At the forefront of noninvasive procedures for GI conditions, Dr. Michel Kahaleh and his team from the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology have received a 2016 Video Plenary Session Award from the ASGE. This award was given in appreciation of their outstanding work utilizing a procedure known as STER (submucosal tunneling endoscopic resection) for the treatment of gastrointestinal submucosal tumors.
The 25th Annual Weill Department of Medicine Awards were announced on June 29, 2016 at Medicine Grand Rounds. This award is presented annually to members of the Weill Department of Medicine below the rank of professor who perform on outstanding levels in the areas of clinical and/or basic biomedical research. It is supported by the Michael Wolk Foundation.
Research from the Artis Lab, leading a five-institution collaboration, has uncovered a pivotal finding implicating a metabolic pathway that promotes allergic inflammation in the lung. The groundbreaking studies, published in Nature Immunology, identify that an enzyme, Arginase-1, changes the metabolism within ILCs, a recently identified class of innate immune cells.
Dr. David E. Cohen has been appointed as Vincent Astor Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology in the Weill Department of Medicine. Dr. Cohen will be joining the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology in July of 2016.
Dr. Gregory F. Sonnenberg, a member of the Roberts Institute for Research in IBD, has led an international team that developed an innovative therapeutic approach that blocked production of an inflammation-promoting molecule in mice – but left key protective immune factors intact. This breakthrough has provided promise for a new approach for the treatment of IBD.
Robert S. Brown, Jr., M.D., M.P.H., has been appointed to Vice Chair of Transitions of Care for the Weill Department of Medicine (WDOM). He is the Interim Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and the Director of the Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Additionally, Dr. Brown holds the title of Professor of Clinical Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons.
As Vice Chair for Basic and Translational Research, Dr. Lipkin will work closely with departmental and divisional leadership to enhance and foster the research activities of our faculty and trainees.
The researchers have uncovered a self-repair mechanism that could lead to innovative approaches for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases and other intestinal disorders. The article in PNAS reveals findings on a mechanism that allows the single layer of cells that line the inside of the intestines to signal the immune system to repair tissue damage. A defect in this repair system underlies Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
The new findings that innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) directly educate T cells in the intestine to not attack beneficial bacteria, and that impairment of ILC function leads to severe intestinal inflammation. Critically, they also demonstrate that loss of MHCII (a type of machinery that delivers signals to T cells) on ILCs is linked to pro-inflammatory cells in patients with IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease).
Founded in 1908, the American Society of Clinical Investigation is an honor society of some 3,000 physician-scientists who serve in the upper ranks of academic medicine and industry. Those who become members of ASCI are premier leaders in translating findings from the laboratory to the advancement of clinical practice.
