SPRING 2008 THE MAGAZINE OF WEILL CORNELL MEDICAL

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c1-c4WCMspring083/31/0810:47 AMPage c1weillcornellmedicineSPRING 2008THE MAGAZINE OF WEILL CORNELL MEDICAL COLLEGE AND WEILL CORNELL GRADUATE SCHOOL OF MEDICAL SCIENCESJugglingActYoung doctors figureout how to balancelife and medicine

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01-01WCMspring08toc3/31/0810:52 AMPage 1weillcornellmedicineTHE MAGAZINE OF WEILL CORNELL MEDICAL COLLEGE AND WEILL CORNELL GRADUATE SCHOOL OF MEDICAL SCIENCES2DEANS MESSAGESComments from Dean Gotto & Dean Hajjar4SCOPELinks of life. Plus: Depression’s toll, a 50 million gift for cardiac and reproductive care, faculty club makeover, newcancer center, Dr. Buckey drops Senatebid, and the “human right” to health care.2020 THE GREATER GOODBETH SAULNIERHe has battled AIDS in the laboratory and the legislature, toured Uganda by motorcycle to assess drug delivery, and even made dinner for a rock star. Anthony S.Fauci, MD ’66, director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and InfectiousDiseases, talks to Weill Cornell Medicine about life on the front lines of public health.13926 THE COST OF AN MDSHARON TREGASKISEveryone knows that medical school costs tens of thousands of dollars. But thereare expenses beyond the financial: the toll on one’s personal relationships, outsideinterests, even health. A look at how Weill Cornell students and alumni are coping,and why having a life makes for an even better physician.3832 THE STUFF OF LIFEJENNIFER ARMSTRONGWhile stem cells offer hope for patientssuffering from everything from paralysis toParkinson’s, their use remains controversial—and government funding limits thescope of research. But with independentsupport from Hushang Ansary, vice chairman of the Weill Cornell Board of Overseers, the Ansary Center for Stem CellTherapeutics is on the cutting edge.TALK OF THE GOWNCasualties of war. Plus: Pretend patients,ethics advice, surgery for diabetics, analternative to mammograms, learning disabilities and the brain, a dancer hearsagain, and surviving a forty-seven-story fall.NOTEBOOKNews of Medical College alumni andGraduate School alumni3247IN MEMORIAMAlumni remembered48POST-DOCTunes for tots (and teens)Cover illustration by Martin MayoFor address changes and othersubscription inquiries, please e-mailus at wcm@med.cornell.eduWeill Cornell Medicine (ISSN 1551-4455) is produced four times a year by Cornell Alumni Magazine, 401 E. State St., Suite 301, Ithaca, NY 14850-4400 for Weill Cornell Medical College and Weill Cornell GraduateSchool of Medical Sciences. Third-class postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Public Affairs, 525 E. 68th St., Box 144, New York, NY 10065.SPRING 20081

02-03WCMspring08deans3/31/0810:57 AMPage 2dEANS mESSAGESFROM 1300 YORK AVENUEIn Praise of. . .Antonio M. Gotto Jr., MD, DPhil,Dean of the Medical CollegewEILL CORNELL MEDICAL COLLEGE HASbeen training the world’s finest physicians and researchers for more than acentury. And as technology and discovery have radically altered the landscape of medicine as weknow it, so too has Weill Cornell had to shift and adapt.We are always on the cutting edge, our faculty andstaff proven brilliant in matching—and often setting—theswift pace of discovery. But as our equipment andmethodologies improve, there are basic themes thatremain firmly in place.We study relationships at Weill Cornell. We examinethe relationships among the body’s cells, organs, and systems, and the viruses that infiltrate them. But there isanother symbiosis that permeates our labs and classrooms—a partnership as vital to a young doctor as anyobservable through a microscope. It is the relationshipbetween student and teacher.The wise, experienced teacher doling out lessons tothe young, eager student—this is a stereotypical andantique scenario. A life dedicated to medicine cannot relyon such a passive model. To a Weill Cornell student,learning is not the stagnant practice of accepting knowledge from a trusted source. First-year students are expected to contribute right away—in the hospital and in thelab—and must continue to immerse themselves in thelearning process throughout their time here.You can hear it in our offices, hallways, and classrooms: students are not only absorbing material but challenging what we know today and what we might knowtomorrow. These students contribute as much as theirprofessors to the