Benchmarks is your weekly dose of research news and notes from the Mass General Research Institute community.
With over 9,500 people working in research at Mass General, there’s more news than we can get to each week. Here are a few highlights:
- Research in the News
- How a Court Ruling Could Impact Efforts to Reduce the Spread of HIV
- Infants born to mothers with COVID-19 during pregnancy had a lower birth weight followed by accelerated weight gain
- Dr. Lai Promoted to Associate Professor
- This Month in Mass General History
- Mass General Helps to Treat Victims of Toxic Train Spill in Somerville
- Mass General Researchers Detail How Amphetamines Affect Social Behavior-For Better and Worse
- Mass General an Early Leader in the Science of Workplace Safety
Research in the News
How a Court Ruling Could Impact Efforts to Reduce the Spread of HIV
Anne Neilan, MD, MPH, physician-investigator in the Department of Pediatrics and Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and an assistant professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, is the co-senior author of a new paper in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, Increased HIV transmissions with reduced insurance coverage for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis: Potential consequences of Braidwood Management v. Becerra
The team estimated that for every 1% decrease in the number of PrEP-eligible men who have sex with men (MSM) receiving PrEP treatment, 114 new HIV infections would occur in the following year.
They projected that at a minimum, this decision could result in more than 2,000 entirely preventable HIV infections in the coming year.
This analysis suggests that by removing the requirement for insurers to cover PrEP, the court’s ruling will harm both individuals and public health, undermining years of effort and investment to end the HIV epidemic in the United States. Read more.
Infants born to mothers with COVID-19 during pregnancy had a lower birth weight followed by accelerated weight gain
Lindsay T. Fourman, MD, and Andrea G. Edlow, MD, are co-authors of a new study in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Accelerated Longitudinal Weight Gain Among Infants with In Utero COVID-19 Exposure.
The team found that infants born to mothers with COVID-19 during pregnancy had a lower birth weight followed by accelerated weight gain in the first year of life as compared to unexposed infants.
Lower birth weight and accelerated postnatal weight gain are risk factors for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease later in life.
The team’s findings point to a potentially increased risk of cardiometabolic disease for the large global population of children with in utero exposure to maternal COVID-19. Read more.
Lung Researcher Promoted to Associate Professor of Medicine
Congratulations to Peggy Lai, MD, MPH of the Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit within the Mongan Institute on being promoted to Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Lai’s research focuses on investigating the effect of environmental exposures on lung disease.
She also serves as a member of the American Thoracic Society serving on the International Health Committee, and as co-chair of the International Conference Working Group.
Tweets of the Week
This Month in Mass General History
Mass General Helps to Treat Victims of Toxic Train Spill in Somerville
April 3, 1980—Toxic fumes billowed from a chemical tank car that split open in a train wreck today, sending 45 people to the hospital and forcing the evacuation of at least 2,000 others.
Officials said 30 people were taken to Somerville Hospital, while 15 others were taken to Massachusetts General Hospital in nearby Boston.
At Massachusetts General, spokesman Martin Bander said at least one person had breathed enough of the gas to be admitted to the hospital.
However, most were given oxygen, showers and a variety of tests before being released.
Officials said the gas, identified as phosphorus trichloride, causes irritation of the eyes and lungs, while those who get massive doses face possible liver and kidney damage. It is used to make water treatment chemicals. (From an article in the Santa Cruz Sentinal)
Mass General Researchers Detail How Amphetamines Affect Social Behavior-For Better and Worse
April 7, 1960—Amphetamine, a commonly used stimulant, can have both a good and a bad effect on an individual’s social behavior, a study indicated today.
The conclusion was based on a study involving athletes given the so-called “pep pills” and asked to describe how they felt before and after by filling out an 81-item check list.
Writing in the current Journal of the American Medical Association, Gene M. Smith, PhD, and Henry K. Beecher, MD, of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, said there has been considerable interest in the question of whether amphetamine produces temporary alterations in personality which might facilitate antisocial behavior.
The authors referred to reports that lawbreakers take “thrill pills” to bolster their courage to commit crimes and pointed out that the same type of pills are believed to be in widespread use by students, businessmen, and other noncriminal citizens.
“In the present investigation,” they said, ”increased feelings of mental and physical activation, elation, boldness, and friendliness were the main effects of amphetamine on mood and physical states.
“The increase in effects classified as boldness and friendliness is pertinent to the issue of antisocial behavior; perhaps the increased checking of drunk and impulsive is also, since increases in these two effects may imply a reduction in self-control.”
“Those mood changes might, under certain circumstances, facilitate antisocial behavior, particularly the changes in feelings which account for the increased checking of cocky and domineering.” they said.
Furthermore, they said, it is almost certain that such behavior consequences would be strongly influenced by social and environmental circumstances. (From an article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Mass General an Early Leader in the Science of Workplace Safety
APRIL 10, 1922—Through the division of industrial hygiene, which is a part of the new school of public health, Harvard University is making a series of studies of the health hazards of industry, in order to accumulate fundamental facts on the relation between industrial jobs and ill health, which may prove useful in the prevention of disease.
The team has been making a three-year study of lead poisoning and investigating the harmfulness of to the human system of various kinds of dusts which may be encountered by industrial workers in mines and factories.
Meanwhile at Massachusetts General Hospital, members of the division of industrial hygiene are operating an industrial clinic in which they study cases of industrial toxication, poisoning, fatigue of special groups of muscle and other kinds of cases.
The division has also been studying the health of employees in 25 department stories in New York, Boston, and other cities and on the basis of this study has advised these stores about methods of protecting the health of their employees. (From an article in the New York Tribune)
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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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