h upstate ealth editor leah caldwell assistant vice president, marketing & university...

UPSTATE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY Winter 2018

Health UPSTATE

MANAGING JUVENILE ARTHRITIS page 6

A SCIENTIST EXPLORES HOW TO REPAIR BRAIN DAMAGE page 12

WHAT IS MICRORNA? page 14

3 PEOPLE YOU NEED WHILE GRIEVINGpage 15

MEDICALLY FRAGILE,MENTALLY STRONG

page 5

PREPARING FOR YOURCOLONOSCOPY

page 17

HOW TO STOP THE

BLEED page 19

WELCOME

WITH UPSTATE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY being thelargest employer in Onondaga County, some employeesare bound to share the same name. Meet Ashley Brown,Ashley Brown and Ashley Brown.e brunette Ashley Brown is a nurse in the emergencydepartment at the Community campus. She shares a birthyear – 1985 – and a middle name – Marie – with the red-headed Ashley Brown who works in Upstate’s dental clinicand attended Liverpool High School. e blond Ashley Brown, born in 1987, is a charge nurse inthe intensive care unit at the Community campus. She andthe emergency nurse were two years apart as they attendedLafayette High School. ey both pursued nursing careersand eventually ended up at Upstate University Hospital.Both were pregnant at the time of this photo.

e emergency nurse delivered her second son in August.e ICU nurse delivered her first baby, a boy, in November,and she was changing her last name to take her husband’s:Buckton. e Ashley Brown from the dental clinic has an 8-year-olddaughter.e Social Security Administration reports that Ashley wasmost popular as a girl’s name in 2001, when 16,526 Ashleyswere born in the United States. Ashley was the fourth mostpopular girl’s name that year, and it remained in the top 10through 2005. e decade of the 1980s saw 352,160 Ashleys born —behind only Jessicas, Jennifers and Amandas as mostpopular. At least 53 Ashleys were employed at Upstate in 2017 — three with the last name Brown.

upstate.edu l winter 20182 U P S TAT E H E A LT H

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Meet AshleyBrown

Three Upstate employees — all named Ashley Brown — at the gazebo at Upstate University Hospital’s Community campus in August.PHOTO BY DEBBIE REXINE

Times 3

PATIENT CAREMedically fragile, mentally strong page 5

A child faces juvenile arthritis page 6

She creates during chemotherapy page 8

Relief from Meniere’s disease page 10

FROM OUR EXPERTSA scientist explores how to repair brain damage page 12

UnderstandingmicroRNA page 14

How dreams help with grief page 15

Guidelines for a good bowel prep page 17

IN OUR COMMUNITYDialysis patients gain companionship page 18

Do you know how to stop the bleed? page 19

Meet 3 pioneering female doctors page 20

IN OUR LEISUREA curling fundraiser page 22

DEPARTMENTSNews you might have missed page 4

Science Is Art Is Science back coverFocusing on prostate cancer

WELCOME

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Leah CaldwellAssistant Vice President, Marketing &

University Communications

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Amber Smith

WRITERS Leah CaldwellJim McKeever

Jim HoweSusan KeeterAmber Smith

DESIGNER Susan Keeter

Visit us online at www.upstate.edu orphone us at 315-464-4836.

For corrections, suggestions and submissions, contact Amber Smith at315-464-4822 or [email protected]

ADDITIONAL COPIES: 315-464-4836

Upstate Health offices are located at 250 Harrison St., Syracuse, NY 13202

Health UPSTATE

Winter 2018

Upstate Health magazine is a community outreach service of UpstateMedical University in Syracuse, N.Y. Upstate is an academic medical centerwith four colleges (Medicine, Nursing, Health Professions and GraduateStudies); a robust research enterprise and an extensive clinical health caresystem that includes Upstate University Hospital’s Downtown andCommunity campuses, the Upstate Cancer Center and the Upstate GolisanoChildren’s Hospital. Part of the State University of New York, Upstate isOnondaga County’s largest employer.

Need a referral?Contact Upstate Connect at 315-464-8668 or 800-464-8668, day or night,

for appointments or referrals to the health care providers on these pages or

anywhere at Upstate or for questions on any health topic.

Contents

3U P S TAT E H E A LT Hwinter 2018 l upstate.edu

On the cover: Tracy Cornell is a thriving

preschooler despite medicalchallenges. See story,

page 5.

PHOTO BY ROBERT MESCAVAGE

UPSTATE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY

Winter 2018

Health UPSTATE

MANAGING JUVENILE ARTHRITIS page 6

3 PEOPLE YOU NEED WHILE GRIEVINGpage 11

A SCIENTIST EXPLORES HOW TO REPAIR BRAIN DAMAGE page 12

WHAT IS MICRORNA? page 14

MEDICALLY FRAGILE,MENTALLY STRONGpage 5

PREPARING FOR YOURCOLONOSCOPY page 16

HOW TO STOP THE BLEED page 19

14 2010 126

WHAT’S UP AT UPSTATE


UPSTATE RESEARCHERS, in collaboration withscientists from Penn State University, haveidentified a novel and accurate biomarker — froma sample of saliva — that both identifiesconcussion in children and predicts the length ofrecovery. Results of the groundbreaking research, sponsoredby Quadrant Biosciences, Inc., were presented atthe Pediatric Academic Societies 2017 Meeting.e work focuses on small non-coding nucleic acidmolecules in the body called microRNA. (Readmore about microRNA on page 14.)Related research also looks at diagnosing autismthrough microRNA analysis from saliva samples.

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THE UPSTATE CANCER CENTER joined theAmerican Association of Cancer Institutes, whichcomprises 97 leading cancer research centers in NorthAmerica.is group of cancer centers helps one another by sharingbest practices, providing a forum for addressing commonchallenges and educating policy makers about theimportant role cancer centers play in advancing cancerdiscovery.More than 2,000 new patients seek care at the UpstateCancer Center each year, resulting in 45,000 visits to thedowntown campus and additional visits to satellitelocations. More than 90 board-certified physicians are partof the interdisciplinary cancer team at Upstate, and all areprofessors in Upstate’s College of Medicine.

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UPSTATE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY joins nine otherSUNY campuses and five not-for-profit organizations to establish a sustainable village and learning communityin Haiti that will provide resources and services for thetown of Akaye. Each campus in the collaboration was selected to bringexpertise in a certain specialty to the community. Upstate,along with Stony Brook University and NassauCommunity College, is part of the Health and Wellnessworking group. e W.K. Kellogg Foundation awarded an $800,000 grantto this project, which will develop educational, economicand social programs and other needed services on 40 acresof land donated by a Nassau Community College professoremeritus.

