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.

Preclinical Study Explores Approved Drug for Ovarian Cancer

image of immune cells, stained brown, and ovarian cancer cells with various treatments

An iron-binding drug that is already approved for treatment of other diseases could provide a novel way to attack ovarian tumors, according to a new study led by Weill Cornell Medicine researchers. The preclinical study, which combined the analysis of human ovarian tumors and animal models of the disease, was published on July 29 in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Iron is essential for multiple cellular processes, so actively multiplying cancer cells often need larger amounts of it than normal cells. That’s especially true in ovarian cancers.

“We thought that was a perfect opportunity to try a new approach, because there is an FDA-approved iron-chelating drug called deferiprone that has been successfully used for other diseases with abnormal iron accumulation,” said senior author Dr. Juan Cubillos-Ruiz, the William J. Ledger, M.D., Distinguished Associate Professor for Infection and Immunology in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine. Iron-chelating drugs bind tightly to iron, preventing cells from using it.

Living with Endometriosis: A 12-Year Journey

Dr. Eung-Mi Lee and Patient

For 12 years, Crystal Richardson went from doctor to doctor to understand what was causing the debilitating period pain she’d been living with since her late 20s. “I had very sharp pains during my period. It felt like my whole pelvic region was being squeezed,” says Crystal, who is now 40 and lives in Brooklyn with her 19-year-old daughter and partner. “It was excruciating.”

Over the years, Crystal’s pain became chronic. It was not uncommon for her to visit the emergency room for cortisone shots and pain medicine to ease the clenching feeling and tightness during her periods. Her menstrual flow was so heavy that she was anemic, making her fatigued, dizzy, and light-headed.

An appointment with gynecologic surgeon Dr. Eung-Mi Lee changed everything.

Read the full story here.

Study Backs RSV Vaccine Safety During Pregnancy

vaccine safety

Vaccinating mothers against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) during late pregnancy to protect their newborns is not associated with an increased risk of preterm birth or other poor outcomes, according to a study by Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian investigators. Infants are particularly vulnerable to the virus which can cause a serious lower respiratory illness.

The study, published July 8 in JAMA Network Open, adds real-world evidence to the existing data from clinical trials about the safety of Pfizer’s Abrysvo vaccine. The researchers found that there wasn’t a significant statistical difference in preterm birth rates between vaccinated women (5.9%) and unvaccinated women (6.7%). 

“The real-world evidence provides an additional layer of confidence about the safety of this vaccine during pregnancy,” said the study’s lead author Dr. Moeun Son, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine. “Randomized clinical trials don’t always emulate the populations we see in the clinical setting, but now we have data from multiple populations showing no increase in preterm birth risk.”

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