Harvard Medical Labcast

Last month, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case with sweeping implications for U.S. health care. Gregory Curfman, an HMS assistant professor and executive editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, scored a coveted ticket to the proceedings. He shared insight and analysis with faculty and students during a recent Medical Education Grand Rounds presentation on campus.

At issue is the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, which was passed by Congress in 2010. The court’s decision—expected in June—could influence the race for the White House and shape health care policy for years to come.

Extended audio is available from this HMS event.

Jack Szostak, an HMS professor of genetics at Massachusetts General Hospital, shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work he completed in the 1980s on telomeres, the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes. But he hasn’t worked on telomeres in years. In fact, he completely shifted fields in the early 1990s. Now he’s working to build primitive cells in the laboratory. Learn more about Szostak in the Spring 2012 issue of Harvard Medicine magazine.

HMS Instructor of Radiology Phoebe Freer explains the benefits of tomosynthesis, an imaging tool developed at Massachusetts General Hospital to enhance breast cancer screening. During a tomosynthesis exam, a camera moves in an arc over the patient, taking a series of low-dose images, which get stitched together by software. Radiologists use the resulting 3D compilation to find tumors that might be hiding and scrutinize potential problem areas before worrying patients.

This podcast also explores 3D tissue models developed in the Brugge laboratory to study cancer. Plus, Professor of Radiology Tina Young Poussaint at Children's Hospital Boston shares her perspective.

Everything changes during the third year of medical school. Leaving classrooms for the clinic, students begin to apply lessons learned from textbooks, lectures and labs to real patients. And for the first time, future MDs begin to feel like doctors.

Learn about this intense—and rewarding—year, known at Harvard Medical School as the Principal Clinical Experience, or PCE. Listen as students and faculty members share, based on personal experiences, how the approach fosters mentoring, communication and empathy.

Interviewees include HMS student Kat Wakeham and her mentor David Hirsh, an HMS assistant professor of medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance.

Marc Kirschner, head of the Harvard Medical School Department of Systems Biology, describes a new initiative that takes aim at the alarming slowdown in the development of new and lifesaving drugs. Plus, Professor of Genetics David Reich is studying DNA from an ancient finger bone to shed light on the dawn of humanity. Image by Martin Sorger.

Elsie Taveras, an assistant professor of population medicine and of pediatrics at HMS, discusses a new Institute of Medicine report on early childhood obesity. Plus, Assistant Professor of Cell Biology Stephen Liberles explores how mice and rats sense predators. Image by Nazdravie/iSockphoto.

Harvard Medical School Professor of Systems Biology Pam Silver is engineering organisms that produce fuel and even food. Find out how she’s working to build a sustainable future through synthetic biology. Plus, Nancy Keating, an HMS associate professor of health care policy, sheds light on one aspect of the debate over the rising costs of health care.