Research participant Zac Vawter made history on Sunday by climbing the 103 floors of Willis Tower using the first "thought-controlled bionic leg," a neural-controlled prosthetic leg driven by his own thoughts. He was joined by nearly 3,000 others in the world's tallest indoor stair climb event, SkyRise Chicago, which benefits further Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago research.  Read more >

Tapping into resources only available at Northwestern, researchers have crafted a multidisciplinary study to investigate all aspects of primary progressive aphasia, a form of dementia.

Northwestern Memorial and other Chicago-area hospitals recently participated in an exercise to evaluate responses to a worldwide influenza outbreak. Managing logistics and preventing further outbreaks were key components of the emergency preparedness drill - from administering emergency medication and vaccines to problem-solving an exceeded capacity in the morgue. "This exercise gives us an opportunity to practice and helps us identify gaps in our plans," says Amy Galat, director of emergency management at NMH. "The team did very well."  View slideshow >

Peter J. McCanna, executive vice president of administration and chief financial officer at Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, was named Chicago CFO of the Year® in the not-for-profit category.  Read more >

Emerging research shows that prolonged sitting has significant health consequences, including an increased likelihood of developing a chronic condition such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers.

Vann Bennett, MD, PhD, James B. Duke Professor in the Departments of Cell Biology, Biochemistry, and Neurobiology at Duke University and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, will present "Functional Organization of Membrane-spanning Proteins in Vertebrate Tissues" as part of the Lectures in Life Sciences series at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, November 13, in the Hughes Auditorium at the Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center. Kathy Green, PhD, professor in pathology and dermatology, will host the lecture. After completing his undergraduate at Stanford University, Bennett pursued his medical and doctorate degrees at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Bennett's laboratory discovered the ankyrin family of adapters and their role in the organization of a diverse set of proteins and membrane domains that are likely to play roles in vertebrate physiology. He explores the molecular mechanisms underlying ankyrin function, as well as the pathological consequences.