In the News

PsyPost featured a study by Roberto Vicinanza and Pinchas Cohen on how adhering to a Mediterranean Diet can increase the amount of mitochondrial microproteins humanin and SHMOOSE.

U.S. News & World Report (via HealthDay) featured a clinical trial led by Francesca Falzarano and collaborators at Weill Cornell Medicine evaluating how a web app could promote reminiscence therapy between dementia patients and their caregivers. “The idea is that getting them talking about those memories will promote the relationship between the person with dementia and the caregiver, which can improve numerous outcomes,” Falzarano said. News Medical, Cornell Chronicle, and others also featured the study.

Jewish Telegraphic Agency featured Pinchas Cohen, his research discovering mitochondrial peptides, and how his team gave many of them Yiddish-sounding names. The article noted Cohen’s Jewish and Israeli heritage and mentioned the microproteins SHLP (pronounced “schlep”), SHMOOSE, and MENTSH, as well as unpublished peptides NOSH and PUTZ. Each is a legitimate scientific acronym, carefully reverse-engineered to land on a Yiddish word. “I always give the students and postdocs the chance to name the project they’re working on,” Cohen said. “But I get veto power. They’ve already learned that the best way to get me to say yes is to come up with something really cute.”

Cohen also discussed the therapeutic potential of mitochondrial microproteins and the need for further research, especially as peptides gain popularity as off-label supplements. “These are potent biological molecules,” he said. “They should be used under the supervision of a physician, and when they’re being produced in reliable manufacturing facilities — most of which is not happening right now.” The article also appeared in the Times of Israel, Forward, Jewish Post & News (Canada), Cleveland Jewish News, Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle and others.

Medical Xpress featured a study coauthored by Berenice Benayoun on how a misdirected immune response may be the culprit behind disorders involving rapid aging. The article also appeared in MSN.

The Healthy featured a study coauthored by Eileen Crimmins on how a healthy plant-based diet could help prevent Alzheimer’s.

Daily Trojan featured research led by student Nicholas Kim and Associate Professor Andrei Irimia on the genetics of how different regions of the brains age. “There’s a lot to be said about the ability of undergraduate students at USC to become engaged … [to] allow us to connect translational findings in engineering, in image analysis, in genomics to clinical deliverables that can improve the lives of patients,” Irimia said. Patient Worthy also featured the study.

The Hearty Soul quoted Christian Pike in an article profiling a mom with early-onset Alzheimer’s. Pike explained that one copy of the APOE4 gene increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 4 times in women. When women have 2 copies, their risk of Alzheimer’s increases 15 times over. In contrast, having 1 copy of APOE4 poses almost no risk for men, and 2 copies only increase their risk by 4 times. This difference in gene expression means that women who carry APOE4 face a significantly different level of risk compared to men.

New Yorker quoted Pinchas Cohen on the discovery and therapeutic potential of peptides, noting how the effects in humans aren’t yet well understood.

“The public conception of peptides doesn’t grasp what’s going on from a scientific perspective. … This is not a dozen or so things you can buy at the gym. This is a revolution in science. It’s going to start a new era of drug discovery,” Cohen said. However, he added that “people should not be taking them until they’re fully tested. The history of shortcuts is not a happy one.”

Kiplinger mentioned that Jon Pynoos coined the term “Peter Pan housing” to refer to homes designed for people who will never grow old in an article on aging in place.