The following research from Columbia University Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is being presented at the 65th annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), March 16-23, 2013, in San Diego.
Columbia University Medical Center researchers have found the first evidence that selective activation of the dentate gyrus, a portion of the hippocampus, can reduce anxiety without affecting learning. The findings suggest that therapies that target this brain region could be used to treat certain anxiety disorders, such as panic disorder and PTSD, with minimal cognitive side effects.
Researchers have discovered how the most common genetic mutations in familial Parkinson’s disease damage brain cells. The mutations block an intracellular system that normally prevents a protein called alpha-synuclein from reaching toxic levels in dopamine-producing neurons. The findings suggest that interventions aimed at enhancing this digestive system, or preventing its disruption, may prove valuable in the prevention or treatment of Parkinson’s. The study was published March 3 in the online edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience.
Nearly one in four women (23 %) newly diagnosed with breast cancer reported symptoms consistent with PTSD shortly after diagnosis, with increased risk among black and Asian women. Led by the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center; the study has been e-published in the JNCI.
Triglyceride lipid emulsions rich in an omega-3 fatty acid injected within a few hours of an ischemic stroke can decrease the amount of damaged brain tissue by 50 percent or more in mice, reports a new study by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center. The results suggest that the emulsions may be able to reduce some of the long-term neurological and behavioral problems seen in human survivors of neonatal stroke and possibly of adult stroke, as well.
New findings by Columbia researchers suggest that along with amyloid deposits, white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) may be a second necessary factor for the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Weill Cornell Medical College have announced that the Mortimer D. Sackler, M.D. Prize for Distinguished Achievement in Developmental Psychobiology has been awarded to Carla Shatz, PhD, the Sapp Family Provostial Professor in Neurobiology at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.
Researchers have discovered how the tongue detects high concentrations of salt, the first step in a salt-avoiding behavior common to most mammals. The findings could serve as a springboard for the development of taste modulators to help control the appetite for a high-salt diet and reduce the ill effects of too much sodium. The findings were published today online in Nature.
$25 Million Gift Will Streamline Collaboration to Discover Potential ALS Therapeutics. Scientific director Christopher E. Henderson, PhD, and executive director Manish Raisinghani, MD, PhD, will jointly manage the program. Dr. Henderson is co-director of the Motor Neuron Center at Columbia University Medical Center.
Researchers have identified a protein trafficking defect within brain cells that may underlie the common form of Parkinson's disease. The defect is at a point of convergence for the action of at least three different genes that had been implicated in prior studies of Parkinson's disease. Whereas most molecular studies focus on mutations associated with rare familial forms of the disease, these findings relate directly to the common non-familial form of Parkinson’s.
Seeking to bridge the transition from pediatric to adult care for people living with cerebral palsy, Debby and Peter A. Weinberg, with several of their family members and friends, have given more than $7 million to help establish the Weinberg Family Cerebral Palsy Center at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC). Up until now, there has been only one other center in the United States that provides integrated, multidisciplinary care for both children and adults with cerebral palsy, and this is the first on the East Coast. The Center was officially launched this week, at events attended by Mr. and Mrs. Weinberg, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, CUMC Dean Lee Goldman, MD, and faculty and staff supporters of the new Center.
The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center has welcomed five new clinician-scientists specializing in leukemia. They are: Drs. Mark G. Frattini; Mark L. Heaney; Joseph G. Jurcic; Nicole Lamanna; and Todd Rosenblat. All were previously at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
ColumbiaDoctors Midtown officially opened its doors today with a ribbon-cutting by leadership of Columbia University and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and ColumbiaDoctors physicians, dentists, and nurse practitioners. The location puts many of the city's top doctors from NY’s No. 1 academic medical center in the heart of Midtown: 51 W. 51st St.
• 65% of stroke survivors with PTSD, vs. 33% of those without PTSD, failed to adhere to treatment. • Nonadherence in PTSD patients was partially explained by increased ambivalence toward medication. • About one-third of stroke survivors with PTSD viewed medications as disruptions to their lives, worried about long-term effects of medications or potential dependence on them.
A new study led by Columbia University Medical Center researchers has found that leptin, a hormone that plays a key role in energy metabolism, fertility, and bone mass, also regulates airway diameter. The findings could explain why obese people are prone to asthma and suggest that medications that increase leptin-signaling may relieve asthma in obese people. The study, conducted in mice, was published in the journal Cell Metabolism.
A study led by Columbia University Medical Center researchers has found that an important branch of the immune system, in reaction to the development of atherosclerotic lesions, mounts a surprisingly robust anti-inflammatory T cell response that helps prevent the disease from progressing. The findings may help inform the design of anti-atherosclerosis vaccines and other therapies that can take advantage of this aspect of the immune system. The study was published today in the online edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Two recent experimental treatments — one involving skin-derived induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell grafts, the other gene therapy — have been shown to produce long-term improvement in visual function in mouse models of retinitis pigmentosa (RP), according to the Columbia University Medical Center scientists who led the studies. At present, there is no cure for RP, the most common form of inherited blindness.
By analyzing tissues harvested from organ donors, Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have created the first ever “atlas” of immune cells in the human body. Their results provide a unique view of the distribution and function of T lymphocytes in healthy individuals. In addition, the findings represent a major step toward development of new strategies for creating vaccines and immunotherapies. The study was published today in the online edition of the journal Immunity.
A joint team of scientists from The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Laboratory and Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) has developed a technique that may prevent the inheritance of mitochondrial diseases in children. The study is published online today in Nature.
Are you stressed? Results of a new meta-analysis of six studies involving nearly 120,000 people indicate that the answer to that question may help predict one’s risk of incident coronary heart disease (CHD) or death from CHD. The study, led by Columbia University Medical Center researchers, was published in a recent issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.
A large, multi-center clinical trial led by Columbia University Medical Center shows that a new genetic test resulted in significantly more clinically relevant information than the current standard method of prenatal testing. The test uses microarray to conduct a comprehensive examination of a fetus’s DNA. Results will be in the 12/6/12 issue of NEJM.
Richard Mayeux, MD, MS, Chair of the Department of Neurology at Columbia University Medical Center; the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Professor of Neurology, Psychiatry and Epidemiology; and Director of the Sergievsky Center, has been awarded the distinction of Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
The Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY) today directed a letter to the New York State Congressional Delegation calling on them to reject a nearly 10-percent cut to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Medicare and Title VII health professions programs, that will take effect January 2, 2013.
Patients will join U.S. Representatives Charles Rangel, Jerrold Nadler, Carolyn Maloney, and members of New York medical schools to urge Congress to reject a nearly 10% cut to National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding that is slated to take effect in January.
Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) presented the 2012 Naomi Berrie Award to Christophe Benoist, MD, PhD, and Diane Mathis, PhD, both of Harvard Medical School, for their contributions to expanding understanding of the disease mechanisms underlying type 1 diabetes over the past three decades. Hongxia Ren, PhD, the junior award recipient, is an associate research scientist in the laboratory of Domenico Accili, MD in the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia University Medical Center.
About 10 percent of kids born with kidney defects have large alterations in their genomes known to be linked with neurodevelopmental delay and mental illness, a new study by Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers has shown. The study was published today in the online edition of the American Journal of Human Genetics.
Although schizophrenia is highly genetic in origin, the genes involved in the disorder have been difficult to identify. In the past few years, researchers have implicated several genes, but it is unclear how they act to produce the disorder. A new study by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center identifies affected gene networks and provides insight into the molecular causes of the disease. The paper was published today in the online edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience.
A study by researchers at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, recently e-published ahead of print by the Journal of Clinical Oncology, suggests that women who have surgery for ovarian cancer at high-volume hospitals have superior outcomes than similar patients at low-volume hospitals.
Columbia University Medical Center researchers have created the first true mouse model of typhoid infection. The development promises to advance the study of typhoid and the creation of new vaccines against the infection, which remains a major health threat in developing countries. The paper was published today in the online edition of the journal Cell.
Screening practices for multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in intensive care units (ICUs) vary widely from hospital to hospital, according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University School of Nursing and published in the October 2012 issue of the American Journal of Infection Control.
A study suggests that spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a genetic neuromuscular disease in infants and children, results primarily from motor circuit dysfunction, not motor neuron or muscle cell dysfunction, as is commonly thought. In a second study, the researchers identified the molecular pathway in SMA that leads to problems with motor function. Findings from the studies, conducted in fruit fly, zebrafish and mouse models of SMA, could lead to therapies for this debilitating and often fatal neuromuscular disease. Both studies were published today in the online edition of the journal Cell.
Researchers have found that a diet high in saturated fat raises levels of endothelial lipase (EL), an enzyme associated with the development of atherosclerosis, and, conversely, that a diet high in omega-3 polyunsaturated fat lowers levels of this enzyme. The findings establish a “new” link between diet and atherosclerosis and suggest a novel way to prevent cardiovascular heart disease. In addition, the research may help to explain why the type 2 diabetes drug rosiglitazone (Avandia) has been linked to heart problems.
