Recognizes His Pioneering Work in Cell Biology of Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease
NEW YORK (June 2, 2008) — A leading authority on the cell biology of cancer and cardiovascular disease, Dr. David Lyden has been named the Stavros S. Niarchos Associate Professor in Pediatric Cardiology at Weill Cornell Medical College, where he is also an investigator in the Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology and associate professor of cell and development biology.
"David's pioneering work in vascular biology and cardiology has provided great insights in the treatment of vascular diseases and cancer, and his findings have had numerous clinical implications," says Dr. Gerald M. Loughlin, the Nancy C. Paduano Professor and chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medical College and pediatrician-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Since joining the Department of Pediatrics at Weill Cornell in 2002, Dr. Lyden, with his collaborator Dr. Shahin Rafii, has published extensively in journals such as Nature, Cell and Science. Among his notable findings, Dr. Lyden has identified two bone marrow-derived progenitor cells that form new blood vessels in tumors and in regenerative tissues, with clinical applications including the heart. Recently, he has shown that hematopoietic stem cells — normally produced red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets in the bone marrow — proliferate and mobilize to pre-metastatic tissue sites prior to the arrival and implantation of incoming metastatic tumor cells. According to Dr. Lyden, this is the first time, since Dr. Stephen Paget's 1889 "seed and soil" hypothesis, that a scientist has studied the means by which tissues create conditions favorable to metastasis.
Dr. Lyden, who is also assistant attending in pediatrics at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, has received numerous distinctions for his work. In 2000, he received a Clinical Scientist Development Award from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; in 2003, he was named a Brown University Alumni Scholar; and in 2006, he received a Presidential Science Award from President Aníbal Cavaco Silva of Portugal. He is co-senior editor of the forthcoming book, "Cancer Metastasis: Biologic Basis and Therapeutics," likely the first ever textbook on metastasis, and serves as a member of the Professional Advisory Board of the Children's Brain Tumor Foundation (CBTF).
He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Vermont, his medical degree at Brown University, and completed his residency in pediatrics at Duke University Medical Center.
The Stavros S. Niarchos Professorship in Pediatric Cardiology is named for the businessman and philanthropist Stavros Spyros Niarchos (1909-1996). The title was previously held by Dr. Katherine Hajjar and the late Dr. Mary Allen Engle.
Weill Cornell Medical College
Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University's medical school located in New York City, is committed to excellence in research, teaching, patient care and the advancement of the art and science of medicine, locally, nationally and globally. Weill Cornell, which is a principal academic affiliate of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, offers an innovative curriculum that integrates the teaching of basic and clinical sciences, problem-based learning, office-based preceptorships, and primary care and doctoring courses. Physicians and scientists of Weill Cornell Medical College are engaged in cutting-edge research in areas such as stem cells, genetics and gene therapy, geriatrics, neuroscience, structural biology, cardiovascular medicine, transplantation medicine, infectious disease, obesity, cancer, psychiatry and public health — and continue to delve ever deeper into the molecular basis of disease in an effort to unlock the mysteries of the human body in health and sickness. In its commitment to global health and education, the Medical College has a strong presence in places such as Qatar, Tanzania, Haiti, Brazil, Austria and Turkey. Through the historic Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, Cornell University is the first in the U.S. to offer a M.D. degree overseas. Weill Cornell is the birthplace of many medical advances — including the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer, the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., the first clinical trial of gene therapy for Parkinson's disease, the first indication of bone marrow's critical role in tumor growth, and most recently, the world's first successful use of deep brain stimulation to treat a minimally-conscious brain-injured patient. For more information, visit www.med.cornell.edu.
Andrew Klein
ank2017@med.cornell.edu