Navigating Location Specific Treatment Selection and Topical Therapy Limitations – Dermatology Times

December 22, 2023 medical

This is a video synopsis/summary of a panel discussion involving Lisa Swanson, MD, FAAD, and Robert J. Casquejo, PA-C.

The conversation begins with an exploration of the distinctive features of plaque psoriasis that differentiate it from other dermatologic conditions. The difficulty of diagnosing psoriasis is discussed, with attention to variables like location, skin color, and ethnic variability. The challenges become apparent when distinguishing between psoriasis and conditions such as eczema.

The speakers note that psoriasis diagnosis can be straightforward in some cases but challenging in others, particularly when there is an overlap with conditions like eczema. An expert shares experiences from his pediatric specialty, highlighting instances where psoriasis is misdiagnosed as other dermatologic conditions.

The conversation shifts to the significance of the location of psoriasis involvement in guiding treatment decisions. Scalp psoriasis is emphasized as a challenging area for topical management, prompting considerations of both physical and psychosocial impact. An expert discusses his approach, focusing on the severity of physical symptoms and the psychosocial impact when deciding on treatment options.

The speakers delve into the challenges of managing scalp psoriasis with topical medications, noting issues like greasiness and patient dissatisfaction. An expert suggests that systemic treatment options may be more practical for areas like the scalp due to ease of use and patient preferences.

The speakers agree on the complexity of treating psoriasis in problematic areas like the scalp, acknowledging the limitations of topical medications and the need for more aggressive approaches. The conversation concludes with an acknowledgment that certain areas, including the scalp, pose challenges that may require systemic treatments beyond topical applications.

Video synopsis is AI-generated and reviewed by DermatologyTimes editorial staff.

Navigating Location Specific Treatment Selection and Topical Therapy Limitations - Dermatology Times

Anesthesiology

Research Team Led By Dr. Gunisha Kaur Wins 2023 National Academy of Medicine Catalyst Prize – Weill Cornell Medicine Newsroom

December 14, 2023 medical

Anesthesiologist and global health expert Dr. Gunisha Kaur and her research team recently won a prestigious National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Catalyst Prize.

The Catalyst Awards are a branch of the Healthy Longevity Global Competition that seeks to expand the human healthspanusually defined as how many healthy years a person livesby rewarding cutting-edge ideas to improve the physical, mental, or social wellbeing and health of people as they age. Up to 20 awards are being given this year to United States-based innovators, out of 1,100 applications received from organizations focused on science, medicine, and health, to technology, finance, social sciences, and beyond, NAM said.

NAM works with eight global collaborators that represent more than 50 countries and territories, all of which issued their own Catalyst Awards on the same day.

Dr. Kaurs team won the prize for its project, Digital Solutions to Reduce Maternal Morbidity and Mortality in Refugee Women, which aims to clinically train and validate a digital refugee health system. The prize comes with $50,000 of seed funding and networking opportunities and makes them eligible for the next phases of the competition. Two other phases of application and awards follow, with a $5 million grand prize.

Project lead author Dr. Kaur is an associate professor of anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine, director of the Weill Cornell Medicine Human Rights Impact Lab, and a medical director of the Weill Cornell Center for Human Rights, which provides forensic medical evaluations to people who seek asylum in the United States. For this project, she collaborated with Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor of immigration law practice at Cornell Law School, and Dr. Richard Boyer, an assistant professor of anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine and a core director at the Human Rights Impact Lab. The lab interfaces with the Center for Human Rights, conducting research to advance the health of refugees and displaced populations.

The project involves a wearable device plus a customized app for early risk stratification and identification of gestational hypertension and preeclampsia, which are pregnancy complications.

All pregnant refugee women are at elevated risk for developing these complications because of barriers that can prevent refugees from accessing in-person health care. Dr. Kaur shared that interviews with refugee patients revealed many didnt access health care services because they believed erroneously that doing so would violate the law. Having an expert in immigration law, such as Yale-Loehr on the team, allows them to tell refugee women that since they are pregnant, they are allowed to access care such as prenatal visits and vaccines.

Many refugees and asylum seekers worry that if they seek medical help while pregnant, they might be deported," Yale-Loehr said. "This new research builds on prior work Dr. Kaur and I did dispelling that concern. Our website Rights4Health informs immigrants about their eligibility for public benefits.

