The latest edition of the Journal of Virology featured a study by Hector Aguilar-Carreno details how two highly lethal viruses, Nipah and Hendra, have greater pathogenic potential when their cell-sabotaging proteins are combined. Aguilar-Carreno’s lab is also working on related research that may lead to vaccine-free therapies or improved vaccines to treat enveloped viruses, which include infectious diseases such as HIV and influenza.
News
Sonnenburg Receives Inaugural Cancer Research Institute STAR Award
The Cancer Research Institute’s “Lloyd J. Old Scientists Taking Risks (STAR) program” recognizes immunologists who are conducting high-risk, high-reward research in tumor immunology. Dr. Gregory Sonnenberg is one of five scientists to receive a $1.25 million, five-year grant, to explore disruptive and uncommon cancer research paths following an international competition.
Pediatric Rheumatologist featured in faculty spotlight
Pediatric Rheumatologist Virginia Pascual, Drukier Director of the Gale and Ira Drukier Institute for Children’s Health at Weill Cornell Medicine, is featured in featured in the May 2019 EZRA faculty spotlight.
Discovery reveals potential pathway for treating obesity
A molecule that helps prevent fat accumulation in mammals is produced within fat tissues by stem-like cells that may be therapeutic targets for obesity and related disorders, according to a new study. Obesity increases the risk of other major diseases including cancers, heart disease, diabetes and immunological disorders.
Cornell invests 2 million dollars to transform flow cytometry
Hailed as “transformative” and “a historic achievement” by faculty members, a strategic investment of close to $2 million directed by Provost Michael Kotlikoff has improved Cornell’s capabilities in flow cytometry, which is pivotal in cell research.
Gale and Ira Drukier Prize in Children’s Health Research awarded
Helen Su, a clinical immunologist who has made key discoveries into the genetic causes of rare immune system diseases in children, has been awarded the fourth annual Gale and Ira Drukier Prize in Children’s Health Research by Weill Cornell Medicine. The Drukier Prize honors an early-career pediatrician whose research has made important contributions toward improving the health of children and adolescents.
Nanovaccine boosts immunity in sufferers of metabolic syndrome
A new class of biomaterial developed by Cornell researchers for an infectious disease nanovaccine effectively boosted immunity in mice with metabolic disorders linked to gut bacteria – a population that shows resistance to traditional flu and polio vaccines. The study is the first to explore the interrelationship among nanomaterials, immune responses and the microbiome, an increasingly important area of research.
Immunologist Carl Nathan wins Weill Achievement Award
Carl Nathan, chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Weill Cornell Medicine, has been awarded the institution’s Joan and Sanford I. Weill Exemplary Achievement Award. The award recognizes outstanding faculty members whose transformational work enhances health and health care worldwide.
Richard Cerione and Claudia Fischbach featured in Ezra
Dr. Cerione researches cancer cell metabolism, looking at the biological signaling cues and pathways that regulate cell growth, differentiation and development, and the protein-protein interactions underlying the metabolic changes required for cancer development; Dr. Fischbach uses tissue engineering, microfabrication and biomaterials strategies to study cancer cells’ interactions with other cells and the extracellular matrix and their importance to the development and progression of cancer.
Cornell Center for Immunology launches
Building on Cornell’s decades of fundamental and comparative research in the immunological sciences, Provost Michael Kotlikoff has announced the creation of a new Cornell Center for Immunology. The virtual center will combine multiple research efforts across several departments and colleges on the Ithaca campus and strengthen ties to the university’s ongoing immunological research at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City.
