Welcome to Benchmarks, your weekly dose of news and notes from the Mass General Research Institute.
With over 9,500 researchers working across 30+ departments, centers and institutes here at the hospital, there's more research news than we can cover each week.
Here are a few highlights.
Research in the News
Study Discovers Neurons in the Brain That Predict What We're Going to Say Before We Say It
Has anyone ever told you to think before you speak? As it turns out, we do.
Researchers from the Department of Neurosurgery at Mass General and colleagues have identified “speech neurons” in the brain that act in a coordinated way as a person plans and speaks words.
Tracking these neurons allowed the scientists to predict what combination of word sounds a person would say before saying them.
The findings could lead to the treatment of language disorders through the development of new brain-machine interfaces capable of producing synthetic speech.
Ziv Williams, MD, a physician-investigator in the Department of Neurosurgery, is senior author of the study, which is published in Nature. Read More.
Improving the Accuracy of Liquid Biopsies
Liquid biopsies such as blood draws can allow for the noninvasive diagnosis and monitoring of disease without the need for surgical biopsy.
The number of diagnostics based on liquid biopsies has grown in recent years, but the sensitivity of these tests (their ability to detect signs of disease) remain inadequate for many for many applications. In cancer, liquid biopsies work by identifying cell-free DNA from cancer cells that is circulating in the blood stream.
Part of the challenge is that there is very little cfDNA in the bloodstream at any given time.
A collaborative research team from MIT, the Broad Institute, Mass General, and more recently developed a two-part strategy to increase the amount of cfDNA in the bloodstream before a blood draw.
The strategy includes nanoparticles that reduce the activity of cells in the liver responsible for clearing cfDNA and monoclonal antibodies that bind to and protect cfDNA in the blood.
In mouse models, this two-part strategy increased the detection of tumors from 10% to 75%. Read more.
Anderson Draws on Experience to Guide MGB Research Through Challenging Times
As the principal investigator of an NIH-funded research lab at Brigham and Women’s Hospital since 1990, Mass General Brigham’s Chief Academic Officer Paul Anderson, MD, PhD, knows the challenges of running a grant-funded research program—and how those challenges have increased in recent years.
“Funding is harder to get than it used to be. Financial challenges are more significant. It’s harder to get postdocs,” says Anderson. “Things are just more difficult all around.”
In his new role as Chief Academic Officer (CAO), Anderson is now working with MGB leadership to find ways to help researchers during these difficult times—and to reassure anxious investigators that research and education remain system priorities.
“There is no question that we all recognize how important research and education are to our institution,” Anderson says. “It’s what defines us. It is who we are.” Read more.
Tweets of the Week
#DYK #heartdisease disproportionately impacts Black women?
— Natalie Johnson 🇯🇲🇲🇸 (@nat_yjohnson) February 2, 2024
In recognition of the start of #BlackHistoryMonth and #GoRedForWomen Day, raising awareness with some lovely people I get to work with at #MGH ❤️@GoRedForWomen #MGHGoRed pic.twitter.com/jX2jfY8Hyy
The Blum Center team Goes Red for Women in support of women's heart health today!#HeartMonth #GoRedForWomen #WearRedDay #MGHGoRed pic.twitter.com/xSCUFFb1PT
— MGH Blum Center (@MGH_BlumCenter) February 2, 2024
Aparna Parikh, MD, discusses liquid biopsy performance for predicting colon cancer outcomes. "It's critically important to adapt to improving technologies...There is tremendous opportunity for a better test." More via @Medpage: https://t.co/mi7EzRRi8R @aparna1024 pic.twitter.com/xKIyUSJA2c
— Mass General Cancer Center (@MGHCancerCenter) February 2, 2024
In the first study of its kind, Braden Kuo, MD, demonstrated that #AI (#ChatGPT) can provide easy-to-understand, scientifically adequate, and generally satisfactory answers to common questions about colonoscopy as determined by gastroenterologists. https://t.co/xfJNUUJ0cW pic.twitter.com/M0HFRwGFqJ
— MassGeneral News (@MassGeneralNews) February 2, 2024
This Week in Mass General History
Mass General Cardiologist Receives Lasker Award
Feb. 3, 1950 (New York Times)—Paul Dudley White, MD, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, was presented with the Albert Lasker Award for "distinguished achievement in the field of cardiovascular diseases" as part of the 1953 Massachusetts Heart Fund Dinner.
The award presentation included a gold statuette, $1,000 in cash and a scroll.
The award was made possible by the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, a philanthropic organization to "promote understanding in health, medicine and welfare," the paper reports.
This was the first time since the award was established in 1942 that it was presented to someone working in the field of heart disease.
About the Mass General Research Institute
Research at Massachusetts General Hospital is interwoven through more than 30 different departments, centers and institutes. Our research includes fundamental, lab-based science; clinical trials to test new drugs, devices and diagnostic tools; and community and population-based research to improve health outcomes across populations and eliminate disparities in care.
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