Obesity is the most prevalent chronic disease of childhood. Obese adolescents are likely to become obese adults with significant associated co-morbidities and early mortality. In Massachusetts, 30% of children ages 10-17 are overweight or obese. It is projected that 48% of Massachusetts’ adults will be obese by 2030. In March of 2015, the Good Fit Adolescent Weight and Wellness Center opened, with a goal of addressing this issue with a proven multidisciplinary approach. Mobile technology...

Meta-analysis of 101 studies published between 1934 and 1996 indicates that mean sperm concentration decreased around 50% during this period. More recent studies have found alarmingly poor semen quality in the general population of Northern Europe. Additional adverse trends include increased incidence of testicular cancer, and congenital malformations such as cryptorchidism and hypospadias. Testicular germ cell cancers increased by about 400% over the period of 50 years in industrialized countries. Decreased quality of male reproductive...

Objective: We evaluated receipt of pre-operative pain management education in a national prospective cohort on post-operative pain and function. Methods: Preoperative, 2 week and 6 month postoperative data from a nationally representative cohort of 1404 primary unilateral TJR patients with a date of surgery between May 2011 and December 2014. Data included demographics, comorbid conditions, operative joint pain severity (HOOS/KOOS), musculoskeletal disease burden, physical function (SF36 PCS), and mental health (SF36 MCS). At 2 weeks...

There is an urgent need for new therapies for parasitic helminthic diseases affecting 1.5-2 billion people worldwide due to the threat of wide-spread resistance development to existing treatments and due to problems of incomplete efficacies. Terpenes are plant secondary metabolites and major essential oil constituents. Historically, the terpene thymol was successfully used to cure hookworm infections in the 1900’s. Although effective, large doses were needed and thymol treatment had significant side effects. Because free terpenes...

Plasmodium falciparum, is a protozoa that causes over 214 million cases of Malaria worldwide and the World Health Organization reported an estimated 438,000 deaths attributed to malaria in 2015. Current prevention strategies have reduced malaria cases but they are either costly, have poor efficacy or resistance has begun to develop. There is a global need for an effective pre-exposure prophylaxis treatment. The leading Malaria vaccine candidate is RTS,S which contains a monovalent Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite...

Methamphetamine (MA) use and abuse is a growing problem worldwide [United Nations World Drug Report]. It is common knowledge that MA use affects not only the user, but also friends, family, and the communities close to them [NIDA]. One area of impact that is lacking sufficient study is the effects of MA use by expectant mothers on her child later in life. That is to say, a child who was exposed to MA in utero...