Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Narrative Review On The Therapeutic Potential Of Stem Cells In Neurodegenerative Diseases: Advances, Insights, And Challenges, Tirath Patel, Fathimathul Henna, Iman Sharif, Inaya Javed, Fatima Mustafa, Hannan Sharif, Fatima Nasir, Mirat Javaid

School of Medicine Publications

Background: Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) such as Parkinson's disease (PD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Huntington's disease (HD) are set apart by progressive neuronal loss and concomitant functional decline. Traditional therapies are equipped with only symptomatic relief, devoid of neurorestorative properties. Stem-cell-based therapies have the potential to revolutionize neurological care by replenishing lost cells, mitigating inflammation, and fostering a neuroprotective environment.

Objectives: This narrative review aims to appraise the treatment potential of various stem cell types in managing NDs, highlighting their functional pathways, delivery methods, and current experimental validation.

Methods: A comprehensive literature search was carried out based on …

Pericardial Effusion, Children's Mercy Kansas City

Clinical Pathways

No abstract provided.

Kawasaki Disease, Children's Mercy Kansas City

Clinical Pathways

No abstract provided.

Sit, Stay, And Teach: Exploring Teachers' Perceptions Of Facility Dogs' Impact On Stress And Retention, Dennis Powers

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The teaching profession remains at a high level of workplace stress, a factor contributing to teacher burnout and turnover. The study examines how teachers in K-12 public education perceived that facility dogs might reduce stress, increase job satisfaction, and aid in teacher retention in public schools of a southeastern state. The study employed a qualitative, cross-sectional survey that was emailed to 112,546 educators from a LISTSERV request. A total of 1,242 individuals provided informed consent and completed the survey, which consisted of Likert-scale measurement items, open-ended questions, and an informational video inserted to achieve a common understanding of the facility …

The Scope And Impact Of Walking The Talk For Dementia 2024, Sherril B. Gelmon, Kate Irving, Walter Dawson, Jonathan Adrián Zegarra-Valdivia, Lingani Mbakile-Mahlanza, Fernando Aguzzoli-Peres

Institute on Aging Publications

Walking the Talk for Dementia (WTD) is a global educational initiative integrating a walk along the Camino de Santiago with a symposium to combat dementia stigma, raise awareness, and foster inclusion.

Effects Of Peripheral Sympathetic Denervation On Phytohemagglutinin (Pha) Induced Cutaneous Swelling In The Hock And Tail Of Mice, Ayusha Pokharel '27, Masyn Naegele '26

Annual Student Research Poster Session

The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) carries stress signals directly to the site of injury and activates the immune system via direct neuronal innervation or release of systemic hormones. 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) is a neurotoxin that causes denervation of the SNS by eliminating the peripheral nerve terminals, which are responsible for sending the stress signals. The effect of sympathetic denervation on the localized immune response is unexplored in the literature. Therefore, our study aims to investigate the effect of 6-OHDA-induced sympathetic denervation on local inflammation following phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-induced swelling. Even under resting circumstances, some baseline level of stress is communicated to the …

Investigating The Effects Of Novel Hexylamine Compounds On Hn6 Carcinoma Cell Survival, Lydia Neven '27, Dominic Pittman '26

Annual Student Research Poster Session

Cancer is a broad term encompassing hundreds of distinct diseases, each arising from unique genetic and environmental factors. Because of this diversity, there is a continual need to develop new chemotherapies. Oral cancer, in particular, remains one of the most common cancers worldwide, yet effective therapeutic options for this malignancy remain limited. Although billions of dollars are invested annually in cancer drug discovery in the United States, the process of evaluating and advancing candidate compounds often represents a critical bottleneck, leading many promising therapies to be abandoned before their full potential is understood. In collaboration with the Hansen lab, we …

Feasibility, Acceptability And Initial Efficacy Of A Community-Based Mental Health Literacy Program Delivered By Civil Society Organizations Among Adults In Kenya: A Quasi-Experimental Study, Patrick Mwangala, Venoranda Rebecca Kuboka, Nimo Sharif, Ann Karendi, Gideon Mbithi, Amina Abubakar

