New Pediatric Oncology Research Laboratory Dedication At Childrens Hospital Of Newyork-Presbyterian
CONTACT: Bryan
Dotson Annie Bayne NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia University Health Sciences Division (212) 305-5587 (212) 305-3900 ***MEDIA ALERT*** New Pediatric Oncology Research Laboratory Dedication at Children’s Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian $3 Million Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation Grant Establishes State-of-the-Art Facility WHAT: The Children’s Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian and the Division of Pediatric Oncology at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons (P&S) received a 3-year, $3 million grant from the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation (PCRF) of Irvine, CA to establish a state-of-the-art pediatric oncology research laboratory. The 2,000-square-foot laboratory will incorporate a suite of research facilities that feature the latest, most high-tech equipment currently available. The new pediatric cancer research center will be dedicated at a ribbon-cutting ceremony. WHO: Dr. Mitchell Cairo, director of the Children’s Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian blood and marrow transplant and experimental therapeutics programs for children with cancer and assistant professor of pediatrics at P&S, will head the new research laboratory. Dr. Cairo is an expert in stem cell biology, molecular oncology, and gene therapy and principal investigator and chair of several stem cell transplantation clinical trials that study possible benefits for pediatric cancer patients. Other speakers at the event will include: *Dr. Gerald M. Fischbach, executive vice president of health and biomedical sciences and dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Columbia University; *Dr. Karen Antman, director of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, and the Wu Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at P&S; *Cynthia Sparer, executive director, Children’s Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian; and *John Wiener, president, Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation. WHEN: Friday, March 22, 2002 11:00 AM WHERE: Children’s Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian 3959 Broadway (at 166th Street) New York, NY 10032 *Despite tremendous progress in research and patient care, the battle is far from over. Cancer today remains the No. 1 killer of young people, afflicting more children under 18 years of age each year than any other disease. In 2002, enough children to fill 2 classrooms are diagnosed with cancer each school day. Although survival rates are improving, one out of every 330 young people will develop cancer by age 20, and 35 percent of children with cancer will die from the disease (source: PCRF). # # # |
|