By Amy Crawford
Photos by John Abbott
Illustration by Alexander Vidal

Brain and Behavior, a required course for students in the fall of their second year, covers a wide range of topics—from basic neuroscience to diseases of the central nervous system and the physiology of mental illness. As in any medical school course, it comprises a staggering amount of information, and absorbing it all can be a challenge. But Lee Gottesdiener ’19 says the details of one disease—multiple sclerosis (MS)—are cemented in his memory. That’s because the unit on it included a pilot “e-module,” a suite of videos and online activities that filled in for the traditional lecture. “It was definitely a memorable way to deliver the material,” Gottesdiener says. “The e-module was very interactive. You can re-watch the videos if you need to. It was nice to be able to go through the visuals at my own pace. I still remember more about MS—even though it was eight months ago—than about the other topics.”

Lee Gottesdiener ’19 says that his understanding of multiple sclerosis was enhanced by the use of an e-module.

Gottesdiener’s rave review has been echoed by many of his classmates this past year. Three Weill Cornell Medical College courses now include “vodcasts,” or video podcasts, and e-modules—like the MS unit and a similar one about women’s heart health—created in partnership with developers at eCornell in Ithaca. More are coming, in a top-down initiative that is part of Weill Cornell Medicine’s broader move toward more educational technology, from the classroom to the clinic to the anatomy lab (where students now use iPads rather than textbooks to guide their dissections). Some of the tech is eye-popping: the Skills Acquisition & Innovation Laboratory (SAIL), for example, provides students with 24/7 access to simulated operating and procedure rooms complete with robotic patients. And at the Margaret and Ian Smith Clinical Skills Center, which offers a state-of-the-art patient simulator suite, students practice taking histories—with trained actors playing patients—while being digitally recorded for later review by them and their professors. Other technology is more basic but no less transformative, like a new course management system that allows faculty to upload materials for students to access on their own devices.

The new tech appeals to the millennial generation, those digital natives who always seem to have a smartphone in hand. “This new breed of students clearly expects things to be technology-based,” says Dr. Yoon Kang, the Richard P. Cohen, MD, Associate Professor of Medical Education, director of the Smith Clinical Skills Center, and associate dean for program development and operations of medical education, who is leading the effort. Still, she says, “it wasn’t just about indulging the students. Today there’s an increased need for lifelong learning, because of the pace at which information is changing, from clinical care protocols to basic science. So having information you can access on the hospital floor, or with a patient in front of you—that makes good sense.”

Across the country, medical education is in the midst of a sea change inspired by a major report on the state of American medical schools, published in 2010 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. “The traditional curriculum—two years of foundational education followed by two years of clinical—hadn’t changed much for about a hundred years,” Dr. Kang explains. Among other things, their report called for more individually tailored programs, closer connections between the classroom and the clinic and the cultivation of self-directed learning skills and habits. That’s something electronic instructional materials can help facilitate—as medical schools from Johns Hopkins to Stanford have found when they incorporated more tech into their own curricula.

Dr. Yoon Kang

Adapting to new technology can be challenging for established instructors who are used to teaching in a certain way. Still, Dr. Henry Murray, the Arthur Ashe Professor of Medicine and a faculty member since 1979, agreed to take the plunge when he organized a new third-year course called Translational Science. “I’m an old dinosaur,” Dr. Murray, an infectious disease specialist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, admits with a laugh. “I’ve always favored the face-to-face type of class.” But he realized that since the new course would have its eight meetings spread over 16 weeks, technology might help “maximize the efficiency of each 90-minute session, so the students would be prepared to take full advantage of it.” Each of the eight units begins with assigned readings, a hypothetical case report and vodcasts that students watch on their own time. The vodcasts provide background information and an overview of that unit’s focus, whether it’s the role of the microbiome in disease or the genetic drivers of cancer and treatment resistance. A 90-minute live session follows, in which a translational scientist gives a brief lecture and, along with a clinician, leads a discussion with a patient whose condition illustrates the subject matter. “That allows the lecturer to focus on what they really thought was important,” Dr. Murray says. “They don’t have to try to encompass the entire topic in their one 40-minute talk in class.”

This approach is known by the buzzy term “flipping the classroom”: the foundational material that was once the subject of a lecture is now delivered beforehand, leaving more classroom time for deep dives and question-and-answer sessions. In recent years it has become popular, from high school on up; last year, the University of Vermont’s College of Medicine became the first member of the Association of American Medical Colleges to announce that it would flip all of its courses and eliminate the traditional lecture entirely. “You spend 15 or 20 minutes with the basics, and then you’re better prepared for a lecture,” says Lauren Tufts ’19, who took Translational Science last spring, watching the videos on her laptop at home in the evening. “I think it’s the future of medical education—and probably all education.”

Jacqueline Parker ’18, who started with the Class of 2015 before deciding to take a few years off, says students were turning to technology even before  Weill Cornell Medical College began incorporating it into the curriculum. Popular tools include the commercially available programs Sketchy Medical, Pathoma and Picmonic, which use animations and visual cues to help students learn material in microbiology, pharmacology and pathology. As students spend more time on the hospital floor and their schedules become less predictable, Parker notes that it’s much easier to whip out a smartphone than to haul around a stack of textbooks. “We’re in the hospital for eight or 10 hours—and in addition to patient care, we’re responsible for studying for our exams,” she says. “There are gaps of time in the day when it’s appropriate to study, and with electronic access to resources, it’s easier to make good use of the time.”

The Skills Acquisition & Innovation Laboratory, where high-tech simulators are used to teach surgical techniques

While feedback has been positive, Dr. Kang, an internist at NewYork-Presbyterian/ Weill Cornell Medical Center, says it’s too early to determine whether Weill Cornell Medical College students are actually learning more. But a number of studies and pilot projects around the country suggest that the flipped classroom approach—when done right—can improve grades and reduce course failure rates. One 2011 paper in Science showed that physics students in a flipped classroom scored 33 percentage points higher on an exam than a control group who attended traditional lectures; meanwhile, attendance rates rose by 20 percent.

