CHICAGO - June 1, 2026 - After Lisa Fasone had her first child in 2022, she knew she eventually wanted to have a second. But following the birth of her first daughter, Fasone started experiencing postpartum hormonal issues. She had persistent symptoms, including night sweats, continued lactation, no menstrual cycle and infertility while trying to conceive.

Bloodwork revealed her prolactin – the hormone produced by the pituitary gland that stimulates lactation and influences fertility – levels were elevated. Medication to reduce her prolactin levels worked at first, and her hormone levels went back to normal. But over time, her symptoms returned and stopped responding to the medication. Bloodwork continued to show elevated prolactin levels, and by winter 2023, her symptoms had not normalized.

An initial MRI was inconclusive and Vijay Eranki, MD, an endocrinologist at Northwestern Medicine Huntley Hospital, suspected the 32-year-old from McHenry, Ill., may have a pituitary tumor that was not being picked up by imaging.

“The medication isn’t well studied for pregnancy,” said Fasone, a urology physician assistant in the Chicagoland area. “I just didn’t feel comfortable trying to have a baby without good data to suggest it was safe. If you get pregnant, you must stop the medication right away because there’s no data to suggest it’s safe and if you stop taking the medication, there’s a chance the tumor could get worse. I was not comfortable accepting that risk."

After the medication stopped working, a repeat MRI found a visible tumor on her pituitary gland, located at the base of the brain, which is known as a prolactinoma. The tumor was causing her pituitary gland to make too much prolactin. While prolactinoma is not life-threatening and is the most common pituitary tumor, it can make it extremely difficult to become pregnant since it lowers the body’s levels of the sex hormones estrogen and testosterone. The condition is seen more commonly in women than men.

Medication is the first treatment for prolactinoma, but after exhausting all conservative treatments, Fasone’s only other option was surgery to remove the tumor.

“I had to make a decision,” Fasone said. “Do I continue increasing the dosage of this medication that’s not making me feel great and doesn’t seem to be working, or am I going to face the issue and have it surgically addressed?”

Doctor Eranki and Northwestern Medicine endocrinologist Wenyu Huang, MD, PhD, – who specializes in pituitary disorders - referred her to Northwestern Medicine neurosurgeon Stephen Magill, MD, PhD, to have the tumor surgically removed.  

“While removing a tumor on the pituitary gland is a common operation, removing one for a prolactinoma, like Lisa’s case, is less common,” Dr. Magill said. “We knew she really wanted to have another baby. We carefully counseled Lisa on the risks and benefits of the procedure, what the surgery would entail and what the expected outcome would be. We were hopeful her hormone levels would return to normal, and she would be able to have a child safely without having to be on medical therapy.”

On April 14, 2025, Fasone underwent brain surgery with Dr. Magill to remove the tumor and Northwestern Medicine otolaryngologist Kevin Welch, MD, who helped gain access to Fasone’s brain through her nose. A few weeks later, she got her menstrual cycle back and discovered she was pregnant. Her daughter, Natalie, was born on February 11 and is a happy, healthy baby. Fasone will continue to receive imaging every six to 12 months to make sure the tumor has not recurred.

“Dr. Magill really gave me my life back,” Fasone said. “I was able to get off the medication, my body returned to normal, and I was able to complete my family. I recently introduced Dr. Magill to my daughter, and that was such an emotional moment – one I certainly won’t forget.”

June is World Infertility Awareness Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness and educating the public that infertility affects approximately 1 in 6 people worldwide. To learn more about fertility and reproductive medicine at Northwestern Medicine, visit nm.org.  

CHICAGO – Dec. 16, 2025 – Researchers at Northwestern Medicine – along with the University of Michigan – have developed a new and faster approach to determine if a treatment for the brain cancer glioblastoma is working.

Glioblastoma is universally lethal as neurosurgeons cannot remove all of the tumor cells and most drugs used for cancer can’t cross the blood-brain barrier into the brain to target the remaining cancer. This leads to leftover tumor cells surviving.

Northwestern Medicine Malnati Brain Tumor Institute researchers have previously done trials with the Sonocloud-9 device from Carthera in Lyon, France, a therapeutic ultrasound device that opens up the blood-brain barrier for about an hour so that chemotherapy can get in. But in a new analysis published in Nature Communications, Northwestern Medicine and University of Michigan researchers found that opening the blood-brain barrier lets tumor content leak into the blood, making it possible to test for brain cancer response to chemotherapy in the blood.

