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Patrick D. Lyden, M.D., a highly respected neurologist who has conducted extensive research into cerebrovascular disease and potential treatments for stroke, has been named chairman of the newly designated Department of Neurology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Prior to his appointment, Lyden served the Department of Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego as professor and vice chairman for Clinical Neurology, and served the UCSD Medical Center as clinical chief of Neurology and director of the Stroke Center.

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Cedars-Sinai Medical Group has once again been awarded Elite status, the highest possible designation for quality care recognized by the California Association of Physician Groups , a professional organization comprised of 150 of the state's leading managed care groups. This is the third consecutive year Cedars-Sinai Medical Group has achieved this status, ranking it among the top 20 physician organizations in the state in 2009. The group is also one of only three in the Los Angeles area to receive this designation, which reflects a score of all four stars in the survey.

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A specific biomarker, a protein released by dying tumor cells, has been identified as an effective tool in an animal model to gauge the response to a novel gene therapy treatment for glioblastoma multiforme. The finding, reported in the July 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research, paves the way for a Phase 1 clinical trial expected to begin in late 2009.

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Doctors at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute announced today the completion of the first procedure in which a patient's own heart tissue was used to grow specialized heart stem cells that were then injected back into the patient's heart in an effort to repair and re-grow healthy muscle in a heart that had been injured by a heart attack.

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About one-third of first-degree relatives of patients with Bicuspid Aortic Valve, the most common congenital heart defect, have larger-than-normal aortas and should get a screening echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) to identify and prevent aortic ruptures, according to an article in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Kirsten Tolstrup, MD, the study's author, is available to provide details and explain the findings.

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Neurosurgeons, brain tumor researchers and other professionals affiliated with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Department of Neurosurgery will present a one-day conference, "Outsmarting Brain Tumors," on Saturday, June 13. Conference highlights include inspiring presentations by two brain tumor patients who will share personal perspectives on patient survival and resuming life after a brain tumor. In addition, the former Miss Black America of Los Angeles, Lydia Mouton, will open the conference by performing two musical numbers with her son, Jonathan Mouton. Ms. Mouton is also a brain tumor patient.

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Eddie Cleland, drummer for "Loose Chains," will join researchers, physicians, neurosurgeons and other brain tumor survivors June 13 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Cleland will be one of the featured speakers at a brain tumor conference on Saturday, June 13, at Cedars-Sinai's Harvey Morse Auditorium. He will speak on resuming life after a brain tumor.

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Laila Ali, Ryan Sheckler, and Dwayne Wade will be honored at the 24th annual Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Sports Spectacular on Sunday, June 7, 2009. The event brings together the greatest names in sports and entertainment to join their peers in helping children suffering from genetic birth defects.

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Clive N. Svendsen, joint leader of the widely-respected Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center at the University of Wisconsin, has been named director of the new Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute, effective Dec. 1, 2009.

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Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Gynecologic Oncology Division was named among the nation's top 10 programs by Contemporary OB/GYN, a leading publication read by the nation's obstetricians and gynecologists.

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Women who are at risk for heart disease and who are also experiencing menopause symptoms now have an added resource "“ a highly specialized clinic in the Division of Cardiology at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. The Advanced Preventive Women's Clinic at the Women's Heart Center recently opened and is offering comprehensive cardiac risk assessments designed specifically for women who are in menopause.

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Reflecting a growing national interest in the Pauletta and Denzel Washington Family Gifted Scholars in Neuroscience Awards program, and the high quality of applicants, three young neuroscientists will receive scholarships this year. The awards are given by the Department of Neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the recipients work during the summer months with world-renowned physicians, neurosurgeons and scientists.

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A new study, published in the May 11 Archives of Internal Medicine, shows that women with chest pain but without coronary artery disease are at an elevated risk for cardiovascular events such as heart attack or stroke.

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Howard M. Sandler, M.D., chair of radiation oncology at Cedars-Sinai's Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute (SOCCI), has been named the inaugural Ronald H. Bloom Family Chair Holder in Cancer Therapeutics.

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Ten years ago, neurosurgeons removing pituitary tumors typically used a large, bulky surgical microscope and entered through an incision under the lip, causing significant damage to nasal structures. In the accompanying news release, however, we highlight a patient from Riverside, CA, whose tumor was removed endoscopically.

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Healthcare Reform should start with "evidence-based reimbursement", structuring physician payment incentives around existing empirical evidence of clinical benefit, which would improve quality and reduce the cost of healthcare, says a commentary written by two cardiologists and published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

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Eduardo Marbán, M.D., Ph.D., the Director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, received today, April 20, 2009, the American Heart Association's Award of Meritorious Achievement at the AHA's annual Awards Luncheon in Washington, D.C.