rich educational and cultural landscapeof the Medical College. Weill Cornell students understand that medical education is not a collection of creditsand grades. They conduct vital work in the name of discovery, and that work is often the foundation for newtreatments and medicines. At times, some of our students voluntarily interrupt their regular curriculum, taking a year or more off to conduct outside research. Andwhen they come back to us, they are wiser, sharper, and2 WEILL CORNELL MEDICINEJOHN ABBOTTMD-PhD student Ankit Patel, a 2004 graduate of the Ithacacampus, was elected student overseer in 2006.even more committed to the study of medicine.The enthusiasm of our students serves as a renewable source of energy and inspiration for the faculty.Medicine is a dynamic field, and the pursuit of knowledge and answers is constant. We look to the students tofuel that pursuit.Weill Cornell attracts the brightest young minds fromacross the world. They come to us from varied backgrounds, but their goals are consistent: to become leadersin their fields and to provide compassionate care.They’ve entrusted those goals to our world-class teachers, who hold that trust dear. But as our faculty pass onthe knowledge and skills that have propelled them to thehighest reaches of medicine and research, they do so inthe knowledge that their students will ultimately giveback as much as they receive.— Dean Antonio Gotto

02-03WCMspring08deans3/31/0810:57 AMPage 3. . . Our StudentsDavid P. Hajjar, PhD, Dean of the Graduate School of Medical SciencessTUDENTS ALWAYS WANT TO KNOW WHATtheir teachers say about them. That was trueback when the teachers’ lounge was a smokyden of mystery where instructors were knownto gossip and trade stories. These days, you can’t smokein the buildings of the Weill Cornell Graduate School ofMedical Sciences—but the professors still trade tales.And as a special gift, I’m going to let you know what theyare saying.They are proud. They are pleased. They are oftenoverwhelmed at the dedication and talent on constantdisplay in their labs.That is heavy praise, considering the source. TheGraduate School boasts a world-renowned faculty thatcomprises the brightest minds in many fields of medicine. Consider, for example, Neil Harrison, PhD, directorof the C. V. Starr Laboratory for Molecular Neuropharmacology, where he and his staff study synaptictransmission and the processing of information in themammalian brain. The contributions that Harrison andothers on our faculty make may be difficult, if not impossible, to fully comprehend or appreciate. But one of theirmost important missions is to inspire and provoke equally vital contributions from our graduate students.Throughout our history, Weill Cornell has been successful in recruiting graduate students who are as skilledas they are driven. To cite just one example, there isJeanne Farrell, a fifth-year student in pharmacology, whoworks in the laboratory of the program’s director, LonnyLevin, PhD ’83. The dynamic, challenging lab environment has allowed her to make great strides toward herprofessional goals. “The faculty here is truly outstanding,” she says. “At Weill Cornell, there is a great mesh ofscientific minds in one place.”We have designed the curriculum and coursework ofthe Graduate School so students will be fully challengedin the laboratory and fully supported by the faculty.These students are coming to us after years of intensestudy. They may already be accomplished researchers andABBOTTEli Berdougo, a fourth-year graduate student in the Allied Programin Molecular Biologyphysicians, but they still have steps to take before reaching the full embodiment of their professional aspirations.When Eli Berdougo came to the Graduate School, hehad already published the findings from his research asan undergraduate. While many students have taken similar initiative throughout their educational careers,Berdougo—a fourth-year student in the Allied Program inMolecular Biology who works in the laboratory of PrasadJallepalli, MD, PhD—represents the model of an active,contributing member of our campus. “This provided mewith my first laboratory experience, and I was immediately taken with it,” Berdougo says. “I was able to see,firsthand, just how exciting an experiment can be.”I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to hear these stories from our students. They come to us with great ambition and great drive, and while our professors are able toharness that ambition and guide that drive, it is the hardwork of the students themselves that proves the equationin the end. And that isn’t just office gossip.— Dean David HajjarSPRING 20083