At Weill Cornell Medicine, some students have become so enamored of educational technology that they have taken the unusual move of volunteering to create their own content. Under the guidance of Dr. Kang and the surgery curriculum team and in partnership with developers at eCornell, Tufts, Parker, and Yoshiko Toyoda ’19 are working on a new e-module for use during the surgical clerkship, which students take in the spring of their second year or the fall of their third. Focusing on hernia surgery, it will include a 3D anatomical diagram, a narrated slide presentation and videos of the various steps—from gowning and gloving to suturing the incision. “We want to cater to as many different kinds of learners as possible,” Tufts says. “For example, reading and writing aren’t my favorite ways to learn, but I love visual learning.”

Students in the Smith Clinical Skills Center, where future doctors are recorded on digital video while seeing “patients” portrayed by actors

Parker notes that if students have already familiarized themselves with a procedure on their own time, they’re better prepared to follow along when they observe it in real life—and are likely to ask more informed questions. “What technology can’t do is provide a personal connection and mentorship,” she says. “It’s important that we continue to grow mentorship opportunities, and that we find a way for technology to foster them.” Gottesdiener agrees that technology should serve as a complement, not a substitute, for traditional methods of teaching. But as Weill Cornell Medical College’s pedagogical approach continues to evolve, he is looking forward to more opportunities to learn through tech-driven methods. “It’s not going to replace everything,” he says. “But outside of school, we take in so much information through the computer—and this plugs into that.”

This story first appeared in Weill Cornell Medicine, Vol. 16. No. 4

The Junior Faculty Fellowship Fund, which provides $50,000 in research support to exceptional junior faculty who are juggling basic or clinical research with childcare responsibilities, recently made awards to five Weill Cornell Medicine scientists and physicians.

Now in its second year, the grant was established in 2015 with a $1.25 million gift from the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation. The goal is to provide junior faculty with funding so that they can establish a scientific track record, succeed in research, and ultimately, be promoted to a higher rank while raising their children. While both men and women are eligible for the fellowship, women are disproportionately underrepresented in senior positions in academic medicine, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges.

“We have so many talented women coming into the pipeline at either the instructor or assistant professor level, but we know there’s a big drop-off after that,” said Dr. Randi Silver, associate dean of the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, who runs the program.

“We’re serious about keeping these researchers here and giving them opportunities to succeed,” added Dr. Silver, who is also a professor of physiology and biophysics at Weill Cornell Medicine. “This fellowship, which comes at a critical point in their career, is a way for the institution to say, ‘we’re behind you.’ We hope it can make a big difference in the fellows’ productivity, and push them over the edge so that it’s easier for them to get a much larger grant in the future.”

This year’s awardees are Dr. So Hyun (Sophy) Kim, an assistant professor of psychology in clinical psychiatry; Dr. Amy Kuceyeski, an assistant professor of mathematics in neuroscience and radiology; Dr. Kristen Pleil, an assistant professor of pharmacology; Dr. Selin Somersan-Karakaya, the Nan and Stephen Swid Research Scholar in Medicine and an assistant professor of medicine; and Dr. Claire Vanpouille-Box, an instructor in radiation oncology. They were selected from an applicant pool of about 30.

The awardees’ projects are diverse, and focused on basic and clinical research for conditions including multiple sclerosis, tuberculosis and alcohol addiction. Some of the awardees plan to use the funds to hire a lab technician to help with data collection and research, while others will put some of the money towards purchasing reagents.

Dr. Kim, who works in the Center for Autism and the Developing Brain, will use the funds to further her research on school readiness in high-functioning kindergarteners with autism spectrum disorder. Specifically, she will track the development of academic, cognitive and language skills across 20 children in the kindergarten school year using behavioral and electrophysiological methods. The results will inform researchers and clinicians to better predict later academic outcomes in these children. The center is a collaborative program between NewYork-Presbyterian, Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, in partnership with New York Collaborates for Autism.

Dr. Kuceyeski will seek to better understand how damage to brain networks in people with multiple sclerosis leads to varied clinical effects depending on whether a patient is considered high-adapting — meaning that there is extensive brain network damage but relatively little clinical impairment — or low-adapting, meaning that the brain doesn’t compensate for the damage, and the clinical impairment is more severe. The goal of the research is to identify biomarkers that predict resiliency in multiple sclerosis, which could lead to more accurate prognoses and novel therapeutic strategies for patients with MS and other neurological disorders such as stroke.

Dr. Pleil will conduct basic research on binge drinking, focusing on how hormones act in the brain to put females at a higher risk than males for developing alcohol addiction and mood disorders.

Dr. Somersan-Karakaya, the only physician in the group, will study how the bacterium that causes tuberculosis — a respiratory infection that affects one-third of the world’s population and kills up to 170 people every hour — continues to spread despite the availability of effective medications. She will study how this bacterium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, interacts with the immune system and adapts to it so that it can outlast the body’s infection-fighting responses. Better understanding of how this bacterium survives could help scientists discover pharmaceutical approaches that work more quickly and prevent the disease from returning.

Dr. Vanpouille-Box will research how radiotherapy, when combined with immunotherapy in cancer treatment, can ramp up the immune system so that it attacks tumor cells. She’ll specifically consider how the DNA damage that takes place because of radiotherapy affects treatments, with the hope that the study’s results will help clinicians figure out the best way to use radiotherapy as an immunotherapy add-on.

“We’re thrilled to be able to offer this philanthropy for the second year running, and to give these talented and ambitious young researchers a little bit of extra support,” Dr. Silver said.

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is often referred to as "good" cholesterol because it transports fat molecules out of blood vessels, protecting against stroke and heart disease. Now, researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have discovered that HDL in blood also carries a protein that powerfully regulates immune function. Together they play an important role in preventing inflammation in the body.