Learn more about happenings at Upstate at upstate.edu/news andupstate.edu/whatsup

News you may have missed

THE NAPPI LONGEVITYInstitute at Upstate MedicalUniversity — an eight-floor,360,000-square-foot health andwellness complex — will be builtat East Adams and Almondstreets, across from the Upstate Cancer Center in downtown Syracuse, New York. It will house services related to brain health andneurosciences, including a focus on Alzheimer’s disease.In addition, an array of wellness services will be availablethere under one roof, following the philosophy thatpreventive health and promotion of good health can helpreduce hospitalizations and emergency treatment. Upstate received a $70.6 million grant as part of theCapital Restructuring Financing Program and EssentialHealth Care Provider Support Program, and an additional$75 million was allocated by the state. Sam and CarolNappi of Jamesville donated $8 million that will supportits creation and special focus. It’s the largest gi everreceived by the Upstate Foundation. Construction is slated to begin in 2018.

UPSTATE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL added anotheroption for mothers-to-be seeking relief from the pain ofchildbirth. Nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, isnow available at the Family Birth Center. Nitrous oxide is making a comeback in the United States,aer being overshadowed by the epidural, which uses aspinal injection to block pain. e patient breathes in thenitrous oxide through a mask that she holds. When used for labor, the mixture is half nitrous oxide andhalf oxygen, for a less potent mixture than what is typicallyused for dental procedures. Nitrous oxide has been used inEurope for years with safe outcomes for mother and child.

Sam and Carol Nappi


PATIENT CARE

IN 2013, FRIENDS OF KRISTY AND JOHN Cornell told the couple about a woman who gave birth to a baby girl in the Buffalo area. e baby was to beadopted, and she had health problems. e Cornells were foster parents, living near Binghamton.Kristy Cornell was a nurse.“I went up to visit the baby at the hospital, and I just fell inlove with her,” recalls Kristy Cornell. Her husband, John, is a New York state trooper. e Cornells met baby Tracy several days aer her firstheart surgery to repair the aortic arch of her heart. Tracy’s birth mother liked the couple and wanted them toadopt her. Aer a brief stay with a foster family in Buffalo— who are now Tracy’s godparents — Tracy came home toher “forever” family, which includes 21-year-old Michael,11-year-old Molly and 5-year-old Zorion. Tracy had a second cardiac surgery when she was 1. She’s 4 now. Her pediatric cardiac surgeon, George Alfieris,MD, likely will need to operate a third time, to repair a heart valve and a narrowing of the aorta, the main artery of the body. Daniel Kveselis, MD, is Tracy’s pediatric cardiologist.Pediatric pulmonary nurse practitioner Mary Foster helpsthe preschooler with her asthma and environmentalallergies.“I first started caring for her when she was 6 months old,”Foster says. “She used to be so scared when she came toher appointments.” Now Tracy is less anxious.By looking at her, “You would never know that she’smedically fragile. You would never know, other than thescar,” her mom says.

She has a scar on her chest from thesurgeries. Tracy is also small for her age. In addition to theheart problems and the pulmonaryissues, she has agenetic disorder thatcauses the growth oftumors in her nervous system. It’s called neurofibromatosis, type 1. e Cornells live with many unknowns. e tumors that grow could be cancerous, cause vision problems, or be disfiguring. Or, her disease could be mild. ere’s no way to predict. So, they focus on regular life — which for Tracy meansfull-day pre-kindergarten, princess dresses and anobsession with Henry, the family’s 80-pound Englishmastiff-Lab mix. Kristy Cornell says Tracy has a million stuffed dogs andlikes to pretend that she is a dog. She also likes playingwith Zorion, the 5-year-old boy of whom they havecustody. e minute she wakes up in the morning, sheasks, “Where’s Zorion?”“She’s a redheaded, fiery little girl,” Kristy Cornell says.“She’s very strong. “I think that’s what’s gotten her through so far.“She’s just a really spunky kid. We just absolutely adore her.”

Medicallyfragile,mentallystrongPreschooler thrives despite cardiac, neurological problemsBY AMBER SMITH

Tracy Cornell with pediatric pulmonary nurse practitioner Mary Foster.PHOTO BY ROBERT MESCAVAGE

George Alfieris, MD Daniel Kveselis, MD

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PATIENT CARE


NORA POWERS STARTED FEELING PAIN in her feetwhen she was 2 years old.at led to trips to her pediatrician, then a podiatrist, then an orthopedist. When she was 5, a pediatricrheumatologist diagnosed what caused her pain and also her swollen fingers: juvenile arthritis.Since its cause is unknown, it is technically called juvenileidiopathic arthritis.Nora, now 9 and in the fourth grade in the East SyracuseMinoa school district, has been seeing that rheumatologist,William Hannan, MD, ever since. Hannan and hiscolleague, Caitlin Sgarlat Deluca, DO, treat juvenilearthritis and related conditions at the Upstate PediatricRheumatology Center, the only place for specializedtreatment between Rochester and Albany.“‘Arthritis means joint inflammation, and everyone thinksof it as something their parents and grandparents mightget, but juvenile arthritis has been around, too. It is one ofthe more chronic diseases of childhood, but it doesn’t havethe reputation of other chronic diseases,” Hannan says. It’s hard to diagnose, since it requires lengthy observationand a detailed evaluation that rules out other causes. edisease can go on for some time before it is identified, as inNora’s case, and it comes in many types and degrees ofseverity.“e most difficult thing for families to adjust to is thatthis is a chronic disease,” Hannan notes. “It is a slowprocess. ey live through it, and it takes a while to getthem really feeling good. ey’re likely to be onmedications for years. at is the most difficult thing forfamilies to deal with.” Nora has taken medications to reduce her pain andinflammation, including methotrexate, which she is nowbeing weaned from as her symptoms are in remission.