04-08WCMspring08scope3/31/0810:59 AMPage 4sCOPENEWS BRIEFSRICHARD LOBELLLife saver: Nina Hubbard thanks Mohammed Islam, who donated a kidney to her five-year-old son, Evan.Gifts from the Hearto 50 Million Gift for Cardiac and Reproductive CentersN VALENTINE’S DAY, A FIFTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD ACCOUNTANTIN LATE FEBRUARY, IT WAS ANNOUNCED THAT A 50 MILLION GIFT FROMfrom California gave much more than chocolates androses—she donated a kidney to a stranger. CindyMarshall’s unselfish act was the first link in a chain ofthree transplants, performed simultaneously in six operating rooms at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell MedicalCenter, that could ultimately lead to hundreds more. A week afterthe surgeries, the recipients met their donors for the first time in anemotional press conference at the hospital.Known as never-ending altruistic donorship (NEAD), the systemis a new approach to transplants; the chain initiated at Weill Cornellwas one of the first in the U.S. In NEAD, a friend or family memberof each recipient donates a kidney to someone else, keeping thechain going. Marshall’s kidney went to Queens resident Ana MariaBerdeja, whose husband then donated to Rubina Parvin of LongIsland City. Parvin’s husband gave a kidney to five-year-old EvanHubbard of Manhattan; the chain will continue when Hubbard’sfather—a longtime data clerk at NYPH/WCMC—acts as a bridgedonor for the next cluster of transplants.“This approach could revolutionize the way we do living-donortransplants,” says chief of transplant surgery Sandip Kapur, MD’90, “greatly reducing, even eliminating the organ shortage in thiscountry and ultimately saving the lives of those in desperate needof a kidney.”Ronald Perelman will support Weill Cornell’s Center forReproductive Medicine and establish a new cardiac care instituteat NYPH/WCMC. “Reproductive medicine is a field of scientific discovery that holds remarkable promise for the future,” says SanfordI. Weill, chairman of Weill Cornell’s Board of Overseers, “and RonPerelman’s gift will advance an already outstanding departmentthat conducts cutting-edge research and translates researchresults into life-changing advances for patients here in New Yorkand around the world.” The facility will be renamed the Ronald O.Perelman and Claudia Cohen Center for Reproductive Medicine inhonor of Perelman and his late wife.The gift from Perelman, chairman of MacAndrews & ForbesHoldings Inc. and a member of Weill Cornell’s Board of Overseersand New York-Presbyterian’s Board of Trustees, will also create a“medical town square” for the treatment and prevention of heartdisease. Based at NYPH/WCMC’s Greenberg Pavilion, it willinclude a patient welcome center, a clinical trials enrollment center, and an educational resource center. The facility will be knownas the Ronald O. Perelman Heart Care Institute. “The cardiacinstitute will not only treat patients,” Perelman says, “but alsoeducate and advocate—particularly to women, who still falselybelieve they are at less risk—about preventive measures toreduce heart disease.”4 WEILL CORNELL MEDICINE

04-08WCMspring08scope3/31/0810:59 AMPage 5World-Class Cancer Center CreatedHärtl Offers Innovative Spine SurgeryIN WHAT DEAN ANTONIO GOTTO, MD, CALLS A “BOLD INITIATIVE,”ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF NEUROLOGICAL SURGERY ROGER HÄRTL, MD,NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical Collegehave launched a joint effort in the battle against cancer: a worldclass center dedicated to advancing research, prevention, andtreatment. Led by physician-scientist Andrew Dannenberg, MD, thenewly established center will offer expanded research programsand promote multidisciplinary efforts. “The key to the success ofthis initiative will be collaboration and team science,” Dannenbergsays, comprising researchers not only from hematology, oncology,and radiology, but also surgery, urology, genetics, pediatrics,immunology, and pharmacology. The initiative will include the addition of lab space and ten new faculty in cancer biology. “Cancer isthe second leading cause of death in the U.S.,” notes David Hajjar,PhD, Weill Cornell’s senior executive vice dean. “While scientificprogress continues, close