News from WCM

Over 200 scientists, startup founders and partners in government and industry gathered at Uris Auditorium on April 23 for the 2026 BioInnovate Conference. 

Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar celebrated its largest ever graduating class, which also includes a record 22 Qatari nationals, during the institution’s commencement ceremony May 5.

Weill Cornell Medicine investigators studying a bacterial protein have identified a new mechanism of sensing cold temperatures. 

Activated immune cells secrete tiny capsules bearing DNA that can enter other immune and tumor cells to stimulate the body’s defense systems, according to a study led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine. 

Awards, honors and achievements for the month of April.

Nerve fibers within melanomas can slow the growth of these tumors, according to a study led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. 

The 45th annual Vincent du Vigneaud Memorial Research Symposium, a student-organized event that has become central to the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences experience, had a record number of 153 abstracts submitted this year, including posters and eight oral presentations.

A pilot program aimed at reducing Medicaid drug spending has limitations, according to a multi-institutional research team including faculty from Weill Cornell Medicine.

Even as the national conversation around diversity, equity and inclusion is muted, Weill Cornell Medicine continues its work to make sure everyone has a seat at the table. That was the message relayed on April 23 by Dr. Linnie Golightly, provost and senior associate dean of academic affairs at CUNY School of Medicine. 

Weill Cornell Medicine investigators have “reverse engineered” ketamine’s antidepressant effects to identify potential new strategies for treating depression.

The project will be one of the first major efforts of the Medicaid Policy Impact Initiative, a new cross-campus Cornell program aimed at supporting evidence-based policymaking in Medicaid.

Dr. William Schpero has seen firsthand how public policy drives patient outcomes at the population level, cementing a core idea that continues to guide his work as a health economist: that policy can be a powerful force for improving health equity — or, if poorly designed, a barrier to it. 

For the first time, Weill Cornell Medicine researchers have demonstrated that Hodgkin lymphoma cancer cells from patient samples are immune cells stuck in an “identity crisis.” 

Advancing health equity in medicine requires a clear-eyed understanding of history, a rejection of race-based clinical assumptions and a commitment to transform research into practice, said Dr. Joseph L. Wright, senior vice president and chief health equity officer of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), in his keynote address for Weill Cornell Medicine’s eighth annual Diversity Week. 

A new preclinical study from Weill Cornell Medicine found that the protein caspase-5 (CASP5), long thought to be a foot soldier in the body’s defense against bacterial infection, does not actually help clear invaders the way its close cousin caspase-4 (CASP4) does.

Weill Cornell Medicine and University of Southern California investigators have developed and tested the web-based platform, Living Memory Home for Dementia Care Pairs (LMH-4-DCP), which can help reduce grief and improve relationships.

Weill Cornell Medicine investigators made an unexpected finding about how the immune system normally suppresses inappropriate chronic inflammation in the intestine, potentially opening new avenues for therapies against inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), food allergy and other autoimmune conditions.

As executive director for women’s health, a role that complements her position leading obstetrics and gynecology, Dr. Riley will unify, coordinate and drive new paradigms for women’s health care across medical specialties.

Weill Cornell Medicine investigators have revealed the detailed workings of a cell membrane protein that has essential roles in all animals. 

A team of Weill Cornell Medicine investigators is working to cross-train the next generation of cancer researchers in cancer biology and the use of artificial intelligence tools for research.