Health Newsfeed – Johns Hopkins Medicine Podcasts

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A model of your brain may one day be grown in a lab, Elizabeth Tracey reports Apr 09, 2026

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Brain organoids, collections of cells found in the brain, have been grown from blood samples of people with Alzheimer’s disease and used to assess the impact of a drug called escitalopram in a new study. Vasiliki Machairaki, study leader and …

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What can be learned from what cells dispose of? Elizabeth Tracey reports Apr 09, 2026

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Extracellular vesicles are membrane bound packages cells use to jettison materials from inside the cell, a sort of trash can. Johns Hopkins genetic medicine expert Vasiliki Machairaki has shown in a new study that these vesicles may be a means …

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Brain organoids can resemble specific parts of the brain, Elizabeth Tracey reports Apr 09, 2026

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What might a model of the hindbrain, which helps control functions like sleep, breathing and heart rate, tell us about using a common depression drug in people with Alzheimer’s disease? Genetic medicine expert Vasiliki Machairaki at Johns Hopkins says her …

Brain organoids can resemble specific parts of the brain, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read more →

Can drugs to manage Alzheimer’s disease be tested in organoids? Elizabeth Tracey reports Apr 09, 2026

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Drugs to manage symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease may work in some people but not in others. Now a new method using brain organoids, which are derived from a person’s own blood sample, may help determine whether a specific medication is …

Can drugs to manage Alzheimer’s disease be tested in organoids? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read more →

Can brain organoids help in treating people with Alzheimer’s disease? Elizabeth Tracey reports Apr 09, 2026

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Brain organoids are lab grown clusters of cells that have several of the cell types found in someone’s brain. Cells taken from a person’s blood are coaxed to become stem cells, then differentiate into brain cells. Vasiliki Machairaki, a genetic …

Can brain organoids help in treating people with Alzheimer’s disease? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read more →

Cancer Headlines With William Nelson, Director of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins Apr 01, 2026

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Medicaid reductions may impact screening for cancer, Elizabeth Tracey reports Mar 28, 2026

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Medicaid reductions being rolled out this year are poised to dramatically reduce cancer screening for millions, a new study estimates. William Nelson, director of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, takes a look at the numbers. Nelson: This is …

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Should breast cancer screening be targeted to those at greatest risk? Elizabeth Tracey reports Mar 28, 2026

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Breast cancer screening is associated with false positives, where women are referred for further assessments and procedures that may be unnecessary. Does it help to stratify women based on risk factors like genetics before they have screening? Johns Hopkins Kimmel …

Should breast cancer screening be targeted to those at greatest risk? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read more →

Can older people with cancer benefit from telephone based contact? Elizabeth Tracey reports Mar 28, 2026

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People who were older and had advanced cancers benefited from a telephone-based intervention designed to regularly assess their symptoms and refer them to expert clinicians, by reducing their visits to emergency departments and need for hospitalization. Kimmel Cancer Center director …

Can older people with cancer benefit from telephone based contact? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read more →

Good news on cancer survival! Elizabeth Tracey reports Mar 28, 2026

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Seventy percent of people diagnosed with cancer in the United States will still be alive five years later, the American Cancer Society reports. William Nelson, director of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, says yes, and. Nelson: There's still …

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