Stem Cell Researcher Developing Treatment for Leading Cause of Blindness

New York News in Research: September 2017

Highlights

Stem Cell Researcher Developing Treatment for Leading Cause of Blindness

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness, affecting 1 in 5 people over the age of 75. As AMD progresses, patients lose the ability to recognize faces or read, they lose independence and experience deteriorating quality of life. That's why Dr. Sally Temple, a stem-cell researcher studying diseases of the central nervous system, is working to develop an effective treatment for the currently incurable disease.

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Cancer

Upstate Medical University: Tandem treatment -Polymer 'Truck' Penetrates Tumor, Kills Ovarian Cancer Cells

The ovarian cancer drug doxorubicin can be toxic to the heart. Giving a woman enough of the drug to be effective against her cancer may be too much to be safe for her heart. Scientists at Upstate Medical University are pairing doxorubicin with regular vitamin B2 in a new nanoformulation (that is, using microscopic particles) to treat ovarian cancer - with encouraging results that are gentle on the heart. Take a closer look.

Columbia University Medical Center: Cancer Immunotherapy May Get a Boost by Disabling Specific T Cells

Cancer immunotherapy drugs only work for a minority of patients, but a generic drug now used to increase blood flow may be able to improve those odds, a study by Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers suggests. Take a closer look.

NYU Langone Health: Alternative Immunotherapy Drug More Effective Than Current Standard of Care in Treating Advanced Melanoma after Surgical Removal of Disease

The immunotherapy drug nivolumab is safer and more effective than ipilimumab - the current standard of care - in treating patients with resected stage III and stage IV melanoma , according to an international clinical trial led by a researcher from NYU Langone Health's Perlmutter Cancer Center . Take a closer look.

Weill Cornell Medicine: Yearly Screening Mammography Starting at Age 40 Saves the Most Lives

Annual mammograms for women beginning at age 40 prevent the greatest number of breast cancer deaths, according a new study from Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The findings, published Aug. 21 in Cancer, may help settle an ongoing debate about when and how often women should undergo screening mammography. Take a closer look.

Cardiology

University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences: Which TAVR Patients are at Risk for Hospital Readmission? Research Identifies New Prognostic Marker

As more elderly patients undergo the minimally invasive heart valve procedure called Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVR), concerns have been raised as to what causes some to be readmitted for heart failure after the procedure. Take a closer look.

NYU Langone Health: Children Exposed to Chemicals in 9/11 'Dust' Show Early Signs of Risk of Heart Disease

Sixteen years after the collapse of the World Trade Center towers sent a "cloud" of toxic debris across Lower Manhattan, children living nearby who likely breathed in the ash and fumes are showing early signs of risk for future heart disease. Take a closer look.

Neurology

University at Rochester Medical Center: Telemedicine as Effective as In-Person Care for Parkinson's Disease

New findings from a nationwide program that links neurologists with patients with Parkinson's disease in their homes via video conferencing shows that telemedicine can successfully deliver quality care. The study, which appears in the journal Neurology, points to a new way to improve care for people who suffer from the disease, but may have not have access to a neurologist. Take a closer look.

Columbia University Medical Center: Memories "Lost" to Alzheimer's May Be Retrievable

Columbia University Medical Center researchers have found that it may be possible to access memories "lost" to Alzheimer's disease, if their discoveries about memory loss in mice also apply to people with the disease. The researchers' findings, published in the journal Hippocampus , have the potential to shift the view of Alzheimer's as a disease that destroys memories to a disease that disrupts the brain's ability to recall memories. Take a closer look.

Other Studies

University of Rochester Medical Center: Patient Plays Saxophone While Surgeons Remove Brain Tumor

Music is not only a major part of Dan Fabbio's life, as a music teacher it is his livelihood. So when doctors discovered a tumor located in the part of his brain responsible for music function, he began a long journey that involved a team of physicians, scientists, and a music professor and culminated with him awake and playing a saxophone as surgeons operated on his brain. Fabbio's case is the subject of a study published in the journal Current Biology that sheds new light on how music is processed in the brain. Take a closer look.

Grants

Albert Einstein College of Medicine Researchers Awarded Three NIH Grants Totaling $12 Million to Fight Virulent Viruses

The NIH has awarded Einstein researchers three grants totaling more than $12 million to protect against three deadly viruses-Ebola, Marburg and hantavirus. Research collaborations have led to novel approaches for developing vaccines and treatments. Take a closer look.

Weill Cornell Medicine Awarded $11.3 Million Prestigious Grant for Prostate Cancer Research

Weill Cornell Medicine has been awarded a five-year, $11.3 million Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, to improve the detection, diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer - a disease that affects one in six men. Take a closer look.

Albany Medical College, Rensselaer Researchers Collaborate to Advance Personalized Anti-Cancer Drugs

The joint research, supported by a $3.7 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, will help address fundamental issues in cancer research and treatment. Take a closer look.

Albert Einstein College of Medicine Researchers Awarded $3 Million for Longevity and Aging Studies

Aging is the major risk factor for most adult onset diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. At the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Human Aging Research at Einstein, scientists are working to discover genetic and biological mechanisms that could protect against human aging and age-related diseases. Take a closer look.

Faculty News

Albany Medical College: Gene Editing Pioneers Selected to Receive America's Most Distinguished Prize in Medicine

For their roles in the creation of a remarkable gene editing system that has been called the "discovery of the century," five researchers have been announced as the recipients of the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research for 2017. Take a closer look.