News & Events

Investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine have assembled the most comprehensive atlas to date of messenger RNA (mRNA) variants in the mouse and human brain. The atlas is an important new resource in understanding brain development, neuron specialization and other brain functions.

RNA transcripts that are copied from DNA sequences carry the instructions for building proteins and show which genes are active in a...

Weill Cornell Medicine scientists have developed an innovative human neuron model that robustly simulates the spread of tau protein aggregates in the brain—a process that drives cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia. This new model has led to the identification of novel therapeutic targets that could potentially block tau spread.

The preclinical study, published April 5 in Cell, is a...

Using state-of-the-art tissue engineering techniques and a 3D printer, researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell Engineering have assembled a replica of an adult human ear that looks and feels natural. The study, published March 16 in Acta Biomaterialia, offers the promise of grafts with well-defined anatomy and the correct biomechanical properties for those who are born with a congenital...

A team led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine has identified important drivers of the transformation of a type of blood cancer called follicular lymphoma from a slow-growing form to the aggressive form it takes in some patients.

The study, published March 7 in Cancer Cell, showed that while mutations affecting a gene-regulating complex called BAF can put the cancer on a dangerous trajectory, they also...

A collaboration between Dr. Jedd Wolchok, the Meyer Director of the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine, and Dr. Yelena Janjigian, chief of the gastrointestinal oncology service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, is looking to transform the care of gastroesophageal cancer (GEC)...

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have discovered a protein that plays a critical role in clearing collagen from tissue and may be a therapeutic target to help prevent fibrosis, scar tissue that interferes with organ function. The paper, published on Feb. 20 in Nature Communications, provides clues that could lead to drug development for diseases like lung fibrosis which have no drug options currently.

Corresponding...

The 2024 Health Hackathon brought together 185 students with diverse backgrounds from Cornell and 26 other universities—in just 36 hours, they addressed critical safety challenges facing patients today.

The competition, held in person from March 8-10 and organized by Weill Cornell Medicine’s Clinical & Translational Science Center (CTSC) and...

Individuals with physical health concerns made up the largest and fastest growing of five subgroups of individuals who died by suicide in the United States over roughly twenty years, according to an analysis led by Weill Cornell Medicine in collaboration with Columbia University, UC Berkeley School of Public Health, the University of Hong Kong and University of Kentucky investigators.

The study, published...

A team led by Dr. Samie Jaffrey, the Greenberg-Starr Professor of Pharmacology at Weill Cornell Medicine, has been awarded a three-year, $1.65 million grant for RNA research under a biotechnology-development program run by the U.S. National Science Foundation.

The competitive Molecular Foundations for Biotechnology program funds cutting...

For younger Black patients living in rural parts of the Southeastern United States, peer coaching is more effective than traditional clinical care in controlling high blood pressure, according to a new study led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. The investigators learned that for people under age 60 who have persistently uncontrolled hypertension, the benefits of working with a peer health coach were equivalent to what would be expected from taking a low...

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have performed the most comprehensive analysis to date of cancer of the ureters or the urine-collection cavities in the kidney, known as upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC).  The study, which compared the characteristics of primary and metastatic tumors, provides new insights into the biology of these aggressive cancers and potential ways to treat them.

In the...

Branden Sosa was halfway through his undergraduate degree at Hunter College when he had to take time off from school—his mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer. For a year and a half, he worked at Hospital for Special Surgery as an office manager to support his family.

“It was through that experience I grew to love orthopedics and research...

Weill Cornell Medicine investigators discovered that unique bacteria colonize the gut shortly after birth and make the neurotransmitter serotonin to educate gut immune cells. This prevents allergic reactions to food and the bacteria themselves during early development.

The preclinical study, published in Science Immunology on Mar. 15, showed that bacteria abundant in the guts of newborns produce serotonin, which...

Specialized nursing facility clinicians, or SNFists, may decrease the likelihood of nursing home residents experiencing stressful hospitalizations and improve the quality of life in their last days, according to researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine.

The study, published in JAMA Network Open on Mar. 15, examined how SNFists uniquely impacted the care of nursing home residents in their last 90 days,...

Rampant mistrust of medical science during the COVID-19 pandemic represents the rule, not the exception, of public perception of mainstream medicine over the last two centuries, said Lewis A. Grossman, a distinguished professor of law at American University’s Washington College of Law, in a lecture at Weill Cornell Medicine on March 13. 

“In October 2023, the Pew Research Center found that only 25 percent of U.S. adults say they have great...

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have shown that three months of social worker follow-up support to people hospitalized with HIV in Tanzania had health benefits at low cost. The protocol shortened the time it took participants to attend an HIV clinic and to start on antiretroviral therapy after discharge.

However, the study published in JAMA on Mar. 6 found that the care benefits didn’t translate...

Christine Ye traces her passion for medicine back to seventh grade, when she joined a medical mission to Haiti and saw first-hand how access to health care can create stark disparities.

“I remember thinking, ‘This issue could have been solved with a vitamin supplement, or a bandaid, or neosporin—something simple,’” said Ye, 26, from Valley Stream, N.Y. “New York is such a different world, but even within New York there are disparities. That just stuck with me; seeing the injustice in...

A new study found that retinoic acid receptors (RARa) in the proximal tubules of the kidney play a crucial role in limiting the damaging effects of kidney injury that often lead to kidney failure. Researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine have developed a preclinical model that showed a condition like chronic kidney disease develops when RARa in proximal tubules stop working.

Currently, there are few drugs on the market, so patients with prolonged, untreated kidney disease must undergo...

Bruce Ratner, a familiar figure in the New York scene, is known for his work as a major property developer, including helping revive downtown Brooklyn’s economy, and as a former commissioner of consumer affairs. What most people don’t know is he is a strident advocate for the advancement of innovative cancer diagnostics. 

At the 2024 Startup Symposium & InvestConnect Conference, held Feb. 28 at Weill Cornell Medicine’s Belfer Research Building, Ratner, now a co-author of a new book...

Weill Cornell Medicine is part of an international team that has been awarded funding of up to $25 million over five years by Cancer Grand Challenges to study the causes of cancer inequities.

Cancer Grand Challenges is a global funding initiative co-founded by the National Cancer Institute and Cancer Research UK that aims to address key challenges in cancer biology and patient care.