Since movement is generally recommended, Nora has beenas active as possible with soccer, dance and yoga for years,says her mother, April McCaslin of East Syracuse.“We noticed she used to have to take several breaks, butwhen the methotrexate started working, she was able torun up and down the (soccer) field without having to stopand struggle with it,” McCaslin says. Nora has permission to opt out of gym class or otherschool activities, but she rarely does. “When we go to the floor (for a school activity), I usuallysit in a chair because it hurts my legs to sit on the floor,”Nora says, noting her chair has a cushion to make it morecomfortable. She might also write a school assignment onher Chromebook computer if writing by hand is toopainful. If she needs to explain her illness to people, she says, “I tellthem that it hurts your joints” and notes the diseasedoesn’t slow her down too much.She used to have physical and occupational therapy atschool but has been doing so well recently that she doesn’thave to leave class anymore, her mother says, noting thatthe school has gone “above and beyond” to accommodateNora’s special needs.Since Nora doesn’t like to complain, McCaslin is evervigilant about the disease, which can give Nora painful“flares” or leave her tired at the end of a school day. Noraalso must see an eye doctor regularly to watch for a

BY JIM HOWE

continued on page 7

Overcoming apainful disease Battling juvenilearthritis is a long-term propositionfor this fourth-grader

William Hannan, MD, with Nora Powers. PHOTO BY SUSAN KAHN

PATIENT CARE


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Overcoming a painful disease continued from page 6

possible problem called inflammatory uveitis. Down theroad, she will probably need extra time once she gets tomiddle school and has to switch rooms for each class.She rarely uses it, but Nora has a wheelchair in case sheneeds to walk a long distance, such as on school field trips. Nora and her family advocate for juvenile arthritis,including sponsoring the Nora’s Flower Powers team eachyear since 2014 in the Arthritis Foundation’s annual JingleBell Run fundraiser, raising more than $18,000 in all, hermother says. Participants can walk or run, and sometimesNora runs.On the team’s Facebook page, you can read about Nora andher mother meeting with a state senator about a healthinsurance bill, see their volunteer work for the ArthritisFoundation, find messages of support from Nora’sstepfather, Mason McCaslin, and many other people, andcheck out photos of children with signs that say, “Kids GetArthritis, Too.”“She looks like a perfectly normal child, so you’d neverguess she was in pain,” her mother says. “Everyone would look at her and say she’s a normal 9-year-old,” Hannan agrees. As she tapers off her medication, herarthritis “may be gone or may start to come back. I wish Icould predict exactly what was going to happen, butnobody can,” he says.Speaking of all his juvenile arthritis patients, Hannan says,“My goal is to make them normal: to go to school, getmarried, have kids.” e treatments and outcomes forjuvenile arthritis patients are much better now than whenhe started in the field in the 1980s, he notes optimistically.

ABOUT CHILDHOOD ARTHRITIS

Considered the most common form of juvenilearthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, or JIA, beginsbefore age 16 and involves swelling in one or morejoints lasting at least six weeks. JIA includes several types of arthritis and waspreviously known as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. It isdifferent in most cases from adult rheumatoid arthritis. JIA may include muscle and so-tissue tightening,bone erosion, joint misalignment and changes ingrowth patterns, and the symptoms can change fromday to day.Diagnosis is based on a physical exam as well as labtests and medical history. Several arthritis-related diseases can also affectchildren, such as Kawasaki’s disease, juvenilescleroderma, juvenile lupus and fibromyalgia.

SOURCE: ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION

ARE YOU GRATEFUL?

Foundation

A gift of gratitude is a meaningful way to both express yourappreciation to special caregivers and to help patients during their time of great need. Friend in Deed, UpstateUniversity Hospital’s annual fund, supports a variety ofunmet patient needs, such as nutritional supplements for cancer patients, special pediatric needs, communication tools for the hearing impaired, and heart monitors, to name a few.

To donate, visit upstatefoundation.org or contact the Upstate Foundation at 315-464-4416. To share your story, email [email protected]

The pediatric rheumatology team

PATIENT CARE

A NEW SKETCHBOOK was theperfect gi for Julia Nguyen onSept. 13, the day she was diagnosedwith primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma. Over the summer, around her 16th birthday, Nguyen developedswelling in her face and felt a littleoff. When symptoms persisted, shehad several appointments with her

pediatrician. Aer X-rays and imaging scans revealed alarge mass in her chest, Nguyen was admitted to thepediatric intensive care unit at the Upstate GolisanoChildren’s Hospital. Pediatric hematologist/oncologistIrene Cherrick, MD, met with the Nguyen family, andadditional tests were done that revealed the cancer.Aer several days in intensive care, Nguyen wastransferred by elevator to Upstate’s Waters Center forChildren’s Cancer and Blood Disorders to begin her firstcourse of chemotherapy.

During long days of chemotherapy, Nguyen contends withboredom by filling the sketchbook with her originalcharacters or OCs, as they are called in her artistic circle.She favors drawing with a No. 5 mechanical pencil. Itmakes nice, thin lines, she explains. Occasionally she addscolor with Copic-brand markers or colored pencils. e big-eyed creatures and tousled-hair beauties thatoccupy her sketchbook are hers alone, but Nguyen isinspired by the popular Japanese animation style, anime —“Bungou Stray Dogs,” in particular — and characters inrole-playing video games such as “Hello, Charlotte.”Her mother remembers that she showed artistic talent at ayoung age, but Nyugen thinks that her fascination withPokemon inspired her to start drawing in fih grade. By eighth grade, she was serious about becoming an artist.

BY SUSAN KEETER

8

Julia Nguyen, 16, with the sketch-book she was given by a cousin onthe day she was diagnosed withlymphoma. Some of her sketches arereproduced here and on page 9.

PHOTO BY SUSAN KAHN

Teen artist spends chemotherapy time drawing original characters

Talentand imagination

U P S TAT E H E A LT H upstate.edu l winter 2018

continued on page 9


BY AMBER SMITH

�Strokes affecting

Nguyen’s characters spring from her imagination anddevelop as she draws them. She keeps a journal inwhich she writes about the alternate universes thatshe imagines for the characters, photographs herartwork and posts it all on Instagram.Currently, Nguyen is home-schooled until shecompletes her chemotherapy treatments. She looksforward to returning to West Genesee High School,so she can take a drawing and painting class andrejoin the club that publishes “In the Mind’s Eye,” an arts and literary magazine.“Julia’s ability to communicate emotion in a face isunusual for someone her age,” notes Tina Middaugh,magazine adviser and teacher at West Genesee.“She’s very talented.”

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ABOUT PRIMARY MEDIASTINAL LARGE B-CELL LYMPHOMALymphoma is a cancer that starts in the cells that are partof the body’s immune system. Primary mediastinal B-celllymphoma is a common subtype that occurs mostly inyoung women. It starts in the middle of the chest behindthe breastbone and is fast growing but usually respondswell to treatment.

SOURCE: AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY

ABOUT UPSTATE’S WILLIAM WATERS CENTER FOR CHILDREN’S CANCER

AND BLOOD DISORDERS AT THE UPSTATE GOLISANO CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

e center serves a 21-county region.Each year, approximately 65 new

oncology patients are diagnosed andtreated at Upstate’s Waters Center.

