Explore every episode of the podcast Advances in Care

Erin Welsh is joined by Dr. Jennifer Haythe, director of the Adult Pulmonary Hypertension Center and Cardio-Obstetrics programs at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia, to discuss the prevalence of high-risk pregnancies due to heart disease and the multi-disciplinary efforts required for optimal patient care. 

Many women in the US are having children at a later age than in the past, and with that comes an increased occurrence of certain conditions that create risk for heart disease during, or after, pregnancy. In fact, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of maternal mortality in the US, with pulmonary hypertension and peripartum cardiomyopathy posing significantly high risks. Dr. Haythe discusses how coordinated, multi-disciplinary care is crucial in treating these vulnerable patients, and how the cardio-obstetrics program at Columbia is approaching care to allow women, many of whom have been told they could never give birth, achieve safe and successful pregnancies. Dr. Haythe also talks about the latest cutting edge research for cardiac conditions in pregnancy and her program’s involvement in the ReBIRTH study, a national, multi-center, randomized placebo controlled trial examining the use of bromocriptine as a course of treatment for pregnant patients with peripartum cardiomyopathy - a study that could potentially introduce a new paradigm in high-risk pregnancy care. 

Chapters:

[00:00 - 5:49] Columbia’s Multidisciplinary Cardio-Obstetrics Program

Dr. Haythe and Erin discuss how the multidisciplinary cardio-obstetrics program at Columbia and the growing population of pregnant patients with heart disease.

[05:49 - 10:28 ] Navigating Cardiovascular Complications 

Dr. Haythe and Erin talk about the risks of pulmonary hypertension and other cardiovascular complications in pregnant patients, including during the post-partum period, and also highlights new research that may help change the course of treatment. 

[10:28 - 14:08] A Rewarding Patient Story

Dr. Haythe tells a story of a pregnant patient with pulmonary hypertension who delivered successfully, demonstrating how the program effectively managed her care. 

[14:08 - 17:12 ] Vision For the Future

Dr. Haythe shares her experience as part of the New York City Maternal Mortality Review Board, a committee formed to review maternal deaths and determine how to minimize the risk of recurrence going forward. 

[17:12 - 18:04] Credits

***
Jennifer Haythe, MD, is the Director of the Adult Pulmonary Hypertension Center, and the Cardio-Obstetrics program at Columbia. She is currently the Irene and Sidney B. Silverman Associate Professor of Cardiology, Center for Advanced Cardiac Care at Columbia, and Co-Director of The Columbia Women’s Heart Center.

Dr. Haythe specializes in pulmonary hypertension, cardio-obstetrics, heart failure, HFPEF, and cardiovascular disease in women.

For more information visit 

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On this episode of Advances in Care, Erin Welsh and Dr. Jeffrey Greenfield, pediatric neurosurgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian and director of the Chiari CARE program at Weill Cornell Medicine, discuss a rare condition called Chiari malformation. 

Typically diagnosed by MRI, Chiari malformation is classified when part of the cerebellum descends into the upper spinal canal. Though some of the most severe types of Chiari malformation can be diagnosed during pregnancy, the most common type may present asymptomatically until adolescence or adulthood, with symptoms that are often misdiagnosed as other disorders. To address the unmet need for proper diagnosis and management of this condition, Dr. Greenfield created the Chiari CARE program–a multidisciplinary approach involving neurology, pain management, neuropsychology, radiology, and more–to help provide full-spectrum care to patients. A key factor of the Chiari CARE program is its emphasis on transitional care, which includes both treating patients who come in as pediatrics throughout their adulthood as well as those who are diagnosed later in life. 

But Dr. Greenfield’s vision extends to the future. Having just treated the program’s thousandth surgical patient, his team is amassing and analyzing outcomes data and using machine learning to refine predictions for which future patients would be good candidates for surgery or require other treatment methods that will enhance overall quality of life. 

Chapters:

[00:00 - 4:12] Chiari CARE

Dr. Greenfield and Erin discuss a rare congenital brain condition called Chiari malformation, and highlight Dr. Greenfield’s Chiari CARE program at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine.  

[4:12 - 8:35] The Importance of Transitional Care 

Dr. Greenfield expands on the importance of transitional care for patients with congenital neurological conditions like Chiari malformation. 

[8:35 - 11:51] Determining the Right Approach 

Dr. Greenfield explains how he and his team determine whether their patients need surgery or not, and the challenges of diagnosing and treating Chiari malformation in adults. 

[11:51 - 14:31] Harnessing Data to Advance Research

Dr. Greenfield describes how his team is utilizing the MRI scans from over a thousand patients to develop models that could predict who may be a good candidate for surgery or other treatment avenues. 

[14:31 - 18:35] Advancing Diagnostics 

Dr. Greenfield shares his vision for an improved coordinated care model for patients newly diagnosed with Chiari malformation. 

[18:35 - 19:20] Credits 

***

Jeffrey Greenfield, MD, PhD is a board-certified neurosurgeon who specializes in pediatric neurosurgery. In addition he sees certain adult patients with congenital neurosurgical conditions. Compassionate clinical care, research, and education are all central to his philosophy as a neurosurgeon and physician. His clinical expertise includes Chiari malformation, all forms of tethered spinal cord, pediatric brain tumors and congenital neurosurgery into adulthood. 

As creator and director of the Chiari CARE program, Dr. Greenfield has developed an international reputation caring for children and adults with Chiari malformation, tethered cord, syringomyelia, and other associated conditions such as craniocervical instability, CSF leaks, and hydrocephalus as part of a large multidisciplinary team.

For more information visit 

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Erin Welsh is joined by Dr. Jeffrey Port, a thoracic surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine, and a leader in thoracic surgical oncology, to discuss advances in minimally invasive robotic surgery and the unique collaborative care model that his program employs to operate on complex chest tumors.

When Dr. Port first started his career, the surgical techniques used to operate on lung cancer patients were akin to open heart surgery. But in recent years, his team has pioneered new techniques in thoracic surgery, specifically a minimally invasive single port robotic approach, which utilizes a multi-finger robotic hand to operate through one incision. Weill Cornell Medicine is currently one of only 10 centers nationwide using this technology for thoracic surgery, and the highest-volume center in the country that is performing these advanced procedures. Dr. Port also discusses the unique collaborative model his team utilizes to perform complex chest tumor surgeries which oftentimes require cardiopulmonary bypass. This combination of cutting edge surgical techniques, high case volume, and a multidisciplinary approach, is meaningfully expanding treatment options for patients who cannot be treated elsewhere.

Chapters: 

[00:00 - 04:39] Introduction to Thoracic Surgery

Dr. Port and Erin discuss the standard of care for thoracic surgery as it stood a few years ago and his pioneering use of robotics in single port thoracic surgery today. 

[04:39 - 09:06] Recovery Benefits of Single-Port Robotic Surgery

Dr. Port expands on how the technology differs from standard robotics and the recovery benefits of single-port robotic thoracic surgery. 

[09:06 - 13:20] NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine as Early Adopter of Innovative Technology

Dr. Port details his department’s efforts as a training facility, teaching surgeons and health care professionals from across the world the techniques and workflows that contribute to their success. 

[13:20 - 16:16] Multidisciplinary Approach as a Key to Cardiopulmonary Care

Dr. Port outlines how multi-specialty care allows his team to undertake very complex cases with success. 

[16:16 - 17:01] Credits

***
Dr. Jeffrey L. Port is a Professor of Thoracic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine and a leader in thoracic surgical oncology. For more than two decades, he has helped shape Weill Cornell’s robotic thoracic surgery program and played a central role in advancing both minimally invasive and complex, high-risk chest surgery. His clinical focus spans lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies, with particular expertise in robotic approaches and coordinated cardiac–thoracic procedures for patients with advanced disease. 

