A five-year study has found that lead is harmful to children at concentrations in the blood that are typically considered safe. Reporting in the latest issue (April 17) of The New England Journal of Medicine, two Cornell University scientists say that children suffer intellectual impairment at a blood-lead concentration below the level of 10 micrograms per deciliter (mcg/dl) -- about 100 parts per billion -- currently considered acceptable by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "We also found that the amount of impairment attributed to lead was most pronounced at lower levels," says Richard Canfield, lead author of the journal paper and a senior researcher in Cornell's Division of Nutritional Sciences. (April 14, 2003)
Cornell University President Hunter Rawlings sent this letter today on Feb. 10 to the student organization Cornell Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
In an extraordinary partnership with NASA, the Akwe:kon (ah-GWAY-go) Press at Cornell University published a double issue of its award-winning journal, Native Americas, titled "Global Warming, Climate Change and Native Lands."
NEW YORK, NY (March 17, 2003) -- While the three decades since the start of the American "War on Cancer" have witnessed many innovative offensive strategies to treat the disease, a new key battle that may well be the turning point has emerged -- the battle of prevention. As part of this attempt to keep the enemy from even entering the field, the Cancer Prevention Program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital has launched a national newsletter and Web site to keep both consumers and health professionals abreast of the latest developments in this new field of cancer prevention.Cancer Prevention, a joint effort of the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medical Center -- NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital's two major centers -- aims to cast cancer in a new light -- to change its perception as a life-threatening disease that can only be treated to a disease that can, in many instances, be prevented. The newsletter and Web site (www.nypcancerprevention.org) will provide a forum in which the most recent cancer prevention innovations -- from the laboratory to the clinic to the public at large -- will be presented. They will feature articles by scientists and public health personnel from around the world on the very latest topics of interest in this new field of cancer prevention.
An agreement by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund a Cornell University-based consortium of institutions will help to establish the new Nanobiotechnology Center (NBTC) here. NSF funding over a five-year period could reach $19 million.
Africa is arguably the richest continent on Earth in terms of its natural resources, yet its share of world trade is less than five percent, writes Muna Ndulo, a Cornell visiting professor of law, in the current issue of the Institute for African Development newsletter Africa Notes.
Stephen Parshley, a research support engineer in Cornell's astronomy department, has plans to leave his mark on the world. Literally. The plans are Parshley's winning design for the 2006 South Pole marker.
Cornell is forging ahead with its environmental programs in sustainable development. Indeed, projects from recycling to energy saving are now recognized as critical issues by the university's leadership and the campus is on the brink of emerging as a global leader in sustainability.