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Drs. Holly Prigerson and Paul Maciejewski Photo credit: John Abbott

A Married Pair of Social Scientists Promotes Compassionate Care for Cancer Patients at the End of Life - And the Loved Ones They Leave Behind

Sociologist Dr. Holly Prigerson was an assistant professor at Yale in 1999 when she was summoned to the bedside of her father, whose pancreatic cancer had taken a turn for the worse. Even then, Dr. Prigerson — now the Irving Sherwood Wright Professor in Geriatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine and co-founding director of Weill Cornell Medicine's...

Here's how virtual reality could help doctors treat cancer

Virtual reality headsets are not yet commonplace, but they already have the potential to revolutionize many aspects of our lives—how we view entertainment like movies and video games, how we see the world, and even how we do science.

Now researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City have started using the technology to better understand the genetic mutations that drive cancer. They've developed a new program for the Oculus Rift VR headset that lets users see and interact with...

Dr. Laurie H. Glimcher Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College & Provost for Medical Affairs, Cornell University

Among keys to curing cancer, academic medical centers loom large

The moonshot to cure cancer will need to enlist the nation’s academic medical centers, our most powerful incubators of medical innovation. These institutions are already developing – and putting into use –some of the most promising therapies.

Following a memorable State of the Union in which he charged Vice President Joe Biden to lead a “moonshot” to find a cure for cancer, President Obama is proposing nearly $1 billion to fund cancer research over the next two years. The moonshot...

An investigational drug (AC261066) given to mice with diabetes restores normal blood sugar levels, effectively treating the disease Image credit: Gudas Lab

Experimental Therapy Could Treat Diabetes and Fatty Liver

A new investigational therapy could be a major breakthrough in the treatment of both diabetes and fatty liver, according to Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.

Diabetes is a disease in which the pancreas either does not produce enough insulin or cells in the body fail to respond to insulin properly. Diabetic patients experience abnormally high blood sugar levels, which can lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, and eye damage. The disease, which...

WEILL CORNELL PHYSICIAN-SCIENTISTS AND CORNELL UNIVERSITY ENGINEERS COLLABORATE — AND PATIENTS BENEFIT

BY BETH SAULNIER

From foe to friend: Transforming tumors into personalized vaccines

Radiation has long been a pillar of cancer care, alongside surgery and chemotherapy. But what if it could be used in a new way - to trigger a set of immune responses that transform tumors into killing machines, a type of in situ vaccine?

Silvia Formenti, M.D., has re-visited radiation as a tool that turns tumor from foe to friend. She uses it to help activate the immune system...

Haitian AIDS Patients' 10-year Survival Equal to American Patients

One of the first groups of AIDS patients to receive free HIV drugs in a public health setting in the developing world is living as long as those in the United States, according to research conducted by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.

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