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Biography: Dr. Myron Schwartz, MD is a General Surgery Specialist who practices in New York, NY. He is 72 years old and has been practicing for 49 years. Dr. Myron Schwartz, MD is affiliated with Mount Sinai Hospital.

Biography: Dina Podolsky, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. She is a board-certified general surgeon who graduated with honors from Rutgers University, where she also received her medical degree, and completed a residency in general surgery at Montefiore Medical Center. Dr. Podolsky then completed fellowship training in complex abdominal wall reconstruction and robotic surgery at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, where she worked closely with one of the world's leading hernia surgeons, Dr. Novitsky. She is a member of several national organizations, including the Americas Hernia Society and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons. Dr. Podolsky has received numerous awards for her training and teaching, including the Leo M. Davidoff Award for Outstanding Teaching and the Golden Apple Teaching Award. Dr. Podolsky specializes in all aspects of hernia surgery, including inguinal, ventral, and complex abdominal wall reconstruction, employing minimally invasive techniques with laparoscopic and robotic surgery. She has presented research at major professional associations and continues to be active in research, publishing both academic research and textbook chapters. Dr. Podolsky currently sees patients in midtown Manhattan and Washington Heights.

Biography: Dr. Angela Kadenhe-Chiweshe completed her M.D. degree at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. She entered a categorical general surgery residency at the University of Rochester where her interest in pediatric surgery was solidified. In 2001 she joined the Pediatric Tumor Biology Laboratory as a postdoctoral research fellow under the tutelage of Drs. Jessica Kandel and Darrell Yamashiro. During this time she studied the effects of anti-angiogenic therapy in experimental models of pediatric solid tumors. This work led to key discoveries of how these tumors respond to anti-angiogenic therapy and served as important preclinical data for the Phase II studies for Avastin® (bevacizumab). She also concurrently completed a clinical fellowship in Extra-Corporal Membrane Oxygenation with Dr. Charles Stolar. She went on to complete her general surgery training at Columbia University in 2007, and followed with a clinical fellowship in Pediatric Surgery at the Morgan Stanley Children's' Hospital of New York Presbyterian, in 2009. Dr. Chiweshe joined the faculty of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, as Assistant Professor of Surgery in July 2009 until her departure in June 2018, when she briefly joined the Faculty of the Department of Surgery at Westchester Medical Center. Dr. Chiweshe's clinical interests include all aspects of general and thoracic pediatric surgery: in particular, neonatal anomalies, intestinal rehabilitation, hepatobiliary disease, pediatric cancer and vascular anomalies. Dr. Chiweshe's academic interests lie in the field of clinical and translational research. She served as co-PI of the Pediatric Tumor Biology Lab at Columbia, working alongside her mentor Dr. Yamashiro to elucidate the response of the tumor microenvironment of experimental models of pediatric solid tumors to NOTCH inhibition and high dose radiation. She has received grant funding from various sources, throughout her career, including NIH, Pediatric Cancer Foundation, and other institutional and philanthropic sources. Dr. Kadenhe-Chiweshe is a highly respected mentor and teacher, and has served as a role model to many students, residents, and fellows.Dr. Chiweshe is a Fellow of American College of Surgeons, a member of the American Pediatric Surgical Association, Children's Oncology Group, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. She has been recognized by Castle Connolly as one of "America's Top Doctors".

Biography: Dr. McManus is a board-certified, high volume Endocrine surgeon who treats thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal disease and serves as the Surgical Director of the Thyroid Biopsy Program. Her expertise in minimally invasive interventions, including thermal ablation of thyroid nodules and robotic adrenalectomy, allows her to provide individualized, high quality care to all of her patients. Dr. McManus earned a master's degree in Clinical Research Methods and has received national and international recognition for her work including the International Association of Endocrine Surgeons (IAES) Travel Scholar Award.

Biography: If you need assistance in Chinese (Mandarin & Cantonese), please call 646-317-6325. Visit Columbia Liver Asian Outreach Office (English | Mandarin) Tomoaki Kato, M.D., is a noted pioneer in multiple-organ transplantation, pediatric and adult liver transplantation. Dr. Kato is Surgical Director of Adult and Pediatric Liver and Intestinal Transplantation at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Irving Medical Center and is a professor of surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Kato is known for unique and innovative surgeries for adults and children, including a six-organ transplant; a procedure called APOLT (auxiliary partial orthotopic liver transplantation) that resuscitates a failing liver by attaching a partial donor liver, making immunosuppressant drugs unnecessary and the first successful human partial bladder transplantation involving the transplant of two kidneys together with ureters connected to a patch of the donor bladder. In a highly publicized case, he led the first reported removal and re-implantation, or auto-transplantation, of six organs to excise a hard-to-reach abdominal tumor. Previously the director of pediatric liver and gastrointestinal transplant and professor of clinical surgery at the University of Miami School of Medicine, Dr. Kato received his medical degree from the Osaka University Medical School in Japan and received his residency training in surgery at Osaka University Hospital and Itami City Hospital in Hyogo, Japan. He completed a clinical fellowship in transplantation at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital, in Miami, Florida, where he was subsequently appointed to the surgical faculty in 1997, and promoted to full professor in 2007. He served as a surgeon and senior leader of the liver and transplantation center at Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital, beginning in 1997, and at University of Miami Hospital (previously Cedars Medical Center), beginning in 2004. Dr. Kato is a member of numerous professional and honorary organizations, and the author or co-author of more than 180 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals. Visit The Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation at columbiasurgery.org/liver

