Copy
In this Edition
April 30, 2018
Spotlight on Science

Dear Colleagues,
 
Spring finally broke through after some unexpected last gasps of snow. It’s almost as if the new season had to claw its way past a winter determined to hold on. Sometimes that’s the way with new ideas, too – emerging then retreating a few times, as the evidence piles up. 

We invite you to check out some of the insights springing forth from our community in this month’s Spotlight.  

Dafna Bar-Sagi, PhD
Vice Dean for Science and Chief Scientific Officer
Newly Discovered Organ in the Human Body

Neil Theise, MD, and colleagues discovered that the space between cells – the interstitium – forms a cohesive, larger than supposed, fluid-filled tissue structure that may constitute a previously-unrecognized organ (Scientific Reports, March 2018). Theise and collaborators then at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai made their discovery with the help of a new microscopy technique that makes it possible to observe living tissues in the body in real time. The true nature of the interstitium may not have been gleaned earlier because previous efforts to image these in-between regions of the body were done in fixed tissue, which dehydrates and collapses the structure. But the new technique reveals that this area is made up of a dynamic three-dimensional network of connective tissue and moving fluid that possibly acts as a shock absorber for muscles, organs and vessels, and may also serve as a conduit for spreading cancer and other diseases throughout the body.
 
READ PAPER
NY TIMES ARTICLE

 

 
Identifying Neurons that Drive Maternal Instinct

Dayu Lin, PhD, Nicolas Tritsch, PhD, and colleagues have zeroed in on a key group of cells in a brain circuit that regulates maternal behavior in mice (Neuron, April 2018). The researchers studied a brain region called the medial preoptic area, which has previously been linked to maternal behavior. They found that certain cells, which can sense estrogen, were more electrically active than other cells in this area when mother mice retrieved their pups. Chemically blocking this activity prevented the mothers from approaching and retrieving their pups, while chemically activating the cells prompted this behavior. Those estrogen sensing cells in the medial preoptic area drive the maternal behavior through their projection to a brain region that is enriched with a neurochemical called dopamine.

WATCH VIDEO
READ PAPER

 
 
Adding Immunotherapy Reduces Risk of Death by One Half in Lung Cancer

Leena Gandhi, MD, PhD, and colleagues report that adding the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda) to standard chemotherapy halves the risk of death in patients with the most deadly type of lung cancer (NEJM, April 2018). The phase 3 trial was conducted in 616 patients with metastatic nonsquamous non-small-cell lung cancer who lacked EGFR and ALK alterations - two genes that are commonly mutated in this disease. Targeted therapy is already available to people whose cancer cells carry those mutations, but fewer options have been available for people whose cancer cells do not carry them.

WATCH VIDEO
READ PAPER

 
Dr. Aravinda Chakravarti Joins NYU Langone to Lead Center for Human Genetics and Genomics
Celebrated geneticist, Aravinda Chakravarti, PhD, has recently joined NYU Langone Health, as the inaugural director of the Center for Human Genetics and Genomics. Dr. Chakravarti is known for his seminal work on elucidating the complex genetic underpinning of human disease. Under his leadership, the center will further explore how large-scale genetic analyses can inform the development of new targeted treatments. The Center for Human Genetics and Genomics is strategically located on the eighth floor of the Science Building in close proximity to the Institute for Systems Genetics and the Institute for Computational Medicine, with which it will have strong partnerships.

READ MORE
 
IN FUNDING NEWS 

Jef Boeke, PhD, Aravinda Chakravarti, PhD, Matthew Maurano, PhD, and colleagues are being awarded $8M over five years from NIH’s National Human Genome Research Institute to fund a Center of Excellence in Genome Science. The Center, which will be housed in the laboratories of Boeke, Maurano and the GenomeFoundry@ISG, will focus on developing synthetic big-DNA tools to investigate the genetic basis of diverse genetic diseases and to dissect the “dark matter of the genome."  

ACCOLADES and MILESTONES 

NYU School of Medicine has risen to number 3 in the nation and number 1 in New York on US News & World Report’s list of Best Medical Schools: Research for 2019! Read more…
 
Dafna Bar-Sagi, PhD, has been awarded the 2018 AACR-Women in Cancer Research Charlotte Friend Memorial Lectureship for her achievements in cancer research and her contributions to the advancement of women in science. This honor was presented to her at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting earlier this month.
 
Gira Bhabha, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Cell Biology and the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine was selected as a 2018 Searle Scholar. This prestigious honor recognizes just fifteen exceptional young investigators in the biomedical sciences. Previous awardees who are currently at NYU Langone include Jef Boeke, Dan Littman and Evgeny Nudler.
 
Arthur Caplan, PhD, has been named as the recipient of the 2018 Distinguished Service and Leadership Award by the Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI) for his leadership in promoting public health and his many contributions to the advancement of bioethics in clinical research.
 
Steven Galetta, MD, the Philip K. Moskowitz, MD Professor and Chair of Neurology was recently honored wth the 2018 A.B. Baker Lifetime Achievement in Neurologic Education award at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting.

The new Science Building earned a National Recognition Award in the American Council of Engineering Companies 2018 Engineering Excellence Awards (EEA) competition! Our team, represented by Claudia Gorun, Senior Program Director Research, Real Estate Development and Facilities (RED+F), accepted the honor at the EEA Gala Dinner in Washington, D.C., on April 17.

Copyright © 2018 NYU Langone Health, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this message because you are a research faculty member, postdoctoral fellow, student or staff member. 
 
CONTACT US
If you have a paper, grant, award or any other research news that you wish to be publicized, please contact the Office of Science and Research (OSR).
 






This email was sent to <<Email Address>>
why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences
NYU Langone Medical Center · 1 Park Avenue · 6th Floor, Office of Science and Research (OSR) · New York, NY 10016 · USA