Daily exposure to a class of chemicals used in the production of many household items may lead to cancer, thyroid disease, and childhood obesity, a new study shows. The resulting economic burden is estimated to cost Americans a minimum of $5.5 billion and as much as $63 billion annually. Learn more.

 

A new $3.5 million grant will examine how the economic, social, and health care disruptions caused by COVID worsened the nation’s opioid epidemic. Co-led by University of Rochester economist Elaine Hill, Ph.D. and Meredith Adams, M.D. of Wake Forest University School of Medicine, the study will seek to determine how the response to the COVID pandemic impacted opioid use disorder in different communities and whether the progress made in recent years can be recovered. Learn more.

 

A study that surveyed cancer screening data included in medical journals worldwide from January 2020 into December 2021 showed significant decreases in the number of screenings for breast, colorectal and cervical cancers during the early phase of the Covid-19 pandemic. The findings of the study, published in JAMA Oncology, are one point of evidence that the global pandemic widely affected cancer screening services. Learn more.

 

In a race against time to cure childhood brain cancer, the leading cause of cancer deaths among children, Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital is forming the Mount Sinai Children’s Brain and Spinal Tumor Center. The center is being propelled forward by a series of generous grant awards to three of its scientists, all leaders in the field of childhood brain cancer. It will be housed within Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital. Learn more.

 

A University at Buffalo scientist has launched two pilot studies that focus on how dietary interventions might affect cancer treatment. One study will determine if patients on chemotherapy do better when they eat less just prior to treatment days and if they follow a plant-based diet. The second pilot study will assess whether low protein meals may help the immune system. Learn more.

 

A team at NYU Langone Health successfully transplanted two genetically engineered pig hearts into recently deceased humans in June and July, marking the latest advance toward addressing the nationwide organ shortage and developing a clinical protocol that would provide an alternative supply of organs for people with life-threatening heart disease. Learn more.

 

Good news for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD): A possible cause of the social and communication deficits associated with ASD may normalize once they reach adulthood, according to a study led by Albert Einstein College of Medicine scientists published in Communications Biology. Learn more.

 

A new study finds that signs of covert consciousness–subtle brainwaves detectable with EEG–are the strongest predictor of eventual recovery for brain-injured patients who otherwise appear completely unresponsive. The findings suggest brainwave analysis has the potential to completely change how unresponsive patients with acute brain injury are managed. Learn more.

 

The discovery of how to shift damaged brain cells from a diseased state into a healthy one poses a new potential path to treating Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, according to a new collaborative study from researchers at UC San Francisco and Weill Cornell Medicine. The research focuses on microglia, cells that stabilize the brain by clearing out damaged neurons and the protein plaques often associated with dementia and other brain diseases. Learn more.

 

According to a new study led by a team of researchers at New York Medical College and presented at the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery’s (SNIS) 19th Annual Meeting in July, thrombectomy procedures can produce positive outcomes in patients experiencing strokes caused by a basilar artery occlusion (BAO)—despite typically being reserved for the treatment of large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke. Learn more.

 

Noticing and understanding what it means when a person leans into a conversation or takes a step back and crosses their arms is a vital part of human communication. Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester have found that children with autism spectrum disorder may not always process body movements effectively, especially if they are distracted by something else. Learn more.

 

Mount Sinai Health System and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have launched a new human genome sequencing research project called the Mount Sinai Million Health Discoveries Program with the Regeneron Genetics Center (RGC), part of the industry-leading, New York-based biotechnology company Regeneron. Learn more.

 

In humans, a fertilized egg is no guarantee of reproductive success. Most embryos stop developing and perish within days of fertilization, usually because they have an abnormal number of chromosomes. Now, researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons have found that most of these mistakes are due to spontaneous errors in DNA replication in the earliest phase of cell division. Learn more.

 

Disruption of the circadian clocks that keep the body and its cells entrained to the 24-hour day-night cycle plays a critical role in weight gain, according to a pair of studies by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. One study, published June 27, in Cell Reports revealed that stress caused by chronically administering glucocorticoid stress hormones and disturbing the normal daily cycle of release triggers a temporary protective mechanism in mice. Learn more.

 

Two drugs designed by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine preserved vision in mice that developed retinitis pigmentosa (RP), an inherited eye disease that can lead to blindness and for which no treatments currently exist. The findings, published online on July 21 in Nature Communications, suggest that such drugs might also work against more common retinal diseases. Learn more.

 

Many studies have suggested that exercise can increase brain size and cognitive function, but little is known about whether certain types of exercise offer greater “brain-boosting” benefits than others. Now, a new study by New York Tech researchers, published in the Journal of Science in Sport and Exercise, may provide clues. Learn more.

 

Computational neuroscientist Chris Gaiteri will join the Upstate Medical University faculty in September as its newest Empire Innovation Scholar. Gaiteri (guy-TEHR-ee) brings his expertise in computation and biology to studying Alzheimer’s disease. His focus is on identifying novel targets at the molecular level which will in turn lead to the development of better treatments. Learn more.

 

There are more than 6.5 million people with an intellectual or developmental disability in the United States. Planning for the future and emergency preparedness for families caring for a loved one with a disability often contributes to caregivers’ burden. In an effort to study new methods to ease that stress and increase pediatric caregiver well-being, researchers at Cohen Children’s Medical Center and The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, the home of the research institutes at Northwell Health, have been approved for a $5.6 million research funding award by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). Learn more.

 

The Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell has received a grant from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) to develop strategies to prepare health care learners to address medical misinformation. Learn more.

 

Terrorism, acts of war, nuclear power plant malfunctions; the risk of massive radiation exposure is ever-present. Scientists from The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research have been awarded a five-year, $3.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study how radiation affects the human body’s immune system and how to better treat sepsis in people who have been exposed to radiation injury. Learn more.

 

Lovelace Research Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has joined New York Medical College (NYMC) and Touro University. Founded in 1947, Lovelace is one of the oldest not-for-profit biomedical research institutes in the country. The Institute is noted for excellence in respiratory disease and neuroscience research, toxicology, drug development experience and in protecting the nation against chemical, biological and nuclear threats. Learn more.

 

Upstate Medical University’s research and education outpost in Machala, Ecuador, received some significant attention July 14, when Ecuador’s Minister of Health, Dr Jose Ruales, visited the site to learn more about Upstate’s work and to express support for its research in dengue and respiratory syncytial virus, which represent two highly active areas of investigation at the site. Learn more.

 

The honors continue to accumulate for two medical students in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences’ Class of 2023. Learn more.