Newswise — Dr. Jonathan Weinsaft of Weill Medical College of Cornell University has been awarded a Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Grant, one of only 11 bestowed this year. The $400,000 award will support research into new imaging techniques to detect heart blood clots in patients recovering from heart attacks. "Jonathan is one our outstanding junior faculty as this prestigious achievement attests," says Dr. Bruce Lerman, chief of the Greenberg Division of Cardiology and Hilda Altschul Master Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, and cardiologist-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
"I am honored to be selected for this award, which will fund the first major clinical study of using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging to assess clinical risk associated with blood clots in heart attack patients. The results may provide important information about detecting blood clots and reducing stroke risk for patients that have experienced heart attacks," says Dr. Weinsaft, the Michael Wolk Heart Foundation Clinical Scholar, assistant professor of medicine and assistant professor of medicine in radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Weinsaft also directs the cardiac MRI program at NewYork Presbyterian/Weill Cornell. A collaboration among NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell's MRI program, echocardiography laboratory, catheterization program, and cardiac intensive care program, the study will compare MRI to traditional echocardiographic techniques.
"I especially want to thank Dr. Richard Devereux, who has served as a mentor to me throughout my training in non-invasive cardiac imaging and played a major role in design and implementation of our Doris Duke Foundation-sponsored study," adds Dr. Weinsaft.
An internationally recognized leader in non-invasive imaging and clinical outcomes research, Dr. Devereux is the senior director of the study, professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, and director of the NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Echocardiography Laboratory and non-invasive cardiac imaging program.
Dr. Weinsaft received his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine. He interned and completed his residency training and cardiology fellowship at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, and a dedicated imaging research fellowship at Duke University; he was recruited to Weill Cornell in 2005. He has since directed the development of the cardiac MRI program, one of the few programs nationwide to be structured in association with a cardiology division.
Dr. Weinsaft is the recipient of the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Rogers Memorial Research Award in 2000, the American Heart Association Laennec Society Young Clinician Award in 2001 and the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology Young Investigator Award in 2003. For more information, patients may call (866) NYP-NEWS.
The Doris Duke Charitable FoundationThe mission of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is to improve the quality of people's lives through grants supporting the performing arts, wildlife conservation, medical research and the prevention of child maltreatment, and through preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke's properties. Established in 1996, the foundation supports four national grant-making programs. It also oversees three properties that were owned by Doris Duke in Hillsborough, N.J.; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Newport, R.I. The foundation is headquartered in New York and is governed by an eight-member board of trustees. The DDCF's activities are guided by the will of Doris Duke, who endowed the foundation with financial assets that totaled approximately $1.7 billion as of December 31, 2005. The foundation regularly evaluates and modifies its allocation of resources from the endowment to support the programs and properties, and to respond to fluctuations in portfolio returns.
The Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical CollegeThe Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University -- located in New York City -- is committed to excellence in research, teaching, patient care and the advancement of the art and science of medicine. The Medical College, 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 such areas as stem cell biology, genetics and gene therapy, geriatrics, neuroscience, structural biology, cardiovascular medicine, AIDS, obesity, cancer and psychiatry -- and continue to delve ever deeper into the molecular basis of disease in an effort to unlock the mysteries behind the human body and the malfunctions that result in serious medical disorders. Weill Cornell Medical College is the birthplace of many medical advances -- from the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer to the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., and most recently, the world's first clinical trial for gene therapy for Parkinson's disease. Weill Cornell's Physician Organization includes 650 clinical faculty, who provide the highest quality of care to their patients.
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