The Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY) brings you the following compilation of the most recent updates and news on research from the academic medical centers in the state.
Highlights
- Researchers at the Academic Medical Center
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grants for Research
- Other Funds for Research in New York State
Cancer
Cardiology
Genetics
- Mount Sinai Scientists and International Team Shed New Light on Schizophrenia in Largest Genomic Study Published to Date
- Common Gene Variants Account for Most of the Genetic Risk for Autism
Neurology
- Researchers Identify a Brain’s ‘Switchboard’ Important in Attention and Sleep
- Biomarker Could Reveal Why Some Develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- New Treatment Successful for Rare and Disabling Movement Disorder, the Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDs)
- Slow Walking Speed and Memory Complaints Can Predict Dementia
Other Studies
- FDA-Approved Drug Restores Hair in Patients and Alopecia Areata
- Early Antiobiotics Exposure Leads to Lifelong Metabolic Disturbances in Mice
- Study looks at interactions between rural setting and the clinical experiences of students
- ‘Normal’ Bacteria Vital for Keeping Intestinal Lining Intact
Researchers at the Academic Medical Centers
SUNY Downstate’s Dr. Mahmooh Hussain Receives $50,000 Grant from SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund
August 18, 2014 – The State University of New York has announced that $250,000 has been awarded to five campus research projects through the SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund (TAF), which accelerates the development and commercialization of innovations by SUNY faculty, students, and staff. Among the awardees is M. Mahmood Hussain, PhD, distinguished professor of cell biology and pediatrics at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, who will receive $50,000 in TAF funding to advance his research.
Stony Brook Professor Receives SUNY Grant to Develop Spinal Cord Blood Flow Device
August 15, 2014 – Thomas F. Floyd, MD, a Professor of Anesthesiology at Stony Brook Medicine, has been awarded $50,000 through SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund (TAF), which supports the development and commercialization of innovations by SUNY faculty and students. The SUNY grant supports his development of a disposable spinal cord probe designed to help measure spinal cord blood flow as a tool measure spinal cord ischemia, which can lead to paralysis.
Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine faculty member, Dr. Joel N.H. Stern, Publishes Pivotal MS Study
August 7, 2014 – Joel Stern, PhD, Assistant Professor of Science Education, Hofstra North Shore–LIJ School of Medicine, publishes breakthrough research that pinpoints the origin of the cell that is alleged to cause multiple sclerosis (MS)—a discovery that may open new doors in the treatment and prevention of MS. Findings are available in the latest issue of Science Translational Medicine.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grants for Research
Using Physics to Design Better Drugs: Albert Einstein College of Medicine Awarded $9 Million NIH Grant
August 18, 2014 – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $9 million to renew a grant headed by Robert Callender, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. He and his fellow researchers are working to develop drugs by considering the dynamics—including specific atomic motions—of the enzymes that those drugs target.
$4M NIH Grant Supports University of Rochester Research to Prevent Sudden Cardiac Death
August 12, 2014 – Cardiology researchers from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry received $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the genetic mechanisms and preventive therapies for a genetic heart rhythm disorder that can cause sudden cardiac death.
Pinpointing Genes that Protect Against Frailty
August 8, 2014 – Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have been awarded a $3.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the role of genetics in protecting against frailty. The study will be led by Nir Barzilai, M.D., director of the Institute for Aging Research and the Ingeborg and Ira Leon Rennert Chair in Aging Research at Einstein and attending physician, medicine at Montefiore Medical Center, and Joe Verghese, M.B.B.S., the Murray D. Gross Memorial Faculty Scholar in Gerontology at Einstein, chief of geriatrics at Einstein and Montefiore and director of the Montefiore Einstein Center for the Aging Brain.
Other Funds for Research
$2 Million Gift from Fine Family to Support Alzheimer’s Care, Research
August 18, 2014 – A $2 million gift from the Robert Fine Trust will create the Julius, Helen, and Robert Fine Professorship at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC). This is the third professorship that has been endowed in the Fine family name.
Melodies Center Receives Hyundai Hope on Wheels Grant
August 13, 2014 – Hyundai Hope On Wheels® and Albany-area Hyundai dealers today awarded the Bernard & Millie Duker Children’s Hospital at Albany Medical Center with the $75,000 Hyundai Young Investigators Clinical Award to Alexander Gozman, M.D., for his research study work on whether an intervention with an “end of therapy” coordinator will reduce stress in parents of children who have recently completed treatment. The Bernard & Millie Duker Children’s Hospital at Albany Medical Center is one of 13 recipients of a 2014 Hyundai Young Investigator Clinical Award, which helps principal investigators pursue research and implement clinical programs aimed at improving the lives of children battling pediatric cancer.
