A researcher investigating the role a certain gene plays in periodontal disease and another studying why some mammals develop breast cancer and others don’t are each winners of a 2020 Schwartz Research Fund for Women and other Underrepresented Faculty in the Life Sciences. Congrats to Angela Poole and Gerlinde Van de Walle for wining this prestigious award.
News
Alumnus named inaugural Langer Professor in Meinig School
Shaoyi Jiang, Ph.D. ’93, a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Washington, has been named the first Robert S. Langer ’70 Family and Friends Professor at Cornell. Jiang will join the Nancy E. and Peter C. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering in July, in a professorship honoring one of the university’s most notable engineering alumni.
Discoveries detail role of stem cell in deadly gastric cancer
A study, published Jan. 3 in the journal Nature Communications, identifies a key pathway in gastric SCJ cancers that provides a promising target for future study and therapy. The researchers found that the progeny of a type of stem cell (Lgr5+) collect in large numbers and promote cancer in areas where two types of stomach tissues meet.
Mutant proteins linked to DNA damage, muscular dystrophy
Jan Lammerding is the senior author on new Cornell-led research paper which reports a strong connection between DNA damage triggered by mutations in proteins that surround the cell nucleus, known as lamins, and muscular dystrophy. By exploring the mechanisms that cause the damage, the researchers are hopeful their discovery can help shape better treatments. “Mutant Lamins Cause Nuclear Envelope Rupture and DNA Damage in Skeletal Muscle Cells,” was published Dec. 16 in Nature Materials.
Simulating amino acid starvation may improve dengue vaccines
Researchers from the University of Hyderabad in India and the College of Veterinary Medicine have identified a compound that could be part of a strategy to improve the effectiveness of the dengue vaccine.
Immunologist Dr. Carl Nathan Wins Sanofi – Institut Pasteur Award
Dr. Carl Nathan, chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Weill Cornell Medicine, has been awarded the Sanofi – Institut Pasteur Senior International Scientist Award for Biomedical Research in Microbiology and Infection.
Multiplexed C dots track cancer cells to improve patient care
Researchers are using glowing nanoparticles called C dots to detect multiple cancer markers during surgery in a way that is both precise and safe.
Immunology workshop to demystify cutting-edge tech
An Immunoprofiling Workshop – sponsored by the Cornell Center for Immunology, Dec. 13 in Stocking Hall – will feature technology experts who will provide case studies and best practices on various core technologies.
Sled dogs lead the way in quest to slow aging
A $4.2 million project at Cornell focused on 100 Alaskan sled dogs, former athletes past their glory days, is part of a quest for one of the holy grails of medicine: how to slow aging.
Scientists identify protein that promotes brain metastasis
A protein that breast, lung and other cancers use to promote their spread – or metastasis – to the brain, has been identified by a team led by Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian investigators.
