Contributing writer
Fischer previously promoted innovations in clinical care and tells patient stories on behalf of the Rogel Cancer Center while also managing external communications for Michigan Medicine’s surgery and urology departments and the Transplant Center.
![two students in bright blue jackets walking with man with walker down hallway in black sleeveless shirt and maroon sweats](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2024-06/students_bluejackets_walking_with_man.jpg?h=1116cd87&itok=iSPJvJrf)
Health Lab
The new initiative pairs kinesology undergrads with patients in the Medical Short-Stay Unit at Michigan Medicine to keep them up and moving during their stay.
![woman on hospital bed with two nurses with masks and blue gown](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2023-03/woman-surgery-recovery-masks-operation.jpg?h=f0fb51a5&itok=93jEVvXV)
Health Lab
Celebrating 30 years since her life-saving lung transplant, Mary Pierce's story is an inspiration to us all. Read how she overcame the odds and continues to live life to the fullest.
![graphic of three people standing next to eachother and DNA strip over them in yellow](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2023-04/genetic-testing-barriers-dna-people.png?h=f0fb51a5&itok=ytPW-sgC)
Health Lab
A variety of factors affect the barriers that patients with cancer foresee to undergoing genetic testing, researchers found, but the issues that motivate patients to actually follow through with genetic testing remain unclear.
![backs of three people](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2023-03/backs-of-3-people.jpg?h=f0fb51a5&itok=nw_9rUKn)
Health Lab
Genetic testing for hereditary conditions such as breast cancer can have implications for the whole family. Learn how genetic testing helped Cathleen Argyle and her family to uncover a rare mutation and how the Rogel Cancer Center provided advice and guidance throughout the process.
![storm trooper UM theme posing with women with mask on and jeans](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2023-03/stormtrooper-michigan-heart-hero-event_0.jpg?h=f0fb51a5&itok=Fbsd-qU8)
Health Lab
Amy Bacon was inspired to go to college after her heart transplant. She now has three academic degrees and is working on a fourth while also educating teenagers about the importance of organ transplants.
![toddler laying on bed in hospital](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2023-03/kid_laying_hospital_bed_smiling_0.jpg?h=f0fb51a5&itok=kF3I-Ssx)
Health Lab
Mariana Lizcano was in heart failure before she turned a year old. Support from her family and care team were crucial to her ability to undergo a heart transplant and recover smoothly.
![vitamin d pills](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2023-03/vitamind-pills-gold-translucent-reflective.jpg?h=f0fb51a5&itok=o4QronOB)
Health Lab
Supplement expert and U-M Health Jenkins/Pokempner Director of Alternative Medicine Mark Moyad explains what vitamin D can – and can’t – do for you.
![Surgery 3300](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2023-02/surgery-3200.jpg?h=f0fb51a5&itok=JdtCsy8z)
Health Lab
Researchers analyzed whether the neighborhood a patient lived in or the quality of the hospital they went to for an operation affected their recovery from surgery
![Graphic of a surgery table with Lab Note in the upper left corner.](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2022-12/surgery_table.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=FoN4f_6O)
Health Lab
Emergency surgery was linked to less thorough pre-surgical assessments and worse outcomes after surgery.
![man worried looking at laptop](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/Man-Worried-Laptop-Glasses-Couch.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=u7StqbBS)
Health Lab
Most heart transplant centers’ websites are written in language above the average American’s reading level, and more than a third have no resources for people who spoke a language other than English.
![vein dna moving yellow blue red](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/Vein-DNA-Helix-Blood-Cell.gif?h=bfaa3d24&itok=YNPA8C2P)
Health Lab
Liquid biopsies, a certain type of blood test, can be a helpful tool to guide treatment discussions for patients with metastatic cancer.
![surgery table blue yellow lab note badge](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/Surgery_Table-lab-note-graphic.jpeg.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=RKdnw2QV)
Health Lab
Complication and death rates were similar for both gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy when researchers compared the two weight-loss surgeries in adolescents covered by Medicaid.
![charts with peoples pictures on them and ages and green checks on some and red check for one over 70 teal background](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/age-organ-donation-clipboard-blueArtboard_1.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=gEbdIfhN)
Health Lab
Left-digit bias, a type of unconscious bias often linked to ageism, is linked to fewer organs selected from donors 70 years old or older, compared to those who are 69 or younger.
![vacant hospital room bed](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/Vacant-Hospital-Bed-Room-Empty.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=-oDxJ9aE)
Health Lab
The design of a hospital room could affect recovery after high-risk surgeries.
![two women looking at eachother red shirt blue patient covering](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/two-women-lookingat-eachother.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=wkvBtR5N)
Health Lab
Black women are at the highest risk of death.