Leadership
Richard T. Silver, M.D.
Dr. Richard Silver is Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. He received his M.D. from Cornell, where he also completed his postgraduate training in internal medicine and hematology. From the time of his early work as Clinical Associate, Leukemia Service, General Medicine Branch, National Cancer Institute, Dr. Silver has contributed to the development of modern clinical cancer chemotherapy.
Driven to increase collaboration and improve therapy for blood cancer patients, Dr. Silver returned to Weill Cornell and helped establish a Residency Training Program as a Visiting Fulbright Professor at the University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil. This collaboration with the University of Bahia was also supported, in part, by the Rockefeller Foundation and still exists today. While in Brazil, he was able to journey to study the blood groups of the native people of the upper Xingu River region, where he discovered a new blood subgroup.
He is internationally recognized as one of the pioneers in clinical investigation of the MPNs, including CML. Among his many accomplishments in the field, Dr. Silver has steered the development and broad clinical application of interferons for the treatment of these diseases, and continues to be an actively practicing and publishing leader in clinical research in the MPNs. He is widely credited with developing the use of the bone marrow biopsy technique that is used throughout the world for the diagnosis of hematologic disorders. He has written over 300 peer-reviewed articles, written or edited more than four books and 20 chapters and innumerable abstracts. He is routinely listed among the Best Doctors in New York.
He has organized or has been invited to speak at numerous national and international meetings, and consensus conferences, and has had many distinguished visiting professorships. Among his many honors for his work in myeloproliferative neoplasms, he has been awarded the Catherine Pasmantier Award, the Timothy Gee Award of the Sass & Straus Leukemia Foundation, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Cancer Research and Treatment Fund, and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the SASS Foundation for Medical Research. He has also received an Award from the Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College for “Lifetime of Academic Achievement, Dedication and Service”, the Honorary Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Israeli Society of Hematology and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, the Weill Cornell Alumni Association and the Myeloproliferative Neoplasms (MPN) Heroes Award. He has been past President of Weill Cornell Alumni Association; Editor of the Cornell Alumni Magazine for a decade, and has served for years as a Senior Advisor to the Weill Cornell Alumni Association. He is a Life Member of the Cornell University Council. The Silver MPN Center has been named in his honor to recognize his enduring commitment and contributions to the understanding and treatment of myeloproliferative neoplasms.
Hematology/Oncology
Gail J. Roboz, M.D.
Gail J. Roboz, M.D.
Dr. Roboz is Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. She is co-director of the Myeloid Malignancies section of the Hematologic Malignancies program of the Cancer Center. A summa cum laude graduate of Yale University, she received her M.D. from The Mount Sinai School of Medicine, where she achieved the highest standing in the graduating class and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha honorary society. She did her internship and residency at the Beth Israel Hospital in Boston and New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell, where she also completed her fellowship in hematology-oncology.
Her research interests are in developmental therapeutics for acute leukemia, the myeloproliferative neoplasms, and myelodysplastic syndrome. Dr. Roboz has been the principal investigator of numerous major clinical trials, has authored many key publications the area, and served in leadership positions of national organizations in hematology and hematologic malignancies.
Clinical Profile (POPS)
Sangmin Lee, M.D.
Sangmin Lee, M.D.
Dr. Lee is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and Assistant Attending Physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. After obtaining his B.A./M.S. as a Vagelos Scholar in Molecular Life Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania in 2003, Dr. Lee received his M.D. from the University of Miami in 2007. He completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and his fellowship in hematology-oncology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, where his research focused on the epigenetics of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). He has been on our faculty in the Leukemia Program since 2013 and he follows many patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms, including chronic myelogenous leukemia and overlap MDS/MPN disorders.
Clinical Profile (POPS)
Pinkal Desai, M.D.
Pinkal Desai, M.D.
Dr. Desai is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and Assistant Attending Physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. She received her M.D. and also her Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and completed her internal medicine residency at Wayne State University, Detroit Medical Center, and her fellowship in hematology-oncology at the Providence Hospital Medical Center where she also served as Chief Fellow from 2012-2013. She devotes her clinical practice to patients with leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and myeloproliferative neoplasms and leads several clinical and translational research protocols in these areas.
