Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: Where You Live Matters: A First-of-Its-Kind Study Illustrates How Racism is Interrelated With Poor Health

A team of health equity researchers from several institutions has leveraged a complex web of data to test a hypothesis: That structural racism is associated with resources and structures at the neighborhood level that are closely associated with poor health. What they found in an analysis of highly localized, community level data illustrates how racism is deeply interrelated with poor health outcomes. Learn more.

Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra Northwell: Black Internal Medicine Residents Continue to Face Knowledge Assessment Bias

A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on December 25, 2023, reports that U.S.-born Black residents in internal medicine programs still encounter bias in knowledge assessments. The study, titled “Adoption of Internal Medicine Milestone Ratings and Changes in Bias Against Black, Latino, and Asian Internal Medicine Residents,” conducted by researchers from the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, University of California San Francisco, and Harvard University, indicates a significant bias against Black, Latino, and U.S.-born Asian residents before the adoption of the Milestone Ratings system between 2008-2013 still persists today. Learn more.

Weill Cornell Medicine: Cholesterol-Lowering Therapy May Hinder Aggressive Type of Colorectal Tumor

Hard-to-detect colorectal pre-cancerous lesions known as serrated polyps, and the aggressive tumors that develop from them, depend heavily on the ramped-up production of cholesterol, according to a preclinical study from researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine. The finding points to the possibility of using cholesterol-lowering drugs to prevent or treat such tumors. Learn more.

NYU Grossman School of Medicine: New Hybrid Treatment Forces Cancer Cells to Starve

The combination of a drug and a protein fragment prevents the growth of blood cancer cells, a new study in mice shows. The work addressed multiple myeloma, a cancer that forms in blood cells that normally fight infections by making proteins that remove germs. Learn more.

Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons: What Makes Lymphoma Turn Lethal?

A study by researchers at Columbia and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is helping to clarify how low-grade lymphoma changes as it develops into a more aggressive tumor, which could lead to the development of new treatments. Though often incurable, many low-grade B-cell lymphomas are slow to develop and not life-threatening. Learn more.

University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry: Could a High-Fiber Diet Improve Cancer Immunotherapy Performance?

It’s no secret that a high-fiber diet is good for you—just ask Google. Lots of research suggests that eating a high-fiber diet can lower your risk for certain cancers, but less is known about whether fiber can also help you fight a current cancer diagnosis. Learn more.

Weill Cornell Medicine: Scientists Use Organoid Model to Identify Potential New Pancreatic Cancer Treatment

A drug screening system that models cancers using lab-grown tissues called organoids has helped uncover a promising target for future pancreatic cancer treatments, according to a new study from researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine. In the study, published Dec. 26 in Cell Stem Cell, the scientists tested more than 6,000 compounds on their pancreatic tumor organoids, which contain a common pancreatic cancer-driving mutation. Learn more.

Cardiology

NYU Grossman School of Medicine: Where Patients Live Affects Whether They Pick Up Their Heart Failure Medications

People who live in neighborhoods with higher levels of poverty and unemployment are less likely to fill prescriptions for heart failure medications than those living in wealthier areas, a new study shows. The findings not only add to understanding geographic and economic disparities in heart disease care but also point to new ways to address barriers for patients taking these lifesaving medications. Learn more.

New York Medical College: Dextran Increases Risks After Carotid Endarterectomy

Dextran, a medication used during carotid endarterectomy (CEA) to mitigate the risk of embolism, was found to increase the risks of major adverse cardiac events without decreasing the risk of stroke, in a new study published by New York Medical College students and faculty in the Annals of Vascular Surgery. The retrospective analysis examined the records of more than 140,000 patients who underwent CEA from 2008 to 2022. Learn more.

