International organizations and countries around the world are working to eliminate HIV/AIDS by 2030. To reach this goal, new approaches are needed—particularly among difficult-to-reach groups such as people who inject drugs (PWID), who are 30 times more likely to contract HIV/AIDS compared with the general population. Matthew Akiyama, M.D., assistant professor of medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and an internist at Montefiore Health System, is one of only two recipients of a one-year, $2.5 million HIV/AIDS Research Avenir Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which will fund his efforts to use advanced genetic epidemiological tools to curb infection among PWID. Learn more.

 

Treatment with a ready-made preparation of human immune cells helps prevent infections in people whose immune systems are temporarily weakened by leukemia treatment, according to a phase 2 clinical trial led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. Infections are a significant problem in patients undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. The cell preparation, known as romyelocel-L, consists of immature, human-derived immune cells that work to replenish white blood cells called neutrophils and help fight or prevent infections. Learn more.

 

How common COVID-19 is among infants may depend on the degree of the pandemic virus circulating in a community, a new study finds. Published online June 30 in the journal Pediatrics, the study found specifically that rates of infection with the virus that causes COVID-19 were higher among infants hospitalized—not for COVID-19 but instead because they were being evaluated for a potential serious bacterial infection (SBI)—during periods of high COVID-19 circulation in New York City. Learn more.

 

The development of a safe, effective, and inexpensive COVID-19 vaccine that can easily be produced and distributed in low- and middle-income countries is underway at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where early phase 1 clinical testing in Vietnam and Thailand has shown positive results. The vaccine is the brainchild of three renowned scientists at Mount Sinai—Peter Palese, PhD, Horace W. Goldsmith Professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology; Adolfo García-Sastre, PhD, Irene and Dr. Arthur M. Fishberg Professor of Medicine and Director of the Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute; and Florian Krammer, PhD, Mount Sinai Professor in Vaccinology. Learn more.

 

University at Buffalo lab has been selected to bolster New York State’s efforts to identify COVID-19 variants, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced recently. The Genomics and Bioinformatics Core in UB’s New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences was one of five labs chosen statewide as part of a $20 million sequencing partnership between the state Department of Health’s Wadsworth Center and external laboratories. Learn more.

 

New York Medical College is among five institutions selected by New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to bolster state efforts in identifying COVID-19 variants. The New York State Department of Health is partnering with the NYMC Genomics Core Laboratory to access and process positive specimens of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, from large multi-county areas in New York State outside of New York City. Learn more.

 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared for clinical lab use a gene sequencing test designed by molecular pathologists at NYU Langone Health and its Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center to guide treatment decisions for patients who have received a cancer diagnosis. Cleared by the agency on July 15, 2021, under its 510(k) designation, the NYU Langone Genome Profiling of Actionable Cancer Targets (PACT) test detects changes in the DNA code of 607 genes linked by past studies to the development of multiple types of cancer. Learn more.

 

A newly discovered fat “shield” that prevents natural killer cells from being destroyed by their own deadly biological weapons also allows some cancer cells to evade an immune system attack, a study at Columbia University has found. The findings, which may lead to new treatments for aggressive cancers, were reported Aug. 3 in the journal PLoS Biolog by scientists in the Department of Pediatrics at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Learn more.

 

Two types of drugs that are recommended as a first treatment for patients with high blood pressure were found equally effective in improving cardiovascular outcomes, but the more popular type causes slightly more side effects, finds a multinational observational study led by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Learn more.

 

A national clinical study that included patients and investigators from Upstate’s Joslin Diabetes Center has found that people with type 2 diabetes diagnosed during youth have a high risk of developing complications at early ages and have a greater chance of multiple complications within 15 years after diagnosis. The findings are the culmination of a first-of-its-kind trial funded largely by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health. Learn more.

 

What is the relationship between the foods people eat and their body’s insulin response? The University at Buffalo’s Behavioral Medicine Lab is launching a study that aims to find out. Funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, the UB study is now recruiting individuals 18 years of age and older, who have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes or prediabetes, a condition where a patient’s blood sugar is higher than normal but not high enough to be considered diabetic. Learn more.

