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Drexel University College of Medicine's Department of Medicine is focused on shaping the doctors of tomorrow, redesigning the delivery of care, and advancing our knowledge to inform these efforts.

 
News and Announcements
 

2024 Golden Apple Award Winners Announced

The annual Golden Apple Awards recognize outstanding service, teaching and mentoring by Drexel University College of Medicine faculty and professional staff. The honorees are nominated by each class of medical students who vote to determine the award winners. Read more.

Meet Vanessa K. Ferrel, MD, MPH, AAHIVS, Chair of the Committee for Diversity & Inclusive Excellence

“I am a clinician at Drexel’s Partnership Comprehensive Care Practice. Our patient population is primarily people living with HIV, although the bulk of what I do for them is management of other conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure, since most of our patients’ HIV is well-managed and their viral load is undetectable. We also see people who are on PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent HIV) and people undergoing curative treatment for hepatitis C monoinfection (i.e., not co-infected with HIV).” Read more.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Announces Recent CURE Grant Recipients

The Commonwealth Universal Research Enhancement (CURE) Program funds collaborative biomedical research that aims to improve the health of Pennsylvanians. Read more.

2023 Golden Apple Award Winners Announced

The annual Golden Apple Awards recognize outstanding service, teaching and mentoring by Drexel University College of Medicine faculty and professional staff, who are nominated by each class of medical students for the honor. Students vote to determine the award winners. Read more.

Q+A: New Study Reveals Insights into Healthy and Unhealthy Weight Loss Patterns for Adults with Obesity and Kidney Disease

For people with chronic kidney disease, obesity can increase risks of kidney function decline and is associated with worse outcomes after kidney transplant surgery. But weight loss attempts must be managed with care to avoid other negative health consequences, such as malnutrition or low muscle mass. A new paper in Kidney International Reports from Drexel University researchers looks at three metrics — systolic blood pressure, albumin (protein made by the liver), and fat-free mass (everything other than fat in the body, including organs, bones, connective tissue, etc.) – to determine which markers give the best insights to clinical teams tasked with helping patients lose weight safely. Read more.

Recent Publications

Elias K. El Haddad, PhD, professor of medicine, was one of the authors of “Long-term Antiretroviral Therapy Initiated in Acute HIV Infection Prevents Residual Dysfunction of HIV-specific CD8+ T Cells,” which appeared in the October 2022 issue of eBioMedicine. Haddad and Charles B. Cairns, MD, Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Dean and senior vice president of medical affairs, were among the authors of “Phenotypes of Disease Severity in a Cohort of Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: Results From the IMPACC Study” in the September 2022 issue of eBioMedicine. (Pulse Winter 2023)

 
In the Media
 

August 13, 2020: Meera Nair Harhay, MD, associate professor of medicine, was quoted in a Healio Nephrology article about how quality of life assessments are associated with varying wait times for a kidney transplant among patients with advanced chronic kidney disease.

June 22, 2020: Meera N. Harhay, MD, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Nephrology & Hypertension, co-authored a Health Affairs blog post on how to save safety-net hospitals, which are facing a tremendous human and financial toll from COVID-19.

May 2020: Donald Kaye, MD, an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Medicine, authored a Healio Infectious Disease News article on the rare disease tularemia, also known as "rabbit fever."

May 19, 2020: William G. Kussmaul, MD, an associate professor in the Department of Medicine, wrote an editorial in the Annals of Internal Medicine that was quoted in a Medscape article about the relative risks of different drugs used to treat COVID-19 patients.

April 2020: Meera Nair Harhay, MD, an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Nephrology & Hypertension, was quoted in Healio Nephrology in a story about the implications of mandating weight loss before a transplant.

April 6, 2020: Meera Nair Harhay, MD, an associate professor in the Division of Nephrology & Hypertension, was quoted in a Medscape article about prioritizing transplants when other surgeries are on hold during the pandemic.

April 8: Nielufar Varjavand, MD, a professor of medicine, program director of the Physician Refresher/Reentry Course, director of Global Health Education and co-director of Case-Based Learning, was quoted in an AAMC News article about what retired doctors need to know before returning to work to fight the coronavirus.

March 2020: Donald Kaye, MD, an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Medicine, wrote a Healio article on the rare, life-threatening illness known as botulism.

February 5, 2020: Donald Kaye, MD, an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Medicine, was quoted in a General Health magazine story about antibiotic-resistant bacteria and how antibiotics came to be overprescribed over time.

January 31, 2020: Donald Kaye, MD, an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Medicine, was quoted in a Men's Health story about antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

January 13, 2020: David Aizenberg, MD, a faculty member in the Department of Medicine's Division of General Internal Medicine, authored an opinion piece published in the Philadelphia Inquirer about the impact of the closure of Hahnemann University Hospital.

October 25, 2019: Allan B. Schwartz, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Nephrology & Hypertension, authored a Philadelphia Inquirer “Medical Mystery” article about U.S. President John Adams’ mood swings and behavior shifts.

October 23, 2019: Neilanjan Nandi, MD, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, co-hosted a ReachMD podcast episode on the shifting expectations of care in the management of Crohn's disease.

October 18, 2019: Ana E. Núñez, MD, professor of medicine; associate dean, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; and the director of the National Center of Excellence in Women's Health and Women's Health Education Program, was quoted in a mindbodygreen article about how a father’s mental health and behavior affects his child.

October 12, 2019: Anita Ko, MD, an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, was interviewed in an NPR segment about variations in sleep cycles. The story was reported by a number affiliates across the country.

October 10, 2019: Neilanjan Nandi, MD, an associate professor in the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, was quoted in a Philadelphia Inquirer article about probiotics and gut health.

October 8, 2019: Ana Núñez, MD, professor of medicine; associate dean, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; and the director of the National Center of Excellence in Women's Health and Women's Health Education Program, was profiled in an Al Día story about her leadership as an advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion in health care.

September 30, 2019: Neilanjan Nandi, MD, an associate professor in the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, was quoted in an Elemental article about the struggle to accurately diagnose slow-moving autoimmune disease.

September 13, 2019: Research by Meera N. Harhay, MD, an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Nephrology & Hypertension, about how Medicaid expansion has affected low-income adults with advanced kidney disease, was picked up by Physician's Briefing.

August 23, 2019: Meera N. Harhay, MD, an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Nephrology & Hypertension, led research reporting that Medicaid expansion has helped more low-income adults with advanced kidney disease avoid the costs and poor quality-of-life associated with dialysis. The findings were mentioned in a WINK-TV (CBS-Fort Myers, Florida) story about a shortage of kidney transplants available in Florida.

August 22, 2019: States that implemented Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act saw greater increases in covered preemptive kidney transplants than did non-expansion states, according to a recently published study led by Meera N. Harhay, MD, an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Nephrology & Hypertension. The findings were covered by Healio Nephrology and Healthcare Finance News.

August 20, 2019: Research led by Meera N. Harhay, MD, an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Nephrology & Hypertension, reports that Medicaid expansion has helped more young, low-income adults with advanced kidney disease avoid the costs and poor quality-of-life associated with dialysis. The findings were featured in a Healthcare Dive news brief.

See all College of Medicine faculty in the media

 
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