Neurons in the gut produce a molecule that plays a pivotal role in shaping the gut’s immune response during and after inflammation, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The findings suggest that targeting these neurons and the molecules they produce could open the door to new treatments for inflammatory bowel disease and other disorders driven by gut inflammation.Hundreds of millions of neurons make up the enteric nervous system, the “second brain” of the...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first clinical trial in the U.S. to use a genetically engineered pig liver to support patients with severe liver failure who don’t qualify for a transplant, according to an American Journal of Transplantation (AJT) report published in August.“We’ve waited over two decades since the last trial of a bioartificial liver device,” says Dr. Robert Brown, Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and a leading...
A new study co-authored by Dr. Felice Schnoll-Sussman, Director of the Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine, shows promising results for combined colon and endometrial screening for patients with Lynch syndrome, a genetic condition in which individuals face up to a 60% lifetime risk of developing endometrial and gastrointestinal cancers.This patient-centric program evolved from the desire to improve the quality of life and...
Dr. David Artis, director of the Jill Roberts Institute and the Michael Kors Professor in Immunology, along with Dr. Chun-Jun Guo, an associate professor of immunology in medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and a scientist at the Jill Roberts Institute for Research in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Weill Cornell Medicine, and Dr. Frank Schroeder, a professor at the Boyce Thompson Institute and a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology in the...
Thousands of bacterial and other microbial species live in the human gut, supporting healthy digestion, immunity, metabolism and other functions. Precisely how these microbes are protected from immune attack has been unclear, but now a study led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators has found that this immune “tolerance” to gut microbes depends on an ancient bacterial-sensing protein called STING—normally considered a trigger for inflammation. The surprising result could lead to new...
Bacteria naturally present in the human intestine, known as the gut microbiota, can transform cholesterol-derived bile acids into powerful metabolites that strengthen anti-cancer immunity by blocking androgen signaling, according to a preclinical study led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The study was published on April 15 in Cell.“I was very...
A new preclinical study published Jan. 2 in Nature Immunology may lead to therapies that target the earliest stages of cancer, bolstering the idea the inflammasome has a dual role—that while promotes inflammation associated with poor outcomes in late cancer stages, early on it can help prevent cells from becoming cancerous in the first place.“What was striking was that the innate immune system, which includes the inflammasome, has a role beyond infection,” said lead author Dr. Julie...
A new multi-institution study led in part by Dr. Robert Schwartz, a virologist and Assistant Professor of Medicine in the division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, is striving to answer a key biological question: how the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is able to establish infection in liver cells.The research – led in conjunction with teams lead by chemical biologist Dr. Yael David at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and Dr. Viviana Risca at The Rockefeller University -...
People with Crohn’s disease and related joint inflammation linked to immune system dysfunction have distinct gut bacteria or microbiota, with the bacterium Mediterraneibacter gnavus being a potential biomarker, according to new study by Weill Cornell Medicine researchers.The study, published Feb. 13 in Gut Microbes, also demonstrated that the gut microbiota of people with Crohn’s and axial spondyloarthritis, which is joint inflammation of the spine and lower back, differs from...
Dr. Clement Richard Boland, Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the University of San Diego, received the Charles Maltz, M.D., Ph.D. Excellence in Teaching Award by the division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology in the Weill Department of Medicine during a special reception Feb. 12.The award is bestowed in memory of Dr. Charles Maltz, a faculty member in the division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology for nearly 30 years. A pillar...