Clinical Profile (POPS)
Michael S. Samuel, M.D.
Koen van Besien, M.D., Ph.D.
Koen van Besien, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Koen van Besien is Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and Director of the Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplant Program at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. He is a graduate of the College ND de la Paix in Namur, Belgium, and from the University of Leuven, Belgium, where he also did his clinical training in Medicine. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands.
He completed his hematology-oncology fellowship at Indiana University and in Bruges, Belgium. He then joined the faculty of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston before becoming director of the bone marrow transplant program at the University of Illinois. He was recruited to Cornell in 2011 to head the bone marrow and stem cell transplant program after leading the program at the University of Chicago from 2001 to 2011. He has developed novel methods of transplantation for those patients who lack suitably matched donors and has developed a novel concept of haplo-cord transplantation. He has over 210 publications, and continues to be supported by the NIH for his clinical research. Dr. van Besien has been continuously listed in Castle Connolly’s America’s Top Doctors as a Best Doctor in America and the New York Area. He has expertise and experience with stem cell transplantation for myeloproliferative and myelodysplastic disorders.
Clinical Profile (POPS)
Maria DeSancho, M.D.
Maria DeSancho, M.D.
Dr. Maria DeSancho is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine. She received her medical degree from the Autonomous University in Spain and completed residencies at the La Paz Hospital in Spain and the Metropolitan Hospital Center in New York, with fellowships in hematology at Montefiore Medical Center and the Mount Sinai Medical Center, including advanced training in transfusion medicine and bone marrow transplantation. Prior to joining the Weill Cornell faculty in 2006, she was Assistant Clinical Professor at Columbia University and Assistant Attending Physician at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.
Dr. DeSancho serves as Chief of the Non-Malignant Hematology Service. Dr. DeSancho has a special interest in bleeding and thrombotic disorders including in the myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), particularly in pregnant and postpartum women. Dr. DeSancho diagnoses, treats and follows patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms. Additionally, Dr. DeSancho participates in a bi-monthly myeloproliferative neoplasms conference run by the Hematology and Medical Oncology Division in conjunction with the Pathology Department, as part of NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine’s commitment to offer MPN patients the best possible treatment using a multidisciplinary approach.
Clinical Profile (POPS)(646) 962-2065
Raymond D. Pastore, M.D.
Raymond D. Pastore, M.D.
Dr. Pastore received his undergraduate degree summa cum laude from Princeton University, his medical degree with Honors from the NYU School of Medicine, and performed his residency in internal medicine as well as his fellowship in hematology and medical oncology at Weill Cornell Medical Center. He was Chief Medical Resident from 2001-2002. During his training, he received a Master of Science degree in Clinical Epidemiology & Health Services Research from the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences.
Dr. Pastore sees patients and develops a clinical and translational research program related to non-malignant blood disorders. He is also involved in teaching hematology-oncology fellows, medical residents and medical students.
Clinical Profile (POPS)Pediatric Hematology & Oncology
Nicole Kucine, M.D.
Nicole Kucine, M.D.
Dr. Nicole Kucine is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medical College, and has special expertise and interest in working with children with blood disorders including myeloproliferative disorders and secondary and hereditary polycythemias and thrombocytosis. She is a graduate of Wellesly College and received her M.D. from the State University of New York Health Science Center in Brooklyn (now SUNY-Downstate Medical Center).
She completed her residency in pediatrics at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital of Rutgers University, where she also served as Chief Resident. She joined the Pediatrics faculty at Cornell after completing her fellowship in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at the combined programs of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell and the memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where she was a Special Fellow working in the treatment of childhood hematologic malignancies. She is currently the principal investigator of a project to “study pediatric patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms.”
Clinical Profile (POPS)Hematopathology
Attilio Orazi, M.D.
Attilio Orazi, M.D.
Dr. Attilio Orazi is Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Vice Chair for Hematopathology, and Director of the Division of Hematopathology in the Department of Medicine. A medical graduate of the University of Milano School of Medicine in Italy, he completed residency training in clinical hematology and in pathology in the U.K. and in Italy.
