News and Announcements
Read the latest news from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine’s Department of Preventive Medicine. The links below take you to articles where you can learn more about our faculty’s latest achievements, awards and honors.
10.14.2024Northwestern Medicine investigators have created a novel blood test that identifies adults who may be at increased risk of developing severe respiratory illnesses, according to a recent study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
09.25.2024Since 2013, Feinberg medical students have provided cardiovascular disease risk assessments and health counseling to underserved community members across Chicago through the Keep Your Heart Healthy program.
09.13.2024Patients who live in rural communities, Hispanic patients and Black patients with pre-existing diabetic retinopathy are less likely to receive annual diabetic eye exams than white patients, according to a recent Northwestern Medicine study.
08.09.2024Dietary acculturation may increase the risk of heart disease for people of Hispanic or Latino heritage in the U.S., according to a study published in Circulation.
07.22.2024Proteomic analysis of blood samples from pregnant individuals did not improve risk prediction of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy compared to current methods, underscoring the demand for more accurate prediction tools, according to findings published in JAMA Cardiology.
07.05.2024Circulating protein levels may serve as a biomarker for cardiorespiratory fitness, an important but previously hard-to-measure component of overall health, according to a study published in Nature Medicine.
05.20.2024A new Northwestern Medicine study published in JAMA has shown that technology alone can’t replace the human touch to produce meaningful weight loss in obesity treatment.
“Giving people technology alone for the initial phase of obesity treatment produces unacceptably worse weight loss than giving them treatment that combines technology with a human coach,” said corresponding study author Bonnie Spring, PhD, director of the Center for Behavior and Health in the Institute for Public Health and Medicine (IPHAM) and a professor of Preventive Medicine.
04.30.2024Postmenopausal women who took calcium and vitamin D supplements demonstrated reduced cancer mortality but increased cardiovascular mortality after a 20-year follow-up period, according to post-hoc analysis results published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
04.23.2024Feinberg investigators have been selected to lead a $15 million American Heart Association research initiative studying the role of inflammation in heart disease.
Matt Feinstein, ‘11 MD, ‘17 MS, associate professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology, will direct one of three centers in the country funded by the American Heart Association’s Strategically Focused Research Network (SFRN) on Inflammation in Cardiac and Neurovascular Disease, which will focus on understanding inflammatory responses and how to treat heart disease caused by inflammation.
Additional Feinberg faculty serving as principal investigators on projects in the Feinberg-based center include Sanjiv Shah, ’00 MD, the Neil J. Stone, MD, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology, Edward Thorp, PhD, the Frederick Robert Zeit Professor of Pathology, and Kiarri Kershaw, PhD, MPH, associate professor of Preventive Medicine in the Division of Epidemiology.
04.18.2024A large international team led by a Northwestern Medicine investigator has established new standardized diagnostic criteria for pediatric sepsis, according to two related studies published in JAMA.
04.15.2024Combining multiple heart disease drugs into a single “polypill” can help patients lower bad cholesterol and blood pressure, boost medication adherence, and reduce the risk for heart disease and death, according to a meta-analysis of recent clinical trials published in Nature Medicine.
04.12.2024A recent Northwestern Medicine comparative analysis of national survey results found that one in four U.S. adolescents in grades 9 through 12 reported their sexual identity as non-heterosexual, according to findings published in JAMA Pediatrics.
The study, led by Gregory Phillips II, PhD, associate professor of Medical Social Sciences and of Preventive Medicine in the Division of Epidemiology, emphasizes the need for inclusive approaches when working with sexual and gender minority youth in academic and healthcare settings, among others.
04.03.2024Mercedes Carnethon, PhD, vice chair and Mary Harris Thompson Professor of Preventive Medicine and co-chair of the Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure Committee at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, has been named chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine, effective September 1.
03.21.2024Adults with certain socio-demographic and clinical characteristics may have weaker antibody responses to COVID-19 vaccination, which could leader to a higher risk of infection, according to a recent study published in Nature Communications.
The study found that U.S. adults with lower antibody levels after COVID-19 vaccination were 65 years or older, male, had a higher body mass index, smoked or had a history of smoking, had a history of diabetes or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and who had received the Pfizer (BNT162b2) COVID-19 vaccine.
The findings emphasize that these patient groups may need to receive more frequent COVID-19 booster vaccinations to prevent future infections, according to Norrina Allen, PhD, MPH, the Quentin D. Young Professor of Health Policy, director of the Center for Epidemiology and Population Health and a co-author of the study.
03.12.2024Women in the healthcare field and their allies convened in the Feinberg Pavilion at Northwestern Memorial Hospital to celebrate women’s empowerment and success during the sixth annual Women in Medicine Conference, held on March 8.
