Obstetrics & Gynecology

News and Events

Programs and providers of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine are often the focus of news stories and features appearing in major national media. We invite you to review some stories that typify the breakthrough accomplishments of our remarkable team and highlight the impact our care has had on patient’s lives.

Weill Cornell Medicine Awarded Grant for Alzheimer’s Gene Therapy Research

photo of a man in a white coat

The National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health has awarded a five-year grant initially worth $8.37 million for Weill Cornell Medicine researchers to study a new gene therapy for Alzheimer’s disease in people who have a high genetic risk of developing the condition. The research could garner nearly $14 million in total if prescribed milestones are reached for years three through five.

The grant will allow researchers to study a treatment for patients with apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4) gene variants inherited from both parents, a group known as APOE4 homozygotes. These people have up to a 15-fold increased risk of developing Alzheimer's, “and it occurs earlier and is more aggressive,” said Dr. Ronald G. Crystal, principal investigator and chair of the Department of Genetic Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine.

AI Research Team Could Streamline Clinical Trial Design

AI for clinical trial design

An artificial intelligence system that operates like a collaborative team of medical experts could accelerate clinical trial design, one of the most difficult steps in drug development, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The findings, published July 7 in Nature Communications, evaluated the potential of the system, called EmulatRx, to simulate, design and improve clinical trials using real-world patient data. A necessary step before a drug is approved for market, a randomized clinical trial is a rigorous study in which participants are randomly assigned into separate groups to evaluate how well treatments or interventions work and their side effects.

The researchers predict that combining real-world data with collaborative AI reasoning has the potential to make clinical trials faster, more affordable and more precise, which could ultimately lead to new treatments for patients with higher success rates.

Dr. Fei Wang

Dr. Fei Wang

Key Gut Protein Balances Immune Protection and Tolerance

photo of woman with hands over stomach and drawing of intestines superimposed

A protein produced by gut immune cells orchestrates both immune protection against pathogens and immune tolerance of gut bacteria, according to a study led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The discovery illuminates the complex biology of the gut immune system and could lead to better-targeted treatments for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

In the study, published July 7 in Immunity, the researchers sought a better understanding of an immune protein called TL1A. Found at high levels in the gut tissues of patients with IBD, and linked to a variety of inflammatory conditions in genetic studies, TL1A is considered a promising therapeutic target, though its molecular links to inflammatory disease are not well understood. The researchers determined that in gut immune cells TL1A exerts much of its immune-stimulating effect against pathogens through a protein called BHLHE40, a master-switch for many genes. To their surprise, they found that the protein also has a critical role in maintaining immune tolerance to beneficial microbes that normally live in the gut, helping prevent unnecessary inflammation.

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