Dr. Orazi was Director of Hematopathology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and at Indiana University School of Medicine before coming to Weill Cornell Medical College. He is an internationally-renowned academic hematopathologist and a leading bone marrow pathologist whose consultative expertise in this area is sought worldwide. He has been the main author or co-author of 14 chapter sections, particularly those concerning myeloid neoplastic disorders including myeloproliferative neoplasms, for the most recent edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) Classification of Tumors of Hematopoietic and Lymphoid Tissues.
Clinical Profile (POPS)
Wayne Tam, M.D., Ph.D.
Wayne Tam, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Tam is Associate Professor of Pathology at Weill Cornell Medical College. He is a graduate of the Cornell-Rockefeller-Memorial Sloan Kettering Tri-Institutional combined M.D. and Ph.D. program who completed his residency in anatomic pathology and fellowship training in hematolopathology at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Besides practicing clinical hematopathology, Dr. Tam directs the translational research program which aims at understanding the pathogenesis of hematologic malignancies, including the myeloproliferative neoplasms.
Clinical Profile (POPS)Dermatology
Joseph L. Jorizzo, M.D.
Joseph L. Jorizzo, M.D.
Dr. Joseph Jorizzo cares for adult and pediatric patients with complex medical dermatology problems. His research and publications focus on dermatologic manifestations of internal medical diseases, such as the skin itching (pruritus) experienced by many patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms. Dr. Jorizzo also cares for patients with common dermatologic problems of skin, hair, nails, and mucous membranes.
Dr. Jorizzo is Professor of Clinical Dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine. A graduate of Boston University and Boston University School of Medicine, he completed his residency and Chief Residency in Dermatology at the University of North Carolina (UNC), served as a fellow at St. John’s Hospital Dermatology Institute in London, and became the Founding Chair of the Dermatology Department at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina prior to joining the full-time faculty at Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Jorizzo remains a Professor, Former and Founding Chair of the Dermatology Department at Wake Forest University. Dr. Jorizzo has held leadership positions in major dermatologic organizations and professional societies, and has served on the editorial boards of several dermatologic journals.
Clinical Profile (POPS)
Joanna L. Harp, M.D.
Joanna L. Harp, M.D.
Dr. Harp is Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Weill Cornell Medical College and is the Director of the dermatology consultation service at New York Presbyterian Hospital. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Vanderbilt University, received her M.D. with high honors from Baylor College of Medicine, and completed internal medicine and dermatology training at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where she also served as Chief Resident in Dermatology.
Dr. Harp’s clinical practice is in general dermatology and dermatologic surgery, with a special interest in complex medical dermatology and skin disorders related to internal disease. Her clinical research interests include autoimmune dermatology, cutaneous vasculitis and cutaneous drug reactions.
Clinical Profile (POPS)Pulmonology
Edward J. Schenck, M.D.
Abraham Sanders, M.D.
Lindsay Lief, M.D.
Lindsay Lief, M.D.
Lindsay Lief, MD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and the Associate Director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Lief attended medical school at Temple University School of Medicine and completed her residency and fellowship at NewYork-Presbyterian (NYP) and Weill Cornell Medicine. After fellowship training, Dr. Lief was honored to serve as the Chief Medical Resident at NYP/Weill Cornell.
Dr. Lief devotes her clinical time to caring for critically ill patients and their families, both during their ICU stays and after discharge from the hospital. She has expertise in treating all types of critical illness including respiratory failure, septic shock and bleeding complications, particularly in patients with underlying myeloproliferative disorders and with a history of stem cell transplant. Her research interests are in identifying and treating unrecognized symptoms in critically ill patients; and in improving outcomes for both ICU patients and their families, as well as the staff providing their care.
Clinical Profile (POPS)
Robert Jeffrey Kaner, M.D.
Cardiology
Ingrid Hriljac, M.D.
Ingrid Hriljac, M.D.
Dr. Hriljac is Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at Weill Cornell Medical College. She received her M.D. from the University of Zagreb School of Medicine (Croatia), completed her internal medicine residence at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and then her Cardiology Fellowship at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. She directs the non-invasive vascular diagnostic laboratory in the Division of Cardiology, and has special expertise in the field of peripheral arterial vascular disease.
Clinical Profile (POPS)
Jiwon Kim, M.D.
Jiwon Kim, M.D.
