Weill Cornell Medicine

This Thanksgiving, we reflect on the shared passion that unites Weill Cornell Medicine as we work together to improve the lives of those we serve. We are thankful for the exceptional people and bonds that make our community special. Happy Thanksgiving!

Detailed mapping of CD4⁺ T cells from children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has revealed distinct immune cell subsets with likely roles in disease development, according to a new study. The findings from Weill Cornell Medicine's Dr. Virginia Pascual, Dr. Simone Caielli and Dr. Jinghua Gu could potentially redirect lupus research and open the door to better therapies to manage the disease. Full story: https://bit.ly/4p4SAuP

The roots of addiction risk may lie in how young brains function long before substance use begins. A new study from Weill Cornell Medicine's Dr. Amy Kuceyeski and doctoral student Louisa Schilling found that children with a family history of substance use disorder (SUD) already showed distinctive patterns of brain activity that differ between boys and girls and may reflect separate predispositions for addiction. “These findings may help explain why boys and girls often follow different paths toward substance use and addiction,” says Dr. Kuceyeski. “Understanding those pathways could eventually help guide how we tailor prevention and treatment for each group.” Full story: https://bit.ly/4idVkTL

Chemotherapy activates a stress sensor in immune cells, triggering inflammation and nerve damage. This preclinical finding may help explain why many cancer patients experience debilitating pain as a side effect of chemo, according to researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine and Wake Forest University. Up to half of all patients receiving chemotherapy experience chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), which causes tingling, numbness and pain in the hands and feet. Since there are limited options to address the condition, patients are often forced to stop their cancer treatment early. This new research, led by Weill Cornell Medicine's Dr. Juan R. Cubillos-Ruiz, may yield strategies to prevent and control CIPN, as well as biomarkers to identify patients at risk. Full story: https://bit.ly/4iei7z3

Imagine empowering every home health aide with the tools and training to deliver specialized, quality care for patients with heart failure. As our population ages, the demand for home health care workers is increasing, and they lack the support they need. For example, in New York City alone, about 65% of home health aides report receiving little to no training in monitoring patients with heart failure, and nearly half say they can't reach nurse or doctor when they need help managing patients at home. Dr. Madeline Sterling, MD, MPH, MS of Weill Cornell Medicine is leading a training program to offer specialized training for home health aides on heart failure, which is one of the most common conditions among home care patients. The program also introduces technology to the workforce, including a way for aides to securely message nurses in real time. She found that these efforts lead to fewer 911 calls among home health aides and ER visits among patients. Here's What We Know: • Better training and tech-based communication tools for home health aides can improve patient care. • Better care means healthier patients at home, fewer hospital readmissions, and lower costs for the health care system. This study was made possible through collaboration with VNS Health, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell Tech, funding from the The National Institutes of Health, Yang-Tan WorkABILITY Incubator at the Cornell University ILR School Center for Applied Research on Work, and the dedication of home health aides. #caregiving #homecare #NIH #healthresearch

Mark your calendars: Two-Day Event: Annual Multidisciplinary Care of Autistic Youth Conference. 

Arnab Ghosh, MD was an ER doctor in Australia when he treated many patients with severe burns from bushfires that swept through the region. At the time, evacuations were not mandatory. "For the fires that hit those communities, they were faster and stronger than anyone expected. Many people perished in their homes," recalls Dr. Ghosh, an internal medicine physician at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Those experiences shaped Dr. Ghosh's career as a doctor and set him on the path as a researcher who focuses on climate and health policies that can save people's lives. "Our role as doctors, healthcare systems, communities and governments that implement policies is to reduce extreme weather event risks from climate change for the most vulnerable populations," he says. "The science is only part of what we do. We need to garner trust and connect with patients." Dr. Ghosh's work shows the importance of lasting connections. His recent study examined older adults residing in areas that flooded during Hurricane Sandy. It found that they faced a 5% higher risk of heart disease for up to five years after the hurricane. "Weather disasters don't just have short-term impacts -- these are problems that will echo through people's lives," he says. Dr. Ghosh's unique background makes him well-suited to both respond to disasters and understand the human side of them. The son of an Indian immigrant and Burmese refugee, Dr. Ghosh grew up in Australia. In college, he studied Latin and Greek, served in the military, and later worked in peacekeeping for the United Nations. He did the majority of his medical training in the Australian outback, learning to practice medicine with few resources. In 2018, he joined the NewYork-Presbyterian team that went to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria to provide care in a field hospital with limited supplies. As extreme weather, fueled by climate change, becomes more frequent, Dr. Ghosh says we need to envision what that means for health care in the future. "How can we take science and research and transform the policy landscape to influence the well-being of people?" he says. 📷 Dr. Ghosh and Dr. Oliver Fein at the David Rogers Health Policy Colloquium 📷 Dr. Ghosh speaking at Climate Week NYC 📷 WCM presentation on the climate crisis Last 📷 Dr. Ghosh doing community outreach with seniors at a NYC Housing community in East Harlem

New research shows that tumors not only evade the immune system but can also actively work to disarm immune cells that are meant to destroy the cancer. A team led by Weill Cornell Medicine's Dr. Jedd Wolchok and Dr. Taha Merghoub identified a molecular signal that tumors exploit to exhaust the fighting T cells. The study also provides insights into how silencing that signal could revive the body’s immunity. In recent years, immunotherapy has transformed cancer care, enabling the harnessing of the body’s own immune system to combat tumors. But even with these advances, many patients still don’t respond—or their initial response fades as their immune cells become exhausted. “By blocking this pathway, we can help exhausted T cells recover their strength and make existing immunotherapies work better for more patients," says Dr. Wolchok. Full story: https://bit.ly/3JHOrxv

Scientists have identified an early step in a cellular process that leads to inflammation in fat cells and may result in type 2 diabetes in people with obesity. The study, led by Weill Cornell Medicine's Dr. James Lo and Dr. Ankit Gilani, shows that a protein called FAM20C acts as a switch that turns on inflammation and insulin resistance in the fat cells of preclinical models. Genetic techniques to remove or block FAM20C in preclinical models improved their metabolic health, reduced inflammation and increased insulin sensitivity, even without weight loss. The team’s goal is to create small-molecule therapies targeting this inflammatory pathway to treat or prevent type 2 diabetes, reduce visceral fat and improve blood sugar control in humans. Full story: https://bit.ly/4o51Cqs

Our annual 3-Minute Thesis competition challenges doctoral students to use creative ways to explain their research to their peers -- with just one presentation slide and three minutes on the clock. This year's competition brought together a dozen students from Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, The Rockefeller University and Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to compete for the top awards. Join us in congratulating all the finalists and the following winners: 🏆 1st place: Ziqi (Christine) Yu "Overcharging Cancer: Turning a Metabolic Advantage into a Weakness" 🏆 2nd place: Samsara Upadhya "All Roads Lead to Replication: Leveraging Heterogeneity to Uncover Cell Cycle Plasticity" 🏆3rd place: Maximilian Kuemmecke "Shutting Down Hell’s Kitchen" 🏆 People’s Choice: Ester Siantoputri "Putting out the Fire: Targeting Vulnerable Neurons in Early Alzheimer's Disease"