New York, New York (PRWEB) January 13, 2015 -- Dr. Naiyer Rizvi has been named director of thoracic oncology and immunotherapeutics in medical oncology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, effective January 5, 2015. Dr. Rizvi, a medical oncologist, has extensive expertise developing immunotherapy agents to harness the body’s own immune systems against cancer. He joins NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he was an attending physician and led research in thoracic immunotherapy.
“Dr. Rizvi’s research of antibodies that can reinvigorate T cells to recognize lung cancer cells as foreign and destroy the cancer cells has been a major development in thoracic oncology,” said Dr. Gary Schwartz, professor of medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia. “We are excited to bring him on board to lead our program in thoracic oncology and to integrate his years of experience and breadth of knowledge in treating patients with all types of cancer that could respond to immunotherapies.”
Immunotherapy is a treatment that uses a patient’s own immune system to help fight cancer. While immunotherapy historically has been considered a minimally effective treatment, a type of immunotherapy that blocks immune checkpoints has recently shown dramatic responses in patients with lung cancer. Dr. Rizvi has led key trials using immune checkpoint blockade therapy that have improved the lives of many patients with cancer. He will continue his research at CUMC to develop new immunotherapy agents and immunotherapy combinations to reshape the landscape of cancer therapy.
“The use of immunotherapeutics is a rapidly evolving field in cancer that has shown tremendous promise for patients,” said Dr. Stephen G. Emerson, the Clyde ’56 and Helen Wu Professor of Immunology at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and director of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia. “Dr. Rizvi’s appointment will ensure that NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia continues to be a leader in developing efficient and effective treatments against cancer.”
A native of Canada, Dr. Rizvi received his medical degree from the University of Manitoba, where he also completed his residency. He completed a fellowship at Beth Israel Hospital/Harvard Medical School. In addition to his faculty appointment at Sloan Kettering, Dr. Rizvi was an associate professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. He is board certified in internal medicine and medical oncology.
He has authored or co-authored more than 60 peer-reviewed papers, books and book chapters. He currently sits on the editorial board of OncoImmunology.
The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) of Columbia University and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is dedicated to the cure of cancer through innovative basic, clinical, and population-based research and outstanding patient care. HICCC researchers and physicians are dedicated to understanding the biology of cancer and to applying that knowledge to the design of cancer therapies and prevention strategies that reduce its incidence and progression and improve the quality of the lives of those affected by cancer. Initially funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in 1972 and designated comprehensive in 1979, the HICCC is one of 41 NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the United States, of which only three are in New York State. The designation recognizes the Center’s collaborative environment and expertise in harnessing translational research to bridge scientific discovery to clinical delivery, with the ultimate goal of successfully introducing novel diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive approaches to cancer. For more information, visit http://www.hiccc.columbia.edu.
Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, preclinical, and clinical research; medical and health sciences education; and patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Columbia University Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and State and one of the largest faculty medical practices in the Northeast. For more information, visit cumc.columbia.edu or columbiadoctors.org.
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, located in New York City, is one of the leading academic medical centers in the world, comprising the teaching hospital NewYork-Presbyterian and its academic partner, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory and preventive care in all areas of medicine, and is committed to excellence in patient care, research, education and community service. NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital also comprises NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division, NewYork-Presbyterian/The Allen Hospital and NewYork-Presbyterian/Lower Manhattan Hospital. The hospital is also closely affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian/Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville. NewYork-Presbyterian is the #1 hospital in the New York metropolitan area, according to U.S. News & World Report, and consistently named to the magazine’s Honor Roll of best hospitals in the nation. For more information, visit http://www.nyp.org.
Doug Feingold, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, +1 (212) 305-5587, [email protected]
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