The Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY) brings you the following compilation of the most recent updates and news on research from the academic medical centers in the state.
Highlights
- Researchers at the Academic Medical Center
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grants for Research
- Other Funds for Research in New York State
Cancer
- Stem Cell Discovery Challenges Dogma on How Fetus Develops; Holds Insights for Liver Cancer and Regeneration
- New Computational Approach Finds Gene That Drives Aggressive Brain Cancer
- ‘Breast Cancer: Making Big Strides’
- New Study Links Socioeconomic Factors and Fashion Trends Over the Past Century to Increased Incidence of Melanoma
Cardiology
- Set of Molecules found to link Insulin Resistance in the Brain to Diabetes
- More Appropriate Use of Cardiac Stress Testing with Imaging Could Reduce Health Costs, Improve Patient Outcomes
- Novel Protein in Heart Muscle Linked to Cardiac Short-Circuiting, Ventricular Arrhythmias and Sudden Cardiac Deaths
- Study Published in JAMA Finds Tissue Valves As Safe As Mechanical Valves in Middle-Aged Patients Over the Long Term
- Research Shows Zero-Calorie Sweeteners Can Raise Blood Sugar
Genetics
- Genetic Defect Links Rare Infections to Autoimmune Diseases
- Center to Seek New Therapeutics by Integrating Gene, Protein Databases
- $1.2M Grant Will Prep HS Students for Careers in Genetics, Genomics
Neurology
Other Studies
- University at Buffalo Confirms Multiple Benefits of Lung Flute Use for COPD
- Surprising Link Found between Kidney Disease and Gut Inflammation
- Researchers Watch, in Real Time, the Dynamic Motion of HIV as it Readies an Attack
- Skin Exposure May Contribute to Early Risk for Food Allergies
- Comprehensive Study of Allergic Deaths in U.S. Finds Medications are Main Culprit
Researchers at the Academic Medical Centers
Columbia Researchers Receive Grants for High-Risk, High Rewards Projects
October 8, 2014 – Three Columbia University Medical Center researchers have received prestigious High Risk-High Reward grants from the NIH Common Fund. The three grants are among 85 awarded this year for highly innovative approaches to major contemporary challenges in biomedical research.
Horwitz Prize Awarded for Work on Therapy That Uses the Immune System to Destroy Cancer Cells
October 2, 2014 – Columbia University will award the 2014 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize to James P. Allison, PhD, of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, for his work on understanding the process of T-cell activation and for developing therapies that harness the immune system to fight cancer. Dr. Allison’s work revealed the significance of the immune system’s “brakes,” a discovery that has helped to unlock the potential of immunotherapy for treating various forms of cancer. The Horwitz Prize is Columbia University’s top honor for achievement in biology and biochemistry research.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grants for Research
Mount Sinai a Lead Site in NIH-Funded Rare Diseases Consortium Studying Autism and Intellectual Disability
October 15, 2014 – Under a five-year, $6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Rare Disease Clinical Research Network, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) will serve as one of 10 medical centers that have formed the Developmental Synaptopathies Consortium (DSC). The consortium will study three rare, genetic syndromes that often cause autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID).
$2.9M NIH Grant Supports Research to Help Urban Teens Manage Asthma
October 15, 2014 – Managing persistent asthma can be a challenge for adults, but it’s even more difficult for teenagers learning to take control of their health. Peer pressure, feelings of embarrassment or insecurity, and busy school and activity schedules, are just some of the factors that make it a challenge for teens to stay on track with their daily asthma management routines.
October 7, 2014 – Representatives of the University at Buffalo and other biomedical research organizations joined Rep. Brian Higgins as he announced legislation that would increase funding to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to more than $46.2 billion by 2021.
October 6, 2014 – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Manish Arora, BDS, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, a 2014 New Innovator Award. Dr. Arora will receive a $1.5 million grant towards studying the impact of environmental toxins and stress on fetal development. This is the first time that the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), one of the 27 research centers that comprise the NIH, has presented a Young Innovator Award. The award will be formally announced during the 2014 High Risk High Reward Symposium at the NIH headquarters in Bethesda, MD, in December.