Nguyen’s oncologist, Irene CherrickMD, is one of eight board certified

pediatric hematology/oncologyphysicians on staff. Melanie Comito,

MD, is the director of the centerwhich has a 44-member staff.

In 2016, Upstate’s pediatric cancerand blood disorders patients received

care at 6,400 appointments at theWaters’ outpatient service in the

Upstate Cancer Center. e center also offers a survivor wellness program

for the long-term follow-up of childhood cancer patients.

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THE UPSTATE GOLISANOChildren’s Hospital has a Family AdvisoryCouncil, which periodically seeks to addnew members. is group meets monthly fromSeptember to June. It has recently assistedin creating a new visitation policy for the pediatric cancer clinic, given directionand feedback in the redesign of two areasof the hospital and participated in aneducational video that helps train medical residents.

Involving parents and other caregivers on this council is an important way thechildren’s hospital maintains its focus on providing family-centered care, sayspediatric administrator Jenny Dickinson.Members of the council are at least two years out from their child’s first visit to Golisano. Interested in volunteering? ContactDickinson at [email protected] or 315-464-9330.

Keeping care focused on family

PATIENT CARE

Talent and imagination continued from page 8

THEY WEREN’T LIFE-THREATENING, but thesymptoms that plagued Jolie Bower were so debilitating shehad to stop working. She had a spinning sensation of vertigo and nausea thatwould come on without warning. Her head would feel likea bowling ball and her neck a toothpick. She was laid outon the floor for hours at a time. Today the Onondaga Hill Middle School health teacher isback to a job she loves – and she credits Upstateotolaryngologist Charles Woods III, MD.“I’m so fortunate that we have him here in Syracuse,” shesays. “What he did for me was huge.”Bower, of Liverpool, developed vertigo in 2006. Herprimary care doctor sent her to an ear, nose and throatdoctor who diagnosed Meniere’s disease and prescribed

motion sickness medicine, a low-salt diet and a medicineto help reduce the fluid from her inner ear.ose measures over the years did not relieve hersymptoms. Eventually Bower took medical leave from herjob and got an appointment with Woods, an Upstateotologist, an ear, nose and throat doctor whosubspecializes in disorders of the ear. He is an assistantprofessor of otolaryngology and communication sciencesat Upstate. He explains that Meniere’s can affect hearing and balance,both of which are controlled in the inner ear. “I always tell patients I don’t like the name ‘disease’ becauseit’s an inner ear that’s not functioning correctly,” saysWoods. “e inner ear is made up of both the hearing sideof things and the balance side of things.” Patients can experience progressive hearing loss as the haircells in the cochlea (part of the inner ear) are damaged,and they may report a feeling of fullness in the ear. Woodssays that sensation comes from increased pressure withinthe fluid spaces of the inner ear. No one knows what causes the increased pressure, but hesays it’s similar to the eye disease glaucoma. Increased fluidpressure inside the eye can lead to retinal damage, whileincreased fluid pressure in the inner ear can causeprogressive neural damage. Tinnitus is also a common symptom, with sounds rangingfrom high-pitched hisses to the sound of a seashell cuppingthe ear.e most debilitating symptom is vertigo, a sense that theworld is spinning. “If we can at least alleviate that symptom for people, thedisordered ear is much more bearable,” Woods says.

PATIENT CARE

BY AMBER SMITH

continued on page 11

Surgical SolutionEar specialist helps her hearing, balance problems


Charles Woods III, MDPHOTOS BY SUSAN KAHN

Jolie Bower


Surgical solutions continued from page 10

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PATIENT CARE

In Bower’s case, Woods initially operated to install a shuntin her right ear, which spared her hearing. For two years,Bower says, she felt better. “en it came back with avengeance,” and her hearing in that ear was distorted.Woods describes a variety of treatment options rangingfrom steroid and antibiotic injections to the severing of thebalance nerve in the inner ear.Bower opted for another surgery called a labyrinthectomy,in which her inner ear was removed. is meant she wouldlose her hearing in that ear, and physical therapy would bepart of her recovery as she worked to retrain her brain,regain balance and recalibrate her vision.“e brain is pretty amazing in what it’s able to do,” shesays. “My good side took over for my bad side.” Bower feltlike she was back to normal about three months aer thesurgery. She is deaf in her right ear, but Bower hopes to get a bone-

anchored hearing aid that will send sound through bone toher good ear. Woods says more than three-quarters of people withMeniere’s disease control their symptoms with a low-saltdiet and diuretic medication.“Because the disease is intermittent, we’re not sure exactlyhow long and what period of time we need to treat people,”he says. “Oentimes, it’s at least intermittent treatment,lifelong, because the disease is not going to go away. It’s going to plague the patient, intermittently, throughtheir life.” Patients are likely to have quiet periods of several yearswhere they don’t need treatment. When symptoms becomedebilitating, Woods says it’s time to consider othertreatment options.

Reach Woods and other providers in Upstate’s Ear, Noseand Throat Clinic at 315-464-4678.

The National Stroke Association reports that African Americans are twice as likely to die from stroke as Caucasians. The statistics are staggering — African Americans are a�ected by stroke more often than any other group. Know your risk.

STROKE RISK FACTORS• HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE: It's the No.1 cause of stroke. Regularly monitor your blood pressure and always take prescribed medication.

• DIABETES: Control your diabetes with proper diet, exercise and medication.

• OBESITY: Being just 20 pounds overweight signi�cantly increases your risk of a stroke or heart disease.

• SMOKING: Smoking increases your risk of stroke by two to three times.

• MINI-STROKES (TIAS OR TRANSIENT ISCHEMIC ATTACKS): When stroke symptoms such

as confusion, slurred speech or loss of balance appear and disappear, call 9-1-1. You may be able to prevent a major stroke.