As faculty fellows at theMario Einaudi Center for International Studies, Dr. Kaur and Yale-Loehr also lead a team researching refugee and immigrant health as part of Global CornellsMigrations: A Global Grand Challengeinitiative.

Even with very few other resources, almost all or 90 percent have a cell phone, which gives us an enormous opportunity to disseminate health care information about pregnancy and prenatal visits, and vaccines, she said.

The project also utilizes related biomarkers using predictive machine learning, ecological momentary assessments, and remote digital data for risk stratification and possible diagnosis, she said.

Our idea is to bring health care to refugee women through the use of cutting-edge digital technologies, said Dr. Kaur. If we can improve health care access, we can start to look at improving disease diagnosis and treatment.

Digital tools can help detect hypertension with high precision and can risk stratify for preeclampsia, so pregnant women with these conditions can be treated earlier in their pregnancies, she said. They have been used in landmark research studies such as the electronic Framingham Heart Study, but she wants to know exactly how they can be optimized for this patient population.

Thats what this study is about: Can we train our digital tools to do it as well as a clinic visit? she said. While these patients do not typically attend clinic visits, over 90 percent of them do have access to digital tools.

This project expands on work the team has done with digital technology in the last few years, but on an accelerated timeline: results need to be generated within 18 months.

Dr. Kaur remains consistently motivated about her work, she said. First, she believes it is the humane thing to do to provide refugees who have survived forced displacement appropriate and adequate medical care. Because her family came to America this way, she has a personal relationship with the medicine and science of this population and has developed a passion and drive to make a difference that manifests in this project.

The refugees and asylum seekers that we work with in our clinic and lab are people just like you, and just like me, Dr. Kaur said. Recognizing that shared humanityparticularly that there is very little that distinguishes between us and themhelps us to understand why this work is so important.

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Research Team Led By Dr. Gunisha Kaur Wins 2023 National Academy of Medicine Catalyst Prize - Weill Cornell Medicine Newsroom

Cell Biology

Cells Move in Groups Differently Than They Do When Alone – NYU Langone Health

December 14, 2023 medical

A protein that in single cells helps generate the force needed to move works differently in cells moving in groups, a new study shows.

Cells push and pull on each other and the surrounding tissue to move as they form organs in an embryo, heal wounds, track down invading bacteria, and even become cancerous and spread. Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the new study examined how forces are generated by a group of 140 cells called the primordium that adhere to each other as they move into place in zebrafish embryos. Zebrafish are a major model in the study of development because they are transparent and share cellular mechanisms with humans.

Published online December 13 in Current Biology, the new work reveals how the cells in the primordium use a protein called RhoA to trigger forces that move the group in a developing embryo. To move, cells push out part of themselves called protrusions, use the protrusions to hold on to nearby tissues, and then haul them back in, as if casting out and hauling in an anchor to move forward.

VIDEO: A group of cells moves toward its correct final position in the tail of a forming zebrafish embryo. Cell membranes are green and the cell nuclei red.

This finding surprised us because we had no reason to suspect that the RhoA machinery required to move groups of cells would be different from that used by single cells, said senior study author Holger Knaut, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Cell Biology at NYU Langone Health.

Past studies had shown that single cells move forward in part by activating RhoA at their back ends. Active RhoA turns on the motor protein non-muscle myosin II, which causes the back ends of the cells to constrict and let go of the surface they are moving along on.

The current study found that the cells in the primordium instead activate RhoA in pulses in the front of the cells, where it does two jobs. At the front tip of the cell, RhoA grows the cell skeleton, called the actin meshwork, outward, forming protrusions that grip the surface. At the base of protrusions, RhoA triggers non-muscle myosin II to pull on the actin meshwork and haul in the protrusions. The pulling by myosin II makes the actin flow toward the center and back of the cells, pushing the cell group forward the way a banana slug moves along the ground.

Our findings suggest that RhoA-induced actin flow on the basal sides of cells constitutes the motor that pulls the primordium forward, a scenario that likely underlies the movement of many cell groups, added Dr. Knaut. The machinery suggests that the movement of single cells and groups of cells is similar, but that RhoA contributes to that machinery differently in each case. Within moving cell groups, RhoA generates actin flow directed toward the rear to propel the group forward.

