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Many of the most common inpatient surgeries in the United States are performed electively. These surgeries are expected to significantly increase with the enactment of the Affordable Care Act. In a new perspectives article, published in the Dec. 27 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine, a team of Weill Cornell Medical College researchers are recommending the nation's health care leaders and medical community join forces to establish evidence-based appropriateness criteria to determine which patients are most in need of elective procedures, such as joint replacement surgery, to slow the projected surge in demand and rising costs. Currently, there are no appropriateness criteria for most of the common elective procedures.

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Dr. Matthew E. Fink, a leader in stroke and critical care neurology, has been named chairman of the Department of Neurology at Weill Cornell Medical College and neurologist-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

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Diagnosed with severe coronary artery disease, a group of patients too ill for or not responding to other treatment options decided to take part in a clinical trial testing angiogenic gene therapy to help rebuild their damaged blood vessels. More than 10 years later, in a follow-up review of these patients, doctors at Baylor College of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College (where the clinical trial and review took place) and Stony Brook University Medical Center report the outcomes are promising and open the door for larger trials to begin.

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Dr. Fabrizio Michelassi, the Lewis Atterbury Stimson Professor and chairman of the Department of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, and surgeon-in-chief of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, has received the Grand Award of Merit from the American Society of the Italian Legions of Merit (ASILM), the Society's highest honor.

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Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common subtype of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and the seventh most frequently diagnosed cancer. The most chemotherapy resistant form of DLBCL, called activated B-cell – DLBCL (ABC-DLBCL), remains a major therapeutic challenge. An international research team, led by two laboratories from Weill Cornell Medical College, has developed a new experimental drug therapy to target this aggressive form of lymphoma.

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The Weill Cornell Physician Organization at Weill Cornell Medical College has joined more than 120 medical groups and health systems nationwide to launch the new health campaign Measure Up, Pressure Down aimed to improve high blood pressure prevention, detection and control. As part of the new campaign, organizations, such as Weill Cornell, have pledged to work toward achieving a goal of having 80 percent of high blood pressure patients in control of their condition by 2016.

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Weill Cornell Medical College researchers Dr. Shahin Rafii and Dr. Xin-Yun Huang have been elected new Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world's largest general scientific society, for their significant contributions to the advancement of the biological sciences.

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Dr. Laurie H. Glimcher, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College and provost for medical affairs of Cornell University, is a winner of the Dr. Luis Federico Leloir Prize of International Cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation from Argentina's Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation. One of Argentina's most prestigious awards, it recognizes Dr. Glimcher's contributions to enriching international scientific cooperation with the nation.

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Weill Cornell Medical College announced today that it is a Grand Challenges Explorations winner, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Researchers at Weill Cornell have been awarded three research grants totaling more than $1.5 million. Weill Cornell's Dr. Juan R. Cubillos-Ruiz, a postdoctoral research associate in medicine in the laboratory of Dean Dr. Laurie H. Glimcher, will pursue an innovative global health and development research project titled, "Tailored Nanodevices to Understand Resistance Against HIV," Dr. Carl Nathan, chairman of microbiology and immunology and R.A. Rees Pritchett Professor of Microbiology, will investigate "Sequestration and asymmetric distribution of irreversibly oxidized proteins in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb)" and Dr. Kyu Rhee, associate professor of medicine and microbiology and immunology, will examine "Mining metabolosomes: A biochemical blueprint to new drug targets against non-replicating Mtb."

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NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center was named a recipient of two Transplant Program Awards from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) for its outstanding performance on liver and lung transplantation.

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Weill Cornell Medical College researchers report that mass spectrometry, a tool currently used to detect and measure proteins and lipids, can also now allow biologists to "see" for the first time exactly how drugs work inside living cells to kill infectious microbes. As a result, scientists may be able to improve existing antibiotics and design new, smarter ones to fight deadly infections, such as tuberculosis. The new study was published in today's early online edition of Science.

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A team of national and international researchers, led by Weill Cornell Medical College scientists, have decoded the key "software" instructions that drive three of the most virulent forms of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). They discovered ALL's "software" is encoded with epigenetic marks, chemical modifications of DNA and surrounding proteins, allowing the research team to identify new potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

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Patients with hypertension whose blood pressure cannot be brought down to safe levels despite taking three or more medications may have some relief coming their way. An innovative, first-of-its-kind clinical trial for a device representing a dramatic shift in treatment approaches for the toughest-to-treat patients is currently being conducted at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

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Holiday dinners are filled with heaping dishes of comfort foods, fattening favorites and savory treats. It is no wonder these meals often leave us feeling stuffed with guilt and holiday remorse.

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Winter is a special time for celebration. It should also be a time for added caution if you or someone in your family is an older adult. It is the season for falls, slips on icy streets and other dangers that can be especially harmful for older adults.

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Crowded shopping centers, visits from long-lost relatives, and the pressure of preparing holiday meals can all summon one universal reaction: stress. The holidays may be the season of love and celebration, but sometimes festivities can become overwhelming.

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While we may be accustomed to battling frigid temperatures and the inevitable snow storms that arrive every winter, many of us are unaware of the dangers these pose to our hearts.

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Spring and summer are not the only seasons that bring misery to those with allergies. The winter months can be brutal for people sensitive to mold spores and dust mites.

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All winter flakes are not made of snow. Cold weather, with its low relative humidity, wreaks havoc on our skin, making it dry and flaky. Skin dries out if it's deprived of moisture and this dryness often aggravates itchiness, resulting in a condition commonly referred to as "winter itch."

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While it is important to get vaccinated against the flu virus as early as possible, it is never too late to reap the benefits of this vaccine. According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the peak months for the spread of the flu virus are January and February and the season can last into mid-May. Those at highest risk of complications from the flu are young children; people 65 and older; pregnant women; and people with health conditions such as heart, lung or kidney disease, or a weakened immune system.