The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has received a $7 million grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) to create new methods and protocols for assessing disease risk that are based on DNA variants from large populations of people with diverse, multi-ethnic ancestry. Under the grant, Mount Sinai’s Institute for Genomic Health will recruit 2,500 adult and pediatric patients from underserved populations to be part of a clinical trial that will be run in partnership with Mount Sinai’s Division for Genomic Medicine in the Department of Medicine, and The Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine. Take a closer look.

In research led by a University at Buffalo pediatric endocrinologist, a drug called golimumab showed that it preserved beta-cell function in children and young adults with newly diagnosed Type 1 diabetes, according to findings from a Phase 2 study. The study also demonstrated that golimumab, an anti-tumor-necrosis-factor (TNF) therapy, reduced the amount of injected insulin required by children and young adults with newly diagnosed Type 1 diabetes by preserving their ability to produce insulin on their own, called endogenous insulin. Take a closer look.

During a typical week, the molecular cytogenetics core laboratory at Albert Einstein College of Medicine focuses on preparing cell samples to help researchers study the structure and function of DNA and genes. From chromosome painting to using fluorescent probes to explore human and mouse genomes, the lab plays an essential role in genetic research for dozens of Einstein scientists. Take a closer look.

A team of Upstate Medical University researchers recently published a paper in a prominent scientific journal about a new type of sepsis treatment that could bolster survival rates and be used to treat severe cases of COVID-19. The team was led by Juntao Luo, PhD, an associate professor of pharmacology who has been studying this new therapy to neutralize severe inflammation during sepsis for the last three years. His work, “A nanotrap improves survival in severe sepsis by attenuating hyperinflammation,” was published in Nature Communications on July 7. Take a closer look.

More than 99.9% of seasonal coronaviruses present in airborne droplets were killed when exposed to a particular wavelength of ultraviolet light that is safe to use around humans, a new study at Columbia University Irving Medical Center has found. “Based on our results, continuous airborne disinfection with far-UVC light at the current regulatory limit could greatly reduce the level of airborne virus in indoor environments occupied by people,” says the study’s lead author David Brenner, PhD, Higgins Professor of Radiation Biophysics at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Take a closer look.

Hydroxychloroquine has been widely administered to COVID-19 patients but with little scientific evidence to support its use. Neil Schluger, M.D., who joined New York Medical College as chair of the Department of Medicine on July 13, has co-authored one of the most robust studies to date into the use of hydroxychloroquine for treating COVID-19 infection. Conducted at a major medical center in New York City, the results of this study were published on May 7, in The New England Journal of Medicine. Take a closer look.

Dr. Mafuzur Rahman, vice chair of medicine, director of hospital medicine and clinical assistant professor at SUNY Downstate, talks to NPR- WBUR “On Point” about the long-term health impact of COVID-19. He has been on the front lines of the pandemic and created a COVID-19 discharge clinic. Take a closer look.

COVID-19 patients have a higher risk of stroke than patients with influenza, according to a study from researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. But stroke risk with COVID-19 is still low in absolute terms and is largely confined to older patients who already have stroke risk factors, the researchers found. The study, published July 2 in JAMA Neurology, found that the rate of ischemic strokes-caused by blockage of arteries supplying the brain-in a series of nearly 2,000 patients who visited the emergency department (ED) or were hospitalized for COVID-19 was 1.6 percent, about seven times higher than the rate of ischemic strokes in a comparable series of influenza patients. Take a closer look.

The COVID-19 pandemic in New York City caused a surge in out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and deaths, according to a study co-authored by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Health System, and the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY). The study, published online today in JAMA Cardiology, found a three-fold increase in out-of-hospital non-traumatic cardiac-arrest cases in March and April 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. Take a closer look.

In recent months, as the COVID-19 outbreak has continued to grow, government and public health officials have struggled to address the global health crisis. With still so much unknown about the virus and science scrambling to catch up, officials have looked to data and research from past pandemics and public health emergencies to inform their response to COVID-19. So, what lessons learned from past pandemics have proved beneficial in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic? And what has been learned from this pandemic that can be used to improve emergency preparedness and public health strategy for future pandemics? Take a closer look.

Lately, we have seen a multitude of people protesting about George Floyd in the last few days. Therefore, there is a concern that worries public health authorities which is what is the risk that the number of Coronavirus infections could go up again. Our reporter, Esperanza Ceballos, talked to Dr. Maria Lima, Associate Dean for Research at the City University of New York School of Medicine, who has a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Public Health from Michigan State University and a long experience in infectious diseases. Take a closer look.

A DNA-sequencing strategy powered by machine learning may pick up even very low levels of tumor DNA in blood samples, potentially enabling the early detection of cancer recurrence after surgery or other treatments, according to a study led by scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine and the New York Genome Center (NYGC). The scientists, who describe the new method in a study published on June 1 in Nature Medicine, demonstrated its potential value with blood tests on patients who had melanomas, colorectal cancers and lung cancers. Take a closer look.

