News from AMSNY

New York State is a global leader in biomedical research, but we face unprecedented challenges in maintaining that position. Changes in federal priorities and policies on scientific research, coupled with aggressive new recruitment efforts by competitors in Europe and China, make it clear that New York’s continued leadership in biomedical research will depend on innovative approaches that leverage federal, state and local investments.

New York’s life sciences sector plays a critically important role in our state and regional economies. In 2024, New York State was the second leading recipient of funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with nearly $3.6 billion supporting more than 6,200 research projects – 70% ($2.5 billion) of which was awarded to scientists at our medical schools.

The benefits of robust investments in research accrue not only to our economy, but also to the health of New Yorkers. NIH funded scientists at our medical schools continue to make significant breakthroughs on the leading causes of morbidity and mortality, including cancers, neurodegenerative disorders, heart disease and diabetes.

AMSNY urges New York State to consider establishing a bold new initiative that:

• Is sufficiently scaled to enable New York State to succeed against global competitors.
• Provides long-term stability to support the research enterprise and our scientific workforce.
• Is broad-based in scope to address the wide range of research conducted at our academic institutions and leverages the strengths of conducting research in New York.
• The future of biomedical research in New York depends on our willingness to make these strategic investments today.

Highlights

Weill Cornell Medicine: Study Finds Addictive Screen Use, Not Total Screen Time, Linked to Youth Suicide Risk

New research shows that youth who become increasingly addicted to social media, mobile phones or video games are at greater risk of suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts and emotional or behavioral issues. The study, published June 18 in JAMA, was led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons and University of California, Berkeley. Unlike previous studies that focused on total screen time at one point in a child’s life, this study looked at how young people’s patterns of compulsive or “addictive” use changed over time. Learn More

Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at University at Buffalo: New Non-Opioid Molecule Relieves Chronic Pain for 3 Weeks

A new molecule developed by Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences researchers acts like a local, long-lasting anesthetic, providing robust pain relief for up to three weeks, according to the results of preclinical studies reported recently in the journal Pain. Like the numbing sensation we are all familiar with when we get anesthetized at the dentist’s office, the new molecule acts like a local anesthetic, but in a much more targeted way. Learn More

Cancer

Albert Einstein College of Medicine: Vern Schramm Pursuing the Ones That Got Away

At age 2-1/2, Katie Lambertson of California was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), an aggressive condition marked by cancerous T cells crowding out healthy white blood cells in the bone marrow and blood. Over the next several months, Katie failed all standard therapies for her cancer, including three rounds of chemotherapy and a bone-marrow transplant involving total body irradiation. Her parents were told she had at most a month to live. Learn More

Albert Einstein College of Medicine: Novel Treatment Strategy for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

A normal housekeeping process called chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) maintains cell health by degrading and eliminating damaged or potentially dangerous proteins. CMA is highly upregulated in most cancers, enhancing tumor cell survival and increasing resistance to chemotherapy. To date, most efforts to develop treatments that selectively inhibit CMA in cancer cells have been unsuccessful. Learn More

New York Medical College: Dr. Mitchell Cairo Seeks Safer Treatments for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma with New Clinical Trial

Nationally renowned pediatric oncologist Mitchell Cairo, M.D., professor of pediatrics, medicine, cell biology and anatomy and of pathology, microbiology, and immunology and vice chair of the Department of Pediatrics, will lead a new clinical trial to advance safer, more precise treatments for Hodgkin’s lymphoma—particularly for children, adolescents, and young adults. The clinical trial is funded in part by a prestigious Empire Clinical Research Investigator Program grant from New York State. Learn More

University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry: Why Don’t Bats Get Cancer? Researchers Discover Protection from Genes and Strong Immune Systems

A study to look at why long-lived bats do not get cancer has broken new ground about the biological defenses that resist the disease. Reported in the journal Nature Communications, a University of Rochester research team found that four common species of bats have superpowers allowing them to live up to 35 years, which is equal to about 180 human years, without cancer. Learn More

