Science & Technology

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Akin Adds Goldman Sachs Tech Lawyer in New York

Akin has strengthened its New York corporate practice with the return of technology transactions lawyer Neil DuChez as a partner. DuChez most recently spent more than nine years at Goldman Sachs, where he served as Vice President and Senior Legal Director and advised on technology, data, artificial intelligence, intellectual property and commercial agreements. At Akin, his practice will include technology-enabled transactions, strategic partnerships, software and cloud agreements, AI and data analytics, payment technologies and technology issues connected to acquisitions and divestitures. The firm said the appointment expands its U.S.-based technology transactions capabilities as technology and data become increasingly important components of major corporate deals. DuChez previously worked at Akin as an intellectual property associate.

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Mount Sinai, J&J Partner on New Brain Tumor Treatment

Mount Sinai researchers are collaborating with Johnson & Johnson to evaluate an experimental technology designed to deliver radiation directly to brain tumors through their blood supply. Developed by clinical researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the approach combines Iodine-131 with Johnson & Johnson's TRUFILL n-BCA in an effort to simultaneously restrict blood flow to a tumor and concentrate radiation within targeted vessels. Initial research will focus on meningiomas, the most common primary brain tumors in adults. Researchers will use patient-derived 3D-printed vascular models and advanced imaging to study how the agent is distributed before moving to preclinical evaluation. The research could provide a foundation for potential future clinical studies.

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NYC Hospitals Complete $10M Energy-Saving Upgrades

NYC Health + Hospitals has completed nearly $10 million in energy-efficiency improvements at two public healthcare facilities in Queens and Manhattan. More than 16,000 aging light fixtures at NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens in Jamaica and NYC Health + Hospitals/Coler on Roosevelt Island were replaced with high-efficiency LED technology and modern controls. The projects are expected to save approximately 2 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and about $461,000 in energy, maintenance and related costs annually while eliminating roughly 600 metric tons of carbon emissions each year. The upgrades were funded through the Department of Citywide Administrative Services and implemented by the New York Power Authority as part of broader efforts to reduce energy consumption and emissions from municipal buildings.

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CUNY Professor Gets $560K for Prime Number Research

CUNY mathematics professor Louis-Pierre Arguin has been awarded $560,000 over four years as a principal investigator in an international research collaboration exploring some of the most challenging questions in number theory. Arguin, who is affiliated with the CUNY Graduate Center and Baruch College, will participate in the Simons Collaboration on Universal Statistics in Number Theory. The project brings together researchers using probability and statistical physics to investigate patterns involving prime numbers, the Riemann zeta function and other mathematical problems. The funding will also support a postdoctoral researcher who will interact with doctoral students in the Graduate Center's Mathematics Ph.D. program, connecting CUNY students with a broader international network of mathematics researchers.

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Mount Sinai Study Finds Clues to CAR-T Side Effects

Mount Sinai researchers have identified biological changes that may help explain why some multiple myeloma patients develop a serious intestinal complication following CAR-T cell therapy. The study found that CAR-T cells can remain in intestinal tissue long after treatment and that patients with CAR-T-associated enterocolitis experience widespread disruption involving several types of cells in the gut. Researchers also detected increased activity in inflammatory pathways that could provide targets for future therapies. Two patients treated with the JAK1 inhibitor upadacitinib experienced improvements in symptoms and intestinal inflammation, although further research is needed. The study, led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, was published September 23 in Nature Medicine.

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Mount Sinai Finds New Clues to Alzheimer’s Treatment

Mount Sinai researchers have uncovered new details about how the APOE4 gene contributes to brain changes associated with Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases, identifying biological processes that could become targets for future treatments. In two studies published in Cell and Cell Stem Cell, scientists found that APOE4 can contribute to damage in cells supporting brain blood vessels while also disrupting processes involved in clearing abnormal proteins. Researchers were able to reverse some vascular changes in experimental models by blocking a specific signaling pathway. The team also used Mount Sinai's stem cell-derived miBrain platform to recreate complex human brain tissue, providing researchers with a new way to investigate disease mechanisms and potentially test therapies more efficiently.

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Bronx Green Jobs Center Gets $2.5M in New Funding

Fordham University's Bronx Green Jobs Center has secured $2.5 million in new capital funding as construction moves toward completion at 585 East Fordham Road. Con Edison is providing $1.5 million to support a classroom and event space capable of accommodating up to 200 people, while Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson's office is providing another $1 million for renovations throughout the facility. The 12,000-square-foot center is being developed as a workforce and entrepreneurship hub focused on New York's growing green economy. Initial training programs are expected to include solar installation and repair, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, urban agriculture, energy-efficient buildings and environmental justice. Construction is expected to finish in early 2027, with programming beginning afterward.

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NYU Langone Named No. 1 U.S. Health System Again

NYU Langone Health has earned the top position in Vizient's national health system rankings for the fifth consecutive year, becoming the first system to hold the organization's No. 1 ranking for five straight years. Its Manhattan campus also ranked first among 122 comprehensive academic medical centers, while NYU Langone's network of more than 400 outpatient practices placed first among 70 participating physician networks. Other facilities across the New York region also appeared in the rankings, with NYU Langone Hospital—Long Island placing No. 3 and NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn reaching No. 6 in their cohort. Vizient evaluates healthcare organizations using measures including safety, mortality, effectiveness, efficiency and patient experience.

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NYU Langone Names New Director of Upper GI Oncology

NYU Langone Health has appointed Dr. Rutika Mehta as director of upper gastrointestinal medical oncology at Perlmutter Cancer Center, expanding the health system's clinical care and research involving cancers of the stomach, esophagus and gastroesophageal junction. Mehta specializes in personalized cancer treatment using molecular profiling, circulating tumor DNA testing and biomarker-driven therapies to help guide treatment decisions. In her new role, she will also work to expand clinical trials for patients with upper GI cancers, including studies of targeted treatments and other emerging therapies. Mehta joins NYU Langone from Weill Cornell Medicine and previously helped develop an upper GI malignancies program and clinical-trials portfolio at Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida.