Top Ten Best Bench Press Stories of 2020

By Gloria Rosado | Best Of | 0 comment | 29 December, 2020 | 0

This year began with a lot of questions and unknowns, but thanks to science we are on our way to answers.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, scientists have been working around the clock to understand SARS-CoV-2, and we at the Mass General Research Institute (MGRI) and Bench Press felt it was important to help share their science along the way.

The MGRI and Bench Press team worked to provide the most up-to-date scientific information possible, so it is no surprise that many of our top posts from this year are COVID-related.

We first and foremost would like to thank the brilliant and dedicated scientists and clinicians who worked with us to make these posts possible. We are inspired by your work every day to keep us all safe and healthy, and we are so grateful for your contributions to science.

We also would like to thank our audience for your continued readership and for trusting us as a reliable source for science. With your help, we have seen a five-fold increase in our reach and were awarded the Platinum eHealthcare Award for Best COVID-19 Pandemic Related Communications at a Hospital Subsite/Center of Excellence.

As a reminder of the amazing work of our scientists and clinicians this year, here are our top ten Bench Press stories from 2020.

Featuring George Alba, MD

The Difference Between N95s, Surgical Masks and Cloth Masks

George Alba, MD, a clinician in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and a researcher at the Mass General Research Institute, helps explain the specifics of different masks and best practices according to CDC guidelines.

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Featuring George Alba, MD

Ten Myths You May Have Heard About Wearing Masks

Science has shown that masks help to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but certain questions and theories about their safety and efficacy continue to circulate. To set the record straight, we spoke with George Alba, MD, a researcher and pulmonary and critical care specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

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Featuring Galit Alter, PhD

What Makes This Coronavirus So Unique? A Look at the Virology of SARS-CoV-2

Galit Alter, PhD, an investigator at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard and Samana Cay MGH Research Scholar 2017-2022, discusses what scientists have learned so far about the virology of SARS-CoV-2, and what makes it different from diseases we have seen before.

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Featuring Shiv Pillai, MD, PhD

COVID-19 Could Be Causing Immune System Amnesia

Shiv Pillai, MD, PhD, member of the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard and professor at Harvard Medical School, was senior author of a paper in Cell showing that that high levels of some cytokines seen in COVID-19 patients, may prevent the development of long-term immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that cause COVID-19.

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Featuring Christopher Aldrighetti

The Story of One Researcher Who Volunteered to Join the Front Lines at Mass General

To ensure clinicians and staff at Massachusetts General Hospital have enough support, members of the Mass General Research Institute volunteered to be redeployed. Read on for a first-person account of what it’s like to be redeployed during the COVID-19 outbreak, submitted by Christopher Aldrighetti.

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Electron microscope image of the SARS-CoV-2 virus

Featuring Bruce Walker, MD

Seven Key Questions to Ask if a SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine is Approved

While a vaccine will represent a significant turning point in the fight, there will still be a long way to go before the pandemic ends. Bruce Walker, MD, Director of the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, recently detailed some key questions that will need to be answered if a vaccine is approved, and how these answers could impact timing and delivery.

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Featuring Nitya Jain, PhD

STEM in the Time of COVID: Science Experiments for Kids

Nitya Jain, PhD, is a Mass General researcher from the Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center. When the COVID-10 pandemic began, Dr. Jain started working from home with her two young children, and she decided to both challenge herself and promote STEM learning by conducting a new science experiment every day with her children.

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An image of the emergeny room at Massachusetts General Hospital

Featuring Alister Martin, MD, MPP

Mass General Emergency Room Physician Details the Toll of Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Crisis

Mass General’s Alister Martin, MD, MPP, a faculty member at the Mass General Center for Social Justice and Health Equity, recently described how he as seen race-related health disparities play out as part of the Broad Institute’s Global Health Coffee Break seminar series.

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Featuring Louise Ivers, MD, MPH

Contact Tracing Relies on Individual Trust to Advance the Public Good

At its core, contact tracing is a people-centered process that requires trust, empathy and good communication skills, explains Louise Ivers, MD, MPH, the executive director of the Center for Global Health at Massachusetts General Hospital.

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2020 MGRI Image Contest: Meet the Winner and Finalists

The MGRI Image Contest was created in 2018 with the goal of providing and inside look at Mass General research and sharing the stories of our researchers. This year, we received 55 images from across 35 divisions departments and centers. Of these 55 entries, a panel of judges selected eight finalists, including one winner and one honorable mention.

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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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