Institute for Human Development, East Africa

Mental health literacy (MHL) strategies are crucial for mental health promotion and prevention. This study aimed to determine the acceptability, feasibility, appropriateness and initial efficacy of an adapted MHL program in a community sample of adults in Kenya. This was a quasi-experimental pre-post study conducted from July 2023 through July 2024. The MHL program contained nine modules delivered over 3 days. Participants were assessed at baseline and immediately after the program. The primary outcomes were mental health knowledge and participants’ attitudes on mental health/illness. Secondary outcomes included depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, self-perceived social support, self-perceived wellbeing, MHL program acceptability, feasibility …

Patient, Family And Clinician Priorities For Critical Care Research In Asia And Africa: A James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership Using Modified Delphi And Nominal Group Techniques, Ccaa Priority Setting Partnership Steering Group, Teddy Abonyo, Sumaiya Arfin, Diptesh Aryal, Abi Beane, Martina Borellini, Arjen Dondorp, Emma Donley, Punam Gautam, Tiffany Gooden

Anaesthesiology, East Africa

Background This James Lind Alliance (JLA) Priority Setting Partnership aimed to identify and prioritise unanswered questions important to adult patients, their families and health professionals with lived experience of critical care across Asia and Africa.

Methods Modified Delphi techniques were used to generate suggestions using an online survey. Following verification, literature review and content analysis, these suggestions were iteratively codified into emergent topics. Topics were presented in a second online survey for ranking, prior to an online workshop where nominal group technique was used to identify top priority questions across stakeholder groups. Surveys were disseminated using snowballing techniques.

Findings The …

Pregnancy Outcomes Among Women With And Without Hiv Infections Who Underwent Excisional Treatment For High-Grade Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia: A Retrospective Cohort Study In Low-Resource Settings, Poli Amubuomombe, Peter Itsura, Philiph Tonui, Elkanah Orang'o, Benjamin Odongo, Patrick Loehrer, Susan Cu-Uvin

Obstetrics and Gynaecology, East Africa

Objective The standard treatment for high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions is excisional involving the uterine cervix, while surveillance is an acceptable approach for low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions. There is controversy about excisional treatment on pregnancy outcomes. The objective of this study was to determine pregnancy outcomes in women living with and without HIV who underwent excisional treatment for high-grade cervical intraepithelial lesions.

Design This retrospective cohort study compared the pregnancy outcomes of women with and without HIV who were or were not treated for cervical intraepithelial lesions. A cohort of 488 women with and without HIV infection who did or did …

Use Of Hybrid Versus Video-Only Teledermatology Varies By Condition: A Cross-Sectional Study Of 2064 Encounters, Jacqueline Penn, Kathryn Achuck, Christine Deng, Richard W. Hass, Elizabeth Jones

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

Management Of Displaced Supracondylar Fractures Of The Humerus Using Lateral Versus Crossed Kirschner Wires: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial, Ashlee Dobbe, Emily K. Schaeffer, Njalalle Baraza, Firoz Miyanji, Christine Alvarez, Anthony P. Cooper, Chris W. Reilly, Kishore Mulpuri

General Surgery, East Africa

Aims: We sought to evaluate whether loss of reduction in lateral Kirschner (K)-wiring is noninferior to crossed K-wiring in closed reduction and percutaneous pinning of Type III supracondylar humerus fractures.

Methods: A prospective, randomized, non-inferiority trial was conducted. Emergency department patients aged three to seven years with Type III supracondylar humerus fractures were invited to participate with informed consent. Block randomization allocated patients into one of two pin configuration groups (lateral or crossed). Surgical technique and postoperative management were standardized between groups. All patients were treated with above-elbow casts, but no strict standardized protocol was applied. The primary outcome was …

Adult Out Of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Criteria For Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Activation May Not Be The Same For Pediatric Out Of Hospital Cardiac Arrest, Lindsay Fick, Sherouk A. Abdelmoity, Jennifer Flint, Ashley Sherman, Jenna Miller

Presentations

Pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remains a high-mortality event, with survival to discharge consistently below 10%. Although extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (E-CPR) improves outcomes for in-hospital cardiac arrest, its application in the pre-hospital environment is not well defined for pediatrics. Identifying which pediatric patients might benefit from OHCA ECPR activation is essential for developing feasible pre hospital pediatric E-CPR systems. Preliminary analysis of applying  criteria for adult OHCA ECPR activation can provide a crucial next step in establishing feasibility and applicability for the pediatric patient population.

