In a story about private equity firms purchasing gastroenterology clinics because of the potentially lucrative nature of colonoscopies, Jane Zhu, M.D., describes how private equity firms invest in established medical practices that perform high-volume procedures so the practices can be consolidated, which gives the new practice owner more power to negotiate procedure rates with insurance companies.

OHSU contributed to research that found Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders with breast cancer experience significantly worse overall survival rates.

In a story about the U.S. government banning inclined sleepers and crib bumpers, which have been linked to infant deaths, Ben Hoffman, M.D., says: “No bears, no bumpers, no blankets. The image of that, to a lot of people, is striking, and it almost looks sad, and the babies look lonely. We need to shift people’s perception of infant sleep.”

Martina Mancini, Ph.D., discusses the gait impairment that patients with Parkinson’s disease experience, saying: “Gait problems profoundly affect everyday life because they might cause a major burden and affect independence.

OHSU professors emeriti John Hammerstad, M.D, and Jay Nutt, M.D., are honored for their Parkinson’s disease research.

Brett Dodson says about 100 OHSU employees and students have enrolled in OHSU’s revamped Go By Bike Share program within the last month, and that OHSU will start a new pedicab service in July to help people move around OHSU’s campus.

A series of stories raise awareness about the risk of melanoma. Elizabeth Berry, M.D., discusses the importance of early cancer detection and mentions OHSU’s Mole Mapper app, Sancy Leachman, M.D., shares how to check your skin for potentially cancerous spots, Joanna Ludzik, M.D., Ph.D., explains how to detect melanoma early, and an OHSU intern shares how she helped a manager of a professional hockey team become aware of his melanoma.

Mark Slikfa, Ph.D., explains how the monkeypox virus is usually spread and why COVID-19 vaccination didn’t cause the current outbreak. He says: “This is something that’s vastly different than COVID. Because the incubation period between exposure and disease onset is so long for smallpox and monkeypox, you can be vaccinated three to four days after your exposure and still be protected against severe disease.”

Ajit Jetmalani, M.D., advises parents to watch for signs of anxiety and other issues after hearing about mass shootings. Jetmalani says: “Young children may regress in their skills over time. They may stop dressing themselves and have toileting problems.”

Esther Choo, M.D., wrote an essay for MSNBC that describes how hospitals respond to and are affected by gun violence. While describing notifying families of their loved one’s death, Choo writes: “I have forgotten so many faces, but it’s the parents I remember, because of how their bodies collapse under the weight of our words, under the burden that is now theirs permanently. I have paused at the door to give mothers another minute, knowing that their lives will be forever split into all the time before I opened that door and all the time after.”