For the first time, physician-scientists at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City have demonstrated in patients the ability of an antibody to directly target the blood supply of a wide variety of tumors, leaving healthy tissues unharmed.

Opening the doors to one of the first academic medical programs dedicated to surgical treatment of type 2 diabetes, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center has created a new section of General Surgery called Gastrointestinal Metabolic Surgery. The program will be led by the newly appointed Dr. Francesco Rubino, a pioneering authority in the emerging specialty.

Of the nearly 1,500 spinal cord injuries (SCIs) sustained by children age 18 and younger every year, approximately 70 percent are a result of a motor vehicle accident. In 68 percent of those accidents, the child is not wearing a seatbelt. These findings, from one of the first studies to report on the incidence and causes of pediatric SCI, authored by physician-scientists at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia University Medical Center, and published in a recent issue of the Journal of Pediatric Orthopedics.

Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College have identified a protein called Rab10 as an important partner in the insulin-mediated uptake of glucose by cells, opening the way to potential new drug targets for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Thousands of cardiac stent procedures are successfully performed every year, but a key challenge is positioning the stent, guidewires, and catheter at the precise location of the blockage. In addition, even with the most sophisticated X-ray technology, the complex shape of the heart and the twists and turns of the coronary arteries make the exact size of the blockage difficult to visualize and measure. As a result of these challenges, 10-20 percent of patients require a second stent due to inaccurate placement or size of the first stent.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center was named a recipient of two Transplant Program Awards from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) for its outstanding performance on liver and lung transplantation.

Today the American College of Surgeons (ACS) held the ACS Surgical Health Care Quality Forum New York, the 10th program in a series of events to drive national discussions on effective quality improvement methods that surgeons, physicians and hospitals are using to improve patient safety and reduce costs.

Dr. Andrew L. Kung has joined the Department of Pediatrics at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center as director of the Division of Pediatric Hematology Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation. In this role he will oversee clinical care and develop a research program aimed at harnessing the next generation of therapies for cancer and blood disorders in pediatric patients.