to 1.5 million people will be diagnosedthis year. Many of these cases will be found after the cancer hasspread to other parts of the body. New ideas are desperately needed to understand why cancers form, grow, and spread, and how tocontain them, predict them, and ultimately prevent them.”is the first in Manhattan to perform a new spinal procedure fordegenerative disc disease that cuts recovery time. The technique,called AxiaLIF, is less invasive than traditional spine surgery, inwhich doctors must dissect muscle and nerve to get to the affected area—taking hours and leaving the patient at risk for significantblood loss. AxiaLIF takes less than an hour and requires only asmall incision near the tailbone; the affected area is accessed viaa ten-millimeter-wide channel, and the discs are fused with a rod.Patients are generally released within twenty-four hours; after a fewweeks, they can return to normal activity. “With the less invasivetechnique, I can do the same surgery but access the area with lesstrauma to muscles, nerves, and surrounding tissue,” Härtl says.Class of 2008 Makes ‘The Best Match’CHAMPAGNE AND A TABLE LADEN WITH SEALED ENVELOPES GREETEDthe ninety-six members of Weill Cornell’s fourth-year class onMatch Day in March. Dean Antonio M. Gotto toasted the studentsbefore they descended on their letters and learned that they’dmatched to some of the nation’s most prestigious residencies.“From a historical perspective,” said senior associate dean for education Carol Storey-Johnson, MD, “this year’s match is the bestmatch we’ve had since we’ve been keeping statistics.” For the firsttime, students from the Qatar campus participated in the match,Is Health Care a Human Right?IN THE LATE 1980S, PHYSICIAN AND PRIEST PETER LE JACQ, MD ’81,was working in Tanzania—where 30 percent of pregnant womenwere HIV-positive. One day, he was called upon to deliver a baby,gloveless, in the middle of a street. The episode tested Le Jacq’sethics, as he knew that treating the mother would put him at risk.Ultimately, he did not contract HIV—but, he says, “even if I waspositive, it would have been worth it.”Le Jacq shared his story with the audience at an interactive workshop, Health Care & Human Rights: A World in Need, held in Februaryand sponsored by Weill Cornell and the Fifth Avenue PresbyterianChurch. The workshop, which had more than 200 attendees,explored a major concern: in a world where 60 percent of the population holds only 6 percent of the wealth, what responsibility do physicians have to alleviate poverty and widen access to medical care?The seminar posed questions about health care’s status as a humanright, the need to make medicines available to the poor, and therole of physicians in protecting victims of war and torture. Theevent was moderated by Dean Antonio Gotto, MD, and JosephFins, MD ’86, chief of the Division of Medical Ethics.Science vs. PoliticsTHE INTERSECTION OF SCIENCE AND POLITICS IS A PERILOUS PLACE,Future dermatologyresident AnthonyRossi ’08 and parentson Match DayLOBELLwith fifteen members of the inaugural class obtaining residencies inthe U.S. Some of the future doctors will continue their training atWeill Cornell—such as classmates Vivian Lee and Conor Liston,who matched in psychology at the Payne Whitney Clinic. SaidTiffani McDonough, bound for a pediatrics residency at NYU: “I’mso happy I feel like I’m going to faint.”says professor of clinical public health Madelon Finkel, PhD. In herlatest book, Truth, Lies, and Public Health: How We Are AffectedWhen Science and Politics Collide, Finkel examines the role ideology has played in scientific progress and the funding of research inrecent years. “While political activists and the government canbring much-needed attention and money to a public health problem, politics can also poison science,” says Finkel, director of theOffice of Global Health Education. “Over the last two decades, politics and ideology have increasingly hijacked and distorted scienceto serve their own purposes—often ignoring incontrovertible evidence and preventing much-needed policies to improve publichealth.” The book, published by Praeger Press, cites such examples as the debates over public policy regarding contraception,AIDS, medicinal marijuana, needle exchange, and breast implants.SPRING 20085