A STROKE IS A BRAIN EMERGENCY. IF YOU SUSPECT A STROKE, CALL 911 AND ASK FOR UPSTATE. Comprehensive Stroke Center


FROM OUR EXPERTS

BY AMBER SMITH

LI-RU-ZHAO’S FATHER, Jintian Zhao, was in his mid-60s in 1973 when a blood clot clogged a vessel in his brainand he suffered a stroke. Doctors in China, where he lives,suggested acupuncture or physical therapy in the first sixmonths of recovery. ey said aer six months, nothingwould help.“My research challenges this notion,” says Zhao, an Upstatescientist engaged in one of the most promising new fieldsof medicine: stem cell factor therapy. Zhao, MD, PhD, is an associate professor of neurosurgeryin Upstate’s biomedical sciences and neurosciencesprograms. She appreciates studying neurological diseases because somany are considered incurable. “I feel my mission is sohuge,” she explains. She also loves the challenge ofdiscovering new things.“e purpose of science is to search for the truth, toanswer the questions we do not know.” Zhao began searching for stroke answers two decades ago.In the late 1990s, she worked alongside a famous strokeresearcher at Lund University Wallenberg NeuroscienceCenter in Sweden. She focused on acute stroke researchand then segued into studying stroke recovery.Zhao and her husband, Weiming Duan, MD, PhD, thenrelocated to the University of Minnesota, where shecontinued her work.

Search for answers to stroke beginsOne of her colleagues in Minnesota was studying the useof bone marrow stem cells for the treatment of leukemia.at gave Zhao the idea to see whether bone marrow stemcells could play a role in stroke recovery.In her study, she transplanted human bone marrow stemcells into the brains of rats afflicted by stroke. Shewitnessed remarkable recovery. As exiting as the resultswere, Zhao had to learn why and how this happened. Shehypothesized that the stem cells, once injected, releasedfactors that were responsible for rewiring the brain forpermanent recovery. In 2001, her husband received a job offer at NorthwesternUniversity, in Chicago. She moved with him andcontinued her research, working to prove her hypothesis.She experimented with embryonic stem cells atNorthwestern. Again, she saw remarkable repair fromstroke. But this time, about a quarter of her test animalsdeveloped tumors.

Embryonic stem cells have the ability to become any typeof cell, but embryonic stem cell transplantation has a riskof generating cancerous tumors. For embryonic stem cellsto be helpful to her, Zhao would have to figure a wayaround their propensity for tumor formation.A pair of research colleagues at Northwestern whospecialized in hematology suggested she instead try usingstem cell factors.“I had the same question in my mind,” Zhao admits.

A clue in human aging?Bone marrow stem cell factors are naturally-occurringsubstances, released by bone marrow stem cells, that arecapable of stimulating cell growth and healing. As peopleage, they have fewer of these factors. Zhao suspects thatcould help explain why younger people tend to recoverfrom stroke more fully than older people.Biotech firms sell stem cell factors as drug formulations.Two types of bone marrow stem cell factors – SCF, stemcell factor, and G-CSF, granulocyte colony stimulatingfactor — have been used in combination to reduce thedamage from heart attacks. Researchers at that time hadnot looked at using these factors for stroke recovery. Zhao experimented using SCF and G-CSF individually.She also used the two factors together and discovered theywere synergistic in neural network generation and instroke recovery. at is, they work better together thaneither work apart. She began considering the timing.

Research for brain repairDuring the first six months of recovery aer a stroke,patients will have some degree of recovery without anysort of intervention, Zhao says, explaining that thisspontaneous recovery is due to brain plasticity – the brain’sability to change throughout life. Injecting SCF and G-CSFfactors seems to enhance brain plasticity and enhance theformation of new neural networks, which are crucial forrecovery.Aer she demonstrated the benefit of SCF and G-CSF inbrain repair when the growth factors were injected atseveral hours or several months post-stroke, Zhaowondered whether SCF and G-CSF injected six monthsaer a stroke would enhance recovery. Using multipleapproaches, including brain imaging in live animals, her


A huge mission Upstate scientist explores how stem cell therapy may repair brain damage from stroke, or Alzheimer’s

FROM OUR EXPERTS

A huge mission continued from page 12

research team found that SCF and G-CSF together seemedto improve motor function recovery.rough their research, she and her team located the braincells that respond to the stem cell factor treatment.Neurons have receptors for both SCF and G-CSF. “at isthe basis to suggest bone marrow stem cell factors affectbrain structure and brain function,” Zhao explains. Live brain imaging data have shown that considerablymore neural networks form in brains that receive thetreatment of bone marrow stem cell factors.

Turning to Alzheimer’sZhao relocated again in 2004 with her husband toLouisiana State University Health Sciences Center. When a large grant arrived for research on Alzheimer’sdisease, Zhao wondered whether the work she was doingon stroke repair could also be useful in Alzheimer’streatment. She set up experiments and soon saw that stem cell factorslead to recovery in Alzheimer’s disease, too. e amyloidplaques that accumulate between neurons and are thehallmark of Alzheimer’s were fewer in the animals thatreceived stem cell factor injections.“is was very, very exciting,” Zhao recalls.She also saw similar results in her laboratory using stemcell factors to treat a rare type of stroke and dementia withgenetic roots.“All the data put together actually validated what I wasdoing and made me feel more confident” that stem cellfactors work for brain repair in a variety of diseases.

Understanding the potentialWhen Zhao’s father-in-law suffered a severestroke in 2010, her husband relocated toBeijing to care for him. Zhao accepted aposition at Upstate in 2013.Here, she has conducted experiments onthe use of stem cell factors to treattraumatic brain injury. ey work, in thelab, just as they worked for stroke andAlzheimer’s. Like so many other scientists in the fieldof stem cell research, Zhao is on the cuspof something potentially huge — but inthe early stages.Stem cell-related therapies “holdsignificant promise for transformative andpotentially curative treatments for some ofhumanity’s most troubling and intractablemaladies,” says Food and DrugAdministration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD.

He continues: “Recent advances in our basic knowledge ofthe pathways involved in tissue damage and regenerationhave combined with remarkable progress in adult stem cellbiology to put us at a genuine inflection point in thehistory of medicine. e prospect of clinical tissue repairstrategies is a tangible reality.”Before Zhao can move her work forward with a clinicaltrial in humans, she must first determine exactly how thestem cell factors work and what amount is needed foreffectiveness.So, she continues her research in search of a repair forbrain damage.


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FROM OUR EXPERTS


RESEARCHERS AT UPSTATE are looking at tiny bits ofgenetic material that could open up new ways ofunderstanding diseases and how the mind and body work.e material is called microRNA and is present in saliva,blood and other bodily fluids.“MicroRNA potentially could end up in every biofluid and potentially could affect every fluid … people haveenvisioned these microRNAs now as a whole newmolecular endocrine signaling system,” says Upstateresearch scientist Frank Middleton, PhD, an associateprofessor of neuroscience and physiology, biochemistryand molecular biology, pediatrics and psychiatry andbehavioral sciences.He was comparing the ways microRNA sends signalsthroughout the body to the way the endocrine glands send their own signals, by releasing hormones into thebloodstream to reach distant cells.MicroRNA is made by all of the body’s cells, it can enterneighboring or distant cells, and it is critical to braindevelopment, learning and nearly every process that cellscarry out, he notes.Protein production is a key activity in cells, and“MicroRNAs block proteins, and the ones involved are particularly relevant for autism,” Middleton says.He is the principal investigator of an ongoing study that is looking at measuring microRNA in children’s saliva as a quick, painless and accurate method to help diagnose autism early, so those children can get into treatment faster.

