All Posts:News Release
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Georgetown Genetic Counselor Offers Insight on Direct-to-Consumer DNA Testing Kits
WASHINGTON (December 20, 2018) — You better watch out, you better not cry, better not pout, I’m telling you why, DNA tests are coming to town. The DNA testing kit has become a popular holiday gift, with 100 million people expected to have used a direct-to-consumer (DTC) DNA test by the year 2020. However, “you better […]
Category: News Release
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WHO Expert Panel on Human Gene Editing a ‘Very Good Step,’ says Georgetown Medical Ethicist
MEDIA CONTACT:Karen Teberkm463@georgetown.edu WASHINGTON (December 14, 2018) — Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that it is establishing a “global multi-disciplinary expert panel to examine the scientific, ethical, social and legal challenges associated with human gene editing.” The announcement follows a Chinese scientist’s claim that he performed genetic editing to create twin girls who are resistant to HIV […]
Category: News Release
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Georgetown Lombardi’s Louis M. Weiner, MD, Named a National Academy of Inventors Fellow
MEDIA CONTACT:Karen Teberkm463@georgetown.edu WASHINGTON (December 11, 2018) — The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) has named Louis M. Weiner, MD, director of Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, to its 2018 class of fellows. According to the NAI, election to NAI Fellow status is the “highest professional distinction accorded to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit […]
Category: News Release
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In Times of Low Unemployment, Nursing Home Quality Suffers
MEDIA CONTACT:Karen Teberkm463@georgetown.edu WASHINGTON (December 7, 2018) — The low unemployment rate in the U.S. — which fell to a 49-year low in September and October — is good news to many people, but perhaps not to residents of nursing homes. A Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) study found that quality of care in nursing homes […]
Category: News Release
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Georgetown Medical Ethicist Voices Concern About Human Genetic Editing Claimed by Chinese Scientist
MEDIA CONTACT:Karen Teberkm463@georgetown.edu WASHINGTON (November 26, 2018) — Media outlets are reporting that a Chinese scientist says he performed genetic editing to create twins girls who are resistant to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. This would reportedly be the first known case of humans undergoing genetic editing before birth. The announcement has stunned the medical […]
Category: News Release
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As Vaping Increased in Popularity, Use of Cigarettes Declined
MEDIA CONTACT:Karen Teberkm463@georgetown.edu WASHINGTON (November 20, 2018) — A comprehensive analysis examining the relationship between vaping and smoking among youth and young adults finds that cigarette smoking dramatically decreased between 2013 and 2017 just as e-cigarette use became more popular. The study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, looked at five different U.S. population-level surveys that covered […]
Category: News Release
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Researchers Find Inhibiting One Protein Destroys Toxic Clumps Seen in Parkinson’s Disease
MEDIA CONTACT (ONLY, PLEASE):Karen Teberkm463@georgetown.edu WASHINGTON (November 14, 2018) — A defining feature of Parkinson’s disease is the clumps of alpha-synuclein protein that accumulate in the brain’s motor control area, destroying dopamine-producing neurons. Natural processes can’t clear these clusters, known as Lewy bodies, and no one has demonstrated how to stop the build up as well […]
Category: News Release
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Georgetown University Medical Center Selects Nora Volkow for Highest Honor
MEDIA CONTACTKaren Teberkm463@georgetown.edu WASHINGTON (November 12, 2018) — Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) will present Nora Volkow, MD, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a part of the National Institutes of Health, with its highest honor, the Cura Personalis Award, at a ceremony on Tuesday, Nov. 13, at 4 p.m. “The tradition of bestowing […]
Category: News Release
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Opioid Gene Variant in Adolescents Reduces Reward, May Increase Later Substance Abuse Risk
MEDIA CONTACTKaren Teberkm463@georgetown.edu SAN DIEGO (November 5, 2018) — Adolescents with a particular variant of an opioid receptor gene have less response in a part of the prefrontal cortex that evaluates rewards, compared to those with the other version of the gene, say researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC). For the study, presented Monday […]
Category: News Release
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Obese Mice Lose a Third of Their Fat Using a Natural Protein
MEDIA CONTACTKaren Teberkm463@georgetown.edu WASHINGTON (October 29, 2018) — To the great surprise of cancer researchers, a protein they investigated for its possible role in cancer turned out to be a powerful regulator of metabolism. The Georgetown University-led study found that forced expression of this protein in a laboratory strain of obese mice showed a remarkable […]
Category: News Release