Methods

A single center retrospective review was conducted of pediatric OHCA cases presenting from 2018–2025. …

The Long-Term Effectiveness Of The Anti-Obesity Medication Phentermine (Leap) Trial: Rationale, Design, And Baseline Characteristics, Caroline Blackwell Young, Emily Rives, Kimberly A Gudzune, Byron C Jaeger, Courtney G Simmons, Brian N White, Stephanie A Hooker, Deborah B Horn, Deborah R Young, Jennifer Vesely, Amanda Velazquez, Catherine Price, Shelly D Cook, Katy Martin-Fernandez, Galina Inzhakova, Nicholas M Pajewski, Jamy D Ard, Kristina H Lewis

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Current clinical practice guidelines support the long-term use of pharmacotherapy for obesity treatment. Historically, phentermine has been one of the most prescribed obesity medications (OMs), however, its long-term efficacy and safety have never been evaluated in a randomized trial as its market approval predates such requirements. Here we describe the design, rationale, and baseline characteristics for a 24-month, double-blind, randomized controlled trial evaluating the efficacy, cardiovascular risk, and safety of phentermine in adults with overweight or obesity.

Methods: This multicenter trial will compare outcomes among participants randomized to phentermine 24 mg daily versus placebo for 24 months. All participants …

February 2026, Swosu Rural Health Center

RURAL ROCKS

• Current Indications for Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) Inhibitors
• CMS unveils LEAD, its new 10-year accountable care model
• UnitedHealthcare pauses effort to cut RPM coverage after stating the tech has 'no evidence'
• Walgreens unveils PharmStart to strengthen tech-to-pharmacist pipeline
• Rural Health Transformation Program awards announced—Here's who's getting the most in FY2026
• FDA Grants Two National Priority Vouchers
• 2026 Outlook: Hybrid care companies poised for growth driven by economic, policy tailwinds
• Brain Drain: Retail pharmacy struggles to retain pharmacists, pharmacy technicians
• The 5 biggest challenges facing retail pharmacy
• Retail pharmacy must mine the gaps
• CMS Establishes Office of Rural Health Transformation Nationwide …

Quality Improvement Project: Improving Transitional Care Management (Tcm) Follow-Up Through Medical Assistant Education, Oben Assick

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

The underutilization of Transitional Care Management (TCM) services in primary care significantly contributes to preventable hospital readmissions and revenue loss. Despite established Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) guidelines, execution often fails due to knowledge gaps among frontline staff. This quality improvement project addressed low TCM task completion rates by implementing a structured educational intervention for medical assistants (MAs). The purpose was to evaluate whether targeted training improves timely patient follow-up, visit scheduling, and billing accuracy. The project utilized Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model to guide organizational change and the Health Belief Model to address behavioral barriers. A quantitative, quasi-experimental …

A Word From The Writing Team (February 2026), Pam Walter, Mfa, Laura Deloretta, Phd

A Word From the Writing Team (Newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Prevalence And Risk Factors For Laparoscopic Managed Ectopic Pregnancies At A Tertiary Referral Hospital - A 10-Year Synopsis: A Cross Sectional Study, Steve Mutiso, Eric Mugambi

Obstetrics and Gynaecology, East Africa

Background Ectopic pregnancies (EP) are a common pregnancy associated complication. They are associated with significant morbidity, and rarely mortality, if not managed properly. EP have a myriad of predisposing factors that help identify patients at risk and facilitate early diagnosis and intervention. We set out to conduct an audit of EP managed surgically at our hospital for a 10-year period and discern the incidence, prevalence and risk factors of their occurrence.

