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Herbert Pardes, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, has announced the appointment of William A. Polf, Ph.D., to the position of Senior Vice President for External Relations at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

In this capacity, he is responsible for the development and management of government relations, public affairs, media and public relations, and community affairs for NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Polf is also responsible for developing programmatic initiatives with the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University and Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

"Dr. Polf is a leading external relations professional with strong leadership skills and deep knowledge of academic medical centers, medical schools, and teaching hospitals," said Dr. Pardes. Dr. Polf has spent ten years as Deputy Vice President for External Relations and Strategic Programs for the Columbia University Health Sciences Division at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center (CPMC). Before that he was Assistant Vice President and Director of State Relations for Columbia University for nine years.

Dr. Polf has directed major strategic initiatives of Columbia and the Health Sciences Division, including the Schapiro Center for Engineering and Physical Science Research on the main campus of Columbia and the Audubon Biomedical Science and Technology Park at CPMC. Audubon is New York City's only university-related research park, which currently houses two facilities, the Berrie Medical Science Pavilion, and the Lasker Research Building, New York's only commercial biotechnology laboratory and biotechnology business incubator facility.

Highly regarded among his peers in the biomedical research and biotechnology business industries, Dr. Polf serves on the board of directors of the Association of University Related Research Parks (AURRP), the New York State Biotechnology Association (NYBA), and the Emerging Companies Section of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). He is chair-elect of the Council of Biotechnology Centers of BIO.

Prior to coming to Columbia, Dr. Polf was chief research analyst for the Speaker of the New York State Assembly, and worked on legislation in real property taxation, school finance, and municipal debt limits. He holds a Ph.D. degree from Syracuse University.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a 2,237-bed academic medical center from the merger between The New York Hospital and The Presbyterian Hospital. It provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory, and preventive care in all areas of medicine at five major centers: New York Weill Cornell Medical Center, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, Babies & Children's Hospital, The Allen Pavilion, and the Westchester Division. One of the largest and most comprehensive healthcare institutions in the world, the Hospital is committed to excellence in patient care, research, education, and community service.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital's full-service Network—which includes acute-care and community hospitals, long-term care facilities, home-health agencies, ambulatory sites, and specialty institutions—ensures high-quality, cost-effective, and conveniently accessible care to communities through the tri-state metropolitan region. The Network serves nearly 25 percent of the patients in the New York Metropolitan area. The Hospital has academic affiliations with two of the country's leading medical colleges: Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons.