Weill—Cornell Medical College

THE WEILL—CORNELL MEDICAL College of Cornell University, formerly named the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University and abbreviated to Weill Cornell, is the medical school and biomédical research unit of Cornell University.

The medical college is currently located in New York City, along with the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences. It was partially endowed by Sanford Weill. Cornell University Medical College was founded April 14, 1898, with an endowment by Colonel Oliver H. Payne. It was established in New York City because Ithaca, where the main campus is located, was deemed too small to offer adequate clinical training opportunities. It was one of the first medical schools to admit women alongside men. In 1927, the college became affiliated with New York Hospital, and the institution moved to its current joint campus in 1932. The hospital's Training School for Nurses became affiliated with the university in 1942, operating as the Cornell Nursing School until it closed in 1979. In 1998, Cornell University Medical College's affiliate hospital, New York Hospital, merged with Presbyterian Hospital (the affiliate hospital for Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons). The combined institution operates today as New York—Presbyterian Hospital.

Despite the clinical alliance, the faculty and instructional functions of the Cornell and Columbia units remain distinct and independent. Multiple fellowships and clinical programs have merged, however, and the institutions are continuing in their efforts to bring together departments, which could enhance academic efforts, reduce costs, and increase public recognition. All hospitals in the New York—Presbyterian Healthcare System are affiliated with one of the two colleges. Also in 1998, the medical college was renamed the Weill Medical College of Cornell (WCMC) University, after receiving a substantial endowment from Sanford I. Weill, who was then chairman of Citigroup.

WCMC has signaled its strong commitment to stem cell research through the establishment of the Ansary Center for Stem Cell Therapeutics, funded by a $15 million grant from Shahla and Hushang Ansary. The center focuses on finding ways to boost the growth of adult stem cells—for example, to generate large quantities of a patient's own cells for therapy, or for use in delivering therapeutic payloads of genetically modified stem cells directly to the appropriate target. The center builds on a long tradition of achievement at WCMC, including the discovery of vascular stem cells in adult bone marrow that aid in the creation of new blood [Page 617]vessels; such cells contribute to wound healing and to the regeneration of organs on the one hand, and to the formation of blood vessels to feed certain tumors on the other.

WCMC is fortunate to have a community of investigators who contribute to stem cell research in many different areas. Its physicians treat patients in a wide variety of clinical areas in which stem cell therapy may be applied, from cardiac regeneration after heart attack to brain recovery after stroke to wound healing in severe burns. One of Weill Cornell's most distinctive resources is its in vitro fertilization laboratory, which features state—of—the—art reproductive biology focused on the basic science and clinical aspects of human embryonic stem cells.

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