September 6, 2013

Mayo Clinic in the News is a weekly highlights summary of major media coverage. If you would like to be added to the weekly distribution list, send a note to Emily Blahnik with this subject line: SUBSCRIBE to Mayo Clinic in the News.

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Karl Oestreich, manager enterprise media relations

USA TODAY
New concussion study brings robots to the locker room
by Gary Mihoces

When Northern Arizona opens its college football season at the University of Arizona on Friday night, the Lumberjacks' sports medicine team will have a new member: a robot…"The person on the other end can see my face and hear my voice and we can interact with each other in real time," says Bert Vargas, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic who is leading the research. "It's very slick actually. It's got a nice little finger controller, so just by dragging my finger on the screen (of an iPad) I can drive the robot."

Circulation: USA TODAY has a circulation of 1.8 million and a readership of 3.1 million. USA TODAY websites have 26.3 million unique visitors a month.

Additional Coverage: Arizona Central, Tucson Citizen, mHealthNews, Healthcare Informatics, Healthcare IT News, HealthLeaders Media, NFL.com, Post-Bulletin, ABC NEWS (AP), Huffington Post, Pioneer Press, Star Tribune, CNET, Boston Globe,  ESPN2 (9/29, 10 min mark), Arizona Daily Sun, The Verge, KNXV Ariz., Phoenix Business Journal

Context: There will be a new face at Northern Arizona University football games this fall – only this face will be on a robot on wheels. Mayo Clinic will be working with NAU to test the feasibility of using a telemedicine robot to assess athletes with suspected concussions during football games as part of a research study. With sophisticated robotic technology, use of a specialized remote-controlled camera system allows patients to be "seen" by the neurology specialist, miles away, in real time.

News Release: Mayo Clinic To Test Sideline Teleconcussion Robot At Northern Arizona University Football Games

Public Affairs Contact: Jim McVeigh

TODAY Show
Today’s Cover Story: The Age of Alzheimer’s

Advances in Prevention. At the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota another approach. Dr. Ronald Petersen studies individuals with mild cognitive impairment. A pre Alzheimer's condition where people lose some memory but still function.

Reach: The TODAY Show reaches an average daily audience of 4.25 million viewers each week.

Context: Ron Petersen, M.D., Ph.D., is the Cora Kanow Professor of Alzheimer’s Disease Research at Mayo Clinic. Dr. Petersen is regularly sought out by reporters as a leading expert in his medical field. Dr. Petersen chairs the Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care and Services.

Public Affairs Contacts: Nick Hanson, Traci Klein

KSTP
Many New Vaccine Options as Flu Season Approaches
by Tom Hauser

… For the first time, certain vaccines will guard against four strains of flu rather than the usual three. Called quadrivalent vaccines, these brands may prove more popular for children than their parents. That's because kids tend to catch the newly added strain more often…"We're moving away from the one-size-fits-all to choosing the best possible vaccine for an individual's age and condition," said Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious disease specialist at the Mayo Clinic.

Reach: KSTP-TV, Channel 5, is an ABC affiliate serving the Twin Cities area, central Minnesota and western Wisconsin, the 15th largest market in the U.S.

Additional Coverage: KAAL TV, USA Today, FOX News, Discovery News, The Globe and Mail, Leader Post, ABC NEWS (AP)

Context: The next flu shot season will include several new vaccine options for consumers, Mayo Clinic vaccine expert Gregory Poland, M.D., says. Fearful of needles? There's now an influenza vaccination just for you. Allergic to eggs? It won't stop you from getting a flu shot. The new choices move influenza vaccinations closer to the personalized approach long sought by immunologists including Dr. Poland, but they may also prove bewildering to patients, he says.

News Release: Mayo Clinic Expert Explains New Vaccine Options for Next Influenza Season

Mayo Clinic News Network: Flu Vaccines - Changes & Choices for 2013

Public Affairs Contact: Bob Nellis

MPR
U of M, Mayo feeling federal budget cuts
by Brett Neely

… The federal budget cuts also hit the research budget of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, where Dr. Ronald Peterson studies aging and Alzheimer's disease.  One of Petersen's projects is a large study of residents of the surrounding Olmsted County as they age. Typically, his researchers have met with participants every year. But they will no longer be able to thanks to reduced funding from the NIH.  "You know it's not death for the study, but we're lacking some precise time points now," said Petersen, director of Mayo Clinic's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. "So over the course of say, three or four years, instead of seeing people three or four times, we may see them twice."

Additional Coverage: St. Cloud Times, The Republic, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal, MN Daily, Kansas City Star, Pioneer Press,  Huffington Post, Pioneer Press, Star Tribune, The Republic, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal, MN Daily, Kansas City Star, Pioneer Press

Context: U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar joined Mayo Clinic officials and Rochester families at the University of Minnesota Rochester on Aug. 27, to highlight the harmful impact of sequester cuts on medical research and innovation. Dr. Ronald Petersen, the Cora Kanow Professor of Alzheimer’s Disease Research at Mayo Clinic, particiapted in the event. Dr. Petersen is regularly sought out by reporters as a leading expert in his medical field. Dr. Petersen chairs the Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care and Services.

Public Affairs Contact: Nick Hanson

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