In honor of National Colon Cancer Awareness Month, Katie Couric, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, WCBS-TV and The Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital announced the launch of the "Make That Call" for colon cancer screening campaign. Also collaborating on this citywide initiative to increase colon cancer screening in New York City are the Citywide Colon Cancer Control Coalition (C5), New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), American Cancer Society, Colon Cancer Alliance, Colon Cancer Challenge Foundation and Prevent Cancer Foundation.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital's Westchester Division has been formally named by Planetree Inc. as a "Planetree Designated Patient-Centered Hospital" in recognition of the Hospital's achievement and innovation in the delivery of patient-centered care.

Dr. Joseph J. Fins, an internationally renowned medical ethicist and pioneer in the field of neuroethics and disorders of consciousness, was named the first recipient of a newly established professorship — The E. William Davis Jr., M.D. Professor of Medical Ethics at Weill Cornell Medical College.

In a move aimed at further solidifying its role as a regional and national leader in cardiac care for adults and children, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center has named Dr. Emile Bacha chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, and Dr. Michael Argenziano chief of the Section of Adult Cardiac Surgery within the Division.

A 59-year-old woman from upstate New York and a 60-year-old woman from the New York metro area were the first patients in New York state and among the first in the United States to receive transplanted lungs that were assessed and reconditioned in the operating room — a technique that has the potential to dramatically increase the availability of lungs for transplant. The experimental procedure was performed by Dr. Frank D'Ovidio at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is listed on Becker's Hospital Review's "60 Hospitals With Great Orthopedic Programs." Hospitals are selected for meeting criteria, including clinical excellence, quality of service, outstanding local and national reputations, and a high volume of orthopedic cases.

Patients at a high risk for a second stroke who received intensive medical treatment had fewer strokes and deaths than patients who received a brain stent in addition to the medical treatment, a large nationwide clinical trial has shown. The investigators published the results in today's online first edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health, funded the trial.

Researchers have successfully developed and tested a new prostate cancer screening method that uses the combined power of a novel drug therapy and changes in PSA levels over time to identify men with a high PSA who are more likely to have aggressive prostate cancer despite negative biopsies.