Newsroom

Dix P. Poppas, M.D., F.A.A.P., F.A.C.S., of New York Weill Cornell Medical Center and the Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian, has been awarded the prestigious Edwin Beer Fellowship by The New York Academy of Medicine. He is the first New York pediatric urologist to be chosen for the highly competitive award. The award, in the amount of $80,000, will support his research in unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO), a condition that occurs in about 1% of the pediatric population.

Dr. Poppas, a nationally renowned expert in minimally invasive surgery for children with urological problems, is the Richard Rodgers Family Associate Professor of Pediatric Urology; Chief, Pediatric Urology, Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery; and Director, Laboratory for Minimally Invasive Surgery, Department of Urology, at Weill Cornell Medical College and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (New York Weill Cornell Medical Center).

The title of Dr. Poppas's research project is "Use of targeted gene deletion strategy to assess the role of inducible nitric oxide synthase in renal function in UUO." He explains that with UUO, blood flow to the kidneys and the kidneys' filtration rate are decreased, but the relationship between these processes and fibrosis and cell death is unknown. Also, the role of the cytokines nitric oxide (NO) and TGF-beta in this disorder has not been clearly defined. By investigating these questions, Dr. Poppas says, "We should be able to provide the basis for future studies in ameliorating renal dysfunction in patients with UUO."

Dr. Poppas is a pediatric urologist with a special interest in genital reconstruction, laparoscopy, and intersex disorders. He has extensive experience in minimally invasive surgery and pediatric laparoscopy, and he recently performed among the first minimally invasive kidney removals in children and infants in the metropolitan area. He has developed several advanced laparoscopic surgical techniques for tissue reconstruction, using novel tissue sealants to replace sutures and staples during surgery.

A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, Eastern Virginia Medical School, and Eastern Virginia Graduate School of Medicine, Dr. Poppas first came to the then New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center as a resident in urology in 1990. Except for 1994-1996, when he had a fellowship at Harvard, he has been at New York Weill Cornell ever since. He is a Diplomat of The American Board of Urology, Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He has been awarded the E. Darracott Vaughan Young Investigator Award by the National Kidney Foundation, and was selected as an American Foundation for Urologic Disease/National Kidney Foundation Research Scholar. He has published over 60 peer-reviewed manuscripts and over 12 book chapters relating to his clinical and basic science research.