Advances in Care

Latest Episodes:

Against the Odds: Improving Survival for Children with Pulmonary Vein Stenosis Jan 25, 2024

Show notes

Dr. Christopher Petit is the co-director of the Children's Heart Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital and division chief of pediatric cardiology at Columbia University, and… a stubborn optimist. That optimism has made all the difference in his years of treating a rare heart disease in newborns: Pulmonary Vein Stenosis (PVS). Dr. Petit’s determination to better understand and treat PVS has led him and his team to make important breakthroughs in the field, including the use of sirolimus– an immune-targeted medication usually used for cancer treatments– as a systemic oral therapy to treat PVS, as well as the development of a hybrid surgical method for treating patients with severe disease, performed in collaboration with Dr. Emile Bacha. The results: drastically improved survival rates for his patients.

Advances in Care Jan 18, 2024

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Listen in as science journalist Catherine Price speaks with physicians from Columbia & Weill Cornell Medicine who are pushing the leading edge of clinical research to find solutions for every medical challenge. Whether using robotics to advance minimally invasive surgeries, or finding effective treatments for previously terminal pediatric diseases, these physicians fearlessly take on some of the most complex challenges in medicine today. This spirit of collaboration and innovation is the hallmark of NewYork-Presbyterian and what makes the institution a top health care provider in the country.

Heart Healer: Pioneering Treatments for Heart Failure for Longer Life Expectancy Jul 26, 2023

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Heart failure impacts more than 8 million people in the United States today, but with the right treatments, the course of the disease can be corrected. Dr. Nir Uriel is determined to do just that. He’s spent his career pushing forward advancements to better diagnose and treat advanced heart failure patients. These advancements include a new, magnetic levitated pump that can improve the outcomes of patients denied transplantation due to their age or severity of disease, as well as breakthrough testing that analyzes cell-free DNA to detect transplant rejection, changing the course of immunosuppressive therapy. Dr. Uriel is also pioneering the use of technology to remotely monitor heart failure patients, and diagnose heart failure before symptoms even occur. In this episode, Dr. Uriel details his multifaceted methods to treating heart failure, the value of a team approach, and the importance of empathetic, patient-centered care.

The Gene Messenger: Advancing Neurological Gene Therapy Jul 12, 2023

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After establishing that neurological gene therapy can help address brain cells damaged by Parkinson’s, Dr. Michael Kaplitt and his team have set their sights on a new mission: preventative intervention. For patients with an inherited form of Parkinson’s caused by a GBA gene mutation, Dr. Kaplitt and his colleagues are working to deliver genes that can stop the degeneration of damaged braincells, as well as initiating the use of focused ultrasound to treat essential tremors. In this episode, Dr. Kaplitt details the mechanisms of his work and the advancements he’s working on today.

The Matchmaker: Creating New Pathways for Kidney Transplantation Jun 28, 2023

Show notes

In the United States today, there are over 110,000 people waiting for an organ transplant. And, Dr. Sandip Kapur says, 92% of those patients are waiting for a kidney. In this episode, Dr. Kapur describes a simple philosophy that helped guide Weill Cornell Medicine into one of the top kidney transplantation centers in the nation: offer the maximum amount of opportunities to transplantation that could exist. That means working with multidisciplinary teams to innovate every step of the kidney transplantation process– from making donor surgeries minimally invasive, to matching donors and recipients in new ways through the National Kidney Registry, and even pioneering research into immunotherapy, to improve success rates and patients’ quality of life post-surgery.