Actress Angelina Jolie recently revealed that she had surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes two years after she underwent a double mastectomy to cut her cancer risk. According to Jolie, she carries a mutation of the BRCA1 gene, which sharply increases her risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Her mother was diagnosed with the latter at age 49 and died seven years later.

The NIH-National Heart Lung and Blood Institute has awarded Brian W. Roberts, MD, emergency medicine physician at Cooper University Health Care and Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU), a Mentored Patient-Oriented Career Development grant (K23) to study post-resuscitation partial pressure of arterial carbon dioxide and neurological outcome after cardiac arrest.

Until recently, high-risk heart patients with a severe form of leaky mitral valve disorder, called mitral regurgitation, and who were deemed too frail or sick to undergo open heart surgery had few treatment choices.

Now, because of Cooper Heart Institute’s (CHI) expertise in performing minimally invasive valve techniques and clinical research experience, the CHI is one of 75 testing sites in North America  and the only site in South Jersey to be taking part in a clinical trial – the Cardiovascular Outcomes Assessment of the MitraClip Percutaneous Therapy for Heart Failure Patients with Functional Mitral Regurgitation (COAPT) trial — to evaluate the effectiveness of a minimally invasive, catheter-based procedure that uses a clip to repair the leakage. Read more.

MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper received a $100,000 Screening/ Treatment Grant from the Susan G. Komen Philadelphia® Community Grants Program to fund its Cancer Community Outreach Screening Program, which focuses on outreach, awareness and screening for breast and other cancers.

The team at the Cooper Digestive Health Institute and their colleagues at MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper are using Colon Cancer Awareness Month as a springboard to promote colon health. Christopher W. Deitch, MD, gastroenterologist, will be interviewed during a live online program in collaboration with NBC10 studio on Tuesday, March 24, 2015, at 12:30 p.m.

On Thursday, February 26, 2015, representatives of the Children’s Regional Hospital at Cooper visited St. Anthony of Padua School in Camden to accept a gift of 65 handmade “Heart Hug” pillows to be given to hospitalized children.

The “Heart Hug” pillow project was initiated by Linda Burns, an art teacher at St. Anthony of Padua School, as a way for students and their families to engage in community service. Read more.

Joseph V. Lombardi, MD, Head of the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery at Cooper University Health Care, was congress co-chairman of this year's International Aortic Summit (IAS), held February 11-13, 2015, in Aruba.

The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, New Jersey Department of Human Services, Camden County Board of Freeholders, local hospitals, Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers, Southern NJ Continuum of Care and local housing providers announced the launch of a collaborative effort to reduce homelessness in Camden County, at Cooper University Hospital on February 23, 2015.

Cooper in Schools, a program which connects educators and students in the region to Children's Regional Hospital at Cooper, welcomed 30 K-12 school nurses from local school districts for an inservice on Friday, February 13. Cooper staff physicians presented background and training on timely health topics.

Vascular Vitality magazine is an educational resource produced by the Cooper Vascular Surgery team to provide you with tools that will guide you and educate you about the various vascular conditions. Check out our latest issue of Vascular Vitality. Read more.