New Appointment Affirms Medical School's Commitment to Clinical Excellence
NEW YORK (August 9, 2005) - Dr. E. Darracott Vaughan Jr. — one of the world's foremost urological clinicians, researchers and educators, and former Chief Medical Officer of the Weill Cornell Physician Organization at Weill Medical College of Cornell University — has been appointed the new Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs at the Medical College.
Dr. Vaughan replaces Dr. Dirk Sostman, who has joined The Methodist Hospital System in Houston, a new affiliate of Weill Cornell, as Chief Academic Officer and Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Sostman remains an Executive Vice Dean and professor of radiology at the Medical College.
"Dr. Vaughan's track record of accomplished leadership, along with his thorough familiarity with the Physician Organization, render him superbly qualified to serve as Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs," said Dr. Antonio M. Gotto Jr., Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College. "Clinical excellence and superior patient care are vital components of the Medical College's mission. We are certain his vision and dedication will prove equally fruitful in this new capacity as they have in his nearly 30 years at the Medical College."
In this position, Dr. Vaughan will oversee all matters relating to clinical organization and patient care, serving as chief liaison among the clinical faculty, Physician Organization, and Dean Gotto. Dr. Vaughan will also work to maintain and foster the joint programming and service planning with the Medical College's chief clinical partner, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, as well as the Hospital for Special Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Rockefeller University. He will also collaborate with the other Associate Deans to promote and advance clinical research and clinical excellence.
"We express our utmost gratitude to Dr. Sostman for his leadership and initiative," said Dr. Gotto. "We are fortunate to be keeping him in the family as he brings his assets to The Methodist Hospital, one of our newest clinical and research affiliates. We know he will accomplish much for both The Methodist Hospital System and its alliance with our medical community."
Dr. Sostman's duties as Chairman of Radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College and Radiologist-in-Chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell have been assumed by Acting Chairman and Acting Radiologist-in-Chief Dr. Robert Min, who is also the Director of Cornell Vascular and an Associate Professor of Radiology.
Dr. E. Darracott Vaughan Jr., who is also the James J. Colt Professor of Urology at Weill Cornell, led the Medical College's Urology department from 1978 to 2001. Under his stewardship, Urology attained departmental status, and he was its first Chairman. In 1989, Dr. Vaughan began his tenure as Weill Cornell's Chief Medical Officer. Under his guidance, the Medical College's clinical practice grew from 350 clinical faculty members to its current membership of more than 700 physicians. His visionary leadership of Weill Cornell's Physician Organization has shaped it into an active and thriving coalition of faculty, who support each other in achieving the clinical excellence integral to the Medical College.
"I look forward to beginning my new chapter of service to Weill Cornell as Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs," said Dr. Vaughan. "I find enormous satisfaction in working together with our faculty and administrative teams — both at Weill Cornell and at our clinical partner, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, to promote the clinical excellence of this Medical Center."
An authority on renovascular hypertension, Dr. Vaughan has authored or co-authored more than 250 scientific articles and more than 70 book chapters. He is co-editor of the standard text Campbell's Urology. He is president emeritus of the American Foundation for Urologic Disease; past president of the American Board of Urology; and past president of the American Urological Association, which bestowed on him its distinguished Gold Cystoscope Award. He won the prestigious Hugh Hampton Young Award for his contributions to the understanding of urologic causes of hypertension and renal physiology. He also received the 39th Ferdinand C. Valentine Award from the New York Academy of Medicine, an award given to an individual who has significantly advanced the science and art of urology, and the esteemed Barringer Medal from the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons. In recognition of his long-time service to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, he was honored with the Maurice R. Greenberg Distinguished Service Award in 2002. Dr. Vaughan graduated from Washington and Lee University in Virginia and the University of Virginia's medical school.
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