News from NYU Langone Health
NYU Langone Health Launches GI Cancer Center, Appoints 2 Leaders. (Becker's Hospital Review)
(9/8) NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center has appointed Anirban Maitra, MD, member of the faculty, Department of Pathology, and Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, a gastrointestinal and pancreatic pathologist, and Manuel Hidalgo, MD, member of the faculty, Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, a translational researcher and clinical oncologist, as co-directors of its newly established Gastrointestinal Cancer Center; Dr. Maitra previously held roles at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, while Dr. Hidalgo has held professorial positions at Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University, and Weill Cornell Medical College, and was the director of the ASCO/AACR Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop from 2019 to 2024.
95 Academic Medical Center CEOs To Know. (Becker's Hospital Review)
(9/8) Alec C. Kimmelman, MD, PhD, dean and CEO, assumed his role in September 2025, leading a top-tier integrated academic health system that includes seven inpatient locations, over 320 outpatient sites, and two tuition-free medical schools, with a growing presence nationwide; under his previous leadership as director of the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, NYU Langone Health expanded significantly, reporting $14.2 billion in revenue in 2024, adding a new hospital in Suffolk County, and announcing plans for a comprehensive outpatient campus in West Palm Beach, Florida, while maintaining its No. 1 ranking among 115 comprehensive academic medical centers nationwide by Vizient for three consecutive years.
Pig Kidney Transplants Take A Step Forward With Approval Of Human Trials. (CNN)
(9/8) The US Food and Drug Administration has approved human trials for pig kidney transplants developed by eGenesis, with Robert Montgomery, MD, DPhil, the H. Leon Pachter, MD, Professor of Surgery, chair, Department of Surgery, NYU Langone Transplant Institute, saying, “We performed the first gene edited pig-to-human kidney transplant on September 25th, 2021. I don’t think any of us thought there would be two FDA approved trials beginning less than 4 years after that landmark event.”
Also reporting is (9/8).
William Huang, MD, Outlines OPTIMA II Data On Mitomycin For Intravesical Solution. (Urology Times)
(9/8) William C. Huang, MD, vice chair, clinical affairs, professor, Departments of Urology and Radiology, chief, urology service, Perlmutter Cancer Center, discussed findings from the OPTIMA II trial’s long-term extension study, which demonstrated durable long-term complete responses in patients with low-grade, intermediate-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer treated with mitomycin for intravesical solution (Zusduri, formerly UGN-102); of the 63 patients studied, 41 achieved a complete response at a 3-month follow-up, with 25 remaining in complete response at 12 months, and 17 entering long-term follow-up, where the median duration of response was 42.1 months.
FANSS Study Validates Feasibility of Lung Cancer Screening for Asian Female Nonsmokers in the US. (Scienmag)
(9/9) The Female Asian Nonsmoker Screening Study (FANSS), presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 2025 World Conference, provides compelling evidence for the use of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) to screen non-smoking Asian women, who face a higher lung cancer incidence than their white counterparts; Elaine Shum, MD, assistant professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Perlmutter Cancer Center said these findings call for a reconsideration of current screening guidelines, as early-stage detection through LDCT has led to surgical interventions with no lung cancer-related mortalities reported so far.
Rapport Shares Double On Better-Than-Expected Seizure Drug Data. (BioPharma Dive)
(9/8) Rapport Therapeutics’ market value surged after unveiling mid-stage study results for RAP-219, an experimental seizure medicine that reduced clinical seizures by 78% and electrographic seizure signs by a similar margin, prompting plans for two Phase 3 trials next year; Jacqueline A. French, MD, professor, Department of Neurology, Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, said, “Despite the available therapies, up to 40% of patients with focal epilepsy continue to experience seizures,” adding that the trial’s results give her confidence in RAP-219’s potential as a highly effective antiseizure medication for drug-resistant focal seizure patients.
‘Harmless’ Virus Found Lurking In Parkinson’s Patients’ Brains, New Study Shows. (Fox News)
(9/8) Northwestern Medicine scientists found Human Pegivirus (HPgV) in the brains and spinal fluid of Parkinson’s patients, suggesting a potential link between the virus and the disease, with Joel Salinas, MD, MBA, clinical assistant professor, Department of Neurology, the Pearl I. Barlow Center for Memory Evaluation and Treatment, saying, “The study detected traces of HPgV more often in brains of people with Parkinson’s disease than in controls,” noting, “This raises the possibility of a link between viral exposure and Parkinson’s, but it’s far too early to say the virus causes the disease.”
