Lead Research Communicator
Malcom is a lead research communicator for Michigan Medicine and research communications strategist for the U-M Medical School, with more than 20 years of experience in strategic communications, marketing, and health and science writing. She covers the basic science departments, pulmonary and critical care medicine, infectious disease, pathology and anesthesiology. Contact: [email protected]
![Kelly Malcom photo](http://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/rounded_1_1/public/blog/Kelly-Malcom_0_0.png?h=eac24a47&itok=sCRVykxf)
News Release
Amy Kilbourne, PhD, MPH, Associate Chair for Research and Professor of Learning Health Sciences at U-M Medical School has been appointed Executive Director of Health Systems Research for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Health System, effective June 30, 2024.
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Health Lab
How a gene for obesity affects the brain: The discovery could lead to new treatments for metabolic diseases with fewer side effects
![crawling on floor](http://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2024-07/baby-crawling-smiling-carpet-floor.jpg?h=f0fb51a5&itok=fj5y7e0R)
Health Lab
The pediatric spinal anesthesia program offers a needle-based technique that provides sensory and motor block without the need for intubation or general anesthesia for pediatric surgical procedures below the belly button. This means the patient will not feel anything below chest level.
News Release
The multi-institution grant will establish a novel approach to identify individuals at increased risk of hip fragility fractures.
![pills spilling out of bottle](http://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2024-06/vape-pen-prescription-bottle-table.jpg?h=f0fb51a5&itok=itJQ6hwb)
Health Lab
Michigan Medicine research finds that patients with chronic pain who use either substance may find it harder to find primary care physician than those who don’t.
![Microscopic rendering of the flu virus with green, purple and red coloring](http://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2024-06/virus-influenza-flu-cells-microscopic.jpg?h=f0fb51a5&itok=t65A8r-c)
News Release
A new NIH award will establish the Michigan Infectious Disease Genomics (MIDGE) Center, the goal of which is to use whole genome sequencing and functional genomic assays to determine how genetic differences among strains or isolates affect the behavior, transmission, and drug resistance of viral, bacterial, and fungal pathogens.
![woman laying on floating cell maroon](http://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2024-06/woman-sleeping-cell-bacteria-virus.jpg?h=f0fb51a5&itok=3wAz3Il9)
Health Lab
A study shows circadian rhythm drives the release of important immune cells in the body.
![graphic drawn mouse snoozing in purple background and pink maze around it breathing while sleeping and see pink brain inside head with white sparkles fading in and out](http://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2024-06/rat-sleeping-brain-memory-maze.gif?h=c74750f6&itok=_cjmmQ5s)
Health Lab
Two new studies from University of Michigan reveal what's happening inside the brain during sleep and sleep deprivation to help or harm the formation of memories.
![stethoscope blue yellow](http://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2024-06/stethoscope.jpg?h=ae21e8e5&itok=96i1yjxp)
Health Lab
Michigan Medicine researchers discover that a new drug could help those with CAH, or congenital adrenal hyperplasia, reduce the use of corticosteroids.
![surgery gloves passing tool blue and yellow](http://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2024-05/surgery_gloves_0.jpg?h=5512f60a&itok=xmQ9W5Iy)
Health Lab
The newest version of the heparin reversal drug, described in a recent issue of Advanced Healthcare Materials, adjusted the number of protons bound to it, making the molecule less positive so it would preferentially bind to the highly negative heparin, resulting in a much safer drug.
![blue gloves in hospital hanging IV bag](http://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2024-05/gloved-hands-hanging-iv-bag.jpg?h=f0fb51a5&itok=FiDxmKSf)
Health Lab
In emergency rooms and intensive care units across the country, clinicians make split-second decisions about which antibiotics to give a patient when a life threatening infection is suspected. Now, a study reveals that these decisions may have unintended consequences for patient outcomes.
![stethoscope](http://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2024-05/stethoscope.jpg?h=ae21e8e5&itok=bO06uqvC)
Health Lab
A study builds on previous work that found depriving T cells of iron prevented cells from proliferating. The current study, published in PNAS, found that excess iron is just as problematic.
![uti written on empty roll of toliet paper on a toliet paper holder with hot pink background](http://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2024-05/empty-toilet-paper-roll-uti.jpg?h=f0fb51a5&itok=eiSHT-nF)
Health Lab
Research published in PNAS examines how the bacteria Escherichia coli, or E. coli—responsible for most UTIs—is able to use host nutrients to reproduce at an extraordinarily rapid pace during infection despite the near sterile environment of fresh urine.
![gloves surgery blue yellow](http://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2024-05/surgery_gloves.jpg?h=5512f60a&itok=97vCgq5e)
Health Lab
A JAMA viewpoint outlines the tragic story of Shandra Eisenga, a patient who received spine surgery for back pain only to inexplicably contract tuberculosis.
![marijuana leaf drawing blue lab note yellow badge upper left corner](http://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2023-01/Cannabis.jpg?h=924bc336&itok=kYVxGQji)
Health Lab
Data on medical cannabis use found that enrollment in medical cannabis programs increased overall between 2016 and 2022, but enrollment in states where nonmedical use of cannabis became legal saw a decrease in enrollment