2006

Dr. Morrssey Appointment

Nicholas J. Morrissey, MD

Nicholas J. Morrissey, MD, has been appointed to the Video Based Education Committee of the American College of Surgeons.

Inhibiting RAGE Holds Promise for Heart Attack Patients

Ravichandran Ramasamy, PhD

Ravichandran Ramasamy, PhD, has demonstrated that a recently discovered method of reducing vascular complications in diabetics can also protect the hearts of non-diabetics during and after myocardial infarction (heart attack). Dr. Ramasamy's research could lead to treatments that significantly improve patients' recovery time and decrease the rate of heart failure following a heart attack. The findings were published earlier this year in the journal Circulation.

Department of Surgery Healthpoints and Progress Report Take Top Marcom Awards

The Columbia University Department of Surgery has received a Platinum MarCom Creative Award for its 2006 Progress Report, From Discovery to Delivery: Surgical Breakthroughs, and its Summer 2006 Healthpoints newsletter, Clinical Trials: Impacting Your Health. The Winter 2006 Healthpoints, Transplantation: Where We've Been, Where We're Going, was awarded an honorable mention. Platinum is the highest Marcom Award level. Other MarCom Platinum Award Winners included the international consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, the American Heart Association, and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The MarCom Creative Awards are administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals, an international organization of marketing, communication, advertising, public relations, media production and freelance professionals. The association oversees awards and recognition programs, provides judges and sets standards for excellence by category.

Progress Report

Healthpoints, Summer 2006

Healthpoints, Winter 2006

Columbia Weight Loss Surgery Receives Top HealthGrades Rating

Columbia weight loss surgeons from left to right: Drs. Daniel Davis, Beth Schrope, Marc Bessler, and Akuezunkpa Ude

The healthcare ratings organization HealthGrades gave NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, where Columbia's weight loss surgeons conduct surgery, the highest rating--five stars--for successful weight loss surgery performed on severely obese patients. The survey is the first of its kind on weight loss, or bariatric, surgery and covered surgeries performed during 2002-2004.

Researchers, who took into account patient risk levels, such as age and heart problems, found that patients in the five-star hospitals were 66 percent less likely to develop a medical complication following surgery compared to a one-star hospital.

NYPH is #1 in Cardiac Surgery and # 1 Best Hospital Overall

New York magazine's 2006 "Best Hospitals" issue, published the week of November 20, ranked NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital the overall #1 hospital in New York City. Of a total 10 medical specialties listed, NewYork-Presbyterian ranks first among 10 hospitals in five specialties, including cardiac care, and also ranked number one in the cardiac surgery subspecialty.

The "Best Hospitals" were chosen from a list of 199 hospitals by a random database sampling of 30,000 doctors from the tri-state area (1,000 doctors replied). Doctors were polled by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. and asked to choose their top 10 hospitals in 10 specialties based on the question "Where would you go and why?" In addition, the best in 15 subspecialties were selected by a team of New York magazine reporters who canvassed leading doctors in each field and asked them, "If you or a loved one were in need of this kind of care, what hospital would you choose and why?" The best hospitals reflect the physicians' consensus choices.

Dr. Morrissey Appointed to JVS Editorial Board

Nicholas J. Morrissey, MD, has been appointed to the editorial board of the Journal of Vascular Surgery. Board members are selected based on the quality of their reviews, the number of reviews accepted, and their timeliness in submission of their reviews.

Dr. Bessler Receives Bariatric Surgery Appointments

Dr. Marc Bessler has been appointed Associate Editor of the Journal of Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases, the official journal of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery. He has also been appointed Chairman of the Emerging Technologies committee of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery.

Pfizer Contracts to Test and Market RAGE-Antagonist Drugs

Ann Marie Schmidt, MD

The cell-surface molecule RAGE (Receptor for Advanced Glycation Endproducts) contributes significantly to many ills, including cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes complications such as nephropathy, and a host of immune-related disorders. For Ann Marie Schmidt, MD, Chief of the Department of Surgery's Division of Surgical Science, who has been studying RAGE for over a decade, this molecule's ability to trigger such a wide variety of disorders has revealed an unexpectedly unified picture of chronic disease and how it might be medically reversed. After more than 15 years leading basic research on the molecule, Dr. Schmidt is now seeing her efforts pay off in development of therapies for people.

Diabetes Alone Should not Disqualify Heart Transplant Candidates

A study of heart transplant outcomes, in which several members of the Department of Surgery were co-investigators, has found that severity of damage from diabetic complications, not diabetes alone, determines heart transplant success. The study analyzed data from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), a national organization that coordinates transplant organ procurement and distribution, and discovered that heart transplant recipients with uncomplicated diabetes have live just as long as non-diabetic recipients. Click here to read more.

The study was published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. The article's co-authors include Mark Russo, M.D., M.S., a researcher at Columbia University's International Center for Health Outcomes and Innovation Research (InCHOIR) and a surgery resident at NYPH/Columbia. Department of Surgery faculty who participated in the study include: Michael Argenziano, MD , Jonathan M. Chen, MD, Mehmet C. Oz, MD, Allan S. Stewart, MD, and Yoshifumi Naka, MD, PhD, who is the study's senior author.

