News

This article was originally posted on Voices of MPN 

It is a great honor to present the 2021 MPN Heroes. They have each demonstrated a strong commitment to making a difference in the lives of people living with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). Check out their personal stories and get ready to be inspired!

The New York City-based RTW Charitable Foundation approved a grant of $55,000 to NewYork-Presbyterial Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center for a study entitled, “Pediatric mental health emergencies in an early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic: A multicentered study in NYC”. The study is part of a nationwide call for the pediatric medical community to address the ongoing children’s mental health crisis that has been exacerbated by the pandemic.

The study, led by investigators Cori Green, MD, Director of Behavioral Health Education and Integration in Pediatrics and Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Stephen Oh, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Deborah Levine, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine, will examine the pandemic’s impact on children’s mental health in comparison to a one-year period prior to the pandemic, as well as the rising trend in youth presenting with suicidal ideation (SI) and suicide attempt (SA). To do this, the team will use INSIGHT, the largest multicentered clinical data network in the nation, comprised of data from five major medical centers in New York City (NYC).

Congratulations to Katherine A. Hajjar, MD, Vice Chair for Research and Brine Family Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology in the Department of Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine, on being awarded a grant by the United States Department of Defense to develop treatment for proliferative vitreoretinopathy, a potentially blinding disease that occurs in almost one-half of military personnel who sustain a penetrating wound to the eye.

Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) occurs in some patients who have had complicated eye surgeries. When there is a tear in the retina, cells inside the eye, known as RPE cells, that normally remain behind the retina, begin to proliferate, move away from their normal position, and migrate to the inner surface of the retina. Over time, these migratory cells form a scar-like membrane that pulls the remaining retina away from the back of the eye, severely compromising vision. PVR is increasing in frequency among military personnel due to the increasing use of explosive devices in modern combat. Unfortunately, however, there is no treatment for this devastating disease.

Congratulations to Emily Wasserman, MD on receiving a $25,000 award from the HHV-6 Foundation for her project entitled, Association of Multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children and chromosomally integrated HHV6.

For this project, Dr. Wasserman and her team at Weill Cornell Medicine will determine the prevalence of chromosomally integrated human herpes virus 6 (ici‐HHV6) in a cohort of patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS‐C).  HHV‐6 reactivation has been associated with hyperinflammatory states and a recent case report identified ici‐HHV6 in a patient with MIS‐C. Dr. Wasserman believes an association between ici‐HHV6 and MIS‐C would shed light on the pathogenesis of MIS‐C and hyperinflammatory responses to SARS-CoV2.