In the study, published June 8 in Nature, the investigators found that a lipid molecule called sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) that is bound to HDL suppresses the formation of T and B immune cells in the bone marrow. In doing so, HDL and S1P block these cells from launching an abnormal immune response that leads to damaging inflammation, a hallmark of many disorders including autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular disease and neuroinflammatory disease, such as multiple sclerosis.

"Our study shows that S1P that is bound to HDL helps prevent inflammation in many tissues," said senior investigator Dr. Timothy Hla, director of the Center for Vascular Biology and a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Weill Cornell. "When there is less S1P that is bound to HDL in blood, there are more B and T cells that can be activated to produce unwanted inflammation."

Dr. Hla has been studying S1P for more than two decades. He discovered that it is a key regulator of vascular function, and that about 65 percent of S1P in blood is bound to apolipoprotein M (ApoM), a member of the lipoprotein family, within the HDL particle. But until this study, the researchers did not know what specific function HDL-bound S1P served.

The team, including first author Dr. Victoria Blaho, an instructor in pathology and laboratory medicine, and researchers from the National Institutes of Health and Stanford University, studied mice that lacked HDL-bound S1P.

Dr. Timothy Hla. Photo credit: Carlos Rene Perez

Mice lacking HDL-bound S1P developed worse inflammation in a model of multiple sclerosis. The reason for this, the investigators found, is that HDL-bound S1P suppresses the formation of T and B immune cells in the bone marrow. While both immune cells help fight infection, an overabundance of these cells can also trigger unwanted inflammation.

The findings help explain why blood HDL levels are such an important measure of cardiovascular health, Dr. Hla said.

"Blood HDL levels are associated with heart and brain health — the higher the HDL in blood, the less risk one has for cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and dementia," Dr. Hla said. "The corollary is that the lower the HDL, the higher the risk of these diseases." Blood levels of ApoM and S1P have not been studied in these diseases.

The findings further suggest that molecules that mimic HDL-bound S1P could be useful in reducing damaging inflammation that has gone awry, Dr. Hla said. Such molecules are not known and will need to be developed in the future.

However, a related S1P1 receptor inhibitor called Gilenya, has already been approved for use in multiple sclerosis, a condition in which the immune system attacks nerve fibers due to unwanted inflammation, Dr. Hla said.

"The unique function of HDL-S1P could be further exploited for innovative therapeutic opportunities," he said.

For this research, Dr. Blaho received funding from the National Institutes of Health (F32 CA14211), the New York Stem Cell Foundation (C026878) and the Leon Levy Foundation (supported through the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute). Dr. Hla received funding from the NIH (HL67330 and HL89934), as well as through Fondation Leducq.

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have developed a new mathematical method that can predict the type and severity of impairment that a patient with brain damage will have given the location of their lesion. With further development, this tool could not only allow clinicians to make more precise prognoses, but could also help them provide individual patients with personalized treatment plans, investigators say.

Dr. Amy Kuceyeski, an assistant professor of mathematics in the Department of Radiology and at the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute at Weill Cornell, pioneered this computational Network Modification (NeMo) Tool, which calculates how much damage a patient has sustained to their brain's white matter, the tissue that connects different brain regions. When using this tool to evaluate patients with either multiple sclerosis (MS) or stroke, Dr. Kuceyeski and her team, who imported data into the NeMo tool that was derived solely from earlier MRI images of the brain, found that white matter damage can be used to predict physical and cognitive impairments a patient will experience. This research, which was published in two separate journals in November 2014 and February of this year, shows that using the NeMo tool could provide clinicians with an easy way to deliver more accurate prognoses and rehabilitation plans for their patients.

"The brain is mysterious, so anything that can be done to quantify the relationship between the behavior at the organism level and the anatomy is pretty interesting," said Dr. Kuceyeski, a former Leon Levy Neuroscience Fellow and lead author on both studies. "If we can improve the accuracy of a prognosis or help clinicians make more targeted treatment decisions, that would be amazing. That's where the research is going."

The ability to trace impairments to their root location provides a wealth of knowledge about the way our brains function – knowledge that is crucial in delivering targeted treatments in a clinical setting. Current research is looking at how doctors might be able to examine a patient's initial brain scan and use the NeMo tool to deliver a more accurate prognosis for the next six to 12 months. With an accurate long-term prognosis, tailored rehabilitative plans can be developed for each patient.

To use the NeMo tool, researchers first analyzed each patient's MRI images. They superimposed the damaged brain area onto an atlas derived from healthy subjects, and the computer output a score that indicates what percentage of the connective tissue – or white matter – was lost for a given functional area, known as gray matter. The researchers then tested the subjects' cognitive and physical abilities to glean which impairment corresponded to which brain location. This ultimately allowed researchers to make connections between the location of a patient's initial lesions and their impairments.

Dr. Kuceyeski and her colleagues used the tool in two different studies. The first, published November 2014 in the American Journal of Neuroradiology, investigated processing speed in patients with MS who were receiving care at the Judith Jaffe Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Care and Research Center at Weill Cornell and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

Processing speed, which controls attention and short-term memory, is important to carrying out many everyday tasks. To test this ability, the scientists administered the Symbol Digits Modality Task (SDMT), which asks patients to decode symbols into their number equivalents by using a legend. Using data collected by Dr. Susan Gauthier, an associate professor of clinical neurology and of clinical neuroscience at Weill Cornell, the researchers measured patients' ability to complete this task, and also looked at the amount and the location of their brain damage. Using the NeMo tool, they found that processing speed was affected by damage to connective white matter towards the back of the brain that joins visual integration areas. This result shows that these tracts play an important role in processing speed, and that damage to these pathways will likely inhibit the same function in future patients.

