For example, in the last weeks the HMS office has sent out releases about racial disparities among kidney donation recipients, triggers for Alzheimer's Disease and the cellular mechanisms that pry apart DNA.

Medical school research is usually published in a medical journal, whose editors first put the publication through a process of peer review--scrutiny by other doctors to look for problems with methodology or conclusions.

The HMS Office of Public Affairs only sends out releases when research is about to be published in a journal.

"By the nature of how medicine is covered in the press, it is so journal driven that there is an expectation that press releases will be issued," Gibbons says.

Because it has no peer-review mechanism, the office never releases any information on its own.

"We don't want to put ourselves in the position of a peer reviewer," Gibbons says.

However, the office does not attempt to issue press releases about all publications by HMS faculty. Gibbons says there must be some anticipated interest by science writers or the general public before a press release is issued.

"[Through our press releases] our goal is to increase public knowledge and understanding of science," Gibbons says. "We want the public to appreciate the goals and directions of science."