I am an Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at Weill Cornell Medicine with an academic focus on translational cardiovascular imaging research. I trained at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for Internal Medicine and Brown University for Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship. This training was followed by dedicated Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging Fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. My research has focused on studying right heart physiology and remodeling using emerging echocardiography and MRI imaging techniques to improve risk stratification and treatment of patients with heart failure. I have a particular interest in cardiac sequelae of myeloproliferative neoplasms with attention to its impact on the right heart and right heart pressures.
Clinical Profile (POPS)Obstetrics
Vascular Surgery
Darren B. Schneider, M.D.
Darren B. Schneider, M.D.
Dr. Schneider is Chief of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery at Weill Cornell medical College, and Director of the Center for Vascular and Endovascular Surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. A graduate of Stanford University, he received his M.D. from the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, followed by General Surgery residency at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), a fellowship at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery, and fellowships in interventional radiology and also vascular surgery at UCSF.
He is an internationally recognized expert in advanced minimally invasive vascular and endovascular procedures, and was one of the first surgeons in the country to apply advanced endovascular techniques for the treatment of carotid disease and peripheral arterial disease. His expertise also includes minimally invasive and open surgical techniques for treatment of varicose veins and deep vein thrombosis (DVT). He is perennially selected as one of the Best Doctors in America by Castle Connolly and US News World, as well as Best Doctors in New York.
Clinical Profile (POPS)Rheumatology
Susan M. Goodman, M.D.
Susan M. Goodman, M.D.
Dr. Goodman is Associate Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology) at Weill Cornell Medical College and Associate Attending Physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS). She specializes in the treatment of patients with inflammatory arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and spondyloarthritis. She also specializes in the perioperative care of patients with rheumatic diseases. She is Director of the Comprehensive Arthritis Clinical Research Program and Medical Chief of the Comprehensive Arthritis Program (CAP) at HSS.
Clinical Profile (POPS)
Jessica Gordon, M.D.
Jessica Gordon, M.D.
Jessica Gordon, MD, MSc is an Assistant Attending in the Department of Rheumatology at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical College. She completed medical school at SUNY Stony Brook in 2002 and Internal Medicine Residency and Chief Residency at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC in 2006. Dr. Gordon completed her fellowship in Rheumatology at HSS in 2010 and joined the Medical staff at HSS at that point in time. Dr. Gordon cares for patients who have myeloproliferative neoplasms and rheumatic disease.
Clinical Profile (POPS)Gastroenterology
Ellen J. Scherl, M.D.
Randy Longman, M.D., Ph.D.
Steven M. Lipkin, M.D., Ph.D.
Neurology
Matthew E. Fink, M.D.
Matthew E. Fink, M.D.
Dr. Fink is the Louis and Gertrude Feil Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurology at Weill Cornell Medical College, and Neurologist-in-Chief at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. In addition, he is Chief of the Division of Stroke and Critical Care Neurology. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Fink received his M.D. from the University of Pittsburgh, followed by residency and Chief Residency at the Boston City Hospital. He completed his fellowship in Neurology at Columbia before joining its faculty and becoming the founding director of Columbia’s Neurology-Neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit.
Prior to joining the faculty of Cornell, Dr. Fink served as President and CEO of the Beth Israel Medical Center in New York. Editor of the monthly publication, "Neurology Alert," and past President of the New York State Neurological Society, Dr. Fink is a renowned expert in neurovascular diseases including stroke.
Clinical Profile (POPS)
Hooman Kamel, M.D.
Hooman Kamel, M.D.
Dr. Kamel is Assistant Professor of Neurology at Weill Cornell Medical College. A graduate of Harvard College, he received his M.D. from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, and trained as a neurocritical care fellow at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He is a widely respected expert in stroke and cerebrovascular disease. Dr. Kamel has been the recipient of many clinical and research awards, including the 2014 Pessin Stroke Leadership Prize of the American Academy of Neurology.
Clinical Profile (POPS)Psychiatry
Guy Maytal M.D.
Guy Maytal M.D.
Dr. Maytal is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and serves as the Chief of Integrated Care and Psychiatric Oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. He is widely regarded for his expertise at the interface of internal medicine and psychiatry, in particular working with the oncology team to care for patients with cancer and other life-limiting illnesses.
Clinical Profile (POPS)