Columbia University Medical Center researchers have identified dozens of new spontaneous genetic mutations that play a significant role in the development of schizophrenia, adding to the growing list of genetic variants that can contribute to the disease. The study, the largest and most comprehensive of its kind, was published today in the online edition of the journal Nature Genetics.
An experimental treatment for blindness, developed from a patient’s skin cells, improved the vision of blind mice in a study conducted by Columbia ophthalmologists and stem cell researchers.
Researchers in the Taub Institute at Columbia University Medical Center have identified a mechanism that appears to underlie the common sporadic (non-familial) form of Parkinson’s disease, the progressive movement disorder. The discovery highlights potential new therapeutic targets for Parkinson’s and could lead to a blood test for the disease. The study, based mainly on analysis of human brain tissue, was published today in the online edition of Nature Communications.
Columbia will award the 2012 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize to Drs. Richard Losick, Joe Lutkenhaus and Lucy Shapiro, for their collective work on the intricate, dynamic, three-dimensional organization of bacterial cells. Established in 1967, the Horwitz Prize is Columbia University’s top honor for achievement in biological and biochemistry research.
Since the 1980s, scientists have thought that DNA methylation (a mechanism cells use to lock genes in the "off" position) of tumor suppressor genes drives cells to become cancer cells. But when Columbia’s Dr. Bestor tried to find tumor progression driven by methylation in lab research or in literature, they couldn’t find any. This led them to an alternative hypothesis: “methylation suicide,” in which methylation changes are part of normal pathways that kill cancer cells. Dr. Bestor’s NCI grant supports the study of this hypothesis.
Scientists generally think that reduced insulin production by the pancreas, a hallmark of type 2 diabetes, is due to the death of the organ’s beta cells. However, a new study by Columbia University Medical Center researchers shows that beta cells do not die but instead revert to a more fundamental, undifferentiated cell type. The findings suggest that strategies to prevent beta cells from de-differentiating, or to coax them to re-differentiate, might improve glucose balance in patients with type 2 diabetes. The study, conducted in mice was published today in the online edition of the journal Cell.
Tom Maniatis, PhD, the Isidore S. Edelman Professor of Biochemistry and chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Columbia University Medical Center, is to receive the 2012 Lasker-Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science. Dr. Maniatis is known for both his research on the mechanisms of gene regulation and his Molecular Cloning Manual. Dr. Maniatis will receive the award on Sept. 21 in New York City.
Columbia University Medical Center researchers have identified a potential medical treatment for the cognitive effects of stress-related disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study, conducted in a PTSD mouse model, shows that an experimental drug called S107, one of a new class of small-molecule compounds called Rycals, prevented learning and memory deficits associated with stress-related disorders. The findings were published today in the online edition of Cell.
Columbia University Medical Center researchers have identified a mechanism that can give energy-storing white fat some of the beneficial characteristics of energy-burning brown fat. The findings, based on studies of mice and of human fat tissue, could lead to new strategies for treating obesity and type 2 diabetes. The study was published today in the online edition of the journal Cell.
Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have discovered that some cases of glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive form of primary brain cancer, are caused by the fusion of two adjacent genes. The study also found that drugs that target the protein produced by this genetic aberration can dramatically slow the growth of glioblastomas in mice. The findings were published today in the online edition of the journal Science.
Under-performance of small bowel biopsy during endoscopy may explain the underdiagnosis of celiac disease in the United States, according to a new study published online in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Investigators at the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University Medical Center found that the rate of small bowel biopsy is low in this country.
One in eight people who suffer a heart attack or other acute coronary event experience clinically significant symptoms of PTSD, according to a meta-analysis of 24 studies. The study also shows that heart patients who suffer PTSD face twice the risk of having another cardiac event or of dying within one to three years, compared with those without PTSD.
Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have identified a brain receptor that appears to play a central role in regulating appetite. The findings, published today in the online edition of Cell, could lead to new drugs for preventing or treating obesity.
A clinical study has demonstrated that a new drug, a targeted molecular therapy called vismodegib (trade name Erivedge™), can dramatically shrink basal cell skin cancers and prevent the formation of new ones, in patients with basal cell nevus syndrome (BCNS). A phase II clinical study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Herbert and Florence Irving, Columbia University Medical Center’s leading benefactors, have given an additional $40 million to support Columbia’s Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC).
Columbia University Medical Center & NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital hold free cancer information & screening session for community members.
Blacks and Hispanics have a significantly higher risk of developing precancerous colorectal polyps compared with whites, according to a study by researchers at NewYork – Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. The findings appeared in the online edition of Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
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