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Wilms Tumor Remission
Wilms tumor is a form of childhood cancer that starts in the kidney. Sydney Farber and colleagues at the Dana-Farber cancer institute achieve the first remissions in Wilms tumor of the kidney by prescribing the antibiotic actinomycin D along with surgery and radiation on November 22, 1950. -
First Successful Kidney Transplant
Surgeon Joseph Murray and his team performed the first successful kidney transplant on a set of identical twins at Peter Brent Brigham Hospital. He used one of the twins as a donor for the other one. -
Limb Reattachment
A surgical team led by Ronald Malt at Mass General Hospital performed the first successful reattachment of a human limb. They did a replantation of a severed arm. -
Positron Emission Tomography (PET Scan)
Mass General researchers initiate the PET scan, an imaging technique that made possible one of the first noninvasive looks at functional changes within the brain and other organs. PET scans are used to diagnose brain disorders, cancer, and heart problems. -
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Mass General radiologists initiate the use of MRI to diagnose illness and injury. MRIs are noninvasive and can diagnose tumors, soft tissue injuries, joint injury or disease, spinal injury or illness, and injury or disease of internal organs. -
Skin Replacement
Cell biology researcher Howard Green and his colleagues became the first to grow human skin in large quantities in a laboratory. This allows for skin replacements or skin grafts for patients with major burns. -
Triple Organ Transplant
At Brigham and Women's Hospital surgeons performed the United States' first triple-organ transplant. They removed three organs from one healthy donor, two lungs, and a heart, and transplanted them into three separate recipients. -
Source of Pre-eclampsia
Pre-eclampsia is a high blood pressure disorder that can occur during pregnancy. At Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, researchers were able to pinpoint the source of Pre-eclampsia. and is the leading cause of maternal and infant mortality worldwide. -
Cancer Cell Starvation
Joan Brugge and his colleagues discovered that cancer cells die not only by cell suicide or apoptosis but can also die of starvation by losing the ability to harvest energy. This discovery points toward new tumor-killing strategies. -
HIV Prevention
Discoveries showed that a pill used to treat HIV infection can also be used to reduce the risk of acquiring HIV among at-risk men. The pill led to a 44% decline in the risk of HIV infection. -
Virol Control of HIV
The Department of Microbiology scientists use gene editing to disrupt actively replicating cells and dormant pools of herpes simplex virus in human fibroblasts cells. This revealed a possible strategy for viral control. -
Roe vs. Wade Overturned
The Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision overturned Roe vs. Wade. Abortions are no longer considered healthcare and are illegal.