CORTEX

National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW) is a timely reminder that it’s not too late to protect yourself, and the people around you, from the flu. Held each year in early December, NIVW highlights the importance of getting vaccinated before flu activity peaks. While many people think the flu shot is only useful in early fall, flu season often lasts well into spring. That means vaccination can still make a real difference, even now. The flu isn’t just a bad cold. It can lead

When Dr. William Wesson, an Internal Medicine Resident at the University of Kansas Medical Center, first reviewed the results of the ZUMA-7 clinical trial (a landmark study regarding CAR-T cell therapy), one finding captured his attention: almost every patient treated with the new CAR-T therapy developed profoundly low blood counts afterward. This sparked Dr. Wesson’s curiosity in analyzing what healthcare providers and researchers were doing to address the problem, and becam

For many medical students, research begins with curiosity. For others, it begins with mentorship. For Emily Casteen, it was both. A medical student was introduced to an important question by Dr. Pokhrel (PGY-3) and Dr. Neupane: Could giving head and neck cancer patients extra hydration help protect their kidneys during cisplatin treatment? A Look Into the Project: Cisplatin is a common drug used to treat these cancers, but it can be tough on the kidneys. Doctors already give

As an undergraduate student still new to the wide scope of medicine, attending the ICE-T 2025 Congress was an incredibly meaningful experience. Led by Dr. Nausheen Ahmed, Dr. Al-Ola Abdallah, and Dr. Zahra Mahmoudjafari, this congress brought together clinicians, researchers, nurses, program leaders, and industry experts to advance immune effector cell therapies, improve care delivery, and expand access to cutting-edge treatments. Before this conference, I had a very limited

Hello, ICET Community! Reflecting on the incredible few days we spent together at the National Immune Effector Cellular Therapies (ICET)...

In a world obsessed with specialization, generalists often seem like outliers. But scratch the surface, and you’ll find they’re often the...

Match and Mentorship: Reflections from a New Doc by Aroog Khaliq As a first-generation student, mentorship initiatives like Cortex were...

Logo for Cortex Innovation, symbolizing a blend of creativity and healthcare education through a brain-shaped light bulb with leaves,...