Posts by admin

In this article, Rishi Wadhera, MD (Cardiology, BIDMC) and Robert Yeh, MD (Cardiology, BIDMC) discussed a new study from the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Center for Outcomes Research in Cardiology at BIDMC, which found that cardiovascular deaths unrelated to COVID-19 increased during the pandemic.

Spikes in cardiovascular deaths shown to be an indirect cost of COVID-19 pandemic

+ Read More

Rishi Wadhera, MD (Cardiology, BIDMC) discussed a new study from the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Center for Outcomes Research in Cardiology at BIDMC, which found that cardiovascular deaths unrelated to COVID-19 increased during the pandemic.

Cardiovascular Deaths Increased Early on in Pandemic: Study

+ Read More

Sharon Wright, MD, MPH (Infectious Disease, BIDMC), spoke about the post-holiday surge and the importance of getting everyone vaccinated eventually to prevent the severe illness and complications of COVID-19, reduce hospitalizations and ultimately reduce deaths.

Dr. Sharon Wright with Beth Israel speaks about the latest hospital capacity and what the recent case increase could mean for emergency rooms.

+ Read More

Dan Barouch, MD, PhD (Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, BIDMC), lead researcher on the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine candidate, discussed the level of protection after receiving the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccination, how long people should still wear a mask, and a strategy shift to reach herd immunity.

What happens after the first COVID-19 dose?

+ Read More

The Baker administration, in partnership with the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, announced four grants totaling $1.5 million to broaden coronavirus testing methods in the months ahead. BIDMC will be one of the hospitals analyzing existing coronavirus antigen tests.

State gives $1.5M in grants for development of new Covid testing

+ Read More

In the midst of the COVID-19 vaccines rollout, clinicians and researchers are working to assess next generation COVID-19 vaccine candidates, and as part of that effort, researchers are presenting alternatives to measure a vaccine’s effectiveness by using immune markers that a person develops in their blood after inoculation. Dan Barouch, MD, PhD (Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, BIDMC) spoke to how trials so far suggest that levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin G (IgG) could serve as that proxy indicator.

As placebo-controlled testing falls out of favour, vaccine developers eye blood markers and challenge trials to assess next-generation candidates.

+ Read More

Nhi Vo (Radiology, BIDMC) looks over a carpet of daffodils left for medical workers at BIDMC by Boston-based floral company Cityscapes. Editor’s note: Photo is featured April 10.

The photos that helped us tell the stories of 2020

+ Read More

Good Morning America: Barouch’s lab studying new, more contagious COVID strains

American lab studying new, more contagious COVID-19...

+ Read More

The Boston Globe’s latest on what people need to know about the vaccine rollout in Massachusetts included Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine development in partnership with BIDMC. Johnson & Johnson expects to have early data from its trial by the end of January, with hopes of submitting an application for FDA emergency use authorization in February.

Five things you need to know about the vaccine rollout in Mass.

+ Read More

As 2021 begins, doctors from Massachusetts hospitals worry infections from holiday gatherings will crowd ICUs even more. David Longworth, MD (President, Lahey Hospital) expressed concern about the impact of the holidays in contributing a surge upon the existing surge.

Infectious Disease Doctors Look Back At A Tough Year — And Forward With Concern

+ Read More

Mary LaSalvia, MD (Infectious Disease, BIDMC) and Kenneth Wener, MD (Infectious Disease, LHMC) joined with other Boston infectious disease experts to address the COVID-19 pandemic and share 2021 resolutions in an opinion piece for the Boston Globe.

As we ring in a new year, here are our resolutions; please consider joining us.

+ Read More

The contagious variant of the coronavirus spreading through Brittan has appeared in Colorado and California, but scientists are still unsure how much more easily the mutant spreads. Dan Barouch, MD, PhD (Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, BIDMC) spoke to the virus replication process and spread.

A more contagious version of the coronavirus may alter the course of the pandemic in the United States, researchers said.

+ Read More

The discovery of a more contagious coronavirus strain in the United States has heightened the urgency to ramp up the national vaccine rollout. Dan Barouch, MD, PhD (Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, BIDMC) said there’s a high chance these variants are already circulating around the United States, and that the data to determine whether this is a problem needs to be generated.

“We need to be in overdrive now,” one pandemic expert said.

+ Read More

Richard Nesto, MD (CMO, BILH) discussed the rollout of vaccines to BILH staff.

Hospitals vaccine rollout starts out rough, but picks up steam

+ Read More

Along with Moderna, there are many Massachusetts-based healthcare and life science companies that are working to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. A COVID-19 vaccine is currently in development as part of a partnership between Johnson & Johnson and a team led by Dan Barouch, MD, PhD (Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, BIDMC), which is expected to report Phase 3 clinical trial data by February.

The Massachusetts Miracle is alive and well. ‘There are a lot of potential Modernas’

+ Read More

Elective surgeries are now on hold as part of a wave of statewide restrictions aimed at easing the burden on hospitals whose beds are quickly filling with COVID-19 patients. Michael Gibson, MD (Interventional Cardiology, BIDMC) noted that hospitals are very full of COVID patients currently.

Elective surgeries on pause due to surge

+ Read More

Two OB-GYN residents played Christmas music for staff and patients at BIDMC during the holiday season. Hannah Wiley, RN (OBGYN, BIDMC) said the music brought cheer to both staff and patients at the hospital.  

COVID-19 has taken so much away from us this year, but not Christmas cheer

+ Read More

Jeffrey Saffitz, MD, PhD (Pathology, BIDMC) shared that before the COVID-19 pandemic, diagnostic tests and the laboratory workers that run them were not used to seeing the limelight. The swift spread of the virus brought new attention to testing this year.

Biogen, messenger RNA and CRISPR creators: These were the top five stories in Boston biotech

+ Read More

Wall Street Journal: How Barouch’s HIV research laid the foundation for COVID vaccines

Scientific techniques developed in the ongoing...

+ Read More

Kathryn Stephenson, MD, MPH (Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, BIDMC) shared how the impact of low vaccination levels can be significant for long-term public health for two reasons: first, pockets of ongoing infection in one community can be a source for new outbreaks in all communities in the future; second, it can significantly exacerbate already stark health disparities between communities.

The impact of the anti-vaxx movement: What happens if only half the country gets the Covid vaccine?

+ Read More