04-08WCMspring08scope3/31/0810:59 AMPage 6SCOPEongoing investigations into the interactions between blood cellsand vessels. The ultimate goal is to identify the molecular links thatdefine the two major risk factors for coronary artery disease, heartattack, and stroke: atherosclerosis and thrombosis. The twentyyear effort is hoped to be completed in 2011.Major Gift for Prostate Cancer ResearchA 5 MILLION GIFT TO LEADING SCIENTISTS AT FOUR INSTITUTIONS,LOBELLBigger and better: Enjoying their expanded Griffis FacultyClub kitchen are (from left) Robert Galuzzi, chef, WalterRevels, assistant chef, and Robert Barnes, line cook.Faculty Club Gets a MakeoverAFTER AN ELEVEN-MONTH RENOVATION, THE GRIFFIS FACULTY CLUB HASreopened with a brighter atmosphere—along with a new bar,expanded kitchen, and private dining area. David Hajjar, dean ofthe Graduate School of Medical Sciences, presided over the opening ceremonies and singled out Anita Gotto and Joan Weill for theirdesign input. “They have helped to transform the club into animportant part of the daily life of Weill Cornell.” Established in1962, the club is not only a place for faculty to relax and holdmeetings, but also serves as an important fundraising venue.When Depression Is a Family AffairTHE WIDOW OF ACTOR AND MONOLOGIST SPALDING GRAY RECALLED THEpainful weeks between his suicide and the time his body wasfound; the daughter of novelist William Styron shared memories ofgrowing up with a famous father who suffered from mental illness.Kathleen Russo and Alexandra Styron spoke in Uris Auditorium inJanuary as part of the ongoing Humanities and Medicine Program,in a session on coping with a family member’s depression. “If hehad his way, he would just sit in this one chair in the living room,slumped over and not talking,” Russo said of Gray. “You don’t seea light at the end of the tunnel.” Both women said that navigatingthe medical system was often difficult and unpleasant—from uncooperative insurance companies to doctors who seemed uncaring oruncommunicative. The lecture was moderated by professor of clinical psychiatry Richard Friedman, MD. 13 Million for Vascular Disease ResearchCONTINUING ITS FUNDING OF WEILL CORNELL’S CENTER OF VASCULARBiology, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has given theMedical College a 13 million grant for biomedical research intovascular disease. The award to cell biologist Katherine Hajjar, MD,and biochemist David Hajjar, PhD, is a renewal of support for five6 WEILL CORNELL MEDICINEincluding Weill Cornell, will support research to develop an innovative nanomedicine for prostate cancer. The award, from theProstate Cancer Foundation and disease survivor David Koch, isone of the largest-ever individual donations for prostate cancerresearch. At Weill Cornell, the effort will be led by Neil Bander, MD,an authority on antibody-targeted therapy in urological cancers; histeam developed the first antibodies to prostate-specific membraneantigen (PSMA), considered a promising target for drug development and the subject of current clinical trials. Other recipients ofthe grant include pioneering MIT chemical engineer Robert Langer,PhD, an undergraduate alumnus of Cornell’s Ithaca campus andrecent National Medal of Science winner.Alumnus Cancels Senate BidIN FEBRUARY, JAY BUCKEY, MD ’81, ANNOUNCED THE END OF HIS EIGHT-month campaign for the U.S.Senate. Buckey, a 1977alumnus of the Ithaca campus, had been seeking theDemocratic nomination forthe New Hampshire seat currently held by RepublicanJohn Sununu—running on aplatform of global economiccompetitiveness, alternativeenergyresources,andimprovements to the healthcare system. “I remain comJay Buckey, MD ’81mitted to the goals of ourWIKIMEDIAcampaign,” Buckey said in astatement on his website, “but I do not have the financialresources needed to campaign full-time for the next nine months,which is what would be required to beat John Sununu.”A professor of medicine at Dartmouth, Buckey is best knownas a former astronaut who flew on the shuttle Columbia in 1998,serving on NASA’s sixteen-day Neurolab mission. “Going up inspace gave me a lot of confidence in America’s ability to dothings,” Buckey told Weill Cornell Medicine during the campaign.“It also gives you the perspective of looking at the Earth, seeingjust how thin the atmosphere is, and realizing that we have aresponsibility to leave the place in better shape than when weentered it.” Buckey’s NASA experience also inspired an unusualpiece of political swag: supporters who gave at least five dollars tohis campaign got a squishy stress toy shaped like a space shuttle.