The research was reported on Monday, November 6 by the Associated Press and picked up by the following media: CBS News, the Charlotte Observer, the Dallas Morning News, Forbes.Com, the Guardian Unlimited (UK), the Houston Chronicle, the International Herald Tribune (France), the Miami Herald, Newsday, the New York Times, the Orlando Sentinel, the Seattle Post Intelligencer, and the Washington Post.

Columbia Clinician Takes KUFA Award for Third Year Running

Lloyd E. Ratner, MD

Dr. Lloyd E. Ratner has been awarded the 2006 National Medical Award in Transplantation from the Kidney and Urology Foundation of America. The award honors Dr. Ratner for his contributions to the care of patients and for his innovations in the field of renal transplantation. A nationally and internationally recognized leader in the field of transplantation, Dr. Ratner performed the world's first laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy, the world's first dual renal transplant, orchestrated the nation's first paired kidney exchange, and developed the first successful protocol for the desensitization of highly sensitized patients with living kidney donors.

Mastery of Cardiothoracic Surgery (Kaiser, Kron, and Spray, Eds.)

The Second Edition of this standard-setting text/atlas from the acclaimed Mastery of Surgery series was published in October, 2006. Mehmet C. Oz, MD and Yoshifumi Naka, MD, PhD, are the authors of the book's chapter on LVADs. Mark E. Ginsburg, MD, is the author of the book's chapter on surgery for emphysema.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Receives Highest Accreditation for
Bariatric Surgery

Marc Bessler, MD, Director of the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia Center for Obesity Surgery

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) has accredited NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital as a Bariatric Surgery Center Network (BSCN) hospital with the highest possible designation (1A), in recognition of the Hospital's ability to offer patients the best care available. The top-level designation is a first for New York state and one of only seven nationwide.

Mechanical Circulatory Support Therapy In Advanced Heart Failure

Authored by Mario C Deng, MD and Yoshifumi Naka, MD, PhD, Mechanical Circulatory Support Therapy In Advanced Heart Failure is a state-of-the-art overview of mechanical circulatory support devices and their role in the care of patients with advanced heart failure. The book was published in October, 2006.

Frank Torre Celebrates Heart Transplant with Dr. Oz and Cardiac Staff

Mehmet C. Oz, MD

Mehmet C. Oz, MD celebrated with Frank Torre on the 10-year anniversary of the former major league baseball player's heart transplant, which Dr. Oz performed in 1996. The 74-year-old Mr. Torre, who was implanted with the heart of a 28-year-old on October 26, 2006, commemorated the event with family and medical staff at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center.

News from Dr. Spotnitz's Laboratory

Dr. Spotnitz's laboratory was awarded a three year Grant-in-Aid from the American Heart Association Heritage Affiliate for research entitled, "Myocardial Protection and Support in Cyanotic Congenital Heart Disease." Dr. Spotnitz had been named the Marmer Fellow of the Heritage Affiliate for 2006-2007 in association with this grant.

The laboratory has successfully enrolled the first patient in a planned five year BIPACS clinical trial entitled, "Biventricular Pacing After Cardiac Surgery." This study is designed for patients with left ventricular failure who require cardiac surgery. The goal is demonstrate a 10% improvement in cardiac output with biventricular pacing in patients after cardiac surgery compared to a control group without pacing.

Dr. Spotnitz is a featured speaker at the 3rd Asian Pacific Congress of Heart Failure in Taipei, Taiwan, which will take place on October 28, 2006. His presentation is entitled "Biventricular Pacing for Acute Cardiac Dysfunction."

Oz Book is Quill Book Award Finalist

You: The Smart Patient, co-authored by Mehmet C. Oz, MD, is a Quill Book Award finalist in the category Health & Self Improvement.

Heart Team Returns to Cambodia to Train Surgeons and Heal Children

Following on his successful 2005 trip to Cambodia to perform heart surgery on children with congenital heart disease, Jonathan M. Chen, MD, a pediatric heart surgeon who is Assistant Professor of Surgery at Columbia, again led his team to Cambodia earlier this year. The trips are part of a mission in which pediatric heart surgery teams from developed countries bring surgery expertise to Cambodia.

NYC's First 3-Way Kidney Transplant Performed at Columbia

Dr. Lloyd Ratner with John McGuinness, the Long Island man whose gift of a kidney enabled the 3-way transplant to proceed.

On May 30, 2006, New York City's first three-way kidney transplant was performed by six surgical transplant teams, including 40 clinicians working simultaneously in six operating rooms at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia. Three patients, who otherwise had no compatible donor, received lifesaving kidneys. Such kidney swaps not only make more kidneys available, but make them available to patients earlier than they would have otherwise, helping to save lives.

