Developing a Parental Leave Policy in Undergraduate Medical Education: A Successful Student-Administration Collaboration.

Problem: Most medical schools lack parental leave policies, leaving medical students vulnerable to discrimination, diminished educational opportunities, delays in graduation or matching, and breaches of privacy. This report outlines the steps taken by student-leaders to advocate for such a policy and the lessons learned along the way.

Approach: In September 2018, leaders of the Family Support Initiative, a medical student interest group at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, initiated the process of advocating for a clear, official parental leave policy.

Minimally invasive Heller myotomy with partial posterior fundoplication for the treatment of achalasia: long-term results from a tertiary referral center.

Introduction: Few studies have reported the long-term results of minimally invasive Heller myotomy (HM) for the treatment of achalasia. Herein, we detail our 17-year experience with HM for the treatment of achalasia from a tertiary referral center.

Methods: All patients undergoing elective HM at our institution from 2000 to 2017 were identified within a prospective institutional database.

Quantifying E2F1 protein dynamics in single cells.

Background: E2F1 protein, a major effector of the Rb/E2F pathway plays a central role in regulating cell-fate decisions involved in proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation. Its expression is highly dynamic and tightly modulated through a combination of transcriptional, translational and posttranslational controls. However, the mechanisms by which its expression and activity can promote different cellular outcomes remain to be fully elucidated.

Cyclin D/CDK4/6 activity controls G1 length in mammalian cells.

The length of the G1 phase in the cell cycle shows significant variability in different cell types and tissue types. To gain insights into the control of G1 length, we generated an E2F activity reporter that captures free E2F activity after dissociation from Rb sequestration and followed its kinetics of activation at the single-cell level, in real time. Our results demonstrate that its activity is precisely coordinated with S phase progression.