Constantly moving medical care upstream Tucked in the far corner of John Flack’s finished basement is the fish room, a space filled floor to ceiling with aquariums — 135 of them, to be exact. Each provides a home to a breed of fancy guppies, small fish of every hue and variety, serenely checking on the neighbors and the guests who have entered their marine habitat. This is a relaxing space for Flack. What started as a hobby at the age of 10 is now his “other full-time job,” one that requires ongoing care and high organizational skill. Fortunately for the exotic fish moving around the filtered

Constantly moving medical care upstream Tucked in the far corner of John Flack’s finished basement is the fish room, a space filled floor to ceiling with aquariums — 135 of them, to be exact. Each provides a home to a breed of fancy guppies, small fish of every hue and variety, serenely checking on the neighbors and the guests who have entered their marine habitat. This is a relaxing space for Flack. What started as a hobby at the age of 10 is now his “other full-time job,” one that requires ongoing care and high organizational skill. Fortunately for the exotic fish moving around the filtered

As a USPS mail carrier and mother of three, Tricia Duckworth began struggling with depression in her mid-20s. She felt tired, anxious and struggled to find a reason to get out of bed. As her symptoms progressed, she began seeing Karen Broquet, MD, a psychiatrist at SIU Medicine. Through the years, Dr. Broquet and Duckworth tried a variety of drug therapies to treat her depression. Ultimately, she was on the highest allowed dose of Effexor (venlafaxine) and could function on an interim basis. Unfortunately, the side effects were often as challenging as the depression itself. “I was treated with

As a USPS mail carrier and mother of three, Tricia Duckworth began struggling with depression in her mid-20s. She felt tired, anxious and struggled to find a reason to get out of bed. As her symptoms progressed, she began seeing Karen Broquet, MD, a psychiatrist at SIU Medicine. Through the years, Dr. Broquet and Duckworth tried a variety of drug therapies to treat her depression. Ultimately, she was on the highest allowed dose of Effexor (venlafaxine) and could function on an interim basis. Unfortunately, the side effects were often as challenging as the depression itself. “I was treated with

As a USPS mail carrier and mother of three, Tricia Duckworth began struggling with depression in her mid-20s. She felt tired, anxious and struggled to find a reason to get out of bed. As her symptoms progressed, she began seeing Karen Broquet, MD, a psychiatrist at SIU Medicine. Through the years, Dr. Broquet and Duckworth tried a variety of drug therapies to treat her depression. Ultimately, she was on the highest allowed dose of Effexor (venlafaxine) and could function on an interim basis. Unfortunately, the side effects were often as challenging as the depression itself. “I was treated with

Kevin Hascup, PhD, assistant professor of neurology, recently received funding through an NIH grant to research the link between COVID-19 and cellular senescence and its possible impact on Alzheimer’s disease pathology. The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), along with respiratory and “flu-like” symptoms, led to an unexpected rise in strokes, brain hemorrhaging, and memory impairment in young (30s and 40s) COVID-19 patients. These phenomena sparked scientific studies of the impact of COVID-19 on the brain, which showed that the virus could infect the brain’s nerve cells, called neurons

Kevin Hascup, PhD, assistant professor of neurology, recently received funding through an NIH grant to research the link between COVID-19 and cellular senescence and its possible impact on Alzheimer’s disease pathology. The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), along with respiratory and “flu-like” symptoms, led to an unexpected rise in strokes, brain hemorrhaging, and memory impairment in young (30s and 40s) COVID-19 patients. These phenomena sparked scientific studies of the impact of COVID-19 on the brain, which showed that the virus could infect the brain’s nerve cells, called neurons

Growing up in Chicago, Cynthia Thomas, MD, didn’t always dream of being a doctor, but she wanted a career where she could help others and excelled at math and science in middle school. After hearing about the shortage of doctors in underserved areas of her community, in high school she decided that medicine was where she wanted to be. While life’s twists and turns moved her out of her Chicago community and to Springfield with her husband, her passion for community and family medicine moved with her. After graduating from SIU School of Medicine in 1991 and completing her residency in 1994, Dr

Growing up in Chicago, Cynthia Thomas, MD, didn’t always dream of being a doctor, but she wanted a career where she could help others and excelled at math and science in middle school. After hearing about the shortage of doctors in underserved areas of her community, in high school she decided that medicine was where she wanted to be. While life’s twists and turns moved her out of her Chicago community and to Springfield with her husband, her passion for community and family medicine moved with her. After graduating from SIU School of Medicine in 1991 and completing her residency in 1994, Dr

A biochemistry laboratory at SIU School of Medicine is sequencing the genomes of SARS-CoV-2 viruses that cause COVID-19 to determine if distinct variants exist in different Illinois communities and specifically in rural versus metropolitan areas. “We’re looking for the ‘personality’ of the genome, to see how it’s changing over time,” says Keith Gagnon, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. “There are a couple of variants and we need to determine which is the most dangerous. Based on what we learn, we can tell the virus’ point of origin, whether it’s