Research

New York was the epicenter of Covid-19 cases in March and April of 2020, and the Feinstein Institutes addressed the pandemic with speed and excellence. Within a month, our staff worked tirelessly to lay the groundwork to enroll more than 1,200 patients in seven clinical trials and programs, produce our own equipment using 3D design and print techniques developed in our labs, and publish the first and largest dataset in the world of Covid-19 patients.

The Feinstein Institutes joined national network formed by Mayo Clinic to collect convalescent plasma from patients previously identified with COVID-19, but no longer symptomatic.

Haichao Wang, PhD, published in Science Translational Medicine his antibody research that may help prevent sepsis induced by Covid-19.

Kenar D. Jhaveri, MD, published in Kidney International that an “alarming number” of hospitalized Covid-19 patients develop acute kidney injury – rates higher than reported from China.

Christina Brennan, MD, MBA, joined the Society for Clinical Research Sites’ Leadership Council.

Stavros Zanos, MD, PhD, and team published a bioelectronic medicine paper in Scientific Reports showing that a specific method of electrical nerve stimulation called anodal block can be leveraged for directional vagus nerve stimulation (VNS).

Professor Todd Lencz, PhD, in collaboration with The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, evaluates the probability of using contemporary genetic technology to select human embryos on the basis of complex traits, such as intelligence and height. The researchers concluded that embryo screening and selection for such features, which are shaped by the action of hundreds or even thousands of genes, are not plausible for the foreseeable future.

Chad Bouton, professor in the Institute of Bioelectronic Medicine, and his team partner with Milad Alizadeh-Meghrazi, director of research and development at Myant Inc. found new closed-loop neurostimulation methods and textile-based electrodes to facilitate individual finger movement and grasp force regulation in quadriplegia individuals.

The Institute of Cancer Research is awarded a five-year, $4.6 million National Cancer Institute (NCI) Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) grant. The Feinstein Institutes was one of only 32 institutions nationwide to receive funding from this prestigious program – and Northwell’s Cancer Institute was the only cancer center in the tri-state area to participate.

Betty Diamond, MD, and her colleagues reveal new insight into pro-inflammatory macrophages and their relation to autoimmune diseases, as published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the US (PNAS).

John M. Kane, MD, and Delbert G. Robinson, MD, are awarded a five-year, $7.3 million National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) grant to support their research in improved schizophrenia treatment. The grant – the largest awarded to Northwell Health in 2019 – supports their study titled “Early-phase Schizophrenia: Practice-based Research to Improve Treatment Outcomes (ESPRITO).”

The Public Library of Science Magazine, known as PLOS Biology, notes 26 Feinstein Institutes researchers in a paper assessing the impact of published research from the top 100,000 scientists in the world. Kevin J. Tracey, MD, John Kane, MD, and Peter Davies, PhD, are listed among the elite top 1,000 or .01 percent worldwide.

Bruce T. Volpe, MD, and his colleagues are the first to publish clinical trial results of an investigational, non-invasive medical device for the treatment of spasticity in patients having experienced a stroke.

The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health presented data showing the effective use of a long-term vagus nerve implant in mice at the North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS) 2020 Conference, an approach that may become the standard for bioelectronic medicine research conducted around the world.

Professor Valentin A. Pavlov, PhD, is appointed vice-president of the International Society for Autonomic Neuroscience (ISAN) in recognition of his efforts in bioelectronic medicine.