Health & Science
As communities across Illinois respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and brace for its long-term effects, mental health and wellness are central to the recovery strategy. Rachel Bhagwat ’12 and Anthony Guerrero ’14, ’18 MS are on the team leading that effort at NAMI Chicago, an affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
When New York's Montefiore Medical Center admitted its first COVID-19 patient on March 11, Albert Einstein School of Medicine professor of medicine Kenneth J. Schaefle ’90 was pulled in alongside many others to help with the COVID response.
Emergency medicine physician and former Wildcats offensive lineman Ryan Padgett ’97 was one of the first healthcare workers in Washington state to test positive for COVID-19. His harrowing story has become both a symbol of hope and a cautionary tale about the dangers of the global pandemic.
The coronavirus pandemic forced patients and doctors to engage via video and phone — and made virtual visits mainstream. Doctors say video visits and phone check-ins advance the delivery of health care by removing physical barriers, while also increasing privacy and reducing stigma.
Early in the coronavirus pandemic it became clear that a shortage of testing supplies was one of the bottlenecks that limited more expansive testing. Matthew Grayson, professor of electrical and computer engineering, assembled a team to design a patent-pending prototype for a nasal swab.
Chinazo Opia Cunningham spoke out for patients and her medical colleagues while helping her New York City hospital through the worst of the pandemic. A physician and researcher at Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, Cunningham has been working tirelessly to care for patients in one of the cities hardest hit by coronavirus.
Karly Raber expected to spend her final months of medical school finishing up her last rotations, but her plans were upended by the pandemic. So Raber got involved in COVID-19 monitoring efforts, calling people across the Chicago area who had tested positive for the virus to track how they were feeling, monitor their symptoms and refer them to more intensive care as needed.
Researchers at Northwestern and the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab have developed a novel wearable device and custom data algorithms to catch early signs and symptoms associated with COVID-19 and to monitor patients as the illness progresses. It measures and interprets coughing, respiratory activity, heart rate and body temperature to uncover subtle but potentially lifesaving insights.
When Northwestern researchers Chad Mirkin and David Walker ’14 PhD heard about the PPE shortage, their team sprang into action. They used a new 3D-printing technique they invented called “high-area rapid printing,” or HARP, to produce face shields at high volumes.
We were only 15 minutes into our lab meeting when my single tear became what Oprah calls “the ugly cry.” My graduate students are therapists in training at the Family Institute at Northwestern, so they met my wave of emotion with empathy. I felt embarrassed, nonetheless.
