Today at the closing ceremony of the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer New York, Avon Foundation President Kathleen Walas awarded six initial gifts to breast cancer organizations totaling $3,877,910. These gifts represent initial commitments from the $7.2 million already raised by the more than 2,700 participants in the event.

The number of vascular procedures everything from repair of aneurysms to angioplasty for clogged neck arteries has doubled in the United States in the past 20 years, according to a new study by researchers from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. The jump was most pronounced for people over 75, who experienced a 67% increase in vascular procedures per capita between 1980 and 2000.

Dr. Francis Barany, a scientist at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, has been named to the 2004 "Scientific American 50" -- Scientific American magazine's prestigious annual list recognizing leadership in science and technology from the past year. Dr. Barany is included as "Research Leader in Medical Diagnostics," for his leadership role in the development of a universal array genomic chip that allows for the rapid and accurate detection of cancers and other diseases -- especially breast and colon cancer.

Previous attempts in mice to correct a rare inherited immune disorder, called Hyper IgM X-linked immunodeficiency, have failed because standard gene therapy raised risks for cancer.

Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell has appointed two new Division Chiefs. Dr. Barry E. Kosofsky, an authority in genetic and intrauterine factors that alter brain development, especially prenatal exposures to drugs or abuse, has been named Chief of the Division of Pediatric Neurology. And Dr. Mark E. Dovey, an expert in the treatment of pediatric cystic fibrosis, has been appointed Chief of the Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonary.

Bristol-Myers Squibb has awarded a five-year $500,000 Freedom to Discover Unrestricted Infectious Diseases Research Grant to Weill Medical College of Cornell University for HIV/AIDS research focusing on the HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins and their functions during virus entry. John P. Moore, Ph.D., will supervise and serve as principal investigator of the grant. Dr. Moore is a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, at Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York City.

Dr. Louis Aronne, a national authority on weight loss and obesity, has been named president of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO), the leading scientific society dedicated to the study of obesity. Dr. Aronne is a clinical professor of medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and serves as director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, a multidisciplinary obesity research and treatment center that he developed and founded in 1986. He has long been an advocate for successful weight management -- and the associated health benefits -- and has been instrumental in obtaining increased federal funding for obesity research.

About 15 percent of American children are obese, a number that has more than doubled in the last 20 years. In response to this epidemic, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian has opened the Center for Adolescent Bariatric Surgery in order to offer numerous strategies to help obese patients lose weight and thus prevent many of the serious health risks associated with obesity. As part of the program, obese children have the option of losing weight with and without surgery.