Dr. Amy Kuceyeski. Photo credit: Weill Cornell Art & Photography

The second study, published in Human Brain Mapping in February, focused on patients with ischemic stroke who were being treated by physicians in the Division of Rehabilitation Medicine at Weill Cornell. Using data collected by Dr. Michael O'Dell, a professor of clinical rehabilitation medicine, and Dr. Joan Toglia, a senior lecturer in rehabilitation medicine, the investigators reviewed patients' ability to complete 18 cognitive and physical tasks using tests that assessed everything from their motor ability to their attention to their ability to live independently. Along with these findings, researchers also analyzed damage to the connective tracts between different brain regions in an effort to form correlations between brain damage and the individual's impairment. Because many of these functions – like activities of daily living – employ multiple brain regions, it's not as easy to predict how a brain lesion will impact a patient. Nevertheless, the researchers explored these more elusive functions and mapped them to their corresponding brain locations.

The investigators found that the NeMo tool predicted impairments, on average, two to three times more accurately than predictions based on patient information — age, gender, etc. — and lesion size alone. Additionally, findings about processing speed mirrored the MS study, with damage to the connective tracts of visual areas once again corresponding to processing speed impairments. Obtaining the same outcome in a different population demonstrated that the NeMo tool was reliable and effective, and gives further confidence in the structure-function mapping of processing speed.

"The location in the brain of a patient's disease or impairment really matters," Dr. Kuceyeski said. "There was no quantitative map to go between where the brain lesion is and what impairment the person is going to have. The whole idea behind this work was trying to quantify those relationships with the ultimate goal of improving clinical care."

Variant of Common Soil-Based Pathogen Found for the First Time in a Patient With MS

Researchers Find Evidence of Similar Infection in Other MS Patients

NEW YORK (October 16, 2013) — A research team from Weill Cornell Medical College and The Rockefeller University has identified a bacterium it believes may trigger multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic, debilitating disorder that damages myelin forming cells in the brain and spinal cord.

Their study, published in PLoS ONE, is the first to identify the bacterium, Clostridium (C.) perfringens type B, in humans.

The scientists say their study is small and must be expanded before a definitive connection between the pathogen and MS can be made, but they also say their findings are so intriguing that they have already begun to work on new treatments for the disease.

"This bacterium produces a toxin that we normally think humans never encounter. That we identified this bacterium in a human is important enough, but the fact that it is present in MS patients is truly significant because the toxin targets the exact tissues damaged during the acute MS disease process," say the study's first author, K. Rashid Rumah, an MD/PhD student at Weill Cornell Medical College, and the study's senior investigator, Dr. Timothy Vartanian, professor of neurology and neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medical College and director of the Judith Jaffe Multiple Sclerosis Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

"While it is clear that new MS disease activity requires an environmental trigger, the identity of this trigger has eluded the MS scientific community for decades," Dr. Vartanian says. "Work is underway to test our hypothesis that the environmental trigger for MS lays within the microbiome, the ecosystem of bacteria that populates the gastrointestinal tract and other body habitats of MS patients."

Connection to MS in grazing animals

The study describes discovery of C. perfringens type B in a 21-year-old woman who was experiencing a flare-up of her MS.

The woman was part of the Harboring the Initial Trigger for MS (HITMS) observational trial launched by Dr. Vartanian and K. Rashid Rumah, who works both with Dr. Vartanian and with co-author Dr. Vincent Fischetti at The Rockefeller University.

C. perfringens, found in soil, is one of the most common bacteria in the world. It is divided into five types. C. perfringens type A is commonly found in the human gastrointestinal tract and is believed to be largely harmless.

C. perfringens types B and D carry a gene (epsilon toxin) that emits a protoxin — a non-active precursor form of the toxin — which is turned into the potent "epsilon" toxin within the intestines of grazing animals. The epsilon toxin travels through the blood to the brain, where it damages brain blood vessels and myelin, the insulation protecting neurons, resulting in MS-like symptoms in the animals. While the D subtype has only been found in two people, based on prior studies by other investigators, the B subtype had never been found in humans.

Nevertheless, Rumah and the research team set out to see if subtypes B or D exist in humans and if they are associated with MS. They tested banked blood and spinal fluid from both MS patients and healthy controls for antibody reactivity to the epsilon toxin. Investigators found that levels of epsilon toxin antibodies in MS patients were 10 times higher than in the healthy controls — the blood of only one out of 100 control participants showed an immune reaction to the toxin.

The team also examined stool samples from both MS patients and healthy controls enrolled in the HITMS clinical study, and found that 52 percent of healthy controls carried the A subtype compared to 23 percent of MS patients. "This is important because it is believed that the type A bacterium competes with the other subtypes for resources, so that makes it potentially protective against being colonized by epsilon toxin secreting subtypes and developing MS," say Rumah and Vartanian.

The search by investigators for evidence of C. perfringens type B paid off in the case of a young MS patient. Co-author Dr. Jennifer Linden, a microbiologist at Weill Cornell Medical College, isolated the actual bacterium from the patient's stool.

A choice of approaches for treatment

The authors suspect that once a human is infected with C. perfringens type B or D, the pathogen usually lives in the gut as an endospore, a seed-like structure that allows some bacteria to remain dormant for long periods. "The human gastrointestinal tract is host to approximately 1,000 different bacterial species, but is not a hospitable environment for C. perfringens type B or D, so it does not grow well there. It hibernates in a protective spore. When it does grow, we anticipate it generates a small quantity of epsilon toxin, which travels through the blood into the brain," Dr. Vartanian says. "We believe the bacterium's growth is episodic, meaning the environmental trigger is always present, and it rears its ugly head from time to time."

He says researchers do not know how humans are infected with C. perfringens type B or D, but they are studying potential routes of exposure. The scientists are also in the first stages of investigating potential treatments against the pathogen.

