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Articles by Mary Loftus
Back after a Terminal Diagnosis
Four generations: Charlie Renfroe holds his great-grandson. Photo courtesy Renfroe family Four generations: Charlie Renfroe holds his great-grandson. Photo courtesy Renfroe family There are moments in life that divide everything into before and after. For Charlie Renfroe, then 81, that moment came with a quiet but devastating directive. His vascular condition—an aggressive infection attacking his aorta, the body’s main artery—had progressed beyond what his local care team believed was treatable.
I am an Emory Researcher: Andi Shane
Protecting Children from the World’s Most Preventable Diseases As a pediatric infectious disease physician, Andi Shane cares for children with serious illnesses. As a researcher, she focuses on how to prevent the spread and lessen the incidence of these diseases. That “bench-to-bedside-to-bench” mindset has defined Shane's nearly two decades at Emory.
Staying in the Game
Emory Health Digest | Summer 2026 One panelist was skipping a soccer game to attend the dinner. Another was looking forward to swim season. Another was searching for a way to get back to teaching Tai Chi. And the fourth was wondering if her neighborhood pickleball league was starting back up. These were our Weekend Warrior Dinner with a Doctor panelists, and they had questions.
I am an Emory Researcher: Andi Shane
Protecting Children from the World’s Most Preventable Diseases Emory Health Digest | Summer 2026 As a pediatric infectious disease physician, Andi Shane cares for children with serious illnesses. As a researcher, she focuses on how to prevent the spread and lessen the incidence of these diseases. That “bench-to-bedside-to-bench” mindset has defined Shane's nearly two decades at Emory.
President’s Medal honors biomedical researchers who developed lifesaving HIV medications
Scientists rarely hear directly from the people whose lives they have saved or improved. And yet, Dennis Liotta, Raymond Schinazi and Woo-Baeg Choi have had that experience. The three biomedical researchers developed key HIV antiretroviral medications that helped transform HIV from a fatal disease to a manageable condition, saving millions of lives worldwide. “Being approached by HIV/AIDS survivors who thank me is powerful and humbling,” Liotta says.
Meet three of Emory’s cross-campus couples
With Emory University and Emory Healthcare boasting a combined total of more than 50,000 employees, meeting couples who both work for Emory isn’t uncommon. In honor of Valentine’s Day, three of those couples share the stories behind how they met, when they married and what keeps them going strong. Their story began on a summer evening at her sister’s house.
Gari Clifford’s 12-point path to a lifesaving maternal health program
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How ‘good stress’ can contribute to a longer, healthier and happier life
Over time, physician Sharon Bergquist found herself having the same conversation again and again with her patients as an Emory internist. “I've been at Emory for 25 years, and I felt really well trained to diagnose disease and to manage a lot of chronic medical conditions,” says Bergquist. “But the underlying problems were just progressing.” Processes like inflammation and insulin resistance were manifesting in her patients in different, often worsening, complications over time.
Emory’s scientific power couples
While a sterile research laboratory or the cadaver dissection rooms are not necessarily traditional settings for a ‘meet-cute’, Emory is home to several co-investigators, faculty members and clinicians who will be taking a break from analyzing data and treating patients to celebrate Valentine’s Day together. Following in the footsteps of Pierre and Marie Curie, these campus couples are proving that the best science is produced in pairs.
Exploring pandemics’ influence on the arts
A classic tale of tragic romance, the opera “La Bohème” follows the love between poet Rodolfo and seamstress Mimi as they are forced to face the challenges of Mimi’s declining health and eventual death from “consumption,” as tuberculosis (TB) was commonly called in the 1800s. Debuting 100 years later, the Broadway rock opera “Rent,” inspired by “La Bohème,” tells the story of a group of young artists struggling to survive in Manhattan’s East Village under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.
Meet Sandra Wong, MD, the new dean of Emory School of Medicine
Sandra Wong, MD, MS, has joined Emory as the new dean of the School of Medicine. She will also serve as the chief academic officer for Emory Healthcare. She is an international leader in surgical oncology, specializing in the management of soft tissue sarcomas, melanoma, and non- melanoma skin cancers, and a globally recognized health services researcher.
Love in the Labs – Meet Emory’s scientific power couples | Emory University | Atlanta GA
While a sterile research laboratory is not necessarily a traditional setting for a ‘meet-cute’, Emory is home to several co-investigators who will be taking a break from analyzing data and testing samples to celebrate Valentine’s Day together. Following in the footsteps of Pierre and Marie Curie, these scientific power couples are proving that the best research is produced in pairs.
Getting a Grip on Fugitive Emissions
January 2024, Vol. 251, No. 1 Features By Mary Loftus, Senior Research and Development Engineer, IMI CCI Better tracking is needed to tackle fugitive emissions, but this is only one part of the puzzle. Fortunately, new packing sets are beginning to address a long-overlooked problem for heavy industry.
