Category: Health and Medicine

2016-17, Engineering, Health, Medicine and Physiology

Photocurable Bioinks and 3D-Printed Hydrophilic Drugs

  By Caleb Sooknanan ’20 Pharmaceutical dosages are often defined as the amount of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) that has a therapeutic effect in the most patients. Using such a generalized method does not account for variations in patient genomic and pathophysiological status, leading to potential negative side-effects. Personalized medicine intends to provide patients with more individualized API concentrations in their prescriptions. However, changes in … Continue reading Photocurable Bioinks and 3D-Printed Hydrophilic Drugs

Unknown's avatarYoung Investigators ReviewLeave a comment
Figure 1. Mammalian brains can be influenced by non-genetic and Allele-Specific expression
2016-17, Genetics, Health, Medicine and Physiology

Sending Your Grandparents to University Increases Cognitive Reserve: The Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project

By Ericka Berman   One way to decrease the likelihood of Alzheimer’s disease is by increasing cognitive reserves (CR). Research supports the idea that education, intelligence, and cognitively stimulating activities modify the risk for dementia. CR is a theoretical construct, so it is measured indirectly. Dr. Megan Lenehan and her team of researchers used data from 459 participants ages 50-79 from the Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project … Continue reading Sending Your Grandparents to University Increases Cognitive Reserve: The Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project

Unknown's avatarYoung Investigators ReviewLeave a comment
Figure 1. Liraglutide 3·0 mg may reduce the risks of type 2 Diabetes.
2016-17, Health

Reduction of Type 2 Diabetes Via Weight Loss Drug

By Rideeta Raquib ’19 Prediabetes, also known as “borderline diabetes,” is a condition common among people with obesity who have increased blood sugar levels. Although it can eventually lead to type 2 diabetes, prediabetes can be cured through exercise and diet changes. In 2012, 86 million Americans of age 20 years or older had prediabetes. A drug, named Liraglutide 3·0 mg, can reduce body weight … Continue reading Reduction of Type 2 Diabetes Via Weight Loss Drug

Unknown's avatarYoung Investigators ReviewLeave a comment
2016-17, Health, Psychology

Using Positive Image Training to Regain Happiness

By Rideeta Raquib ’19 Emotion-related imagery training is a powerful tool for psychotherapy. Mental imagery can stimulate behavioral and physiological systems more effectively than verbal or informative stimulations. Imagery is less effective on patients diagnosed with generalized anxiety (GAD) because of the tendency to associate bright images with negative occurrences rather than generating positive images. Dr. Svetla Velikova and her team of researchers conducted a … Continue reading Using Positive Image Training to Regain Happiness

Unknown's avatarYoung Investigators ReviewLeave a comment
2016-17, Medicine and Physiology, Neuroscience

Blunted Neural Response to Rewards as a Prospective Predictor of the Development of Depression in Adolescent Girls

    By Ericka Berman Previous studies have shown that during adolescence, rates of depression increase markedly, and girls tend to have rates of depression twice as high as boys. Depressed adults were also shown to exhibit a decreased behavioral response to a reward and less brain activity in regions associated with reward processing in comparison to healthy adults. Dr. Brady Nelson and his team … Continue reading Blunted Neural Response to Rewards as a Prospective Predictor of the Development of Depression in Adolescent Girls

Unknown's avatarYoung Investigators ReviewLeave a comment
2016-17, Health, Neuroscience

Efficacy of Quetiapine Monotherapy in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial

          Ericka Berman Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating illness affecting approximately 7.8% of people in the U.S. over the course of their lifetime. As of now, two medications are approved in the U.S. to treat PTSD, but both treatments have limited success. Characteristics of the antipsychotic medication quetiapine suggest it may be helpful in treating PTSD symptoms of re-experiencing … Continue reading Efficacy of Quetiapine Monotherapy in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial

Unknown's avatarYoung Investigators ReviewLeave a comment
2016-17, Genetics, Medicine and Physiology

Norepinephrine Transporter in Major Depressive Disorder: A PET Study

    Ericka Berman Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a debilitating illness characterized by low mood and loss of interest in activities. In MDD, the neurotransmitter norepinephrine is believed to be dysregulated, contributing to the depressive symptoms. The goal of this study was to test norepinephrine transporter availability in patients with MDD in attempt to identify potential associations with clinical symptoms. Previous studies have looked … Continue reading Norepinephrine Transporter in Major Depressive Disorder: A PET Study

Unknown's avatarYoung Investigators ReviewLeave a comment
2016-17, Medicine and Physiology

Medicinal Properties Discovered in Certain Toad Species

By Rideeta Raquib ’19 Traditional medicinal compounds utilized to treat various diseases, ranging from stomach disorders to some types of cancers, are common in toads, specifically the Bufonidae family.  Scientists at the University of Panama, Panama’s government research center INDICASAT AIP, Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, and Acharya Nagarjuna University in Guntur, India, came together to identify several chemical components of the traditional medicines acquired from … Continue reading Medicinal Properties Discovered in Certain Toad Species

Unknown's avatarYoung Investigators ReviewLeave a comment
2016-17, Biology, Medicine and Physiology

Hearing Restoration Via Gene Delivery

By Rideeta Raquib ’19 Inner ear disease disrupts a key sense of hearing for many people worldwide. However, gene therapy can treat inner ear disease if reagents are introduced into appropriate cells. A group of researchers from Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Hospital managed to effectively restore hearing in mice by utilizing gene therapy. The inefficacy of vectors transferred into hair cells is a … Continue reading Hearing Restoration Via Gene Delivery

Unknown's avatarYoung Investigators ReviewLeave a comment
2016-17, Health

Chicoric Acid Supplementation May Prevent Memory Loss

Patrick Yang ’20 Chicoric acid, a common component in chicory and edible plants, such as lettuce and basil, is a known antioxidant that has anti-HIV and anti-obesity qualities. It can also reduce inflammation caused by high-fat diets and is rapidly distributed to tissues, including the brain, after ingestion. Because of its anti-inflammatory trait and ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, it may be able to … Continue reading Chicoric Acid Supplementation May Prevent Memory Loss

Unknown's avatarYoung Investigators ReviewLeave a comment
2016-17, Medicine and Physiology

New Blood Test Detects Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Patrick Yang ’20 Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), commonly known as the human form of mad cow disease, is a neurodegenerative condition that is transmitted from infected cattle to humans. The disease’s long incubation stage allows for an asymptomatic period when prions, or infectious proteins, multiply in the brain with no sign of infection. On average, infected individuals die one to two years after onset of … Continue reading New Blood Test Detects Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Unknown's avatarYoung Investigators ReviewLeave a comment
2016-17, Health

Research on the presence of carcinogenic compounds in Nigerian smoked fish

by Aaradhana Natarajan ’20 Smoked fish makes up nearly 61% of the dry fish produced in Nigeria. While smoking is a common technique for meat preservation, wood smoke typically produces Polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAHs), which then saturate the fish meat. Professor Isioma Tongo and researchers at the University of Benin in Nigeria studied the concentration of PAHs in four local species of smoked fish and … Continue reading Research on the presence of carcinogenic compounds in Nigerian smoked fish

Unknown's avatarYoung Investigators ReviewLeave a comment