In the latest issue of Nature Medicine, researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College report the discovery of a new source of neural stem cells in the adult human brain. Dr. Steve Goldman and his group made the startling discovery that glial progenitor cells of the white matter, a common population of support cells first isolated by this group three years ago, are capable of giving rise to neurons as well as to glial cells. The cells can also be grown and expanded in culture, where they continue to produce new neurons and glia together. The cells may therefore be considered multipotential progenitor cells, a form of brain stem cell. Strikingly, these cells may comprise as many as three percent of the cells in the adult human brain's white matter, making them incredibly abundant.

Weill Cornell Medical Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital has opened a new, state-of-the-art Endoscopy Suite in order to promote and practice gastrointestinal health. The unique high touch high tech Suite, located in the Greenberg Pavilion at NewYork Weill Cornell Medical Center, is directed by Dr. Mark Pochapin, Chief of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy at Weill Cornell.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital has inaugurated an innovative Emergency Medicine Residency Program, one of the first emergency medicine residency programs between two academic medical centers in the U.S. Residents will practice medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, including Weill Cornell Medical Center and Columbia University Medical Center.

Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian has selected Dr. William Treem, one of the foremost authorities in the treatment of pediatric liver disease and bowel disease, to be director of the newly created Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition.

Our brains are the basis of who we are our intellect, our personality, and our emotional states. At the same time, diseases of the brain rank at the top of the list of our most serious health problems, accounting for more long-term care and chronic suffering than all other medical problems put together. Thus, researchers have long sought to learn more about how the brain works, and how to treat a myriad of brain-related disorders from Alzheimer's to Parkinson's, from multiple sclerosis to stroke; from traumatic brain injury to spinal cord injury, and from depression to pain. For the first time, a single, comprehensive home reference, The DANA Guide to Brain Health, is making all of their discoveries accessible to the lay public, along with practical, hands-on advice.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital was today awarded the Platinum Blood Drive Award from America's Blood Centers for its efforts in organizing and executing record-setting blood drives. America's Blood Centers is a national network of community blood banks that, together, collects about half of the nation's blood supply.

At the American Academy of Neurology meeting in Honolulu today, Dr. Nicholas Schiff of Weill Cornell Medical College will present findings that continue to elucidate the differences between minimally conscious and persistent vegetative states in severely brain-injured persons. Use of multimodal neuroimaging technologies to characterize cerebral function following severe brain injuries may lead to improved diagnostic evaluation of these patients, and eventually influence clinical practice.

Bringing the future into the present, surgeons at Columbia University Medical Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital have pioneered the use of robotic surgery for gallbladder removal. This marriage of minimally invasive surgery and traditional open surgery by way of robot technology permits optimal viewing of the surgical field through small incisions and results in less pain and faster recovery time for patients.