04-08WCMspring08scope3/31/0810:59 AMweillcornellmedicinePublished by the Office of Public AffairsWeill Cornell Medical College and Weill CornellGraduate School of Medical SciencesWEILL CORNELL SENIOR ADMINISTRATORSAntonio M. Gotto Jr., MD, DPhilThe Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean,Weill Cornell Medical College; Provost forMedical Affairs, Cornell UniversityDavid P. Hajjar, PhDDean, Weill Cornell Graduate School ofMedical SciencesMyrna MannersVice Provost for Public AffairsLarry SchaferVice Provost for DevelopmentWEILL CORNELL DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONSMichael SellersWEILL CORNELL DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONSJonathan WeilWEILL CORNELL EDITORIAL ASSISTANTPage 7from the benchDrug Could Fight Potential Bioterror AgentsA drug derived from a manipulated peptide of theparainfluenza virus can combat the deadly and highlyinfectious Hendra and Nipah viruses, both listed by theCDC as potential bioterror threats. In a study publishedin the Journal of Virology, Weill Cornell researchersshowed that the peptide effectively inhibits the liveviruses from entering animal cells. “We have beenurgently working on this,” says microbiology and immunology professor Anne Moscona, MD, “becauseright now, there’s absolutely nothing that can be doneto stop this fatal, transmissible illness.” The team’snext step is to develop a method of sustained releasefor incorporation into a drug that could be stockpiled tocombat an outbreak.Anne Moscona, MDWEILL CORNELL ART AND PHOTOAndria LamHelp for Hepatitis C PatientsWeill Cornell Medicine is produced by the staffof Cornell Alumni Magazine.PUBLISHERJim RobertsEDITORBeth SaulnierCONTRIBUTING EDITORSSusan KelleyAdele RobinetteSharon TregaskisEDITORIAL ASSISTANTTanis FurstART DIRECTORStefanie GreenPRODUCTION ASSOCIATELisa FrankACCOUNTING MANAGERBarbara BennettCIRCULATION ASSISTANTChristina BosilkovskiEDITORIAL AND BUSINESS OFFICES401 E. State St., Suite 301Ithaca, NY 14850(607) 272-8530; FAX (607) 272-8532New drug therapies could help optimize treatment for the 170 million people worldwide infected with hepatitis C, say two studies by Weill Cornell researchers. In one,Samuel Sigal, MD, and colleagues found that the drug eltrombopag is effective intreating low blood-platelet counts, a common complication of the virus. The work, conducted at NYPH/WCMC and twenty-one other sites, was published in the New EnglandJournal of Medicine. In a separate study, published in Hepatology, researchers foundthat weight-based dosing of the hepatitis C drug ribavirin was essential to successfultreatment in patients weighing more than 105 kilograms (231 pounds). “In my opinion, the larger dose provides an opportunity for very heavy patients to have the samechance of a cure as lighter patients without compromising safety,” says clinical medicine professor Ira Jacobson, MD, the study’s principal investigator.Enzyme Constricts Airways, Causes AsthmaWork led by pharmacology professor Roberto Levi, MD, and physiology and biophysics professor Randi Silver, PhD, could pave the way for new asthma treatments.In an article in the January issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy ofSciences, they reported that the disease’s main culprit is an enzyme released bymast cells in the lungs. The enzyme, called renin, produces angiotensin, which tightens airways and leads to respiratory ailments. The finding parallels the team’s 2005discovery that renin constricts passageways in the heart and leads to arrhythmiasand high blood pressure. Although medications are available to restrict angiotensinsystemically, the researchers hope to develop a more targeted approach. “If wecould find agents that dampen this renin-angiotensin cascade locally—in the heartor the lung, for example—that could prove to be a formidable new weapon againstdisease,” Levi says.Two Genes Key to Regulating Immune ResponseIssued four times each year. Printed by The LanePress, South Burlington, VT. Copyright 