Columbia University Medical Center Newsroom

Columbia Study on Community-Based Disease Management Initiative Finds Community Health Workers Are Critical to Program’s Success

Michele — Fri, 25 May 2012 18:53:52 +0000

In 2005, local leaders in New York City came together to address the burden of asthma in Northern Manhattan, where the rate of pediatric asthma-related emergency department visits was approximately four times the national average. Researchers at the Mailman School of Public Health and NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, with support by Merck, Inc., developed [...]

Newly Published Ahead-of-Print Articles from Academic Medicine

Michele — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:16:02 +0000

The following articles from Academic Medicine are now available online and will appear in the July edition of the journal. In recent years, the integrity of medical research has been under increased scrutiny. Reports of potential conflicts of interest from researchers who accept money from pharmaceutical companies, the abuse of human research subjects, and investigations [...]

Columbia Holds Free Cancer Info & Screening Session for Community on May 24, 2012

Michele — Tue, 22 May 2012 21:56:53 +0000

Columbia University Medical Center & NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Hold Free Cancer Information & Screening Session for Community Members Thursday, May 24, Event is Free & Open to the Public WHAT: Columbia University Medical Center’s Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research and the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center (NYPH/CUMC) [...]

Uncommon Bacterium Found in Guts of Children with Autism

Ann — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:35:54 +0000

Researchers at Columbia’s Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) have discovered an uncommon bacterium, Sutterella, in the intestines of 12 of 23 children who had both autism and GI problems. The study’s 9 control subjects, who had GI problems but not autism, were negative for the bacterium. Children with autism frequently suffer from gastrointestinal (GI) [...]

Columbia Doctors Featured on HBO Documentary

Michele — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:49:51 +0000

Rudolph Leibel, MD, co-director of Columbia’s Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center and of the New York Obesity Research Center and the Christopher J. Murphy Memorial Professor of Diabetes Research, and his work on the biology of body weight regulation, are featured in the HBO documentary series: The Weight of the Nation. The series premieres on Monday, [...]

Aspirin and Common Blood Thinner Equally Effective for Most Heart Failure Patients

Ann — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:37:32 +0000

A 10-year multi-center study found that aspirin and the blood thinner warfarin (brand name Coumadin®) were equally effective at preventing a combined risk of death, stroke, and cerebral hemorrhage in heart failure patients with normal heart rhythm. Patients taking warfarin had slightly more than half the risk for stroke than those taking aspirin, but [...]

Anthrax Toxin Receptor Necessary for Successful Pregnancy

Ann — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:31:49 +0000

Columbia researchers have found that a protein called Anthrax Toxin Receptor 2 (ANTXR2) is necessary for successful labor and birth. In a study led by Jan Kitajewski, PhD, Charles and Marie Robertson Professor in Ob/Gyn, female mice lacking ANTXR2 were able to get pregnant but unable to deliver. Older female mice were less likely to [...]

Blacks and Hispanics at Higher Risk for Precancerous Colorectal Polyps

Michele — Thu, 03 May 2012 21:05:42 +0000

Colonoscopy may be preferable to sigmoidoscopy for these populations New York, NY (May 3, 2012) — Blacks and Hispanics have a significantly higher risk of developing precancerous colorectal polyps compared with whites, according to a study by researchers at NewYork – Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. The findings appeared in the online edition of Alimentary [...]

Aspirin and Warfarin Equally Effective for Most Heart Failure Patients

Michele — Thu, 03 May 2012 20:16:56 +0000

Results of Ten-Year Study Could Mean More Doctors and Patients Will Choose Less Costly Aspirin NEW YORK (May 2, 2012)—Neither aspirin nor warfarin is superior for preventing a combined risk of death, stroke, and cerebral hemorrhage inheart failure patients with normal heart rhythm, according to a landmark clinical trial published in the May 3, 2012, [...]