September 29, 2014 – Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care (MECCC) and Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have been awarded a $3.4 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to conduct multi-site cancer clinical trials and research focused on reducing healthcare disparities in cancer care. The award is through the newly established NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP), a national network of investigators, cancer care providers, academic institutions and other organizations that will conduct research to improve cancer diagnosis, treatment and management, particularly in minority and underserved communities.
Other Funds for Research
Wilmot Awarded $3M to Study Yoga for Cancer-Related Insomnia
October 14, 2014 – Armed with a $3.1 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, the Wilmot Cancer Institute is launching the first study ever to test whether a unique yoga therapy can treat insomnia among cancer survivors just as well as cognitive behavioral therapy, the current gold-standard treatment.
Researchers Receive $4 Million to Study Common and Costly Cause of Death: Sepsis
October 9, 2014 – A diverse team of immunologists, engineers and critical care clinicians at the University of Rochester Medical Center received $4 million from the National Institutes of Health to study sepsis, an over-the-top immune response to an infection that leads to organ failure and death in about one third of patients. Beyond administering antibiotics, fluids and other supportive measures, physicians have no specific treatment to stop the syndrome, which is the most expensive condition treated in U.S. hospitals, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Stem Cell Discovery Challenges Dogma on How Fetus Develops; Holds Insights for Liver Cancer and Regeneration
October 14, 2014 – A Mount Sinai-led research team has discovered a new kind of stem cell that can become either a liver cell or a cell that lines liver blood vessels, according to a study published today in the journal Stem Cell Reports. The existence of such a cell type contradicts current theory on how organs arise from cell layers in the embryo, and may hold clues to origins of, and future treatment for, liver cancer.
New Computational Approach Finds Gene That Drives Aggressive Brain Cancer
October 9, 2014 – Using an innovative algorithm that analyzes gene regulatory and signaling networks, Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have found that loss of a gene called KLHL9 is the driving force behind the most aggressive form of glioblastoma, the most common form of brain cancer. The CUMC team demonstrated in mice transplants that these tumors can be suppressed by reintroducing KLHL9 protein, offering a possible strategy for treating this lethal disease. The study was published today in the online issue of Cell.
‘Breast Cancer: Making Big Strides’
October 4, 2014 – WABC-TV interviews John Condeelis, M.D., about his imaging research that is helping to explain how cancer spreads from the primary tumor. Dr. Condeelis and his team found that normal immune cells, called macrophages, aid the tumor cells in cancer metastasis by directing the tumor cells toward blood vessels. By better understanding this process at the patient level, doctors can more accurately assess which patients need aggressive treatments and which patients can be spared those treatments. Dr. Condeelis is professor and co-chair of anatomy and structural biology and co-director of the Gruss Lipper Biophotonics Center, and the Judith and Burton P. Resnick Chair in Translational Research at Einstein.
New Study Links Socioeconomic Factors and Fashion Trends Over the Past Century to Increased Incidence of Melanoma
October 2, 2014 – A century’s worth of cultural and historical forces have contributed to the rise in the incidence of melanoma, including changes in fashion and clothing design, according to an intriguing, retrospective research study conducted by investigators in the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology at NYU Langone Medical Center.
Set of Molecules found to link Insulin Resistance in the Brain to Diabetes
October 9, 2014 – A key mechanism behind diabetes may start in the brain, with early signs of the disease detectable through rising levels of molecules not previously linked to insulin signaling, according to a study led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai published today in the journal Cell Metabolism.
More Appropriate Use of Cardiac Stress Testing With Imaging Could Reduce Health Costs, Improve Patient Outcomes
October 8, 2014 – In a new study recently published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center concluded th
t overuse of cardiac stress testing with imaging has led to rising healthcare costs and unnecessary radiation exposure to patients.
Novel Protein in Heart Muscle Linked to Cardiac Short-Circuiting, Ventricular Arrhythmias and Sudden Cardiac Deaths
October 8, 2014 – Cardiovascular scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center have identified in mouse models a protein known as Pcp4 as a regulator of the heart’s rhythm. Additionally, when the Pcp4 gene is disrupted, it can cause ventricular arrhythmias.
