News in brief: 10.20 Issue

DRIVER SENTENCED IN HIT-AND-RUN

Rashan Roberts, 18, was sentenced to 11-and-a-half to 23 months in prison with five years probation last Tuesday, according to court documents. Roberts was arrested May 6 and pled guilty in court July 23.

On April 29, then-senior and student-athlete Rachel Hall, was critically injured in a hit-and-run accident when Roberts, driving his father’s 2012 silver Mitsubishi Galant on Diamond Street near Park Avenue, hit Hall on her bike. He had a learner’s permit at the time.

Roberts was charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving a death or injury, and driving without a license.

-Lian Parsons

VIRTUAL REALITY MAY REDUCE STRESS IN CANCER PATIENTS

Director of Sbarro Health Research Organization and biology professor Antonio Giordano is currently examining a study involving 50 breast cancer patients to see if incorporating virtual reality will help make treatments more effective.

Giordano told Temple Now that patients with cancer often feel stressed, scared and even depressed, and immersing them in a virtual reality during treatment may remove those psychological symptoms.

“[It] can interfere with their ability to successfully follow a course of therapy,” Giordano said, adding stress is a “critical component” in cancer treatment.

Giordano is building on other studies that incorporated virtual realities into treatments, including one study he and Sbarro conducted that helped patients reduce their weight.

While the study involving breast cancer patients is not yet concluded, Giordano believes reducing stress is having a positive impact both psychologically and physiologically on the subjects.

-Julie Christie

TUH CLIMBS RANKINGS

Temple University Hospital has been ranked the 17th best academic medical center from the University Health Consortium.

Its rank has improved from 65th in 2013 and 44th in 2014.

Dr. Henry Pitt, chief quality officer for Temple University Health System, said the ranking reflects improvement in patient care, death rates and doctoring quality. He expects further improvement next year.

“We’re assuring our patients that the quality of outcomes of patient care on the inpatient side, particularly, are very high,” Pitt added.

-Lila Gordon