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Ronald G. Victor, M.D., a cardiologist renowned for his expertise in hypertensive mechanisms, the contributing factors that lead to high blood pressure, has been named associate director for Clinical Research in the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, where he will also serve as director of the Cedars-Sinai Hypertension Center.

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Cedars-Sinai Medical Center earned a spot on Nursing Professionals magazine's "Top 100 Hospitals to Work For 2009." The Nursing Professionals honor resulted from a survey sent to 25,000 randomly selected hospital nurses throughout the country measuring their job satisfaction.

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James S. Forrester, M.D., former chief of the Division of Cardiology at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, received the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award from the American College of Cardiology at the Annual Scientific Session in Orlando March 29.

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Contrary to conventional thinking, it's not just senior citizens who suffer strokes. One-third of the estimated 780,000 Americans who have strokes each year are under age 65. Even teens, children and infants can be susceptible. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center may be one of the few centers in the nation offering a special support group for younger survivors of strokes "“ the "brain attacks" that occur when an area of the brain is deprived of oxygen after an artery becomes blocked or ruptured.

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People over 80 years of age suffering from a certain type of heart failure do not appear to benefit from most commonly prescribed heart medications, according to a study conducted at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and published in the March 15 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology.

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Singer, actor, musician and philanthropist Pauletta Washington thought she had too many other responsibilities in 1998 to join a new group supporting brain tumor research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. "The Brain Trust" was being formed to raise funds and awareness for the work of neurosurgeon Keith Black, M.D., but Washington, wife of actor Denzel Washington, passed up several opportunities to find out what the group and the research were all about.

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Female cardiovascular patients who are depressed amass up to 53 percent higher costs in cardiovascular health care over five years, according to an article in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. C. Noel Bairey Merz, M.D., who led the study and is a nationally recognized expert in women's heart disease, is available to provide details on the relationship between depression and cardiovascular costs.

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Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Stroke Program received the "Get With The Guidelines" Gold Performance Achievement Award from the American Stroke Association Feb. 19 at the International Stroke Conference.

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In animal studies, researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Yale University have identified molecular interactions that govern the immune system's ability to defend the brain against West Nile virus, offering the possibility that drug therapies could be developed to improve success in treating West Nile and other viral forms of encephalitis, a brain inflammation illness that strikes healthy adults and the elderly and immunocompromised.

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Researchers conducting a large, ongoing study to improve detection and prevention of sudden cardiac death were surprised to discover that a specific heart rhythm abnormality "“ idiopathic QT interval prolongation "“ increased risk five-fold among patients with coronary artery disease.

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An evaluation of 203 women as part of the multifaceted Los Angeles Atherosclerosis Study (LAAS) found that those who transitioned more quickly through menopause were at increased risk for a higher rate of progression of "preclinical atherosclerosis" "“ narrowing of arteries caused by the thickening of their walls.

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Oral contraceptives have been used by about 80 percent of women in the United States at some point in their lives. For women without pre-existing risks for heart disease, the early formulations were generally safe, and the newer ones appear to be even safer, but all the risks and benefits are yet to be established, according to specialists in women's heart disease at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

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Scientists seeking to harness the power of the immune system to eradicate brain tumors face two major hurdles: recruiting key immune cells called dendritic cells into areas of the brain where they are not naturally found and helping them recognize tumor cells as targets for attack. Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, however, have identified a sequence of molecular events that accomplish both objectives. Their findings, based on laboratory and animal studies, appear in the Jan. 13 issue of PLoS Medicine.

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C. Noel Bairey Merz, M.D., a nationally recognized authority on preventive cardiology and women's heart health, has taken the top honor in the first Dr. Carolyn McCue Woman Cardiologist of the Year Award program, presented by the Virginia Commonwealth University Pauley Heart Center. Bairey Merz is director of the Women's Heart Center as well as the Preventive and Rehabilitative Cardiac Center at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. In addition, she holds the Women's Guild Endowed Chair in Women's Health and is a professor of medicine at Cedars-Sinai.

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1) A powerful group of 6 African American women who have so far raised nearly $11 million for brain tumor research led by Dr. Keith L. Black, Chairman of the Neurosurgery Department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; 2) This past May, three young neuroscientists received the “Pauletta and Denzel Washington Family Gifted Scholars in Neurosciences Awards.” 3) Dr. Keith Black is among a small and elite group of neurosurgeons in the world who perform hundreds of brain tumor operations each year.

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Cedars-Sinai's Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute has opened its newly expanded and remodeled 73,000-square-foot Outpatient Cancer Center, marking a new era of care and treatment for cancer patients and their families. The redesigned treatment and waiting areas "“ which include back-lit panels that subtly replicate the natural changes in daylight, 13 private infusion bays, and nature-inspired artwork "“ were designed to provide a sense of comfort and healing for the more than 9,000 patients who receive treatment at the Outpatient Cancer Center annually.

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Many of the greatest medical discoveries are made in laboratories by scientists who never get the chance to meet the patients whose lives they are working to save. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is changing that dynamic with its first Ph.D. program "“ the Cedars-Sinai Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences and Translational Medicine.

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The 2008 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Alumni of the Year are Howard N. Allen, M.D., and Yzhar Charuzi, M.D. The two noted cardiologists were highlighted earlier this month as the Cedars-Sinai Alumni Association celebrated its 50th anniversary.

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Renowned radiation oncologist Howard Sandler, M.D., has been named chair of Radiation Oncology at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

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Terrence Town, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Neurosurgery and the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, has been named holder of the Ben Winters Endowed Chair in Regenerative Medicine.

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The holiday season may bring visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads, but trouble can ensue when pies, cakes, cookies and other fatty holiday treats start dancing on our plates. With careful planning and smart choices, you can have your fill of holiday cheer without filling your plate with calorie-rich foods, said Netty Levine, RD, CDE, a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

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After two other transplant centers turned her down, Simi Valley resident Laurel C. Labash became the first patient to benefit from the new Heart Transplant Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The date was Dec. 22, 1988, and on Dec. 10, 2008 Labash, now 82, will be among a host of transplant recipients returning to Cedars-Sinai as the hospital celebrates the 20th anniversary of its Heart and Lung Transplant programs.

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With so many families struggling with economic uncertainty this year, the seasonal blues can be threatening. Many have coped with the loss of a job or financial instability in the past year, and that monetary strain is bound to affect gift- buying, party-hosting and other holiday activities. Focusing on the meaning of the holidays can help ward off depression and anxiety brought on by the season's fiscal demands.

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Researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center are presenting recent findings during the 38th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. Neuroscience 2008 is being held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., Nov. 15 through 19, and is expected to draw more than 30,000 attendees from around the world.

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Sumeet S. Chugh, M.D., an expert in the diagnosis and treatment of heart rhythm abnormalities who is leading groundbreaking research on sudden cardiac arrest, has been named associate director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, where he will also serve as director of Clinical Electrophysiology.

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Cedars-Sinai researchers will participate in 42 presentations at American Heart Association meetings on topics ranging from a mutant gene that protects against atherosclerosis to new cardiac stem cell research and findings related to menopause and heart disease in women.

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An international study showed testosterone, when used with no other hormone therapy, is an effective treatment for low libido in postmenopausal women. More than 800 women from 65 centers in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and Sweden participated in the study, the first to show that testosterone administered by a skin patch can boost sex drive in postmenopausal women.

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Patients who cannot make it to the polls to vote in the historic presidential election Nov. 4 will have the polls brought to them, courtesy of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center volunteers . More than 25 volunteers will visit hundreds of patient care rooms to ensure any voter currently at Cedars-Sinai has an opportunity to cast a ballot.

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Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute who first isolated cancer stem cells in adult brain tumors in 2004 have now identified a molecular mechanism that is involved in the development of these cells from which malignant brain tumors may originate. This could offer a target for scientists seeking treatments that would kill malignant brain tumors at their source and prevent them from recurring.

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Six months ago, Alice County was dying from congestive heart failure. Her weak heart was barely pumping blood, she was listless, had no appetite and had dropped 50 pounds in less than a year, and was so short of breath that she slept sitting up. Doctors were afraid that she wouldn't live until a donor heart could be found, and even if she did, they feared she couldn't survive the arduous surgery. But thanks to a livesaving VAD and ultimately a heart transplant, this story has a happy ending.

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Authors of an article in the Oct. 15 Journal of the American Medical Association are available to provide details on "evidence-based reimbursement" as a way to reduce health care costs without diminishing quality.

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According to Michael J. Alexander, M.D., director of the Neurovascular Center and director of endovascular neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, for patients who have experienced a stroke, a good outcome depends on several factors, but nothing is more important than responding quickly and receiving care at a center that is equipped to offer the latest interventions. Thanks to clot-busting drugs, new devices and minimally invasive procedures, patients experiencing the onset of a stroke have improved chances of surviving with fewer "“ or even no "“ long-term disabilities.

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Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Stroke Program has been certified as a Primary Stroke Center by The Joint Commission, the nation's oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. This distinction, awarded to centers that pass a rigorous on-site review and a thorough examination of program and patient-care data, recognizes a center's commitment to following national standards and guidelines that can significantly improve outcomes for stroke patients.