Massachusetts General Physicians Organization (MGPO)

A study co-authored by Massachusetts General Hospital physician Stephen Gomperts, MD, PhD, was covered by Mass General News. The study used lab models to determine why cigarette smoking is linked with a reduced risk of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The study found that that low doses of carbon monoxide protected against neurodegeneration and prevented the accumulation of a PD-associated protein in the brain. "These findings suggest that molecular pathways activated by low-dose carbon monoxide may slow the onset and limit the pathology in PD," said Gomperts. "They support further investigation into low-dose carbon monoxide and the pathways it modifies to slow disease progression in PD." For more information, click here: https://lnkd.in/eEPV796V

A survey-based study conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital physicians which measured physician reactions to an educational program on the relationship between climate change and health and health care environmental sustainability. The results were promising, finding that 73.1% of respondents thought that the modules were relevant or very relevant to their lives, and 65.4% found the modules relevant or very relevant to their clinical practices. “Our findings indicate that educational strategies should be tailored by specialty to better engage clinicians in learning about climate change’s health effects and ways to mitigate health sector contributions,” said lead author Wynne Armand, MD. To learn more, click here: https://lnkd.in/gmb7sAZV

Massachusetts General Hospital physician Chi-Fu Jeffrey Yang, MD, co-authored a recent study which found that a new proposed U.S. Preventative Services Task Force lung cancer screening guideline that replaces the current 20-pack-year requirement with a 20-year smoking duration requirement increases the proportion of lung cancer patients who would have qualified for screening and eliminates the racial disparity in screening eligibility between Black versus white individuals. “Our findings challenge the use of pack-year smoking history in determining lung cancer screening eligibility and support the use of smoking duration cutoffs, instead, as a simple yet effective change to increase the sensitivity of the guideline and improve equity in opportunities for screening,” said Yang. To learn more, click here: https://lnkd.in/eKexMqC4

A study led by Massachusetts General Hospital physician Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, was covered by MGH Research Spotlight. The study, "Asian BMI: A Race Correction in Need of Correction?" investigated whether body mass index (BMI) and other metrics should be split into more granular categories for Asian populations. "Due to a higher tendency towards central adiposity, Asian Americans face a substantial risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other comorbidities at lower body mass indices (BMI) than other populations," said Stanford. "With recent pushes toward disaggregated data and personalized medicine, we believe increasing granularity for Asian Americans can pave the way for similar efforts among all racial and ethnic groups, making BMI more accurate, tailored, and equitable." Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/gf4Q6tmF

A study co-authored by Massachusetts General Hospital physician David Perez MD, MMSc, FAAN, FANPA, FAPA was covered by MGH Research Spotlight. The study, "Machine Learning Classification of Functional Neurological Disorder Using Structural Brain MRI Features," examined whether or not structural brain MRI could be used to diagnose functional neurological disorder (FND). "We successfully classified participants with mixed FND against healthy control participants at rates significantly above-chance, and classification performance became even more robust when focusing on a functional motor disorder subtype," said Perez. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/e2ndzxKf

Massachusetts General Hospital physicians Matthew L. Russell, MD, and Virginia A. Triant, MD, MPH, are co-medicals of MGH’s Age Positively Program, a partnership between the Geriatric Medicine and Infectious Diseases divisions. This program is dedicated to supporting people with HIV through care and resources as they age. "People living with HIV can experience age-related health concerns earlier than the general population, leading them to prematurely experience cognitive and functional decline," said Russell. "As people with HIV are living longer and confronting an increased and accelerated burden of chronic diseases, there is a shifting focus of care for many to issues related to aging," added Triant. "Our program optimally addresses these issues through a clinical and educational forum." For more information on the Age Positively Program, click here: https://lnkd.in/ey3Rz3MY

A study led by Massachusetts General Hospital physician Jennifer S. Temel, MD, assessed the effectiveness of stepped palliative care as compared to early palliative care for patients with advanced lung cancer. The study found that stepped palliative care resulted in fewer palliative care visits while maintaining the patients' quality of life. "To our knowledge, this is the first randomized trial to establish the non-inferiority of a palliative care strategy that’s tailored to a patient’s needs by triggering more intensive palliative care services based on patient-reported quality of life, compared with resource-intensive early palliative care," said Temel. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/eu8zHWqk

Massachusetts General Hospital physician Zirui Song, MD, PhD, spoke to MGH Research Spotlight about the study "Corporate Medicine 2.0 - Special Purpose Acquisition Companies in the United States," of which he is the senior author. The study examined special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) and looked into how they are being used in health care. "We found that SPAC activity is larger than expected in health care - 107 SPACs were launched in 2021 listed health care companies as their intended target and raised a total of $23 billion," he said. "We also found evidence of several major health care deals involving SPACs." To learn more, click here: https://lnkd.in/dxm6Mdsn

Massachusetts General Hospital physician Lecia Sequest, MD, spoke about about Sybil, an AI tool that can accurately predict lung cancer earlier than human radiologists, for Mass General Cancer Center. She along with Regina Barzilay, PhD, and Mass General Brigham radiologist Constance Lehman, MD, PhD, worked together to develop Sybil. "We taught the model to recognize the patterns of risk that indicate a future lung cancer by using thousands of CT scans from patients who were participating in a clinical trial," she said. "...Once the model was trained, all that is needed is the CT scan itself–no other information about the patient is needed to determine future lung cancer risk.” Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/d9-kz3Ma

Massachusetts General Hospital physician Shuhan He MD, led a study highlighted by MGH Research Spotlight. The study, "Entropy Removal of Medical Diagnostics," examined how physicians in emergency medicine can measure and reduce uncertainty. "In our daily lives, having a clear understanding of the uncertainty reduction or entropy removal associated with each decision step allows us to make confident and informed decisions," said Dr. He. "This could potentially allow us to make personalized informed health decisions with analytics for each patient based on new information occurring live in the ER." Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/dGzsRm6u