Eric Fombonne, M.D., discusses the challenges of studying camouflaging, or when autistic people adapt their behavior to get by in mainstream society, including potentially leading to the overdiagnosis of autism in adults.

Diane Stadler, Ph.D., R.D.N., offers outside expertise on a BMJ review paper about caffeine and pregnancy outcomes by saying “If a woman was generally healthy and she said to me that ‘I have a cup of coffee in the morning’ that wouldn’t raise a red flag.”

OHSU School of Medicine welcomes 150 new students amid a global pandemic.

Six months into the pandemic, The Oregonian describes how Oregon’s COVID-19 situation compares to other states. Renee Edwards, M.D., M.B.A., says “Overall, we have done really well. An important piece is we had some time to prepare and in large measure we’ve treated this like a public health emergency.”

A profile of a patient who was treated for cancer at the St. Alphonsus Cancer Institute in Boise, Idaho, mentions the ability for the patient’s physician to “take advantage of the relationship Saint Alphonsus has with the Knight Cancer Institute at the Oregon Health Sciences University to seek a second opinion.”

In an article on the World Health Organization’s declaration that 2020 is “The Year of the Nurse”, OHSU School of Nursing La Grande campus program director Patricia Barfield, Ph.D., says: “Random acts of kindness, little tokens of appreciation go a long way to restore the soul of a nurse. A kind word, a thoughtful card, a considerate act…the little things matter.”

In an opinion piece, John Vetto, M.D., says the use of genetic expression profiling assays is standard of care for many types of cancers, and they are coming into standard use for melanoma.

While commenting on an unpublished Hong Kong University study describes the case of one man who was reinfected with COVID-19, Mark Slifka, Ph.D., says “Even though [the patient] got infected with a very different strain that’s distinct from the first time around, they were protected from disease. That is good news.”

Janice Sue Page and her dog, Ted E. Bear, have participated in virtual therapy visits with patients at OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital during the pandemic.

The photo of a OHSU Doernbecher patient will be displayed in New York’s Time Square Sept. 12 in support of Down Syndrome awareness.