Biomedical Research News from AMSNY: December 2021

Highlights

Albert Einstein College of Medicine: NIH Funds New Center to Treat Chronic Pain and Opioid Use Disorder at Einstein and Montefiore

Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System have been awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to establish a multidisciplinary research center focused on treatments for people with both chronic pain and opioid use disorder (OUD). The Integrative Management of Chronic Pain and OUD for Whole Recovery Research Center at Montefiore Einstein (IMPOWR-ME) will receive $5.1 million for its first two years; additional funding at the same level is expected for the following three years. The grant is part of the NIH’s Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative, or HEAL Initiative, which aims to accelerate the pace of scientific solutions to stem the national opioid public health crisis. Learn more.

Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons: AIDS at 40: Is the End Near?

A little more than 40 years ago, the CDC issued a report describing the first known AIDS patients in the world. Since then, more than 32 million people worldwide have died from AIDS and more than 38 million people currently live with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. And though the disease does not have a cure, or a vaccine, “if you think about the fact that this epidemic was only recognized in 1981, the progress has been enormous,” says David Ho, MD, director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center at Columbia University. “We have turned a deadly disease into a manageable condition.” Learn more.

COVID-19

NYU Grossman School of Medicine: Study Designs Completed for National Institutes of Health Consortium Study of Long-Term COVID-19

NYU Langone Health, as the Clinical Science Core (CSC) for the National Institutes of Health’s RECOVER initiative, has, since the announcement of the beginning of its operations on June 10, convened more than 100 researchers from 35 institutions as well as patients to finalize the main study protocols for the adult, pediatric, and autopsy patient groups (cohorts). These protocols will now shape the research in the massive effort to better understand the long-term impact of COVID-19 on patients and the U.S. population, and to develop new approaches to diagnosis and treatment. Learn more.

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: Mount Sinai Named a Lead Site for Enrollment in Nationwide Study on the Long-Term Effects of COVID-19

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai will serve as a hub site for two cohort studies contributing to a nationwide health consortium study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on the long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The NIH Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative will examine the long-term effects of the virus, which are known as post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection or “long COVID.” As part of the RECOVER Initiative, which is building a national study of diverse participant research and supporting large-scale studies on long COVID, Mount Sinai will be a hub site for one of the more than 30 research teams across the United States. Learn more.

Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University: Impact of Pandemic, Discrimination Contribute to Fewer Infant Vaccinations

A new study summarized in a research letter published in JAMA Pediatrics reveals that a number of factors, including negative impacts from the pandemic during pregnancy, health care experiences, and reports of discrimination, made it less likely that infants received their recommended vaccinations in the first months of their lives. Led by Heidi Preis, MSW, PhD, of Stony Brook University, the study serves as an indicator that a focus on vulnerable pregnant women, especially during a public health crisis, may help to promote infant vaccination. Learn more.

University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry New Study Finds Evidence of COVID Antibodies in Breast Milk of Vaccinated Mothers

A study published in JAMA Pediatrics co-authored by researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center and New York University has found evidence that mothers with two types of immunity from COVID – disease-acquired (those who have contracted COVID and recovered) and mRNA vaccination-acquired – produced breast milk with active SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. The study, titled “Comparison of human milk antibody induction, persistence, and neutralizing capacity in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection versus mRNA vaccination” was funded by The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) with in-kind support from Medela LLC. Samples were collected from 77 mothers – 47 in the infected group, 30 in the vaccine group – to determine the level of antibodies in breast milk over time. Learn more.

Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons: Sick and Tired: Study Reveals Toll of Poor Sleep Among Health Care Workers

In a pair of recent papers, Columbia researchers and their collaborators have quantified the effect of the COVID pandemic on health care workers’ sleep patterns and the potentially damaging consequences of sleep disturbance on their mental health. The newest paper, published Nov. 24, finds that health care workers with poor sleep were twice as likely to report symptoms of depression than their better-rested colleagues and were 50% more likely to report psychological distress and 70% more likely to report anxiety. Learn more.