Emory School of Medicine graduates charged to ‘Make the lives of others better’
Glenn Memorial auditorium filled with families and friends on the afternoon of Friday, May 5, for the 2023 Doctor of Medicine commencement ceremony. The processional started with bagpipes, as the green School of Medicine banner was carefully put in its place of honor on the stage. Parents stood in the balcony to capture smartphone videos and photos of their graduates, waving furiously. Medical faculty and the platform party filled the stage in full regalia.
Ira Schwartz, Exemplary Teacher of the Year, instills the ‘gift of a life in medicine’ in students
Ira Schwartz grew up as part of a Jewish family in New York City. “I was one of those curious and annoying kids who was constantly asking questions. A city kid who liked being out in nature,” he says. “My mom was a kindergarten teacher, my dad was a first-generation college student — after being in the U.S. Army during World War II, he went to law school and became an attorney.
Treating trauma across a lifespan
The cause of trauma, says John Constantino, chief of behavioral and mental health at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, “doesn’t have to be a bomb going off.” Indeed, prolonged stress or a psychologically overwhelming life event can be equally as damaging. And the result might be post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but it could also be a “wholesale detachment from anything having to do with the stressor,” Constantino says.
Young children and COVID-19 vaccines
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Admission team works to ‘get the Emory spirit into the virtual world’
Emory’s campus, like university campuses around the country, is subdued this summer. A family takes a bike ride near Lullwater, Kaldi’s Coffee in the Depot is open for takeout and delivery, limited essential staff are on hand for tasks that can’t be done from home and preparations for the construction of a new Rollins School of Public Health building have begun. But a lot is going on behind the scenes that isn’t immediately visible — especially by the Emory Office of Undergraduate Admission staff.
Audubon the Writer
First published in England, where he had gone to find the best printer available, Audubon’s massive collection of 435 bird illustrations confronted a curious legal provision when it first appeared between 1827 and 1838. British copyright law stipulated that copies of all books containing text be deposited in crown libraries around the country, and the expense of that requirement would have fallen on Audubon.
All Hands on Deck: The Zoom experts
If there has been a tech success story in the midst of the pandemic, it’s the videoconferencing service Zoom. With millions of families self-quarantining and working and educating at home, the Zoom platform, with its Brady-Bunch-style squares of interactive faces, has become a way of life for many. In December 2019, Zoom had about 10 million meeting participants per day. By the end of April, there were more than 300 million people on the platform, around the globe.
Drive-through COVID-19 testing takes 'huge team effort' from Emory staff
Emory nurse practitioner Hanheui “Honey”Bunting has a narrative for everyone who drives up to be swabbed by her at Emory’s COVID-19 drive-through testing site at Executive Park. “I try to ease their anxiety,” she says. “I’ll say, “Hey, while I’m doing the swab, you can tilt your head back against the headrest and hold on to your steering wheel and not onto me! They tend to laugh. Then I’ll say, ‘This is not the most comfortable test but it takes less than 10 seconds.
All Hands on Deck: The Carlos Museum brings art into homes
The Egyptian mummies, in their eternal sleep, might be indifferent to the lack of visitors, but for the staff of the Michael C. Carlos Museum, shuttering the physical museum on Emory’s Quadrangle during the pandemic has presented a challenge. They have responded by taking as much of the museum and its programming online as possible, including artist talks and demonstrations, cultural events, educational workshops and family programs and activities.
Emory Police: On call during uncertain times
While there may be fewer people living and working on Emory’s campuses these days, the Emory Police Department is on the job. Not only are its members still handling routine calls and crime reports, they are responding to events associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, including investigating “Zoom bombings,” organizing a parade in appreciation of health care workers and increasing support for Emory University Hospital and Emory University Hospital Midtown. “I am so proud of the EPD team.
All hands on deck: Spiritual health across Emory’s hospitals and campuses
The blue coats are not working from home. They are there, fully present, in Emory’s hospitals and health care campuses to talk with anyone who needs them — patients, families or staff. “We talk about the zone of resilience, but this is going way out of bounds,” says George Grant, executive director of spiritual health for Emory Healthcare. “Staff support has become critical. Folks are carrying not only their anxieties and fears about work, but also about what is happening at home.
All hands on deck: Transitioning Emory College to remote teaching
The announcement March 11 was simple and to the point: “Effective immediately, Emory University will extend spring break for students until Sunday, March 22, 2020, and transition to remote learning for graduate and undergraduate classes on Monday, March 23, 2020.” The actual transition, however, would be a mass undertaking for Emory College: More than 500 faculty members from a broad array of disciplines had less than two weeks to move from a classroom setting to remote learning for 6,000...
All hands on deck: Welcoming Oxford students to Atlanta
The shuttles came steadily Saturday morning, two every 30 minutes, headed down the highway from Emory’s Oxford College in Oxford, Georgia, to the university’s Atlanta campus. The 49 Oxford students who remained on Oxford’s campus were given a snack bag with fruit, yogurt, bottled water and chips. They spaced themselves out in the shuttle to keep a safe distance and settled in for the ride to the Clairmont campus, where they would move into an apartment with a private bathroom.
