Students at Lewis Katz School of Medicine stand to benefit from new $1 million NIGMS grant
Rapid evolution in the field of biomedical research demands well-trained scientists. Adapting biomedical research training programs to keep up with the increasingly complex and interdisciplinary nature of the field, however, presents complex challenges for higher-education institutions.
The Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, home to highly skilled researchers and professors and known for its collaborative atmosphere, has long been on the cutting edge of biomedical research. Now, PhD and MD/PhD students in the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program at Temple stand to benefit even further from these in-house resources, gaining unprecedented opportunities to learn from researchers across multiple departments, thanks to a new $1 million T32 predoctoral training grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Novel CBD analog alleviates pain in mouse model of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy
For patients with chronic pain, ineffective treatments, lowered work productivity, and other factors often coalesce, fueling feelings of hopelessness and anxiety and setting the stage for even bigger problems, including substance use disorders. In 2017 alone, some 18 million Americans misused prescription pain relievers over the course of the previous year. In many of these instances, patients suffering from chronic pain became addicted to prescription opioids.
In addition to being highly addictive, many studies suggest that prescription opioids do not effectively control pain over the long term, and hence researchers have been exploring various alternatives, including cannabidiol (CBD). CBD is a non-psychoactive substance derived from the Cannabis plant.
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IMAGE: Sara Jane Ward, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. view more
Credit: Temple University Health System
(Philadelphia, PA) - For patients with chronic pain, ineffective treatments, lowered work productivity, and other factors often coalesce, fueling feelings of hopelessness and anxiety and setting the stage for even bigger problems, including substance use disorders. In 2017 alone, some 18 million Americans misused prescription pain relievers over the course of the previous year. In many of these instances, patients suffering from chronic pain became addicted to prescription opioids.
In addition to being highly addictive, many studies suggest that prescription opioids do not effectively control pain over the long term, and hence researchers have been exploring various alternatives, including cannabidiol (CBD). CBD is a non-psychoactive substance derived from the Cannabis plant.
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IMAGE: Jessica H. Beard, MD, MPH, FACS, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Director of Trauma Research at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. view more
Credit: Temple University Health System
(Philadelphia, PA) - While the COVID-19 pandemic brought most of the country to a standstill in March 2020, Philadelphia trauma surgeons noticed an alarming trend in the incidence of firearm violence. Instead of decreasing with containment measures, firearm-injured patients were presenting at even higher rates to Temple University Hospital and other trauma centers around the city.
A team led by Jessica H. Beard, MD, MPH, FACS, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Director of Trauma Research at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM), sought to determine the magnitude of Philadelphia s increase in firearm violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. They also aimed to understand potential causes of the increase by trying to pinpoint when
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(Philadelphia, PA) - Like a failing fuel pump that causes a loss of engine power in a car, a diseased heart can take a serious toll on the body s performance. For some patients, tasks like walking up a flight of stairs or walking across a room eventually turn into exhausting endeavors. This is because, over time, regardless of the underlying cause, heart damage typically progresses, owing to a constant barrage of oxidative stress and toxic lipids that alter heart cell energetics and, ultimately, the ability of the heart to function normally.
Oxidative stress occurs when harmful oxygen-containing molecules outnumber helpful antioxidants, leading to damaging reactions with proteins, DNA, and other cell components. Now, in two new studies, researchers at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM) show that in the heart, one molecule in particular, Kruppel-like factor (KLF)-5, single-handedly fuels both the generation of oxidizing molecules and the accumul