News & Events

Interactions between two key structures within cells help establish the front-to-back “polarity” that is essential to cell migration, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine researchers. These migrations occur in organ development, wound healing, cancer metastasis and many other processes, but how moving cells respond to environmental cues and set up internal structures that enable them to keep going in one direction has not been fully clear.

As the researchers...

Scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine discovered a previously unknown link between two key pathways that regulate the immune system in mammals—a finding that impacts our understanding of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). This family of disorders severely impacts the health and quality of life of more than 2 million people in the United States.

The immune system has many pathways to protect the body from...

Short-term space travel causes many of the same molecular and physiologic changes as long-term space missions, but most reverse within months of returning to Earth. Yet, those changes that are longer-lasting and distinct between crew members reveal new targets for aerospace medicine and can guide new missions, according to the results of a massive international research endeavor by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine, SpaceX, and other organizations.

Dr....

Pregnancy and new motherhood transform a woman’s body as well as her life. While this is often a joyous time, it can sometime lead to mental health disorders, most often anxiety and depression. These conditions can be detrimental to the mother’s health and that of her child, but despite the high stakes, modern medicine often fails to address them. By teasing out the biological mechanisms underlying these pregnancy-related disorders, investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine are laying the...

Home health aides (HHAs) are vulnerable to stress, isolation and depressive symptoms, which impact their own health as well as their patients’ desire to age in place, according to Weill Cornell Medicine researchers. HHAs are a rapidly growing workforce trained and certified to provide personal and medical care, as well as emotional support, in the home.

“As a doctor, I’ve learned that home health aides are a critical part of patients’ well-being,” said senior author ...

Harmful variants in the BRCA1 gene greatly increase a person’s lifetime risk of developing breast, ovarian and pancreatic cancers, but most people are unaware they are carriers. In a new study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and...

Weill Cornell Medicine scientists have uncovered the first evidence that astrocyte receptors can trigger opposite effects on cognitive function in male and female preclinical models. The findings point to astrocytes, brain cells that support and regulate neurons, as key contributors to sex-specific brain mechanisms.

While many studies have tested the behavioral effects of astrocytic receptors, none of them have addressed whether biological sex plays a role and most have tested only...

Research led by Weill Cornell Medicine provides new evidence that most colorectal cancers begin with the loss of intestinal stem cells, even before cancer-causing genetic alterations appear. The results, published on May 29 in Developmental Cell, overturn the prevailing theory for colorectal tumor initiation and suggest new ways to diagnose the disease before it has a chance to become...

For Dr. Chris Chang, pursuing a career in medicine meant the opportunity to help people, particularly those in underserved communities. Originally from Korea, he moved to the United States when he was five years old, and health care inequity was something he witnessed firsthand.

“I moved around a lot between New Jersey and...

A molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the basic unit of biochemical energy that fuels the activities of all cells. Now a team led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Janelia Research Campus has developed and tested a high-resolution sensor for tracking the real-time dynamics of ATP levels in cells and within subcellular compartments. The new tool represents a major advance over prior ATP sensor technology, and the researchers...

Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences highlighted students in the Class of 2024 for their academic achievements during its convocation ceremony on May 15.

The ceremony honored students who are graduating with their master’s degrees, as well as those who earned special awards and prizes for their accomplishments in research, scholarship and service.

In addition to celebrating students, the ceremony also honored graduate school faculty. Dr. Cynthia Leifer (Ph.D. '99),...

Students from the Weill Cornell Medical College Class of 2024 were recognized for their dedication to scholarship, excellence in research, devotion to teaching or service and exceptional professional qualities on May 15 during Convocation. This was also an opportunity to honor other medical students, alumni, faculty and staff.

Dr. Robert Harrington, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine and Provost for Medical Affairs of Cornell University and Dr. Yoon Kang,...

Weill Cornell Medicine faculty members were honored with awards for their exemplary achievements in medical research, education and care May 15-16 during the institution’s commencement activities.

Dr. Thanakorn “T.J.” Jirasevijinda, professor of pediatrics, was awarded the Jeanne and Herbert Siegel Award for Excellence in Medical Education. This prize recognizes a faculty member for exemplary...

Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) awarded Cornell University medical degrees to 50 new doctors—the largest graduating cohort to date—at the institution’s annual graduation ceremony on May 9.

The Class of 2024 comprises 26 women and 24 men, hailing from 13 different countries, including 18 Qatari nationals. WCM-Q has now produced nearly 600 medical doctors, serving patients and pursuing research in leading health care institutions...

NEW YORK (May 10, 2024) – Dr. Myles Wolf, an esteemed physician-scientist who specializes in nephrology, has been appointed chair of the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Department of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and physician-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, effective July 1.

Recruited as the Sanford I. Weill Chair, Dr. Wolf will lead the institutions’ largest clinical and academic department, overseeing 16...

A team led by Dr. Eddie Imada, assistant professor of research in pathology and laboratory medicine, has been awarded a three-year, $1.5 million United States Department of Defense grant for research on a cellular process called alternative polyadenylation and its role in prostate cancer.

The grant was awarded under DoD’s long-running Prostate Cancer Research Program, a Congressionally-directed medical research funding...

A team co-led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and the New York Genome Center has developed an advanced method for revealing how gene mutations disrupt the normal packaging of DNA. These structural changes, which alter patterns of gene activity in a cell, are known as epigenetic changes and can lead to malignancy.

The new method, described in a paper published on May 8 in...

Inulin, a type of fiber found in certain plant-based foods and fiber supplements, causes inflammation in the gut and exacerbates inflammatory bowel disease in a preclinical model, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The surprising findings could pave the way for therapeutic diets that may help ease symptoms and promote gut health. 

The...

Early-onset heart failure is alarmingly common in urban Haiti—over 15-fold higher than previously estimated—according to a study conducted by Weill Cornell Medicine researchers in partnership with the Haitian medical organization GHESKIO. Heart failure occurs when the heart muscle can no longer pump an adequate amount of blood throughout the body.

The study indicates that the nature of cardiovascular disease in Haiti, and perhaps other low- and middle...

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have discovered in a preclinical model that cytokines, proteins that control immune response, circulating in maternal blood during pregnancy may mitigate an offspring's risk for psychiatric conditions. The findings are surprising because circulating maternal cytokines are at such low levels that they were not implicated in fetal brain development and offspring behavior before.

The...