Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

11/05/2025

Cancer is a devastating prognosis for any patient; but when “cancer” is preceded by the word “pediatric”, it carries an even heavier weight.

In this latest episode of "At the Lab", Phil Renna and Chris Vakoc, CSHL Deputy Director of the Cancer Center, sit down to discuss the tireless work researchers are doing to help patients and families alike. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts:

Pediatric cancer—two words that carry immense weight. For many, it’s a distant fear; for some, it’s a daily reality. And for my family, it became a devastating truth. After losing our teenage daughter to a rare form of cancer, we were left with a haunting question: Why are these cancers so dif...

11/04/2025

Congratulations to CSHL’s Kate Alexander for winning the Kidney Cancer Association's 2025 Trailblazer Award! Could a tumor cell’s nuclear speckles one day help doctors figure out the best course of treatment? Alexander aims to find out. Read more at the link:

Over 600,000 people in the United States are living with kidney or renal pelvis cancer. This year, over 80,000 new patients will be diagnosed. Could the speckles inside a tumor cell nucleus one day help clinicians figure out the best course of treatment? Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Assistan...

10/30/2025

Get ready for an icy adventure! ❄️

The DNA Learning Center in Cold Spring Harbor invites you to meet Ötzi the Iceman’s 3D twin. Participate in fun puzzles and hands-on challenges that will lead you to clues about Ötzi's life. To end your visit, explore the “Our Human Inheritance” exhibit to discover the big mystery and make your own awesome find!

Cost: $35/student or $50/two or more students from the same household. Chaperone free-of-charge. Registration is required for this event.

STEM educational webinars, symposia, and activities from the DNALC and collaborators for students, educators, and the public.

10/30/2025

This October, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory received a generous donation from the Friends of T.J. Foundation in support of sarcoma research.

Founded by the Arcati family in memory of T.J. Arcati, a former CSHL summer intern who passed away from sarcoma in 2013 at age 34, the Foundation has contributed roughly $400,000 to advance sarcoma research at the very place where T.J. once trained. Their support continues to fuel discoveries that bring hope to patients and their families facing this devastating disease.

We are deeply grateful to the Arcatis and the Friends of T.J. Foundation for their partnership and ongoing commitment to making life better through science.

10/28/2025

This October, we celebrated ! CRISPR, short for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat, enables researchers to manipulate the genetic code of almost any organism. This gene editing technique has revolutionized biological and biomedical research in just a short amount of time.

CSHL recently hosted its 10th annual Genome Engineering: CRISPR Frontiers meeting with hundreds of scientists from around the world. Check out what Sam Sternberg, Associate Professor at Columbia University and one of the meeting’s organizers, had to say about CRISPR and the importance of intellectual discussion.

10/27/2025

At just 17 years old, Jeffrey Deskovic confessed to a murder he didn’t commit, while the real killer remained free and went on to take another life...

Sixteen years later, DNA evidence proved Deskovic’s innocence and identified the real perpetrator. Now an attorney and advocate, he joined Wrongful Conviction podcast host Jason Flom at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory for Unraveling Justice—a powerful conversation on how DNA technology continues to shape our world.

After six hours of police interrogation and three polygraph tests—all in hopes of helping solve a crime—17-year-old Jeffrey Deskovic confessed to a murder he didn’t commit. He was sentenced to life in prison. “After I falsely confessed,” he recalled, “I didn’t realize I was being arres...

10/27/2025

Everyone knows what cancer is, but few know how cancer turns normal biology toxic. On Thursday, October 30th, you’re invited to a spine-tingling edition of Cocktails & Chromosomes. CSHL Assistant Professor Peter Westcott will be discussing how environmental junk, like nearly immortal microplastics, can lead to genetic mutations and inflammation associated with the disease.

Date: Thursday, October 30th
Time: 7:00 pm
Place: Ninnet & George’s in Huntington

Discover what is lurking in the shadows of this deadly disease. RSVP on Eventbrite to be automatically entered in our free drink raffle! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cocktails-and-chromosomes-tickets-651040478597?aff=ebdsshcopyurl&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp

10/25/2025

For # NationalFineArtsAppreciationDay, we’re taking a look back at our 2024 Science Meets Art Festival! 🎨

Hosted by CSHL’s Center for Humanities and History of Modern Biology, the festival displayed a multimedia exhibit featuring the work of artists in the Celia and Wally Gilbert Artist-in-Residence Program, among other artists with connections to Cold Spring Harbor.

The Artist-in-Residence Program was created to inspire creative thinking that energizes innovation in both culture and science. Artists, composers, writers, and designers are invited to reside at CSHL’s picturesque campus and explore new avenues of artistic expression.

We’re fortunate to have these artists join us on campus, and we’re excited to see what will inspire them in the future.

10/23/2025

Breast Cancer Awareness Month happens once a year, but the momentum from this movement fuels our scientists year-round. Each day, they are conducting research in the hopes of advancing our understanding of this deadly disease.

In this special edition of At the Lab, CSHL Professor and Cancer Center member David Spector shares his lab’s most recent research on forms of breast cancer that are the most difficult to treat and his lab’s ambitions for the future. Spector also explains how collaborations with Northwell Health have been instrumental in his lab’s success.

Now streaming wherever you get your podcasts.

Today, the five-year survival rate for early-stage breast cancer is about 99%. Awareness drives detection. But what about those breast cancers that aren’t caught early? What about those that evade common therapies? For Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we sat down with CSHL Professor David Spector to...

10/22/2025

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory visitors are in for a special treat (and maybe some tricks) during this special edition of our guided walking tour. 🎃

Knowledgeable graduate students and postdoctoral fellows will teach you about the advanced cancer, neuroscience, and plant research taking place right here each day, all while you indulge on sweets 🍬 at each stop of the tour.

There are only a limited number of spots available, so grab tickets while you still can on our Eventbrite page: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cold-spring-harbor-laboratory-public-tours-tickets-836206144087

10/20/2025

Breast cancer can sometimes come back with a vengeance. A new discovery from CSHL’s Camila dos Santos lab could one day help prevent recurrence and keep breast tumors susceptible to common hormone therapy. https://www.cshl.edu/breast-cancer-discovery-could-help-prevent-recurrence/

10/20/2025

And the 2025 Business Award goes to...CSHL! The Laboratory has long been a beacon of discovery, innovation & community development on Long Island's North Shore. “The award highlights not only our scientific excellence but also the strength of our long-standing partnership with Nassau County,” says CSHL CFO Nicholas Milowski. Read more at the link:

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has received the Long Island Business Development Council’s 2025 Business Award. The distinction recognizes CSHL’s role as a regional economic driver and beacon of discovery, innovation, and community development. CSHL was nominated by the Nassau County Indus...