All hands on deck: Emory staff exhibit ‘can-do’ spirit and enduring sense of community
Working around the clock under unprecedented circumstances, university and health care staff members are keeping Emory’s vital enterprise running and providing support whenever and wherever needed.
A Future Without Antibiotics?
The possibility that our most commonly prescribed drugs, which we've relied on for nearly eight decades to kill infections, will stop working—indeed, in some cases, already have — is nearly unfathomable. Each year, more than 2 million people in the United States become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and about 23,000 of them die.
Taming the ‘Hunger Nerve’
WEB EXTRA Episode 7.1 | Your Fantastic Mind View the latest episodes of the Emory and Georgia Public Broadcasting television series. Jessica Knight had tried every diet out there, from low-carb to South Beach to a mail-order boxed meal plan. Ideally, she wanted to lose 50 pounds and lower her BMI, which at more than 30 was in the obese range. But she was losing hope. Knight tried to stick to each new diet, but all the effort just didn’t seem worth it.
Taming the 'hunger nerve'
Patient Jessica Knight exercising with her daughters, ages 9 and 6. She says that, after the procedure, she feels, "happy, healthy, and active, a good role model for my kids." Jessica Knight had tried every diet out there, from low-carb to South Beach to a mail-order boxed meal plan. Ideally, she wanted to lose 50 pounds and lower her BMI, which at more than 30 was in the obese range. But she was losing hope. Knight tried to stick to each new diet, but all the effort just didn't seem worth it.
NBA Hall of Famer tours Emory's Serious Communicable Diseases Unit
When NBA Hall of Famer and philanthropist Dikembe Mutombo, a Congolese American who has built a hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), was visiting his homeland recently, he noticed that people weren’t shaking hands with others who came from areas in the DRC where Ebola virus is spreading. “The fear is there, of not knowing who has it or where the risk is,” he said, describing the Congo’s current outbreak, now the second-deadliest in history.
Sara's Journey
The month-long trips combine student education with care, and the medical teams perform multiple surgeries each day, seeing more than 100 patients in all. Medical students assist surgical residents and faculty, who bring their own supplies and face challenging conditions: minimal running water, ORs that function on a diesel generator, intermittent power outages, operating by headlamps.
The Science of Awkward Moments | Reader's Digest
How to get an honest answer You’re buying a used car, moving into a new apartment, or determining which doctor should treat your cancer. These are times when you need to get directly to the core of an issue. Asking general questions elicits little valuable information and may even yield deceptive responses, says Julia Minson, a visiting scholar in decision sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. The best bet, says Minson, is to ask probing questions that presume there are problems.
How to NOT Raise a Narcissist
Source: Patrick Hawks/Flickr You’ve met that child: The one who insists on special treatment, who thinks the rules don’t apply to him, who brags and seems insensitive to anyone else’s feelings or wishes, who has loud, public tantrums if he doesn’t get his way… This child may have some superficial charm, but if you spend much time with her, you walk away feeling irritated and thinking, “Who does she think she is?!” Or worse.
The Other Side of Fame
For some reason, perhaps because it's far removed from the L.A.-N.Y. continuum, celebrities' siblings are drawn to Central Florida. Not only that, but they feel compelled to become journalists here. I've sat two desks over from Jennifer Beal's brother, Greg. Been at newspaper parties with Susan Sarandon's brother, Terry Tomalin, and shared journalistic turf with Gretchen Letterman, Dave's sis. These relationships occasionally bring the mild-mannered reporters some fall-out fame.
The Science of Awkward Moments | Reader's Digest
How to Get an Honest Answer You’re buying a used car, moving into a new apartment, or determining which doctor should treat your cancer. These are times when you need to get directly to the core of an issue. Asking general questions elicits little valuable information and may even yield deceptive responses, says Julia Minson, a visiting scholar in decision sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. The best bet, says Minson, is to ask probing questions that presume there are problems.
Squeaky Clean
The decorative arts owe a debt to municipal efforts for better sanitation. In England in the mid nineteenth century, when cholera was widespread, reform-minded authorities in London read and believed the findings of the 1842 Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population. Safe treatment of sewage, the report asserted, would help eliminate cholera. As a result, a new ceramics industry was spawned to ensure a durable underground sewer system.
Easing dystonia symptoms with deep brain stimulation
Dystonia patient Michael Richardson enjoys hiking with his son, Eddie — one of many activities that wasn't possible before his DBS surgery. Michael Richardson first experienced symptoms of dystonia, a movement disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions and spasms, when he was 13. "When I walked, I would put the toe of my left foot down first. My dad would say, 'Walk right,' but I couldn't change it. Over time, it got worse. My foot contorted.
Aimee Copeland: Resuming the adventure
Back in 2012, Aimee Copeland's story — a freak accident that resulted in multiple amputations, when necrotizing fasciitis set in — garnered national attention. Since then, through grit, determination, and some high-tech hardware, this young woman is resuming her adventures, including college and kayaking. For months she has undergone the hard work of rehabilitation therapy at Emory Rehabilitation Hospital, located off Clifton Road.
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