Building off of our successful Malden half-marathon a couple of weeks ago and fifteen miles of walking and running yesterday, I’m getting closer to a new goal: The Great Saunter. This is a 32 mile walk around the perimeter of Manhattan, to be held on May 7th. I learned of it from a fellow singerContinue reading “The Great Saunter: A 32 Mile Adventure”
Author Archives: Philip A. Lederer MD
Bani Restaurant
It was 2007, and I was spending a few months in the Dominican Republic. I started in Santo Domingo and went to San Pedro de Macoris (home of Sammy Sosa). Then I headed north to Consuelo with a group from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). We worked in a clinic and ate mangos in ourContinue reading “Bani Restaurant”
Mental Stress-Induced Myocardial Ischemia and Cardiovascular Events
Do stress and depression increase your risk of heart attack? Recently, I read with interest correspondence on this topic in JAMA by Dr. Yu-Hsuan Lin from Taiwan and Drs. Viola Vaccarino, J. Douglas Bremner, and Arshed A. Quyyumi from Emory University. Let’s back up a bit. Back in November 2021, the Emory authors published aContinue reading “Mental Stress-Induced Myocardial Ischemia and Cardiovascular Events”
My dream last night
I just woke up from a wild dream and thought, why not write about it on my blog? As with most dreams, it’s hard to remember exactly what was going on, but I was in another city with my family, trying frantically to pack my bags and go to the airport. But the suitcases wereContinue reading “My dream last night”
World TB Day
Tuberculosis is important because it is spread by the airborne route, and because of drug resistance which increases mortality. Yearly, approximately 10 million people fall ill with TB, and 1.5 million die from the disease. These numbers may be going up because of COVID and disrupted health systems. This Thursday, March 24, is World TBContinue reading “World TB Day”
Spring training
Despite the devastation in Ukraine, the possibility of World War III and nuclear weapons being used, and violence globally (including a recent shooting in our neighborhood in Boston), I can say one thing for sure – it is spring. It’s been a long hard winter, with stress from the Omicron surge, but winter is over.Continue reading “Spring training”
Naledi Masilo in Dorchester
Last night I attended a delightful concert in Dorchester by the jazz singer Naledi Masilo. She is originally from Johannesburg and sang in English, Shona, and, I believe, isiZulu and Sesotho. A graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, she was backed up on piano by Kevin Harris and on saxophone/flute by Shahar Amdor.Continue reading “Naledi Masilo in Dorchester”
My conversation with Dr. Mosoka Fallah
Yesterday, I was pleased to speak via WhatsApp with Dr. Mosoka Fallah. He is currently based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where he works for the Africa Center for Disease of the African Union leading a technical team that supports Covid-19 vaccine rollout to African countries. His NGO, Refuge Place International, was started while he wasContinue reading “My conversation with Dr. Mosoka Fallah”
Cognitively Based Compassion Training
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of listening to a lecture by Dr. Vincent Marconi regarding aging, infectious diseases, and the immune system. Vince, a Professor of Medicine at Emory University, discussed his recent study, Cognitively Based Compassion Training (CBCT) for HIV Immune Nonresponders—An Attention-Placebo Randomized Controlled Trial. Vince and his co-authors demonstrated that CBCT is a novelContinue reading “Cognitively Based Compassion Training”
Gene Therapy for Hemophilia A
Medical science is constantly evolving. I remember studying hemophilia A during my first year at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 2004. The treatments we learned about were primitive – factor transfusions. Eighteen years later (!), the New England Journal of Medicine has published a new article, Gene Therapy for Hemophilia A –Continue reading “Gene Therapy for Hemophilia A”
Philip A. Lederer 