April Cashin-Garbutt

Natural Sciences

April graduated with a first-class honours degree in Natural Sciences from Pembroke College, University of Cambridge. During her time as Editor-in-Chief, News-Medical (2012-2017), she kickstarted the content production process and helped to grow the website readership to over 60 million visitors per year.

Through interviewing global thought leaders in medicine and life sciences, including Nobel laureates, April developed a passion for neuroscience and now works at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, located within UCL.

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Articles from April

Regenerative medicine: an interview with Christophe Dardel, President of DSM Biomedical

Regenerative medicine is a new, exciting field that is based upon the belief that the human body has the inherent power to heal itself, but in some instances it just needs a little help.

3 Jan 2013

Parkinson’s: an interview with Steve Ford, CEO of Parkinson’s UK

Parkinson’s disease is a neurological condition that is caused when brain cells, that produce the chemical messenger dopamine, start to die.

24 Dec 2012

Exercise and mental health: an interview with Professor Nanette Mutrie

Perhaps we should first of all clear up the definition of exercise. In public health terms it is more common to use the phrase ‘physical activity’ because this phrase encompasses all kinds of movement- indeed anything we do above sitting and resting levels.

21 Dec 2012

What is hyperemesis gravidarum (severe morning sickness)?

Hyperemesis gravidarum is a severe form of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. (1) In fact, the words ‘hyperemesis’ (pronounced ‘hye-pur-em-ee-sis’) and ‘gravidarum’ (pronounced ‘gra-vid-ah-room’) literally translate to ‘excessive vomiting’ ‘during pregnancy’. (10)

20 Dec 2012

Arthritis, rheumatism and total joint arthroplasty: an interview with Dr Ravi and Dr Hawker

Arthritis translates to “joint inflammation.” The most common form of arthritis is osteoarthritis (OA), which affects 12-15% of North Americans over the age of 60, and will increase in prevalence as our population ages.

19 Dec 2012

Jagaricin and antifungal drugs: an interview with Prof Christian Hertweck

Most people have already experienced a fungal infection (mycosis) of the outer layer of the skin, athlete’s foot or ringworm. Whereas such infections may be cumbersome and often difficult to cure, usually they are not dangerous. However, in cases where a fungus causes a systemic infection, this is, it infects internal organs such as lungs or brain, the infection may turn into a life-threatening disease. Of course, only pathogenic fungi cause problems and the degree of virulence varies.

18 Dec 2012

Alcohol and antibiotics: an interview with Dr Randall

Contrary to popular belief, there are only a handful of antibiotics that can interact with alcohol to cause unpleasant effects. The two main antibiotics you should definitely avoid drinking alcohol with are metronidazole (brand names include Flagyl) and tinidazole (brand names include Fasigyn).

18 Dec 2012

Osteoporosis screening: an interview with Professor Cyrus Cooper

Osteoporosis is defined as a reduction in bone mass coupled with micro-architectural deterioration of bone tissue which predisposes to fractures. Osteoporosis manifests through an increased risk of fracture, and age-related fractures are a major public health problem.

17 Dec 2012

Dyslipidaemia: an interview with Prof. Peter Kokkinos

Dyslipidemia is defined as abnormal levels of blood lipids (fats) and cholesterol. The most common dyslipidaemias are high blood cholesterol (Total Cholesterol) and triglyceride levels, high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (‘bad’ cholesterol) and low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (‘good’ cholesterol).

17 Dec 2012

Malaria vaccine trial: an interview with Professor Sir Brian Greenwood

Malaria is an infection caused by a parasite called plasmodium, which is transmitted from person to person by females of some species of mosquito. It is primarily a disease of tropical countries.

14 Dec 2012