Julianne Imperato-McGinly

Julianne Imperato-McGinley, MD CTSC Principal Investigator and Program Director Associate Dean, translational Research and Education

Welcome to the Weill Cornell Clinical and Translational Science Center

Weill Cornell was established in 2007 with a Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) - a $61.9 million grant, the largest federal grant ever made to Weill Cornell Medicine, was renewed again in 2022 for another five years to support our multi-institutional efforts, which has funded innovative interdisciplinary projects, education, training programs, and local community health efforts.

As the CTSC Program Director I have worked to establish relationships with our world-renowned institutional partners: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the Hospital for Special Surgery, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Hunter College and, Cornell University. Through these efforts Hunter College investigators now work out of labs in Weill Cornell Medicine’s Belfer Research Building, where the public institution purchased space, and next year, the Hunter College School of Nursing will relocate to York Avenue to be closer to the CTSC’s institutional partners.

The CTSC is one of more than 60 federally supported programs nationwide that similarly prioritize collaboration, mentorship and community participation. Since it was founded a decade ago, Weill Cornell Medicine’s CTSC has focused on advancing translational science discoveries across a broad spectrum of clinical disciplines and diseases. The CTSC’s achievements are exemplified in its educational and community-based efforts and has emerged as a premier hub for scientific discovery at Weill Cornell and a full-service home for translational research. We hope you will visit our site frequently as it will continue to grow as we continue to identify the needs of the investigators, trainees and community members while implementing new programs that focus on creativity and entrepreneurship.

A Weill Cornell Medicine Multi-Institutional Consortium:

Weill Cornell Medicine Graduate School of Medical Science

Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM) includes both Weill Cornell Medical College and the Graduate School of Medical Sciences. Its more than 250 faculty members offer students one-on-one mentoring in an academically robust and stimulating environment. The graduate students are a key pool of basic and translational science candidates for the CTSC’s clinical and translational research training pipeline, and their scientific collaborations are significantly enhanced through the sharing of institutional resources. Located on the medical school campus, WCGS is under the auspices of the Cornell University Graduate School in Ithaca, and offers ten fully integrated, multi-disciplinary Ph.D. programs with areas of concentration relevant to translational research.

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Cornell University - Ithaca (CU-I)

As the federal land-grant institution of New York State, a member of the Ivy League/Ancient Eight, and a partner of the State University of New York System, Cornell University values the arts and humanities as well as advanced scientific and technological research. More than 100 research centers, institutes and labs pursue research, teaching and outreach, searching for knowledge-based solutions to worldwide societal problems. Cornell’s Biomedical Engineering Department graduate students are trained in the university’s rich interdisciplinary culture, and focus on research that includes biomaterials and drug design, biomedical imaging, biomedical mechanics, micro and nanotechnology, systems biology, and molecular, cellular and tissue engineering. 

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Cornell University Cooperative Extension, NYC (CUCE-NYC)

An arm of Cornell University, CUCE-NYC promotes community engagement through community-based participatory research. Researchers and community members join to conduct clinical research and translate findings into better public health outcomes. CUCE-NYC is our access point for community outreach, education and social action that promotes healthy lifestyles, prevents disease and redresses health disparities. Special programs include: Nutrition & Health, Science and STEM Education, and Youth Engagement & Leadership Development.

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NewYork-Presbyterian (NYP) Hospital & NYP Lower Manhattan

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (NYP) is a nationally top-ranked care center. With the completion of the Greenberg Pavilion in 1997, a 50,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art, 880-bed inpatient facility with an emergency room, 19 operating rooms, intensive care units, labor and delivery suites, and neonatal and burn units, NYP affirmed its place among the most modern hospitals in the world. The hospital serves as WCMC’s main teaching site, and is home to research teams in virtually all areas of medicine, including gene therapy, medical ethics, clinical thalassemia research, reproductive medicine, burns, vascular medicine, women’s health, complementary medicine and minimal-access surgery specializations. 

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Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC)

A highly ranked hospital nationally, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) is a leader in innovative biomedical research translation of the latest research findings to the practice of cancer diagnosis and treatment. The Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases, led by Physician-in-Chief Dr. José Baselga, includes a 434-bed inpatient facility and an outpatient unit that offers medical consultations, diagnostic imaging, chemotherapy, pharmacy services, cancer screening and integrative medicine services. Sloan Kettering Institute (SKI), the basic science research arm of Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) directed by Dr. Joan Massagué, functions together with the Memorial Hospital under the umbrella of MSK. A cancer center world-renowned for its commitment to exceptional patient care, innovative cancer research and superb educational programs, MSK employs 100 laboratory investigators, 400 research fellows and 200 graduate students (both Ph.D.s and M.D./Ph.D.s).

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The Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS)

Top-ranked nationally in orthopedics, the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) features 428 doctors with faculty appointments at WCM. With its state-of-the-art technology, large patient volume and special “bench to bedside” teams of doctors and scientists, HSS aligns with the mission of the CTSC to swiftly translate scientific breakthroughs into clinical treatments. HSS is one of only two facilities in the nation selected by the NIH to be a musculoskeletal repair and regeneration core center. HSS staff frequently collaborate with researchers at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University. They have also partnered with researchers at the Weill Cornell Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics (CERT) to study outcomes of joint replacement patients and establish the most comprehensive registry of its kind in the country. 

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Hunter College

The CTSC’s partnership with Hunter College has been characterized by the NIH as one of the most successful examples of collaboration between a public university and private academic medical center. Strengthened by the unequivocal support of Hunter College President Jennifer Raab, we have developed fruitful relationships with multiple Hunter schools and centers, including the School of Urban Public Health, School of Nursing (HCSON) and Center for Translational and Basic Research (CTBR). The HCSON’s high-quality nursing students play an integral role in CTSC community engagement efforts. The Hunter CTBR was established in 1985 through the Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Program of the National Center for Research Resources at the NIH. Through the CTSC, the CTBR provides qualified pre-doctoral research associates from underrepresented minorities with opportunities to pursue graduate studies in clinical and translational research at WCMC. This track culminates in a Ph.D. from The City University of New York and a clinical investigation certificate or master’s degree from WCMC. 

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The Animal Medical Center (AMC)

The AMC, a nonprofit hospital for companion animals, open 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, staffs nearly 100 veterinarians representing 17 specialty fields. Their annual caseload includes more than 50,000 visits. The AMC Caspary Research Institute conducts veterinary education and research of naturally occurring disease in companion animals, for effective diagnosis, advanced medical and surgical treatment, and prevention of disease in all pets.

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