“Instead of removing tumor tissue, we analyzed blood for tumor material, known as extra-cellular vesicles or exosomes.” said Northwestern Medicine neurosurgeon Adam Sonabend, MD, one of the study’s authors. “Historically, that has not worked for brain tumors because of the blood-brain barrier posing a challenge for liquid biopsy for brain diseases.”

The researchers tested tiny particles released by the brain tumors - called extracellular vesicles (EVs) – that could be measured in the blood after temporarily opening the blood-brain barrier.

To do this, Northwestern Medicine researchers worked with University of Michigan researchers to develop a microfluidic chip called GlioExoChip that isolates tumor-derived exosomes and provides a minimally invasive way to monitor treatment response.

“Opening the blood-brain barrier allows tumor-derived vesicles to be measured in blood, providing a clinically meaningful liquid biopsy signal,” said Mark Youngblood, MD, PhD, a neurosurgery resident at Northwestern Medicine and co-lead author of the study. “The GlioExoChip provides a quick and minimally invasive way to monitor treatment response in a disease where MRI scans often give misleading results.”

"There are tiny particles floating in patient blood, called extracellular vesicles, that have been released by the cancer cells. These particles act as messengers, carrying special bits of genetic tumor material and proteins”, said Sunitha Nagrath, PhD, the Dwight F. Benton Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan and co-corresponding author of the study. “The big challenge is figuring out how to find and pull out only those that come from cancer cells and not from elsewhere in the body.”

The next steps for the researchers will be to validate their findings with other therapies and explore the potential to expand to other therapies.

“Instead of waiting months, after one dose we can know if a given treatment is working,” Dr. Sonabend said. “That is huge for glioblastoma patients. It could potentially prevent patients from getting prolonged treatments that are ineffective, thus also avoid unnecessary side effects.”

This study was primarily funded by the National Institutes of Health. Additional support for the study was provided by the Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, the Moceri Family Foundation, the University of Michigan Forbes Institute for Cancer Discovery, the United States Department of Defense, the American Brain Tumor Association, Tap Cancer Out and the Focused Ultrasound Foundation.

CHICAGO – March 5, 2024 – A Northwestern Medicine neurosurgeon is the first physician in the U.S. to successfully use a new neurosurgical drill to save the life of a patient in the intensive care unit. The emergency procedure took place in October 2023 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital when Northwestern Medicine neurosurgeon Matthew Potts, MD, used the Hubly Drill – an auto-stopping cranial drill developed by students at Northwestern University –  to create a hole in the skull of a patient with a brain bleed. After inserting a catheter through the hole, Dr. Potts was able to drain excess cerebrospinal fluid from the patient’s brain, relieving pressure inside the skull and ultimately saving the patient’s life.

“The first time I used it, I was able to drill a hole in the patient’s skull in only 15 seconds – far faster than the average for the hand-crank drill that we typically use for these types of procedures,” said Dr. Potts. “Hand-crank drills are also prone to plunging and slipping, which can be dangerous for the patient. This new drill has taken a common bedside procedure and made it quicker, safer and more accurate.”

In the U.S., medical professionals perform more than 25,000 ventriculostomies each year. The neurologic procedure requires surgeons to act quickly to relieve pressure inside the skull due to serious conditions such as hemorrhage, traumatic brain injury, ruptured aneurysm, or stroke. Given the urgency, patients can not afford to wait hours for an operating room to become available, so the procedure is commonly performed in the ICU at patients’ bedsides.

Modernizing the cranial drill

While studying neuroscience as an undergraduate at Northwestern University, Casey Qadir, the 24-year-old chief executive officer of Hubly Surgical, learned that ventriculostomies are typically performed using hand-powered drills. The device, she said, initially reminded her of primitive surgical tools one might see in a museum.

“I was surprised to learn about some of the antiquity that still exists in neurosurgery today. Possibly the most egregious example of that is the use of the hand-crank drill for emergency ventriculostomies,” said Qadir. “At first glance, I thought the hand-crank drill looked medieval. So you can imagine my surprise when that turned out to be true. Hand-crank drills almost exactly like the ones used today have been used to form holes in the skull since the Middle Ages.”

In a graduate-level course called NUvention Medical offered by The Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Qadir was challenged to develop and commercialize her own medical technology through the creation of a startup. In 2017, she teamed up with her classmates to form Hubly Surgical, and got to work to modernize the cranial drill.

“The biggest problem with hand-powered drills is they do not contain an automatic stop feature,” said Qadir. “We know from one study that 66% of physicians experience plunging, which carries a 12% risk of death or permanent neurological morbidity. Another study shows that even in the hands of an experienced neurosurgeon, the risk for complication from manually drilling is 2%.”