Dr. Knaut notes that a better understanding of the mechanisms by which cell groups move has the potential to be useful in stopping the spread of cancer, perhaps by guiding the design of treatments that block the action of proteins noted in the study.

Along with Dr. Knaut, NYU Langone study authors were the co-corresponding author Weiyi Qian, PhD, Naoya Yamaguchi, and Patrycja Lis in the Department of Cell Biology, and Michael Cammer from the Microscopy Laboratory. The study was funded by Perlmutter Cancer Center Support Grant P30CA016087, National Institutes of Health grant R01NS119449, NYSTEM training grants C322560GG and C322560GG, two American Heart Association fellowships, 903886 and 20PRE3518016, and the NYU Deans Undergraduate Research Fund.

Greg Williams Phone: 212-404-3500 Gregory.Williams@NYULangone.org

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Cells Move in Groups Differently Than They Do When Alone - NYU Langone Health

Cell Biology

Cells move in groups differently than they do when alone – EurekAlert

December 14, 2023 medical

video:

Pictured here is a group of cells moving toward its correct final position in the tail of a forming zebrafish embryo. Cell membranes are green and the cell nuclei red.

Credit: Credit Holger Knaut, NYU Langone Health

A protein that helps generate the force needed for single cells to move works differently in cells moving in groups, a new study shows.

Cells push and pull on each other and surrounding tissue to move as they form organs in an embryo, heal wounds, track down invading bacteria, and become cancerous and spread. Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the new study examined how forces are generated by a group of 140 cells called the primordium that adhere to each other as they move in zebrafish embryos. Zebrafish are a major model in the study of development because they are transparent and share cellular mechanisms with humans.

Published online December 13 in Current Biology, the new work reveals how the cells in the primordium use a protein called RhoA to trigger forces that move the group into place in the developing embryo. To move, cells push out part of themselves called protrusions, use the protrusions to hold on to nearby tissues, and then haul them back in to pull forward, like casting out and hauling in an anchor.

The current study found that the cells in the primordium instead activate RhoA in pulses in the front of the cells where it does two jobs. At the front tip of the cell, RhoA grows the cell skeleton, called the actin meshwork, outward, forming protrusions that grip the surface. At the base of protrusions, RhoA triggers non-muscle myosin II to pull on the actin meshwork and haul in the protrusions. The pulling by myosin II makes the actin flow toward the center and back of the cells, pushing the cell group forward the way a banana slug moves along the ground, but at a different size scale.

Along with Dr. Knaut, study authors were Weiyi Qian (co-corresponding author), Naoya Yamaguchi, and Patrycja Lis in the Department of Cell Biology, and Michael Cammer from the Microscopy Laboratory, at NYU Langone Health. The study was funded by Perlmutter Cancer Center Support Grant P30CA016087, National Institutions of Health grant R01NS119449, NYSTEM training grants C322560GG and C322560GG, two American Heart Association fellowships, 903886 and 20PRE3518016, and by the NYU Deans Undergraduate Research Fund.

Experimental study

Cells

Pulses of RhoA Signaling Stimulate Actin Polymerization and Flow in Protrusions to Drive Collective Cell Migration

13-Dec-2023

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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Cells move in groups differently than they do when alone - EurekAlert

Cell Biology

Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology plans to transform cells into tiny recording devices – GeekWire

December 14, 2023 medical

Jay Shendure, a professor of genome sciences at UW Medicine, will be executive director of the Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology. (UW Medicine Photo)

The Allen Institute, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the University of Washington have launched a collaboration called the Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology, with the goal of using genetically modified cells to capture a DNA-based record showing how they change over time.

If the project works out as hoped, it could lead to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms behind cellular processes including, for example, how tumors grow and point to new methods for fighting disease and promoting healthy cell growth.

Over the next five years, the Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology will receive $35 million from the Allen Institute, and another $35 million from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, founded by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan.

Jay Shendure, a professor of genome sciences at UW Medicine, will serve as the hubs executive director. Other members of the leadership team include Marion Pepper and Cole Trapnell, researchers at UW Medicine; and Jesse Gray, a veteran of Ascidian Therapeutics and Harvard Medical School. The collaboration will build on technology pioneered at the Allen Discovery Center for Cell Lineage Tracing and the Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine.

