MANHASSET, NY – The North Shore-LIJ Health System today announced the creation of four endowed professorships for research and education – the first associated with the Hofstra University School of Medicine being developed in partnership with North Shore-LIJ.

Each professorship has a substantial endowment – funded by trustees of the North Shore-LIJ Health System and other philanthropic donors – that supports the research, education and patient-care programs carried out by the recipients.
 
“It’s critical that doctors of tomorrow understand how discoveries are made,” said Lawrence Smith, MD, chief medical officer of the North Shore-LIJ Health System and founding dean of the Hofstra School of Medicine in Partnership with North Shore-LIJ. “The best way to do that is to engage their minds in research.”

As the research arm of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research is home to hundreds of research scientists working to understand and develop cures for serious medical conditions. “While it is not unusual for modern scientists to be celebrated for their contributions to basic science, the mission of Feinstein investigators is to work on discoveries that can be translated into new therapies to help patients in the world community," said Kevin J. Tracey, MD, the Feinstein’s director and chief executive officer.

The four new endowed professorships represent a milestone in the historic relationship between North Shore-LIJ and Hofstra, which are sharing resources to address the health care needs of the community through the creation of a new medical school – scheduled to open in the fall of 2011.

The following recipients of the new endowed professorships were presented their awards at the recent commencement ceremonies for the Elmezzi Graduate School of Molecular Medicine, part of the Feinstein and North Shore-LIJ.

• The Robert S. Waldbaum, MD – Robert B. Gardner, Jr. Professorship in Urology. Donors: The family of the late Mr. Gardner, and patients and friends of Dr. Waldbaum. Recipient: Louis Kavoussi, MD, chairman of urology at the North Shore-LIJ Health System. Dr. Kavoussi is an expert in minimally invasive surgery. His work has led to the routine use of laproscopic kidney removal, donor kidney removal and prostate removal. His lab works on creating robotic devices to facilitate surgery and he is spearheading telemedicine projects in the health system.
• Philip Lanzkowsky, MD Professorship in Pediatrics. Donors are Alexandra and Steven Cohen (in recognition of Dr. Lanzkowsky’s many years of service as head of Schneider Children’s Hospital) and the recipient is Arthur Klein, MD, the North Shore-LIJ Health System’s senior vice president of children’s services and chief of staff at Schneider Children’s Hospital. Dr. Klein brings to the mix a perspective of child health that is integral to shaping the way doctors to be address patient problems during all phases of human health and disease.
• Tita and Joseph Monti – Vincent Vinciguerra, MD Professorship in Oncology. The donors are The Don Monti Memorial Research Foundation (Caroline Monti-Saladino and Richard Monti) and the recipient is Vincent Vinciguerra, MD, chief of the Don Monti Division of Medical Oncology/Hematology at North Shore University Hospital. Cancer is one of the most common medical problems of our times and Dr. Vinciguerra oversees scores of state-of-the-art experimental clinical trials for cancer patients. In addition to patient care, Dr. Vinciguerra knows the importance of sharing the knowledge of doctoring and actively teaches and conducts research in cancer prevention and control, as well as treatment.
• Barbara and Donald Zucker Professorship in UroOncology. The donors are Barbara and Donald Zucker and the recipient is Scott Z. Fields, MD, an oncologist who was recently recruited to North Shore University Hospital and the Monter Cancer Center. Dr. Fields helped implement the Bone Marrow Transplant Program at SUNY Upstate Medical Center and was head of the intramural oncology research program there. His commitment to patients and to research will serve students as they learn to work with cancer patients and their families.
  In addition to the new professorships at Hofstra, endowed professorships associated with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx were presented to two new recipients: Gene Coppa, MD, the health system’s senior vice president of surgical services and chairman of surgery at North Shore University Hospital (NSUH) and LIJ Medical Center, was named the John D. Mountain, MD, Professor of Surgery, and Adiel Fleischer, MD, chairman of obstetrtics/gynecology at NSUH and LIJ, was selected as the Edie and Marvin H. Schur Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

About North Shore-LIJ Health System
The nation's third largest, non-profit, secular healthcare system, the North Shore-LIJ Health System cares for people of all ages throughout Long Island, Queens and Staten Island – a service area encompassing more than five million people. The health system consists of 14 hospitals, 18 long-term care facilities, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, three trauma centers, five home health agencies, a hospice network and dozens of outpatient centers. In addition, North Shore-LIJ is partnering with Hofstra University to develop a new medical school. North Shore-LIJ’s owned facilities house about 5,000 beds, employ about 10,000 nurses and have affiliations with more than 7,000 physicians. Its workforce of about 38,000 is the largest on Long Island and the ninth largest in New York City.  For more information, go to www.northshorelij.com.

Media Contact:
Terry Lynam
tlynam@nshs.edu