To address these issues, Qadir and her team developed a battery-powered drill with a variety of safety features. An auto-stop mechanism shuts off power to the motor as soon as the drill breaks through the skull. A cone-shaped drill bit also guards against over-penetration.

On the back of the device, a colored LED light turns green to let users know they are applying the correct amount of force, then changes to red when the device comes to a halt.

While the hand-crank drill requires two hands to operate, the Hubly Drill enables surgeons to use the device single-handedly, allowing surgeons to place their free hand on the patient’s shoulder to stabilize them while drilling.

“This drill offers greater levels of control and stability, and its ease of use is especially beneficial for our residents and fellows who are still learning the procedure,” said Dr. Potts. “In addition to how innovative this technology is, I think it’s wonderful to see Northwestern students and residents coming together to create something that, years later, is now poised to have a huge impact on the field of neurosurgery.”

“It’s incredibly meaningful that being founded out of Northwestern, Northwestern also got to be the first place where we had impact on the patient population and the users that inspired us to fix the problem in the first place,” said Qadir. “And then specifically, Dr. Potts – to have someone so highly regarded in the field as our first user is incredibly powerful in setting us up for a great future.”

The Northwestern Medicine Neurosurgery Teams are committed to providing comprehensive, multidisciplinary care for patients with neurological conditions, using advanced technologies and innovative approaches to care. For more information about Northwestern Medicine Neurosurgery, visit nm.org.

“It was awesome seeing Jason run the Chicago Marathon,” said Dr. Jahromi. “Three years ago, he was half-paralyzed with a large and dangerous brain aneurysm, and now he just finished the Chicago Marathon with a personal best. It’s an incredible comeback, and as his neurosurgeon, I couldn’t be prouder of Jason.”

“I almost had a shirt made up that said, ‘If found on road, please return to Dr. Jahromi,’” joked DePetris. “I just kept telling myself to keep my legs moving, keep my legs moving. I ran the entire race without having to walk and finished with a personal best of 4:10:37. Chicago and I had unfinished business, and I’m very happy with the outcome.” 

In October 2019, DePetris was 41 years old and preparing for his second marathon of the year – the Chicago Marathon. Jason was healthy with no history of medical conditions. 

On October 12, 2019, the morning before the marathon, DePetris was grabbing breakfast at a Chicago restaurant with his husband and mother, when suddenly his left hand went numb. As the numbness spread up his arm, DePetris’ mouth started to droop, and his speech was slurring.  

DePetris’ family called 911, and luckily, he didn’t have far to go. The restaurant was connected to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in downtown Chicago. 

DePetris was brought into the emergency department, where doctors told him he was having a stroke. Dr. Jahromi was working that morning, and quickly performed a thrombectomy, which is a type of surgery to remove a blood clot from a blood vessel using a catheter. Thrombectomies can reduce the risk of death or permanent disability in stroke patients. 

Not only did the thrombectomy save DePetris’ life, but it led to the discovery of a large brain aneurysm.

“Jason’s blocked artery had a brain aneurysm in the middle, which made it much more complex to open the artery and not bust open the aneurysm at the same time,” said Dr. Jahromi. 

The next day, DePetris couldn’t run the Chicago Marathon. Instead, he was recovering in a hospital room at Northwestern Memorial.

After returning to California, DePetris’ recovery continued. Due to the stroke, he suffered weakness on the left side, causing his left knee to sometimes collapse. DePetris also had a lack of dexterity in his left hand and some minor visual problems. However, he was determined to get back to running – especially the Chicago Marathon. 

During the COVID pandemic, DePetris slowly ramped up his physical training, so when it came time to really train for Chicago, his body would be able to handle a real marathon training plan – and it worked. On Sunday, Oct. 9, DePetris set a personal best at the Chicago Marathon of 4:10:37 with Dr. Jahromi cheering from the sidelines and greeting DePetris at the finish line.

“Dr. Jahromi is more than just a doctor; he truly cares and is invested in his patients,” said DePetris. “Be grateful for everything you have – it can change in a split second. I was in good shape and had never even spent the night in the hospital before my stroke. I’ve learned I can take a lot more punches than I thought I could.”

DePetris signed up as a charity runner for the Chicago Marathon, raising money for the Brain Injury Recovery Foundation, which supports those who have suffered brain or spinal cord injuries. He also wrote a book about his experience, and 100% of proceeds are donated to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation.