Newswise — The Board of Trustees of Cornell University has appointed Dr. Antonio M. Gotto Jr. to a new five-year term as the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Provost of Medical Affairs of Cornell University. The term extension recognizes Dean Gotto's nearly 10 years of exemplary service in support of the Medical College's tripartite mission of education, research and patient care.
A renowned educator and internationally recognized authority in cardiovascular disease, Dr. Gotto was first named Dean of Weill Cornell in 1997. Under his leadership, the Medical College has experienced a renaissance of growth, with highlights that include the naming of the College in recognition of longtime benefactors Joan and Sanford I. Weill; the globalization of the Medical College's mission with the establishment of Weill Medical College in Qatar and affiliation with The Methodist Hospital in Houston; philanthropic support in excess of $1 billion; construction of a new $230 million Ambulatory Care and Medical Education Building, the first clinical building in the College's 108-year history; unprecedented recruitment of new faculty, and expansion and renovation of research space and facilities; and establishment of numerous research and education programs and initiatives.
"I am honored to report that Dean Gotto has accepted our invitation to continue on as Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College. With characteristic energy, integrity and vision, he has strengthened the education and financial health of Weill Cornell, helping to revitalize the medical school's curriculum, expand and improve facilities, and enhance patient care," says Peter Meinig, chairman of the Board of Trustees of Cornell University. "And, in achieving these goals, he has forged partnerships and expanded the scope of the medical college locally, nationally and internationally."
Research in Support of Medical Breakthroughs
Recognizing that there are unprecedented opportunities in medical research, Dean Gotto has committed Weill Cornell to innovative research in several promising areas, including stem cells, genetics, nanomedicine, bioengineering and proteomics. The Medical College has established several pioneering research programs, including the Ansary Center for Stem Cell Therapeutics, the Lehman Brothers Lung Cancer Research Center, the Belfer Gene Therapy Core Facility and Institute of Hematology and Medical Oncology, the Milstein Program in Chemical Biology and Chemistry Core Facility, and the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud Institute for Computational Biomedicine. Other research initiatives have included children's health, cardiovascular medicine, neuroscience, women's health and geriatrics.
During Dr. Gotto's tenure, NIH funding to the Medical College has more than doubled; the number of scientific articles published in peer-reviewed journals has tripled; research space has been expanded by 26 percent, with nearly half of existing research space upgraded; and nearly 100 full-time faculty, including several key department chairs, have been recruited.
"An accomplished biomedical researcher in his own right, Tony Gotto has put a premium on translating research discoveries into techniques and treatments that improve clinical care," says Hunter R. Rawlings, interim president of Cornell University.
Financial Health
"Under the leadership of Tony Gotto, the financial health of the Medical College has never been better. In February, we completed a $750 million capital campaign ahead of schedule, helping fulfill the College's long-term plan to improve the quality and accessibility of patient care, and to remain a global leader in the prevention and treatment of illness," says Sanford I. Weill, chairman of the Board of Overseers of Weill Cornell.
Over the last decade, and led by Dr. Gotto, Weill Cornell has more than doubled its endowment to $670 million, increased its operating budget from $400 million to more than $700 million, and nearly quadrupled the clinical revenue generated through its Physician Organization.
The recently completed Capital Campaign, Advancing the Clinical Mission, has funded the construction of the state-of-the-art Ambulatory Care and Medical Education Building. The building -- remarkably, constructed entirely through philanthropy -- is set to reinvent the patient experience for the 21st century -- providing a comfortable, caring and information-rich environment; facilitating hands-on medical education; and supporting clinical research that leads to medical breakthroughs. It will also serve as the flagship building for Cornell University in New York City. The building, which will add 300,000 square feet of new space to expand clinical programs, is set to open by the end of this year.
With Cornell's President Hunter Rawlings, Dr. Gotto was largely responsible for the single largest gift ever made to Cornell University -- a $100 million contribution in support of the Medical College's Strategic Plan by Joan and Sanford Weill, in 1998.