Researchers at the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment Mount Sinai have started recruiting participants for a new clinical trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of a low dose of ketamine in children diagnosed with ADNP syndrome (also known as Helsmoortel-VanDerAa syndrome), a rare neurodevelopmental disorder caused by mutations in the activity dependent neuroprotective protein (ADNP) gene. Take a closer look.

Researchers have developed an algorithm that can predict whether trauma survivors are likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The tool, which relies on routinely collected medical data, would allow clinicians to intervene early to mitigate the effects of PTSD. The study was published online in Nature Medicine. Take a closer look.

After a brain injury, cells that normally nourish nerves may actually kill them instead, a new study in rodents finds. This “reactive” phenomenon may be the driving factor behind neurodegenerative diseases like glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness. Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the study examined what happens when pressure builds up in the eye and damages the nerve cells that connect the eyes and brain. Although experts have long linked this condition to glaucoma, it remained unclear how excess pressure leads to cell death. Take a closer look.

Historically, there have been many studies conducted about Parkinson’s disease, a progressive nervous system disorder that affects not only movement, but also a host of non-motor symptoms such as problems with memory and disruptions of sleep and digestion. However, because the disease is more common among men and people over the age of 60, there are still many unknowns regarding how Parkinson’s affects women, especially those in their 30s and 40s. Take a closer look.

A new study has found that tanezumab, a monoclonal antibody that inhibits nerve activity, provides relief in patients with chronic low back pain, one of the leading reasons why people seek medical care and the number one cause of disability worldwide. “This demonstration of efficacy is a major breakthrough in the global search to develop non-opioid treatments for chronic pain,” said John Markman, M.D., director of the Translational Pain Research Program in the University of Rochester Medical Center Department of Neurosurgery and lead author of the study which appears in the journal Pain. Take a closer look.

When activated, CD4 T cells lead the body’s immune system in fighting off infection. But not so with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. HIV overtakes these activated CD4 T cells, disarming their ability to fight the invading infection. What’s puzzling for scientists is why HIV prefers to replicate in these active CD4 T cells and not in resting CD4 T cells. This puzzlement has just been solved. In a just published paper in Cell Reports, Harry Taylor, PhD, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at SUNY Upstate Medical University, offers this finding. Take a closer look.

Since early March and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., 911 calls for emergency medical services have dropped by 26.1 % compared to the past two years, a new study led by a University at Buffalo researcher has found. But the study also found that EMS-attended deaths have doubled, indicating that when EMS calls were made, they often involved a far more serious emergency. Take a closer look.

Experiments in mice have shown early success in vaccinating them against potentially deadly bacterial infections, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcal aureus, or MRSA, the strain resistant to most drug treatments. The new vaccination strategy, developed by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, targets toxic molecules released by all staphylococcal bacteria, called leukocidins, rather than directly targeting the bacteria. Take a closer look.

Pierce Gardner, MD, Professor Emeritus at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, is the recipient of the 2020 Dr. Charles Mérieux Award for Achievement in Vaccinology and Immunology from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. The award honors individuals whose outstanding lifetime contributions and achievements in the fight against vaccine-preventable diseases have led to significant improvement in public health. Take a closer look.

Jennifer Behbodikhah, D.O., a 2020 graduate of NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine, was recently awarded an Eastern Section Scholars Award from the American Federation for Medical Research for her study, “Cholesterol Deficiency as a Mechanism for Autism: A Valproic Acid Model.” In the study, Behbodikhah’s research team explores whether valproic acid, found in anti-epileptic drugs, may cause cholesterol deficiency, leading to autism-like neural and behavioral deficits. Take a closer look.

The University of Rochester has been designated an Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The award recognizes the Medical Center’s national leadership in research for conditions such Autism, Batten disease, and Rett syndrome, will translate scientific insights into new ways to diagnose and treat these conditions, and provide patients and families access to cutting edge care. Take a closer look.

The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) and the Institute for Engineering-Driven Medicine (IEDM) at Stony Brook University provided $398,200 in seed funding for 17 research projects directly related to the COVID-19 outbreak. The OVPR & IEDM COVID-19 Seed Grant Program will allow Stony Brook University investigators to begin critical research that will address urgent health care challenges, including prognostic and therapeutic studies, as well as the far reaching social impacts of the pandemic. Take a closer look.

The New York State Board of Regents and the State Education Department have appointed SUNY Downstate Distinguished Service Professor and Infectious Disease Specialist Jack DeHovitz, M.D., MPH, FACP, to advise the Regional School Reopening Task Force meetings on the of the health and safety risks associated with the planned reopening of New York’s schools. Dr. DeHovitz is a Professor of Medicine and Director of SUNY Downstate’s acclaimed STAR Program (Special Treatment and Research). He recently co-authored a study of the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin for the treatment of COVID-19. Take a closer look.

Rebecca G. Rogers, M.D., has joined Albany Med as chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Rogers comes to Albany Med from the University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School where she was professor and associate chair for clinical integration and operations, as well as director of the Women’s Health Institute. With more than 30 years of clinical experience, Dr. Rogers’ clinical interests focus on female pelvic medicine (incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse) and reconstructive surgery. Take a closer look.