 

A recent study found that sensitive, responsive parenting – specifically in early childhood – has a direct correlation with not only positive mental and physical health, but also financial benefits for families and society. Average costs for children raised by the most responsive parents are well under $3,000, compared to more than $30,000 for children raised by the least responsive parents. Learn more.

 

Researchers from New York Medical College (NYMC) and Regeneron Genetics Center (RGC) have discovered rare genetic mutations in the GPR75 gene associated with protection against obesity. As reported in Science, almost 650,000 people were sequenced to find rare individuals with this genetic ‘superpower,’ providing new insights into the genetic basis of obesity. It is estimated that more than one billion people could be suffering from obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 or higher) by 2030. Learn more.

 

The specialized endothelial cells that line the blood vessels in the lung may hold the key to treating the common and often-fatal lung disease emphysema, according to a study from researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. In the study, published July 21 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, the researchers showed that they could prevent or reverse most of the lung damage of emphysema in mice by injecting them with healthy lung endothelial cells from genetically identical mice. Learn more.

 

Prominent physician-researcher Marla J. Keller, M.D., has been named the director of the Harold and Muriel Block Institute for Translational and Clinical Research at Einstein and Montefiore (ICTR), which is funded by the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Keller will also become the principal investigator on Einstein’s CTSA grant. She has served as associate director of the institute since 2016 and as co-PI of the CTSA since 2015. Learn more.

 

Dennis W. Metzger, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Immunology and Microbial Disease at Albany Medical College, has been appointed to the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB). The NSABB is a key scientific advisory group to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the heads of all federal departments and agencies that conduct or support life science research. Dr. Metzger, who was invited to the board by NIH director Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., will serve a three-year term. Learn more.

 

The Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research in the Department of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai announced a $2.1 million charitable contribution by the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation. The gift will be used to help fund a large study comparing two and three sessions of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in combat veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. The study is being sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. Learn more.

 

The Stony Brook University Cancer Center has been awarded a Cancer Prevention in Action (CPiA) grant to help promote sun-safety measures in an effort to prevent skin cancer on Long Island. Stony Brook is the first and only institution on Long Island to receive this competitive award. Cancer Prevention in Action is a New York State Department of Health and Health Research Inc. program supporting local cancer prevention and risk reduction interventions using a policy, systems and environmental (PSE) change approach. Learn more.

 

During the last fiscal year, Upstate Medical University had record growth in research expenditures – a rate higher than any other campus in the entire SUNY system. Research expenditures grew 11 percent over the previous fiscal year, for a total of nearly $39 million. Research expenditures at Upstate have grown 35 percent during the last five years, which is an especially impressive accomplishment given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, said Vice President for Research David C. Amberg, PhD. Learn more.

 

As many as 68 percent of late-stage cancer patients leave their doctor’s offices either underestimating the severity of their disease, overestimating their life expectancy—or both. These misunderstandings can hinder the ability of patients and their families to make realistic decisions about whether to continue aggressive treatments or instead turn to palliative care. Learn more.

 

Research originating at Albany Med, along with efforts to bring telemedicine to lung patients during the pandemic, caught the attention of the National Institutes of Health. An article recently posted on the news page of the NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute featured Albany Med pulmonary and critical care physician Thomas Smith, MD and the Capital Region-based health care startup ZEPHYRx. Learn more.

 

The Cardiothoracic Surgery Division at Stony Brook University Heart Institute has earned a distinguished three-star rating from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) for its patient care and outcomes in isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) procedures in 2020. The three-star rating, which denotes the highest category of quality, places Stony Brook University Hospital among the elite for heart bypass surgery in the United States and Canada. The Stony Brook Heart Institute received two back-to-back three-star ratings from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) in 2017 and 2018, and now an overall three-star rating for 2020. Learn more.