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
- Scientists Identify the Master Regulator of Cells’ Heat Shock Response, Pointing to New Potential Targets for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Cancer
- University at Buffalo Study to Explore Obesity-Aggressive Prostate Cancer Link
- The Newest Precision Medicine Tool: Prostate Cancer Organoids
Cardiology
- Potassium-rich Foods Cut Stroke, Death Risk among Older Women
- New Polypill Increases Heart Attack Patients’ Medication Adherence
- Environmental Chemicals May Boost Diabetes Risk
Genetics
- Study of Ashkenazi Origins Will Improve Personalized Medicine
- The Icahn Institute at Mount Sinai Selects Ion Torrent Sequencing Technology to Drive Discovery in State-of-the-Art Genomics Research Center
Neurology
- Targeted Immune System Booster Removes Toxic Proteins in Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease
- Researchers Identify New Rare Neuromuscular Disease
- University at Buffalo Researchers Find Overlaps Between Concussion, Neck Injury
Other Studies
- Albany Medical Center Expert: Healthy Eating is Essential for Back to School Success
- Doctors’ use of EHRs linked to variability in records’ application
- Dr. Milton Sciffenbauer and Research Team Prove Health Benefits of Tea
- Role of Medica Coverage in Suicide Outbreaks
- E-Cigarettes May Promote Illicit Drug Use and Addiction
- Drugs Show Promise Against Sudan Strain of Ebola in Mice
Researchers at the Academic Medical Centers
Leading Cardiologist Appointed to NIH Project Review Committee
September 4, 2014 – Adding to his list of national leadership roles, John M. Canty Jr., MD ’79, Albert and Elizabeth Rekate Professor of Medicine and chief of cardiovascular medicine, has been appointed to a four-year term on the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Heart, Lung and Blood Program Project Review Committee.
New University at Buffalo, SUNY Partnership on Aging to Research Frailty, Dimentia
September 4, 2014 – Geriatrics researchers at the University at Buffalo and across New York State have joined forces to investigate the connection between frailty and dementia. Members of the SUNY Network Aging Partnership — or SNAP — also will train up-and-coming medical scientists in high-demand research on aging.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grants for Research
NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine Medical Researchers Wins NIH Grant for Cardiac Studies
September 11, 2014 – The National Institutes of Health has awarded a $431,700 grant to NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine Associate Professor Qiangrong Liang, Ph.D., for his research into the beneficial effects of reduced caloric intake on heart function.
Center to Find Drug Combinations that Reduce Side Effects
September 11, 2014 – A research team from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai today received a $12 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to create a center that will screen massive data sets for new uses of existing drugs, and confirm them in human cell tests. The center’s first mission will be to find FDA-approved drugs that reduce side effects when paired with hundreds of leading drugs against common, deadly diseases.
August 25, 2014 – NYU Langone Medical Center will lead a new clinical initiative — funded by a $225,000 grant from The National Institutes of Health — to determine a breath test’s effectiveness to identify volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in human breath that are biomarkers of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The study will employ patented technology developed by Menssana Research, a leading developer of advanced new breath tests for early detection of a wide variety of illnesses and diseases, and the principal recipient of the NIH grant.
Other Funds for Research
Mount Sinai Awarded 1.1 Million Grant to Investigate Kidney and Heart Disease in World Trade Center Responders
September 11, 2014 – Researchers from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have received a $1.1 million grant from the World Trade Center Health Program to study the risks of kidney and heart disease among Ground Zero first-responders and volunteers exposed to the toxic dust-cloud created by the disaster 13 years ago.
Gift Will Advance Research on Myotonic Dystrophy Type 2
September 9, 2014 – A $1.25 million gift from Lilyan (Lil) and Albert (Alfy) Nathan of Florida and Michael and Sherry Goldberg of Chicago will support research on myotonic dystrophy type 2 (DM2) at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. The gift will create a new research program that will be led by UR Medicine neurologist Chad Heatwole, M.D.
Scientists Identify the Master Regulator of Cells’ Heat Shock Response, Pointing to New Potential Targets for Neurodegernative Diseases and Cancer
September 15, 2014 – Heat shock proteins protect the molecules in all human and animal cells with factors that regulate their production and work as thermostats. In new research published Sept. 16 in the journal eLife, scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center and elsewhere report for the first time that a protein called translation elongation factor eEF1A1 orchestrates the entire process of the heart shock response. By doing so, eEF1A1 supports overall protein homeostasis inside the cell, ensuring that it functions properly under various internal and external stress conditions. The researchers suggest that this finding could reveal a promising, new drug target for neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.
University at Buffalo Study to Explore Obesity-Aggressive Prostate Cancer Link
September 11, 2014 – Wilma A. Hofmann, PhD, assistant professor of physiology and biophysics, will study cellular processes that cause high levels of unsaturated fats to increase the metastatic potential of prostate cancer cells.
© 2014 School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo. All rights reserved.
The Newest Precision Medicine Tool: Prostate Cancer Organoids
September 4, 2014 – Research led by investigators at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medical College has shown for the first time that organ tissue derived from human prostate cancer tumors can be grown in the laboratory, giving researchers a new tool to test cancer drugs and personalize cancer treatment.
