News | Page 29 | Graduate School of Medical Sciences

Gift Establishes Friedman Center for Nutrition and Inflammation

With a $7.5 million gift from the Friedman Family Foundation endowed by Stephen and Vice Chair Overseer Barbara Friedman, Weill Cornell Medicine has established an innovative cross-campus center dedicated to improving human health through research in the complex relationship between nutrition, inflammation and the development of disease.

The Friedman Center for Nutrition and Inflammation will create new programs across Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell’s Ithaca campus, harnessing key...

Even “Good” Levels of Air Pollution May Still Be Dangerous for Smokers

Levels of air pollution defined as “good” by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may still harm the lungs of cigarette smokers, according to a new study conducted by Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian investigators.

The study, published June 13 in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, shows that smokers with and without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a condition defined by obstruction to expiratory airflows that makes...

Dr. Shuibing Chen Honored for Outstanding Stem Cell Research

Dr. Shuibing Chen, an associate professor of chemical biology in surgery and in biochemistry at Weill Cornell Medicine, has received the ISSCR Dr. Susan Lim Award for Outstanding Young Investigator from the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR).

The annual award, which carries a $15,000 personal prize and is supported by the Dr. Susan Lim Endowment for Education and Research Ltd., recognizes the exceptional achievements by an ISSCR member and investigator in the early...

Study of Nanoparticles Points to New Imaging Technologies

Tiny carrier molecules called nanoparticles are often attached to radiation-emitting atoms in advanced medical imaging systems such as positron emission tomography (PET). These nanoparticles, paired with the right radioactive partners, can emit their own distinctive and readily detectable radiation—often visible light, according to a study from Weill Cornell Medicine scientists.

The findings, published in the May issue of Nature Nanotechnology and online March 26, could lead to a host...

A Personal Path to Science

Video of A Personal Path to Science | Susannah Calhoun | Weill Cornell Medicine

For Susannah Calhoun, her differences are also her greatest strengths. As a congenital amputee, she was inspired to overcome the challenges she faced and pursue a future in science, an interest first sparked in high school and culminating in her PhD.

Modified Inactivated Vaccine May Produce Immune Response as Effective as Live Vaccine

Vaccines containing inactivated versions of disease-causing germs are traditionally not as effective as live vaccines made with weakened pathogens. But new research from Weill Cornell Medicine scientists reveals how a molecule found in live vaccines produces a robust immune response, and adding it to an inactivated vaccine can create the same strong results.

These insights may provide a blueprint for engineering more potent inactivated or “dead” vaccines that can deliver strong...

38th Annual du Vignuead Research Symposium

NYC High School Students Explore STEM Fields at Weill Cornell Medicine

Getting high school students to stay inside on a warm, sunny afternoon to work on science might sound like an impossible task, but on Feb. 27 dozens of students from public high schools across New York City happily did just that.

A total of 90 teens participated in Big Red STEM Day, a Weill Cornell Medicine-led initiative designed to inspire high school students from communities underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to pursue STEM-related education...

Nervous System Puts the Brakes on Inflammation

Cells in the nervous system can “put the brakes” on the immune response to infections in the gut and lungs to prevent excessive inflammation, according to research by Weill Cornell Medicine scientists. This insight may one day lead to new ways to treat diseases caused by unchecked inflammation, such as asthma and inflammatory bowel disease.

The study, published March 1 in Science, provides some clues about what might be going wrong in these diseases, which have become more common in...

Conscious Effort

The modern concept of general anesthesia dates back to the 1840s, when doctors and dentists began giving patients ether before operations. Until then, surgery—whether to pull a tooth, remove a tumor or even amputate a limb—had been a violent and painful business. A patient might have been dulled by alcohol or opium—or even knocked unconscious with a blow to the head—but in most cases a team of strongmen would have held him down as he screamed in agony. The ability to reliably render a...