News

Dr. David Lyden Receives Grants from the Sohn Conference Foundation

Researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have received two grants from the Sohn Conference Foundation to advance their investigation into how cancer spreads in children. Dr. David Lyden, the Stavros S. Niarchos Professor in Pediatric Cardiology and a professor of pediatrics, Dr. Haiying Zhang, an assistant professor of cell and … Continued

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The First Cell Inspired a Career of Genomic Discoveries & Cancer Research

Some people struggle to find their paths in life. Not Chris Mason, PhD, Associate Professor and geneticist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. He had already determined he wanted to be a geneticist by the time he reached eighth grade. “I was—and still am—a curious kid. I wanted to know how the world … Continued

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Embryo Experiments Reveal Earliest Human Development, But Stir Ethical Debate

Ali Brivanlou slides open a glass door at the Rockefeller University in New York to show off his latest experiments probing the mysteries of the human embryo. “As you can see, all my lab is glass — just to make sure there is nothing that happens in some dark rooms that gives people some weird … Continued

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How Not to End Cancer in Our Lifetimes

President Obama calls the quest to cure cancer the “moon shot” of his presidency. But if the federal government has its way, this rocket may never leave the launchpad.

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Jennifer Doudna: The Promise and Peril of Gene Editing

Geneticist Jennifer Doudna on the controversy about Crispr-Cas9, a technique that could potentially cure genetic diseases.

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Financing High-Risk Medical Research

A Proposal from FasterCures by Melissa Stevens (Milken Institute Review) - In the past few years, the media has showered us with headlines about recordsetting biotech financing – outsized venture-capital rounds, unprecedented public market appetite for IPOs, and robust sector returns. But a closer look suggests there is more froth than substance at this frontier of medicine and science.

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Could 2015 Be a Turning Point in NIH Funding?

For the National Institutes of Health and its supporters, 2015 could turn out to be a pretty good year. As Congress continues negotiations on a mammoth omnibus spending package, advocates are hopeful that their favored institution is becoming a congressional priority again—and that an extended period of uncertainty may be coming to a close.

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If Cancer Becomes Biden’s Cause, a Bold but Polarizing Doctor Is On Call

WASHINGTON — One day last winter, desperate as his son fought for his life against a killer brain cancer, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his family reached out to one of America’s most famous, and controversial, doctors for help.

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Safety switches may redeem potent CAR T cancer therapies

By Ransdell Pierson (Reuters) – New therapies that clinical data show can eliminate blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma in 40 percent to 90 percent of patients may have to be genetically modified to include a switch that shields healthy cells from attack.

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The Condition Cancer Research Is In

By Sabrina Tavernise (The New York Times) – In a letter to colleagues announcing his departure as the director of the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Harold Varmus, 75, quoted Mae West. “I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor,” he wrote, “and rich is better.”

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