These tiny keys could unlock treasure trove ofmedical knowledge

Understanding microRNA

BY JIM HOWE

Frank Middleton, PhDBY WILLIAM MUELLER


3 people who are needed during grief

THE DISCLOSURE invariably begins with, “is may sound crazy.” at’s how psychologist Jeffrey Schweitzer, PhD, can tell a bereaved person is about to relay the story of a dream featuring his orher deceased loved one. Schweitzer, the primary psychologist at the UpstateCancer Center, has researched the role of dreamsduring the bereavement process. He says dreamsfeaturing loved ones can be helpful as a person copeswith loss.For his dissertation, Schweitzer interviewed peopleabout dreams they had aer a loved one died. In somecases, the death was anticipated; other times, the deathwas sudden. In all cases, the dreams were intenselyvivid, highly memorable and tended to occur duringperiods of high emotion.One example: A woman whose father died of prostatecancer dreamed that someone knocked on her frontdoor. She opened the door and found her father. Assoon as he crossed the threshold, he turned into a baby,and the woman cradled him in her arms.

“at physical contact within the dream can enhancethe experience,” Schweitzer says. is woman’s father had been the epitome of strengthand stability, and much of her distress came from theloss of her pillar. For him to transform into a baby inher dream, and for her to comfort him, helped thewoman learn that she would be able to be strong on herown. Were the dreams Schweitzer studied sad? Sometimes.“In most cases not,” he says. “ey produced profound, loving feelings. Feelings ofcomfort. Feelings of reassurance, in a sense that ‘I canhave an ongoing relationship with this person,’ thatthey’re not gone absolutely. In the medium of dreams,we can visit with one another again.”Schweitzer did not find a way to prompt dreams to occur.“at’s part of what made the dreams so significant,” heexplains. “ey just sort of seem to come out when thebereaved need them most.”

Sweet dreamsGrieving continues even when you sleep

BY AMBER SMITH

And the distractertakes the person out of

their grief, if only temporarily.“You can’t grieve 24 hours

a day,” Bachorik says.

The doer helps the person

to complete any of a variety of tasks.

The listenerlistens without

judgment.

THOSE WHO ARE GRIEVING need three important people in their lives: a listener, a doer and a distracter, saysbereavement counselor Susan Bachorik, from Hospice of Central New York. Here are their roles:

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FROM OUR EXPERTS



FROM OUR EXPERTS

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DNA, RNA and microRNAIn high school biology class, everyone learns aboutDNA, which looks like two long, twisted chains. DNAstands for deoxyribonucleic acid — a chemicalcompound that stores a person’s genetic information.To carry out those genetic instructions, DNA tellsRNA what to do — such as instructing a cell to makeprotein, a key activity.RNA, or ribonucleic acid, has just one long, twistedchain. Some short segments of RNA are calledmicroRNA.MicroRNA can block protein production and regulatea cell’s activity. Discovered in 1993, microRNAappears to control a large number of human genesand to play an important role in a range of biologicalprocesses and diseases.

SOURCES: NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH; ESSENTIAL CELL BIOLOGY, 4TH EDITION

Middleton also collaborated on a study of microRNA insaliva that identifies concussion in children and predictsthe length of recovery. He worked on both studies withSteven Hicks, MD, PhD, an Upstate graduate who is now apediatrician and researcher at Penn State Health inHershey, Pa., and with Quadrant Biosciences, which isheadquartered at Upstate.MicroRNA could also play a part in regulating the agingprocess and in how the body processes drugs, Middletonsays, and it has been implicated in Parkinson’s,Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s diseases and amyotrophiclateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

DNAdatabase of instructions

RNAspecific instructions

microRNAregulators

proteinfunctional product

Understanding microRNA continued from page 14

Opportunities.Consider Upstate.

Our colleges include Medicine, Nursing, Health Professions and Graduate Studies.

Join us at a prospective student open house:Saturday, March 24, 2018.

www.upstate.edu/students

Education . health care . research


IT MAY BE UNPLEASANT, but preparing properly for your colonoscopy is so important, says UpstateGastroenterology nurse administrator Michelle Henry.Here’s what she tells patients:

Remember, the prep is only for one day. You can dojust about anything for one day.Technically you won’t be fasting the whole time. Youcan still have clear liquids. Broths count. So do Jell-O,and Popsicles – as long as they’re not red or purple.Coffee is also OK if you don’t add cream. No alcohol,though.e goal is to empty your large intestine, so yourdoctor will prescribe GoLytely or a similargastrointestinal lavage designed to stimulate yourbowels. When you begin drinking this, you’ll want tostay near a bathroom. Henry says many patients liketo add a lemonade mix to the solution to remove thebitter taste.Read your doctor’s instructions about when to start theprep, when to stop clear liquids, and what to do aboutany medications or vitamins you take. Following his orher instructions precisely will improve the quality ofyour test.If you mess up, confess. Call your doctor’s office to findout what to do. You don’t want your doctor to discoveryour mistake when he or she begins the colonoscopy;that usually means an entire second day of bowel prepand a return visit.In the week before your colonoscopy, plan on eating adiet low in fiber. Avoid any seeds, nuts or popcorn, rawfruits or vegetables with skin, and any meat with gristleor fatty foods. One uncomfortable day of prep is worth it to bescreened against the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women and the second leading causeof cancer-related deaths in men. Finding colon cancerearly almost always means it can be treatedsuccessfully.

ColoN CANCeR SCReeNiNg

e United States Preventive Services Task Forcerecommends screening for colorectal cancer in adultsbeginning at age 50 and continuing to age 75. eAmerican Cancer Society says people at increased risk ofcolorectal cancer may need to start screening sooner.e colonoscopy is a test that allows a doctor to examinethe entire length of the colon and rectum using a thin,flexible, lighted tube with a camera on the end. If he or shesees a polyp, it can be removed during the colonoscopy. To schedule an appointment with UniversityGastroenterology, call 315-464-1600.

