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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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The views shared on this podcast solely reflect the expertise and experience of our guests. For more information visit nyp.org/Advances

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