science contributor
Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University formed the Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University Alliance for Health Care in 2010 to merge minds and accelerate research discoveries, improve patient care through innovation and transform medical education to enhance health outcomes. Highlights of two of the joint research efforts follow. Identifying a blood-based biomarker for early-stage […]
Tags: Alzheimer's disease, Arizona State University, basic science, biomarkers, Charles Adler, infectious disease, Michael Sierks, MRSA, Parkinson's disease, Robin Patel
January 31, 2020
How a love for learning inspired an investment in physicians of the future
By Advancing the Science contributor
Jay Alix grew up surrounded by an unlikely team of experts. That, and a supportive community, gave him a push that turned him into a world-class business leader. Now a member of the Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees, he’s sharing his legendary business acumen to help Mayo Clinic educate the next generation of physician-scientists and […]
Tags: Gianrico Farrugia, John Noseworthy, Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Mayo Clinic Model of Research, medical innovation, research, research education
January 24, 2020
The Compass offers direction on biomedical issues
By Advancing the Science contributor
By Jay Furst A compass, whether the old-fashioned kind in a brass case or the hands-free version on your dashboard, provides direction and helps you to find your way. The word’s Latin origin, though, is about more than navigation. It’s the root of the word “compassion,” which implies feeling, connectedness and presence. It’s that deeper […]
Tags: biomedical ethics, Center for Clinical and Translational Science, Center for Individualized Medicine, Daniel Hall-Flavin, health humanities, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, research, Richard Sharp
January 6, 2020
Out of the shadows: Understanding endocrine cancers
By Advancing the Science contributor
Most medical centers and major cancer organizations arrange cancers by organ systems. Patients with advanced radioactive iodine refractory thyroid cancers have traditionally been cared for in head and neck groups, and adrenal cancers in genitourinary groups. Unfortunately, this means that patients with endocrine cancers are embedded in groups that are home to much more prevalent […]
Tags: Ashish Chintakuntlawar, AskMayoExpert, clinical trials, Crystal Hilger, endocrine cancer, endocrinology, John Morris, Keith Bible, Mabel Ryder, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, oncology, thyroid cancer