News and Events

Find our current Cardiothoracic events and news stories below.

Change of Heart

Through innovative clinical trials and research, Weill Cornell Medicine physicians are pioneering efforts to address long-standing disparities in women’s cardiac surgery and cardiology care.

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A second chance in life: Bronx woman gets new heart at NewYork-Presbyterian

Click Here to read the story of Rachel Harper on how she got a second chance in life.

Three-Star Rating from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS)

Weill Cornell has earned a distinguished three-star rating – the top rating – from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) for its patient care and outcomes in isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) procedures and Mitral Valve Repair and Replacement for the 3 year period 2021 thru 2023. The three-star rating, which denotes the highest category of quality, places Weill Cornell Medicine among the elite for heart bypass surgery and mitral valve surgery in the United States and Canada. Additionally, the Weill Cornell program at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens has earned a distinguished three-star rating for its patient care and outcomes in isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) procedures.

STS, a nonprofit organization representing more than 7,600 surgeons, researchers and healthcare professionals worldwide, developed a comprehensive rating system that evaluates the quality of cardiac surgical procedures performed at hospitals across the country. The STS star rating system is one of the most sophisticated and highly regarded overall measures of quality in health care, rating the benchmarked outcomes of cardiothoracic surgery programs across the United States and Canada. The latest analysis of data for cardiac surgery covers a 3-year period, from January 2021 to December 2023.

“We are delighted to be recognized by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons as a distinguished provider of bypass surgery and mitral valve surgery for our patients,” said Dr. Leonard Girardi, Chair, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine. “This achievement is a testament to our commitment to providing the highest quality cardiovascular care to our patients at all Weill Cornell campuses.”

WCM Receives Milestone in Mitral Valve Repair for the 2nd Year

Weill Cornell's Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery has again been honored with the esteemed Mitral Valve Repair Reference Center Award from the American Heart Association and the Mitral Foundation for our second consecutive year.

This recognition underscores our sustained leadership in mitral valve repair and our unwavering commitment to delivering exemplary cardiac care

Advocating for Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement: An Interview With Leonard N. Girardi, MD

Fascinating in-depth interview with Dr. Joel Dunning, Cardiothoracic Surgeon at James Cook University Hospital.

Dr. Leonard Girardi highlighting the efficacy and durability of Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement (SAVR). This was recently presented at 60th STS Annual meeting in San Antonio Texas "Drop the Wire, Pick Up the Knife: Bring SAVR Back!"

Dr. Girardi underscored the importance of putting patients first by ensuring clear communication on treatment options and post-surgical care.

Less Invasive Early Lung Cancer Study Receives Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Award

Dr. Nasser Altorki in OR

A Weill Cornell Medicine-led research team has been awarded a 2024 Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Award from the Clinical Research Forum in recognition of an influential 2023 New England Journal of Medicine study on early-stage lung cancer resection.

The clinical trial results were published Feb. 9, 2023 by a team led by Dr. Nasser Altorki, chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, and co-investigators from Duke University as well as investigators from 83 hospitals across the United States, Canada and Australia. The trial found that a surgery that removes only a portion of one of the five lobes that comprise a lung is as effective as removing an entire lobe for certain early-stage lung cancer patients.

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Up and-coming Bronchoscopic Ablation Therapies for Treatment of Lung Cancer

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Robotic Bronchoscopy: A Major Advance in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Early-Stage Lung Cancer

Dr. Ali and Dr. Shostak

Robotic technology isn’t replacing doctors; it’s helping them do what they do more safely and with greater control and precision than anyone could have imagined a few short years ago.

“That’s why robotic bronchoscopy is such a game-changer,” Dr. Shostak continues. “It’s like a GPS system that gives us a virtual map telling us which way to turn next as we ‘drive’ through that maze of subdividing airways. And because the robot-assisted method allows us to travel deep into the lung and identify hard-to-reach, potentially cancerous nodules, we can perform biopsies with greater precision and lower complication rates than was previously possible.”

“Our ability to perform robotic bronchoscopy, biopsy and surgical removal of cancerous nodules in one procedure shortens the treatment time window from 90 to 25 days,” Dr. Ali says. “That’s a 3-fold decrease”—one that translates to earlier diagnosis and treatment and to significantly improved survival rates.

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WCM's Updates in Interventional Pulmonology Symposium: The Era of Robotics

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Dr. Iosif Gulkarov Named Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens

Iosif Gulkarov, M.D.

Dr. Iosif Gulkarov, a leading adult cardiac surgeon, has been appointed chief of cardiothoracic surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, effective Oct. 1. Dr. Gulkarov was also recruited to Weill Cornell Medicine as an associate professor of clinical cardiothoracic surgery.