For more information visit nyp.org/Advances

On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh is joined by Dr. Mirella Mourad, maternal-fetal medicine specialist at NewYork-Presbyterian and co-director of the Preterm Birth Prevention Center at Columbia, to explore a groundbreaking new technology aimed at improving the diagnosis and treatment of preterm birth.

Preterm birth impacts approximately 1 in 10 pregnancies in the United States, making it a leading cause of neonatal complications and long-term health challenges. But despite its prevalence and associated risks, innovative solutions to address the condition have lagged behind. To address this gap, Dr. Mourad and her collaborator, Dr. Kristin Meyers, a professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia’s School of Engineering, are developing a new tool: a patient-specific “digital twin” of the cervix. This advanced technology has the potential to revolutionize obstetric care for patients, by allowing clinicians to test new treatment methods, collect data to better understand why certain people are at risk for preterm birth, and overall, catalyze innovation in the historically under-researched field of maternal-fetal medicine, ultimately helping to drive better outcomes and successful pregnancies. Dr. Mourad also discusses how this digital twin can potentially assist with identifying women with placenta accreta spectrum disorder, and inform more precise and proactive treatment plans for patients with this high-risk condition.

Chapters:

[00:00 - 4:24] The Prevalence of Pre-Term Birth

Dr. Mourad discusses the prevalence of pre-term birth and what drew her to obstetrics. 

[4:24 - 8:10] Room for Improvement in Diagnostics and Intervention

Dr. Mourad explains how pre-term birth is currently diagnosed and the limited tools for intervention. 

[8:10 - 13:00] The Digital Twin 

Dr. Mourad describes the “digital twin,”and how it can be used to simulate a patient’s biomechanics to better predict whether they may have a pre-term birth. 

[13:00 - 19:40] Looking Forward 

Dr. Mourad outlines how the use of AI and digital twins could not only help predict pre-term birth, but could also provide critical insights into testing new treatments and navigating other risky conditions like placenta accreta spectrum disorder. 

[19:40 - 20:25] Credits

***

Mirella Mourad, MD is the Co-Director of the Preterm Birth Prevention Center and a Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. She is particularly interested in the medical diseases that affect pregnancy, focusing on maternal cardiac conditions, autoimmune diseases, and surgical complications involving abnormal placentation. Dr. Mourad is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and a member of the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine.

For more information visit 

nyp.org/Advances

On this episode of Advances in Care, Erin Welsh is joined by Dr. Cara Agerstrand, director of the Medical ECMO Program at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia, and Dr. Matthew Baldwin, critical care specialist at NewYork-Presbyterian and research lead of Columbia’s Baldwin Lab which focuses on the study of critical illness survivorship. 

Thousands of people suffer from cardiopulmonary conditions such as cardiac arrest and severe respiratory illnesses in the United States every year, with many requiring mechanical ventilation and critical care in the ICU. To better serve these patients, NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia has built a renowned program to manage these patients on rescue therapies like extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), the most advanced form of cardiopulmonary life support. Since 2009, the team at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia has established an expertise to care for the sickest respiratory and cardiac failure patients with this technology, and has been at the forefront of utilization which has rapidly evolved from early pediatric use to post H1N1 and COVID surges. 

The standards of care for ECMO treatment and patient outcomes set by New York Presbyterian and Columbia over the past decade has earned them recognition as an ELSO Platinum Level Center of Excellence, one of only a few centers worldwide to have consistently achieved this status since it was first awarded. The team takes this expertise further through advanced research in The Baldwin Lab, which focuses on a variety of projects to better understand the biological factors of why some patients fully recover from ICU stays and others do not, as well as physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing for patients.

Chapters:

[00:00 - 4:07] ECMO and Post-Intensive Care Syndrome 

Dr. Agerstrand describes advances in ECMO care and Dr. Baldwin outlines his research in post-intensive care syndrome and targeted recovery efforts. 

[4:07 - 9:25] Refining ECMO

Dr. Agerstrand discusses how Columbia’s early ECMO adoption positioned them to refine techniques and set a new standard for its use in the ICU. 

[9:25 - 14:33] Recovery After Prolonged Critical Care

Dr. Baldwin explains the pressing need for continued care for patients discharged after receiving prolonged critical care, and his research connecting ongoing inflammation with slowed recovery. 

[14:33 - 19:01] Advancing Post-ICU Care 

Dr. Baldwin shares how his team has identified a hyper-inflammation biomarker with implications for post-ICU care and beyond. Dr. Agerstrand reflects on the rewarding aspects of an often challenging field. 

[19:01 - 19:41] Credits

***

Dr. Cara Agerstrand is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of the Medical ECMO Program at Columbia University Irving Medical Center / NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Agerstrand completed her Internal Medicine residency and Pulmonary & Critical Care fellowship at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. She is an elected member of the Steering Committee of the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization, a member of the ECMO and Mechanical Circulatory Support Domain Task Force of the American College of Chest Physicians and is extensively involved in clinical care, research, and educational efforts involving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal (ECCO2R). She has special interests in the use of ECMO for severe forms of the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), pulmonary hypertension and in pregnant and postpartum patients. Dr. Agerstrand is widely published and is an internationally invited speaker.

Dr. Matthew Baldwin, MD, MS, is a board-certified pulmonary and critical care physician and clinical investigator with a Masters in Biostatistics. Dr. Baldwin’s laboratory aims to improve critical illness survivorship. His research into survivors of acute respiratory failure works to elucidate the mechanisms of post-ICU frailty as therapeutic targets for improving physical recovery. He has identified frailty subtypes in acute respiratory failure survivors, and discovered that aging-related plasma biomarkers of inflammation, neuro-endocrinopathy, and muscle mitochondrial myopathy are potential therapeutic targets for post-ICU interventions. His research related to palliative care aims to improve ICU survivorship, and he has developed novel palliative care interventions for mechanical ventilation patients, such as chaplain-led communication-board-guided spiritual care.

For more information visit nyp.org/Advances

On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh is joined by Dr. Scott Tagawa, medical oncologist at NewYork-Presbyterian and director of the Genitourinary Oncology Program at Weill Cornell Medicine, to talk about the latest developments in prostate cancer care. 

On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh is joined by Dr. Scott Tagawa, medical oncologist at NewYork-Presbyterian and director of the Genitourinary Oncology Program at Weill Cornell Medicine, to talk about the latest developments in prostate cancer care. 

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men after skin cancer, with 5-10% of patients presenting with metastasis at the time of diagnosis. Advancing treatment options for men with metastatic disease remains a critical priority in oncology. To address this challenge, Dr. Tagawa recently led a promising Phase III randomized trial– called PSMAddition– to assess radioligand therapy, a subset of targeted radionuclide therapy, or TRT. This new therapeutic agent, lutetium PSMA-617, is being tested in men with hormone-sensitive metastatic prostate cancer. Radioligand therapy works by seeking prostate-specific membrane antigens (PSMAs) to deliver radiation to prostate cells throughout the body while minimizing surrounding damage that other therapies can sometimes cause. The results from the PSMAddition trial were significant. The addition of TRT in addition to standard hormone treatment slowed cancer progression by 28%, yielded notable declines in PSA levels, and proved benefits across patient subgroups. The PSMAddition trial is the first to analyze the use of this treatment regimen earlier in care and could potentially redefine the standard of care for patients with metastatic prostate cancer. 

While metastatic prostate cancer remains incurable, combination strategies incorporating PSMA-targeted therapy represent  a promising pathway for expanding the quality and quantity of life for patients, and may prove beneficial as a first-line treatment. 