Albert Einstein College of Medicine: COVID-19 Booster Shot Helps Vast Majority of Cancer Patients

Most cancer patients who had no measurable immune response after being fully vaccinated for COVID-19 were helped by a third vaccine dose, according to a new study by investigators at the Montefiore Einstein Cancer Center (MECC). The findings, published online yesterday in Cancer Cell, also show that a “booster” shot is extremely beneficial for all cancer patients, who face a heightened risk of severe disease and dying from COVID-19, and particularly in people who have a blood cancer. Learn more.

Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University: Windy Days May Be Good Against Covid-19

While it may not be the season for beach going and barbecues, people continue to work and gather outside in many settings. Is that cause for concern in these latest stages of the pandemic, and new variants? Not necessarily, but a new study indicates that low wind speeds and stale air are associated with a higher incidence of contracting Covid-19 when people socialize outside – perhaps as much as 45 percent more compared to when winds are stronger. Led by Sean Clouston, PhD, Associate Professor in the Program in Public Health, and the Department of Family, Population, and Preventive Medicine at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, the study is published in BMC Infectious Diseases. Learn more.

Neurology

Weill Cornell Medicine: Targeting the Brain’s Immune Cells May Help Prevent or Treat Alzheimer’s Disease

A gene mutation linked to Alzheimer’s disease alters a signaling pathway in certain immune cells of individuals with the disease, according to a new study by scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine. The team also found that blocking the pathway—with a drug that’s currently being tested in cancer clinical trials—protects against many features of the condition in a preclinical model. The results could lead to new strategies to block the development of Alzheimer’s disease or slow its progression. The study, published Dec. 1 in Science Translational Medicine, focused on microglia, immune cells of the central nervous system that are the first to respond when something goes wrong in the brain. Learn more.

SUNY Upstate Medical University’s Professor Auerbach Receives International CURE Epilepsy Award

David Auerbach, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, has been honored with a two-year CURE Epilepsy award, which seeks to push the envelope and accelerate promising research leading to disease-modifying breakthroughs for people living with epilepsy. People with epilepsy are at a high risk of sudden death unexpected death (e.g., SUDEP). Current SUDEP risk factors are not linked to the proposed biological causes for SUDEP. There is a higher prevalence of cardiac electrical abnormalities in people with epilepsy, and arrhythmias or irregular heart rhythms are reported to precede cases of SUDEP. Learn more.

Weill Cornell Medicine: Brain Drain: Scientists Explain Why Neurons Consume so Much Fuel Even When at Rest

Pound for pound, the brain consumes vastly more energy than other organs, and, puzzlingly, it remains a fuel-guzzler even when its neurons are not firing signals called neurotransmitters to each other. Now researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have found that the process of packaging neurotransmitters may be responsible for this energy drain. In their study, reported Dec. 3 in Science Advances, they identified tiny capsules called synaptic vesicles as a major source of energy consumption in inactive neurons. Neurons use these vesicles as containers for their neurotransmitter molecules, which they fire from communications ports called synaptic terminals to signal to other neurons. Learn more.

More Studies

Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at University at Buffalo: Study: Older MS Patients who Discontinue Medications Experience Worsening of Their Disease

In recent years, new drugs to treat multiple sclerosis have significantly improved both the quality of life and longevity for patients with MS. Many of them now live well into their 60s and 70s, a significant improvement from just a generation ago when few patients lived to be 70. Despite these advances, the prevailing standard of care with MS is to discontinue the anti-inflammatory medications in patients in their 50s and 60s because of a lack of efficacy as patients age. Learn more.

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: Cannabis Use During Pregnancy Impacts the Placenta and May Affect Subsequent Child Development

Women who use cannabis during pregnancy, potentially to relieve stress and anxiety, may inadvertently predispose their children to stress susceptibility and anxiety, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the City University of New York published Monday, November 15, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS). As legalization of recreational cannabis progresses across the world, many people mistakenly believe that cannabis use is without significant health risks. Learn more.

University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry to Lead First Gene Therapy Study for Batten Disease

The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) will serve as the lead study site in the U.S. for an experimental treatment being developed by Neurogene for CLN5 Batten disease, a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disorder. “CLN5 is a devastating and rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disease in children that leads to vision loss, cognitive and motor impairment, seizures and, ultimately, premature death,” said Jonathan W. Mink, M.D., Ph.D., the Frederick A. Horner MD Distinguished Professor in Pediatric Neurology, Chief of Child Neurology at URMC. “This trial will move research forward in developing a potentially disease-modifying treatment for CLN5 disease, providing hope to individuals and families where currently none exists.” Learn more.

