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Dr. Brian Marr will join the Department of Ophthalmology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center as director of the Division of Ophthalmic Oncology, effective May 15. He will also serve as a professor of ophthalmology at Columbia University Medical Center.

With Dr. Marr’s arrival, NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center is establishing one of the largest and most comprehensive ocular melanoma programs in the country. Dr. Marr will be working alongside medical oncologists, in keeping with NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center’s team-based approach to cancer care.

“Dr. Marr is a renowned leader in the diagnosis, treatment and management of eye cancers, and we are pleased to welcome him to NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center,” said Dr. George A. “Jack” Cioffi, the Edward S. Harkness Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology and ophthalmologist-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. “Patients and their families will benefit from his comprehensive experience and skill, as well as his compassion and dedication.”

“NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center is committed to providing high-quality, compassionate care to our patients, and the addition of  Dr. Marr to the team will help us make even more strides in cancer care,” said Dr. Stephen Emerson, director of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center and the Clyde ’56 and Helen Wu Professor of Immunology (in Medicine) and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology (in the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center). “Dr. Marr’s expertise expands the list of cancers treated at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, providing more options to patients who come to us for care. I look forward to working with him in the years ahead.”

Dr. Marr will serve an important leadership role in the unique treatment of ocular melanoma, under the direction of Dr. Richard Carvajal, director of the Experimental Therapeutics/Phase I Program and Melanoma Service in Medical Oncology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center.

“Dr. Marr’s surgical expertise in in ocular melanoma is unparalleled, and his addition to the team cements us as a world leader in the clinical development of therapies for this disease, allowing us to help transform the lives of patients with rare cancers,” said Dr. Gary Schwartz, chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology in the Department of Medicine and associate director of Research at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University.

As one of the few ocular oncologists trained in all aspects of eye cancers, Dr. Marr’s clinical experience in treating these diseases is among the most extensive in the world. He has devised and performed thousands of surgical procedures on tumors of the eye, eyelid, orbit and conjunctiva in adults, children and infants, and is one of the few surgeons experienced in intraocular tumor resection, as well as advanced laser, radiation and chemotherapy treatments. He is also an expert in intra-arterial chemotherapy and other treatments for retinoblastoma, a tumor that arises in the light-sensitive cells that transmit images to the brain.

“NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center has an outstanding reputation for excellence in patient care,” said Dr. Marr. “It brings me great satisfaction to help patients fight eye cancer and navigate through a difficult time in their lives, and speed their way to recovery. I am excited to continue this work at this great institution.”

A board-certified ophthalmologist, Dr. Marr is a member of the American Medical Association and a board-certified fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, for which he has lectured frequently. In addition to contributions in major ophthalmic journals, Dr. Marr has published chapters in several textbooks, including Duane’s Foundations of Clinical Ophthalmology and Ophthalmology Pearls. Dr. Marr volunteers his medical expertise in underserved parts of the world, including Nigeria and Indonesia, and has helped train physicians in more than 20 countries. He was recognized as one of New York Magazine’s “Top Doctors” from 2014 to 2016.

Dr. Marr received his medical degree from the Temple University Medical School, Philadelphia. He completed his clinical residency at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary and was a fellow at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia. Prior to his tenure at MSKCC, Dr. Marr held surgical positions at Albert Einstein Medical Center and Wills Eye Hospital. Prior to joining NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia, he worked at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

NewYork-Presbyterian

NewYork-Presbyterian is one of the nation’s most comprehensive, integrated academic healthcare delivery systems, whose organizations are dedicated to providing the highest quality, most compassionate care and service to patients in the New York metropolitan area, nationally, and throughout the globe. In collaboration with two renowned medical schools, Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian is consistently recognized as a leader in medical education, groundbreaking research and innovative, patient-centered clinical care.

NewYork-Presbyterian has four major divisions:

• NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is ranked #1 in the New York metropolitan area by U.S. News and World Report and repeatedly named to the Honor Roll of “America’s Best Hospitals.”
• NewYork-Presbyterian Regional Hospital Network comprises hospitals and other facilities in the New York metropolitan region.
• NewYork-Presbyterian Physician Services, which connects medical experts with patients in their communities.
• NewYork-Presbyterian Community and Population Health, encompassing ambulatory care network sites and community healthcare initiatives, including NewYork Quality Care, the Accountable Care Organization jointly established by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia.

For more information, visit www.nyp.org and find us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Columbia University Medical Center

Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, preclinical, and clinical research; medical and health sciences education; and patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Columbia University Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and State and one of the largest faculty medical practices in the Northeast. The campus that Columbia University Medical Center shares with its hospital partner, NewYork-Presbyterian, is now called the Columbia University Irving Medical Center. For more information, visit cumc.columbia.edu or columbiadoctors.org.