CUNY School of Medicine Professor Dr. Keosha Bond Studies How Race and Gender Intersect with Sexual Health

The South Bronx community where Keosha Bond, EdD. grew up was hit hard by the AIDS epidemic. Now a professor at the CUNY School of Medicine, Dr. Bond’s formative experiences have motivated her work as a sexual health researcher and behavioral scientist, investigating the ways that HIV and other sexual diseases are transmitted among marginalized and minoritized communities. Learn more.

Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra Northwell: Doctors Using AI And Monitors To Measure The Effects Of Burn Pits On Veterans’ Health

Anthony Szema, MD, clinical professor of medicine and occupational medicine, epidemiology and prevention at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell is a member of a research team studying the effects of burn pits on veterans’ health using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and wearable technology. Learn more.

Albert Einstein College of Medicine: Cannabis From Menace to Medicine

Addiction specialist Julia Arnsten, M.D., M.P.H., is frustrated.“You’d think that by now, thousands of years after healers began using cannabis, we’d have more answers about its medicinal value,” says Dr. Arnsten, chief of the division of general internal medicine at Einstein and Montefiore and professor of medicine, of epidemiology & population health, and of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Einstein. Learn more.

University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry: Uncovering the Secrets of the Lung, One Cell at a Time

In the world of research, few institutions perform their work in a vacuum. Each cure, treatment, or breakthrough discovery relies on collecting and preserving samples, creating controlled experiments, and verifying results—a process that requires intensive collaboration. Learn more.

Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons: Upending the Conventional Wisdom About RNA

In Shakespeare’s plays, messengers are among the most important characters, appearing on stage at critical moments to deliver news that dramatically influences how the tale unfolds. In biology, similar recurring “characters”—messenger RNAs (mRNAs)—appear within our cells. Learn more.

Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at University at Buffalo: New Clinical Trial Hopes to Make Lasting Impact in Treating Pregnancy-Related Hypertension

The University at Buffalo is among three institutions selected for a major new clinical trial aimed at curbing hypertension and mental health issues in postpartum women, particularly those from marginalized populations. Learn more.

Albert Einstein College of Medicine Receives $10.9 Million Grant to Validate Remote Cognitive Testing for Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias

Neurologists often diagnose Alzheimer’s disease after evaluating patients during lengthy, in-person office visits. This poses a significant challenge for many groups, particularly people with limited access to specialized care, including people from historically marginalized groups and people living in rural areas. Learn more.

New York Medical College: $2 Million Grant Awarded to Daohong Lin, Ph.D., Supports Vital Kidney Regulating

Daohong Lin, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology, has been awarded a $2,050,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to explore the role of the renal potassium channel in handling K homeostasis. Dr. Lin’s work has demonstrated that the deletion of Kir5.1 abolishes the inhibitory effect of high K+ intake on sodium-chloride cotransporter and impairs the renal ability of K+ excretion during increased dietary K+ intake. Learn more.

Norton College of Medicine at Upstate Medical University Researcher Wins $1.6 Million Grant to Expand Knowledge of Vision Restoration

Upstate Medical University’s Reyna I. Martinez-De Luna, PhD, has been awarded $1.6 million from the National Eye Institute (NEI) over the next four years to further the understanding of the role the extracellular matrix, the proteins surrounding cells, plays in guiding the nerve fibers of retinal ganglion cells to the appropriate side of the brain. This knowledge could help in efforts to restore vision after it’s been lost. Learn more.

Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at University at Buffalo: UB CAT Funds Ten Life Sciences Research Projects

The University at Buffalo Center for Advanced Technology in Big Data and Health Sciences (UB CAT) has awarded 10 life sciences companies a total of $555,000 to support the development of new life and health science technologies during the 2023-24 fiscal year. Learn more.

More News

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: Institute for Health Equity Research Holds Inaugural Symposium to Exchange Ideas and Propel Research

As part of its mission to elevate the science of heath equity, the Institute for Health Equity Research (IHER) held its inaugural symposium, one of the first major milestones in a new partnership between IHER and Royalty Pharma, established in 2022, to build an infrastructure to exchange ideas and propel research collaboration. Learn more.