University of Rochester Medical Center Researchers Awarded $2.1M to Study E-Cigarettes
August 7, 2014 – Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have commenced a study that will be used to help shape the Food and Drug Administration’s regulations on e-cigarettes, hookahs, and miniature cigars in the coming years.
Drug Target Identified for Common Childhood Blood Cancer
NYU Langone Study Challenges Controversial Blood Pressure Targets for Older Patients
August 18, 2014 – A new study led by researchers in the Cardiac and Vascular Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center found that current blood pressure recommendations for people aged 60 years and older who suffer from coronary artery disease (CAD) may not be optimal compared to the previous guidelines. The findings, based on analysis of more than 8,000 patient records, appear in the August 18 online issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC).
Mount Sinai Scientists and International Team Shed New Light on Schizophrenia in Largest Genomic Study Published to Date
July 22, 2014 – As part of a multinational, collaborative effort, researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have helped identify over 100 locations in the human genome associated with the risk of developing schizophrenia, in the largest genomic study published on any psychiatric disorder to date, conducted with 80,000 people. The findings, published online in Nature, point to biological mechanisms and pathways that may underlie schizophrenia, and could lead to new approaches to treating the disorder, which has seen little innovation in drug development in more than 60 years.
Common Gene Variants Account for Most of the Genetic Risk for Autism
July 21, 2014 – Nearly 60 percent of the risk of developing autism is genetic and most of that risk is caused by inherited variant genes that are common in the population and present in individuals without the disorder, according to a study led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published in the July 20 edition of Nature Genetics.
Researchers Identify a Brain’s ‘Switchboard’ Important in Attention and Sleep
August 14, 2014 – Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center and elsewhere, using a mouse model, have recorded the activity of individual nerve cells in a small part of the brain that works as a “switchboard,” directing signals coming from the outside world or internal memories. Because human brain disorders such as schizophrenia, autism, and post-traumatic stress disorder typically show disturbances in that switchboard, the investigators say the work suggests new strategies in understanding and treating them.
Biomarker Could Reveal Why Some Develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
August 11, 2014 – Blood expression levels of genes targeted by the stress hormones called glucocorticoids could be a physical measure, or biomarker, of risk for developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), according to a study conducted in rats by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published August 11 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). That also makes the steroid hormones’ receptor, the glucocorticoid receptor, a potential target for new drugs.
New Treatment Successful for Rare and Disabling Movement Disorder, the Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDs)
August 7, 2014 – People who suffer from a rare illness, the Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS), now have a chance for full recovery thanks to treatment developed by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Their findings were published online in the July issue of Frontiers in Neurology.
Slow Walking Speed and Memory Complaints Can Predict Dementia
July 25, 2014 – A study involving nearly 27,000 older adults on five continents found that nearly 1 in 10 met criteria for pre-dementia based on a simple test that measures how fast people walk and whether they have cognitive complaints. People who tested positive for pre-dementia were twice as likely as others to develop dementia within 12 years. The study, led by scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Montefiore Medical Center, was published online on July 16, 2014 in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
FDA-Approved Drug Restores Hair in Patients with Alopecia Areata
August 17, 2014 – Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have identified the immune cells responsible for destroying hair follicles in people with alopecia areata, a common autoimmune disease that causes hair loss, and have tested an FDA-approved drug that eliminated these immune cells and restored hair growth in a small number of patients.
Early Antibiotics Exposure Leads to Lifelong Metabolic Disturbances in Mice
August 14, 2014 – A new study published today in Cell suggests that antibiotic exposure during a critical window of early development disrupts the bacterial landscape of the gut, home to trillions of diverse microbes, and permanently reprograms the body’s metabolism, setting up a predisposition to obesity. Moreover, the study shows that it is altered gut bacteria, rather than the antibiotics, driving the metabolic effects.
Study looks at the interactions between rural setting and the clinical experiences of students
August 10, 2014 – The learning experiences of third-year medical students in Upstate Medical University’s Rural Medical Education (RMED) program and physician assistant students from Upstate’s College of Health Professions are captured through their photographs and vignettes as part of RMED’s Student Photo Research Project.
‘Normal’ Bacteria Vital for Keeping Intestinal Lining Intact
August 1, 2014 – Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that bacteria that aid in digestion help keep the intestinal lining intact. The findings, reported online in the journal Immunity, could yield new therapies for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and a wide range of other disorders.
“