News

Congratulations to David C. Lyden, MD, PhD, Stavros S. Niarchos Professor in Pediatric Cardiology at Weill Cornell Medicine, who, together with Drs. Linnie Golightly, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Shahin Rafii, Professor of Medicine and Raphael Lis, Assistant Professor of Reproductive Medicine in Medicine, received an R61 award titled, "In vitro modeling of brain blood barrier dysfunction on a chip to elucidate the pathogenesis of cerebral malaria."

The Global Team Science Award project led by Dr. Virginia Pascual, Director of the Gale and Ira Drukier Institute for Children's Health and Ronay Menschel Professor of Pediatrics aims to study childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (cSLE). Children often suffer from severe lupus symptoms as well as from side effects of current therapies; children with lupus often have a strong connection between their genetic makeup (DNA) and their disease; children also lack other illnesses that could complicate the understanding of research findings.

Susan Bostwick, MD

 Dr. Susan Bostwick, Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, is Executive Vice Chair for Administration and Faculty in the Department of Pediatrics and Chief of the Division of General Academic Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine. In addition, she is the Associate Dean for Affiliations at Weill Cornell. Prior to the Department of Pediatrics she served as the Vice Chair for Education (2010-2021), Director of Pediatric Graduate Medical Education at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Campus (1999-2010, Associate Director 2010-2012), Medical Director of Inpatient General Pediatrics (1997-2003) and the Physician Liaison to Information Technology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center (2007-2021)

What obstacles are women in medicine still facing when it comes to inclusion, equity and diversity?

One of the obstacles that women face is since we are still underrepresented at many of the decision making "tables", decisions are made without our opinions being voiced, and yet it remains difficult to get a seat at the table. With almost 30 years of medical schools having close to even split in gender, the upper echelons, e.g. chairs, professors, CEOs, etc., are still not as equally representative. Continuing to ensure that women's voices are heard and that women have the opportunities to lead and make decisions is a continuing part of the challenges.

Congratulations to Eric Mallack, M.D., Director of the Leukodystrophy Center and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology at Weill Cornell Medicine, on being awarded a K23 award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health entitled, “Leveraging myelin-sensitive imaging to predict early lesion pathogenesis in cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy.”

Cerebral Adrenoleukodystrophy (CALD) is a neurologically devastating, inflammatory demyelinating disease of childhood that leads to a vegetative state or death in months to years. Treatments are most effective when initiated in the narrow window prior to the onset of neurological symptoms, however early identification of CALD is a significant challenge.  In this project, Dr. Mallack and his collaborators at Weill Cornell Medical College and Harvard Medical School will study the transition from normal brain development to cerebral demyelination using advanced imaging techniques in order to widen the treatment window, provide lead-time for possible preventative strategies, and thereby help maximize neurological outcomes.