"There are a variety of approaches we can take. A vaccine for humans is possible — there is already a vaccine available for farm animals, but it requires repeat immunizations," say Vartanian and Rumah. "We are also investigating the possibility of developing small-molecule drugs that prevent the toxin from binding to its receptor.

"But one of my favorite approaches is development of a probiotic cocktail that delivers bacteria that compete with, and destroy, C. perfringens types B and D," Vartanian says. "It would be such a beautiful and natural way to treat the gastrointestinal system and solve the problem. We are also starting to work on this approach."

This work was generously supported in part by The Laurence Tisch Family Research Fund, The Dr. Mortimer D. Sackler Family Fund for Neuroregenerative Research, The Widgeon Point Charitable Foundation, and the Rockefeller University Funds to the Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology.

Weill Cornell Medical College

Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University's medical school located in New York City, is committed to excellence in research, teaching, patient care and the advancement of the art and science of medicine, locally, nationally and globally. Physicians and scientists of Weill Cornell Medical College are engaged in cutting-edge research from bench to bedside, aimed at unlocking mysteries of the human body in health and sickness and toward developing new treatments and prevention strategies. In its commitment to global health and education, Weill Cornell has a strong presence in places such as Qatar, Tanzania, Haiti, Brazil, Austria and Turkey. Through the historic Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, Cornell University is the first in the U.S. to offer a M.D. degree overseas. Weill Cornell is the birthplace of many medical advances — including the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer, the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., the first clinical trial of gene therapy for Parkinson's disease, and most recently, the world's first successful use of deep brain stimulation to treat a minimally conscious brain-injured patient. Weill Cornell Medical College is affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, where its faculty provides comprehensive patient care at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The Medical College is also affiliated with Houston Methodist Hospital. For more information, visit weill.cornell.edu.

Neuroscientist Dr. Costantino Iadecola to Lead the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute Designed to Rapidly Translate Neurological Research Discoveries from the Laboratory to the Patient's Bedside

$28 Million Gift from the Feil Family Founds the Institute

NEW YORK (April 8, 2013) — Weill Cornell Medical College has established the new Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, a unique, multidisciplinary translational neuroscience research hub. Named in honor of long-time benefactors Gertrude and Louis Feil, the institute was created with a generous $28 million gift from the Feil Family.

Dr. Costantino Iadecola, a leading neuroscientist in the field of cerebrovascular diseases, stroke and dementia, will direct the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute. Dr. Iadecola also serves as the Anne Parrish Titzell Professor of Neurology at Weill Cornell and as a neurologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Designed to rapidly accelerate the translation of breakthrough research discoveries from the laboratory to the neurological patient's bedside, the institute's goal is to develop the most advanced personalized therapeutic solutions for patients with devastating brain diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, stroke and multiple sclerosis. A cornerstone of the new Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute will be the research activities of the Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute at Weill Cornell.

The new institute will conduct bench-to-bedside research to develop novel therapeutics for neurological diseases to be tested in cutting-edge clinical trials, as well as bedside-to-bench investigations to enhance current treatments and to truly bridge the current gap in translational medicine. Central to the institute's mission is the use and development of innovative preventive and diagnostic tools, leveraging advances in neuroimaging, genetics, genomics, epigenetics, metabolomics, computational biology and bioinformatics technology, as well as biomarkers for early disease detection and intervention. In addition, new preventive strategies will be developed to identify how individual risk factors may increase brain disease risk, and by studying the impact that comorbidities, such as hypertension and metabolic diseases, have on brain health.

"By establishing this institute, the Feils continue to demonstrate their incredible commitment to medical research and to our institution," says Sanford I. Weill, chairman of the Board of Overseers at Weill Cornell. "The Feil Family's new gift furthers their dedication to improving brain health for future generations."

The Feil gift will allow for the recruitment of four to six top-tier neuroscientists; state-of-the-art equipment; training scholarships for postdocs, fellows and clinicians; scholarships for medical students; and more.

"We are honored to support such an important endeavor," says Jeffrey Feil, a member of the Weill Cornell Board of Overseers. "There has never been a more critical time to advance research in neuroscience and neurodegenerative disease, and this institute is key to keeping Weill Cornell on the frontlines."

"Thanks to the Feil Family, Weill Cornell is leading the way with translational medicine research discoveries that will make a difference in the lives of patients," says Dr. Laurie H. Glimcher, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College. "This institute serves as a model for the future of biomedicine, breaking down barriers to the innovative discovery of vital solutions for the prevention and treatment of devastating brain diseases, such as Alzheimer's and stroke."

The comprehensive, multidisciplinary institute brings together leading experts in neuroscience, neurology, neurological surgery, psychiatry, radiology and geriatrics, among others, to expand Weill Cornell's translational neuroscience research capabilities and neurological clinical care. The institute's director, Dr. Iadecola, will work hand-in-hand with a team of leading physician-scientists, including Dr. Matthew E. Fink, chairman of neurology at Weill Cornell and neurologist-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell. The institute will be headquartered in the new Belfer Research Building, a focal point for disease-oriented research at Weill Cornell, set to open at the end of 2013.

Research at the institute will focus on neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS), stroke and vascular dementia. Also, researchers will investigate brain developmental disorders, pain, addiction and neuroimmunological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis. Related efforts will expand understanding of the neurobiological substrates of learning and memory, as well as disorders of consciousness including coma, persistent vegetative state and the minimally conscious state.

For more than three decades, the entire Feil Family has championed research, education and patient care at Weill Cornell with generous gifts of more than $75 million. Their philanthropic legacy has supported student scholarships, physician training in neurology and other disciplines, two professorship endowments (one in medicine and another in neurology), two Clinical Scholar Awards in multiple sclerosis and established the Weill Greenberg Center's Judith Jaffe Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Unit. In 2010, the Gertrude and Louis Feil Building on East 61st Street was named in honor of the family's longstanding support for advancing research.

