A screening program that combines genetic and lab testing could identify 1 million Americans who are at risk of early death from heart disease because they carry a gene that causes high cholesterol, found researchers at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Learn more.

 

A team of scientists from across the country will use a $15.6 million award from the National Institute of Mental Health to investigate the brain networks central to obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). The work will build on more than 15 years of research by lead investigator Suzanne N. Haber, Ph.D. and collaborators to understand the underlying biology of the disease and guide the development of effective treatments. Learn more.

 

Upstate Medical University researchers have published a study examining factors behind the increased risk of COVID-19 among older adults with dementia. The study found that adults over 65 with dementia have a significantly higher risk for COVID-19 but not because they aren’t following protective measures such as masking and social distancing. The relationship between dementia and COVID-19 was primarily explained by functional impairment, income, and residential setting. Learn more.

 

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have identified a previously unrecognized form of hormone therapy-resistant prostate cancer, as well as a set of molecules that drive its growth. This discovery opens the door to the development of therapies that treat this specific disease. Learn more.

 

Mount Sinai researchers have validated for the first time that a simple blood test called a liquid biopsy could be a better predictor of whether cancer immunotherapy will be successful for a patient with lung cancer than an invasive tumor biopsy procedure. Their study was published in the Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research in June. Learn more.

 

This spring, New York Tech researchers, led by Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences Haotian Zhao, Ph.D., published scientific research that could bring the medical community one step closer to winning the fight against pediatric brain cancer. Zhao, along with medical and undergraduate students, as well as colleagues from the College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM), teamed up with researchers from prestigious institutions, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Boston Children’s Hospital, and others, to study the cellular biology behind choroid plexus (CP) carcinomas. Learn more.

 

Genetically engineered immune cells successfully target the specific cancer cells that may be responsible for relapse of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a type of blood cancer, and proved effective in animal models of the disease, according to a preclinical study by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine. The new cell therapy, now being tested in phase 1 clinical trials, may ultimately help patients with AML to remain cancer-free. Learn more.

 

Exercise increases levels of a chemical involved in brain cell growth, which bolsters the release of the “feel good” hormone dopamine, a new study shows. Dopamine is known to play a key role in movement, motivation, and learning. Experts have long understood that regular running raises dopamine activity in the brain and may protect nerve cells from damage. In addition, past research has tied exercise-driven boosts in the dopamine-triggering chemical called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and in dopamine levels to improvements in learning and memory. However, the precise way these three factors interact has until now remained unclear. Learn more.

 

At least two percent of the population harbors aneurysms — fragile, bubble-like bulges that can occur at weakened areas in the arteries supplying blood flow to the brain. These aneurysms can burst, causing life-threatening brain bleeding. A significant percentage of these are wide-necked bifurcation aneurysms (WNBAs), a common type of brain aneurysm that arises at blood vessel branch points. Learn more.

 

For more than 20 years, scientists have known that people with hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, or obesity have a higher likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The conditions can all affect the brain, damaging blood vessels and leading to strokes. But the connection between vascular disease in the brain and Alzheimer’s has remained unexplained despite the intense efforts of researchers. Learn more.

 

New research published in JAMA recommends daily steroid doses for children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), marking a significant change in how the disease is treated. University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) neurologist Robert Griggs, M.D., and Michela Guglieri, M.D., with Newcastle University in the U.K., led the study, which was conducted by a global team of researchers dedicated to improving care for this fatal disease. Learn more.

 

A mysterious form of diabetes known as malnutrition-related diabetes afflicts tens of millions of people in Asian and sub-Saharan African countries. Its victims—mainly thin and impoverished adolescents and young adults—rarely live more than a year after diagnosis. Their young age and thinness suggest type 1 diabetes (T1D), but insulin injections usually don’t help and can even cause death from low blood sugar. Nor do patients seem to have type 2 diabetes (T2D), which is typically associated with obesity. Learn more.

 

With nearly 10 percent of the world population affected by food allergies — which are sometimes life-threatening — new treatments are critically needed. Researchers in the lab of Xiu-Min Li, M.D, M.S., professor of pathology, microbiology and immunology and otolaryngology at New York Medical College (NYMC) have found that the plant compound formononetin has great potential to treat food allergies. Learn more.

 

The largest U.S. report of elective fertility preservation outcomes to date found that 70 percent of women who froze eggs when they were younger than 38—and thawed at least 20 eggs at a later date—had a baby. Led by experts at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and the NYU Langone Fertility Center, the new finding was based on 15 years of real-life frozen egg thaw outcomes for women who had delayed childbearing and faced natural, age-related fertility decline. Learn more.

 

Mount Sinai Health System has appointed Bruce D. Gelb, MD, as Dean for Child Health Research at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. In this new position, Dr. Gelb will lead strategic planning, resource allocation, and integration of research across Mount Sinai’s children’s health enterprise. He will also work to expand the application of pediatric genomic medicine and clinical trials, and develop efforts in health systems research and applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Learn more.

 

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Albert Einstein College of Medicine a five-year, $11.3 million grant to renew the Einstein-Rockefeller-CUNY Center for AIDS Research (ERC-CFAR) and expand its efforts to prevent, treat and cure HIV infection, and thereby reduce the burden of HIV, locally, nationally, and internationally. Learn more.

 

The Stony Brook Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease (CEAD) was awarded a new $2.35 million, state-funded grant over five years (2022-27 grant cycle) by the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and renews on June 1. Of the 10 NYSDOH-supported, hospital-based centers in the state, Stony Brook Medicine is the only recipient of this competitive grant on Long Island and will continue to serve the growing needs of communities in both Nassau and Suffolk counties. Learn more.

 

Upstate Medical University physician Auyon Ghosh, MD, MPH, has been awarded a $50,000 American Thoracic Society (ATS)/Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research Grant. The grant comes the Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research (FSR), the leading international nonprofit organization dedicated to finding a cure and improving care for sarcoidosis patients. Learn more.

 

A new series of forums is highlighting the translational research partnerships within Albany Med that are expanding our understanding of diseases and leading to new treatments for them. Translational research draws on basic science discoveries made in the lab (at the “bench”) to develop practical treatments and therapeutics that can be used in the clinic (at the “bedside”). Learn more.