Text Messages May Get More Parents to Vaccinate Kids Against Flu

Doug — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:27:08 +0000

April 24, 2012 — Text message reminders to parents about flu vaccinations may help boost the number of children vaccinated, according to researchers at Columbia University Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Full study findings are reported in the April 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) featured in the online video [...]

“Housekeeping” Mechanism for Brain Stem Cells Discovered

Michele — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 17:00:50 +0000

Findings offer new insights into neurologic development and regenerative therapies for neurologic disease (New York, NY, April 22, 2012) — Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have identified a molecular pathway that controls the retention and release of the brain’s stem cells. The discovery offers new insights into normal and abnormal neurologic development and [...]

Healthy mouths and healthy hearts still go together

Michele — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 21:55:34 +0000

The following statement is issued on behalf of Panos N. Papapanou, DDS, PhD, Professor and Director of the Division of Periodontics in the College of Dental Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, and Maurizio Trevisan, MD, MS, dean of the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, City College of New York. Both Drs. Papapanou and [...]

New York’s Investment in Stem Cell Program Continues to Generate New Medical Treatments and Innovative Research

Michele — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 22:23:29 +0000

The Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY) today released a 2012 report showing how New York’s stem cell program has enabled it to emerge as a leader in stem cell research, and strengthened the state’s economy through job creation. “This report demonstrates the foresight of New York’s leaders in funding stem cell research. Not [...]

Prenatal Exposure to Air Pollution Linked to Childhood Obesity

Michele — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:48:47 +0000

Overall, 17% of children in the United States are obese, and in inner-city neighborhoods, the prevalence is as high as 25%. While poor diets and physical inactivity are the main culprits, there is new evidence that air pollution can play a role. A study by researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health finds [...]

Study Identifies Potential Treatment for Lethal Childhood Leukemia

Michele — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:55:19 +0000

Inhibiting two related enzymes significantly improves survival in mouse model of the disease New York, NY (April 16, 2012) — Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) scientists have demonstrated that two related enzymes — phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K) gamma and delta — play a key role in the development of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), a highly [...]

Targeting Glucagon Pathway May Offer a New Approach to Treating Diabetes

Michele — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:00:26 +0000

(NEW YORK, NY, April 12, 2012) —Maintaining the right level of sugar in the blood is the responsibility not only of insulin, which removes glucose, but also of a hormone called glucagon, which adds glucose. For decades, treatments for type II diabetes have taken aim at insulin, but a new study suggests that a better [...]

Cancer Patients Prep Their Own Breasts for Reconstruction

Michele — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 19:46:44 +0000

A small remote-controlled device implanted in a woman’s chest allows her to expand her chest tissue at home, without injections, before having reconstructive surgery. Currently, breast cancer patients often undergo several months of saline injections to expand the tissue. Columbia’s lead investigator on the multi-site trial, Jeffrey Ascherman, MD, professor of clinical surgery, says that [...]

How Many Calories Does It Take to Reach Childhood Obesity Prevention Goals?

Michele — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:44:06 +0000

Researchers predict that without changes to eating and activity, more than one in five young people will be obese by 2020 In order for the nation to achieve goals set by the federal government for reducing obesity rates by 2020, children in the United States would need to eliminate an average of 64 excess calories [...]

CUMC Remembers Mike Wallace’s Commitment to Mental Health

Michele — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:34:07 +0000

Broadcast Legend Dies At 93 Investigative television journalist Mike Wallace will be remembered for his tough interview style, but he was no less fierce in his advocacy for mental health reform. In May 2003, the Columbia Presbyterian Health Sciences Advisory Council presented Wallace with its Award for Distinguished Service to journalism, honoring the “60 Minutes” [...]

VIDEO: The Role of Genetics in Alzheimer’s Disease

Michele — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 19:12:52 +0000

Sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association, New York City Chapter, a panel of experts featuring Richard Mayeux, M.D., M.S., Chairman, Department of Neurology and Co-Director, Taub Institute of Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and Jennifer Williamson, M.S., M.P.H., Genetic Counselor, Taub Institute of Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain, Columbia University discuss the role of [...]