Pitt Med has been around since 1999—what a pool of stories we have for you to dive into!
Every so often, we're going to digitize our favorites. From features to alumni profiles, we're bringing them back.
Outside influences
Andrew Doerfler, Spring 2023
Healing happens through connection.
A moving story
Michael Aubele, Summer 2023
Spinal cord stimulators restore hand and arm function after paralysis.
Groundswell
Elaine Vitone, Fall 2020
“Race” is not the risk factor, racism is.
Pittsburgh’s Darkest Day
Gavin Jenkins, Spring 2019
Oct. 27, 2018—Pittsburgh’s darkest day and the mass casualty response.
DNA’s Dark Matter
Elaine Vitone, Summer 2018
Anne-Ruxandra Carvunis finds meaning in the genome’s great unknown.
Cut Off
Elaine Vitone, Summer 2017
A bereft nervous system may eat away at the will to live.
Collin Diedrich Thinks Differently
Elaine Vitone, Spring 2014
Collin Diedrich has struggled with reading and learning disorders since grade school. Now, as an emerging scientist, he’s eager to help others facing the same uphill climb.
The Surgical Curmudgeon
Elaine Vitone, Spring 2013
Mark Ravitch both made and wrote surgical history.
Sleeping's Beauty
Elaine Vitone, Summer 2012
The power to make or break our health, from birth to adulthood and ever after.
Ex Hoc Semine Nostra Gloria
John Milton Duff, Fall 2011
"From This Seed Our Glory," excerpts from the first lecture given to students of Pitt med, then called Western Pennsylvania Medical College, in 1886.
Claiming the High Road in the Vaccine Controversy
Brian G. Connelly, Spring 2011
Paul Offit (Res ’80) is co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine RotaTeq, which was recommended for routine immunizations in infants by the World Health Organization.
Bennet Omalu
Chuck Staresinic, Winter 2007/08
In the brains of diseased athletes, Bennet Omalu discovered injuries invisible to the naked eye.
Only Starzl Dared To
Chuck Staresinic, Spring 2006
How Starzl’s efforts led to a cure for liver disease and a new field of medicine. See our Thomas Starzl Story Archive.
Among My Souvenirs: A polio scrapbook
Elaine Vitone, August 2005
When letters and permission slips from Jonas Salk arrived in the mail during the school year, parents worried; they argued at the dinner table. This new vaccine, this clinical trial, was it safe enough for their children?
Send Freedom House!
Chuck Staresinic, February 2004
Freedom House Enterprises opened in the Hill District in 1967, planning to jumpstart businesses that would offer meaningful employment to this troubled community. Pretty soon, they were running one of the nation’s most advanced ambulance services.
First Family of Medicine
Edwin Kiester Jr., Fall 2003
Everything changed when Jessica Lewis and Jack Myers came to town.
A Hospital Is Born: She didn't wait for permission
Edwin Kiester Jr., Spring 2003
In 1893, Louise Wotring Lyle moved to Pittsburgh determined to help those in need.
Purple Death: When the 1918 flu pandemic came to Pittsburgh
Edwin Kiester Jr., January 2003
A look back at the city during a time of crisis.
It's Not Easy Being Green: The Formidable Mr. Yuk
Sally Ann Flecker, January 2003
He's still alerting adults and kids to the dangers that lurk in everyday substances.
Spock's Baby
Edwin Kiester Jr., Winter 2002
The famous doc nurtured Pittsburgh children.
It Works! The Vaccine Works!
Edwin Kiester Jr., July 2002
The story of John Troan, the Pittsburgh Press reporter who covered how Jonas Salk conquered polio.
Houses of Butterflies
Rebecca Skloot, Winter 2001
Herb Needleman took on the disease of where we live and work.
To Stop Death in Its Tracks
Rebecca Skloot, Summer 2000
Julius Youngner prepares to halt the next influenza outbreak before it’s too late.
Quick on Their Feet: How a war helped make doctors out of MDs.
Edwin Kiester Jr., Summer 2000
How a war helped make doctors out of MDs.
Substance X: Alumnus Philip Showalter Hench's Path to the Discovery of Cortisone, and the Nobel Prize
Rebecca Skloot, January 2000
For decades, Philip Hench, MD ’20, would not give up his belief that our bodies produce a mysterious antirheumatic.
Time of Death: Postponed
David Petechuk, October 1999
When it comes to saving lives, Pitt’s Peter Safar won’t take no for an answer.