News & Events

An overactive immune response in the brain may play a role in Dravet Syndrome, a rare and severe genetic epilepsy that typically begins in infancy, according to Weill Cornell Medicine researchers. Children with the condition experience frequent seizures that are often difficult to control with medication and may also face developmental, cognitive and behavioral challenges. Until now, most research has focused on how a mutation in the SCN1A gene disrupts electrical signaling in the brain....

Cornell University President Michael I. Kotlikoff and Dr. Robert A. Harrington, Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine, sent the following message on July 27 to the Weill Cornell Medicine community.

Dear Weill Cornell Medicine Community,

We are writing to let you know that we have resolved an investigation by the United States Attorney’s Office into former faculty member Darius Paduch’s gross misconduct at Weill Cornell Medicine. The agreement,...

A 2023 video honors Dr. Julianne Imperato-McGinley's storied career.

As a new endocrinology fellow at what is now Weill Cornell Medicine in the early 1970s, Dr. Julianne Imperato-McGinley hit a wall.

Her first assignment was to write a grant...

Weill Cornell Medicine investigators have developed a new AI-based method to assess patients with a form of blood cancer called myelodysplastic neoplasms. The method, published June 30 in Leukemia, compares the physical locations and morphometric (size and shape) characteristics of every hematopoietic cell...

Significant advances have been made in the development of patient-derived tumor organoids for preclinical research, in two new studies led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The advances represent progress in precision medicine and point to the more routine use of tumor organoids as models for evaluating and optimizing cancer treatments.

Weill Cornell Medicine has received a $2.5 million, three-year grant from the Department of Defense (DoD) to develop therapies with fewer side effects for triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive and difficult-to-treat breast cancers. The highly competitive DoD Breast Cancer Research Program Breakthrough Award supports innovative projects with strong potential to transform breast cancer treatment.

Triple-negative breast cancer lacks three proteins—estrogen receptor,...

An NSAID-related compound called ampyrone appears to safely boost production of the pigment melanin in human skin, according to a preclinical study led by Weill Cornell Medicine and National Eye Institute investigators. The discovery could lead to the development of an ampyrone-derived treatment for hypopigmentation disorders.

Such disorders, which include severe genetic forms of oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) as well as inflammation-caused...

Weill Cornell Medicine has received a four-year, $1.5 million grant from New York’s Empire State Development to increase resources available through BioVenture eLab, the institution’s hub for biomedical entrepreneurship. The grant is among the first the state has awarded through its New York Global Entrepreneurs Program, which was...

A form of glioma, a type of brain cancer, tends to progress towards greater malignancy due to an increasing tendency of the glioma cells to transform into immature, stem-cell-like states, according to a study led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine, the New York Genome Center, Harvard Medical School and Mass General Brigham. The findings showcase the power of modern laboratory technology for illuminating cancer development and could inform future treatments and...

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and Birkbeck, University of London, have identified a site where a commonly used anesthetic binds to sodium ion channels, revealing a molecular mechanism that may explain how these drugs dampen communication between neurons. Ion channels are proteins that regulate the flow of charged particles across cell membranes, enabling neurons to generate electrical signals. By reducing this signaling, inhaled anesthetics help suppress brain activity, producing...

New York (July 9, 2026)—Dr. Timothy R. Donahue, a distinguished surgeon-scientist specializing in pancreatic cancer, has been appointed chair of the Department of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine and surgeon-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, effective Sept. 1.

Building on the academic medical center’s long history of surgical excellence, Dr. Donahue will focus on developing...

The National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health has awarded a five-year grant initially worth $8.37 million for Weill Cornell Medicine researchers to study a new gene therapy for Alzheimer’s disease in people who have a high genetic risk of developing the condition. The research could garner nearly $14 million in total if prescribed milestones are reached for years three through...

An artificial intelligence system that operates like a collaborative team of medical experts could accelerate clinical trial design, one of the most difficult steps in drug development, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The findings, published July 7 in Nature Communications, evaluated the potential of the system, called EmulatRx, to simulate, design and improve clinical...

A protein produced by gut immune cells orchestrates both immune protection against pathogens and immune tolerance of gut bacteria, according to a study led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The discovery illuminates the complex biology of the gut immune system and could lead to better-targeted treatments for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

In the study, published July 7 in Immunity, the researchers sought a better...

As the oldest Baby Boomers turn 80, the country’s nursing homes are bracing for an anticipated surge. The number of people who need help with dementia, disabilities and the activities of daily living is growing at a time when the number of nursing home beds is shrinking. Nearly 10% of nursing homes in the United States closed between 2011 and 2021. In addition, direct care providers are leaving the industry in droves.

In a ...

Patients with advanced prostate cancer may need periodic imaging scans to catch tumor growth even with stable levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a protein in the blood that doctors routinely monitor for cancer progression, according to an analysis led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and Duke University. In some cases, cancer progression was detected on scans even when PSA levels were undetectable.

The recent study...

T cells are an elite fighting force of the immune system, seeking out and destroying diseased cells. But in a prolonged campaign against a chronic condition — like a viral infection, or cancer — the body needs a steady supply of these killer troops. Where and how these killer troops are generated has been a mystery.

That led a team of scientists from Weill Cornell Medicine and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) to dig deeper. They found that a small subset of T cells, called...

Chronic psychological stress can help tumors evade immune attack through a chain of molecular events involving gut bacteria and viruses within those bacteria, according to a study led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The findings unveil a new layer of cancer biology along with potential therapeutic opportunities.

On a Monday evening on the fourth floor of Helmsley Medical Tower, a Weill Cornell Medicine medical student leans in to take a patient’s history—in Spanish, English or sometimes both—before stepping out to present the case to an attending physician. Months later, that same student may be messaging that patient about lab results, helping schedule a specialist visit or urging them to go to the emergency room if needed.

At the...

Cholesterol-reducing statin medications to lower the risk of heart attack and stroke; personalized cancer therapies; mRNA technologies that revolutionized vaccine development and are now transforming cancer therapy. These are just a few examples of the countless innovations made possible by physician-scientists—physicians who divide their career between clinical practice and rigorous scientific, patient-inspired research.

“What fundamentally defines the value of physician-scientists is...