Weill Center for Metabolic Health

Weill Cornell Medicine researchers have received major new funding to support collaborative efforts spanning clinical trials, precision medicine and drug target discovery with the potential to improve outcomes for patients with challenging cancers.

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and Hospital for Special Surgery have discovered the stem cells—unspecialized cells that can develop into specific cell types—that give rise to the body’s tendons and ligaments, the tissues connecting muscles and bones. They also found that when these stem cells become hyperactive in the lower spine, they contribute to lumbar spinal stenosis.

Ordinary fat cells in obese animals can be induced to burn energy stores, generating substantial heat, according to a preclinical study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.

Immune cells called B cells make antibodies that fight off invading bacteria, viruses and other foreign substances. During their preparation for this battle, B cells transiently revert to a more flexible, or plastic, stem-cell-like state in the lymph nodes, according to a new preclinical study from Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. 

Weill Cornell Medicine investigators have identified an early step in a cellular process that leads to inflammation in fat cells and may result in type 2 diabetes in people with obesity.

Scientists have discovered a method to induce human endothelial cells from a small biopsy sample to multiply in the laboratory, producing more than enough cells to replace damaged blood vessels or nourish organs for transplantation, according to a preclinical study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.

Patients taking an experimental oral GLP-1 drug lost significant weight and improved their heart and metabolic risk factors in a large, international, phase 3 clinical trial led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine, McMaster University, York University and other institutions.

Tirzepatide (trade name Zepbound) promoted greater weight loss in individuals with obesity than did semaglutide (trade name Wegovy) in a clinical trial led by an investigator at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian that compared the safety and efficacy of the injectable drugs. 

Multiple types of beta cells produce insulin in the pancreas, helping to balance blood sugar levels. Losing a particularly productive type of beta cell may contribute to the development of diabetes.

COVID-19 may bring high risks of severe disease and death in many patients by disrupting key metabolic signals and thereby triggering hyperglycemia, according to a new study from researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. 

The protein adipsin, which is produced in body fat, helps protect insulin-secreting cells called pancreatic beta cells from destruction in type 2 diabetes, according to a new study by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. 

Dr. Laura Alonso has been named chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, effective Sept. 1. Dr. Alonso will also lead the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Center for Metabolic Health at Weill Cornell Medicine.

Weill Cornell Medical College announced today that it has received a $100 million gift from longtime benefactors Joan and Sanford I. Weill and the Weill Family Foundation to launch the Medical College's $300 million Driving Discoveries, Changing Lives campaign dedicated to using the most advanced scientific approaches to rapidly translate research breakthroughs into innovative treatments and therapies for patients.