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FROM OUR EXPERTS

Secrets of a good bowel prep

IN OUR COMMUNITY

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BY JIM MCKEEVER

A PROGRAM sponsored by Upstate’s Center for CivicEngagement matches student companions with patients atthe University Dialysis Center, a short walk from campus. e patients — most of whom undergo treatment threedays a week, four hours at a time — appreciate having astudent to talk to or play games with. e students enjoy developing friendships with thepatients. ey commit to weekly or bi-weekly visits of anhour or 90 minutes. “My patient was shy at first,” says Megan Harris, who is inher second year of medical school. “He’s an older manwith cool life stories. Once I got him talking, I’d listen andreflect on what he was saying.“Sometimes we talk about my life, and what I may bestressing about that week. He’s always appreciative. He’lltell me, ‘You have no idea how much better this makes itwhen you’re here.’” Harris typically visits at 6 to 7 a.m.,before her classes.Classmate Colleen Fei makes her visits on Saturdays. Feisays most patients like talking about anything other thandialysis. Time spent listening “tells you a lot about healthcare outside the minutiae of medicine. e patients faceother barriers besides kidney disease. ey also providetheir perspective of health care — what makes a gooddoctor or a bad doctor.”Harris says she feels for the patients who don’t havevisitors. “I wish I could talk to all of them,” she said. “I lovemy classmates, but it’s nice to talk to someone on the otherend of health care.”

Dialysis companionsStudents get to know patients, another view of health care

Medical students Colleen Fei, left, and Megan Harris are volunteer companionsat University Dialysis Center.

PHOTO BY JIM MCKEEVER.

If you or your loved one has concerns aboutmemory loss, we can help. Our experts assessfor dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in a caring environment.The visit to the Center is different as both the patient and family members attend. The goals are to help:• extend self-sufficiency for as long

as possible• preserve function• provide assessments such as memory or balance

• develop a care plan that supports both the patient and caregiver.

FOR AN APPOINTMENT OR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL 315-464-5166.

Upstate is a NYS Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease. It serves Central New York.www.upstate.edu/aging

WORRIED ABOUTMEMORY LOSS?NOW ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS

Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease

Expertise . Compassion . Hope

Upstate Specialty Services at Harrison CenterSuite A, 550 Harrison Street

Syracuse, NY 13202

IN OUR COMMUNITY


Stop the bleedYou need to know this potentially lifesaving action

A PERSON CAN BLEED TO DEATH within minutes.You can potentially save a life by intervening quickly tostop blood loss. Trauma centers such as the one at Upstate UniversityHospital are promoting a “Stop the Bleed” campaign, aneffort to educate regular people about how to helpsomeone who is bleeding severely. e traumatic injury could happen in a car crash, from afall during a hike or as the result of a shooting. So first, aprecaution: Be aware of your surroundings and, ifnecessary, move yourself and the injured person to safety.Call 911.And then, in the time before medical help arrives, here arethree actions you can take to help save a life:

1. Apply pressure on the wound. Remove clothing to find where the bleeding is comingfrom and apply firm, steady pressure to the bleeding site,preferably with both hands. You can use a commercialdressing or pack the wound with any available cloth.Continue to apply firm, steady pressure on top of thedressing. is can be painful for the injured person, so it’s importantto talk to them, Lenworth Jacobs, MD, told e New YorkTimes. He’s a trauma surgeon and director of the traumainstitute at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Conn. “You need to speak to them with kindness and explain it tothem and say, ‘Hold on. We’re going to stop the bleeding.We’re going to get you to care.’ at makes a hugedifference,” Jacobs told the newspaper.

2. For injuries of the arms or legs in which the bleeding does not stop, apply a tourniquet. is is a thick, beltlike strap made of rubber or plastic thatcan be cinched tight and locked into place. It goes two orthree inches above the wound, closer to the torso. “It’s really tight, and it’s not meant to be taken off,” saidWilliam Marx, DO, chief of the trauma service at Upstate. Mark the time you apply a tourniquet. at helps doctorsat the hospital decide on treatment options, he said.

3. If one tourniquetdoes not control thebleeding, a secondone can be placedeven closer to thetorso.Marx said an effort toincrease survivability aermass shootings began in2012 aer 20 children andsix adults were gunneddown at Sandy HookElementary School inNewtown, Conn. Fellow trauma surgeonJacobs attended theautopsies of the victims.“ere were five or maybesix children who bled todeath from extremity injuries,” Marx explained. “If theyhad a tourniquet, Jacobs thought they would have beenable to survive.”Tourniquets were used on the battlefield during the CivilWar, although not consistently, Marx said. eir use waspopular during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Militarybody armor does a good job of protecting the trunk of thebody, but to guard against bleeding to death if they werehit in an extremity, Marx said soldiers would wearuncinched tourniquets on their arms and legs. at way, ifa soldier was injured, he could cinch his own tourniquet tostop the bleeding and save his own life.

REGISTER FOR A COURSE

Experts from Upstate’s trauma program offer a free “Stop the Bleed” program to individuals and groups. To learn about courses or schedule an educator to come to your place of business, contact Upstate Connect at 315-464-8668. Medical professionals can sign up for atrain-the-trainer course.

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William Marx, DO, chief, trauma service


IN OUR COMMUNITY

Three

THEY’RE FRIENDS WHO HAVE MENTORED ONE ANOTHER. All three have been faculty members at Upstate for decades. ey’ve all earned “distinguishedservice professor” honors. And they’re all women. Sharon Brangman, MD, Patricia Numann, MD, and Ruth Weinstock, MD, PhD, are the medical pioneers featured in “Triple Triumph,” a book edited by two SyracuseUniversity professors that is being distributed to medical schools throughout theUnited States. Google “Triple Triumph” and “Syracuse University” to download the book for free. “None was born to wealth. However, all three grew up in families that prized andprioritized education. is make-or-break importance of their supportive families(and other caring mentors) emerges unforgettably in how they transcended barriers,”SU’s Cathryn R. Newton, PhD, and Samuel Gorovitz, PhD, write in the book.

BY AMBER SMITH

trailblazersPHOTO BY DREW OSUMI

IN OUR COMMUNITY


Three

Meet the Upstate physicians highlighted in new book

Grew up

Was inspired by

Graduated from

Joined the Upstate faculty

Always wanted

Started her career

Now serves as

Developed

Became

Pioneered

Helped

Is proud of

Geriatrician Sharon Brangman, MDin New York City, until her familymoved to Syracuse when she was 13.

her mother, one of the first nursepractitioners in Syracuse.