Shendure compared the genetically modified cells to flight recorders on airplanes. He said such cells could, for example, be combined with CAR-T cells to track the progress of cancer therapy.

You could imagine layering them into CAR-T cells to provide a record of what happened, in the context of trying to deliver a certain therapeutic, he told GeekWire. And then you could imagine components of these cells, or more sophisticated versions, actually being used as part of the therapy where, when and how a therapeutic turns on or off is modulated at some level by a much more sophisticated set of machinery.

That sort of application is far down the road. In the nearer term, SeaHubs researchers aim to develop a new channel for chronicling the changes that cells go through. This channel would take an approach thats different from existing methods that depend on microscope imaging or sequencing a cells entire genome.

Shendure and his colleagues at UW have already created two techniques that could help turn elements of the genetic machinery inside cells into tiny time-lapse recording devices.

One of the techniques, known as DNA Typewriter, was the subject of a research paper in the journal Nature last year. The system makes use of gene-editing tools to lay down short snippets of DNA in chronological order, moving along a molecular string like the clicks of the carriage on an old-fashioned typewriter.

If you insert a five-base-pair sequence, thats four to the fifth, or 1,024. So there are 1,024 possible symbols that we could insert, Shendure said. When you punch a key, so to speak, you write a symbol one of those 1,024 possible insertions. Thats like the recording of information. And the same edit moves the type head one unit down the tape. Youre not just firing letters at a piece of paper, youre actually typing them in some coherent order.

The second technique is Engram. Without Engram, DNA Typewriter is like a monkey at a typewriter, just hitting keys, Shendure said. But with Engram, at least for some of the keys, we can say youre more likely to type this key if this particular signaling pathway is active, or youre only going to type this key if youre this particular cell type. So, were starting to learn how to assign meanings to keys, and to build a vocabulary of triggers between biological signals and symbols on our keyboard.

To read the recording, researchers could extract some of the recorder cells and check the sequence of DNA letters that were inserted over time.

Early practical applications of the cell-recording technologies are likely to focus on studying how cells multiply and develop into tissues under normal conditions, and how things go wrong due to disease.

Studying the growth of a cancerous tumor would be a great example, Shendure said. If you want to probe the history of one tumor obviously this would be in a model organism, but it could be a human cell transplanted in a mouse trying to accumulate that history over time is something that you would want to do, he said.

Researchers could track the development of different tumors on the cellular level, and study how different treatment strategies affect their growth. For that scenario, a strain of mice could be genetically engineered with cell-recording capability.

We make a mouse line that essentially has all this stuff stably, and the recording device can be turned on at any point, Shendure said. You could have it constituently on, so it switches on at the beginning, or you could use a small chemical to turn it on, like doxycycline.

Such methods could also be used to fine-tune tissue engineering. If were trying to make skin in a dish, or something like that, whats working? Whats not working? And how do you modulate it to improve the process? Shendure said.

Using such techniques for clinical treatment in humans is a long-term strategy. But how long-term? I dont think theyre as futuristic as they might seem, given everything thats going on, Shendure said.

Findings from the research effort will be shared widely within the scientific community. Its all going to be open science, fitting with the philosophy of the Allen Institute and CZI, Shendure said.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiatives backing for the Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology builds on the philanthropic organizations history of supporting big-picture biotech projects including a $3 billion effort aimed at curing, preventing and managing all diseases within a generation, and $15 million in grants that were awarded in 2018 to support a global research effort called the Human Cell Atlas.

By developing new technologies to measure and understand the history of our cells over time, including how they are impacted by the environment around them, genetic mutations and other factors, we can expand scientists understanding of what happens at the cellular level when we go from healthy to sick, and help pinpoint the earliest causes of disease, CZI co-founder and co-CEO Priscilla Chan said in a news release.

Rui Costa, president and chief executive officer of the Allen Institute, said he and his colleagues are incredibly excited to enter this new era of collaboration to tackle big moonshot projects in partnership with others.

UW President Ana Mari Cauce said the project demonstrates the enormous potential impact of values-driven partnerships, and it represents a new way of thinking about how we can solve problems more quickly and effectively through scientific collaboration.

