The Third Annual Weill Department of Medicine (WDOM) Research Retreat attracted 150 attendees, including a diverse range of faculty and trainees from multiple divisions across the department. As in previous years, the event served to foster and expand research activities and collaborations at Weill Cornell Medicine between established and emerging leaders in their respective fields.
Organized by Drs. Anthony Hollenberg (Chair, WDOM), John P. Leonard (Executive Vice Chair, WDOM, and Associate Dean for Clinical Research, WCM), and Steven M. Lipkin (Vice Chair for Research, WDOM), the retreat hosted a keynote speaker, Dr. Sekar Kathiresan, who is a renowned expert in genetics and Director of the Center of Genetic Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. The event also included nine research talks given by department faculty, post-docs, and fellows. As outlined in the event’s brochure, topics traversed a wide array of research from genetics, retroviruses, and lung inflammation, to hepatic thyroid hormone clearance, colon cancer, and more.
The all-day event began at the Belfer Building, with opening remarks provided by Drs. Hollenberg, Leonard, and Lipkin, and was followed by presentations, two poster sessions, a luncheon at Griffis Faculty Club, and a reception. Highlights included presentations by trainees, rising young faculty stars, newly recruited senior investigators and current faculty. Laura Pinheiro, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Health Services Research in Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, presented new findings on the management of multiple complex diseases in cancer patients, particularly diabetes in breast cancer patients. Bishoy M. Faltas, M.D., who is Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, Division of Medicine, described developing new small molecule drugs for bladder cancers, and Laurel Anne Monticelli, Ph.D., Instructor of Immunology in Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, described her work on Arginase 1 as a potential drug target for COPD prevention.
The retreat’s executive committee includes:
Mary E. Choi, M.D.
Professor of Medicine
Marshall J. Glesby, M.D.
Professor of Medicine
Paraskevi Giannakakou, Ph.D.
Professor of Pharmacology in Medicine
Lisa Kern, M.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine
Lonny Levin, Ph.D.
Professor of Pharmacology in Medicine
Holly G. Prigerson, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology in Medicine
Shahin Rafii, M.D.
Professor of Medicine
Kyu Y. Rhee, M.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine
Joseph M. Scandura, M.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine
Jonathan W. Weinsaft, M.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine