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Ten exceptional physicians at NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital have been named the inaugural Samberg Scholars in Children's Health, a newly endowed appointment made possible by the generous donation of $25 million from hospital trustee Arthur Samberg and his wife, Rebecca. The scholars were officially appointed at a ceremony yesterday at the hospital, attended by Mr. and Mrs. Samberg and about 100 colleagues and supporters of the new scholars.

The Samberg Scholars in Children's Health program provides funding to enable NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital to recruit, retain, and sustain top talent in pediatric medicine. With the funding, Samberg Scholars can, for example, recruit a clinical fellow or nurse or devote additional resources to clinical research.

"Our giving emphasis as a family has been in helping young people, both educationally and through health initiatives," said Mr. Samberg. "We were proud to be leaders in the building of the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, but have always been more inclined to support 'people projects' rather than bricks and mortar. With one parent as a pediatrician and two daughters-in-law involved in pediatrics, it was natural for us to enthusiastically support the idea of the Samberg Scholars in Children's Health. We are thrilled to establish the Samberg Scholars program and bring needed resources to the people side of a fantastic building dedicated to improving the health care of young people."

To qualify for selection as a Samberg Scholar, a physician must be a pediatrician or pediatric subspecialist who demonstrates excellence in patient care and meets additional criteria in leadership, expertise, community commitment, teaching, and being a catalyst in program development.

"For years, the Samberg family has been a steadfast supporter of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and a strong advocate for patient- and family-centered children's health," says Steven J. Corwin, CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian. "This latest gift promises to be transformational for children's health care at our hospital and beyond. We're immensely grateful to Art, Becky, and the entire Samberg family for their commitment, generosity, and trust."

The 2013 Samberg Scholars are all pediatricians at NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital and on the faculty of Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons. They are child abuse and neglect specialist Jocelyn Brown, MD, MPH; urologist Pasquale Casale, MD; general pediatrician Patricia Hametz, MD; rheumatologist Lisa Imundo, MD; rehabilitation medicine specialist Heakyung Kim, MD; nephrologist Fangming Lin, MD; general pediatrician Steven Paik, MD; orthopaedic surgeon David Roye Jr.; adolescent-medicine specialist Karen Soren, MD; and orthopaedic surgeon Michael Vitale, MD. Over the next five years, up to 40 scholars will be appointed, funded by the extraordinarily generous gift from the Sambergs.

NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital

NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, located in New York City, offers the best available care in every area of pediatrics — including the most complex neonatal and critical care, and all areas of pediatric subspecialties — in a family-friendly and technologically advanced setting. Building a reputation for more than a century as one of the nation's premier children's hospitals, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital is affiliated with the Department of Pediatrics at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and is Manhattan's only hospital dedicated solely to the care of children and one of the largest providers of children's health services in the tri-state area with a long-standing commitment to its community. It is also a major international referral center, meeting the special needs of children from infancy through adolescence worldwide. NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital also comprises NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division and NewYork-Presbyterian/The Allen Hospital. NewYork-Presbyterian is the #1 hospital in the New York metropolitan area and is consistently ranked among the best academic medical institutions in the nation, according to U.S.News & World Report.