Potassium-rich Foods Cut Stroke, Death Risk among Older Women
September 4, 2014 – Postmenopausal women who eat foods higher in potassium are less likely to have strokes or to die from any cause than women who eat fewer potassium-rich foods, according to data from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI). The research, led by Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, was published online today in the journal Stroke.
New Polypill Increases Heart Attack Patients’ Medicine Adherence
September 1, 2014 – New research shows a novel polypill increases patient adherence to treatment following a myocardial infarction (MI) or heart attack, according to new study results reported at the European Society of Cardiology’s ESC Congress 2014 in Barcelona, Spain. According to Principal Investigator Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, Director of Mount Sinai Heart at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and General Director of the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC) in Madrid, Spain, the novel fixed-dose combination drug therapy regime has the potential to prevent more patients from having a second heart attack.
Environmental Chemicals May Boost Diabetes Risk
August 25, 2014 – University at Buffalo researchers are studying how chemicals in the environment may raise the risk of prevalent metabolic conditions by disrupting neuroendocrine circadian functions and altering the release of hormones, including insulin.
© 2014 School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo. All rights reserved.
Study of Ashkenazi Origins Will Improve Personalized Medicine
September 15, 2014 – Ten million Ashkenazi Jews learned this week that they are all 30th cousins, after a study led by Columbia Engineering’s Itsik Pe’er determined that modern-day Ashkenazi Jews are descended from 350 ancestors living in medieval Europe.
The Icahn Institute at Mount Sinai Selects Ion Torrent Sequencing Technology to Drive Discovery in State-of-the-Art Genomics Research Center
September 15, 2014 – Thermo Fisher Scientific and the Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology at Mount Sinai tod
y announced the selection of a suite of 16 next generation sequencing (NGS) systems and ancillary technology from the Ion Torrent portfolio for genomics research in a new, state-of-the art facility designed for studies requiring large volumes of samples.
Targeted Immune System Booster Removes Toxic Proteins in Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease
September 8, 2014 – Alzheimer’s disease experts at NYU Langone Medical Center and elsewhere are reporting success in specifically harnessing a mouse’s immune system to attack and remove the buildup of toxic proteins in the brain that are markers of the deadly neurodegenerative disease.
Researchers Identify New Rare Neuromuscular Disease
September 4, 2014 – An international team of researchers has identified a new inherited neuromuscular disorder. The rare condition is the result of a genetic mutation that interferes with the communication between nerves and muscles, resulting in impaired muscle control.
University at Buffalo Researchers Find Overlaps Between Concussion, Neck Injury
August 26, 2014 – “Based on our research, we concluded that some patients who have been told they’ve suffered a concussion — and whose symptoms persisted for several months — may actually have suffered a neck injury rather than, or in addition to, a concussion,” says John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics.
© 2014 School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo. All rights reserved.
Albany Medical Center Expert: Healthy Eating is Essential for Back to School Success
September 17, 2014 – Physicians develop their own patterns of using electronic health records (EHR) — digital systems for patients’ medical histories — resulting in tremendous variability in the records’ use at the provider level. Understanding the dynamics between physicians and the health information technology sheds light on which aspects of the records work well and which aspects need to be improved in order to standardize healthcare delivery.
Doctors’ use of EHRs linked to variability in records’ application
September 12, 2014 – “Encouraging healthy lifestyle habits, especially smart eating and daily physical activity, is one of the most important things a parent can do to help their child thrive inside and outside of the classroom,” said Jennifer Lindstrom, M.D., medical director of the Bariatric Surgery Center at Albany Medical Center. “Parents influence what children eat, so it’s very important that parents understand how critical the diet is to their child’s overall health.”
Dr. Milton Schiffenbauer and Research Team Prove Health Benefits of Tea
September 11, 2014 – Dr. Milton Schiffenbauer, a microbiologist and deputy chair of the biology department at the New York School of Career and Applied Studies (NYSCAS), a division of Touro College in New York City, and his students, presented their abstract, “The Antiviral Effects of Natural Botanic Extracts” at the American Society for Microbiology during a general meeting in Boston last spring.
Role of Media Coverage in Suicide Outbreaks
September 11, 2014 – The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) defines a suicide cluster as “multiple deaths by suicide that occur within a defined geographical area and fall within an accelerated time.” In the June 2014 issue of the Lancet, epidemiologist and suicide expert Madelyn Gould, PhD, PMH, professor of epidemiology in Columbia’s Department of Psychiatry, published her latest findings on the relationship between newspaper coverage of suicides and suicide clusters in teenagers in the United States.
E-Cigarettes May Promote Illicit Drug Use and Addiction
September 3, 2014 – Like conventional cigarettes, electronic cigarettes (or e-cigarettes) may function as a “gateway drug”—a drug that lowers the threshold for addiction to other substances, such as marijuana and cocaine—according to the 120th Shattuck lecture, presented to the Massachusetts Medical Society by Columbia University researchers Denise and Eric Kandel and published today in the online edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Drugs Show Promise Against Sudan Strain of Ebola in Mice
August 28, 2014 – Researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and other institutions have developed a potential antibody therapy for Sudan ebolavirus (SUDV), one of the two most lethal strains of Ebola. A different strain, the Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV), is now devastating West Africa. First identified in 1976, SUDV has caused numerous Ebola outbreaks (most recently in 2012) that have killed more than 400 people in total. The findings were reported in ACS Chemical Biology.
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