Sadiya Khan, ‘09 MD, ‘14 MSc, ’10, ’12 GME, the Magerstadt Professor of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, and Shawn Smith, MD, assistant professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Hospital-Based Medicine, were also co-organizers of the conference.
01.05.2024Mary Kwasny, ScD, professor of Preventive Medicine in the Division of Biostatistics, has received the American Statistical Association’s (ASA) Founders Award, the highest award the organization bestows for distinguished service.
11.28.2023Preterm birth rates are an important marker in assessing a country’s overall health. And the United States isn’t fairing very well.
Individuals born in the U.S. had an overall higher rate (9.7 percent) of giving birth prematurely compared to U.S. immigrants (9 percent), a new Northwestern Medicine study published in JAMA Pediatrics has found.
11.17.2023For the first time in 10 years, the American Heart Association (AHA) has updated the model to predict someone’s risk of developing heart disease, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study published in the journal Circulation.
The update, called PREVENT (Predicting Risk of cardiovascular disease EVENTs), predicts someone’s risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) better and younger than before, and its race-free approach reflects the need to prioritize health equity when approaching prediction and prevention of CVD, said corresponding study author Sadiya Khan, MD, MSc, the Magerstadt Professor of Cardiovascular Epidemiology.
11.13.2023Nearly everyone can lower their blood pressure, even people currently on blood pressure-reducing drugs, by lowering their sodium intake, reports a new study published in JAMA from Northwestern Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
10.12.2023Pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia and gestational diabetes have recently been associated with a higher risk of developing heart disease later in life. But a new Northwestern Medicine study published in Circulation Research has found obesity before or during pregnancy is the actual root cause of future cardiovascular disease.
“We demonstrate, for the first time, that adverse pregnancy outcomes are primarily indicators — and not the root cause — of future heart health,” said corresponding author Sadiya Khan, ’09 MD, ’14 MSc, ’10, ’12 GME, the Magerstadt Professor of Cardiovascular Epidemiology in the Departments of Medicine and Preventive Medicine, and a Northwestern Medicine physician. “This means that pregnancy just reveals the risk for heart disease that is already there.”
09.27.2023Donald Lloyd-Jones, MD, ScM, the Eileen M. Foell Professor, has announced that he will be stepping down as chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine at the end of this academic year, after 15 years of distinguished leadership in the role. Since taking the helm in 2009, the department has grown tremendously, rising to the number one NIH-funded public health department of its kind, and internationally recognized as a premier destination for preventive medicine and population health.
09.22.2023A study led by Sadiya Khan, MD, MSc, the Magerstadt Professor of Cardiovascular Epidemiology in the Department of Medicine, found that Black residents living in highly segregated neighborhoods have significantly shortened life expectancies. Published in JAMA Health Forum, the study found that life expectancies of people in highly segregated areas are four years shorter on average compared to residents living in less segregated predominantly white neighborhoods.
09.22.2023Researchers with the Center for Advancing Safety of Machine Intelligence (CASMI) are studying expectant mothers’ stress levels to combat them in real time and even prevent them. Maia Jacobs, Northwestern assistant professor of computer science and preventive medicine, and Nabil Alshurafa, Northwestern associate professor of preventive medicine and of computer science and electrical and computer engineering, are principal investigators (PIs) of the CASMI-funded research project, “Co-Designing Patient-Facing Machine Learning for Prenatal Stress Reduction.”
08.30.2023Kristi Holmes, PhD, professor of Preventive Medicine, director of Northwestern’s Galter Health Sciences Library and chief of knowledge management for the Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (I.AIM), has been named the new associate dean for knowledge management and strategy at Feinberg.
08.01.2023Mary McDermott, MD, ’92 GME, the Jeremiah Stamler Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine, has been awarded the American Heart Association 2023 Clinical Research Prize.
07.28.2023Black residents living in highly segregated neighborhoods have significantly shortened life expectancies, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study published in JAMA Health Forum.
- 07.25.2023Despite having risk factors for heart disease, only 60 percent of women reported receiving counseling on optimizing their heart health, which includes healthy eating, exercise and losing weight gained during pregnancy at their six-week postpartum visit between 2016 and 2020, a new Northwestern Medicine study published in JAMA has found.
07.19.2023Northwestern scientists have conducted a new study to see if living near green spaces, like parks and areas with a lot of plants, can affect how our bodies age and contribute to overall healthy aging.
07.18.2023Recent and long-term marijuana use is linked to changes in the human epigenome, a new Northwestern Medicine study published in Molecular Psychiatry has found.