This breakthrough trial builds on 25 years of innovation in prostate cancer research at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine, where foundational discoveries helped advance the development of PSA and PSMA-targeting agents that are now transforming cancer care.

Chapters:

[00:00 - 5:07] The Challenges of Early Detection in Prostate Cancer

Dr. Tagawa shares his perspective on why historically prostate cancer has been difficult to detect and treat. 

[5:07 - 10:09] Advances in Detection and Treatment 

Dr. Tagawa outlines the recent advancements in PSMA PET scans for prostate cancer detection and radioligand therapy for targeted treatment (TRT). 

[10:09 - 15:13] Promising Phase III PSMAddition Trial Results

Dr. Tagawa discusses the results of his recent Phase III PSMAddition trial, which showed the meaningful impact of implementing TRT earlier in metastatic prostate cancer treatment. 

[15:13 - 15:54] Credits

***

Scott T. Tagawa, MD, MS, FACP, FASCO, is a Professor of Medicine and Urology at Weill Cornell Medicine, and an Attending Physician at NewYork-Presbyterian – Weill Cornell Medical Center. His research covers clinical and translational investigations in genitourinary tumors and thrombosis (blood clotting) in people with cancer. As the Medical Director of the Genitourinary Oncology Research Program, Dr. Tagawa leads clinical trials in the areas of prostate, kidney, and bladder cancer as well as the prevention and treatment of thrombosis with cancer. He specializes in drug development and theranostics in prostate cancer. Dr. Tagawa also serves as leader of the GU Disease Management Team and co-leader of the Experimental Therapeutics Program of the Meyer Cancer Center. He is the WCM principal investigator for the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology (formerly CALGB), serving on the Board of Directors and as a funded member of the Genitourinary Committee.

For more information visit 

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On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh sits down with Dr. Thomas Bottiglieri, chief of the primary care sports medicine division at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia, to discuss the evolving landscape of concussion care– from prevalence to emerging diagnostic breakthroughs. 

With over 2 million estimated concussions occurring annually in the United States, and many of them affecting young athletes, Dr. Bottiglieri and his colleagues have sought to develop a more accurate and accessible way to objectively diagnose concussion. While a single injury may not cause long term issues, research shows that repeated head trauma– and lack of proper care– can lead to premature neurodegeneration. 

During their research to improve diagnostic measures, Dr. Bottiglieri and his team discovered a biomarker associated with severe concussions: a subtle tremor of the head and neck that becomes amplified when a concussed patient tries to visually focus on a target. 

This discovery led to the development of ProScope, an innovative eyetracking software tool that measures head and neck stability and can detect the diagnostic biomarker with over 80% sensitivity. With the advent of these tools, clinicians can now, for the first time, objectively measure concussion. A former competitive athlete himself, Dr. Bottiglieri hopes that the ProScope tool can become commercially available to improve access to cost-effective diagnosis, ensuring that athletes– or anyone with a head injury– can recover safely and return to the activities they love. 

Chapters:

[00:00 - 3:09] Improving Concussion Diagnostics 

Dr. Bottiglieri shares how his own experience with a sports related concussion informs his approach with patients and motivates him to improve concussion diagnostics. 

[3:09 - 8:31] Discovering a Biomarker for Severe Concussion 

Dr. Bottiglieri explains how most concussions are diagnosed by patients self-reporting rather than quantifiable clinical signs and how his recent research has identified a new biomarker associated with severe concussions. 

[8:31 - 13:00] The ProScope Tool

Dr. Bottiglieri describes the development of the ProScope, a tool used to detect the diagnostic biomarker with 80% sensitivity, and his hopes to collaborate with other institutions to expand injury data to further refine it. 

[13:00 - 16:35] Expanding Access 

Dr. Bottiglieri discusses how he hopes to make the ProScope commercially available to more accurately diagnose concussion on the field and avoid repetitive head trauma. 

[16:35 - 17:21] Credits 

***

Thomas S. Bottiglieri, D.O. is a sports medicine physician specializing in the management of orthopedic injuries and disorders impacting athletes at all skill levels from adolescents to seniors. In addition to treating the full spectrum of muscle, bone, tendon, and joint injuries, Dr. Bottiglieri is a nationally recognized expert in the field of concussion care. His practice stresses shared decision-making with patients and their families and uses the latest medical technology, evidence-based sports medicine, and a compassionate, patient-centered approach.

For more information visit nyp.org/Advances

On the final episode of 2025, host Erin Welsh is joined by Courtney Allison, host of NewYork-Presbyterian’s health and wellness podcast, Health Matters, to recap the year’s highlights from their dozens of conversations with clinicians, researchers, and health care specialists from Columbia & Weill Cornell Medicine. They highlight key takeaways, revisit groundbreaking treatments that were pioneered across the institution, and discuss several research updates that are shaping the future of medicine for both physicians and patients.  

For more information visit nyp.org/Advances

For any patient diagnosed with depression for the first time, the recommended course of treatment is the same: a medication like a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), an evidence based psychotherapy, or both. But there is a large group of people for whom these treatments simply won't work. That’s where Dr. Conor Liston and his team focus. In this episode from the Advances in Care archives, Dr. Liston speaks with former host Catherine Price about his work mapping the brain is helping doctors better understand where depression is impacting certain brain structures and what that means for the symptoms patients present. Dr. Liston’s work is focused on identifying how these symptoms impact patients' brains and using those findings to identify the best treatment approach.

Since this episode aired, Dr. Liston and his colleagues have continued to build on their research regarding a specific region of the brain called the “salience network.” They found that the salience network was considerably larger in people with clinical depression than in those without, and that people with larger salience networks in childhood were more likely to develop depression later in life. Their research points to an enlarged salience network as the first objective biomarker for diagnosing depression, which could revolutionize how depression is treated, and allow for intervention even before symptoms develop.

In this episode from the Advances in Care archives, Dr. Pierre Elias sits down with Catherine Price to talk about how utilizing technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning can help diagnose patients even before symptoms develop, and support doctors by freeing them up to focus on providing personalized care to their patients. They discuss navigating bias in both artificial intelligence and clinical care, and how new technology will improve the future of medicine.

Since this episode aired, Dr. Elias and his collaborators expanded their research involving AI and cardiac care, developing tools for detecting mitral regurgitation and heart failure.

Additionally, a team at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia used AI as a fertility treatment for azoospermia, and NewYork-Presbyterian deepened its commitment to developing applications of AI in medicine through a $2 billion campaign to invest in talent and technology.

For more information visit nyp.org/Advances

With perspectives spanning hepatobiliary, gynecologic, and cardiac surgeries, NewYork-Presbyterian’s Dr. Jason Hawksworth (Columbia), Dr. Tamatha Fenster (Weill Cornell Medicine), and Dr. Arnar Geirsson (Columbia) describe how they each came to incorporate robotics into their practices. One of the biggest takeaways: robotic surgeries allow for more accuracy in minimally-invasive approaches; so patients experience shorter hospital stays and quicker recoveries, even after major procedures. But there are some limitations to robotic surgeries that the doctors are still navigating. Dr. Fenster discusses how there are haptics limitations in robotic surgery. As a result, she shares more about her innovative smartHER 3D MRI program that is addressing this issue and details how her and her team are developing a way of holographically projecting 3D MRIs over patients to help guide surgeons while they operate.

Since this episode aired, a team at Weill Cornell Medicine performed the first fully robotic liver transplant in the state of New York, and the Robotic Cardiac Surgery Program at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia completed over 100 robotic heart surgeries. Additionally, Dr. Tamatha Fenster put smartHER 3D MRI technology into practice.

For more information visit nyp.org/Advances

Catherine Price and Dr. Emile Bacha, Chief of the Division of Cardiac, Thoracic, and Vascular Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia discuss the history of heart surgery, ventricular assist devices, and a new frontier in cardiac surgery: The Total Artificial Heart. Dr. Bacha tells the groundbreaking story of successfully fitting a pediatric patient with a Total Artificial Heart. He explains the nuances of the procedure, and how a backpack-powered heart gave his pediatric patient another chance.

In 2023, Dr. Bacha led a team to complete the first domino infant partial heart transplant in the world. Surgeons in his division also completed the first split-root domino transplant in the northeast, saving the lives of three young patients. Most recently, Dr. Bacha became the 106th president of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery.

For more information visit nyp.org/Advances

Dr. Chris Ahmad knows firsthand how devastating an untimely injury can be for a young athlete. In this episode from the Advances in Care archives, Dr. Ahmad discusses how his own college soccer injury led him to fall in love with orthopedics. He tells the history of the infamous baseball injury that resulted in the invention of Tommy John surgery, and shares how he learned to perform the corrective procedure from the man who designed it. Dr. Ahmad chronicles his endeavors to innovate orthopedic surgery and get athletes back onto the field stronger – both physically and mentally.

Since this episode aired, Dr. Ahmed and his colleagues at NewYork-Presbyterian have taken Tommy John surgery to new heights. They’ve introduced an innovative approach to the procedure called Triple Tommy John Surgery, or TJ3. TJ3 combines ULC repair with reconstruction techniques, offering faster recovery with fewer setbacks and better career longevity for these world class athletes.

For more information visit nyp.org/Advances

On this episode of Advances in Care, we return to the high-intensity environment of New York City’s emergency departments with Dr. Angela Mills and Dr. Brenna Farmer. Host Erin Welsh hears from these leaders at NewYork-Presbyterian about how they are implementing innovative strategies to meet the challenges of the behavioral health emergencies epidemic.

Dr. Brenna Farmer, chief of emergency medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist, and Dr. Angela Mills, chief of emergency medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia, bring us inside the emergency departments they lead to explain the challenges that their staff face in meeting the needs of severely decompensated patients. From disruptions in the flow of care, to potentially violent outbursts, their teams navigate these issues against the backdrop of an already complex operational environment.

Dr. Farmer tells us how she has implemented an innovative protocol called BERT– the Behavioral Health Response Team– in the Brooklyn Methodist Emergency Department, which is rolling out across the NewYork-Presbyterian system. BERT allows ED teams to better address  behavioral health patients, leading to more robust support for staff, and quicker, more comprehensive patient care overall, including connecting them to much needed outpatient resources. Finally, Dr. Farmer and Dr. Mills share additional strategies they employ to support their own well-being– and that of their medical teams– as they face difficult cases, plus their personal reasons for working in this unique field.

***

Dr. Angela M. Mills is a nationally recognized leader and expert in emergency medicine. She serves as the inaugural chair of the newly designated Department of Emergency Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and chief of Emergency Medicine Services at NewYork-Presbyterian. 

Dr. Brenna M. Farmer is Chief of Emergency Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital and vice chair for the Department of Emergency Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. She is also an assistant associate professor of clinical emergency medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Farmer is a nationally recognized medical toxicology expert and frequent keynote speaker on quality improvement, patient safety, and medication safety.

For more information visit nyp.org/Advances.

On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh hears from two emergency department chiefs at NewYork-Presbyterian about how they optimize operations in their uniquely high-intensity, high-volume EDs.

Dr. Angela Mills, chief of emergency medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia, and Dr. Brenna Farmer, chief of emergency medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist, both lead large medical teams in high-volume, New York City emergency departments. They discuss what makes New York City such a unique environment for emergency care, from its massive population and cultural complexity, to the severity and array of traumas that can come through the ED doors each day. Then, they share stories behind the life-saving care they provide, and explain why the collaborative spirit and excitement of the emergency room keeps them coming back to work every day.

Dr. Mills and Dr. Farmer also describe some of the ways that they continuously optimize operations in their departments, including addressing language barriers and providing specialized care for patients with complex cardiac needs. Their goal is to ensure that their staff can navigate the organized intensity of the emergency medicine environment without missing a beat.

In our next episode, Dr. Mills and Dr. Farmer return to discuss how their departments are piloting innovative strategies to address the growing behavioral health epidemic that is affecting EDs across the country.

***

Dr. Angela M. Mills is a nationally recognized leader and expert in emergency medicine. She serves as the inaugural chair of the newly designated Department of Emergency Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and chief of Emergency Medicine Services at NewYork-Presbyterian. 

Dr. Brenna M. Farmer is Chief of Emergency Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital and vice chair for the Department of Emergency Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. She is also an associate professor of clinical emergency medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Farmer is a nationally recognized medical toxicology expert and frequent keynote speaker on quality improvement, patient safety, and medication safety.

For more information visit nyp.org/Advances.

When her own experience with a complicated pregnancy reignited an interest in medicine and science, Dr. Lauren Osborne left her career in publishing to pursue medical school. Now a reproductive psychiatrist, Dr. Osborne leads the way in researching the connection between immune system dysregulation, stress reactivity, and the role of allopregnanolone in mood and anxiety disorders, particularly in pregnant and postpartum women. In this episode from the Advances In Care archives, she discusses how her expansive research is getting us one step closer to decoding perinatal mood disorders, and she calls for increased training in reproductive psychiatry to help OBGYNs better treat their patients.

Since this episode aired Dr. Osborne and her colleagues have taken their research on perinatal mood disorders one step further. They conducted the first comprehensive study of the metabolic pathway of the hormone progesterone to pinpoint alterations that could predict which women are at a higher risk of postpartum depression, or PD. They are hopeful that their findings will lead to the development of a blood test that could be used during pregnancy to predict PD and identify which patients may benefit from prophylactic treatment.

For more information visit nyp.org/Advances

On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh speaks with Dr. Zev Williams, Chief of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Fertility at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia and Director of the Columbia University Fertility Center. Recently, Dr. Williams and a team of researchers and clinicians used artificial intelligence to develop a system called STAR, or Sperm Track and Recovery, which combines advanced imaging with innovations in microfluidic chip technology to more accurately identify and capture sperm in samples from patients with azoospermia – a condition that often leaves men with untraceable numbers of sperm in their semen.

Dr. Williams explains that some azoospermia patients might have two or three sperm cells as opposed to the typical two or three million and having human researchers looking for those cells under a microscope is painstaking and rarely leads to success. Inspired by the AI-powered technology that astrophysicists use to find stars, Dr. Williams and his colleagues set out to build a tool that could help embryologists not only find those few sperm in a field of cell debris, but also collect them gently for future fertilization in an expedited manner.

The effort took five years of research and development, along with a collaborative bench-to-bedside research approach that Dr. Williams says is unique to the Columbia University Fertility Center. But the work paid off, resulting in a successful pregnancy and a promising example of how AI will continue to transform reproductive medicine.

***

Dr. Zev Williams is the Wendy D. Havens Associate Professor of Women's Health at Columbia and the Chief of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia University Irving Medical Center. As a physician scientist, Dr. Williams' focus has been on helping those suffering from recurrent pregnancy loss and infertility and developing novel technologies and treatments to improve patient success.

For more information visit nyp.org/Advances

On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh hears from Dr. Meghna Trivedi, an oncologist at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia, who is spearheading new research to assess cancer patients’ risk of developing chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy–an all too common side effect of cancer treatment.

Dr. Trivedi describes a study that she and her team undertook to identify and assess patient risk for developing a specific type of chemotherapy-induced neuropathy called TIPN, which is caused by taxanes, a commonly used chemotherapy drug. Based on this SWOG trial, known as S1714, physicians are better able to monitor at-risk patients for these side effects and adjust their treatment regimens accordingly.

Then, Dr. Trivedi explains how her team–also led by Dr. Daniel Hertz, PharmD, PhD at the University of Michigan–was recently awarded a prestigious R37 grant to identify a biomarker for TIPN.  This study, which she co-leads with Dr. Daniel Hertz, PharmD, PhD at the University of Michigan, will help doctors understand the mechanisms for why TIPN develops in the first place, and will be a critical step forward in creating targeted therapies to treat this disease before it starts.

Finally, Dr. Trivedi dives into the clinical trials her team is currently conducting to identify new therapeutic approaches to address and prevent the effects of neuropathy, such as cryotherapy.

***

Dr. Meghna Trivedi, is a medical oncologist at NewYork-Presbyterian and co-leads the Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Program at Columbia’s Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary initiative aimed at screening, preventing, diagnosing, and treating hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. This innovative program brings together the resources of a world-renowned academic institution, including cutting-edge genomic testing, clinical trials, and experts in hereditary cancers across different specialties. Dr. Trivedi’s research and care expertise also includes cancer genetics and genomics, precision medicine, and chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy. She is the principal investigator on several clinical trials, and has authored numerous publications in leading peer-reviewed journals.

To learn more about the SWOG trial visit swog.org/clinical-trials/s1714

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On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh hears from Dr. Juan P. Rocca, a transplant surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine, who recently led the first fully robotic liver transplant in New York.

Dr. Rocca details the recent developments in robotic surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine’s Division of Liver Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery, including an ongoing push to advance from laparoscopic and open surgical methods, and now to robotics. He explains why the robotic approach is optimal for complex liver surgeries, and discusses how he and his team have been training to make robotic living donor hepatectomies a standard in their department.

Then, Dr. Rocca breaks down the process of the liver transplant operation that became the first fully robotic execution in New York. He describes the most critical steps of the procedure, how it felt to achieve this milestone, and the example that he hopes to set for other institutions beyond NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine.

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Dr. Juan Rocca is the Surgical Director of the Weill Cornell Liver Cancer Program and an attending surgeon in the Division of Liver Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine. He was an early adopter of laparoscopic techniques for major hepatectomy and later transitioned to robotic surgery for complex liver procedures in patients with chronic liver disease. At Weill Cornell Medicine, he led the development of a comprehensive robotic liver surgery program, encompassing liver cancer resections, living liver donation, and the state's first fully robotic liver transplant

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On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh and Dr. Joel Gabre, a gastroenterologist at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia who specializes in cancer care, discuss the ongoing rise in colorectal cancer rates among younger individuals. Dr. Gabre lays out trends observed by the medical community in colorectal cancer rates, including the increasing likelihood by birth cohort for patients to develop this disease. He also talks about the main differences in colorectal cancer for patients from these different cohorts, most notably the location where cancers are likely to develop in the colon.

Dr. Gabre also shares some of the leading hypotheses for why colon cancer rates are rising in younger people, and that clinicians and researchers are focused on searching for answers to improve prevention and treatment options. He gets into the importance of the western diet in developing these forms of cancer and shares details about his team’s recent findings regarding changes at the cellular level that could be contributing to the accelerated growth of these cancers.

Finally, Dr. Gabre speaks to his personal experiences as a gastroenterologist who has seen first hand the rise in colon cancer rates among his patients. He shares a story of what motivated him to begin researching the cellular mechanisms driving colorectal cancer in young people, with the hope of finding a solution.

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Dr. Joel Gabre is a gastroenterologist and GI cancer genetics specialist interested in studying diseases of the upper GI tract with particular focus on the esophagus. He completed his undergraduate degree at Johns Hopkins University in biophysics, medical degree at the University of Maryland, internal medicine residency at the University of Cincinnati, and gastroenterology fellowship and post-doctoral research fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was chief GI fellow. He currently serves as Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases and as a member of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia.

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On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh talks to Dr. David Majure, a cardiologist and heart failure specialist at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine. Together they discuss the rapid rise in GLP-1 research over the past few years, indicating new applications for these therapies to help a wide variety of patients. They explore how GLP-1s work on a molecular level, and how using them to treat diabetes revealed other potential cardiovascular benefits.

Dr. Majure highlights several  recent studies that explore the effects of semaglutide and tirzepatide on patients with heart failure, particularly those with preserved ejection fraction. This new research demonstrates that GLP-1s can be an effective treatment beyond diabetes, helping with weight management and cardiovascular disease. Dr. Majure breaks down what effects doctors can expect to see in patients who are prescribed GLP-1s, including the difference in outcomes between semaglutide and tirzepatide. He also notes the potential risk factors, cautioning that while these medications are effective, the focus in addressing heart disease should always remain on prevention.

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Dr. David Majure is the Medical Director of the Heart Transplant Service at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine. He specializes in the care of patients with heart failure, patients requiring or who have a heart transplant or ventricular assist device (LVAD), and patients with pulmonary hypertension. He has contributed extensively to research and has served as principal investigator in multiple clinical trials, exploring all aspects of advanced heart failure. Dr. Majure has been recognized as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor since 2020.

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On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh and cardiologist Dr. Diala Steitieh discuss the current landscape of care for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy — or HCM — the most common genetic heart disorder. Dr. Steitieh outlines the advantages of genetic screenings for patients who have HCM, along with the symptoms and risks if the condition is left undiagnosed or unmanaged.

She expands on the importance of understanding obstructive vs. non-obstructive conditions and the importance of making a precise diagnosis to get a clear sense of each patient’s severity. Dr. Steitieh and her team recently implemented a new approach to their diagnostic imaging protocol called goal-directed Valsalva. With this emerging tool in the landscape of cardiology, they are able to get a better sense of an obstruction impacting blood flow, and ultimately offer a wider variety of treatment options.

Beyond diagnosis, Dr. Steitieh also shares her excitement about updates to the management of HCM, including recently approved drugs and new guidelines regarding sports & exercise. She and her team at Weill Cornell Medicine are in the process of becoming a designated Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association Center of Excellence, a development that Dr. Steitieh hopes will improve access to care for patients in New York and beyond.

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Dr. Diala Steitieh is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, and the Director of the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy program in the Division of Cardiology at Weill Cornell Medical College and New York Presbyterian Hospital. She has a background in sports cardiology and also cares for patients with a wide array of cardiovascular diseases, including coronary disease and valvular heart disease. Dr. Steitieh also serves as an attending physician on the inpatient services at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, including the intensive care unit and cardiac units.

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On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh talks to Dr. Andrew Goldstone and Dr. David Kalfa, pediatric cardiac surgeons at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia, about their groundbreaking heart transplant that saved the lives of three separate children. It was the first time doctors at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital performed a split-root domino partial heart transplant. In this procedure, one child was transplanted with a new heart and their original heart was used to donate living pulmonary and aortic valves to two separate recipients in need.

Dr. Goldstone, Dr. Kalfa and the rest of the team at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia had previous experience with a handful of domino partial heart transplants where one patient is transplanted with a new heart and another receives a valve from the explanted heart. Those experiences helped prepare for the split-root domino, which took nearly 24 hours of extremely coordinated care. In addition to their efforts to increase the number of domino heart transplants being done, physician-researchers at the institution are leading new studies that are  also helping improve living valve procurement and storage, allowing more children to receive heart valves that will grow with them and require less surgeries.

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Dr. Andrew Goldstone is the Surgical Director of Heart Transplant and Mechanical Circulatory Support and Director of the Valve Transplant Program at Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian. He has been recognized nationally and internationally for his clinical and basic science research.  In the lab, he focuses on mechanisms underlying collateral artery formation and cardiac regeneration. His long-term goal is to continue adding high-level evidence to better inform the surgical treatment of pediatric and adult cardiovascular disease.

