News and Events

Find our current Cardiothoracic events and news stories below.

2021 NYC Walk For Victory

Join us at the Hudson River Park, Saturday, June 5th for the annual Marfan Foundation's global walk program. Click here for more details. 

2021 Walk for Victory

Q&A with Dr. Mario Gaudino, Newly Appointed Director of the Joint Clinical Trials Office

For Dr. Mario Gaudino, being an excellent cardiothoracic surgeon and conducting clinical research to find new ways to improve patients’ outcomes have been two sides of the same coin since he was a medical student in Rome. Today, he is a renowned surgeon treating patients with heart and cardiovascular disease, and at the same time, serves as the primary investigator of the ROMA Trial, an international, randomized controlled trial that aims to determine the best strategy for coronary artery bypass surgery.

As the newly appointed director of the Joint Clinical Trials Office (JCTO) at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian, Dr. Gaudino will oversee ongoing clinical trials and lead strategic planning efforts. He will focus on increasing the number of active clinical trials available to Weill Cornell Medicine patients, which currently stands at about 400, with just over 200 studies for patients with cancer and just under 200 for patients with other diseases. Dr. Gaudino, who is also the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Professor in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine and a cardiothoracic surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, will also encourage more physicians to get involved in clinical research and strengthen the JCTO’s existing infrastructure and services that support investigators across the two institutions.

How did you become interested in working on clinical research?

At my alma mater in Rome, I learned that clinical research is part of a clinician’s essential activities. My mentors said many times that something relevant to clinical research happens every day in a busy clinical practice and that if you don’t think that’s true, you’re not paying close enough attention. Physicians who also conduct research can improve knowledge, advance the field and provide benefits to more patients than is possible through clinical care alone.

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Dr. Mario Gaudino Appointed Director for the Joint Clinical Trials Office (JCTO)

Dr. Mario Gaudino recently appointed as the Director for the Joint Clinical Trials Office (JCTO) at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York Hospital.  In his new role, Dr. Gaudino will oversee ongoing clinical trials and provide strategic growth plans to increase investigator-initiated trials, pragmatic trials, and ongoing improvements and enhancements to the existing clinical trial infrastructure.

Dr. Gaudino will collaborate closely with the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center and the other critical institutional entities for clinical research. He will help establish a vision for advancement, key metrics and targets, and provide oversight and leadership to the JCTO team. In this capacity, Dr. Gaudino will also serve as faculty liaison to Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian leadership, as well as clinical research faculty and departments. In collaboration with the Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Research, he will create a blueprint for expanding the clinical trials portfolio and associated revenue to support the growth targets across the full Weill Cornell and NewYork-Presbyterian network.

Patient Peter Ciaccia's Story

Leonard Girardi, Cardiac surgery, cardiac surgeon, aortic aneurysm,
Peter Ciaccia had a 6 cm bulge in his ascending aorta. Dr. Leonard Girardi made an incision in his chest and repaired the aortic aneurysm by replacing the aortic valve using a natural valve made from cow heart tissue. 
Peter, was the former President of Events for New York Road Runners and Race Director of the New York City Marathon for 18 years is dedicated to fitness and a long-time distance runner. 

NYP and Weill Cornell Cardiothoracic Surgery was voted #1 in Healthgrades

NYP and Weill Cornell Cardiothoracic Surgery was voted #1 out of 50 hospitals in the US in superior clinical outcomes in Heart Bypass Surgery and Heart Valve Surgery. Click here for more details.

NYP and Weill Cornell Cardiothoracic Surgery #1, Heart Bypass Surgery, Heart Valve Surgery, mortality, complications

COVID-19 Related Airway Complications Customization of Airway Stents and the Role of 3-D Printing

COVID-19 related airway complications customization of airway stents and the roles of 3-d printing

Tracheobronchomalacia (TBM): Overview of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Approaches

tracheobronchomalacia, TBM, Dr. Eugene Shostak, Dr. Oliver Chow,

The Push–Pull of Industry in Interventional Cardiovascular Trials

Patrice Wendling

June 03, 2020

One in five trials (16.2%) were not prospectively registered before the start of enrollment, and at least one major discrepancy existed between the registered and published primary outcome in 38% of registered trials.

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Type of Sponsorship Associated with Differences Between Trials for Invasive Cardiovascular Treatments

Mario Gaudino, ROMA Trial, CABG, Invasive Cardiovascular Treatments, cardiovascular diseaseIn randomized clinical trials, commercial sponsorship influences how studies are designed and the results reported in ways that often benefit the study’s sponsor, Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian investigators report in a new study. The findings underscore the need to improve study design, reporting and guidelines to avoid bias in these trials, the authors say.

The study, published June 1 in JAMA Internal Medicine, focuses on coronary, vascular and structural interventional cardiology, and vascular and cardiac surgeries because of the enormous burden cardiovascular disease places on public health. In the United States, it accounts for approximately 800,000 deaths per year and 6 percent of total dollars spent on healthcare. A rigorous approach to evaluating new interventions for heart disease is critical.

“In medicine in general, but in particular cardiovascular medicine, we see randomized clinical trials as the best form of evidence,” said lead author Dr. Mario Gaudino, a professor in cardiothoracic surgery and director of translational and clinical research in cardiothoracic surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine, and a cardiovascular surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. “Our practice is very heavily influenced by the results of randomized clinical trials. If those trials are not properly performed and reported, there’s a risk that we use the wrong strategy and don’t treat patients in the best possible way.”

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Recent invasive CV trials fall short on certain design aspects

Contemporary randomized clinical trials assessing invasive CV interventions are often small with short follow-up and limited power to identify large treatment effects, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The study also found that commercially supported trials were linked to differences in results, design and reporting. In particular, commercially supported trials were more likely to report favorable outcomes than other trials, and to report findings inconsistent with the trial results.

In this cross-sectional study, Mario F.L. Gaudino, MD, FEBCTS, Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine, and colleagues analyzed data from 216 randomized clinical trials focused on vascular, coronary and structural interventional cardiology and vascular and cardiac surgeries.

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