"There is a rising tidal wave of age-related brain diseases striking our maturing population, especially the 77 million Baby Boomers who will all need care for age-related brain diseases at the same time," says Dr. Iadecola. "Brain and mind diseases are a growing health challenge worldwide and a major contributor to loss of life and severe disability. By bridging the translational bench-to-bedside gap, the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute promises to have a transformative impact on current care paradigms and change the landscape of neuroscience medicine."

The institute will also recruit leaders in the field of neuroscience and serve as a mentoring center for early career faculty and mid-career clinical and basic neuroscientists. It will train medical students, fellows and residents to be the future generation of physician-scientists in translational medicine. The Leon Levy Foundation has already generously awarded a $1.5 million grant for training and development of future translational neuroscientists at the institute.

"Quality of life depends on brain health," says Dr. Iadecola. "We intend to take the vital steps to chart new paths to prevent neurological diseases and minimize their devastating impact on patients' lives. Thanks to the generosity and foresight of the Feil Family, Weill Cornell is now in a position to take on this big challenge and realize our vision."

Weill Cornell Medical College

Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University's medical school located in New York City, is committed to excellence in research, teaching, patient care and the advancement of the art and science of medicine, locally, nationally and globally. Physicians and scientists of Weill Cornell Medical College are engaged in cutting-edge research from bench to bedside, aimed at unlocking mysteries of the human body in health and sickness and toward developing new treatments and prevention strategies. In its commitment to global health and education, Weill Cornell has a strong presence in places such as Qatar, Tanzania, Haiti, Brazil, Austria and Turkey. Through the historic Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, Cornell University is the first in the U.S. to offer a M.D. degree overseas. Weill Cornell is the birthplace of many medical advances — including the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer, the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., the first clinical trial of gene therapy for Parkinson's disease, and most recently, the world's first successful use of deep brain stimulation to treat a minimally conscious brain-injured patient. Weill Cornell Medical College is affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, where its faculty provides comprehensive patient care at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The Medical College is also affiliated with the Methodist Hospital in Houston. For more information, visit www.med.cornell.edu.

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Interview with the Dean: Brain Developments

Gertrude and Louis Feil's legacy of philanthropy at Weill Cornell Medical College began in 1987 with the establishment of scholarships in their name. On Monday, Oct. 4, the latest chapter of their years of generosity and commitment to Weill Cornell was written with the dedication of the Gertrude and Louis Feil Family Research Building at 407 E. 61st St.

"We are forever indebted to their generosity," Dr. Antonio M. Gotto, Jr., dean of the Medical College, said of the Feils at the dedication ceremony. "Their generosity and foresight has made this community, this world, a better place and has helped countless doctors, medical students and patients."

The Gertrude and Louis Feil Family Research Building houses the Division of Neurobiology, where Dr. Costantino Iadecola, the George C. Cotzias Distinguished Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience and chief of the Division of Neurobiology at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College, conducts his world-renowned research. Two members of Dr. Iadecola's research team, Dr. Katherine Jackman and Dr. Tanya Williams, spoke at the dedication. The Feil Family Research Building is also home to the Clinical and Translational Science Center, one of the leading centers in bringing lifesaving medical research from the bench to the bedside.

"I know this institution can make a difference," said Jeffrey Feil, a Weill Cornell Medical College overseer and Gertrude and Louis' son. "We are on the cutting edge of so many exciting breakthroughs in Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, and so many diseases that years ago we never thought we could cure or help."

Mr. Feil; his sisters Judith Jaffe, Marilyn Barry and Carole Feil; and their children were honored at the dedication, which was attended by several generations of the extended Feil family. The gift was given by The Charitable Lead Annuity Trust under the Will of Louis Feil.

"It is very fitting that this building should be named after the Feil family, as it represents the continuation of their role in the evolution of this medical school," said Robert J. Appel, vice chair of the Board of Overseers and chairman of the Discoveries That Make a Difference campaign — the $1.3 billion fundraising effort that made the Gertrude and Louis Feil Family Research Building possible.

After establishing the initial scholarships in 1987, members of the Feil family have continued to honor the Medical College. In 2000, the family endowed two professorships, the Louis and Gertrude Feil Professorship in Medicine, held by Dr. R.A. Rees Pritchett, and the Louis and Gertrude Feil Professorship in Neurology, held by Dr. John J. Caronna, to support the teaching, research and clinical efforts of two of Weill Cornell's most outstanding faculty members. In addition, the Feil family established two Clinical Scholar Awards to support research in multiple sclerosis and provided the capital support needed to construct the Judith Jaffe Clinical Unit for Multiple Sclerosis and Peripheral Neuropathy Center in the Weill Greenberg Center.

The Feil family's multigenerational collaborations with Weill Cornell have greatly enhanced all facets of the Medical College's tripartite mission of education, research and patient care. As visionary philanthropists with a celebrated commitment to humanitarian and educational causes, the Feil family has enriched and continues to touch the lives of countless people all over the world.

Gift Also Creates Two Feil Family Clinical Scholar Awards in Multiple Sclerosis

NEW YORK (January 2, 2007) — The Feil Family Foundation, with matching funds from the Dean's Challenge, has pledged $5.33 million to establish the new Judith Jaffe Multiple Sclerosis Unit at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. The Unit is named for Gertrude and Louis Feil's daughter Judith Jaffe.

The gift will also endow two Feil Family Clinical Scholar Awards in Multiple Sclerosis to recognize outstanding research and treatment.

Scheduled to open later this month, the Jaffe Multiple Sclerosis Unit will be located in Weill Cornell Medical College's historic new Ambulatory Care and Medical Education Building on York Ave. and 70th Street.

"The Feils have been faithful supporters of the Medical College for more than 20 years. Jeffrey J. Feil has been a valued member of our Board of Overseers since 2003, and his counsel and vision have been invaluable. With this generous gift, he continues to lead by example," says Sanford I. Weill, chairman of Weill Cornell's Board of Overseers.

