Jane Zhu, M.D., is named among 10 Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine nationwide by the National Academy of Medicine.

The Oregonian covers debate over proposed legislation that would narrow the criteria for when restraining a child qualifies as potential child abuse. Ajit Jetmalani, M.D., says current law undermines their ability to do their jobs well. He says, “The cascading impact of this is demoralization of staff, staff turnover, closing of programs, and for programs who are left, avoidance of youth who have aggression as a symptom.”

OHSU will use $7 million in recently awarded research funding from the NIH to study new medical treatments for chronic sinusitis with nasal polyps. Timothy Smith, M.D., says, “These are very costly medications. The health system and patients cannot afford to rotate through these medicines just to find out that potentially none of the drugs work.”

Science News covers a recent OHSU study about the importance of astrocytes in brain function, including the discovery of a “pay attention” signal in the form of a chemical signal called tyramine. Marc Freeman, Ph.D., says, “The fact that an arousal cue could take an astrocyte from ignoring all of those major neurotransmitters to suddenly listening to everything … it boggles the mind when you think about the implications.”

Highlights OHSU among health systems using an artificial intelligence tool to improve speed and accuracy of coding in insurance claims.

Public News Service covers collective bargaining involving OHSU and Advance Practice Providers.

Labroots reports on OHSU research uncovering new insights about the influence of astrocytes governing brain function. Kevin Guttenplan, Ph.D., says, “Being able to turn off some of those circuits allows astrocytes to make sense of the cacophony of activity occurring in the brain from moment to moment.”

From the Bench cites the OHSU blood test for pancreatic cancer as a “game-changer” among notable discoveries highlighted by the American Association for Cancer Research: “For a disease that often hides until it’s too late, this could help flip the script and bring pancreatic cancer out of the shadows.”

Woman’s World highlights strategies for getting a timely diagnosis and treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, Jeffrey Kaye, M.D., says a shortage of neurologists makes it difficult: “I’m part of a nationally funded, NIH-supported institution, yet all my colleagues report substantial wait times for an appointment — it’s a real phenomenon.”

U.S. Medicine covers a retrospective cohort study from OHSU and the VA Portland Healthcare System about respiratory illness seasons in 2022-23 and 2023-24: “During both seasons, RSV remained a milder illness, whereas COVID-19 was associated with higher long-term mortality. Vaccination attenuated differences in disease severity and long-term mortality.”