College News

People with HIV tend to use tobacco at more than twice the rate of the general population, and smoking is among the leading causes of illness and death among people with HIV. Additional data from the National Center for HIV/AIDS and STIs of Laos indicate that 61% to 80% of men with HIV in that country smoke cigarettes.

A study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology demonstrates that when the diabetes drug metformin is given to the mother during pregnancy, fetus growth is restricted, including a slowed maturing of the kidneys, which has been linked to a higher risk of obesity and insulin resistance in childhood.

A University of Oklahoma neonatologist and researcher has earned a five-year, $2.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to further her studies on retinopathy of prematurity, a serious eye disease that can affect babies born prematurely and cause lifelong complications, including blindness.

The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine has appointed Kristina Booth, Christina Henson and Mubeen Shakir as assistant deans in its Graduate Medical Education program. The expansion of the leadership team will support advancements in program management, learner assessment and wellness initiatives for residents and fellows.

Pregnant women with obesity face an increased risk of complications, including the need for a cesarean section, which carries its own set of risks. A University of Oklahoma physician-researcher recently earned a $3.1 million National Institutes of Health grant to lead a multicenter national clinical trial studying whether antibiotics given at the beginning of labor induction result in a decrease in C-sections. The trial is thought to be the first large-scale study of its kind in the United States.