Methods This study was designed as a Retrospective Clinical Audit based at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH). Study population was all women admitted to AKUH with a diagnosis …

Glomerular Disease In Patients With Acute Kidney Injury After Vancomycin Treatment-Need For Kidney Biopsy., Mineaki Kitamura, Pooya Zardoost, Anjali A Satoskar

Ambulatory and Primary Care Articles

No abstract provided.

Population-Scale Sequencing Resolves Determinants Of Persistent Ebv Dna, Sherry S Nyeo, Erin M Cumming, Oliver S Burren, Meghana S Pagadala, Jacob C Gutierrez, Thahmina A Ali, Laura C Kida, Yifan Chen, Hoyin Chu, Fengyuan Hu, Xueqing Zoe Zou, Benjamin Hollis, Margarete A Fabre, Stewart Macarthur, Quanli Wang, Leif S Ludwig, Kushal K Dey, Slavé Petrovski, Ryan S Dhindsa, Caleb A Lareau

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) is an endemic herpesvirus implicated in autoimmunity, cancer and neurological disorders. Although primary infection is often subclinical, persistent EBV infection can drive immune dysregulation and long-term complications. Despite the ubiquity of infection, the determinants of EBV persistence following primary exposure remain poorly understood, although human genetic variation partially contributes to this phenotypic spectrum1–3. Here we demonstrate that existing whole genome sequencing (WGS) data of human populations can be used to quantify persistent EBV DNA. Using WGS and health record data from the UK Biobank (n = 490,560) and All of Us ( …

Design And Implementation Of An Aapm Volunteer Database For Advancing Global Medical Physics Initiatives., Teh Lin, Minsun Kim, Courtney Morrison, Jiahan Zhang, Kevin Little, Yan-Hong Xin, Michael Woodward, Peter Sandwall, Eun Young Han

Oncology Articles

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to assess American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) members' availability to volunteer, share their expertise, and promote global collaboration in medical physics by partnering with international colleagues who seek support in strengthening their medical physics practice.

METHODS: The questionnaire was administered to AAPM members to assess their willingness to volunteer, preferred engagement modalities, and availability for different types of volunteer activities. The questionnaire was integrated into the AAPM member profile and covered therapy, diagnostic, and nuclear medicine disciplines, capturing participants' visiting preferences and expertise in teaching and training. Respondents were categorized based …

Mastering The First Year Of Ownership, Amrita Patel Dds

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

This column provides a reflective look at the first year of dental practice ownership, describing it as a mix of exhilaration and pressure. It highlights the importance of transitioning from a clinical mindset to one focused on financial clarity, cash flow variability, and team dynamics. The author discusses the necessity of developing efficient systems to resolve bottlenecks and understanding the patient base on a deeper level. The piece emphasizes that leadership confidence grows through action and adjustment.

J Mich Dent Assoc February 2026

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

Each month, the Journal of the Michigan Dental Association delivers news, information, and features about Michigan dentistry to our state's oral health community and the MDA's 6,200+ members. It remains the main publication reaching Michigan dentists and is available worldwide through ADA Commons.

The February 2026 (Volume 108, No. 2) issue of the Journal is published in a digital format to provide updates and insights for Michigan's oral health community and MDA members. Print editions occur every other month beginning with January.

This issue includes feature articles on Risk Management and 2025 Servant Leadership as well as a clinical reprint …

Prediction Of First And Multiple Antiretroviral Therapy Interruptions In People Living With Hiv: Comparative Survival Analysis Using Cox And Explainable Machine Learning Models, Donald Salami, Emily Koech, Janet Turan, Kristen Stafford, Lilly Nyagah, Stephen Ohakanu, Anthony Ngugi, Manhattan Charurat

Institute for Human Development, East Africa

Background: The Cox proportional hazards (CPH) model is a common choice for analyzing time-to-treatment interruptions in patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART), valued for its straightforward interpretability and flexibility in handling time-dependent covariates. Machine learning (ML) models have increasingly been adapted for handling temporal data, with added advantages of handling complex, nonlinear relationships and large datasets, and providing clear practical interpretations.

