Kara Gavin
Research and Policy Media Relations Manager
Gavin draws on more than 25 years of experience in communicating about science, medicine and health policy. She focuses mainly on the health services research done by members of the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, who work to understand and improve the safety, quality, equity and affordability of health care. As part of the Michigan Medicine communication team, she has lead responsibility for primary care and mental health topics. Contact: [email protected]; Twitter: @Karag
Health Lab
Can Brain Games and Exercise Prevent Dementia? We Don’t Know Yet
A new report finds encouraging, but still inconclusive, evidence that exercising the brain and body can decrease the long-term risk of cognitive decline.
Health Lab
Sunset, Sunrise: Programs Take Training of Health Policy ‘Wonks’ to New Levels
As the nation’s premier health policy training program for clinicians shuts down, new programs have risen to take its place.
Health Lab
How to Stop the Lurking Toxoplasmosis Parasite? Target Its ‘Stomach’
The stubborn cyst form of a common parasite can’t cause disease without a key digestion factor, new mouse research shows. This suggests an avenue for future treatments.
Health Lab
America Sits on Top in Science — but China Is Rising Fast
As funding for basic science research and education stalls in the U.S. and other countries, competition from China is skyrocketing, a new study finds.
Health Lab
Revealed: How a Virus Tricks Cells into Helping It Build an Invasion Route
Polyomavirus harnesses cellular “motors” to bring together the supplies that can build a portal for itself, researchers show.
Health Lab
Probing Problems with Bariatric Surgery: Reoperation, Variation Are Common
Nearly 1 in 5 patients with a lap band undergoes multiple device-related reoperations, and complication rates range widely among hospitals, new research finds.
Health Lab
Nursing Homes Cut UTIs in Half Through a Focused Effort on Catheter Care
A collaborative approach with external coaching support makes gains and holds potential to be used for other patient safety issues, researchers say.
Health Lab
A Fish in a Pond or a Needle in a Haystack? DNA Tool Raises Promise, Privacy Concerns
For the first time, researchers connected two different types of DNA snippets to identify individuals. This could help researchers across many fields — but isn’t without risk.
Health Lab
Faster Feeding May Mean Faster Recovery in Pancreatitis, Evidence Shows
Common practice keeps hospitalized pancreatitis patients away from food or IV feeding. But a new analysis finds earlier nutrition might help patients with mild cases recover and go home.
Health Lab
Jimmy Kimmel Sheds Light on How Health Policy Affects Children with Congenital Heart Disease
Learn more about how healthcare legislation can affect children, like Jimmy Kimmel's son, who are born with a congenital heart disease.
Health Lab
Primary Care Doctors Play Key Role at Life’s End, Research Finds
As palliative care and hospice use grow and cost pressures continue, new studies probed variation in care and referrals — and found opportunity.
Health Lab
As Scientists Take to Twitter, Visual Abstracts Help Results Reach More People
When a prominent journal added eye-catching, data-driven graphics to its tweets about research papers, nearly three times as many people clicked the links to read the full study.
Health Lab
Balancing Medical Discovery and Respect for Patients, with Henrietta Lacks in Mind
Tissue and blood samples taken from patients can hold the keys to biomedical discovery. But the research community must consider patient privacy, a new perspective says.
Health Lab
Gut Bacteria May Protect Newborns Against Infections, New Mice Study Shows
Why do so many babies fall victim to infections that invade the gut, but others don’t? Research in germ-free mice yields important clues.
Health Lab
‘We Have to Keep Moving Forward’: The Importance of Research on Patient Care
A patient with chronic pancreatitis is helping shape research on vascular access devices — and much more — at Michigan Medicine.
