Mark P. Bridgen, Cornell University professor of horticulture, has been appointed director of the Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center at Riverhead, N.Y., by Susan Henry, dean of Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Bridgen succeeds Joseph Sieczka, who recently retired. Before joining the Cornell faculty in January 2002, Bridgen was professor of horticulture and head of the Plant Tissue Culture and Micropropagation Facility at the University of Connecticut. (June 10, 2002)
New York, NY (June 7, 2002) In a new study just published in the journal Circulation Research, scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College demonstrate that therapy with bone-marrow-derived precursor cells can restore aging cardiac blood vessel-forming capacity, thus possibly preventing some of the morbidity and mortality associated with ischemic heart disease in older individuals. The study points to a promising and novel approach to preventing and treating heart disease in the aging.The lead author, Dr. Jay Edelberg, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology at Weill Cornell and Assistant Attending Physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital's Weill Cornell Medical Center, says the study, in an animal model, builds on previous research in his lab that examined changes in the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels of older hearts. That study found that molecular alterations in those aged cells lead to a dysregulation of a molecular pathway by which platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) normally contributes to angiogenesis, or new blood vessel formation. In the new study, he and his colleagues show the possibility of restoring this pathway by bone marrow transplantation.
Bridging psychoanalytic thought and sexual science, a new book by two leading New York psychiatrists brings sexuality back to the center of psychoanalysis, showing how important it is for students of human sexuality to understand motives that are irrational and unconscious.
Cornell is one of eight academic institutions and four not-for-profit organizations forming a statewide consortium with corporate and economic development partners to improve environmental quality through the development of new integrated systems that enhance human health and performance.
Molecular biologists at Cornell University have established a Recombinant Protein Expression Laboratory with a five-year, $986,000 grant from the National Cancer Institute. Located in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, the centralized facility will produce proteins for cancer-related research throughout Cornell's Ithaca campus as well as at the Weill Medical College of Cornell and its Tri-Institutional Collaboration partners (Rockefeller University and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center) in New York City. (June 7, 2002)
BETHPAGE, N.Y. -- Forget the sand traps and the water hazards. The real battle on Long Island's Bethpage State Park golf course, the site of this year's U.S. Open June 13-16, is making the putting greens free from fungal diseases, cutworms and weevils ---- and safe from the pesticides used to combat them. Turf scientists at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., and the Bethpage greenskeepers have been looking for ways to substantially reduce pesticide use on one of the nation's busiest public golf-course complexes. (June 6, 2002)
Three Cornell graduate students are among 17 at seven American universities to receive grants as Teresa Heinz Scholars for Environmental Research. o Heidi E. Gjertsen, a fifth-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Applied Economics and Management, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
The crisis in the Middle East is an issue dominating today's news and public concern. On Friday, June 7, at Cornell University, a distinguished faculty panel will discuss the region's explosive developments during the annual Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Lecture. The Olin Lecture, a significant event during Cornell's Reunion 2002 weekend, will be held at 3 p.m. in Bailey Hall on campus. It is free and open to the public, and no tickets are required. (June 4, 2002)
Cornell University's expertise in plant and animal diseases has been enlisted in the war on bioterrorism, with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program to bolster food and agricultural homeland security protections. Part of the $2.1 million channeled through New York state by the USDA will help establish facilities in both Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and College of Veterinary Medicine. The facilities will join a network of laboratories sited strategically throughout the nation to permit rapid and accurate diagnosis of animal-disease threats and to assist states in improving their capabilities to detect plant pests and diseases, according to the USDA announcement of the $43.5 million appropriation to the states. (May 31, 2002)
A Cornell University Police exhibit, "The Heroes Within," a Sept. 11 memorial, is now open to the public on the ground-floor concourse of Barton Hall, on campus. The free exhibit, set up during Cornell's 2002 Reunion weekend, will be open continuously until 10 a.m. Sunday, June 9. The exhibit, which includes memorials from the World Trade Center site, written remembrances, messages, photographs and other mementos, can be viewed by entering the west entrance of Barton Hall, through the doors facing Statler Hall. (June 7, 2002)