Cardiology

SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University: The Hidden Connection Between Allergies and the Heart

Most people consider allergies minor—sneezing, itchy eyes, or a lingering cough. Few connect them to heart disease. New research from Downstate suggests that this view may need to change. Common allergic conditions like asthma and hay fever may increase the odds of cardiovascular disease. Sairaman Nagarajan, M.D., MPH, physician editor at The Merck Manuals and adjunct professor at Downstate, was the first author on the most extensive study to date examining this connection. Learn More

Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University: Heart Institute Launches New Transcatheter Tricuspid Valve Replacement Program

For the estimated 1.6 million Americans diagnosed with symptomatic tricuspid valve regurgitation each year, a significant advancement in treatment is now available on Long Island. With the launch of the new Transcatheter Tricuspid Valve Replacement (TTVR) Program at the Stony Brook Heart Institute (SBHI), patients at Stony Brook Medicine have access to groundbreaking, minimally invasive therapies. Learn More

Neurology

Norton College of Medicine at Upstate Medical University Researchers Help Uncover How Exercise Protects the Brain in Alzheimer’s Disease

A new study published in Nature Neuroscience highlights how exercise triggers protective changes in the brain that may help counteract Alzheimer’s disease; Upstate Medical University researchers played a key role in this groundbreaking work. Nathan Tucker, PhD, is an associate professor of pharmacology at Upstate whose lab focuses on advanced molecular profiling and computational biology. Learn More

University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry: Glial Replacement Therapy Slows Huntington’s Disease in Adult Mice

Huntington’s disease has long defied attempts to rescue suffering neurons. A new study in Cell Reports shows that transplanting healthy human glial progenitor cells into the brains of adult animal models of the disease not only slowed motor and cognitive decline but also extended lifespan. These findings shift our understanding of Huntington’s pathology and open a potential path to cell-based therapies in adults already showing symptoms. Learn More

Weill Cornell Medicine: Mapping the Connections Between the Brain’s Structure and Function

Using an algorithm they call the Krakencoder, researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine are a step closer to unraveling how the brain’s wiring supports the way we think and act. The study, published June 5 in Nature Methods, used imaging data from the Human Connectome Project to align neural activity with its underlying circuitry. Learn More

Student Research

New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine: Using AI to Detect ECG Abnormalities

The growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) for medical applications is creating new tools for physicians to provide better patient care and improve health outcomes. Two recent student-led research projects have uncovered potential new uses of AI modeling techniques for heart health, increasing the efficiency and accuracy of cardiac diagnoses. Learn More

More Studies

Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons: New Method Speeds Diagnosis of Rare Genetic Disease

A new laboratory method developed by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons may now help physicians more quickly diagnose patients with suspected genetic disorders of the immune system, many who have been trapped in diagnostic limbo for years.  The researchers, who published their findings June 20 in Cell, applied the method to one rare inborn error of immunity called activated-PI3Kδ syndrome (APDS) and found dozens of additional genetic variations that could cause the syndrome. Learn More

SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University: Understanding the Folate Connection to Autism

For more than three decades, Edward V. Quadros, Ph.D. Hematology/Oncology Division Research Professor in the Department of Medicine, has been chasing the answer to a question that did not make sense: Why do some children with autism show signs of folate deficiency in the brain—even when their blood tests look normal? Thanks to recent clinical breakthroughs and a growing chorus of collaborators, the scientific puzzle is now making national headlines as Dr. Quadros’s work is reshaping how we understand neurodevelopmental disorders—and opening new possibilities for treatment. Learn More

New York Medical College: New Study Demonstrates First Successful Long-Acting Oral Drug Delivery for Schizophrenia

Managing schizophrenia can become significantly easier and more empowering for patients. A new study authored by Leslie Citrome, M.D., M.P.H., clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at New York Medical College, and published in The Lancet Psychiatry, has produced the first successful demonstration of a once-weekly, long-acting oral treatment for the management of schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. Learn More