Biography: Dr. Llore is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Columbia University and an Attending Transplant Surgeon at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Llore received her undergraduate degree from Fordham University and her medical degree from New York University School of Medicine. She completed general surgery residency at Georgetown University Hospital and abdominal transplant/hepatobiliary fellowship training at New York Presbyterian Columbia and Weill Cornell. She received additional training on the immune response after a liver transplant and xenotransplantation with Dr. Megan Sykes at Columbia Center for Translational Immunology (CCTI). She is board-certified in general surgery and received specialty training in abdominal transplant and hepatobiliary surgery. Her practice interests focus on the surgical management of children and adults with liver and bile duct disease, including benign and malignant liver tumors. She practices minimally invasive surgical techniques in liver surgery to shorten recovery times and reduce post operative discomfort. Dr. Llore is interested in surgical education and is the Associate Program Director for the ASTS certified surgical fellowship program.

Biography: Dr. Winchell is an internationally renowned expert in care of the critically injured and the development, design, and operation of trauma systems. He is the G. Thomas Shires II Professor of Surgery, Professor of Medical Ethics in Medicine, and Chief of the Division of Trauma, Burns, Acute and Critical Care at Weill Cornell Medicine. He heads one of the leading Level 1 trauma centers in New York City and oversees the internationally recognized William Randolph Hearst Burn Center.Dr. Winchell received his undergraduate degree at the California Institute of Technology, his M.D. from Yale University, and did his internship, General Surgery residency, and Trauma and Critical Care Fellowship at the University of California, San Diego. He is board certified in general surgery, with added qualifications in surgical critical care. He served on the faculty at UCSD as Associate Professor of Clinical Surgery until 1999, and prior to joining Weill Cornell, he was a Visiting Professor of Surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston and Chief of Trauma at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center.Dr. Winchell is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, currently serving as Governor for the Manhattan Council Chapter. He served on the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma for over 20 years, in various roles including Chair of the Trauma Systems Evaluation and Planning Committee, member of the Executive Committee, and Special Consultant for International Quality Programs. Dr Winchell has led the development and evolution of trauma systems throughout the world, including his seminal work in the Committee on Trauma's Trauma System Consultation Program, and work with the WHO Global Alliance for the Care of the Injured.Dr. Winchell is the author of more than 100 scientific papers and book chapters, and has given over 200 regional, national, and international presentations. He is an associate editor of the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, a section editor for the European Journal of Trauma, and reviewer for several other journals including Trauma and Acute Care Surgery Open, the Archives of Surgery, and the World Journal of Surgery. He is a fellow or member of the American Surgical Association, the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, the American Burn Association, the New England Surgical Society, the International Society for Surgery, the International the Association for Trauma Surgery and Intensive Care, the Western Trauma Association, and the Society of Critical Care Medicine as well as other national and regional scholarly societies.

Biography: Cassandra Villegas, MD MPH is an Attending Surgeon at Weill Cornell Medical Center in the Division of Trauma, Burns, Critical, and Acute Care Surgery. She received her B.S. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University, where she was a President' Scholar and received the Teaching Excellence award. She remained at Stanford University as an instructor and doing neuroscience research before joining Teach for America to teach high school science in Los Angeles Unified School District for five years. There, she won the Most Inspirational Teacher Award before leaving education to attend Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. As a medical student, she completed her MPH at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, focusing on data outcomes research while diversifying her medical training at Guy's, King's, and St. Thomas's Hospital in London, England as well as the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland.She continued her outcomes research in trauma and health disparities before starting her general surgery residency at the University of Arizona. While there, she took 1st Place in the American College of Surgeons Resident Paper Competition and earned the American Association for the Surgery Resident Scholarship for her work her in trauma outcomes. She received Resident Educator of the Year twice, and was Awarded Resident of the Year at the Southern Arizona Veteran's Hospital. At the conclusion of her residency, she was awarded the Charles Putnam Chief Resident Teaching Award.Dr. Villegas then completed her Surgical Critical Care and Acute Care Surgery Fellowships at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, where she now serves as faculty and continues her research interest in trauma, emergency surgery, and global health surgery. She is a member of the American College of Surgeons, the Easter Association for the Surgery of Trauma, and the Surgical Outcomes Society.