With our research, we seek to understand complex biological processes,
develop treatments for various diseases and identify ways to implement evidence-based care,
all with the goal of improving human health.
Currently, Northwestern's funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been frozen.
The impact on patient care and future discovery will be seen across healthcare and in academic institutions beyond our school. Learn more below about key projects happening at Feinberg that address major health issues.
A recent Northwestern Medicine study published in Nature Medicine used a new technique called spatial transcriptomics to examine the brain’s response to drugs for Alzheimer's disease. The team found new molecular targets that could enhance the effectiveness of current therapies and not just slow the disease but potentially improve patient outcomes.
Since 2007, Feinberg has led groundbreaking research on heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), a long-misunderstood condition. Backed by an $18 million NIH grant in 2022, the Heart Share program explores HFpEF’s underlying mechanisms, helping identify treatment targets and transforming understanding of this historically neglected disease.
A NIH-funded Northwestern trial developed a skull-implantable ultrasound device that opens the blood-brain barrier, allowing potent chemotherapy to reach large brain areas. This breakthrough could transform treatment for glioblastoma—the most common, aggressive brain tumor—by delivering drugs directly where they’re needed most, offering hope against this typically fatal cancer.
Feinberg scientists are pioneering epigenetics research—exploring how environmental factors affect gene expression and lead to disease. Their discoveries are key to identifying drug targets for aggressive cancers with limited treatment options, laying the groundwork for more effective therapies and advancing the fight against some of the deadliest forms of cancer.
Northwestern Medicine performed the first U.S. lung transplant for a COVID-19 patient, enabled by breakthrough discoveries from Feinberg labs. Since then, NM physicians completed 45 such transplants and, in collaboration with scientists, continue to develop innovative care programs and advance research to improve treatment for severe COVID-19-related lung damage.
Northwestern research is a catalyst for job growth and economic development in the Chicago region, nation and world.
Abnormal heart rhythm disorders known collectively as “arrhythmias” may result in life-altering events including stroke, heart failure or sudden cardiac death. Arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation are present in more than five million Americans and that number is growing. An NIH-funded trial using an Apple Watch and an iPhone app, led by Rod Passman, MD, aims to transform care, but its progress is threatened by a nationwide research funding freeze.
Since 2001, Northwestern has led prostate cancer research through a prestigious National Cancer Institute SPORE grant. Renewed with $9.2 million in 2021, the focus is on MYC-targeting and immunotherapy for advanced cases. Now, critical funding is threatened—even as prostate cancer remains the most common and second-deadliest cancer among U.S. men.
My research is driven by the stark reality that we will never have enough clinicians to solve our world's mental health problems. Instead, I create apps to tackle these problems, like for depression, anxiety and eating disorders. Not only are apps more accessible than a clinician, but they can offer support right away, so people can get the help they need in the moments that matter most.”
Research in a university setting is always a team effort and benefits from young minds with new and creative ideas. The journey for a lab director and the final outcome when success is achieved are both immensely rewarding, particularly when it improves the quality of our lives. I consider it a privilege to have been able to dedicate my life to educating young people while also helping humanity solve some of its most pressing challenges.”
