News | Page 25 | Graduate School of Medical Sciences

Graduate Work Shines at 37th Annual Vincent du Vigneaud Memorial Research Symposium

Wan-Ying Hsieh’s research on glioblastoma, an aggressive and difficult-to-treat type of brain tumor, has yielded compelling results. A fifth-year student in the Weill Cornell Medicine Graduate School of Medical Sciences in the lab of Dr. Ingo Mellinghoff at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Hsieh has added another piece to the puzzle of how the oncogenic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is regulated in normal and cancerous cells, expanding the emerging picture of its activity...

MD-PhD student named to Forbes 30 under 30 list

MD-PhD student Kevin O'Rourke is included on the list of "30 under 30 List- Healthcare". Kevin is a student in Dr. Scott Lowe's lab.

Read below for Kevin's feature:

[Kevin] O'Rourke focuses on understanding and studying colorectal cancer, one of the most common forms of the disease. His 2015 paper in Cell showed that, at least in mice, a gene called APC caused colon cancer. The mice were cured even when other cancer-causing genes were turned on if APC was off. Memorial Sloan...

Research Reveal Codes That Control Protein Expression

An internal code in cellular molecules called messenger RNA predetermines how much protein they will produce, scientists from Weill Cornell Medicine discovered in a new study. The findings may settle a fundamental question in molecular biology — how the amount of protein generated from a messenger RNA is determined — and could help scientists develop new therapies for diseases such as cancer, where abnormal amounts of protein accumulate.

“This is one of the biggest questions...

Seven selected for the third round of the Daedalus Fund for Innovation awards

Daedalus Fund Advances Third Round of Discoveries

Seven winners have been selected for the third round of the Daedalus Fund for Innovation awards. This Weill Cornell Medicine program helps advance promising applied and translational research projects and emerging technologies with commercial potential. Thanks to donors and friends who have supported this critical initiative, the award recipients will each receive $100,000 to fund proof-of-concept studies that may help translate their discoveries into effective treatments for patients.

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Davis Gift to Advance Cancer Immunotherapy Research

This significant, foundational gift will launch the Ellen and Gary Davis Immune Monitoring Core, a critical research infrastructure that will serve as a repository for patient tumor samples, genomic sequencing and bioinformatics. The core will analyze and provide centralized, sensitive and quantitative patient data that investigators can use to advance their research into immunotherapy. This $2 million gift lays the cornerstone for further expansion in immunotherapy research and strengthens...

Three-Minute Thesis Results!

Yesterday we hosted our second-annual Three Minute Thesis® Competition. The event featured nine 3-minute presentations by Weill Cornell Graduate School and Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School PhD students. The superb quality of the presentations reflects the high quality of research and outstanding communication skills of our students at both graduate schools. The competition winners are listed below:

Judges’ Results

1st Prize
Mojdeh Shakiba (PBSB; PI: Andrea...

Nathan, Hajjar Elected to Academy of Sciences

Two members of the WCM faculty have been elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Carl Nathan, MD, and David Hajjar, PhD, are among the 213 scholars, scientists, and world leaders—including two others from Cornell University—who received the honor.

Carl Nathan, MD

Nathan, a prominent authority on tuberculosis, is the R.A. Rees Pritchett Professor of Microbiology and chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology.

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Chris Mason samples a New York City subway car for DNA, RNA and microbes on Global City Sampling Day

‘Sampling Day’ Kicks Off Worldwide Microbe Survey

Chris Mason and a colleague swab New York City turnstiles for microbes.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded a Grand Challenges Explorations Grant to a WCM project that will help researchers study antimicrobial resistance in fifty-four cities worldwide. The grant, which provides $100,000 in its first phase, will enable scientists to develop maps of the cities’ genetic differ- ences as well as their epigenetic states (which detail how genes are turned...

Chemical Tags on RNA Silence X Chromosome in Females

The addition of a chemical tag on an RNA molecule is the critical switch that inactivates one X chromosome in every cell, ensuring healthy development in all female mammals, according to new research by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The findings, reported Sept. 7 in Nature, could offer researchers a new scientific avenue to pursue treatments for X-linked chromosomal diseases in females such as Rett syndrome.

Methyl marks on the RNA XIST enable it to trigger X chromosome...

Researchers Develop Method to Identify Patient-Specific Drugs for Treating Diabetes

This image shows human embryonic stem cell-derived pancreatic beta cell clusters after being transplanted into immunodeficient mice. Image credit: Drs. Hui Zeng and Min Guo

An innovative method that uses human embryonic stem cells to model type 2 diabetes caused by genetic mutations may enable researchers to identify drugs that could treat the disease. The research by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators was published Aug. 11 in Cell Stem Cell, and may extend the...