Dr. Antonio M. Gotto Jr., Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College, adds, "The new unit will further enhance our esteemed Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Care and Research Center, and offer patients access to the benefits of the latest research and highest quality patient care in multiple sclerosis."

"In addition to its national reputation for excellence in multiple sclerosis, Weill Cornell is well known for clinical and research excellence in all areas of medicine. Our family is very grateful for the care given by the Medical College and the Department of Neurology to my late father, Louis, late mother Gertrude, and our family," says Mr. Jeffrey Feil, president of the Feil Family Foundation.

The program is directed by Dr. Brian Apatoff, a nationally recognized authority in MS treatment and research, who says, "The Feil family's gift secures urgently needed expanded space in the new state-of-the-art Ambulatory Care and Medical Education Building. With the opening of the new unit and its additional staff, we expect patient visits to more than double."

Dr. Apatoff is also associate professor of neurology and neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medical College and associate attending neurologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

The Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Care and Research Center offers diagnosis and treatment options to patients with multiple sclerosis, optic neuritis and other autoimmune, inflammatory demyelinating disorders of the central nervous system. Recognized by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Center provides the latest treatments for the disease, including approved and novel investigational therapies. The program is dedicated to providing comprehensive patient care in a comfortable patient- and family-friendly environment. The Center will employ a coordinated multidisciplinary approach of relevant clinical departments — including designated specialists from neurology, neuro-ophthalmology, nutrition, urology, psychiatry, rehabilitative medicine, physical and occupational therapy, and clinical social work services.

"For the first time in medical history, we're able to control the disease, limit the frequency and severity of attacks, and limit the neurologic disability that would otherwise accumulate over time," says Dr. Apatoff. "It's a lifelong condition, but if you control it at the earliest stages, keep it mild, then the long-term outcomes are greatly improved."

The Center is pursuing innovative research, including immune-modulatory therapies and ways to inhibit gene expression of the "bad lymphocytes" considered to be the disease's main culprit. "We're trying to understand the primary mechanisms of the disease, the immunologic components that determine the patient's course," Dr. Apatoff continues. "We want to selectively identify and control aberrant immune responses, as opposed to older therapies that globally suppress the immune system and have all sorts of complications and side effects."

The Center is relatively unusual in that it not only serves a large patient population and conducts research but also trains residents from both NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center.

With views over the courtyard to the south adding to the relaxing feel of the comfortable, inviting reception area, the Jaffe Multiple Sclerosis Unit will consist of patient examination rooms; doctors' offices; an infusion room; and a support suite for nurse practitioners, a social worker, clinical trials coordinator and compliance coordinator.

The Feil family has funded the Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Care and Research Center since 2000, when they established the Louis and Gertrude Feil Professorship of Clinical Neurology in honor of Dr. John Caronna. In addition, the family has long supported the initiatives, programs and people of Weill Cornell, including endowment of The Judith Jaffe Multiple Sclerosis Fund, The Yvette and Seymour Feil Prize in Medicine, The Louis and Gertrude Feil Professorship of Medicine, The Gertrude and Louis Feil Scholarship Fund, and most recently, a substantial contribution to the Friends' Fund of Dr. R.A. Rees Pritchett.

For more information, patients may call (866) NYP-NEWS.

Multiple Sclerosis

An estimated 400,000 Americans suffer from multiple sclerosis (M.S.). It generally first occurs in people between the ages of 20 and 50, more commonly in women, causing inflammation in the white matter of the central nervous system. It can ultimately destroy myelin, the protective sheathing that insulates and protects nerve cell fibers in the brain, optic nerve and spinal cord. Unchecked, M.S. can be very debilitating, with the nerve damage causing bladder and bowel disorders, cognitive and memory problems, visual disturbance, sexual dysfunction, depression and other symptoms. The exact cause is not known, but the disease appears to be initiated when the immune system mistakes the body's own myelin as a foreign substance.

Weill Cornell Medical College

Weill Cornell Medical College — located in New York City — is committed to excellence in research, teaching, patient care and the advancement of the art and science of medicine. The Medical College, which is a principal academic affiliate of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, offers an innovative curriculum that integrates the teaching of basic and clinical sciences, problem-based learning, office-based preceptorships, and primary care and doctoring courses. Physicians and scientists of Weill Cornell Medical College are engaged in cutting-edge research in such areas as stem cells, genetics and gene therapy, geriatrics, neuroscience, structural biology, cardiovascular biology, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, cancer and psychiatry — and continue to delve ever-deeper into the molecular basis of disease in an effort to unlock the mysteries behind the human body and the malfunctions that result in serious medical disorders. Weill Cornell Medical College is the birthplace of many medical advances — from the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer to the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., and most recently, the world's first clinical trial for gene therapy for Parkinson's disease. Weill Cornell's Physician Organization includes 650 clinical faculty, who provide the highest quality of care to patients.
Lezlie Greenberg
leg2003@med.cornell.edu

Dr. Daniel Alonso was interviewed about the new Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar for New Physician magazine.

Dr. Brian Apatoff (neurology) was interviewed about new developments in treating multiple sclerosis by Healthology.com.

Dr. Louis Aronne (medicine) was interviewed about the genetics of obesity by Newsweek.

Dr. Ernst Bartsich and Dr. Ioannis Zervoudakis (obstetrics and gynecology) were interviewed by Pregnancy magazine about the dangers of common household items for pregnant women.

Dr. Sandra Belmont (ophthalmology) was interviewed about dry eyes and conjunctivitis for Prevention and Women's Health magazine.

Dr. Jeffrey Borer (cardiovascular medicine) was interviewed about hypoxia by WNBC-TV. The recommendation by an FDA panel chaired by Dr. Borer for more information on the controversial heart drug Cardura was reported in Newsday.

