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In recognition of their humanitarian work to enhance medicine through the training of physicians in emerging countries, Dr. Antonio M. Gotto Jr., the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College, and Dr. Herbert Pardes, president and CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, were awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, First Class.

The award was recently presented by Dr. Brigitta Blaha, the Austrian Consul General, at a ceremony in New York City.

"Dr. Gotto and Dr. Pardes have played an instrumental part in one of the greatest success stories of the international medical community," Dr. Blaha said. "The intensive scientific exchange between American and Austrian physicians and researchers has grown in depth and scope over the years. Without the dedication and efforts of Dr. Gotto and Dr. Pardes, none of this would have been possible."

NewYork Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College began their partnership with Austria in 1993 with the Salzburg–Weill Cornell Seminars, where physicians and faculty members lectured and taught at weeklong seminars attended by physicians from central and Eastern Europe, central Asia and the former Soviet Union.

The seminar was established by the American Austrian Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that seeks to enhance the relationship between the United States and Austria through exchanges in medicine, communications, science and the arts.

Global health initiatives have long been a priority for both NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College. With facilities such as Weill Bugando in Tanzania, the Haitian Study Group on Kaposi's Sarcoma and Opportunistic Infections (GHESKIO), and Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, the Hospital and Medical College are helping developing nations overcome infrastructure and personnel shortcomings to sustain long-term medical training and research.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, based in New York City, is the nation's largest not-for-profit, non-sectarian hospital, with 2,242 beds. The Hospital has nearly a million patient visits in a year, including more than 220,000 visits to its emergency departments — more than any other area hospital. NewYork-Presbyterian provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory and preventive care in all areas of medicine at five major centers: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Allen Pavilion and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division. One of the largest and most comprehensive health-care institutions in the world, the Hospital is committed to excellence in patient care, research, education and community service. It ranks sixth in U.S.News & World Report's guide to "America's Best Hospitals," ranks first on New York magazine's "Best Hospitals" survey, has the greatest number of physicians listed in New York magazine's "Best Doctors" issue, and is included among Solucient's top 15 major teaching hospitals. The Hospital is ranked with among the lowest mortality rates for heart attack and heart failure in the country, according to a 2007 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report card. The Hospital has academic affiliations with two of the nation's leading medical colleges: Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Weill Cornell Medical College

Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University's medical school located in New York City, is committed to excellence in research, teaching, patient care and the advancement of the art and science of medicine, locally, nationally and globally. Weill Cornell, which is a principal academic affiliate of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, offers an innovative curriculum that integrates the teaching of basic and clinical sciences, problem-based learning, office-based preceptorships, and primary care and doctoring courses. Physicians and scientists of Weill Cornell Medical College are engaged in cutting-edge research in areas such as stem cells, genetics and gene therapy, geriatrics, neuroscience, structural biology, cardiovascular medicine, transplantation medicine, infectious disease, obesity, cancer, psychiatry and public health — and continue to delve ever deeper into the molecular basis of disease in an effort to unlock the mysteries of the human body in health and sickness. In its commitment to global health and education, the Medical College has a strong presence in places such as Qatar, Tanzania, Haiti, Brazil, Austria and Turkey. Through the historic Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, the Medical College is the first in the U.S. to offer its M.D. degree overseas. Weill Cornell is the birthplace of many medical advances — including the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer, the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., the first clinical trial of gene therapy for Parkinson's disease, the first indication of bone marrow's critical role in tumor growth, and most recently, the world's first successful use of deep brain stimulation to treat a minimally-conscious brain-injured patient. For more information, visit www.med.cornell.edu.