Newsroom

Timothy C. Wang, M.D., has been named chief of the division of gastroenterology at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center and the Dorothy L. and Daniel H. Silberberg Professor of Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. In his new role, Dr. Wang will also serve as chief of the division of digestive and liver diseases within the Department of Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center.

"Dr. Wang's clinical expertise coupled with his commitment to research will help enhance the lives of patients with stomach cancer and other gastrointestinal diseases," said Herbert Pardes, M.D., president and CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

"Dr. Wang's research has translated into new ways of thinking about stomach and colon cancers, and is currently being applied to other organ-based cancers," said Gerald D. Fischbach, M.D., executive vice president and dean, Columbia University Medical Center.

"His leadership will encourage collaboration among our divisions, furthering our collective expertise in digestive and liver diseases, and resulting in new ways to approach treating patients with these and other related conditions," said David A. Brenner, M.D., the Samuel Bard Professor of Medicine and chairman of the Department of Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Director of Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia.

Dr. Wang joins NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center from the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Dr. Wang's research interests include the role of gastrin (a hormone secreted by the mucous lining of the stomach) in stomach and colon cancer; the role of trefoil factors in innate immunity; and the regulation of the production of histamine, a substance that stimulates gastric secretions and dilates blood vessels; and the origin of cancer stem cells.

Dr. Wang was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and lives in New York City. He received his medical degree education from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (1983). He completed a residency in internal medicine at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (1983-1986). Following clinical and research fellowships at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital (1986-1989), he joined the faculty there, and he served as associate professor of medicine and associate division chief of the gastrointestinal unit until 2000. At this point, he joined the University of Massachusetts Medical School as the Gladys Smith Martin professor of medicine, chief of the division of gastroenterology, and director of gastrointestinal cancer.

He is currently overseeing five R01 research grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH). The grants fund research in the regulation of histidine decarboxylase gene expression; the function and regulation of gastrin; mouse models of gastric cancer; function and regulation of spasmolytic polypeptide/TFF2; heath shock proteins and Helicobacter pylori pathogenesis. Over the course of his career, Dr. Wang has authored 98 peer-reviewed articles; 21 reviews, editorials and book chapters; and 61 abstracts.

He has filed patents related to the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal disease (2002); the origins of gastric cancer (2003); and histamine and CCK2/gastrin receptor blockade in the treatment of acid-peptic disease and cancer (pending) (2003). He is the current associate editor of the American Journal of Physiology (2003-2006), and past associate editor of Gastroenterology (1996-2001).

Dr. Wang has received numerous awards and honors, including the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Senior Research Fellow Award (1998); the AGA Funderberg Gastric Cancer Award (1993); Election to American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI) (1998); Steven Krane Lectureship for Outstanding Young Investigator in the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Medicine (1999); the Viktor Mutt Medal in Gut Hormone Research (2000); the Gladys Smith Martin Chair in Gastrointestinal Cancer (2001); and Election to Association of American Physicians (AAP) (2004). He is also the member of numerous professional organizations and societies and is the organizer of several professional conferences.

Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, pre-clinical and clinical research, medical education, and health care. The medical center trains future leaders in health care and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, nurses, dentists, and other health professionals at the College of Physicians Surgeons, the School of Dental Oral Surgery, the School of Nursing, the Mailman School of Public Health, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. With a strong history of some of the most important discoveries in health care, its researchers are leading the development of novel therapies and advances to address a wide range of health conditions.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is the largest not-for-profit, non-sectarian hospital in the country. It provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory, and preventive care in all areas of medicine at five major centers: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian, the Allen Pavilion, and the Westchester Division. It consistently ranks as one of the top hospitals in the country in U.S. News World Report's guide to "America's Best Hospitals". The NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System an affiliation of acute-care and community hospitals, long-term care facilities, ambulatory sites, and specialty institutes serves one in four patients in the New York metropolitan area.