Breast cancer is a major public health problem in the United States and is associated with more than 40,000 deaths each year—most of them caused by metastasis, the spread of cancer to other parts of the body. During metastasis, cells of the primary breast tumor invade blood vessels, travel in the bloodstream, and then exit the vessels to seed tumors in their new location. Learn more.

 

Common concerns about telemedicine don’t hold up to scrutiny, a first-of-its-kind study highlighting telemedicine’s remarkable effectiveness concludes. The paper is one of two studies on telemedicine by University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) researchers appearing this week in NEJM Catalyst. The second study demonstrates the success of URMC’s effort to provide mental health services to nursing homes via a hybrid model that includes telemedicine. Learn more.

 

Recent studies have shown that patients with weakened immune systems—which enables the virus that causes COVID-19 to remain longer in the body, copy itself, and continually change—may enable the development of new, slightly different versions of the virus (variants). These people include those treated with drugs that suppress the immune system to keep it from rejecting a newly transplanted organ. Learn more.

 

The University at Buffalo and UBMD Physicians’ Group have launched the long COVID registry in order to learn more about the condition and to connect Western New Yorkers with treatment options and the potential to participate in clinical trials. Open to anyone 18 years of age or older in Western New York who has, or thinks they may have, long COVID, the registry is a questionnaire that allows people to describe their symptoms in detail. Learn more.

 

Hundreds of millions of people have had COVID, leaving many with an array of lingering symptoms known as long COVID. Awareness of long COVID has increased, allowing clinicians to refine their approach to diagnosing and treating patients. However, researchers are still looking for a more standardized definition of long COVID—and for clues to help predict who will develop it and how long it may take to recover. Learn more.

 

A new type of technology can capture stray ovarian cancer cells from a simple blood test and successfully predict cancer in people who have a lesion or cyst in the pelvic region, according to a new study by a Wilmot Cancer Institute physician/scientist. Nearly 200 local people participated in the study, which was led by Richard Moore, M.D., director of the Wilmot Cancer Institute’s Gynecologic Oncology program at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Learn more.

 

The presence of some fungal species in tumors predicts—and may even help drive—worse cancer outcomes, according to a study from Weill Cornell Medicine and Duke University researchers. The study, which appeared on Sept. 29 in Cell, provides a scientific framework to develop tests that delineate specific fungal species in tumors that are relevant for prediction of cancer progression and therapy. The results also point to the possibility of using antifungal treatments to augment conventional cancer treatments in some cases. Learn more.

 

Approximately 287,850 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the United States this year, as well as 51,400 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer. In fact, one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. And for those with BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations, the chances are even higher. Learn more.

 

Autism affects millions of families nationwide. Over the past few years, the Covid-19 pandemic changed the lives and routines of most people, and the challenges of managing life with family members on the autism spectrum only increased. In an effort to further advance scientific understanding of autism, Stony Brook University clinicians and researchers will now be joining a nationwide network called SPARK (Simons Powering Autism Research Knowledge). Learn more.

 

In a large clinical trial that directly compared four drugs commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes, researchers from around the country, including those at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System, found that insulin glargine and liraglutide performed the best of four medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to maintain blood glucose levels in the recommended range. Blood glucose management is a key component of keeping people with type 2 diabetes healthy. Learn more.

 

An emerging field explores how groups of molecules condense together inside cells, the way oil droplets assemble and separate from water in a vinaigrette. In human cells, “liquid–liquid phase separation” occurs because similar, large molecules glom together into dense droplets separated from the more diluted parts of the fluid cell interior. Past work had suggested that evolution harnessed the natural formation of these “condensates” to organize cells, providing, for instance, isolated spaces for the building of cellular machines. Learn more.

 

A new screening tool for electronic medical records accurately identifies patients who are at high risk of having or developing progressive scarring of the lungs, a condition called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, according to investigators from Weill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian, the University of Chicago, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Mayo Clinic. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is usually fatal, in part because it tends to be diagnosed late in its course, when existing treatments are less effective. Learn more.

 

Researchers from the Brain Injury Research Center of Mount Sinai have been awarded $8.3 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate the clinical and biological features that distinguish chronic, static effects of traumatic brain injury from those associated with progressive, post-traumatic neurodegeneration. Learn more.

 

Joel Wilmore, PhD, assistant professor in the department of Microbiology and Immunology, was awarded more than $2 million from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to study the microbiome, and how systemic antibody responses are induced in response to commensal bacteria. The microbiome is composed of complex communities of bacteria that dynamically interact with each other and with their host. Learn more.

 

They introduced genomic sequencing of the coronavirus to Western New York. They sampled wastewater to determine the level of the virus locally. They partnered with local groups to boost vaccinations and share scientific information in user-friendly ways. “They” are University at Buffalo faculty. Their collective efforts since the start of the pandemic have resulted in numerous projects that have tangibly benefitted the local population. Learn more.

 

Marvin Medow, Ph.D., professor of pediatrics and associate professor of physiology, and Julian Stewart, M.D., Ph.D., professor of pediatrics, physiology and of medicine, at New York Medical College (NYMC) have been awarded a $708,618 grant by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for research to better understand the mechanisms that cause postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) in young women. Learn more.

 

A new discovery made at Upstate Medical University about the DNA of patients with Fragile X syndrome has been awarded funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) for further study. Researcher Wenyi Feng, PhD, an associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, will continue her research on understanding the genome maintenance function of the fragile X protein with a $488,250 grant from the NIMH. Learn more.

 

Jessica Hochberg, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics, and Yaya Chu, Ph.D., assistant professor of pediatrics, at New York Medical College (NYMC) have been awarded a $300,000 Hyundai Scholars Hope Grant to support their life-saving research to develop novel therapeutic approaches to treat relapsing children with Burkitt lymphoma, a highly aggressive cancer of the lymphatic system. Learn more.

 

Four young faculty members at Columbia University have received prestigious “New Innovator” awards from the NIH’s High-Risk, High-Reward program: Vikram Gadagkar, PhD, assistant professor of neuroscience, Jellert Gaublomme, PhD, assistant professor of biological sciences, Christopher Makinson, PhD, assistant professor of neurological sciences, Joanna Smeeton, PhD, the H.K. Corning Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation & Regenerative Medicine Research. Learn more.

 

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai will award its inaugural 2022 Maria I. New International Prize for Biomedical Research to cancer and HIV cellular therapy pioneer Carl H. June, MD, for his groundbreaking work in immunotherapy. Dr. June is most widely known as one of the inventors of CAR T cell therapy for cancer, which has already led to FDA-approved treatments for lymphoma, leukemia, and multiple myeloma. Learn more.