Syracuse University in 1977 andUpstate Medical University in 1981.

in 1989.

to bring health care to marginalizedindividuals.

in primary care before realizing thatolder adults were a marginalizedgroup with unmet needs.

division chief of geriatrics and theCenter of Excellence for Alzheimer’sDisease at Upstate.

the specialized geriatrics clinicalpractice at Upstate.

president of the American GeriatricsSociety.

the study of ethnogeriatrics, theinfluence of ethnicity and culture onthe health and well-being of olderadults.

write “Doorway Thoughts: Cross-cultural Healthcare for Older Adults”with the American Geriatrics Society’sEthnogeriatrics Committee. It’s a book to help health careprofessionals interact with patients ofethnic, racial or religious backgroundsthat differ from their own.

the geriatric medicine fellowship shefounded at Upstate, which hastrained more than 50 geriatricians.

Surgeon Patricia Numann, MDin the hamlet of Denver (Delawarecounty) in the Catskills.

the idea that surgeons could fixpeople.

Upstate in 1965, after attending theUniversity of Rochester.

in 1970.

to be a surgeon, after observingdoctors operate.

providing breast surgery to women;later she developed expertise intechnically challenging surgeries on the thyroid, parathyroid andadrenal glands.

an emeritus professor. After sheretired in 2007, Upstate establishedthe Patricia J. Numann Chair ofSurgery, the school’s first endowedchair named for a woman.

the Patricia J. Numann Breast andEndocrine Surgery Center at Upstate.

the first female chair of the AmericanBoard of Surgery and the secondfemale president of the AmericanCollege of Surgeons.

support for female surgeons throughthe creation of the Association ofWomen Surgeons in 1981. Today theorganization has members in 21countries.

filmmakers with a segment about herfor “Icons of Surgery,” a documentaryproduced by the American College ofSurgeons.

obtaining a patent at the age of 72for a unique scoring system used foran e-learning course called theFundamentals of Surgery.

Endocrinologist RuthWeinstock, MD, PhDin Queens.

her cousin, who was diagnosedwith type 1 diabetes when theywere in high school together.

Smith College in 1974 and thenbecame the second woman to earnthe dual MD/PhD degrees atColumbia University.

in 1984.

to help people who have diabetes.

seeing patients in Upstate’sdiabetes clinic, which operated ahalf day per week in the 1980s, in aspace behind the hospital cafeteria.

medical director for the UpstateJoslin Diabetes Center, which shefounded, and the division chief ofendocrinology, diabetes andmetabolism at Upstate.

multiple research projects on newapproaches for the prevention andmanagement of diabetes mellitusand its complications.

the American Diabetes Association’sOutstanding Physician Clinician inDiabetes in 2017.

one of the largest randomizedstudies of telemedicine everconducted, in collaboration withresearchers at Columbia University.

review grants, safety monitoringand issues related to diabetesresearch and patient care for theNational Institute of Diabetes andDigestive and Kidney Diseases, theAmerican Diabetes Association andother national, regional and localcommittees and task forces.

her parents, for encouraging herdesire to become a doctor after aschool guidance counselor told heronly men were doctors and that shecould become a nurse.

trailblazers


BY AMBER SMITH

IN OUR LEISURE

A DOZEN CURLING TEAMS, comprised of 48 novicecurlers, competed in an Upstate charity invitational inNovember at the Utica Curling Club in Whitesboro.Upstate employees and friends created teams with namessuch as “Curl Power,” “e Sweeping Beauties” and“Curling Dervishes.” In the morning, they received an introduction to the sportof curling, plus practice time. ey paraded onto the icewith a bagpipe accompaniment shortly aer noon. enthe games began. e event raised $900 for the Upstate Cancer Center’s“Kids with Cancer” fund – and gave participants a sampleof an Olympic sport. e fund is administered by theUpstate Foundation.


The Utica Curling Club was the site of an event that raised money for pediatric services at the Upstate Cancer Center.

Event on ice raisesmoney for kids’ fund

The Sweeping Beauties curling team included pediatric oncologist GloriaKennedy, MD, far left, and pediatric residents Meghan Jacobs, MD, Robyn Borsuk,MD, and nurse practitioner Brooke Fraser.


IN OUR LEISURE

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Event on ice continued from page 22

Syracuse University Head Football Coach Dino Babers, front row, second

from left, visited the Upstate campus to appear in a television spot for the

Upstate Cancer Center. With Babers are members of the Upstate Cancer

Center team, including Jeffrey Bogart, MD, front row, right, professor and

chair of radiation oncology and the center’s interim director.

l Curling is also known as “the roaring game” because ofthe rumbling sound made by the granite stones on theice.

l Water droplets freeze into tiny bumps on the surface,creating pebbled ice, which gives the stones a better gripand makes for more consistent curling.

l e Scottish island, Alisa Craig, provides the blue honegranite to make curling stones.

l Players advance the stone by sweeping the ice surface inthe path of the stone with a curling broom, or brush.

l eir shoes look like athletics shoes, but the soles aredifferent. e foot used for sliding typically has a Teflonsole, and the other has a rubbery sole for gripping theice.

l Most curling leagues around the world are conductedwithout game officials, instead relying on players tofollow the spirit of curling: that is, a curler would ratherlose than win unfairly. Games begin and end withhandshakes among the participants.

l e 1924 Olympics in Chamonix, France were the firstto feature curling. Wheelchair curling was included forthe first time in 2006 in the Paralympic Games in Turin,Italy.

l Curling is thought to be one of the world’s oldest teamsports. It was written about in Latin in 1540. An activitybeing played on frozen ponds is depicted in paintings byPieter Bruegel during that same timespan.

ABOUT CURLING

Douglas Rosenthal, far right, of hospital information systems, organized thefundraiser. Other participants included, from left, Steve Susco, Sue Hemingway,Tina Craig, Chris Ousby, Suzan Bzdick, John Bartosek and Susan Rosenthal.

750 East Adams Street l Syracuse, NY 13210

PROSTATE CANCERRESEARCHIF DOCTORS could tellwhich tumors would remainindolent and which wouldbecome invasive, they couldbetter treat men with prostatecancer. About 3 percent of menwho are diagnosed withprostate cancer have anaggressive type, shown in theseimages from the laboratory ofassociate professor LeszekKotula, MD, PhD, standingabove. Kotula, together withdoctoral student Disharee Das,focuses on a gene hediscovered two decades agocalled Abi1, which causesprostate cancer. ey want tolearn how it interacts withother genes and whether itplays a role in leukemias andbreast, ovarian and othercancers.

SCIENCE IS ART IS SCIENCE IS ART 1S SCIENCE

PHOTO BY WILLIAM MUELLER

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