In a move aimed at further solidifying its role as a regional and national leader in cardiac care for adults and children, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center has named Dr. Emile Bacha chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, and Dr. Michael Argenziano chief of the Section of Adult Cardiac Surgery within the Division.

A 59-year-old woman from upstate New York and a 60-year-old woman from the New York metro area were the first patients in New York state and among the first in the United States to receive transplanted lungs that were assessed and reconditioned in the operating room — a technique that has the potential to dramatically increase the availability of lungs for transplant. The experimental procedure was performed by Dr. Frank D'Ovidio at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is listed on Becker's Hospital Review's "60 Hospitals With Great Orthopedic Programs." Hospitals are selected for meeting criteria, including clinical excellence, quality of service, outstanding local and national reputations, and a high volume of orthopedic cases.

Patients at a high risk for a second stroke who received intensive medical treatment had fewer strokes and deaths than patients who received a brain stent in addition to the medical treatment, a large nationwide clinical trial has shown. The investigators published the results in today's online first edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health, funded the trial.

Researchers have successfully developed and tested a new prostate cancer screening method that uses the combined power of a novel drug therapy and changes in PSA levels over time to identify men with a high PSA who are more likely to have aggressive prostate cancer despite negative biopsies.

Tiny space age probes — those that can see inside single living cells — are increasingly being used to diagnose illness in hard-to-reach areas of the body.

Dr. Andrew I. Schafer, chairman of the Department of Medicine and The E. Hugh Luckey Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and physician-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, has been elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies. Membership in IOM is one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine.

Dr. Azra Raza, director of the Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, will be awarded the prestigious Hope Funds For Cancer Research Award for outstanding contributions to cancer research and treatment. Dr. Raza will receive the award July 21 in Newport, Rhode Island.