Dr. Fabrizio Michelassi awarded the Castle Connolly 2015 National Physician of the Year Award for Clinical Excellence
Dr. Fabrizio Michelassi, chairman of the Department of Surgery and the Lewis Atterbury Stimson Professor of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College and surgeon-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, has been awarded the Castle Connolly 2015 National Physician of the Year Award for Clinical Excellence.
Dr. Fabrizio Michelassi
Dr. Michelassi accepted this distinguished award on March 23 at the 10th annual Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. National Physician of the Year Awards ceremony, which took place at The Pierre Hotel in New York City. He was one of three physicians honored with the Clinical Excellence Award, which recognizes his clinical expertise in the surgical treatment of gastrointestinal and pancreatic cancers as well as inflammatory bowel disease.
"I am truly humbled, truly grateful to receive this award," Dr. Michelassi said. "It is amazing to me that someone could receive an award like this just for doing something that has been such a joy to do: taking care of patients. I am proud to be part of a premier institution that is dedicated to providing state-of-the-art, compassionate patient care."
Internationally renowned as an outstanding clinician, researcher and teacher, Dr. Michelassi is member of more than 50 professional societies, and was elected to leadership positions in many of them, serving as president in seven of them. He is president of the Society for the Surgery of the Alimentary and serves as chairman of the American College of Surgeons' Board of Governors.
A prolific author of more than 250 papers, book chapters and abstracts, he has dedicated his career to furthering the surgical treatment of pancreatic and colorectal cancers, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. A recognized leader and innovator in the gastrointestinal surgical field, his experience and expertise in treating Crohn's disease led him to develop a novel bowel-sparing procedure, now known as the Michelassi strictureplasty. In addition to this Physician of the Year award, he has also been repeatedly recognized by Castle Connolly for his clinical work, and has been named one of the "Best Doctors in America" numerous times.
Before joining Weill Cornell Medical College and NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in 2004, Dr. Michelassi spent two decades at the University of Chicago, where he was the Thomas D. Jones Professor of Surgery and vice chair of the Surgery Department. Dr. Michelassi has won numerous awards, including the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Award, the American Cancer Society Cancer Development Award and the Distinguished Leadership Award from the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America. His work on Crohn's disease has been funded by the International Organization of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and his research on the genetics of gastrointestinal cancer has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society.
Additional Awards and Honors
Dr. Cheguevara Afaneh, an instructor in surgery, won second place in the Top Gun Competition sponsored by the Society for Laparoscopic Surgeons in September. Top Gun tests surgeons' videoscopic skills and is designed to simulate the pressures of the operating room in a fun and competitive way.
Dr. Darshana Dadhania, an associate professor medicine and an associate professor in medicine in surgery, was elected president of the New York Society of Nephrology in December. The society focuses on continuing education for nephrologists and urologists in the metropolitan New York by bringing experts in the field to the area to participate in lecture programs.
Dr. Sylvia Karasu, a clinical professor of psychiatry, was selected to be a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine on Oct. 14. An independent organization since 1847, the academy seeks to address the health challenges facing the world's urban populations through interdisciplinary approaches to policy leadership, innovative research, evaluation, education and community engagement.