Racism—both on a personal level and in overall society—negatively affects the mental and physical health of millions of people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These health issues, and some ways to rise above them, are addressed in this Q&A with Lynne D. Richardson, MD, Co-Director of the Institute for Health Equity Research at Mount Sinai, and Professor of Emergency Medicine, and Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Learn more.

 

Community outreach and restricting COVID-19 vaccine appointments by zip code helped NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital reach Black and Hispanic patients and reduce health disparities in COVID-19 vaccine uptake, according to a study by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and NewYork-Presbyterian. The study was published online June 22 in JAMA Open Network. Learn more.

 

New research from the University at Buffalo reveals valuable information about the ways that host cells work to block entry of SARS-CoV-2 and, in turn, how the virus strikes back. The findings uncover important features about cellular interactions between virus and host and how they might be exploited to develop new methods of treatment for both SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and HIV. Learn more.

 

A study of 1,280 patients treated and monitored at the Stony Brook World Trade Center Health and Wellness Program who also contracted Covid-19 reveals that the responders who have suffered from chronic conditions from WTC exposures and the experience of the 911 tragedy appear to have more infection severity and long-term sequelae than responders who do not have chronic diseases resulting from WTC exposures. Learn more.

 

The latest omicron subvariants—including the BA.4 and BA.5 forms causing new surges in infections in the United States—are even better at eluding vaccines and most antibody treatments than previous variants, finds a study by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Learn more.

 

Paxlovid, the COVID-19 medicine developed by Pfizer, is being evaluated in Western New York in children ages 12 to 17 who weigh at least 88 pounds, are symptomatic with COVID-19 infection, and who are at risk of progression to severe disease. Paxlovid, comprised of nirmatrelvir tablets that are co-administered with ritonavir tablets that are administered orally in the outpatient setting over five days, has been shown in a pivotal clinical trial to reduce hospitalization or death by 88% compared to placebo in adults treated within five days of symptom onset. Learn more.

 

Understanding why and how chemotherapy resistance occurs is a major step toward optimizing treatments for cancer. A team of scientists including Markus Seeliger, PhD, of the Stony Brook Cancer Center and Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, believe they have found a new process through which drug resistance happens. Learn more.

 

Aerobic exercise reprograms the immune system to reduce pancreatic tumor growth and amplify the effects of immunotherapy, a new study finds. Published online in Cancer Cell June 2, the study provides new insight into how the mammalian immune system, designed to attack foreign invaders like bacteria, can also recognize cancer cells as abnormal. Learn more.

 

A new onset of a rapid or irregular heartbeat that develops after surgery, often within a few days, is associated with an increased risk for hospitalization for heart failure among patients undergoing both cardiac and noncardiac surgery, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian investigators. The condition, called post-operative atrial fibrillation (POAF), may be a marker for early-stage heart failure and may potentially contribute to its development. Learn more.

 

It has long been thought that when walking is combined with a task – both suffer. Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester found that this is not always the case. Some young and healthy people improve performance on cognitive tasks while walking by changing the use of neural resources. However, this does not necessarily mean you should work on a big assignment while walking off that cake from the night before. Learn more.

 

Clinicians at Upstate Medical University have dosed the first patient in a national clinical trial—the first-ever regenerative human cell therapy, NRTX-1001, delivered as a single dose for the treatment of epilepsy. The clinical trial is sponsored by Neurona Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company advancing regenerative neural cell therapies for the treatment of neurological disorders. Learn more.

 

A breakdown in how brain cells rid themselves of waste precedes the buildup of debris-filled plaques known to occur in Alzheimer’s disease, a new study in mice shows. For decades, scientists argued that such plaques, which contain the protein amyloid beta, built up outside of cells as a crucial first step toward the brain damage observed in Alzheimer’s disease. Learn more.

 

Research into the causes of type 1 diabetes often focuses on the autoimmune response, where the immune system destroys pancreatic islet beta cells that produce insulin. A new study by a national team of researchers, which included Jerry Nadler, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine and professor of medicine and pharmacology at New York Medical College (NYMC) and Raghavendra Mirmira, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine and director of the Diabetes Translational Research Center at the University of Chicago (UChicago), instead examined the role of the beta cells themselves in triggering autoimmunity. Learn more.

 

A new multidisciplinary study conducted by researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center has found that the co-development of three systems, the gut microbiome, respiratory system and immune system, is correlated with a baby’s respiratory health, and an infant can have negative respiratory outcomes if the development of one of these systems is disrupted. Learn more.

 

Improvements in trauma care could save the lives of thousands of people injured in road traffic accidents in low- and middle-income countries annually, according to a study led by a Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian investigator. In particular, the analysis found that establishing complete trauma care programs accessible to 100 percent of road injury victims could save the lives of 200,000 people annually. Learn more.

 

With kidney transplantation the best treatment option for patients with end-stage renal disease, living-donor kidney transplantation has increasingly been looked to as a solution for donor shortage. Yet donor nephrectomy does not come without risks. In a new study, published in Transplant Proceedings, a team of New York Medical College researchers validated the effectiveness of a tool to calculate how well patients who donated a kidney will recover. Learn more.

 

Depression has long been considered a serious mental disorder caused by extreme stress or a chemical imbalance that is treated by psychotherapy or medication. That is, until Helen Mayberg, MD, Professor of Neurology, Neurosurgery, Psychiatry, and Neuroscience, and founding Director of the Nash Family Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics at Mount Sinai, took a different approach. Learn more.

 

Albert Einstein College of Medicine researchers have been awarded a five-year, $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the effects of COVID-19 on the brains of adults who had mild or asymptomatic infection. Using neuroimaging, cognitive, and immunological tests, the investigators will examine if SARS-CoV-2 infection induces lasting changes in the brain and affects neurocognitive function. Learn more.

 

Dr. Ashiwel Undieh, Professor of Neuroscience & Pharmacology at the City University of New York School of Medicine, was recently awarded a four-year, $628,000 grant from the NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). The project is entitled Nonpeptide Neurotrophic Mechanisms in Spinal Cord Repair and will study small-molecule compounds that have the potential to repurpose existing drugs or assist with the design of new drugs to treat patients with spinal cord injuries. Learn more.

 

Scientists, venture investment firm leaders, and industry stakeholders gathered on Tuesday, June 7 to attend Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s inaugural Therapeutics Venture and Pitch Competition. The event, organized by Einstein’s office of biotechnology and business development, featured three research teams presenting their novel therapeutic approaches for potential investment and development. Learn more.