For the first time it has been shown that a COX-2 inhibitor may boost the effectiveness of chemotherapy in the treatment of cancer, according to a study by physician-scientists at NewYork Weill Cornell Medical Center.

The Planetree Alliance, a not-for-profit health-care services organization dedicated to facilitating patient-centered care, has announced that NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is now a member of its hospital membership organization.

Dr. Kenneth I. Glassberg has been appointed director of the division of pediatric urology at Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia and the Department of Urology at Columbia University College of Physicians Surgeons. Dr. Glassberg, an expert in congenital anomalies of the urinary tract and cystic diseases of the kidney, will establish a spinal bifida and incontinence center, a molecular biology research laboratory, and a pediatric urology fellowship.

The Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility at NewYork Weill Cornell Medical Center has discovered that the wonder drug tamoxifen can help breast cancer patients have babies even after they experience fertility loss associated with chemotherapy. A preliminary study published in the current issue of Human Reproduction is the first to describe how an in vitro fertilization (IVF) pregnancy resulted from the use of tamoxifen as an ovarian stimulant.

A drug used with great success to enhance fertility in women may also play a new role for the opposite sex-increasing low testosterone levels in men. The drug, clomiphene citrate (commonly known as Clomid*), is currently under study by researchers at the Male Reproductive Center at Columbia University Medical Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, as an alternative to currently available treatment options (which while effective, can cause multiple complications).

Physician-scientists in the Department of Public Health at NewYork Weill Cornell Medical Center have identified key symptoms that may help distinguish inhaled anthrax from the flu and other common respiratory conditions in the event of a bioterrorist attack, according to a new study published today in the September 2, 2003, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.

A major new government study shows that patients with severe emphysema who undergo bilateral lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) on average do not face an increased risk of death, and are more likely to function better compared to those who receive only non-surgical treatment. The study also identified specific criteria to determine which patients will benefit from the procedure. The five-year randomized study, known as the National Emphysema Treatment Trial (NETT), represents an unprecedented collaboration between the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Medicare, and was the combined effort of 17 clinical research sites, including NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, the only greater New York City area site selected to participate.

Columbia University Health Sciences has named Joseph Tenenbaum, M.D., to the position of senior associate dean for clinical affairs. Dr. Tenenbaum, Edgar Leifer Professor Clinical of Medicine at the College of Physicians & Surgeons, most recently served as acting chairman of the Department of Medicine. His new position is effective in March.