Our shared values, paired with our complementary perspectives and strengths, are a recipe for success, and I cant wait to see what this team will accomplish together, Cauce said.

The effort should yield noticeable results within five years, Shendure said.

It could lead to basically a library of tools for engineering cell types, specific expression, et cetera. I think therell be these deliverables that are broadly useful for the field, he said.

Shendure hopes researchers at the Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology will come up with specific bodies of information relating to cell lineages, including cancer cell lineages, that would be impossible to obtain using more conventional technologies. But he also has a bigger goal in mind: Gaining acceptance for a new modality of measuring things over time, using DNA as a recording medium.

Thats been kind of a niche interest of technology development groups, Shendure said. Were trying to really move that toward the mainstream.

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Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology plans to transform cells into tiny recording devices - GeekWire

Anatomy

How to watch Anatomy of a Fall is it streaming? – Dexerto

December 14, 2023 medical

Jasmine Valentine

Published: 2023-12-11T16:51:49 Updated: 2023-12-11T16:52:00

The thrilling French courtroom drama is drawing international attention through its Golden Globe nominations but is Anatomy of a Fall streaming?

Its been a fantastic year for German actress Sandra Hller, who has achieved international success with her roles in The Zone of Interest and courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall.

The films synopsis reads: A woman is suspected of her husbands murder, and their blind son faces a moral dilemma as the sole witness.

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With the film now nominated for multiple Golden Globes, is Anatomy of a Fall streaming? Heres everything you need to know.

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Anatomy of a Fall currently isnt available on streaming, with no official streaming date announced as of yet.

In line with other Neon releases, a timeline for Anatomy of a Fall to be available on streaming can be guessed, with estimations currently placing its release around February 2024. Historically, Neon-distributed titles stream exclusively on Hulu approximately four months after their theatrical release in the United States.

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Well be sure to keep this space updated with the latest streaming news for the movie.

Anatomy of a Fall is currently available to buy or rent on various digital platforms, including Apple TV and iTunes.

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The movie initially received a limited theatrical release in the US on October 13, 2023, before rolling out to more cinemas nationwide in the following weeks.

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As of writing, Anatomy of a Fall is also available to pre-order on Amazon Prime Video, which you can do so here.

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According to many critics and now the Golden Globes Anatomy of a Fall is definitely worth the watch.

The movie currently has a 96% rating on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer, with an audience score of 91%.

Wendy Ide of The Observer said, Ultimately, one of the key pleasures of the picture is its uncertainty the niggling doubts that remain, and the sense that a crucial piece of the puzzle is tantalizingly out of reach.

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Clarissa Loughrey at The Independent agreed, Its hard not to be drawn in. Thats the trick of Anatomy of a Fall. Sandra is a fascinating, one-woman puzzle box, thanks largely to the strength of Hllers performance.

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Anatomy

Anatomy of a Fall steals the show at the European Film Awards 2023 – Euronews

December 14, 2023 medical

Stars of European cinema lined the red carpet in Berlin for this year's European Film Awards. The competition was fierce, but it was French director Justine Triet's Anatomy of a Fall that came out on top.

After Reykjavik last year, it was once again Berlins turn as it is every other year to host the European Film Awards.

Set up by the European Film Academy in the German capital in 1988, just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the event celebrates European cinema and its diversity.

This year, the competition was fierce, but it was French director Justine Triet's Anatomy of a Fall that came out on top, with awards for Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Film and Best Actress for Sandra Hller.

The story centres on a writer who finds herself suspected of her husband's death and whose trial will expose her relationship and her identity as a woman.

"I think there is a freedom in Europe that must be preserved, protected, that is magnificent,"Justine Triet told Euronews.

"[It's] a freedom of expression, a freedom to really say what you think, which is actually quite rare when you travel around the world, you realise that it's very precious."

Sandra Hller also stars in The Zone of Interest, a chilling film about the family life of the commander-in-chief of Auschwitz which shows humanity in all its horror, without showing anything of the camp.

Despite the acclaim, the film just missed out on an award this time around.

Speaking to Euronews, the German actress heaped praise on the team behind the European Film Academy.

"It's an extraordinary one, and I think everybody who works behind the scenes - because it's a very silent work, but an important work - has done a magnificent job to put us all together here and to meet, and to discuss interesting topics,"Sandra Hller said.

