When arthritis and other conditions attack the hips, knees and other joints, exercise, hobbies – even a quick stroll across the house – can bring agony. For most patients, joint replacement is a life-changing experience, restoring normal range of motion and allowing a return to normal routines. And as the population ages, the number of replacement surgeries is on the rise.
Beyond vaccines, beyond checkpoint inhibitors, chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CAR T-cells) are the latest form of cancer therapies aimed at reestablishing the body’s immune response to tumors. Like the Chimera of Greek mythology, a hybrid creature composed of more than one animal, CAR T-cells are molecules engineered in the laboratory using a hybrid of proteins grafted onto a patient’s T-cells. The hybrid assembly allows the CAR T-cells to carry out multiple specific functions. This engineering allows CAR T-cells to recognize specific proteins, or antigens, present on the surface of targeted cancer cells, allowing the CAR T-cells to become activated and destroy the tumor.
In November 2017, I spent three weeks in Kijabe, Kenya, serving as the hospital pathologist through World Medical Missions. It was an incredible experience, as well as humbling and eye-opening. I had always wanted to serve in international health, but I wondered, what could I do as a pathologist?
Below are some of the latest updates from various Baylor University Medical Center, part of Baylor Scott & White Health, residency and fellowship over the last several months.
