A girl born at OHSU at 12:12 a.m. on Jan. 1 appears to be Portland’s first baby of 2024. The still-unnamed newborn is the first child of Pooja Kotadia, M.D., a Hillsboro Medical Center hospitalist, and her partner, Rounak Gandhi.

A girl born at OHSU at 12:12 a.m. on Jan. 1 appears to be Portland’s first baby of 2024. The still-unnamed newborn is the first child of Pooja Kotadia, M.D., a Hillsboro Medical Center hospitalist, and her partner, Rounak Gandhi.

An editorial calling for Colorado to enact more strict marijuana policies cites OHSU research that found U.S. adolescent pot use has increased by about 245% since 2000.

Bushnell University of Eugene will address resource issues identified in OHSU’s 2022 Behavioral Health Workforce Report, which projected a mental healthcare provider shortage and determined the mental health profession needs to be more diverse.

Jessica Warren is looking forward to starting 2024 with her new family after undergoing a series of surgeries – including an emergency Cesarian section, a bowel resection repair and an aortic dissection repair – at OHSU since late October.

In a story discussing the future of gene therapy, Shoukhrat Mitalipov, Ph.D. , says the next generation of gene editing tools should minimize the risk of new mutations and “it remains to be seen if [the CRISPR-based tool, prime editing] is really going to be applicable.”

Evan Shalen, M.D., provides heart-healthy tips to start 2024 right. He says, “The No. 1 recommendation that I give people is to make sure they’re staying active. As I see people aging, the ones that are able to stay active and feel well later in life are generally folks who have also been active throughout their life.”

After her mother donated a kidney when she was younger, Chica Stein of Leaburg, Oregon, underwent a second transplant Dec. 10 at OHSU thanks to a deceased donor. Stein says “It’s a real emotional struggle just for me even to think about them [the donor], how much they gave up so that I have a third chance to continue on in my 50s, and 60, and 70s.”

Research by OHSU, University of Washington and others found spike proteins attached to the SARS-CoV-2 virus was easily able to pass from a mouse’s bloodstream into its brain, causing inflammation that can lead to cognitive issues after having COVID-19.

OHSU successfully completed its first spine surgery while a patient is awake. Anesthesiologist Kevin Blaine, M.D., says, “General anesthesia is probably more anesthesia than you need for an incision you can cover with a Band-Aid. These modern surgical techniques really have advanced that much.”