Wayne Medicine

Contents

This magnetic resonance force microscope is just one of many tools positioning WSU as a leader in neuroimaging and research.

Wayne Medicine 2001

1. High-Power Imaging Techniques Take Us Inside the Brain

The Brain Imaging Research Division at the WSU School of Medicine is helping clinicians and researchers learn how the human brain works. The division is preparing for its newest addition, a scanner with an extremely powerful 4T magnet that can monitor a much wider assortment of neurochemicals, distinguish even slight changes within the brain, and relay those changes in real time.

2. Gene Therapy Improves Quality of Life for Patients With Hemophilia

Wayne State University/Children’s Hospital of Michigan is one of four centers participating in a new clinical trial using gene therapy to replace a missing clotting factor in patients with hemophilia. Dr. Jeanne Lusher says this is a prime target for gene therapy because even a small increase in the clotting factor can make a significant impact in a patient’s quality of life.

Dr. J. Tracy Watson was the first physician in Michigan--and one of the first in the country--to use autologous growth factors (AGF) to heal broken bones. Now, he and his colleagues at University Orthopaedics use AGF to stretch, reshape and even grow new bone where none previously existed.

Dr. Mark Juzych was named to the prestigous “40 Under 40” list by Crain’s Detroit Business. A Wayne State graduate and faculty member, Dr. Juzych led the merger of the ophthalmology residency programs of KEI and Sinai-Grace Hospital and he serves on the medical service organization board that is overseeing of the consolidation of the School of Medicine’s clinical faculty practice plans.

5. Brain Surgeon Repairs Disfiguring Injuries

Dr. Daniel Michael is the first neurosurgeon in the world to use hydroxyapaptite – a powdered substance that is found in real human bone – to create an implant, replacing damaged parts of the skull. The substance eventually grows into real bone, becoming a part of the patient’s own skeletal system.

6. Minority Health Care Advocate Gets Her Start at WSU

A former WSU faculty member and medical school graduate, Dr. Anita Moncrease is crafting a national reputation as a minority health care advocate and expert. As head of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Bureau of Health Professions’ Division of Health Professions Diversity, she focuses on improving minority recruitment into health professions.

Third-year medical students are learning the medical practice and social issues surrounding end-of-life care for terminal patients. A new clerkship requires them to spend time in a hospice or palliative medicine setting, allowing them to become more educated, more sensitive physicians.

8. Zap Your Cold With Zinc

To cut the duration of your cold in half, be sure to get extra doses of zinc, says Dr. Ananda Prasad. Many years ago, Dr. Prasad was one of the first people to discover that dietary zinc deficiencies were responsible for immune problems, stunted growth and other abnormalities. New studies show that colds can be zapped with zinc in as little as four days.

A new website called Morning Report Reviews represents a teaching tool that is entirely new to medicine, with Wayne State at the forefront of its application to the field. This interactive teaching site allows faculty members, medical students, residents and practicing physicians to learn online about interesting patients and progress.

10. Dr. Vee Reflects on 50 Years of Service (And Counting)

Vainutis Vaitkevicius (Dr. Vee) is admired for many things: his caring bedside manner, a brilliant research career, a long line of impressive administrative titles—but the most important legacy he leaves behind and continues to build for the future of Detroit—is a world-class cancer center.

11. Sleep Paralysis Plagues African Americans

Imagine waking up from a night’s sleep and being unable to move because of sleep paralysis, a relatively understudied phenomenon that seems to occur more frequently among African Americans.WSU researchers are trying to understand the link between panic disorder and different types of frightening arousals from sleep.

12. Anxiety And Depression Linked to Increased Cardiac Disease

People with anxiety disorders are four to six times more likely to experience long-term cardiac problems and to die suddenly from heart failure, according to scientific evidence reported by Dr. Vikram Yeragani and Wayne State University researchers.  

Managing Editor/Senior Writer
Amy DiCresce
adicresc@med.wayne.edu
313-577-1429

Director of Public Affairs and Publications
Kathleen M. Wedemire, APR

Contributing Writers
Jennifer Day
Anita Lienert
Leslie Mertz
Steve Townsend

Photography
Robert Stewart Photography Ltd.

Web Design
David D. Womble, Ph.D.
Sandy Millar
Steve Townsend