In Brief

Vaccination against COVID-19 had no impact on the health of placentas in pregnant women.

Surgery can usually be avoided in children with a rare tumor of the skull, based on new research by investigators from Weill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, the University of Texas Southwestern, the University of British Columbia and McGovern Medical School.    

A large clinical trial among people living with HIV has found that treating anal precancerous lesions cuts the risk of developing anal cancer by 57 percent compared with active monitoring with no treatment.

New research led by investigators from Weill Cornell Medicine, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, University Hospitals Cleveland and Case Western Reserve University found that prostate cancer screening with the prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test has remarkably favorable tradeoffs.

Growth impairment, a common complication of Crohn’s disease in children, occurs more often in males than females, but the reasons are unclear. Now, a physician-scientist from Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian and colleagues at eight other centers have found that factors associated with statural growth differ by sex.

The transition from pre- to post-menopause, with its steep decline in estrogen production, involves myriad changes to brain structure, brain-region connectivity, and brain energy consumption, though many of these changes are only temporary, a study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine has found.

Women become more susceptible to hypertension as they approach menopause, and now a preclinical study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine’s Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute suggests that this “perimenopausal” hypertension may be driven by declines in estrogen signaling in a brain region called the hypothalamus—and may be preventable with estrogen-like treatments.

To encourage students from diverse backgrounds to join their ranks, physician-scientist communities must address the significant social, cultural and financial barriers many first-generation college students face in pursuing M.D.-Ph.D. careers, according to a new commentary authored by faculty, a student and staff in the Weill Cornell/Rockefeller/Sloan Kettering Tri-Institutional M.D.–Ph.D. Program.

When a loved one dies, memories of that person become particularly valuable in connecting the mourners with the deceased. A new Weill Cornell Medicine online application, called Living Memory Home, offers a virtual and personal memorial space that allows mourners to deposit their memories and feelings about their loss and honor their loved one.

Weill Cornell Medicine scientists have developed a detailed structural model of how the SARS-CoV-2 virus penetrates host cells to establish an infection. 

The rationale for including pregnant and lactating women in early CDC-guided COVID-19 vaccination efforts in the United States was outlined in an opinion editorial.

Scientists in recent years have found that tumor cells biopsied from cancer patients can be grown in the lab into specialized tissues called organoids that mimic many aspects of the organ from which they are derived.

Fear of COVID-19 and changes to healthcare delivery during the pandemic may be causing people with substance use disorders to avoid seeking any type of care and thus less likely to get treatment for addiction.

Researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University and San Jose State University have identified six free planning models for estimating hospital capacity requirements when COVID-19 cases surge.

Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian investigators have built a machine-learning tool that can predict SARS-CoV-2 infection based on age, gender, race and 27 routine laboratory test results.

With the need for wide scale COVID-19 testing to allow societies reopen safely, a group from Weill Cornell Medicine and other academic medical centers and research organizations have announced the launch of a global competition for low-cost, high-quality and scalable COVID-19 tests, called the COVID-19 XPRIZE, in a letter published Aug. 20 in Nature Biotechnology.

Ear, nose and throat (ENT) faculty discuss how Weill Cornell Medicine has safely and efficiently reopened outpatient otolaryngology following disruption to practice because of COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic will potentially lead to greater disparities in cancer care and outcomes among Black and Hispanic New Yorker.

Neurological complications ranging from headache, malaise and loss of smell to confusion and disabling strokes have been a disturbing consequence of COVID-19.

Two papers from Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian investigators make recommendations on addressing health disparities related to COVID-19 and broader social factors that impact patient health.