Dr. Gotto was instrumental in attracting other funding as well -- including, in 2002, a second major gift of $100 million from Joan and Sanford Weill, and $50 million from Corinne and Maurice Greenberg and the Starr Foundation to launch the just-completed capital campaign, Advancing the Clinical Mission.
Collaborations: New York and Worldwide
Key to Dean Gotto's vision to expand the scope of the Medical College and provide outstanding clinical care and education worldwide, are a new series of collaborations with other medical institutions locally, nationally and internationally.
Weill Cornell in Qatar is part of Cornell University, and the first American medical school ever established overseas. The Medical College is currently affiliated with a total of 10 international institutions, including The Bugando University College of Health Sciences and Bugando Medical Center in Tanzania, American Hospital of Paris, St. Luke's Medical Center in the Philippines and The Nightingale Hospital in Turkey.
Also, Weill Cornell, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, and The Methodist Hospital in Houston announced, in 2004, an historic medical affiliation dedicated to high-quality patient care, cutting-edge clinical and biomedical research, and innovative medical education and training of future physicians and biomedical scientists.
Closer to home, collaborations with Cornell University in Ithaca include the creation of the joint MBA-MD-PhD program, and an innovative and ever-expanding Science Symposium -- a regular forum for researchers at both institutions to keep their colleagues abreast of their research and foster joint projects. Weill Cornell has allocated $600,000, including several $50,000 seed grants, to encourage these inter-campus research collaborations.
Innovative Medical Education
Under the leadership of Dean Gotto, initiatives in medical education have included the creation of an interactive Clinical Skills Center as a key component of the new Ambulatory Care and Medical Education Building -- a state-of-the-art, simulated clinical environment for teaching and evaluating key medical examination skills for future generations of physicians; expanded scholarship funding for medical students (more than $4 million in scholarship aid given every year); and a new problem-based, "books-to-bedside" curriculum that allows students to participate in the clinical experience from their very first semester.
"I am excited and honored to accept the Board's invitation to continue on as Dean of this Medical College," says Dr. Gotto. "Together with our esteemed faculty, staff, alumni and friends, I fully expect that Weill Cornell will continue to make significant contributions to medical research, education and practice. I look forward to working closely with the leadership of Cornell University, including its new president, Dr. David J. Skorton."
Dr. Antonio M. Gotto Jr.
Prior to his appointment as Dean at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, Dr. Antonio M. Gotto Jr. was the Bob and Vivian Smith Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medicine and Scientific Director of the DeBakey Heart Center; and held the J.S. Abercrombie Professor Chair for Atherosclerosis and Lipoprotein Research at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. He also served as chief of the Internal Medicine Service at The Methodist Hospital in Houston.
Dr. Gotto's postgraduate work included doctoral studies at Oxford University in England, as a Rhodes Scholar, and residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. In the field of atherosclerosis, his basic science research interests include clinical disorders of lipid transport and the structure, metabolism and function of lipoproteins and apolipoproteins. He and his associates were the first to achieve complete synthesis of a plasma apolipoprotein (apo C-I); they also determined the complete cDNA and amino acid sequence of apo B-100, one of the largest proteins ever sequenced and a key protein in atherosclerosis. Dr. Gotto has also played a leading role in several landmark clinical trials, demonstrating that cholesterol-lowering drug treatment can reduce the risk for heart disease.
As a lifelong supporter of educational efforts aimed at cardiovascular risk reduction, Dr. Gotto has been national president of the American Heart Association and president of the International Atherosclerosis Society. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a recipient of numerous awards and honors -- including the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Vanderbilt University and several honorary doctoral degrees and professorships.
Dr. Gotto speaks nationally and internationally on cardiovascular disease, and has contributed more than 500 scholarly articles and books to the medical literature. In addition, he is co-author of The New Living Heart and The New Living Heart Diet, which explain the origins and dietary treatment of cardiovascular disease to the general public, and the author of The Living Heart Cookbook.
The Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College
The 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 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 Medical College are engaged in cutting-edge research in such areas as stem cells, genetic medicine, neuroscience, structural biology, AIDS, 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 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 patients.
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