Biomedical Research News

Researchers at Columbia Engineering and Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) have invented a new RNA sequencing method that achieves high-quality results from small volumes of frozen tumor specimens. They demonstrated the success of their technique in two clinical studies that profiled dozens of tumor samples, both those archived and those freshly collected, to understand how they respond to anti-tumor therapy.

A new study from Gerstner Scholar Jesse Delia and researchers at the AMNH identified the mechanism that allows Glass frogs to maintain their unique transparency. Researchers had previously observed Glass frogs shifting into a transparent state during rest periods as a means to camouflage themselves. By using soundwaves to identify where the Glass frogs were storing their red blood cells, Delia and his colleagues observed the Glass frogs storing up to 89% of their red blood cells within the liver. This ability, and the fact that the Glass frogs did not develop any bloods clots could have potentially large benefits for blood-clotting treatment in humans.

Paige Arnold, who will graduate from the Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSK) next spring, has been awarded the 2022 Chairman’s Prize. The competitive award is presented annually and was established by GSK’s Board of Trustees Chair Emeritus Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., for whom the school is named. This year’s Chairman’s Prize, in the amount of $2,000, honors Arnold’s research, which she conducted in the laboratory of Lydia Finley, Assistant Professor of Biology at the Sloan Kettering Institute (SKI). The Finley Lab studies how metabolic pathways regulate stem cells and cancer cells. Arnold’s work focuses on the characterization of a novel, alternative tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle that is a major driver of the metabolic diversity observed across mammalian cells. Her research sought to understand how this metabolic diversity is achieved, and whether it is important for the establishment of cell identity.

Memorial Sloan Kettering announced their first cohort of the Louis V. Gerstner Jr. Physician Scholars Program on Monday. In 2021, the Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. Physician Scholars Program was established at MSK to support the translational science initiatives of talented early-career physician-scientists across multiple specialties. Mr. Gerstner’s generosity and continued dedication to the education and training of future leaders in cancer care make this farsighted opportunity possible. Through this highly competitive program, top-tier physician-scientists will be provided with a level of support that is otherwise difficult to obtain this early in their careers. The scope of innovation and excellence achieved at MSK depends on the work of a diverse scientific and clinical community of investigators, including these four promising physician-scientists, who were carefully selected for the inaugural class of Gerstner Physician Scholars: Susan De Wolf, MD, Juan Osorio, MD, Samir Zaidi, MD, PhD and Morgan Freret, MD, PhD.

Four physician-scientists were recently named 2022 Gerstner Scholars: Rebecca Muhle, MD, PhD; Jennifer Small-Saunders, MD, PhD; Neil Vasan, MD, PhD; and Peter Yim, MD. The program also awarded the Gerstner Merit Award to 2019 Scholar Amélie Collins, MD, PhD. The Gerstner Merit Award, created in 2014, provides an additional year of funding and recognizes an exceptional third-year Gerstner Scholar who conducts innovative research, has shown significant growth as an academic medicine investigator, and is ideally positioned to secure a significant principal investigator award.he Louis V. Gerstner Jr. Scholars Program provides exceptional physician-scientists at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) with vital funding. Each scholar receives a stipend of $75,000 per year for three years for salary or laboratory support. The support allows early-career scientists to conduct pioneering research and gather the pilot data necessary to apply for grants from the National Institutes of Health and other sources. The Gerstner Scholars Program, established in 2008 by Louis V. Gerstner Jr. and the Gerstner Family Foundation, helps make VP&S a major engine of medical innovation.