Discoveries Magazine - Cedars-Sinai

In Good Hands

Fire Captain Larry Davis had spent his life helping people in need. But after a horrific blaze devastated his hands, he faced a lifetime of limitations—until a dedicated surgeon reopened his world. Read On
10 Big Ideas

What ideas are shaping tomorrow’s medicine? What are the coming innovations in treating heart disease and cancer? What is the latest thinking in genetics and regenerative medicine? From the minds of our scientists and clinicians, we bring you 10 noteworthy, thought-provoking ideas that have the potential to transform medicine. Read On
Sharp Focus

Michael Sharp’s apartment is a short walk from the beach, but Michael isn’t much of a beachgoer. He looks the type: laid-back, low-key, introspective, hair about shoulder length. But the self-described “kind of a geek” would rather play video games—his Read On
The Accidental Idea

From the chance discovery of quinine as a malaria treatment in the 17th century to Alexander Fleming’s accidental encounter with penicillium mold in 1928, some of medicine’s most important advances have occurred through serendipity or error. Call them happy accidents. Read On

From Inspiration to Device

Peter Barath, MD, was concerned that some patients who had previously undergone procedures to clear blocked coronary arteries were returning months later with a condition called restenosis—renarrowing of the arteries. Read On
“But wait!” Great Ideas and the Odd Observation

When you finish an experiment and the results support your hypothesis, you are probably having a good day in the lab. But when the unexpected happens and you step back, shake your head, and take another puzzled look, GREAT! Great Read On
RE:INVENTION

One single novel idea emerging from a scientist’s imagination has the potential to help countless patients around the world, making it crucial to map out the quickest route from discovery to delivery. Enter the Cedars-Sinai Technology Transfer Office, which plays Read On

My Device: LVAD

More than 5 million Americans are afflicted with congestive heart failure. Of these, 70,000 will have advanced heart failure that cannot be treated with conventional therapies. For these patients, the one-year survival rate is less than 50 percent and is Read On

Who’s Who: Steven Rad, MD

Over the winter holiday of 2010, Steven Rad, MD—a third-year obstetrics and gynecology resident at Cedars-Sinai—traveled 9,300 miles to Mbarara Hospital in Uganda in East Africa. For one week, he and his mentor Dotun Ogunyemi, MD, director of Cedars-Sinai’s Obstetrics and Gynecology residency training program, partnered with their counterparts in Mbarara, seeing patients, conducting rounds, delivering babies, and teaching. Read On

White Knights

We know that white blood cells defend the body against infectious diseases and foreign materials. But how exactly do they detect the invaders they destroy? Scientists at Cedars-Sinai might have figured it out: They have discovered how a receptor on Read On
The Spine Who Loved Me

When two adjacent discs in the lower back wear out, they become compressed and cause unmanageable pain, numbness, or other symptoms. Results from a two-year post-surgery multicenter trial* recently published in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery shows that Read On
Brain Cancer Vaccine Extends Life

New results indicate that an experimental vaccine developed at Cedars-Sinai’s Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute improves length of survival in newly diagnosed brain cancer patients. Even when a tumor is successfully removed, a few cells are almost invariably left behind. These Read On