Objective: This study aims to compare the predictive performance of the traditional CPH model and ML models in predicting treatment interruptions among patients on ART, while also providing both global and individual-level explanations to support personalized, data-driven interventions …

Performance Of The Grace Acs Risk Score In Predicting In-Hospital And Six-Month Mortality In Patients With Acs: A Single Center Retrospective Cohort Study, Albert Nyanga, Jeilan Mohamed, Miriam Msunza, James Orwa, Mzee Ngunga

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Introduction: The incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) is rising globally. Despite the high burden of CHD in Africa, little is known about appropriate risk stratification systems that can be used to predict outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) in this region.

Methodology: This was a single-center retrospective cohort study conducted at the Aga Khan University hospital. Data was explored descriptively by summarizing categorical variables using frequencies/percentages and continuous variables using medians and interquartile ranges. Risk groups and mortality were compared using Fisher’s exact test or the chi-square test. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC), …

Wellness Connection Newsletter February 2026, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Himmelfarb Liaison Letter - February 2026, The George Washington University, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library

Himmelfarb Library Liaison Letters

No abstract provided.

Ubiquitination Of Oncogenic Mutant P53 Via Attenuation Of Ribosome Biogenesis Machinery Effectively Inhibits Pancreatic Tumor Growth, Mudassier Ahmad, Sahir Sultan Alvi, Haider Ahsan, Carlos Perez, Vivek Kashyap, Neeraj Chauhan, Dae Joon Kim, Nirakar Sahoo, Tamer Oraby, Murali Yallapu, Subhash Chuahan, Bilal Hafeez

School of Medicine Publications

Dysregulated ribosome biogenesis and p53 mutations are known to play oncogenic roles in various cancers, including pancreatic cancer. In this study, we demonstrated the therapeutic potential of BMH-21, a pharmacologic inhibitor of RNA polymerase I, against pancreatic cancer by uncovering a novel molecular mechanism involving RPA194-mediated ubiquitination of mutant p53 without affecting the ubiquitination of wild-type p53. Our key findings are that (i) BMH-21 selectively induces apoptosis and cell growth inhibition of pancreatic cancer cells with no effect on normal human pancreatic ductal epithelial cells; (ii) BMH-21 degrades RPA194; (iii) BMH-21 inhibits recruitment of both RPA194 and RPA135 on rDNA …

Artificial Intelligence In Neurosurgical Decision-Making: Promise And Peril In The United States Practice, Tirath Patel, Hamza Yousuf Ibrahim, Sana Sohrab, Muhammad Taha Altaf, Bhumi Patel, Nikhilesh Anand

School of Medicine Publications

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into neurosurgical practices in the United States is transforming how diagnoses are interpreted, how surgical plans are developed, and how guidance is provided during operations as clinical needs continue to grow. Models based on radiomics and the Food and Drug Administration approved tools for tumor segmentation, aneurysm identification, and spinal navigation are showing enhanced accuracy and decreased variability among observers, highlighting AI’s potential for significant change. Nevertheless, there are major concerns about the opacity of black-box models, inaccurate outputs, and the increasing legal uncertainties arising from AI-related errors. Ethical challenges, such as the …

A Narrative Review On The Neurobiology Of Lucid Dreaming: Mechanisms And Therapeutic Potential, Tirath Patel, Ashfaq Ahmed, Kinza Irshad, Rahat Ullah, Anaya Noor, Eiman Anwar, Rai Muhammad Umar Khan, Moazzam Akhtar, Fathimathul Henna, Nikhilesh Anand

School of Medicine Publications

Background: Lucid dreaming (LD), which involves being aware of and controlling one's dreams, is of particular interest in the study of consciousness and has potential therapeutic applications. In this narrative review, we highlight the neurobiological aspects of LD, specifically its mechanisms associated with the activation of prefrontal and parietal areas, increased gamma oscillations, and the influence of cholinergic and dopaminergic signaling, primarily during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.

Objective: To evaluate human data on brain mechanisms and clinical effects, synthesizing the neurobiological foundations and therapeutic possibilities of LD, including remarkably controlled lucid dreams.

Methods: A narrative review of peer-reviewed research …