New York, NY (August 18, 2003) -- Physician-scientists at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College have shown that low-dose computed tomography (ct) screening for lung cancer may not only improve a lung cancer patient's chances for a cure, but is also likely to be cost-effective when compared with other widely accepted cancer screening methods. Published in the August Chest, the analysis demonstrates that annual low-dose CT screening for lung cancer compares quite favorably to cost-effectiveness ratios of other screenings. The study -- a collaboration between NewYork Weill Cornell Medical Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Columbia University Graduate School of Business -- finds that the yearly cost of saving one life using a single low-dose CT scan could be as low as $2,500. The analysis is based on data from the Early Lung Cancer Action Project (ELCAP) study, which analyzed the response of low-dose CT screening for 1,000 high-risk individuals. The current study's estimation of cost effectiveness is the first to employ detailed data from an actual screening study, unlike previous cost effectiveness studies that relied upon assumptions and hypothetical models.CT screening for lung cancer may be significantly more cost effective than annual PAP smear for cervical cancer screening, which costs approximately $50,000 per life-year saved, or annual mammography, which costs about $24,000 per life-year saved -- two well-accepted early detection strategies to decrease cancer mortality.
So far Arnold Schwarzenegger has approached the Oct. 7 gubernatorial recall election in California by avoiding issues and scattering one-line sound bites, an ability he made famous through his tough-guy acting roles. This strategy should win him the election, says a Cornell University polling analyst. "Schwarzenegger needs to be as vague as possible," says Dietram Scheufele, Cornell assistant professor of communication, who teaches a course on polling techniques. He has examined recent polls and concludes the California election is not about issues but about images. (August 18, 2003)
Cornell research faculty, agricultural programs and cooperative extension offices have received more than $240,000 in grants from the Grow New York Food and Agriculture Industry Development (FAID) Program.
A nutritious carbonated milk beverage for grown-up tastes called Refreshing Power Milk, or RPM, developed in Cornell University's Department of Food Science laboratories, is being put into production. The beverage will be made at a new dairy plant run by Mac Farms Co. in Cooperstown, N.Y., beginning Aug. 27. Mac Farms, headquartered in Burlington, Mass., is the company that introduced e-Moo, the carbonated milk drink for children, also the product of Cornell research. E-Moo also will be made at the Cooperstown plant. (August 14, 2003)
New York, NY (August 12, 2003) -- Physician-scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital have demonstrated that, among hypertensive patients with electrocardiographic evidence of a type of enlarged heart condition called left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), the drug Losartan is more likely to reduce the severity of their condition than the drug Atenolol. Losartan's benefits were demonstrated throughout the five-year study period, irrespective of a number of factors, including the severity of the condition. LVH, a condition in which the heart's lower-left chamber (left ventricle) has grown thicker, is a risk factor associated with heart failure, myocardial infarction, and cardiovascular death.The study, published in the August 12 issue of Circulation, and available online, confirms earlier findings of the Losartan Intervention For Endpoint (LIFE) Reduction in Hypertension multicenter study of 9,193 hypertensive patients. The research shows that Losartan-based therapy was more effective at reducing LVH than the beta-blocker Atenolol, according to two electrocardiographic-based measurement standards: Sokolow-Lyon voltage and Cornell voltage-duration (Lancet 2002).
Hoteliers must do a better job of managing the Internet distribution channels for their hotel rooms, say two Cornell University faculty members in a new report. By 2005 an estimated 1 in 5 hotel bookings will be made online, up from 1 in 12 in 2002, note Bill Carroll and Judy Siguaw, both affiliated with the Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) at Cornell's School of Hotel Administration. Hotel chain Web sites will control only half of those bookings, say the researchers, with online third-party intermediaries capturing the other half. And that's not counting bookings based on Internet research but made via a phone call. (August 12, 2003)
Cornell on the Commons, formerly known as the College and Community Expo, is seeking university-affiliated departments and outreach offices that want to showcase their programs and services to undergraduate students and the greater Ithaca community. The annual event will be Saturday, Aug. 30, from 1 to 4 p.m. on the Ithaca Commons. Cornell on the Commons is a featured event in the university's Welcome Weekend program, and attendance of more than 1,000 students and community members is expected. In addition to three stages of entertainment and other events, there will be a repeat of last year's highly successful "Iron Chef" competition between a Cornell and a community chef. (August 12, 2003)
Cornell University is announcing its eighth annual Pre-Orientation Service Trips (POST) program for new Cornell students. POST, a program of the Cornell Public Service Center, provides a group of first-year and transfer students with a head start on making friends, an introduction to community service work and a familiarity with the Ithaca community before the start of the school year. Beginning Aug. 17 and ending the morning of Aug. 22, 75 incoming students, aided by 14 upperclass team leaders, will spend their days and nights exploring the Ithaca community through service work and recreational programming. The students come from 21 states, Puerto Rico and Singapore. (August 12, 2003)
Cornell University is launching a new professional program in architecture at the master's degree level for students without prior training in architecture. The new degree program, M.Arch.-I, takes three and one-half years to complete and is designed for applicants who hold a four-year bachelor's degree in any area and are interested in a career in architectural practice, teaching or scholarship. It will be housed in Cornell's Department of Architecture in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning, considered one of the best architecture programs in the United States. (August 11, 2003)
Cornell University's Division of Financial Affairs has announced that Marguerite Spencer has been named director of university policy and division communications and Jeffrey Silber has been named director for financial research administration. Both report to Joanne DeStefano, vice president for financial affairs and university controller. (August 11, 2003)
Summer visitors to Cornell Plantations have been marveling at the brilliant flowers and foliage in the container plantings on display at Plantations' Lewis Education Center.
A new program at Cornell, Entrepreneurship Legal Services (ELS), will soon be offering professional-quality legal services to emerging growth-oriented businesses. The program is sponsored by the Johnson Graduate School of Management and Cornell Law School and affiliated with the New York State Science and Technology Law Center, a nonprofit organization that works to expand entrepreneurial resources. (August 11, 2003)