Dr. David Kalfa is a Board-certified cardiothoracic surgeon with a subspecialization in pediatric cardiac surgery. He is also a researcher focusing in the field of growing heart valves and growth accommodating heart valves.

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On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh and Dr. Moeun Son, OB/GYN and Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialist at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine, discuss Dr. Son’s perspective on treating patients who face a high-risk pregnancy and might need a caesarian delivery.

Dr. Son explains that even though c-sections are a highly common and safe delivery option for many women, they’re not often not the top option in a woman’s birth plan, and don’t carry the same benefits as natural labor. She outlines the standard methods for labor induction to prevent the necessity of a c-section, which includes the administration of a synthetic form of the hormone oxytocin.

Beyond her work with patients, Dr. Son is also passionate about researching alternative methods for labor induction and preventing unnecessary c-sections. She and her colleagues designed a study to promote natural oxytocin release through nipple stimulation – mimicking breastfeeding through the use of a hospital grade breast pump. The success of that treatment eventually led to the The Stimulation To Induce Mothers Study – or STIM Study. Today, it’s an ongoing trial that aims to compare the effectiveness of natural oxytocin versus synthetic oxytocin in helping women give birth vaginally.

Dr. Son hopes that this research will broaden birthing options for women experiencing a high-risk pregnancy, and add more safe and effective treatment methods to the field of women’s health.

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Dr. Moeun Son is board-certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Maternal-Fetal Medicine. In her practice, she focuses on women with high-risk pregnancies, from pre-existing maternal conditions to babies with health anomalies. She is the principal investigator on many clinical research projects, including various randomized clinical trials. Dr. Son also serves as the Program Director of the MFM Fellowship Program at Weill Cornell

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On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh and Dr. Karan Dua, an orthopedic surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia, discuss novel approaches to shoulder surgery, including transferring donor tendons to the upper extremity with arthroscopic tools. Dr. Dua shares his passion developing personalized treatments that get to the root cause of a wide range of shoulder issues.

Dr. Dua explains the importance of the scapula and what happens when its range of motion is abnormal, or out of alignment. He talks about his process for balancing the scapula to relieve pain in his patients, who are often young and suffering from pain due to injuries from work or sports.

He also discusses the difference between shoulder replacement – a common treatment for patients with arthritis – and shoulder reanimation. Dr. Dua is skilled in shoulder reanimation, and describes how he performs tendon transfers to preserve a patient’s joints and allow them to restore movement of their shoulder. Using arthroscopic instruments, Dr. Dua collects a donor tendon either from another part of the patient’s body or from a cadaver, and replaces the injured tendon with a healthy one.

Dr. Dua hopes to develop a robust scapula program at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia that offers targeted treatment for patients suffering from a range of upper extremity issues.

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Dr. Karan Dua is an orthopedic surgeon specializing in the treatment of structures affecting the form and function of the entire arm. He is dual trained in hand, upper extremity, and microvascular surgery, and in shoulder and elbow surgery. He has an avid interest in open and arthroscopic tendon transfers of the shoulder, complex reconstructions after failed surgery, arthroscopic and minimally invasive techniques for nerve decompression including the brachial plexus and around the shoulder blade, and tendon transfers for scapular winging.

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On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh first hears from Dr. Richard Friedman, a clinical psychiatrist at NewYork-Presbyterian and Director of the Psychopharmacology Clinic at Weill Cornell Medicine. Using his background in psychopharmacology, Dr. Friedman distinguishes between psychedelics and standard antidepressants like SSRIs and SNRIs, explaining the various mechanisms in the brain that respond uniquely to psychedelic compounds. While both methods of treatment involve serotonin stimulation, psychedelics are the only known drug to shut off the brain’s Default Mode Network, which is the group of brain regions that are active when a person is not thinking about external stimuli. Dr. Friedman also identifies that the challenge of proving efficacy of psychedelic therapy lies in the question of how to design a clinical trial that gives patients a convincing placebo.

To learn more about the challenges of trial design, Erin also speaks to Dr. David Hellerstein, a research psychiatrist at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia. Dr. Hellerstein contributed to a 2022 trial of synthetic psilocybin in patients with treatment resistant depression. He and his colleagues took a unique approach to dosing patients so that they could better understand the response rates of patients who use psychedelic therapy. The results of that trial underscore an emerging pattern in the field of psychiatry – that while psychedelic therapy has its risks, it’s also a promising alternative treatment for countless psychiatric disorders. Dr. Hellerstein also shares more about the future of clinical research on psychedelic therapies to potentially treat a range of mental health disorders.

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Dr. Richard Friedman is a professor of clinical psychiatry and is actively involved in clinical research of mood disorders. In particular, he is involved in several ongoing randomized clinical trials of both approved and investigational drugs for the treatment of major depression, chronic depression, and dysthymia.

Dr. David J. Hellerstein directs the Depression Evaluation Service at Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, which conducts studies on the medication and psychotherapy treatment of conditions including major depression, chronic depression, and bipolar disorder.

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On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh and Dr. Serge Przedborski, Chief of the Division of Movement Disorders at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia, discuss what happens in the brains of patients with Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Przedborski came to Columbia thirty two years ago and has spent that time researching why some neurons in the brain die while others live in people who suffer from the condition – and he’s learned a lot. With the help of the New York Brain Bank at Columbia, his lab has been able to map out what the neuronal patterns of death look like with the goal of using these brain maps to develop novel treatments that seek to address the progression of Parkinson’s rather than just treating the symptoms, which is how all current treatments work.

Dr. Przedborksi also shares updates on new gene therapies that are being investigated across the institution to replace Deep Brain Stimulation – a common treatment for Parkinson’s where a wire is placed in the brain. While these gene therapy treatments are still invasive, the technology behind them is constantly improving and will likely lead to significant benefits to patients

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Dr. Przedborski’s ongoing research aims at understanding the contributions of cell-autonomous and non cell-autonomous mechanisms to neurodegeneration using both toxic and genetic experimental models of Parkinson’s Disease and ALS. In keeping with this goal, how alterations in mitochondrial biology, especially of mitochondrial dynamics and mitophagy, provoke degeneration of specific subpopulations of neurons is one of the main areas of research in the Przedborski laboratory. To what extent and by which mechanisms do non-neuronal cells, like microglia and astrocytes, participate in the demise of neurons in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s and ALS, represent a second main line of research in this laboratory. These research efforts are supported by federal grants from both NIH and the DoD as well as by several private agencies such as the Parkinson's Disease Foundation and the Thomas Hartman Foundation.

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On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh explores the story behind the GUARDIAN study, where thousands of newborn babies have been screened against rare disease by sequencing their genes, and looking  for more conditions than any of the current standard screening panels. First, she hears from Dr. Jordan Orange, Physician-in-Chief at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia, about why genetic testing is a promising way of not only catching treatable rare diseases in infants, but also expanding health equity and medical resources to marginalized populations.

Erin also hears from Dr. Josh Milner, a pediatric immunologist who treated a patient with a rare form of SCID, or severe combined immune deficiency, also known as bubble boy disease that was detected in the GUARDIAN screening panel. SCID is a disease that typically occurs in 1 of 50,000 babies. But GUARDIAN caught two cases within the first 10,000 babies involved in the program, indicating that the rate of the disease might be higher than expected, and that the most accurate way to detect is through genetic screening.

Dr. Steven Lobritto, a pediatric gastroenterologist, also weighs in on how genetic screening can help identify Wilson’s disease, a copper storage disorder that causes liver damage when left unchecked. And Dr. Eric Silver, a pediatric electrophysiologist, discusses how the program detected a heart rhythm disorder called Long QT Syndrome for both a newborn baby and their father.

