Science Talk

December 14, 2009 — Postmenopausal women who take antidepressants face a small but statistically significant increased risk for stroke and death compared with those who do not take the drugs. The new findings are from the federally-funded, multi-institution, Women's Health Initiative Study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, and the results are published in the December 14 online edition of Archives of Internal Medicine.

December 7, 2009 — Matthew Levy, Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, has been awarded more than $700,000 by Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) for his high-risk/high-reward cancer research. Dr. Levy's work will focus on creating self-guiding drugs that target only cancer cells, thus eliminating or significantly reducing serious or unpleasant side effects of current therapies.

November 11, 2009 — A team led by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has found a clear link between living to 100 and inheriting a hyperactive version of an enzyme that rebuilds telomeres — the tip ends of chromosomes. The findings appear in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

November 2, 2009 — Sustaining modest weight loss for 10 years, or taking an anti-diabetic drug over that time, can prevent or lower the incidence of type 2 diabetes in people at high risk for developing the disease, according to the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study (DPPOS), a long-term follow-up to a landmark 2001 diabetes prevention study.

October 30, 2009 — Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered a possible strategy against an invasive parasite that infects more than a quarter of the world's population, including 50 million Americans. The study, involving the single-celled parasite Toxoplasma gondii, was led by Amos Orlofsky, Ph.D., assistant professor of pathology at Einstein.

October 15, 2009 — The fact that they eat a lot - and often - may explain why most people and other mammals are protected from the majority of fungal pathogens, according to research from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.

September 18, 2009 — An innovative drug-delivery system — nanoparticles encapsulating nitric oxide or prescription drugs — shows promise for topical treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED), according to a new study by scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. The new system, tested successfully on a small number of animals, could potentially prevent side effects associated with oral ED medications, if study results can be replicated in humans.

September 4, 2009 — Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have identified two small protein fragments that could be developed into an anthrax vaccine that may cause fewer side effects than the current vaccine. The research is significant because anthrax is considered a major bioterrorism threat.

August 24, 2009 — Concussions, whether from an accident, sporting event, or combat, can lead to permanent loss of higher level mental processes. Scientists have debated for centuries whether concussions involve structural damage to brain tissue or whether physiological changes that merely impair the way brain cells function, explain this loss. Now, for the first time, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have linked areas of brain injury to specific altered mental processes caused by concussions.

August 4, 2009 — For the second time in six years, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have shown that people who engage in brain-stimulating activities in later years can reduce their risk of developing Alzheimer's and other types of dementia or delay its onset. The latest study, published in Neurology, found that cognitive activities as diverse as doing crossword puzzles and playing music can delay the occurrence of dementia.