For the first time a team of researchers led by the University of Minnesota and Weill Cornell Medical College has determined the complete genome sequence of Cryptosporidium, a common diarrhea-causing parasite that can lurk in drinking water. The finding has been published in the March 25 issue of the electronic journal Science Express, to be followed by publication in April in the print version of Science.

Researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University College of Physicians Surgeons have discovered at least one way in which beta-amyloid, the protein that forms stubborn plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients, can kill nerve cells.

Hispanic men can expect the same success rate for surgical prostate cancer treatment as non-Hispanic white men, according to a new study by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/The Allen Pavilion published in the November Journal of Urology. The study, which is the largest of its kind, also found that Hispanic men presented with more advanced disease than their white counterparts. Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among Hispanic-American men.

A new freezing treatment offers relief to patients with peripheral vascular disease (PVD), a painful condition in which plaque buildup narrows the arteries. In a first for Manhattan, interventional radiologists at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia have successfully treated patients using a new enhancement to traditional angioplasty that freezes and breaks up artery plaque.

Thanks to bioinformatics researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College, cell biologists around the globe will soon have a powerful new tool to model complex biochemical processes within the cell, uploading and manipulating new data as they team up with research partners via the Internet.

For patients with a dangerous enlargement of heart muscle called left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), the drug Losartan beats standard beta-blocker therapy in reducing hearts to a healthier size, according to researchers at NewYork Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

A new clinical research study is investigating the use of an implantable stomach stimulator device the Transneuronix Transcend® Implantable Gastric Stimulation (IGS®) System which uses a low-current electrical pulse to trick the body into feeling full in order to achieve and maintain weight loss. Obese individuals are now being recruited for the two-year national multi-center study at centers including NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center the only New York City-area study site.