Nov
28
2018
Highlights |
NYU School of Medicine: Faith-Based Intervention Successful at Managing Hypertension in Black Communities, New Study Finds
A lifestyle intervention delivered in churches by community-based health workers led to a significant reduction in blood pressure among African Americans compared to health education alone. This is the finding of a study led by researchers at NYU School of Medicine that published online October 9 in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. Take a closer look.
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Weill Cornell Medicine: Two Weill Cornell Medicine Faculty Win NCI Outstanding Investigator Award
Weill Cornell Medicine investigators Dr. David Lyden, the Stavros S. Niarchos Professor in Pediatric Cardiology and a professor of pediatrics, and Dr. Ari Melnick, the Gebroe Family Professor of Hematology/Oncology and a professor of medicine, have been awarded Outstanding Investigator Awards from the National Cancer Institute. Take a closer look.
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Cancer |
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons: For Early Cervical Cancer, Open Hysterectomy is Safer Than Minimally Invasive Surgery
A new study shows that women with early-stage cervical cancer who underwent minimally invasive hysterectomy had a 65 percent higher risk of death compared with those who had open surgery. The study, which belies the general assumption that minimally invasive surgery is safer than conventional “open” surgery, was published online today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Take a closer look.
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Albert Einstein College of Medicine: Breakthrough Treatment Helps Prolong Life for People With Metastatic Lung Cancer
When lung cancer has spread, or metastasized, to other parts of the body, standard chemotherapy offers only a modest survival benefit. Now, in a major advance described in the New England Journal of Medicine, an international team, including researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System, report that combining chemotherapy with the immunotherapy drug Keytruda extends the lives of people with metastatic squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by more than 40 percent compared with chemotherapy alone-a significant improvement that should immediately change the standard of care. Take a closer look.
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NYU School of Medicine: New Kind of Compound Shows Early Promise Against Prostate Cancer
A new type of molecule blocks the action of genes that drive the growth of therapy-resistant prostate cancer, a new study finds. “Rather than continue making compounds that are just like older drugs, the focus of our work has been to rethink the definition of what a drug-like molecule can be,” says corresponding author Susan K. Logan, PhD, associate professor in NYU Langone’s Department of Urology. Take a closer look.
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Weill Cornell Medicine: Ovarian Cancer Thwarts Immune Cells by Revving up Stress
Ovarian tumors disable the immune system’s killer T cells-which protect the body by destroying infected or malignant cells-enabling the disease to flourish unchecked, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine scientists. The findings show that adverse conditions within ovarian tumors cause detrimental stress responses in T cells, a process that paralyzes them. Take a closer look.
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Neurology |
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons: In Kids With Autism, Short Questionnaire May Detect GI Disorders
Anger, aggression, and other troubling behavior problems in kids with autism are often treated as psychological issues, but in many cases the problems can be traced to gastrointestinal distress. A new study shows that a 17-item questionnaire-developed by pediatric gastroenterologists and psychiatrists-could be an effective screen to identify children who may have gastrointestinal disorders and who should be referred to a specialist for a fuller evaluation. Take a closer look.
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Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: Common Medications Taken During Pregnancy Are Not Associated With Risk for Autism
Babies exposed in the womb to the majority of medications that target neurotransmitter systems, including typical targets of antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs, are not any more likely to develop autism than non-exposed babies, according to research conducted at The Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published in JAMA Psychiatry. Take a closer look.
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University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry: Study Points to New Method to Deliver Drugs to the Brain
Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) have discovered a potentially new approach to deliver therapeutics more effectively to the brain. The research could have implications for the treatment of a wide range of diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS, and brain cancer. Take a closer look.
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Other Studies |
Stony Brook Medicine: Synthetic “Gene Thermometers” Show How Cells Endure Heat or Cold
In the natural world, organisms, cells, and therefore genes respond and adjust to temperature changes on a regular basis. But when scientists study genes in the laboratory, the cells containing them are most often kept at a constant temperature, which does not match the real world and minimizes the understanding of cell/gene adjustments to temperatures during the natural living process. To better understand how genes respond to temperature fluctuations, a team of scientists at the Louis and Beatrice Laufer Center for Physical & Quantitative Biology at Stony Brook University designed a study of yeast cells. Take a closer look.
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New York Medical College : New Tick Species Identified at the Lyme Disease Diagnostic Center at NYMC
In his 30 years as founder and lead physician of the Lyme Disease Diagnostic Center at New York Medical College (NYMC), Gary P. Wormser, M.D., professor of medicine, microbiology and immunology, and pharmacology, and vice chair of medicine for research and development at NYMC, has seen a countless number of ticks indigenous to New York State. But on June 4, 2018, a patient from Yonkers, New York walked into the Center with a tick Dr. Wormser hadn’t yet encountered. The exotic Haemaphysalis longicornis (H. longicornis), also known as the longhorn tick, was new to New York. Take a closer look.
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University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry: Using the Microbiome to Help Premature Babies Grow
About half of babies born prematurely struggle to grow, putting them at risk of health problems that can last a lifetime. Despite years of research, physicians lack a method that consistently helps these infants thrive. A study suggests that the gut microbiome – the trillions of tiny bacteria that live in the digestive tract – could help doctors personalize nutrients and feeding patterns to help the most vulnerable babies get a stronger start to life. Take a closer look.
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Albert Einstein College of Medicine: Novel Combination Therapy Promotes Wound Healing
By incorporating a gene-suppressing drug into an over-the-counter gel, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and their colleagues cut healing time by half and significantly improved healing outcomes compared to control treatments. Results from the combination therapy, which was tested in mice, were published online today in Advances in Wound Care. Take a closer look.
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Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra Northwell: Researchers Use Genetics to Predict Response to Antipsychotic Medications
Genetics can be used to predict a patient’s response to antipsychotic drug treatment for schizophrenia, according to a recent study by investigators at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. The findings were recently published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Take a closer look.
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NYU School of Medicine: Experimental Drug More Effective in Treating Rare Kidney Disease
An experimental drug is more than twice as effective as the standard treatment at reducing a key measure of severity in a rare kidney disease. This is the finding of a phase II clinical trial published online October 25 in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. The new study found that patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), who took the drug sparsentan, saw a 45 percent reduction in proteinuria-an excess of protein in the urine that suggests poor kidney health. This compared to a 19 percent reduction in the group receiving the typically prescribed irbesartan. Take a closer look.
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Faculty News |
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Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Recruits Adam Margolin to Lead New $200M Program to Accelerate Data Driven Precision Medicine
Adam Margolin, PhD, an internationally renowned computational biologist, has been recruited by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai to lead a bold new initiative designed to radically accelerate the pace of therapeutic discovery through integration of large-scale data analysis and advanced genomic technologies. Take a closer look.
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