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: Researchers Use Wearable Technology to Explore the Link Between IBD and Sleep Disruption

Mount Sinai researchers have published the first study to use wearable devices to assess how inflammation and symptoms in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affect sleep characteristics and sleep patterns over time.  The study found that significant changes in sleep metrics—specifically, reduced REM sleep and increased light sleep—only occurred when inflammation was present in the body, with symptoms alone not resulting in any notable sleep disruption. Learn More

Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University: Long-Term PTSD Symptoms in WTC Responders Bear Watching

A study of nearly 13,000 World Trade Center (WTC) responders and their symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) over a 20-year period (July 2002 to December 2022) shows that symptoms can change though remain for many responders, increase in a smaller portion of them, and can help predict their physical impairment and mental health many years after trauma. Led by a team of researchers at Stony Brook Medicine, in affiliation with the World Trade Center Health and Wellness Program at Stony Brook University, the findings are published online in Nature Mental Health. Learn More

Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine: Why Biofilms Make Diabetic Foot Ulcers Hard to Treat

Foot ulcers in people with diabetes are a growing problem across the world, with an estimated 26 million new cases annually. Yet, treatments often fail, and the ulcers often lead to serious complications and even amputation. Treatments fail largely because the wounds are “protected” by biofilms that make them less penetrable by antibiotics. Learn More

Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at University at Buffalo: Lombardo Study Focuses on Cell Polarity Signaling 

All living things polarize, so examining the elements of how this occurs is to study the basic necessities of life.“My interest as a scientist, the biggest thing that guides me, is I want to be thinking about fundamental things that make life as we know it,” says Andrew T. Lombardo, PhD, assistant professor of biochemistry in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Learn More

Grants and Recognition

Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons: Scientists Named Chan Zuckerberg Investigators to Advance Cell Therapies

Two teams at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons received funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub New York to develop next-generation, personalized cell therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Aimee Payne, chair of the Department of Dermatology, leads a project to develop cell therapies that eliminate harmful cells in patients with pemphigus, myasthenia gravis, and other autoimmune diseases. Catherine Spina, assistant professor of radiation oncology, and Jeremy Worley, assistant professor of systems biology, lead a team working to adapt chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T) therapy—which has shown remarkable success in treating blood cancers—for the treatment of solid tumors. Learn More

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Ranked a Global Leader in Health Care Research

Each year, the Nature Index—a database produced by academic publisher Springer Nature that tracks research output—puts out a ranking list of leading institutions, organizations, and corporations with publications in prestigious journals. In the Nature Index 2025 Research Leaders list released in June, the Mount Sinai Health System earned top marks: among health care institutions in the United States and North America, it was No. 5 for its research output. When compared against health care institutions around the world, Mount Sinai ranked sixth. Learn More

More News

Albany Medical College: Review Examines Impact of Trauma-Informed Care on Patient Health, Experience

Trauma impacts most of the U.S. population at some point: Up to 90 percent of adults and 72 percent of children in the U.S. have experienced some form of lifetime trauma. Studies have also shown that trauma occurring during childhood can affect brain development and lead to lifelong health consequences, including higher risk for COPD, stroke, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Drawing on this research, Albany Medical College colleagues Megan Gerber, MD, professor of Medicine, and Angela Antonikowski, PhD, clinical psychologist and associate dean of Community Outreach and Medical Education, explain in a review article for JAMA why it’s critically important for clinicians to incorporate trauma-informed care with all patients. Learn More

Albany Medical College: New Partnership to Share Key Research Facilities

Albany Medical College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) have signed a formal agreement allowing faculty from each institution reciprocal access to the other’s core facilities for research purposes. Research is a critical enterprise at both institutions, two of the leaders of biomedical, biotechnology, and bioengineering studies in the region. Learn More