August Research Highlights

LOS ANGELES (Aug. 31, 2023) -- 

Examining Race and Endometrial Cancer Outcomes

Investigators from Cedars-Sinai Cancer, led by Kristin Taylor, MD, found that Black women with a low-risk form of endometrial cancer were less likely than white women with the same cancer to have a hysterectomy, and less likely to survive their cancer. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Gynecologic Oncology, concluded that further research is needed to clarify the reasons for this disparity. Read more>

Cedars-Sinai Neuroscientists Uncover Defenses Against Alzheimer’s

Two new publications from Cedars-Sinai neuroscientists Maya Koronyo-Hamaoui, PhD, Altan Rentsendorj, PhD,  Ron Danziger, MD, and Keith L. Black, MD, are helping to advance scientific understanding of the complex molecular and cellular processes involved in Alzheimer’s disease--and the body’s innate immune mechanisms for fighting against the condition, as well as other diseases. Read more>

Study: Individuals Feel Sex-Specific Symptoms Before Impending Cardiac Arrest

Investigators from the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai are one step closer to predicting a sudden cardiac arrest, a usually fatal heart rhythm disturbance. A study published in the peer-reviewed journal The Lancet Digital Health, led by sudden cardiac arrest expert Sumeet Chugh, MD, found that 50% of individuals who experienced a sudden cardiac arrest also experienced a telling symptom 24 hours before their loss of heart function. Read more>

Unlocking the Brain’s Stress-Eating Connection

A Cedars-Sinai study, led by Celine Riera, PhD, has identified a group of brain cells in laboratory mice that regulate stress-induced feeding and calorie expenditure, with a more pronounced effect in females than in males. The discovery, published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications, has given investigators a potential target for treating stress-induced eating disorders in women. Read more>

Cedars-Sinai Graduate School Earns Renewed Accreditation

The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Cedars-Sinai has again been accredited by the Senior College and University Commission of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, signifying recognition of the academic medical center’s higher education program for exceptional quality, integrity and innovation. The renewed accreditation, granted in June 2023 for the next eight years, followed an in-depth evaluation based on the highest standards. Read more> 

New Malignant Melanoma Treatments Show Promise for Other Cancers

Investigators from The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute, an affiliate of Cedars-Sinai Cancer have determined that a combination of drugs that act on the immune system in distinct ways improves survival for patients with the deadliest form of skin cancer. The results of their multicenter Phase Ib clinical trial, led by Omid Hamid, MD, were published in the peer-reviewed journal Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer. Read more> 

Epilepsy, Developmental-Behavioral Experts Join Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s

Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s has appointed Deborah Holder, MD, as program director of Pediatric Epilepsy and Cesar Ochoa, MD, as director of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics. Both appointments broaden the comprehensive pediatric services and specialties offered at Cedars-Sinai. Read more> 

Cedars-Sinai Charts Healthcare’s Future With Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is capturing the public imagination as the pace of innovation accelerates sharply and easy-to-use AI tools offer new possibilities to transform whole industries. Building on a legacy of innovation, Cedars-Sinai is harnessing rapidly evolving breakthroughs in AI technology to enhance patient care, improve efficiency, advance scientific discovery, and cultivate greater physician and staff wellbeing. Read more> 

Smidt Heart Institute 2023: Innovation, Technology, Discovery

The 2023 Annual Report from the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai details the innovative ways in which cardiologists, surgeons and specialized care teams are treating the full spectrum of cardiovascular disease, while its investigators are advancing progress in lifesaving research. Read more> 

Novel Study Pinpoints How Sex Affects Genetics of IBD

Sex differences in the risk and manifestation of disease are increasingly being explored in the search for effective treatments. Teasing out this variable is often overlooked in complex disease genetics, according to Cedars-Sinai investigators who are researching the role sex plays in genetic mechanisms underlying the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In a new study published in the journal IBD and led by Talin Haritunians, PhD, research associate professor of Medicine, and Dermot McGovern, MD, PhD, director of Translational Research in the Inflammatory Bowel and Immunobiology Research Institute, investigators used a novel statistical approach to identify three new regions of the genome associated with developing IBD. They also discovered other areas that were specifically associated with developing IBD in only one sex. Read more>            

Cedars-Sinai Creates LA-Area Regenerative Medicine Consortium

Cedars-Sinai regenerative medicine investigators have joined with colleagues from seven other regenerative medicine institutes in the Los Angeles region to form a new consortium that will share resources and maximize the impact of state funding. Clive Svendsen, PhD, executive director of the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute and the Kerry and Simone Vickar Family Foundation Distinguished Chair in Regenerative Medicine, initiated this new collaboration. Read more>

Frontiers in Single-Cell Biology

At the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors Innovation Center (BOGIC), a team of multidisciplinary researchers and clinicians are identifying novel pathways to treat human disease. Jeffrey Golden, MD, who leads the groundbreaking initiative, explains that treating cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and genetic diseases, as well as most other diseases, begins by understanding each single cell. This cutting-edge research could lead to the advancement of cell therapies to treat conditions such as autism, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, heart disease and all types of cancer. Read more>       

Bladder Cancer: Cedars-Sinai Begins Project to Study Sex Differences

Cedars-Sinai Cancer investigators are spearheading a project, funded by a five-year, $11.2 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, to advance scientific knowledge of how biological differences between men and women affect bladder cancer. They hope to use this knowledge to shape therapies and improve patient outcomes. The project is led by Xue Li, PhD, principal investigator and co-leader of the Cancer Biology Program at Cedars-Sinai. Read more>    

Urology Insights: Vision, Research and Education

Hyung L. Kim, MD, a leading urologic oncologist, skilled surgeon, and accomplished researcher frequently funded by the National Institutes of Health, was recently selected to be the inaugural chair of the Department of Urology at Cedars-Sinai. Kim will head the nationally recognized department with his unwavering commitment to clinical excellence, cutting-edge research, and medical education. Read more>

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