Recent recruits to the Department of Surgery with department chairman Dr. John Daly: (standing from left) Dr. Toyooki Sonoda, Dr. Daly and Dr. Sang Lee; (seated from left) Dr. Jeffrey Milsom, Dr. Howard Israel, Dr. Mia Talmor and Dr. Gregory Bauer. (Drs. Pierini and Srinivasan were not present.)
The Department of Surgery held its annual reception on Oct. 15 for new faculty who have joined the department this year. In addition, the department announced the establishment of a new program for colon and rectal surgery, which has been organized as a separate section in the department, and also paid tribute to Dr. Roger Yurt and his staff in the Burn Center for their outstanding efforts in caring for the most severely burned victims of the World Trade Center disaster.
In his remarks about the Burn Center's extraordinary efforts treating patients from the World Trade Center, Dr. Antonio Gotto, dean of the Medical College, described the William Randolph Hearst Burn Center as "one of the jewels of this institution." The Burn Center, the largest and busiest burn center in the U.S., treats about 1,000 inpatients and 3,000 outpatients annually. It is a leading center of research to improve the treatment of burns.
New Faculty and Programs
The Department of Surgery has recruited eight new faculty this year. "One of the great things that happens at this institution is that the combined forces of the Hospital, the Medical College, the Physician Organization, and other departments come together in an effort to develop new programs, and new programs mean new people—and that's what we are celebrating," said Dr. John Daly, the Lewis Atterbury Stimson Professor of Surgery, chairman of the Department of Surgery, and surgeon-in-chief at NewYork Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Jeffrey Milsom, M.D., has joined the department as professor of surgery and director of the section of colon and rectal surgery. Before coming to Weill Cornell, Dr. Milsom was professor of surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, where he was chief of the division of colorectal surgery and co-director of the minimally invasive surgery center since 1998. Previously, he was director of research for the department of colorectal surgery (1990–1998) at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and was also director of research for the Cleveland Clinic's minimally invasive surgery center.
Dr. Milsom has more than 100 peer-reviewed publications; 46 reviews, invited papers, editorials and letters; three books; and 20 book chapters. In addition, he has participated in the production of a number of videos presented at the American College of Surgeons' Clinical Congress and meetings of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. Dr. Milsom received his M.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1979 and did postgraduate and fellowship training at Roosevelt Hospital in New York, the University of Virginia Medical Center, and the Ferguson Clinic in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He received his first academic appointment in 1986 at Michigan State University, where he was assistant professor of surgery.
Also recruited to the new Colon and Rectal Surgery Service are Toyooki Sonoda, M.D., assistant professor of surgery, and Sang Lee, M.D., instructor in surgery.
Dr. Roger Yurt, the Johnson & Johnson Distinguished Professor of Surgery and director of the William Randolph Hearst Burn Center at Weill Cornell, talks about the center's treatment of victims of the World Trade Center disaster.
Dr. Sonoda received his M.D. from Yale University School of Medicine in 1993. He did his first two years of residency in general surgery at UCSF and completed his residency at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in 1998. He then went to Mount Sinai Medical Center, where he completed a laparoscopic fellowship, after which he returned to the Cleveland Clinic, where he performed an administrative chief residency. He has considerable experience teaching and working with general surgery residents. He has taught minimally invasive surgery courses, including courses on laparoscopic ilea pouch procedures and intestinal surgery. His clinical research on endo-rectal advancement flap procedures in the treatment of benign anal-rectal conditions was presented at a meeting of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons in June.
Dr. Lee received his M.D. from N.Y.U. School of Medicine in 1993. After completing his first two years of postgraduate training at New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston, he joined Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center for his third year of residency and a three-year fellowship in the laparoscopic physiology laboratory. He then returned to New-England Deaconess Hospital, where he completed his general surgery residency this year. Dr. Lee has published extensively and has made nearly twenty presentations and ten poster presentations on his research.
Howard Israel, D.D.S., has joined the department as professor of surgery in the Division of Dentistry, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Previously, he was professor of clinical dentistry in the division of oral surgery at Columbia's School of Dental and Oral Surgery. Dr. Israel has a clinical practice in oral and maxillofacial surgery specializing in temporomandibular arthroscopic surgery and diagnosis and management of head, facial, and oral chronic pain. He received his D.D.S. from Columbia in 1977.
Dr. John Daly, chairman of the Department of Surgery.
Gregory Bauer, M.D., a burn specialist, has been appointed assistant professor of surgery. Dr. Bauer recently completed a burn fellowship at Harborview Medical Center of the University of Washington Medical School (Seattle), where he had also completed a basic science trauma research fellowship and a senior research fellowship. Dr. Bauer received his M.D. degree from Hahnemann University Medical School in 1989 and completed his residency in general surgery at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (1989-1995).
Lynda Pierini, Ph.D., who was previously assistant professor of biochemistry at Weill Cornell, is moving to the Department of Surgery as assistant professor of microbiology and immunology. After receiving her Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from Cornell University in Ithaca in 1996, Dr. Pierini came to the Medical College as a postdoctoral research fellow and was appointed assistant professor of biochemistry last year. She is the principal investigator on several research projects and has published a number of scientific articles and book chapters.
Mia Talmor, M.D., has been appointed assistant professor of surgery in the Division of Plastic Surgery after many years at the medical center as a Cornell medical student, surgical resident, and fellow in plastic surgery. After receiving her M.D. from Cornell in 1993 with honors in research, Dr. Talmor completed her residency in general surgery here in 1999 and recently completed a two-year fellowship in plastic surgery. Dr. Talmor also received a prestigious research award, the American College of Surgeons Resident Research Scholarship. She continued her study of the dendritic cell in rat allograft limb transplantation, which had earned her the Peter J. Gingrass, M.D. Memorial Award from the Plastic Surgery Research Council when she was a Cornell medical student. This research led to numerous publications and another research grant from the Plastic Surgery Education Foundation. Dr. Talmor has published 25 scientific papers and two book chapters, and has made 14 scientific presentations.
Anitha Srinivasan, M.B.B.S., has been appointed instructor in surgery. Dr. Srinivasan received her medical education in India at Sri Ramachandra Medical College (Madras), graduating in 1994. She then went to Boston University, where she completed a sub-internship and was a research associate at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1996, she joined Lincoln Hospital in New York, where she completed the first three years of her general surgery residency and then went to Pennsylvania Hospital for her fourth and fifth years of residency, which she completed this year.