Mount Sinai researchers have published one of the first studies using a machine learning technique called “federated learning” to examine electronic health records to better predict how COVID-19 patients will progress. The study was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research – Medical Informatics on January 27. The researchers said the emerging technique holds promise to create more robust machine learning models that extend beyond a single health system without compromising patient privacy. These models, in turn, can help triage patients and improve the quality of their care. Take a closer look.

 

The University of Rochester Medical Center is launching a new center to study the relationship between emotional well-being and dementia-related diseases, such as Alzheimer’s. Ample research has uncovered links between emotional well-being in older adults and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. But little is known about the direction of the relationship. Take a closer look.

 

Cancer is a notoriously complex disease, in part because it may be caused by mutations among hundreds or even thousands of genes. In addition, most cancers exhibit an extraordinary amount of variation among genetic mutations, even between patients with the same types of cancers. Consequently, cancer researchers have chosen to study interactions among groups of genes in certain biological pathways that are disrupted. Take a closer look.

 

An essential mineral used to boost the immune system and block sunburns, zinc — in a different form — can also stabilize a protein that helps to prevent most cancers, according to a Wilmot Cancer Institute study. But don’t rush to the local pharmacy and start taking zinc to prevent cancer, cautioned Darren Carpizo, M.D., Ph.D., the researcher who’s been investigating zinc’s role in cancer. Take a closer look.

 

The environment surrounding the cancerous cells of a lymphoma tumor has a strong influence on the progression of these blood-cell cancers and their responses to therapies, according to a study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. Measuring this molecular and cellular environment, or “microenvironment,” may represent a new type of precision-medicine approach to lymphoma classification and treatment. Take a closer look.

 

Compared with patients with cancer who were not on active treatment, those receiving chemotherapy did not have an increased risk for developing COVID-19, according to a new study led by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons and presented at the AACR Virtual Meeting: COVID-19 and Cancer, held Feb. 3-5. Take a closer look.

 

The environment surrounding the cancerous cells of a lymphoma tumor has a strong influence on the progression of these blood-cell cancers and their responses to therapies, according to a study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. Measuring this molecular and cellular environment, or “microenvironment,” may represent a new type of precision-medicine approach to lymphoma classification and treatment. Take a closer look.

 

A study of 240 intubated and critically ill Covid-19 patients at Stony Brook University Hospital showed that by using an anticoagulation therapy based on blood serum D-dimer levels, mortality was significantly reduced. The team of clinicians led by Apostolos Tassiopoulos, MD, found that 27 percent of those in the protocol died, but 58 percent of those not part of the protocol died. Details of the findings are published in a paper in Frontiers in Medicine. Take a closer look.

 

In a study published online in Science today, scientists at UCSF QBI and the Department of Microbiology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) reported data showing the promise and potential of Aplidin® (plitidepsin), a drug approved by the Australian Regulatory Agency for the treatment of multiple myeloma, against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Specifically, plitidepsin demonstrated antiviral activity that was 27.5-fold more potent against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro than remdesivir, a drug that received FDA emergency use authorization in 2020 for the treatment of COVID-19. Take a closer look.

 

The antibody-rich convalescent plasma donated by people who’ve recovered from COVID-19 can provide much-needed therapy for people ill with the disease. In a study published online on January 21 in JCI Insight, Einstein and Montefiore researchers led by Hyunah Yoon, M.D., and Liise-anne Pirofski, M.D., report that COVID-19 convalescent plasma, which contains SARS-CoV-2 binding antibodies, is effective for younger patients hospitalized with COVID-19. One hundred and three severely ill COVID-19 patients received convalescent plasma within 72 hours of admission to Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx between April 13 to May 4, 2020. Take a closer look.

 

The COVID-19 vaccine rollout is not proceeding at an effective pace. By mid-January, health care professionals had administered only 10 million shots—even though drug companies have distributed over 29 million doses across the United States. “Getting more needles in Americans’ arms can mean the difference between life and death,” writes Brian Harper, M.D., M.P.H., vice president for equity and inclusion and chief medical officer, in an op-ed in Business Insider. Take a closer look.

 

Even as we have worked with the NYS Department of Health and SUNY on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, our scientists continue to contribute to the scientific understanding of the virus’s molecular underpinnings. T cells are a critical part of the body’s immune system. These cells play a fundamental role in the immunologic processes that target and kill viral pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Take a closer look.

