News
Nationwide trial: Whole blood and components equally effective in prehospital trauma care
Giving whole blood or the component parts of blood are equally effective options for paramedics and emergency medical technicians to use in treating patients with severe, traumatic bleeding before arriving at the hospital, according to a large, nationwide trial directed by University of Pittsburgh and UPMC clinicians and scientists. “Our thoughtful approach to the study design allowed us to not only answer the important question of the efficacy of whole blood compared to component therapy, but also to evaluate the health impact of an important public health question, the age of whole blood,” said senior author Stephen Wisniewski, PhD, professor of epidemiology and co-director of the Epidemiology Data Center at Pitt’s School of Public Health.
Dean Maureen Lichtveld recognized as a Pittsburgh Business Times 2026 Women of Influence honoree
Maureen Lichtveld, MD, MPH, dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, has been recognized by the Pittsburgh Business Times as part of its 2026 Women of Influence awards. The honor recognizes leaders across the region for their professional accomplishments, community impact and leadership.
Cancer mystery solved: Scientists discover how melanoma becomes “immortal”
Pattra Chun-on, a doctoral student in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at Pitt’s School of Public Health, ultimately helped identify a previously overlooked genetic partnership that keeps melanoma cells effectively immortal, allowing tumors to continue dividing long after normal cells would shut down. Working in the lab of Jonathan Alder, assistant professor in Pitt's School of Medicine, the study points to a possible new weakness in cancer cells that future treatments could target.