Participants in the March 4th meeting of the NewYork Weill Cornell Council were (from left) Dr. Antonio Gotto, dean of the Medical College; Dr. Shahin Rafii, associate professor of medicine; Dr. Steven Goldman, the Nathan Cummings Professor of Neurology; Dr. Michael Schuster, professor of clinical medicine and director of the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Program; Dr. Herbert Pardes, president of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital; and Council Chairman Jeffrey Greenberg.
The timely and compelling subject of stem cell research drew a capacity crowd to the NewYork Weill Cornell Council's March 4th meeting, held at the Griffis Faculty Club. Council members and invited guests heard three of the Medical Center's leading stem cell experts present their latest research and offer their views on how it will translate into cutting-edge clinical care. Council Chairman Jeffrey Greenberg hosted the event, which was moderated by Dr. Antonio Gotto, dean of the Medical College, and Dr. Herbert Pardes, president of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
Dr. Shahin Rafii, associate professor of medicine (Division of Hematology/Oncology) offered a general overview of stem cell research and reported on his work with adult vascular and blood stem cells. Dr. Steven Goldman, the Nathan Cummings Professor of Neurology, presented his research on brain stem and progenitor cells and its potential application in curing neurological disease. Dr. Michael Schuster, professor of clinical medicine and director of the Medical Center's Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Program, discussed emerging cellular therapies and how they may revolutionize cancer care. All of the speakers expressed great enthusiasm for the proposed multidisciplinary, state-of-the-art Stem Cell Center to be created at Weill Cornell. After the presentations and discussion, the panel joined Council members and guests for dinner, where the speakers and moderators made themselves available for questions on this complicated topic.
The NewYork Weill Cornell Council serves as an ambassador for the Medical Center in the community. Its members, drawn from business and community leaders and friends of the Medical Center, are in a unique position to advocate for the institution. Since its inception in October 1982, the Council has met three to five times per year, offering its members and guests the latest information about developments in biomedical research, clinical care, and the education of future physicians and medical scientists.