Welcome to the Monahan Center

Jay Monahan and Katie Couric

The Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health is a clinical center of the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and the Weill Medical College of Cornell University. We provide integrated care, focusing on prevention, screening, treatment, support, research, and education for individuals who have or are at risk for developing gastrointestinal cancers. The Center is named in honor of Jay Monahan – the late husband of Katie Couric.

About Jay

Jay Monahan was a criminal defense attorney, television legal commentator, and civil war enthusiast. More importantly, he was a father, a husband, a brother, a son, a friend. An active and health-conscious man in the prime of his life, Jay was diagnosed unexpectedly with advanced colon cancer at the young age of 41.

After Jay's diagnosis, he and his wife Katie Couric were traumatized not only by his illness, but also by the exhausting process of identifying treatment options and going from place to place for tests and appointments. After Jay's death, Katie joined forces with Jay's gastroenterologist, Dr. Mark Pochapin, to find a better way for other patients-and for those for whom this devastating disease might be prevented. It was in large part through Katie's commitment and vision-and the support of the Entertainment Industry Foundation's National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance – that The Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health was born.

Make That Call

A primary mission of The Jay Monahan Center is to encourage screening for colorectal cancer. Each year, the Center joinsNewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, the Entertainment Industry Foundation's National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance, New York Citywide Colon Cancer Control Coalition (C5), American Cancer Society, American College of Gastroenterology, and American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy to encourage people to "Make That Call."

Katie Couric encourages people to get screened for colorectal cancer.