health & wellness » continued from page 42 For Exceptional Stroke Care, Visit St. Joe's By Jack Weiner, President and CEO St. Joseph Mercy Oakland A stroke occurs when blood flow to a part ofthe brain stops. A stroke is sometimes called a "brain attack" and is considered a medical emergency. When you or a loved one has a stroke, call 911 and get to an emergency room immediately. If blood flow is cut off for longer than a Ramesh Madhavan, few seconds, the brain cannot get blood and MD, DM oxygen, and can result in a stroke. A stroke can take two forms: a clot or a bleed in the brain and if not treated quickly, you can suffer brain damage or death. Pratik Bhattacharya There is hope if you receive timely, MD specialized treatment. For the best, technologically advanced stroke treatment, come to the leader in stroke care—St. Joseph Mercy Oakland (SJMO). As the home base of the Michigan Stroke Network (MSN), SJMO has top stroke specialists—vascular and neuroendovascular specialists, a neurointensivist, neurosurgical and neuroscience nurses and other specialized clinicians or specialty clinicians—to treat your stroke and restore your quality of life. St. Joe’s stroke specialists use the latest treatments to resolve a stroke. In some cases, a clot-busting drug can dissolve the stroke. In more severe cases, an interventional procedure is performed using the latest technology, such as stent retrievers, to remove the clot and restore blood flow to the brain. In 2004, SJMO, a member of the Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, became Michigan’s first certified primary stroke center. This laid the foundation for the MSN, which was launched in October 2006 by Trinity Health and SJMO. The MSN provides technologically advanced stroke care not only at St. Joe’s, but also to more than 22 partner hospitals throughout Michigan via telemedicine, using two-way, audio-visual robotics to provide remote clinical health care. The MSN provides remote access to stroke care, ongoing clinical trials and stroke education and support across Michigan “To prevent a stroke, follow a healthy diet, reduce your sodium intake, keep your cholesterol and blood pressure down, exercise and don’t smoke,” says Ramesh Madhavan, MD, DM, an SJMO vascular neurologist and Medical Director of Telemedicine. Dr. Bhattacharya, Stroke Program Director also advises for protection from a stroke, know your risk factors and the signs and symptoms of stroke. Visit www.michiganstrokenetwork.com to learn more. 2064350 44 July 28 • 2016 physics, Merajver finished her bachelor’s degree in under a year and pursued fur- ther physics studies with a biological focus. She received her master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Maryland and pursued a post-doctoral fellowship in biological physics at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. Her project was to devise membranes to encapsulate hemoglobin protein so artificial blood could be produced for the military. Inspired by her work in medical prob- lems, Merajver pointed her career to work on scientific problems that help humanity. She saw how the future of physics could be applied in medicine and spent the next 12 years getting medical training, special- Merajver and Dr. Rabia Gilani, Ph.D., izing in internal medicine and oncology a post-doctoral research fellow in the at U-M Medical School. Her connection in breast cancer research began when she Merajver Laboratory was asked to work as a junior clinician on the breast cancer unit. Meravjer is a firm believer in the “Understanding the basic biology power of student teams from partnering and physics of cancer so that the genetic institutions throughout the world as a vulnerabilities of cancer cells can be dis- training model for future generations of covered and targeted with better drugs is researchers. an overarching purpose of our research,” “The best tools we have to study the says Merajver, who enjoys spending time complex changes that take place in with her three grandchildren. Her three breast cancer require fairly advanced children, now adults, celebrated their bar mathematics and biostatistics,” Merajver mitzvahs at Temple Beth Emeth in Ann says. “In addition to descriptions of Arbor. biologic phenomena, mathematics During her approaching sabbatical, permits us to explore the patterns Merajver will stop teaching her under- and principles underlying a biological graduate class in global health and relin- phenomenon and to make predictions. We quish caring for patients so she can focus need to make these predictions available on her various research projects and accel- to clinicians. erate their progress. “More importantly, if we can map the “Sofia Merajver is a great mother, real-time activity of cancer cells taken incredibly smart, cares deeply about her from a patient, using mathematical mod- patients and is energized by her research,” eling and other technologies, we can make says Larry Baker, collegiate professor, better decisions about a patient’s treat- Cancer Development Therapeutics and ment, helping us decide which drugs to professor of internal medicine and phar- give her in a particular sequence. We’ve macology at the U-M Health Center. moved much closer toward personalized Although he lives in Ann Arbor, he main- medicine. tains his longtime membership at Temple “The ultimate cure and prevention for Beth El in Bloomfield Township. all types of breast cancer is still some- “During the 20-plus years I’ve known where in the future, but we’re close to her, Sofia, like most scientists, maintains a turning most breast cancer into a chronic high level of curiosity she uses to discover illness,” she says. “We also know more how cancer cells differ from normal cell so about nutrition and how changes in life- they can be targeted and treated.” style can limit cancer occurrence.” When asked what it would take to get For more about Dr. Merajver’s team where she wants to go with her research, research, visit the website without hesitation Merajver responds she’d www.med.umich.edu/merajverlab or like to complete all her ongoing research contact Dr. Joel Yates: joely@umich. as well as finish those projects waiting to edu or (734) 763-6009. To learn about be researched. partnering in Merajver’s research, “That would take about $10 million contact amandasn@umich.com, dollars over a period of five years to add sboa@umich.edu or (734) 936-6884. additional lab space and hire additional If you are a patient or have questions researchers,” says Merajver, who spends about cancer care, call the U-M Cancer close to two-thirds of her time raising AnswerLine at (800) 865-1125. funds from the government and individu- al donors to carry on her work. *