2008.Rights for republication of all matter arereserved. Printed in U.S.A. Send addresschanges to Public Affairs, 525 E. 68th St., Box144, New York, NY 10065.To be healthy, the body’s immune system must maintain a proper level of a compoundcalled interleukin-10 (IL-10); too much or too little can increase susceptibility to suchillnesses as lupus, Type 1 diabetes, cancer, and AIDS. Immunology and microbiologyprofessor Xiaojing Ma, PhD, and colleagues have discovered that two genes, known asPbx-1 and Prep-1, could be crucial players in producing IL-10 by transcribing proteinsthat help recognize dead or dying cells. The genes were previously known as players inembryonic development and in several forms of leukemia. “We still haven’t figured outSPRING 20087

04-08WCMspring08scope3/31/0810:59 AMPage 8SCOPEfrom the benchexactly how Pbx-1 and Prep-1 are involved in regulating IL-10 transcription,” Ma says. “I hope this study opens up new avenues forimmunologists to find out whether there’s a brand-new biochemical pathway to be discovered.”Solving the Taurine PuzzleThe taurine mystery is closer to being cracked, now that WeillCornell researchers have uncovered a prime site of activity forthe molecule. Taurine is one of the most plentiful amino acids inthe brain, but its function remains unknown. However, as theJournal of Neuroscience reported, pharmacology professor NeilHarrison, PhD, and colleagues have discovered that taurine is astrong activator of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors inthe thalamus, the regulatory part of the brain. “Finding taurine’sreceptor has been like discovering the missing link in taurinebiology,” Harrison says. Because GABA is important in forgingnew cell-to-cell connections, the researchers believe that taurinemay play a role in neurological development.An Inside Look at Borderline PersonalitiesBrain abnormalities underlie an element of borderline personality disorder, according to findings published in the AmericanJournal of Psychiatry in December. The work, by psychiatristDavid Silbersweig, MD ’86, offers insight into a condition thataffects 1 to 2 percent of Americans. With a special fMRI activa-tion probe that eliminates much of the signal loss in neuroimaging, Silbersweig and colleagues were able to more clearlyobserve activity in parts of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, theregion of the brain that has been associated with borderline personality disorder because it is linked to impulsivity. “These areasare thought to be key to facilitating behavioral inhibition underemotional circumstances, so if they are underperforming, thatcould contribute to the disinhibition one so often sees in borderline personality disorder,” Silbersweig says.A New Front in the Bacteria BattleWith doctors increasingly concerned about the emergence of drugresistant bacteria, Weill Cornell researchers have been working ona new weapon against tuberculosis and other deadly bacterialinfections. They have been focusing on the so-called “virulencefactors” that allow bacteria to thrive inside a host by underminingits defenses. In Chemistry and Biology, the researchers describedhow they developed the first inhibitor of a key small molecule fromMycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae (whichcauses leprosy)—offering what microbiology and immunology professor Luis Quadri, PhD, calls a “paradigm shift” in infectious disease research. “We are not saying that anti-infectives will everreplace antibiotics,” he says, “but with pathogens as deadly as M.tuberculosis or as debilitating as M. leprae, you’d ideally like tohave as many pharmaceutical weapons in your armamentarium asyou can, either alone or in combination.”tip of the cap to . . .Dean Antonio Gotto, MD, and HerbertPardes, MD, president and CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, awarded the AustrianCross of Honor for Science and Art for theirwork with the Salz

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