Finally, Erin gets the big-picture takeaways from Dr. Orange, who reflects on what the results of GUARDIAN could mean for the future of newborn screening and health policy, and how he hopes to see genetic testing expand research and treatment of rare diseases.

Since recording this episode, Dr. Orange has taken on the role of pediatrician-in-chief of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Under his leadership, the department of pediatrics received consistent funding for research projects, reaching its highest level in 2024. This podcast conversation is a direct reflection of his team’s commitment to advancing children’s health at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia.

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On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh and Dr. Markus Mapara, Director of the Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cell Therapy Program at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia, discuss the current challenges in treating sickle cell disease and how newly FDA approved gene editing treatments are leading to new treatment pathways. Dr. Mapara covers two new gene editing approaches, explaining that both involve editing stem cells and reintroducing them to patients’ bodies to curb the sickling of red blood cells. He also helps listeners to understand the difference between the two: one gene therapy uses CRISPR technology to help the body create fetal hemoglobin which mitigates cell sickling while the other uses a lentiviral vector to edit stem cells to produce anti-sickling hemoglobin that’s similar to fetal hemoglobin once reintroduced to the body. 

Dr. Mapara also goes into the innovative work that the Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cell Therapy Program is doing with CAR-T cell therapies. And he shares how these advancements in treating sickle cell disease will have a significant impact on how physicians approach treating patients.

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Dr. Mapara is a Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center and the Director of the Blood and Marrow Transplantation (BMT)/Cell Therapy Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. He specializes in the care of patients with sickle cell disease and certain blood cancers (Multiple Myeloma, Amyloidosis) undergoing bone marrow transplantation and gene therapy.  His research is focused on developing novel approaches to make bone marrow transplantation and cell therapy safer for patients.. 

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On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh and Dr. Craig Smith, Chair of the Department of Surgery and Surgeon-in-Chief at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia discuss the highlights of Dr. Smith’s 40+ year career as a cardiac surgeon and how the culture of Columbia has been a catalyst for innovation in cardiac care. Dr. Smith describes the excitement of helping to pioneer the institution’s heart transplant program in the 1980s, when it was just one of only three hospitals in the country practicing heart transplantation.

Dr. Smith also explains how a unique collaboration with Columbia’s cardiology team led to the first of several groundbreaking trials, called PARTNER (Placement of AoRTic TraNscatheteR Valve), which paved the way for a monumental treatment for aortic stenosis — the most common heart valve disease that is lethal if left untreated. During the trial, Dr. Smith worked closely with Dr. Martin B. Leon, Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Chief Innovation Officer and the Director of the Cardiovascular Data Science Center for the Division of Cardiology. Their findings elevated TAVR, or transcatheter aortic valve replacement, to eventually become the gold-standard for aortic stenosis patients at all levels of illness severity and surgical risk. Today, an experienced team of specialists at Columbia treat TAVR patients with a combination of advancements including advanced replacement valve materials, three-dimensional and ECG imaging, and a personalized approach to cardiac care.

Finally, Dr. Smith shares his thoughts on new frontiers of cardiac surgery, like the challenge of repairing the mitral and tricuspid valves, and the promising application of robotic surgery for complex, high-risk operations. He reflects on life after he retires from operating, and shares his observations of how NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia have evolved in the decades since he began his residency.

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Join host Erin Welsh as she talks with NewYork-Presbyterian physicians from Columbia & Weill Cornell Medicine about how they are solving some of the most challenging and complex cases in medicine. Together, they discuss groundbreaking discoveries, novel treatments, and the dedication to providing compassionate patient care. This is a show for medical professionals interested in how cutting-edge research and innovations are transforming the future of health care.

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On this episode of Health Matters, Faith Salie talks with Dr. Benjamin Lebwohl, a gastroenterologist at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia. He’s also the Director of Clinical Research at Columbia’s Celiac Disease Center, and an expert on the connections between gastrointestinal health and the other systems in our body that rely on good digestion for their function. He describes how GI diseases like Celiac have implications for mental health, and what anyone can do to support their digestive health.

Dr. Melissa Frey, a gynecologic oncologist at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine, has a genuine passion for the power of genetic testing because she knows that it can completely change the direction of her patient’s lives for the better. As a leader in the field, she helped launch a unique screening program with multi-disciplinary expertise and counseling, the Genetics and Personalized Cancer Prevention Center at Weill Cornell Medicine. The center not only helps patients gain access to genetic testing to assess their risk of cancers but it also uses cascade testing to contact their relatives and help them get genetic testing too. In doing so, the center is working to identify more people whose lives haven't yet been affected by cancer and help them take preventive action based on their risk. In many cases this can mean avoiding a life threatening illness. 

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The field of lung transplantation is relatively new with widespread lung transplants beginning in the early 1980s. Throughout the last forty years, it is a field that has rapidly evolved with drastic changes in lung allocation, or deciding who will receive the next available lungs for transplantation. Dr. Selim Arcasoy has led the NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia Lung Transplant Program through these changes since 2001. Thanks to his dedication to improving lung allocation and foundational research, the program has been a catalyst in changing how lung allocation works in New York and beyond. These policies, in conjunction with Dr. Arcasoy's talented team, clinical research and state of the art tools, have led to greater numbers of patients receiving life-saving transplants.

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In 2012, Dr. Lisa Roth had just landed her dream job as a research scientist and attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine. But her world came to a screeching halt when she discovered a swollen lymph node on her neck, and was soon diagnosed with the exact type of cancer that she had dedicated her career to studying and treating: Hodgkin Lymphoma. After that experience, Dr. Roth was more determined than ever to uncover the biology of this notoriously difficult to study cancer. Dr. Roth, now Director of Pediatric Oncology and Associate Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics, Medicine and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine, tells the story of how she and her team became the first researchers to sequence the entire Hodgkin Lymphoma genome, opening doors for precision and preventative treatment options.

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Monitoring patients with aneurysmal rupture for delayed cerebral ischemia was historically a numbers game. It was difficult for doctors to predict outcomes in the weeks that followed their rupture, so at-risk patients could find themselves under observation in the ICU anywhere from 7 to 21 days. Dr. Soojin Park, Medical Director of Critical Care Data Science and AI at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia, knew there had to be a better way to monitor patients and predict outcomes. So, relying on her background in machine learning and leveraging vast amounts of data, Dr. Park developed the potentially game-changing Continuous Monitoring Tool for Delayed Cerebral Ischemia (or COSMIC) score. The score uses machine learning, and basic patient data that can be collected with equipment available at any hospital, to detect signals that more accurately assess risk, allowing doctors to treat each neurocritical patient with targeted care - ultimately improving outcomes and patient experience.

As methods for early cancer detection improve and the number of cancer survivors rises, the innovative field of cardio-oncology has emerged to ensure that patients with chemotherapy or cancer-related cardiac dysfunction can be safely, and swiftly, treated for their cancer. Dr. Stephanie Feldman, a clinical cardiologist with focus on cardio-oncology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine, is one of a growing number of physicians advancing research and pushing care in this field forward with a multi-disciplinary, comprehensive approach to care. Dr. Feldman joins us to discuss the rare risks of immune checkpoint inhibitors, how genetic mutations could put patients at risk for arterial thromboembolism, and how the cardio-oncology field can optimize the course of cancer care for patients at risk for cardiovascular complications. 

