Dr. Augustine M.K. Choi, the Sanford I. Weill Chairman of the Weill Department of Medicine, will serve as Interim Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine and Interim Provost for Medical Affairs of Cornell University as of June 1, 2016. The Board of Trustees of Cornell University has approved the formation of a search committee to assist Cornell's Interim President, Hunter Rawlings, in selecting the new Dean and Provost for Medical Affairs.
Dr. Michael Niederman, Clinical Director, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, was recently featured in an article in ISICEM News, the official daily newsletter of the 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine.
Membership to the AAP is a coveted honor and reflects remarkable dedication to the advancement of scientific and practical medicine. Founded in 1885 as a non-profit professional organization, the AAP has some 1,300 active members and 600 honorary members.
The investigators concluded that inflammation (studied in the lungs) produces a complex reorganization of cellular and molecular circadian rhythms that are relevant to early events in lung injury, and as distinct from circadian rhythms that occur in healthy lungs. This is an especially noteworthy finding when examined within the broader context of circadian rhythms, which are those daily fluctuations in biological activity that help organisms and human beings adapt to their environment.
COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases) are the fourth leading cause of mortality worldwide, and cigarette smoke is the major risk factor. Although the pathogenesis of COPD is not completely understood, it may involve aberrant inflammatory and cellular responses in the lung that are in response to cigarette smoke.
Dr. Fernando Martinez has published new findings in The New England Journal of Medicine on N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a widely used antioxidant for treating deadly lung disease. Along with senior author Dr. Ganesh Raghu and other colleagues, the 264-patient study determined that there is no evidence that NAC slowed the progression of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) or improved lung function.
Dr. Fernando J. Martinez has been named the Executive Vice Chair of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He will work closely with the department and divisional leadership, as well as with all faculty members of the DOM to provide the highest quality patient care, best education and training of our medical students, residents and fellows, and to unravel discoveries in research endeavors.
Drs. Oren A. Friedman and James M. Horowitz, Division of Pulmonary-Critical Care and Cardiology respectively, have recently published a paper in Endovascular Today (July 2013) on building a pulmonary embolism multidisciplinary team.
A molecular trigger involved in lung regeneration has been uncovered. Investigators – including Dr. Ronald G. Crystal (Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine) and Dr. Shahin Rafii (Professor of Medicine/Medicine & Genetics) – have published their findings in Cell. The discovery is part of a labyrinth of advances toward a fuller understanding of the process of lung regeneration.
The second Mark Pecker Clinical Master Visiting Professorship was held May 1 through May 5. Dr. Daniel Goodenberger, from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, an expert in pulmonology and internal medicine, was the guest of honor. He attended rounds, morning report, and conferences. A reception was held in Griffis Faculty Club, where he met with colleagues and residents.