 

A new study of the U.K. and South Africa variants of SARS-CoV-2 predicts that current vaccines and certain monoclonal antibodies may be less effective at neutralizing these variants and that the new variants raise the specter that reinfections could be more likely. A preprint of the study is available on BioRxiv. The study’s predictions are now being borne out with the first reported results of the Novavax vaccine, says the study’s lead author David Ho, MD. Take a closer look.

 

People with schizophrenia, a mental disorder that affects mood and perception of reality, are almost three times more likely to die from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) than those without the psychiatric illness, a new study shows. Their higher risk, the investigators say, cannot be explained by other factors that often accompany serious mental health disorders, such as higher rates of heart disease, diabetes, and smoking. Take a closer look.

 

Studies of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have suggested that less-privileged children (those of color, from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and from families with lower educational levels) have a lower prevalence of ASD compared with other children. In a study published online on December 16 in the Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Kathleen McGrath, M.S.S., Karen Bonuck, Ph.D., Mana Mann, M.D., and colleagues assessed the prevalence and geographic differences of ASD diagnoses in New York State by English Language Learner (ELL) status. Take a closer look.

 

A new study by University at Buffalo researchers has revealed that the absence of a single interaction within a brain receptor reduces its activity. The discovery advances the understanding of how certain brain diseases arise, and could lead to developing precision medicines for treating them. The study was published Dec. 31 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by senior authors Gabriela K. Popescu, PhD, professor of biochemistry in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, and Wenjun Zheng, PhD, UB professor of physics in the College of Arts and Sciences; first authors are Gary Iacobucci, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in Popescu’s lab, and Han Wen, a doctoral candidate in Zheng’s lab. Take a closer look.

 

A surgical procedure meant to counter ulcerative colitis, an immune disease affecting the colon, may trigger a second immune system attack, a new study shows. The study results revolve around the immune system, the cells and proteins that destroy invading bacteria and viruses. Activating it brings about inflammation, responses like swelling and pain that result from cells homing in on the site of infection or injury. Autoimmune diseases like ulcerative colitis occur when this system mistakenly damages the body’s own tissues. Take a closer look.

 

Geneticist Eric Lander, Ph.D., president and founding director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Mass., and recipient of the 2010 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, has been tapped by U.S. President Elect Joe Biden as presidential science advisor and director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. If Dr. Lander is confirmed by the U.S. Senate, he will serve as a member of Biden’s cabinet. Take a closer look.

 

Olga V. Savinova, Ph.D., assistant professor of biomedical sciences at NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM), has secured a five-year grant estimated at $1.8 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The grant, which includes a first-year award of $342,675, will support research to improve the understanding of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and deliver a new treatment for heart disease. Take a closer look.

 

The CUNY School of Medicine (CSOM) is proud to congratulate our own, Marcus Mosley, on his research study “Thinking With Two Brains: Student Perspectives on the Presentation of Race in Pre-Clinical Medical Education” which was published by The Association for the Study of Medical Education. The study was motivated by growing concern that during their education medical students come to believe that race is a biological construct and that differential treatment of patients on “race” is clinically beneficial. Take a closer look.

 

School of Medicine students had the opportunity to present their research to the New York Medical College (NYMC) community during the 25th Annual Medical Student Research Forum on February 4. Topics presented during the forum, which is planned entirely by students on the Medical Student Research Committee, ranged from heart disease treatment and barriers to breast cancer screening to poor sleep health during COVID-19 lockdowns and gender differences in the writing of recommendation letters for residency applicants. Take a closer look.

 

“Environmental testing is pretty much the dark side of the moon for tracking pathogens, but that’s been the main focus of my recent research on SARS-CoV-2 dissemination. The idea to look closely into environmental testing came to our team while I was working at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research under a former Zucker School of Med MD/PhD student, Cyrus Kuschner, MD ’20. Now an emergency medicine resident, Cyrus introduced me to Lance Becker, MD, FAHA, an investigator at Feinstein and chair of emergency medicine at the school, and that is how I got involved with research utilizing environmental testing to track viral spread through hospital spaces. Take a closer look.

 

Inspired by recent events, including the COVID-19 pandemic and major social unrest surrounding race equity in the United States, several students in the School of Medicine (SOM) at New York Medical College (NYMC) sought to provide an outlet to share their perspectives on these broad range of issues by producing their own student-run academic journal. The resulting edition of the Roundtable Journal on Health Policy (RJHP) comprises a multi-disciplinary collection of commentaries and papers by SOM students on a wide range of issues in politics, society and health care from telemedicine and vaccination efforts related to the COVID-19 pandemic, to the importance of implicit bias training in medical education. Take a closer look.