In recognition of 10 years of stem cell research at Yale, we have devoted this issue’s feature section to the Yale Stem Cell Center. Elsewhere in the magazine, you’ll find stories about ways in which our faculty, residents, and alumni are advancing medicine or exploring history.
Observing teenagers’ obsession with video games prompted Lynn Fiellin, M.D. ’96, HS ’00, to wonder whether she could harness that fascination to impart messages about health behavior. Working with researchers, designers, educators, and community partners, she has developed a game that puts a virtual character into risky situations involving HIV, tobacco, and drug use.
By the time he got to medical school, Eliezer Sternberg, M.D., had already written two books about the mind. Now the first-year resident at Yale New Haven Hospital has written a third, about how behavior that might seem strange to most of us can make perfect sense to others. “Our brain is always trying to create a narrative of our lives,” says Sternberg.
Hair, writes Kurt Stenn, M.D., a pathologist and dermatologist who spent 20 years on the School of Medicine faculty, has affected culture, psychology, and even global trade. When the European beaver population was decimated to meet the demand for beaver hats, European explorers and trappers crossed North America in search of the pelts. In his book, Hair, A Human History, Stenn starts by explaining why humans alone, of all primates, shed their body hair.
These and other stories await you in Yale Medicine. We hope you enjoy this issue.
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