Health Matters

A BETTER WAY? Derek Stein, a Brown University physics professor and researcher, examines equipment that is used in a new mass spectrometry technique that makes the analysis of materials much more accurate and efficient. The technique developed at Brown could have far-reaching implications, including in areas of health care.  PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

New Brown research on mass spectrometry could transform sample analysis

Health Matters 12/20/2024

After 10 years of trial and error, Brown University researchers have discovered a method to dramatically improve mass spectrometry technology, a development that could...

VISITING DAY: Interaction with pets is part of the Memory Cafe at the Wingate Residences on the East Side in Providence. The cafe, a kind of social group offered to those facing dementia, restarted in October for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.  PBN PHOTO/ARTISTIC IMAGES

In-person memory cafes return with help from assisted living communities

Health Matters 11/22/2024

Laurie Gunter Mantz tried hosting memory cafes over Zoom for months. But it just wasn’t working. Memory cafes are gatherings meant to provide those living...

POWER OF THE PEN: Gov. Daniel J. McKee, sitting, signs Rhode Island’s “shield law” that protects health care providers who provide reproductive and transgender care to patients from states where those services are illegal. The signing took place in June and was attended by health care professionals and state legislators.  COURTESY RHODE ISLAND MEDICAL SOCIETY

R.I.’s new ‘shield law’ protecting providers of abortions, gender-affirming care

Health Matters 10/25/2024

Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, some health care providers have...

SCOLIOSIS EXPOSED: Dr. Bassel Diebo, assistant professor of orthopedics at Brown University and a spine and scoliosis surgeon with Lifespan Corp.’s Lifespan Orthopedics Institute, helped bring the “A Curved Reality” exhibit to Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School.  PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

A picture of health: Exhibit at medical school shows reality of...

Health Matters 09/27/2024

Fashion stylist Marcus John was preparing a friend for a gala in New York City eight years ago when he noticed she was shying...

GIVING SPIRIT: Jonathan Migliori, right, of Providence, completes a platelets donation at the Rhode Island Blood Center’s Providence location on Promenade Street. Supervisor Ilda Dasilva-Rocha attends to Migliori. The center says blood donations are down for a variety of reasons.  PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Blood supplies under strain at hospitals in R.I.

Health Matters 08/16/2024

For most, longer days and rising temperatures in the spring and summer offer a welcome relief from the cold. But some health care workers...

COLORFUL DISCUSSION: Staff members chat with older adults during a tie-dye T-shirt activity at PACE Organization of Rhode Island’s East Providence day center. From left are PACE participant Cherry Ginel, PACE Chief of Organizational Performance Liz Boucher, certified nursing assistant Sorng Hy and PACE participant Claudette Jackson. PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

A focus on getting health care providers more geriatric training

Health Matters 07/19/2024

As the Ocean State’s aging population is expected to skyrocket in the coming years, a University of Rhode Island program providing elder care education...

APP CHECKER: Dr. Gregory Jay, an emergency medicine physician at Rhode Island Hospital and The Miriam Hospital, is one of the Lifespan Corp. staff members studying the accuracy of an app that uses a smartphone camera to analyze anemia in patients.  COURTESY LIFESPAN CORP.

Lifespan app could help diagnose cases of anemia

Health Matters 06/21/2024

Doctors say anemia affects many patients, but it’s not so simple to diagnose. Lifespan Corp. researchers are looking for a better way. That’s why doctors...