Pediatrics

Increasing the levels of chemicals naturally produced in the body called endocannabinoids may thwart the highly addictive nature of opioids such as morphine and oxycodone while maintaining the drugs’ ability to relieve pain, according to a new preclinical study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.

Specially packaged DNA secreted by tumor cells can trigger an immune response that inhibits the metastatic spread of the tumor to the liver, according to a study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Korea’s Yonsei University. 

Dr. Chani Traube, the Gerald M. Loughlin, MD Professor of Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine, has been awarded a $3.4 million grant, with the possibility of extending to a total of $17 million over five years, from the National Institutes of Health, for a large-scale clinical trial called Optimizing Pain Treatment in Children on Mechanical ventilation (OPTICOM).

How can medicine and public health address unregulated and potentially harmful marijuana products?

Immune cells called monocytes produce a key inflammatory protein called interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) through an unconventional pathway in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, commonly referred to as lupus, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.

Weill Cornell Medicine was awarded a $4.2 million Program Project Grant renewal from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). This will fund the development of a vaccine that can prevent the cytomegalovirus (CMV) from being transmitted from mother to baby during pregnancy.

Research at Weill Cornell Medicine suggests that childhood immunization against HIV could one day provide protection before risk of contracting this potentially fatal infection dramatically increases in adolescence.   

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine with an international team have used liver biopsies to identify cellular and molecular markers that can potentially be used to predict whether and when pancreatic cancer will spread to an individual’s liver or to another organ.

Dr. Ashley Nelson, an assistant professor of immunology research in the Department of Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine, has received a 2023 Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award from The Hartwell Foundation.

Weill Cornell Medicine investigators discovered that unique bacteria colonize the gut shortly after birth and produce the neurotransmitter serotonin which educates gut immune cells and prevents food allergies.

Dr. Juan Pascual, a leading pediatric neurologist, has been appointed chief of the Division of Child Neurology in the Department of Pediatrics at NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital and Weill Cornell Medicine, effective March 1.

Dr. Jennie G. Ono, a leading pediatrician who focuses on inpatient care, newborn medicine and pediatric asthma, has been appointed chief of pediatrics at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens. Dr. Ono also serves as an associate professor of clinical pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine.

An experimental mRNA vaccine against human cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common virus that can infect babies during pregnancy, elicited some of the most promising immune responses to date of any CMV vaccine candidate, according to a study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.

The program aims to cultivate scientists and physician-scientists who hail from groups traditionally underrepresented in science and medicine.

Mental health crises among children and adolescents requiring emergency department care skyrocketed during the pandemic and have stayed elevated despite a return to normalcy, according to a study by Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian investigators.

The designation adds the academic medical center to NORD’s collaborative network of 40 participating institutions that research and treat rare diseases.

Awards, honors and achievements for the month of July. 

Cancers often release molecules into the bloodstream that pathologically alter the liver, shifting it to an inflammatory state, causing fat buildup and impairing its normal detoxifying functions.

Weill Cornell Medicine faculty members were honored with awards for their exemplary achievements in medical research, education and care May 17-18 during Weill Cornell Medicine’s commencement activities.

Dr. James C. Lo, an associate professor of medicine and Dr. Lisa G. Roth, an associate professor of pediatrics, both from Weill Cornell Medicine, were elected members of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) for 2023.