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Cover Story Forging Partnerships to Fight Cancer

2024 Research Magazine 

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Uncompromising Care from a Comprehensive Cancer Center

Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University is proud to join an elite group of 57 cancer centers nationwide to be designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute.

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Cover Story Forging Partnerships to Fight Cancer

Cancer researchers and community members come together to address racial disparities in prostate cancer at the molecular and patient level.

Compared to white men, black men are:

1.76 times

More likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer

2.14 times

More likely to die from prostate cancer

 

Moriah Cunningham organized an outreach event that offered a free prostate cancer screening for prostate specific antigen (PSA) to emphasize the importance of early detection. Of the 47 attendees, all who identified as Black men, more than half received screening - for some it was their first time. Five men ended up having an elevated PSA level and were referred to a urologist at the Cancer Center for follow-up care.

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“I’m really thankful I got screened. It turns out I had a recurrence of prostate cancer that I had developed decades ago. But because I caught it at an early stage, my prognosis is good, despite being older.”

Individual at the Outreach Event
Dr. Chapman

“You’re not only going to be surrounded by the brightest minds in cancer research, but you are also going to be supported in every way.”

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Feature Breaking Through

Jefferson researchers inform evidence-based guidelines for transgender patients.

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The transgender community needs doctors and researchers as allies. We’ve had to fight just to be seen and heard and accepted. We just want to be cared for.

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Feature How the Pain in your Gut Connects to your Mind

An investigation into why a drug for irritable bowel syndrome had unexpected pain-relieving properties sheds new light on how the gut communicates with the brain.

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Feature Exploring the Gut-Brain Axis

A newly discovered cell acts as a conduit between the brain and the gut, illuminating new ways to target visceral pain in IBS.

Inside the intestine

Neuropod cells look like a cross between intestinal lining cells and neurons. They are located along the intestinal lining, and they “reach out” to neurons that communicate with the brain.

The Missing Piece

When linaclotide (or the natural hormones it mimics) is not present to bind to GCC, neuropod cells act like a “megaphone” for visceral pain, amplifying slight feelings of sensitivity into intense signals of pain. When linaclotide is present to bind to GCC, it “quiets” or “turns off” the megaphone.

David Whellan

Editorial Research in Our Third Century

Jefferson is leveraging its 200 year-old foundation of discovery and application to help define what research and scholarship will look like in coming decades.

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How Will AI Change Health Care?

Doctors say AI has the potential to reshape patient care for the better, but the technology needs to be implemented responsibly.

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Implementing AI

The healthcare sector is rapidly finding new ways to use algorithms and machine learning for patient care.

90 Medical Devices

In 2022 alone, the FDA approved over 90 different medical devices using AI

Over 500 Submissions

Of the over 500 submissions of AI medical devices authorized to date by the FDA, three-quarters are for radiologists

22 New Imaging Tools

In one study, Jefferson researchers identified 22 new AI-based brain imaging tools to speed stroke diagnosis and promote post-stroke recovery

Portrait Designing Tomorrow's Cities with Data

Employing sophisticated analytics and computer modeling to create healthy, sustainable cities that can accommodate the growing global population.

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Six Steps Forward

Exploring recent discoveries at Jefferson

Clinical Briefs

Discrimination's Impact on Recovery

Do Steroids Affect Cancer Immunotherapy?

Basic Briefs

Trafficking Control in Brain Cells

Finding a Hidden Cancer Target

Applied Briefs

Exploring Art Therapy's Broader Benefits

Designing for Unique Patient Needs

Portrait Structural Racism Through Food

Exploring how racial inequities are reinforced, as well as how acts of resistance are empowered, through food.

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Art Competition SEEKING ARTISTRY IN RESEARCH

Jefferson’s Research as Art Competition celebrates all Jefferson faculty, students and staff who have an eye for the beauty in their research or scholarship. Explore a sampling of submissions here and learn about the winning entries and judges.

Preview the Art

“Spectrumgenesis” art piece
“Vacancy” art piece
“Cobblestones of the Skeletal Muscle” art piece
"Little Brain of the Heart" art piece
Graphic of an asthma attack

Visualizing Molecular Science Attacking Asthma with a One-Two Punch

Rescue inhalers can stop working in some people. Two teams discover molecules that could make puffs work better, longer.

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Jefferson by the Numbers

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1,200

Active studies across Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health in FY23

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1,000+

Patents for new drugs, software and innovation

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$203M+

Public and private research awards

Brittany Ruiz

Beyond the Bench Striving To Improve Representation in Science

A graduate student who didn’t see herself in science now looks for opportunities to increase awareness among students about what a scientist is and does.

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Bookshelf Research Reads

    Bookshelf Research Reads

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    Two Centuries of Research Synergy

    For 200 years, Jefferson researchers have applied expertise in medicine, textiles and design to serve society’s health and well-being.

    Learn more about Jefferson's History

    Magazine Archive

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