News from AMSNY

Funding for Biomedical Research

On March 5 in Albany, Assemblymember Al Stirpe (D-Syracuse) and representatives of a coalition led by AMSNY called on the State Legislature to include an additional $100 million for biomedical research in the FY2026–27 State Budget.The investment, building on Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed $65 million biotechnology initiative, would support investigator-driven basic science research and strengthen the scientific workforce, helping to ensure that New York remains competitive as other states and countries ramp up funding for science. The group was joined at a press conference by Assemblymembers Anna Kelles (D-Ithaca), Gabriella Romero (D-Albany), and Jordan Wright (D-Harlem). Assemblymember Kelles, a scientist by training, reflected on her own experience in research and underscored the importance of sustained public investment to support discovery, retain talent, and drive innovation.

Highlights

Albert Einstein College of Medicine: The Gene Team Confronts Rare Disease

A New York couple’s nightmare journey through the healthcare system began when their baby was just a few months old. “Ben started missing his developmental milestones,” says his mom, Jessica Foglio. “He couldn’t chew, he couldn’t sit up, and then he was misdiagnosed with cerebral palsy.” Ben’s physicians ultimately figured out that he had an ultra-rare neurodevelopmental disorder known as Salla disease, stemming from a defect in a gene called SLC17A5. But the doctors had no idea how to treat him and seemed to have little interest in trying. Through a family friend, Jessica and her husband, Mike, found their way to Steven Walkley, D.V.M., Ph.D., then-director of Einstein’s Rose F. Kennedy Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC). Learn More

Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University: New Oral Vaccine Strategy Could Help Combat Colorectal Cancer

A research team investigating the use of the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes against colorectal cancer has discovered a way to build a modified version of Listeria as an oral vaccine to prime the immune system directly within the gut, where anti-tumor cells are then generated. Details of the work, led by Stony Brook immunologist Brian Sheridan, PhD, are published in the Journal for the ImmunoTherapy of Cancer. Learn More

Cardiology

New York Medical College: New Vein-Harvesting Technique Shows Promise in Reducing Bypass Graft Failure

Vein graft failure remains a major challenge in coronary artery bypass surgery, with nearly one in four grafts failing within the first 12 to 18 months, often due to injury sustained during vein harvesting. Now, as reported in JTCVS Open, a new vein-harvesting approach that was tested in the laboratory of Victor Garcia, Ph.D. ’15, associate professor of pharmacology at New York Medical College, shows promising evidence of preserving vein health and improving graft durability. Learn More

Cancer

Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons: More Sensitive Cell Therapy May Be a HIT Against Solid Cancers

CAR-T cell therapy has revolutionized the treatment of many blood cancers, but has shown little success against solid tumors, which account for over 85% of all cancers. Columbia researchers have now found that a new type of cell therapy—HIT cells, a cousin to CAR-T with enhanced sensitivity—overcomes a major obstacle to treating solid tumors with cell therapy and can completely eliminate kidney, pancreatic, and ovarian cancers in mice. The research, conducted by investigators at the Columbia Initiative in Cell Engineering and Therapy (CICET), was published Feb. 26 in the journal Science. Learn More

Neurology

New York Medical College: Uninsured Children Face Worse TBI Outcomes

Affecting more than 475,000 children each year, pediatric traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of serious disability and death in children. Now, a study by New York Medical College faculty published in Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery reports that uninsured patients face more than a 12-fold higher risk of death than those with either private or public insurance. Learn More

More Studies

Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons: Joshua Weiner – Reinventing Intestinal Transplantation

When Joshua Weiner begins to talk about his research at transplantation conferences, he sometimes starts by showing the remembrance cards he carries in his wallet that honor patients who have passed away. Patient deaths are unfortunately a common occurrence for surgeons like Weiner who specialize in intestinal transplantation. Whereas nearly 80% of heart and kidney transplant recipients survive beyond five years, just under half of intestinal transplant recipients live that long after surgery, the lowest survival rate in solid-organ transplantation. Learn More

Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai: Babies Are Exposed to More “Forever Chemicals” Before Birth Than Previously Known, New Study Finds

Babies born between 2003 and 2006 were exposed to many more “forever chemicals” before birth than scientists previously understood, according to new research published in Environmental Science & Technology.  Thousands of these chemicals, known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, remain in use today, and their human health effects are poorly understood—making it crucial to better understand cumulative PFAS exposure in utero. The study, led by Shelley H. Liu, PhD, Associate Professor of Population Health Science and Policy at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, is the first to use a data science–based method to estimate a newborn’s total PFAS exposure, drawing on advanced chemical detection in umbilical cord blood. Learn More

Weill Cornell Medicine: Weight-Loss Drug Linked to Lower Risk of Eye Disease in Patients with Diabetes

The popular diabetes and weight-loss medication tirzepatide (brand name Mounjaro or Zepbound) may lower the risk of diabetic retinopathy, a leading cause of vision loss, according to Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The findings may offer comfort to patients concerned about their eye health while taking the drug. Diabetic retinopathy develops when chronically high blood sugar damages the blood vessels lining the back of the eye and affects nearly 10 million people in the U.S. Previous studies suggested that GLP-1 diabetes and weight-loss drugs, such as semaglutide (brand name Wegovy or Ozempic), could worsen diabetic retinopathy and associated conditions. Learn More

Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai: Research Identifies Blind Spots in AI Medical Triage

ChatGPT Health, a widely used consumer artificial intelligence (AI) tool that provides health guidance directly to the public—including advice about how urgently to seek medical care—may fail to direct users appropriately to emergency care in a significant number of serious cases, according to researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.The study, fast-tracked in the February 23, 2026 online issue of Nature Medicine, is the first independent safety evaluation of the large language model (LLM)-based tool since its January 2026 launch. It also identified serious concerns with the tool’s suicide-crisis safeguards. Learn More

Albany Medical College: Pilot Study Tests Isolation Gowns in Collaboration with College’s Business Incubator

IsoGuardian, a Capital Region startup and affiliate member of the Office of Translational Research, Innovation, and Technology Transfer (OTR), recently achieved one of their major goals since joining the business incubator in 2024: A pilot study in a clinical setting for their washable, reusable isolation gowns. Over the course of two weeks in December, Albany Medical Center clinical staff tested the gowns for varying lengths of time, in both inpatient and procedural outpatient units. This allowed IsoGuardian to gather critical feedback about the comfort, fit, and utility of the gowns in actual clinical use. Learn More

Weill Cornell Medicine: New Strategies Aim at HIV’s Last Strongholds

A new study has overcome a long-standing challenge—how to isolate and study elusive HIV-infected cells called authentic reservoir clones (ARCs) that evade the immune system, making the disease difficult to cure. Researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine, Rockefeller University, and collaborating institutions offer an unprecedented look into these hidden HIV‑harboring cells and show that some may be more vulnerable to immune destruction than previously believed. The findings, published Feb. 24 in Nature, detail how the researchers collected these rare cells from study participants with HIV and successfully grew them in the laboratory to gain insights that may ultimately lead to a cure. Learn More

Albert Einstein College of Medicine: Age-Related Muscle Wasting Tied to Cell Recycling Defect

Two related studies published in Nature Metabolism show that a specialized intracellular recycling mechanism—chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA)—is essential for muscle health. The research, conducted in animal models and human muscle samples, found that CMA preserves muscle strength and enables muscles to repair themselves and that boosting CMA activity is a potential therapeutic strategy for preventing age-related muscle decline. Both studies were led in part by Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Ana Maria Cuervo, M.D, Ph.D., one of the world’s leading authorities on the role of CMA in health and disease. Learn More

Awards & Recognition

Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University: Neurology Researcher Wins National NIH Award for App That Predicts Fall Risk

An app easily used off a smartphone that quantitatively measures someone’s risk of falling is being recognized by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging (NIA) as a leading new technology to tackle one of the nation’s largest healthcare challenges – improving healthy aging. The app’s developer, Jeannette R. Mahoney, PhD, a Stony Brook Medicine neurology researcher, entered the NIA’s Start-Up Challenge in 2025 along with 275 competitors nationwide. On January 28, the NIA named her and six other contestants as winners of the year-long competition. Learn More

More Research News

Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo: Researchers Talk Challenges and Benefits of Lifestyle Interventions for Chronic Pain

Pain researchers at the University at Buffalo’s Behavioral Medicine Clinic have co-authored an editorial about a recent meta-analytic study on how some patients with pain may benefit from exposure to nature. Andrew H. Rogers, PhD, assistant professor of medicine, and Jeffrey M. Lackner, PsyD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Behavioral Medicine, both in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, conduct research with an emphasis on non-pharmacological treatments for chronic pain. Learn More

Albany Medical College: Multiphoton Microscope Adds Speed, Clarity to Biomedical Research

Albany Medical College’s basic science researchers regularly use high-tech microscopes to study the mechanisms of disease—from how cancer cells move in the body, to potential new targets for treatment, to where and how antibodies bind to cells. With the College’s newest microscope, the state-of-the-art Nikon AX R MP, installed last spring, the scientists are able to look even deeper into everything from proteins and molecules to arteries and tumors. Learn More

Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra Northwell: MD/PhD Student Awarded Prestigious Neurosurgery Fellowship For His Research

The Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell is pleased to announce that MD/PhD student Akash Mishra has been selected for the American Association for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (ASSFN) AMPLify Program. Mishra was selected from researchers nationwide for the competitive program. The AMPLify Program is designed to equip the next generation of neurosurgeons with the essential tools and experience to become leaders in stereotactic and functional neurosurgery. Learn More

Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo: MRI Scanner Positions CBI as Regional Hub for Advanced Imaging Technologies

The University at Buffalo’s Philips MR7700 3 Tesla scanner continues to be a cornerstone of cutting-edge biomedical research and clinical innovation across the university and the greater Western New York community. Installed a little more than two years ago, the 5.5-ton MRI imaging system resides at the Center for Biomedical Imaging (CBI), located within UB’s Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTRC). Learn More

Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell: Student Shines at GSA with Award-Winning Geriatric Research

Justin W. Lam, a second-year medical student at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, was recognized for his geriatrics research at the 2025 Gerontological Society of America (GSA) Annual Scientific Meeting held in Boston. Lam received both the Emerging Scholar Poster Award (ESPO) and the TJ McCallum Memorial Student Travel Award for outstanding research in technology and aging, titled “Privacy, Proficiency, and the Promise of Wearables: Insights from Focus Groups with Older Adults.” Learn More