Dr. Selina Chen-Kiang (pathology) and Dr. Anne Moore (medicine) were featured in Oncology Times for their recent awards from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Judges & Lawyers Breast Cancer Alert, respectively.

Dr. Ronald Crystal (medicine) was interviewed about future directions for gene therapy for a special advertising supplement on "leaders in high-tech" health care in The New York Times. Dr. Crystal was also cited in the Cornell Chronicle for his research on gene therapy for cardiac angiogenesis.

Dr. Andrew Dannenberg (medicine) was interviewed about the use of COX-2 inhibitors for cancer prevention and treatment by the ASCO Daily News (the newsletter of the American Society of Clinical Oncology), and about foods that can help fight cancer for DrKoop.com.

Dr. Joseph Fins (medicine) was interviewed about the ethics of deep-brain electrostimulation for Technology Review, MIT's science magazine.

Dr. Suzanne Frye (urology) was interviewed about a possible relationship between interstitial cystitis and chlamydia airborne pneumonia for Healthscout.com.

Dr. Marshall Glesby (medicine) was interviewed by DrKoop.com about managing hyperlipidemia in HIV-positive patients.

Dean Antonio Gotto and Dr. Herbert Pardes were asked to advise Time magazine editors on current leaders in science and medicine to include in Time's upcoming "America's Best" series. Dr. Gotto also commented on the new cholesterol guidelines issued by the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) and published in JAMA for ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, and the Daily News. He was also interviewed about cholesterol-lowering statin drugs by the Washington Post. Dr. Gotto's election as a Fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences was reported in the Cornell Chronicle.

Dr. Warren Johnson and Dr. Jean Pape (international medicine) were interviewed by National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" about the feasibility of anti-retroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS in Haiti (and other less developed countries).

Dr. Douglas Labar (neurology and neuroscience) provided background information on post-traumatic epilepsy to the New York Post.

Dr. Mark Lachs (medicine) was interviewed about stress management in the elderly on the NBC Today Show.

Dr. Nicholas Laoutaris (oral surgery) was interviewed by WebMD about the issue of removing older silver fillings that contain mercury.

Dr. Alan Manevitz (psychiatry) was interviewed about fighting stress with exercise for Marie Claire magazine. He was also interviewed about the psychology of perceptions of normalcy and the place of the abnormal in society for the Discovery Channel.

Dr. Bassem Masri (medicine) was interviewed by WCBS-TV, WNBC-TV and WABC-TV about the new cholesterol guidelines issued by the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) and published in JAMA.

Dr. Carl McDougall (medicine) was interviewed for an hour-long documentary on colon cancer for the Discovery Health channel. The program follows a Discovery Health producer's bout with colon cancer from diagnosis through treatment.

Dr. David Nanus and Dr. Alan Dosik (medicine) appeared on MTV's "The Real World," for which a young cast member and cancer survivor talked with cancer patients at NYWC.

Dr. Simon Paul (medicine) appeared live on WNBC's "Weekend Today in New York" at the AIDS Walk in Central Park, where he provided an overview of AIDS on its 20th anniversary.

Dr. Neil Sadick (dermatology) was interviewed about a new light-based therapy for rosacea on WNBC-TV. For WCBS-TV, he provided background information about antibiotic-resistant acne.

Dr. Gail Saltz (psychiatry) was interviewed about women and weight loss for Newsday.

Dr. Nicholas Schiff (neurology) was interviewed by the Toronto Globe and Mail about EEG testing to assess brain activity of patients in a coma/vegetative state.

Dr. Richard Silver (medicine) was interviewed by the Daily News and the Portland Weekly Journal about the recently FDA-approved leukemia drug Gleevec (STI-571).

Dr. Rache Simmons (surgery) was interviewed about lavage, a diagnostic technique for detecting breast cancer, in the New York Post.

Dr. Carl Vaughan (medicine) was interviewed by the Washington Post about the novel use of statin heart drugs to treat other diseases like cancer.

Dr. Brian Apatoff (neurology) was interviewed by the New York Post on multiple sclerosis.

Dr. Louis Aronne (medicine) has begun a series of appearances on the CBS Early Show, commenting on and monitoring a weight-loss program for five participants. In Self magazine, he was interviewed concerning fad diets and celebrities.

Dr. Phyllis August (medicine) was interviewed by the Daily News on possible side effects of NSAIDs.

Dr. Roger Emert (medicine) was interviewed by WABC-TV on the pollen count and by WNBC-TV on allergy shots.

Dr. Mitchell Gaynor (medicine) was interviewed by CNBC on homeopathic medicine, (following reports of actress Suzanne Somers' treatment for breast cancer).

Dr. Antonio Gotto (medicine) and Dr. Carl Vaughan (medicine) were interviewed by the Washington Post on non-lipid-lowering effects of statin drugs and the use of statins as a cardiac prevention strategy.

Dr. Mark Green (psychiatry) was interviewed by the Medical Herald about binge drinking in athletes.

Dr. Claudia Henschke (radiology) was interviewed by the New York Post on the surgeon general's report on women and smoking.

Dr. Alan Manevitz (psychiatry) was interviewed by the Daily News on stress management in the subway.

Dr. John Moore (microbiology and immunology) was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal and Nature on HIV/AIDS drugs and vaccines.

Dr. Peter Pressman (surgery) was interviewed by NBC Nightly News concerning needle vs. surgical biopsy for breast cancer. He was also featured in the New York Post in an abridged listing of the "Best Doctors to See in New York City" (from Castle Connolly's "Top Doctors: New York Metro Area").

Dr. Rache Simmons (surgery) was interviewed by Fox-5 on new minimally invasive breast-surgery techniques.

Drs. Manikkam Suthanthiran (medicine in surgery) and Baogui Li (molecular biology in medicine) received notice on WNBC-TV, Reuters, WebMD and CBSHealthwatch.com for their new, non-invasive diagnostic test to detect kidney transplant rejection.