Faculty Bibliography

In the fourth part in a four-part series, Ofri talks about his book Medicine in Translation: Journeys with My Patients. He writes here about freedom from fear and how the Americans she knows strive for it every day of their lives

When Mr. S. was doing time at Rikers Island in the early 1990s, he was given a standard battery of tests for the medical ailments that run rampant behind bars -- AIDS, hepatitis, tuberculosis. Despite the other medical assaults on his body -- diabetes, hypertension, hepatitis C, stubborn leg ulcers -- his immune system remained intact.

Autoregulation of cholesterol synthesis focuses on the 19 metabolic steps from lanosterol to cholesterol. Although synchronization of their rates of synthesis in all tissues was the paradigm, a known exception occurs in the ovary where a local increase in a sterol intermediate, FF-MAS (follicular fluid meiosis activating sterol), activates meiosis during oocyte maturation. Mutations in the genes that govern synchronization cause an increase in sterol intermediates that follow an alternate, oxysterol, pathway of metabolism. Experimental models in animals imply that oxysterol metabolites are determinants of the dysmorphism that occurs during fetal development in these genetic diseases. These few examples may portend a much broader role for sterol intermediates and their novel oxysterol metabolites in physiologic and pathophysiologic processes

Detention of immigrants by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a rapidly growing form of incarceration in the U.S. with almost 400,000 people detained in 2008 (Schriro in Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 2009, http://www.ice.gov/doclib/091005_ice_detention_report-final.pdf ). ICE detainees are predominantly from Mexico and Latin America and only a small minority of detainees are asylum seekers. Immigrant detainees lack a legal guarantee of medical care (unlike criminal arrestees and prisoners) and face challenges in receiving medical care, particularly those with chronic medical conditions (Venters and Keller in J Health Care Poor Underserved 20:951-957, 2009). Although we and others have long been involved in advocating for detained asylum seekers, few resources are dedicated to medical advocacy for the broader population of ICE detainees. At the NYU Center for Health and Human Rights (CHHR), a program of medical advocacy was initiated in 2007 on behalf of ICE detainees focused on improvement of care in detention and medical parole. Our preliminary efforts reveal a pressing need for more involvement by physicians and other health advocates in this area

Mr. Cheney, as he did at several holiday receptions in Washington, chatted about his new pump. At one cocktail party, he even opened his coat jacket to show off the pump. While Mr. Cheney is noticeably thinner -- his stiff, one-sided grin now shows up on a markedly leaner face -- he is returning, associates say, to his old life, including hunting and socializing. With former President George W. Bush having decided to stay largely silent during Mr. [Barack Obama]'s tenure, Mr. Cheney had embraced the role of public critic, accusing the new, young president of rolling back Bush-era policies and undermining the security of the United States. In 2009, Mr. Cheney and Mr. Obama gave dueling speeches on the same day. Mr. Cheney's friends and family say that he is making plans to get out in 2011 and do more speeches. On Jan. 20, he is to fly to Texas for the 20th anniversary of the Gulf War with former President George H.W. Bush, the emir of Kuwait, and a host of alumni of that administration, including the former national security adviser Brent Scowcroft and Colin L. Powell, who was the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, when Mr. Cheney was defense secretary

While the long-term goal is to develop highly effective AIDS vaccines, first generation vaccines may be only partially effective. Other HIV prevention modalities such as preexposure prophylaxis with antiretrovirals (PrEP) may have limited efficacy as well. The combined administration of vaccine and PrEP (VAXPREP), however, may have a synergistic effect leading to an overall benefit that is greater than the sum of the individual effects. We propose two test-of-concept trial designs for an AIDS vaccine plus oral or topical ARV. In one design, evidence that PrEP reduces the risk of HIV acquisition is assumed to justify offering it to all participants. A two-arm study comparing PrEP alone to VAXPREP is proposed in which 30 to 60 incident infections are observed to assess the additional benefit of vaccination on risk of infection and setpoint viral load. The demonstrated superiority of VAXPREP does not imply vaccine alone is efficacious. Similarly, the lack of superiority does not imply vaccine alone is ineffective, as antagonism could exist between vaccine and PrEP. In the other design, PrEP is assumed not to be in general use. A 2 x 2 factorial design is proposed in which high-risk individuals are randomized to one of four arms: placebo vaccine given with placebo PrEP, placebo vaccine given with PrEP, vaccine given with placebo PrEP, or VAXPREP. Between 60 and 210 infections are required to detect a benefit of vaccination with or without PrEP on risk of HIV acquisition or setpoint viral load, with fewer infections needed when synergy is present