Weill Cornell Medicine

A dual-chamber wireless pacemaker provides reliable performance under varying conditions over three months, according to a new study by Dr. James Ip of Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. “We have proven that the two separate pieces of the new pacemaker system communicate with each other very well even when people change positions, engage in activities, or when their heart rates rise," says Dr. Ip. Pacemakers deliver an electrical signal to regulate the heartbeat in people with slow heart rhythms. A traditional pacemaker is implanted under the skin in the chest and has wires (leads) threaded through veins to the heart. However, the devices can lead to potential complications. About ten years ago, new wireless pacemakers became available that can stimulate the heart’s lower chamber, the ventricle. These pacemakers provide an alternative to wired pacemakers for patients with some types of heart rhythm problems. More recently, wireless pacemakers were developed that can be implanted in the heart’s upper chamber, the atrium, and can stimulate both the upper and lower chambers. The tiny devices are threaded through a blood vessel in the groin to the heart and screwed in place, a procedure that is less invasive than the implantation of wired devices. The new study evaluated the performance of the dual chamber stimulating device in various circumstances, such as when patients are engaged in activity that raises their heart rate or when they change positions, such as standing up or lying down. Full story: https://bit.ly/3A1hRkR

Why do certain New York neighborhoods have disproportionately higher rates of diagnosis and deaths from detectable cancers such as breast cancer, colon cancer, and cervical cancer? This is a question that Dr. Erica Phillips had. To get answers, Dr. Phillips, co-leader for the Center for Social Capital (SoCa Center) and Multigenerational Health, went straight to the source and sought input from the community. Through community-engaged research, she learned that earlier education and interventions—starting in middle school—were a priority. Now, her team is challenged to turn community feedback into action and integrate cancer risk reduction and the science of cancer into the school system. Part of the hope is that this cancer information will flow from school into homes, to parents and caregivers. "How do we channel students' energy into understanding how their environment and public policies can contribute to cancer risk and activate their desire to be influencers around these policies?" asked Dr. Phillips of Weill Cornell Medicine. Could this drive the next generation of cancer researchers from underrepresented communities? If so, her center has developed programs to provide experiential and employable skills to young adults from persistent poverty areas. "We hope the clinical research coordinator program will not only impact the diversity of clinical studies and participants in those studies, but also the diversity of the biomedical workforce to ultimately advance health equity," said co-leader Dr. Yazmin Carrasco of Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences. https://bit.ly/3Yretdm

This past weekend, Swim Across America hosted a charity swim in Larchmont, NY, to raise awareness and funds for cancer research. Our Weill Cornell Medicine community turned out to swim, volunteer, and raise awareness and funds for cancer research. Thanks to their incredible efforts, they raised a staggering $1.8M, a significant contribution that will significantly impact patient programs, research, and clinical trials.

An iron-binding drug that is already approved for treatment of other diseases may be useful in treating ovarian tumors, according to new 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. A team led by Dr. Juan Cubillos-Ruiz of Weill Cornell Medicine found that combining cisplatin and deferiprone, an iron-chelating drug, was effective in extending survival of metastatic ovarian cancer in preclinical models. Dr. Cubillos-Ruiz is now working with clinical collaborators to design human trials of the new approach. https://bit.ly/4c3476j

Two Medicaid policies together play vital roles in drawing more Black and Hispanic patients to enroll in cancer clinical trials, according to a new analysis. Black and Hispanic patients are historically underrepresented in cancer clinical trials, which provide essential information to researchers and give patients access to the latest treatment options. This study led by Dr. William Schpero of Weill Cornell Medicine and Dr. Samuel U. Takvorian of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, examined the effect of the interaction between two Medicaid policies on the rates of enrollment for Black or Hispanic adults in cancer clinical trials in the United States: Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and pre-existing state-level mandates requiring Medicaid coverage of the routine costs of clinical trial participation. The study team analyzed deidentified national enrollment data for nearly 50,000 participants in cancer clinical trials from 2012 to 2019 from Medidata’s Rave electronic data capture archives. Only 12 states and the District of Columbia mandated Medicaid coverage of clinical trial costs during the study period. It was not until 2022 that all state Medicaid programs were federally mandated to cover the routine costs of clinical trials. Researchers found that expanding Medicaid combined with mandates to cover clinical trial costs led to more Black and Hispanic patients participating in trials. https://bit.ly/4bRQdUE

A blood test that measures the number of lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell in the body, may predict if people who have relapsed multiple myeloma are going to respond well to CAR-T immunotherapy, according to new research. The study found that patients who had an increase in absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) during the first 15 days after receiving a CAR-T infusion had a higher chance of a complete response and better progression-free survival than patients with a lower ALC at day 15. Knowing that the treatment may not work allows doctors to try other options more quickly. The research team was led by Dr. Mateo Mejia Saldarriaga and Dr. Mark Bustoros of Weill Cornell Medicine and teams from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Full story: https://bit.ly/4dfMNMm

The stethoscope may be a doctor's most iconic and recognizable instrument. The tool helps doctors listen to internal body processes, such as your heartbeat or breathing. Dr. Anaïs Rameau of Weill Cornell Medicine thinks diagnostic listening can go further. An expert in voice, airway and swallowing dysfunction, Dr. Rameau is now investigating how acoustic analysis can detect changes in swallowing to screen for aspiration — which puts people with age-related conditions at risk for pneumonia — and how vocal changes may provide biomarkers for diagnosing and monitoring conditions ranging from cancer to Alzheimer's. "The voice is connected to so many physical and mental processes," Dr. Rameau said. "We think it is a window into illness and dysfunction." To test her hypothesis, Dr. Rameau has turned to a team of experts ranging from Cornell ornithologists studying birdsong and whale calls to computer scientists and AI experts. The Bridge2AI Voice project explores the use of machine learning to analyze voice recordings for biomarkers. Unlike other AI projects that rely on readily available text or images to train models, the team has to start from scratch. Dr. Olivier Elemento estimates they will need 40,000 samples from recruited and consenting participants. As arduous as it may be, it's also an opportunity to avoid biases that have compromised other medical AI projects. Read more in our summer issue of IMPACT: https://bit.ly/3Wi47JV