Dear Colleague:
We are pleased to bring you our 2017 Report on Clinical and Scientific Innovations in Neurology and Neurosurgery. The strength of our neurology and neurosurgery programs is derived from the exceptional clinical, scientific, and educational resources made possible by the partnership of NewYork-Presbyterian, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and Weill Cornell Medicine.
In this year’s report, you will meet a number of patients who came to NewYork-Presbyterian presenting with critical or chronic neurological conditions that threatened their lives or quality of life. These individuals are among the thousands who come to our institution seeking help and hope for conditions that range from chronic seizures and movement disorders to brain tumors and stroke. Here they find neurologists, neurointerventionalists, critical care specialists, and neurosurgeons applying the latest innovations and advances in their respective fields.
A key component of our programs is the collaborations among our clinicians and scientists that take their work in exciting and sometimes unexpected directions, facilitating new research avenues and novel approaches to care. These may include using focused ultrasound as a novel treatment for essential tremor, refining endovascular devices for clot removal, or developing early intervention strategies to prevent the devastating effects of stroke.
Today, our neuro programs are among the largest recipients of NIH funding, allowing our faculty to continue to pursue greater understanding of neurological disorders and to help more and more patients who face debilitating diseases of the brain and spine. We believe the future of neurological care is full of great promise in the hands of our gifted clinicians and researchers who work tirelessly to achieve the best possible outcomes for patients.
Sincerely,
Steven J. Corwin, MD
President and
Chief Executive Officer
NewYork-Presbyterian
Lee Goldman, MD
Executive Vice President,
Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine,
and Chief Executive
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Augustine M.K. Choi, MD
Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean
Weill Cornell Medicine
Dear Colleague:
As clinicians and researchers, the innovations we apply to treatment and the hypotheses that we investigate in the laboratory are driven by our prevailing desire to help the patients who come to us for care and those who may benefit in the future.
In this year’s Report on Clinical and Scientific Innovations in Neurology and Neurosurgery, our patients give voice to the life-changing and life-saving medical and surgical interventions they have experienced when entrusting their health and well-being to NewYork-Presbyterian.
Our faculty continue to pursue greater understanding of the complex nature of disorders of the brain and spine and define newer and more potent techniques and therapies that ease the burden of illness and hopefully effect a cure.
The stories presented on the following pages resonate with us, as we hope they will with you. The courage with which our patients face their neurological challenges and the often physical and emotional demands that accompany their treatments inspire us all.
Sincerely,
Matthew E. Fink, MD
Neurologist-in-Chief
NewYork-Presbyterian/
Weill Cornell Medical Center
Richard P. Mayeux, MD, MSc
Neurologist-in-Chief
NewYork-Presbyterian/
Columbia University Medical Center
Robert A. Solomon, MD
Neurosurgeon-in-Chief
NewYork-Presbyterian/
Columbia University Medical Center
Philip E. Stieg, PhD, MD
Neurosurgeon-in-Chief
NewYork-Presbyterian/
Weill Cornell Medical Center