Columbia Surgeons are New York Magazine 2006 Top Doctors

21 Columbia surgeons have been selected for New York Magazine's Best Doctors for 2006, which was the magazine's June 19, 2006 issue. They include:

Michael Argenziano, MD Marc Bessler, MD John A. Chabot, MD Jean C. Emond, MD Dennis L. Fowler, MD Mark A. Hardy, MD Yoshifumi Naka, MD, PhD Roman Nowygrod, MD

Mehmet C. Oz, MD Jan M. Quaegebeur, MD Craig R. Smith, MD Joshua R. Sonett, MD Kenneth M. Steinglass, MD Charles J. H. Stolar, MD Jeffrey Zitsman, MD

Department of Surgery Progress Report

From Discovery to Delivery
Surgical Breakthroughs

Columbia Surgeons are partnering with basic scientists, government and industy to develop promising new therapies for heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's and Cancer.

A Conversation with Pediatric Trauma Director, William Middlesworth, MD

William Middlesworth, MD

William Middlesworth, MD, is Director of the Regional Pediatric Trauma Program at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York (MSCHONY). An Assistant Professor of Surgery and Pediatric Surgery at Columbia University, Dr. Middlesworth graduated from the Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine in New Jersey. He is an attending surgeon at MSCHONY and operates as one of the Program's pediatric surgeons. In addition to his appointments at MSCHONY and Columbia University Medical Center, he is Chief of the Divisions of Pediatric Surgery for Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center and St Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx.

Largest U.S. Hepatitis C Trial Provides Insight into Optimizing
Treatment for Patients

Robert S. Brown, Jr., MD, MPH

Dr. Robert Brown is Co-Principal Investigator of the WIN-R trial, the largest hepatitis C study ever conducted in U.S. patients. The community-based study which involved more than 4,900 patients at 225 centers across the United States, showed significantly better outcomes with weight-based dosing. The study findings were reported at the Digestive Diseases Week (DDW) annual meeting, May 20-25, 2006, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Dr. Brown and the study's Principal Investigator, Dr. Ira Jacobson of Weill Medical College of Cornell University, are co-directors of New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System's Liver Clinical Trials Network (LCTN). Click here to read the press release on study presentation at the Digestive Diseases Week.

Columbia University Wound Healing Center and Researchers at the Weill Cornell College of Medicine Locate Targets in the Fight Against Chronic Wounds

The Wound Healing Center at Columbia University in collaboration with researchers from the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) of the Weill Cornell College of Medicine have made a discovery that helps explain why chronic wounds do not heal. The researchers have discovered that skin cells become stalled in the middle of the normal healing process and cannot migrate to the site of the wound in order to fill in the gap. The research may be useful in developing new therapies that could potentially cut the chain of wound development before it becomes advanced.

Heart Center Groundbreaking, President Bill Clinton Speaks

NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center broke ground on the Vivian and Seymour Milstein Family Heart Center Thursday, April 27, 2006. Former President Bill Clinton, a past heart surgery patient at New York-Presbyterian, was the featured speaker at the event.

The six-floor structure, dedicated to offering the best in cardiac care, will be located just south of the Milstein Hospital building, near the corner of 165th Street and Fort Washington Avenue. The center's consolidated comprehensive heart-care services, coupled with NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia's world-renowned physicians and surgeons, will make it one of the world's top heart-care centers. Media in attendance included The New York Times, New York Sun, New York Post, The New York Observer, Crain's New York Business, Gamma Presse (France), NBC, NY1 and NY1 Noticias.

"What's Your BQ [Body Quotient]"

Dr. Oz is co-writer, with Dr. Michael Roizen, of the May 2006 Esquire Magazine 13-page lead story, "What's Your BQ [Body Quotient]." The article tackles the issue's theme, 'The Better Man,' with a roadmap to achieving health and longevity through healthy living and eating. Drs. Oz and Roizen have collaborated on two bestselling books about health, longevity, and consumer healthcare.

You: The Smart Patient

Dr. Mehmet Oz was interviewed on NPR's Talk of the Nation on March 14, 2006 regarding his book You: The Smart Patient, which he co-authored with Dr. Michael Roizen. When asked "What's the most important thing to bring with you to the doctor's office, a living will, your spouse, or a crisp $50 bill?" Dr. Oz replied that the answer is an accurate health profile backed by advance research into your problem.

Heart transplanted at birth, Jordan Trimarchi thrives at age 1

Brooklyn newborn Jordan Trimarchi received a second chance at life, when an anonymous gift of a replacement heart was transplanted into his tiny body by Dr. Jan M. Quaegebeur. Exactly a year later, on January 26, 2006, Jordan was back at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. But this time he and his parents came to celebrate the child's excellent health and normal development with his doctors.

Dr. Joseph Appointed Director of Research

Kathie-Ann Joseph, MD, MPH, FACS

Kathie-Ann Joseph, MD, MPH, a noted investigator into the causes and treatment of breast cancer, has been appointed Director of Research for the Department of Surgery. Her tasks in this new capacity are to broaden the department's research portfolio and to foster creative alliances with other departments and divisions.