The awards also showcased European subject matter with films portraying world and European affairs.

The Green Border by Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland is a realistic portrayal of the plight of migrants trapped between Belarus and Poland. The film has attracted criticism from conservatives and the Polish far right.

"There are movies which are courageous and facing the different issues, not only directly political but in the same, we are living in a reality which is political, whatever you touch,"Agnieszka Holland revealed.

In Me Captain, Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone puts us in the shoes of two young men from Dakar who leave everything behind to head for Europe, in the hopes of building a better future for themselves.

"Cinema is also trying to tell the story, to give an experience to the audience and to create empathy with the audience and the characters and give the possibility to them to live the journey,"Matteo Garrone told Euronews.

Finally, nominated but just falling short, was Fallen Leaves, an infinitely poetic love film directed by one of Europe's leading auteurs, Finnish director Aki Kaurismki.

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Anatomy of a Fall steals the show at the European Film Awards 2023 - Euronews

Anatomy

Every ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Season Is Coming to Hulu – Vulture

December 14, 2023 medical

Chop chop streamers, its been 13 years. Greys Anatomy is reportedly expanding its 19-season library from just Netflix and ok, TikTok too, in the form of 30-second clips and Subway Surfers footage to Hulu as well. According to sources familiar with the licensing agreement, which is still being finalized, both services will be sharing streaming rights to the show beginning sometime in the spring of 2024, with Hulu getting dibs on the newest episodes for its 20th season. Itll arrive around the same time as the Hulu and Disney+ integration, a.k.a. when the apps finally merge and become one. It remains one of the most popular shows both on linear television and on streaming, with many people revisiting the show on social media (the hashtag #GreysAnatomy has over 51 billion views). Now, you wont have to wait for an anonymous TikTok account to publish the next Greys clip for much longer.

The deal isnt just a one-way street; it also includes some non-branded Disney shows heading to Netflix as well throughout the next year: The Wonder Years (1/1/2024), This is Us (1/8/2024), My Wife & Kids (2/5/2024), ESPN 30 for 30: (25 episodes; with various premiere dates TBD), The Resident (3/4/2024), White Collar (4/1/2024), Reba (5/6/2024), Archer (5/13/2024), How I Met You Mother (6/3/2023), Lost (7/1/2024), Prison Break (7/29/2024), Bernie Mac (1/1/2025), and Home Improvement (2/1/2025). All of these shows will continue to stay on Hulu with no plans of removing them from the platform during the expansion. Now, if we could only add sensory videos into the mix

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Every 'Grey's Anatomy' Season Is Coming to Hulu - Vulture

Anatomy

Every Grey’s Anatomy Christmas Episode – Screen Rant

December 14, 2023 medical

Summary

Grey's Anatomy might not always be the most cheery of television, but it still has its fair share of holiday episodes. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) has overcome a lot of adversity and loss during her time at the hospital and did not have the happiest childhood either. For this reason, it's often difficult to get her in the holiday spirit. Additionally, the doctors in the hospital don't get a break for the holidays, they have to keep working and saving lives.

The holiday episodes of Grey's Anatomy evolved with the show, and reflect the important plots and themes of a given season. On the air for 19 seasons, and renewed for the 20th, Grey's Anatomy has never been afraid to put its characters through the wringer, and confront the hard truths they have been avoiding. There are few better times to heal and start fresh than during the holidays. Even when times are tough, the doctors are always there for each other.

Since season 1 of Grey's Anatomy was a mid-season replacement that only aired nine episodes, the first Grey's Anatomy Christmas didn't occur until season 2. In the episode, unsurprisingly, few of the doctors are excited at the prospect of celebrating Christmas. Izzie (Katherine Heigl) attempts to decorate the house she shares with Meredith and George (T. R. Knight), but Meredith is especially against all things festive.

What brings all the interns together is helping Alex (Justin Chambers) study to retake his medical board exams after he failed the first time. All around them, the hospital keeps moving, people keep getting sick, and the doctors are the ones who have to put their lives and needs on hold to help others. Izzie might be the only doctor who loves Christmas, but everyone around her understands the spirit of giving.

