BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH AT NEW YORK MEDICAL COLLEGE

In order to sustain the academic function of a modern medical college in the training of physicians, scientists, and health professionals, a broad spectrum of health-related research must be fostered. Because the process of teaching, the practice of service, and the substance of research are inseparable, New York Medical College places a special emphasis on scientific research in the basic medical and health sciences.

As of June 2002, the total amount of active sponsored research, training, and service programs was $47 million, of which almost 95% was for research grants and awards supporting projects being carried out at College sites in Valhalla and New York City, including Westchester Medical Center and Metropolitan Hospital. Financial support came from federal and state governments, voluntary health agencies, foundations, private industry, and individual supporters of research programs.

The areas of current study and research range from the most basic - involving the structure and function of sub-cellular material - to comparisons of the efficacy and toxicity of experimental drugs used in the treatment of patients. The following is a brief description of just a few of the nearly 500 active research projects underway at the College.

A neuroscience study that focuses on the regional electrical properties of neurons and how they function in synaptic integration and plasticity. To understand these properties, optical techniques have been developed to simultaneously measure membrane potential and calcium levels at many positions on the dendritic arborization of individual neurons.

The newest recombinant DNA and functional genomic technologies are being utilized in several studies at the College. One such study is designed to explain the pathogenesis and virulence of the microorganism that causes Lyme disease.

A current study on the effects of ß2-adrenergic agents on suspension and denervation atrophy may lead to useful new treatments of muscle atrophy resulting from prolonged bed rest, immobilization, and certain neuromuscular diseases.

Studies of the lung include explorations of the biochemical and immunopathological mechanisms of lung inflammation and injury caused by complement components and chemotactic factors generated by lung cells. This research may have direct application to new diagnostic and therapeutic regimens for acute and chronic inflammatory lung diseases.

Another important study will contribute to our understanding of leukemic cell differentiation and growth. Oncology programs, utilizing experimental drugs supplied by the National Cancer Institute, are attempting to discover the most useful treatments for cancer patients.

Ongoing research is characterizing the cytochrome p450 metabolites of arachidonic acid, their metabolic pathways, and their functional roles in health and disease, specifically their role in the regulation of kidney function, the development of hypertension, and inflammation of the eye.

Other laboratories are studying the enzymes involved in human DNA replication and repair, hepatitis C replication, intracellular signaling mechanisms, determining the molecular structure of stem cell factor using X-ray crystallography, and the neurochemistry of stress responses in the brain.

Four of the College's faculty members are recipients of the prestigious MERIT award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This special award is given to selected investigators for superior past productivity and provides stable, long-term support for their research programs.

In addition to projects initiated by individual investigators, the College has two significant NIH Program Project grants for collaborative research. One program project, housed in the Department of Physiology, has received $25 million over a 15-year period from the NHLBI to study the role of endothelial cells in the regulation of blood vessel function in several organs in a variety of physiological and disease states, such as physical exercise, variations in estrogen levels, diabetes, and aging.

Another NHLBI-funded program project, in the Department of Pharmacology, has received $26 million since its inception in 1985. It focuses on the study of prostaglandins and other products of the metabolism of arachidonic acid, a fatty acid found in cell membranes. Various projects within this program examine the effect of these agents on blood vessels, kidney function, and inflammatory responses in the eye. These studies may lead to better strategies for treating high blood pressure and other peripheral vascular diseases.

Research is also carried out within several institutes and centers at the College and in our affiliated hospitals, ranging from molecular genetics to cardiovascular disease to the study and treatment of Lyme disease. For example, Within the Department of Medicine's Cardiovascular Research Institute, investigators are trying to understand the mechanisms involved in the onset, development and progression of congestive heart failure from a variety of causes. Investigation of the factors that impact on cell death and new cell growth in the heart is an important aspect of this work. Regeneration of heart muscle cells under the influence of native or introduced adult stem cells is currently under study, and this work could have a major impact on the treatment of heart failure.

At the College's Center for Study and Treatment of Lyme Disease, research is being conducted to improve methods for preventing, diagnosing, and treating Lyme disease. This Center is unique in conducting collaborative basic and clinical research by faculty from six different departments of the College. Basic research efforts include projects on improved methods of diagnosis, cellular immune responses, and antibody production. Ongoing clinical projects are investigating various therapies for preventing infection and easing the arthritic consequences of the disease. Lyme disease research projects are funded primarily through the Center for Disease Control, the NIH, and the New York State Department of Health's Tick-borne Disease Institute.

Clinical faculty at several of the College's affiliated hospitals are treating a large and varied population of patients with AIDS. Research investigations into improved treatments for both children and adults are ongoing.

Special techniques are an active and integral part of the research programs and include fractionation and characterization of proteins and polysaccharides, transmission electron microscopy, confocal microscopy, hybridoma methodology, gas chromatographic mass spectroscopy, quantitative morphometry, freeze fracture, hemopoietic clonal culture, patch clamp electophysiology, genetically altered mouse models, and in vivo physiological recording. Research projects at the College are serviced and enhanced by special resources such as a state-of-the-art animal care facility and a fully equipped instrument shop.

(This summary of biomedical research at New York Medical College was prepared by the Office of Research Administration, which provides administrative support and guidance for all research at the College.)