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James McKiernan, MD, the George F. Cahill Professor of Urology, has been named chair of the Department of Urology of the College of Physicians and Surgeons and urologist-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia. As department chair, he will be nominated to become the John K. Lattimer Professor of Urology.

"Dr. McKiernan has been a highly effective leader in his role as interim chair and chief since last September," said Lee Goldman, MD, MPH, the Harold and Margaret Hatch Professor of the University and Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine at CUMC, "and we are confident that he will continue to lead the department and grow its research and clinical operations."

"Dr. McKiernan is a nationally recognized leader in state-of-the-art surgical therapies for bladder, kidney, prostate and testicular cancers," said Dr. Steven J. Corwin, CEO, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. "We are thrilled that he will lead our Department of Urology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia and continue its legacy of providing outstanding, innovative, and compassionate care."

The Department of Urology consistently ranks among the top in New York and throughout the United States. NewYork-Presbyterian's urology program ranked No. 5 in the latest U.S. News & World Report ranking of America's best hospitals. In 2013, the department ranked No. 10 in NIH grants among medical schools.

Dr. McKiernan graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a BA in biology and received his MD from Columbia University P&S. He completed his training in urology and general surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, followed by a urologic surgical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. McKiernan specializes in urologic oncology, particularly surgical therapy in high-risk patients with bladder and kidney cancers. His research, funded by NIH and the Prostate Cancer Foundation, focuses on novel drug and biomarker development, as well as comparative effectiveness, in urologic oncology. In the management of kidney and bladder cancer, he has special expertise in organ preservation and reconstructive surgery to maximize quality of life.

His research has been published in Cancer, Cancer Research, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the Journal of Urology, Urologic Oncology, and Urology. He has authored and co-authored more than 160 scientific articles and book chapters in urologic oncology. For the past 10 years, he has directed a research team at Columbia University Medical Center investigating quality outcomes and effectiveness in urologic cancer surgery. He has served as the Vice Chairman for the AJCC TNM Staging Task Force, as well as on the American Board of Urology and Society of Urologic Oncology Examination Committees.

In addition, Dr. McKiernan is the principal investigator of the NIH-funded clinical trials program of experimental therapeutics in bladder cancer at Columbia, which is investigating new agents for bladder preservation in patients whose cancer has recurred after standard therapy. In collaboration with scientists at Columbia’s Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, his team continues to develop new therapeutic strategies for managing bladder cancer.

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.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, based in New York City, is one of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive hospitals and a leading provider of inpatient, ambulatory, and preventive care in all areas of medicine. With some 2,600 beds and more that 6,500 affiliated physicians and 20,000 employees, NewYork-Presbyterian had more than 2 million visits in 2013, including close to 15,000 infant deliveries and more than 310,000 emergency department visits. NewYork-Presbyterian comprises six campuses: NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian/The Allen Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian/Westchester Division, and NewYork-Presbyterian/Lower Manhattan Hospital. The hospital is also closely affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian/Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville. NewYork-Presbyterian is the #1 hospital in the New York metropolitan area, according to U.S. News & World Report, and consistently named to the magazine’s Honor Roll of best hospitals in the nation. Affiliated with two world-renowned medical schools, Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, NewYork-Presbyterian is committed to excellence in patient care, research, education, and community service.