Almost 50 million Americans—disproportionately in rural areas—must drive 25 miles or more to access a gastroenterologist for diagnosis and treatment of issues involving the digestive system, according to a study from Weill Cornell Medicine researchers led by Dr. Arun Jesudian, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine in the division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology. Dr. Jesuidan is a transplant hepatologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. ...
Beneficial gut microbes and the body work together to fine-tune fat metabolism and cholesterol levels, according to a new preclinical study by investigators from Weill Cornell Medicine and the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University’s Ithaca campus.The human body has co-evolved with the beneficial microbes that live in the gut (termed the microbiota), resulting in mutually favorable relationships that aid in the digestion of food and absorption of essential nutrients required...
Severe COVID-19 arises in part from the SARS-CoV-2 virus’s impact on mitochondria, tiny oxygen-burning power plants in cells, which can help trigger a cascade of organ- and immune system-damaging events, suggests a study by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, along with other members of the COVID-19 International Research Team.Severe COVID-19 has been considered an...
A fungus discovered in the mouse stomach may hold a key to fungal evolution within the gastrointestinal tract, according to new research led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The finding suggests that preclinical studies until now have overlooked a major influencer of mouse physiology.Scientists recently have come to appreciate the importance, for human health and disease, of microbes—often called “commensals”—that naturally dwell in the gut. Bacterial commensals, for example,...
Dr. Randy Longman, director of the Jill Roberts Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Associate Professor of Medicine in the division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, recently received the NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award to continue his work developing the tools needed to understand how the gut microbiome drives metabolic pathways. The award will provide about $5.6 million over five years to Dr. Longman and his co-principal investigators, Dr. Chun-Jun Guo, Assistant...
Researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine, including co-corresponding author Dr. Robert Schwartz, an associate professor of medicine in the division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, have used a cutting-edge model system to uncover the mechanism by which SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, induces new cases of diabetes, and worsens complications in people who already have it. The team found that viral exposure activates immune cells that in turn destroy beta (β) cells, the...
Dr. Mohammad Arifuzzaman, a postdoctoral associate in the Jill Roberts Institute for Research in Inflammatory Bowel Disease, part of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, at Weill Cornell Medicine, has been awarded a 2024 Tri-Institutional Breakout Award for Junior Investigators.Weill Cornell Medicine, The Rockefeller University and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center present the awards annually, recognizing exceptional investigators for their remarkable research...
Scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine have discovered a previously unknown link between two key pathways that regulate the immune system in mammals—a finding that impacts our understanding of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). This family of disorders severely impacts the health and quality of life of more than 2 million people in the United States.The immune system has many pathways to protect the body from infection, but sometimes an overactive immune response results in...
Inulin, a type of fiber found in certain plant-based foods and fiber supplements, causes inflammation in the gut and exacerbates inflammatory bowel disease in a preclinical model, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The surprising findings could pave the way for therapeutic diets that may help ease symptoms and promote gut health. The study, recently published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, shows that inulin, which is found in...
In a study recently published in Cell Reports Medicine, a team of researchers lead by senior author Dr. Randy Longman, Director of the Jill Roberts Center for IBD and Associate Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, examined IBD-SpA patients treated with sulfasalazine and found that the presence of the gut bacterium Faecalibacterium prausnitzii was a key factor enabling successful treatment responses. They determined that...