Study Published in JAMA Finds Tissue Valves As Safe As Mechnical Valves in Middle-Aged Patients Over the Long Term
September 30, 2014 – New Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai research findings published in the October 1 issue of JAMA show there was no significant difference in 15-year survival or stroke rates in patients aged between 50 and 69 years who had aortic valve replacement with bioprosthetic valves (made primarily with biological tissue) compared with mechanical valves. The study results show patients in the bioprosthetic valve group had a greater likelihood of reoperation but a lower likelihood of major bleeding.
Research Shows Zero-Calorie Sweeteners Can Raise Blood Sugar
September 17, 2014 – Wall Street Journal interviews Judy Wylie-Rosett, Ph.D., about research that suggests artificial sweeteners may raise blood sugar levels by altering the body’s gut bacteria. Dr. Wylie-Rosett notes that the study is important since it is the first to examine how gut microbes contribute to processing real and fake sugars. Dr. Wylie-Rosett is head of the division of health promotion and nutrition research, and professor of epidemiology & population health and of medicine at Albert Einstein.
Genetic Defect Links Rare Infections to Autoimmune Diseases
October 15, 2014 – A team led by researchers at The Rockefeller University and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has explained the function of key immune protein and solved an international medical mystery, according to a letter published this week in the journal Nature.
Center to Seek new Therapeuctics by Integrating Gene, Protein Databases
October 9, 2014 – A Mount Sinai research team today received a $20 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to create a center that will integrate databases and build computer models that glean new insights on how human cells react to drugs and toxins. The goal is to accelerate the discovery of new therapies and diagnostics by mining data.
$1.2M Grant Will Prep HS Students for Careers in Genetics, Genomics
October 6, 2014 – Stephen Koury, PhD, research assistant professor in biotechnical and clinical laboratory sciences, has secured a $1.2 million NIH grant to help area high school students become proficient in genomics and genetics.
© 2014 School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo. All rights reserved.
More Education Can Lead to Less Cognitive Decline in Later Life
October 2, 2014 – The benefits of an education are generally framed in terms of the short-term future, especially when it comes to employment. Current research suggests, however, that education has a future benefit, too: staving off late-life cognitive decline.
University at Buffalo Confirms Multiple Benefits of Lung Flute Use for COPD
October 14, 2014 – University at Buffalo researchers have confirmed that the inexpensive, non-invasive Lung Flute offers an array of benefits — including improved symptoms — for COPD patients with chronic bronchitis.
© 2014 School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo. All rights reserved.
Surprising Link Found between Kidney Disease and Gut Inflammation
October 13, 2014 – A puzzling form of kidney disease—IgA nephropathy—appears to spring from the intestine, says a new study by Columbia University Medical Center researchers Krzysztof Kiryluk, MD; Ali Gharavi, MD; and colleagues that combed the genome for clues to the disease.
Researchers Watch, in Real Time, the Dynamic Motion of HIV as it Readies an Attack
October 8, 2014 – Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have developed technologies that allow investigators, for the first time, to watch what they call the “dance” of HIV proteins on the virus’ surface, which may contribute to how it infects human immune cells. Their discovery is described in the Oct. 8 issue of Science, and is also a part of a study published the same day in Nature.
Skin Exposure May Contribute to Early Risk for Food Allergies
October 9, 2014 – Many children may become allergic to peanuts before they first eat them, and skin exposure may contribute to early sensitization, according to a study in mice led by Mount Sinai researchers and published today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Early in the process of developing an allergy, skin exposure to food allergens contributes to “sensitization”, which means the immune system in the skin becomes reactive to proteins in foods such as peanuts.
Comprehensive Study of Allergic Deaths in U.S. Finds Medications are Main Culprit
September 30, 2014 – Medications are the leading cause of allergy-related sudden deaths in the U.S., according to an analysis of death certificates from 1999 to 2010, conducted by researchers at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. The study, published online today in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, also found that the risk of fatal drug-induced allergic reactions was particularly high among older people and African-Americans and that such deaths increased significantly in the U.S. in recent years.