"Holidaze" focuses on more than just Christmas. The episode sees the passing of both Thanksgiving and New Year's as well, combining the holidays into the big blur they can become at that time of year. Family is also a significant factor during the holidays, and no one in the hospital feels this more so than Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson), whose father comes to visit, and he is not as supportive as she hoped. Miranda is going through a divorce and her father doesn't understand why.

Throughout the episode, Meredith and Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) grow closer as he teaches her new surgical skills, and explains his relationship with her mother. Additionally, Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) finds out he has an eighteen-year-old daughter and must come to grips with being a father, and what this means for his relationship with Lexie (Chyler Leigh). Each doctor is faced with a new challenge, or opportunity, in their personal life and discovers what they want their family to look like.

Much of season 7 revolves around the recovery of the doctors after the fateful shooting at the hospital in the finale of season 6. After experiencing significant trauma, Cristina (Sandra Oh) has not gone back to work and is struggling to connect with her life. Derek (Patrick Dempsey), takes her on a fishing trip in the hopes that they will talk and that nature will do her some good. Back at the hospital, Mark does his daily tasks but wants to get back together with Lexie.

"Adrift and at Peace" uses Christmas as a backdrop for the latest hospital drama, but still incorporates themes of togetherness and heading into the new year reborn. Mark and Lexie do reunite by the end of the episode, and it seems that Cristina has made her first step toward healing. As the mid-season finale, the episode still leaves a lot of questions in the air and leaves the fate of the doctors open heading into the second half of season 7.

Miranda has a Christmas-themed wedding in "Run, Baby, Run", but that isn't the only source of drama throughout the episode. Cristina and Owen's (Kevin McKidd) relationship has deteriorated, and they are filing for divorce. While Cristina is going through this, Meredith is also keeping her pregnancy a secret because it's so early on, and she's worried she will miscarry. Part of the tension of season 9 overall is the loss and damage caused by the plane crash in the finale of season 8. The plane crash is the most traumatic episode of Grey's Anatomy.

The crash changed many relationships and saw the passing of both Lexie and Mark. After so much upheaval, the characters on Grey's Anatomy have difficulty committing to their futures in season 9 and are afraid to hope for a better future. "Run, Baby, Run" allows them to move forward and have a chance to build new lives as the new year approaches.

"She's Leaving Home" is a two-part event that encapsulates the events following Derek's death. Series creator, Shonda Rhimes, explained that it was necessary to kill off Derek. However, his death was a controversial departure from the show, and the following two episodes span an entire year as Meredith and the other doctors grieve the loss. The episodes are holiday-themed in that the amount of time that passes includes Christmas, birthdays, and many more events that would usually be spent with loved ones.

Immediately following Derek's funeral, Meredith takes their children and disappears to handle her grief the only way she knows how. It is also revealed that she is pregnant, and she gives birth to her last child with Derek during this time. Derek's departure was such a shock to both the characters and the audience, that the only way to do his absence justice was to dedicate a year of the lives of the remaining doctors to mending.

A few years after Derek's death, Meredith has had time to heal and has started dating. In "Girlfriend in a Coma", she gets thrown right back into the drama of budding romance with the love triangle between her, Link (Chris Carmack), and DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti). Season 15 lets Christmas stay on the cheery side as Meredith balances having two dates for a Christmas party, and the doctors establish new traditions with their growing families.

"It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" delivers equal amounts of life-threatening situations for the patients and the doctors. Meredith and Amelia are involved in an exciting breakthrough surgery they're going to perform at Grey Sloan Memorial, and Richard is embroiled in a new plan to improve the education of the residents. Outside the hospital, Teddy (Kim Raver) and Owen get into an accidental car crash on their way to deliver a heart to a transplant patient.

The stakes are high in this winter episode, and each of the doctors are trying to improve themselves as surgeons. Owen's fate is left on a cliffhanger, as he heroically tells the other people in the car to go on without him. The story works well as both a holiday episode and a mid-season finale. Questions are posed for the next half of the season, and it's certain that the relationships between the doctors on Grey's Anatomy will never be the same.

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Every Grey's Anatomy Christmas Episode - Screen Rant

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A Case of Thoraco-Omphalopagus Conjoined Twins: Clinical Imaging and Anatomical Classification – Cureus

December 14, 2023 medical

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A Case of Thoraco-Omphalopagus Conjoined Twins: Clinical Imaging and Anatomical Classification - Cureus