New York Medical College: Sleep Apnea Linked to Lower Stroke Mortality in Research by New York Medical College Students and Faculty

New research by New York Medical College (NYMC) students and faculty found obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) to be linked to a decreased risk for mortality and in-hospital complications in stroke patients who undergo thrombectomy. The research, which was recently published as an abstract in the Journal of Neurological Sciences, was conducted under the guidance of Fawaz Al-Mufti, M.D., associate professor of neurology, neurosurgery and radiology, as part of the Summer Research and Clinical Neurosurgery Program, and supported by a NYMC Medical Student Affairs Summer Fellowship grant during the summer of 2020. Learn more.

CUNY School of Medicine: CCNY, CUNY and PHR Research Shows Asylum Seekers who Obtain Forensic Medical Evaluations More Likely to be Granted US Protection

According to a new study by the CUNY School of Medicine at The City College of New York, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), the CUNY School of Law and the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy, asylum seekers and other immigrants who obtained forensic medical evaluations were granted protection in the United States in 81.6 percent of cases facilitated by PHR between 2008 and 2018, nearly twice the national asylum grant rate of 42.4 percent during the same period. Learn more.

Awards & Grants

New York Medical College Awarded $1,055,837 Grant from John Templeton Foundation to Study Evolutionary Transition from Single-Celled to Multicellular Organisms

New York Medical College has been awarded $1,055,837 from the John Templeton Foundation, as part of its Science of Purpose initiative, for a multi-site study to examine how single-celled organisms evolved into larger, more complex organisms, including humans and animals. The study will be led by Stuart A. Newman, Ph.D., professor of cell biology and anatomy and of medicine, and includes collaboration with experimental, computational and mathematical biologists as well as philosophers of biology. Learn more.

Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra Northwell: An ‘AWSM’ Research Opportunity Awarded to Zucker School of Med Student

Northwell Health’s science and research facility, the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, recently recognized 41 women scientists at its eleventh annual fundraising initiative for the Advancing Women in Science and Medicine (AWSM) group. For the first time ever, a medical student, Danielle Howell, received funding from this prestigious group. Howell, a fourth-year student at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, was honored with the Barbara Hrbek Zucker Emerging Scientist Award, which will fund a full year of research. Learn more.

Faculty

Albany Medical College Chair of Neurology Named President of Neurocritical Care Society Board of Directors

Panayiotis Varelas, M.D., Ph.D., the Bender Endowed Chair of Neurology, has been named President of the Neurocritical Care Society (NCS)’s Board of Directors. NCS is an international multidisciplinary society whose mission is to improve outcomes for patients around the world with life-threatening neurological illnesses. Dr. Varelas has been involved with the NCS since its inception 20 years ago and has participated in many committees and served two four-year Board terms. Learn more.

More News

Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at University at Buffalo: To Effect Transformational Change in Buffalo, UB’s Center for Urban Studies is Joining the Community Health Equity Research Institute

To more powerfully address and reverse Buffalo’s entrenched health disparities, a University at Buffalo center dedicated to regenerating underdeveloped neighborhoods is joining the Community Health Equity Research Institute at UB. The Center for Urban Studies in the UB School of Architecture and Planning has signed a memorandum of understanding with the institute that makes the center a vital component within the institute. Learn more.

Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra Northwell: Tenth Medical Student Research Day Highlights Zucker School of Med Student Research

The Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell virtually hosted its tenth Medical Student Research Day on November 3, 2021. This annual event showcases the summer research of Zucker School of Medicine students, many of whom are in their first and second years of medical school. “Research helps our students obtain the necessary skills to excel in all fields of medicine,” said Joel N.H. Stern, PhD, professor of neurology, urology, molecular medicine and science education, and director of the Office of Student Medical Research at the Zucker School of Medicine. “It requires students to critically think and teaches them how to evaluate sources while sometimes dealing with unexpected data—all of these skills are essential to becoming a good physician and scientist.” Learn more.