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With perspectives spanning hepatobiliary, gynecologic, and cardiac surgeries, NewYork-Presbyterian’s Dr. Jason Hawksworth (Columbia), Dr. Tamatha Fenster (Weill Cornell Medicine), and Dr. Arnar Geirsson (Columbia) describe how they each came to incorporate robotics into their practices. One of the biggest takeaways: robotic surgeries allow for more accuracy in minimally-invasive approaches; so patients experience shorter hospital stays and quicker recoveries, even after major procedures. But there are some limitations to robotic surgeries that the doctors are still navigating. Dr. Fenster discusses how there are haptics limitations in robotic surgery. As a result, she shares more about her innovative smartHER 3D MRI program that is addressing this issue and details how her and her team are developing a way of holographically projecting 3D MRIs over patients to help guide surgeons while they operate. 

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Dr. Christian and Dr. Van de Velde’s backgrounds are a complementary combination. At their clinic, they see, diagnose, and determine treatment for their patients together. Dr. Christian takes on minimally invasive procedures, utilizing arthroscopy to address extra bone growth that can limit range of motion and can lead to labral tears. Dr. Van de Velde specializes in a more invasive type of surgery: periacetabular Ganz osteotomy. In complex cases, the two surgeons combine for a full-day surgery, where they each use their specialized surgical approach. Through their unique collaboration, the duo is able to provide optimal treatment for their patients, and help to preserve their hip function for as long as possible. 

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Dr. Mario Gaudino is a cardiac surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine and the Director of the Joint Clinical Trials Office at Weill Cornell Medicine. There he oversees ongoing improvement and enhancements to existing clinical infrastructure and is currently leading research on the effects of coronary artery bypass surgery on women and people of color. His work not only focuses on groups that have been historically underrepresented in research, it also takes a patient centric approach to outcomes focusing on how a patient feels in addition to clinical metrics. His research contributions have  potential to change how doctors approach treating huge swaths of their patient population and how they analyze that data. 

It has been widely reported over the past ten to fifteen years that maternal mortality and morbidity in the US is on the rise. Dr. Dena Goffman has made it her personal goal to improve those numbers across the entire NewYork-Presbyterian health system. But how can one begin to tackle such a large and challenging issue? Dr. Goffman focuses on systematic shifts. She worked to set obstetrics goals across the entire hospital system, created new guidelines and utilized simulations to train and improve the skills of healthcare workers to be prepared for any situation. And she wasn’t afraid to use every tool in her toolbox, even new ones like an ingenious anti-hemorrhage device that she helped gain FDA approval. In this episode, Dr. Goffman shares what real systemic change for maternal fetal care looks like and how she is hoping these standards can help reverse the trends in maternal mortality across the country.

As a doctor trained in both minimally invasive and open approach surgery, Dr. Chan is very familiar with comprehensive spinal care. But there are aspects of minimally invasive surgery that, when possible, position it as preferable for postoperative recovery, namely when it comes to pain. Open surgeries can have patients taking opioids for weeks or even months after their procedure. With minimally invasive spinal surgery, patients may only need opioid pain management for two days postoperatively–or none at all. Motivated by postoperative quality of life, Dr. Chan has fine-tuned several innovative surgical approaches, proving that a surgeon doesn’t necessarily have to perform large muscle dissections in order to correct spinal deformities like scoliosis. His techniques provide surgical opportunities for patients who otherwise would not be spinal surgery candidates due to age or illness. In this episode, Dr. Chan details how he customizes care for his various patients depending on their needs, and shares his hopes for the future of spinal surgery. 

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For any patient diagnosed with depression for the first time, the recommended course of treatment is the same: a medication like a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), an evidence based psychotherapy, or both. But there is a large group of people for whom these treatments simply won't work. That’s where Dr. Conor Liston and his team focus. His work mapping the brain is helping doctors better understand where depression is impacting certain brain structures and what that means for the symptoms patients present. Dr. Liston’s work is focused on identifying how these symptoms impact patients' brains and using those findings to identify the best treatment approach. It also may eventually help detect the likelihood of depression in patients before they exhibit any symptoms. 

Dr. Christopher Petit is the co-director of the Children's Heart Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital and division chief of pediatric cardiology at Columbia University, and… a stubborn optimist. That optimism has made all the difference in his years of treating a rare heart disease in newborns: Pulmonary Vein Stenosis (PVS). Dr. Petit’s determination to better understand and treat PVS has led him and his team to make important breakthroughs in the field, including the use of sirolimus– an immune-targeted medication usually used for cancer treatments– as a systemic oral therapy to treat PVS, as well as the development of a hybrid surgical method for treating patients with severe disease, performed in collaboration with Dr. Emile Bacha. The results: drastically improved survival rates for his patients.

Listen in as science journalist Catherine Price speaks with physicians from Columbia & Weill Cornell Medicine who are pushing the leading edge of clinical research to find solutions for every medical challenge. Whether using robotics to advance minimally invasive surgeries, or finding effective treatments for previously terminal pediatric diseases, these physicians fearlessly take on some of the most complex challenges in medicine today. This spirit of collaboration and innovation is the hallmark of NewYork-Presbyterian and what makes the institution a top health care provider in the country. 

Heart failure impacts more than 8 million people in the United States today, but with the right treatments, the course of the disease can be corrected. Dr. Nir Uriel is determined to do just that. He’s spent his career pushing forward advancements to better diagnose and treat advanced heart failure patients. These advancements include a new, magnetic levitated pump that can improve the outcomes of patients denied transplantation due to their age or severity of disease, as well as breakthrough testing that analyzes cell-free DNA to detect transplant rejection, changing the course of immunosuppressive therapy. Dr. Uriel is also pioneering the use of technology to remotely monitor heart failure patients, and diagnose heart failure before symptoms even occur. In this episode, Dr. Uriel details his multifaceted methods to treating heart failure, the value of a team approach, and the importance of empathetic, patient-centered care.

After establishing that neurological gene therapy can help address brain cells damaged by Parkinson’s, Dr. Michael Kaplitt and his team have set their sights on a new mission: preventative intervention. For patients with an inherited form of Parkinson’s caused by a GBA gene mutation, Dr. Kaplitt and his colleagues are working to deliver genes that can stop the degeneration of damaged braincells, as well as initiating the use of focused ultrasound to treat essential tremors. In this episode, Dr. Kaplitt details the mechanisms of his work and the advancements he’s working on today.

In the United States today, there are over 110,000 people waiting for an organ transplant. And, Dr. Sandip Kapur says, 92% of those patients are waiting for a kidney. In this episode, Dr. Kapur describes a simple philosophy that helped guide Weill Cornell Medicine into one of the top kidney transplantation centers in the nation: offer the maximum amount of opportunities to transplantation that could exist. That means working with multidisciplinary teams to innovate every step of the kidney transplantation process– from making donor surgeries minimally invasive, to matching donors and recipients in new ways through the National Kidney Registry, and even pioneering research into immunotherapy, to improve success rates and patients’ quality of life post-surgery.

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Whether a patient will ultimately recover from an unconscious state after brain injury isn’t easy to predict– yet. But Dr. Jan Claassen is working to change that. He describes the staggering revelations of his study on Cognitive Motor Dissociation, and how his team used a combination of widely available diagnostic tools and open source machine learning algorithms, to detect signs of consciousness in seemingly unconscious patients. Dr. Claassen also discusses his ongoing RECONFIG study, in which he hopes to refine tools that could predict the likelihood of recovery in patients following brain injury. 

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Inspired by her beloved aunt, Dr. Onyinye Balogun began her medical career with a mission in mind: to mitigate the suffering that people with cancer experience over the course of their life-saving treatments. Her approach has been multi-faceted and systematic. After being awarded New York Genome Center’s Polyethnic-1000 grant, Dr Balogun has led the investigation into potential genomic mutations that could be contributing to the disproportionate rates of uterine cancer diagnoses in Black women. Meanwhile, Dr. Balogun is also partnering with her former patient to update the outmoded and painful brachytherapy devices used in cervical cancer treatments. 

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