Winter 2019               

Champions Honored During
President’s Pursuit of Excellence Dinner

Celebrating those who help to make Rhode Island Hospital a special place of healing, Lifespan president Timothy J. Babineau, MD, welcomed more than 500 guests for the President’s Pursuit of Excellence Dinner. Held at the Rhode Island Convention Center on Nov. 21, the signature event cast light on recent hospital accomplishments and honored three community champions for their significant contributions.

Rhode Island Hospital Researchers Awarded $3.9 Million Grant  to Study Role of Epigenetics in Brain Cancer

A team of physician-scientists at Rhode Island Hospital have been awarded a transformational $3.9 million grant from the Warren Alpert Foundation for their cutting-edge work to fight glioblastoma, a highly aggressive and intractable cancer of the brain. The grant from the Providence-based foundation funds exploration into the role of epigenetics in the progression of the disease and in its potential for treatment.

Neurosurgery Program Enjoys International Acclaim

Ziya Gokaslan, M.D., is world-renowned for his expertise in spinal and sacral chordomas. The rare tumor may occupy a space in which it can grow with no symptoms to massive size; he says he’s seen a chordoma as large as a watermelon. It wraps itself around the spine, like ivy spiraling up a gate, and the delicate task of extracting its tentacles from nerves and bone, then clearing a margin to minimize chances of recurrence, is often followed by reconstruction to save mobility, preserve bowel function and regain an otherwise normal life.

Rhode Island Hospital Researchers Identify Potential Nanotechnology Therapy for Rare Cancer

Researchers at Rhode Island Hospital have employed nanotechnology to identify a potentially groundbreaking treatment for chondrosarcoma, an aggressive bone cancer that is disappointingly unresponsive to existing cancer therapies.

When It Comes to Health, Gender Matters

A Lifepspan Blog by Alyson J. McGregor, MD

For the most part, male and female bodies have so many similarities that the practice of medicine, until recently, didn’t make many accommodations for their uniqueness. While the reproductive organs obviously require separate specialties, researchers are discovering other ways that sex and gender affect health, disease and medicine.

There’s Still Time to Make Your Year-end Gift

As both Rhode Island’s largest hospital and only Level 1 trauma center, Rhode Island Hospital reaches every corner of the Ocean State and beyond. As 2019 comes to a close, please consider making an unrestricted year-end gift of $250 or more and join our 1863 Society.