NYU Langone Medical Center's 2016 Musculoskeletal Ball Raises $1.6 Million To Advance Medicine, Education & Research In Orthopaedics, Rheumatology & Rehabilitation

More than 400 Guests Attend Event to Honor Judith & Stewart Colton & Philip Moskowitz, MD

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Nov 17, 2016, 03:23 ET

NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NYU Langone Medical Center raised $1.6 million for its annual Musculoskeletal Ball on November 15, where NYU Langone leaders also announced a new anonymous gift to the institution. The $7 million gift will be dedicated to NYU Lutheran initiatives in Brooklyn, including orthopaedics and medical education, and was made in tribute to Philip Moskowitz, MD—one of the evening's honorees.

Dr. Robert I. Grossman, Dean and CEO of NYU Langone Medical Center, Dr. Joseph Zuckerman, Dr. Steven Abramson, honorees Dr. Phil Moskowitz and Judith and Stewart Colton, with Ken Langone and Gary Cohn at NYU Langone's 2016 Musculoskeletal Ball.

Held at the American Museum of Natural History, the Musculoskeletal Ball itself raised important funding that will be used to advance clinical care, education, and research at NYU Langone's Hospital for Joint Diseases (HJD), Center for Musculoskeletal Care (CMC), and Rusk Rehabilitation.

In addition to Dr. Moskowitz—the Mamdouha S. Bobst Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, recognized for serving the Medical Center for five decades in various capacities—Judith and Stewart Colton were honored at the event for their longtime and generous support of the Medical Center. This year, the chair of the event was Gary D. Cohn, president and COO of Goldman Sachs, NYU Langone trustee, and chair of the Musculoskeletal Advisory Board.

Steadfast partners of NYU Langone for over three decades, Judith and Stewart Colton have been passionate about supporting emerging research fields and young promising investigators at NYU Langone. In 2014 the Coltons provided a $10 million gift to create the Judith and Stewart Colton Center for Autoimmunity at NYU Langone, a multidisciplinary hub for developing new diagnostics and treatments for autoimmune diseases. This gift is especially meaningful for the Coltons, as one of their sons lives with autoimmune diseases. "We're pleased to be doing this, and we would love for it to nudge the field, hopefully sooner rather than later," Mr. Colton said. According to the National Institutes of Health, it is estimated that there are at least 80 human diseases caused by an autoimmune response, and up to 50 million Americans suffer from autoimmune diseases.

The Coltons' interest in fostering early-career researchers led to the creation of the Colton Family Scholars Program, which provides financial support to promising early career physician-scientists engaged in novel investigations at NYU School of Medicine. Additionally, the Coltons established the Dr. Lester Breidenbach Student Loan Fund for medical students in need of financial assistance. The Breidenbach Fund was named in honor of Mrs. Colton's uncle who served as attending surgeon at NYU Langone and later as director emeritus of emergency services.

Addressing more than 400 guests, Robert I. Grossman, MD, the Saul J. Farber Dean and CEO at NYU Langone said, "Judy and Stewart Colton, your generosity will lead to discoveries that will make a difference in auto-immunity."

Dean Grossman added, "Tonight we celebrate not only an outstanding physician, but also a compassionate and kind human being. Phil Moskowitz, the Frauenthal honoree, is a highly respected member of our faculty who has made a difference… for 50 years, and counting!"

A beloved primary care physician, Dr. Moskowitz has cared for multiple generations of families. Additionally, as a member of the executive committee for medical school admissions, he is actively involved in the recruitment of the next generation of physicians to NYU School of Medicine.

Dr. Moskowitz has also served as faculty director of development at NYU Langone for over a decade. He was instrumental in securing major funding for the Medical Center's new emergency department, the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Emergency Medicine, and worked closely with his personal friends Judith and Stewart Colton when they shared their vision for a center dedicated to interdisciplinary autoimmunity research.

Those who attended the Ball included: Marjorie and William Berkley; Casey Box; Elisabeth Cohen, MD; Lisa Pevaroff Cohn; Lori Fink; Julia Koch; Elaine and Kenneth G. Langone; Susan and Martin Lipton; Ninah and Michael Lynne; Sophie Nicholson and Tarek Sherif; Klara and Larry Silverstein; Eileen and Marc Steglitz; Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee; Beryl Snyder and Steven Trost; and Herbert Wachtell, ESQ.

In addition to Dean Grossman, physician co-chairs for the evening included: Steven Abramson, MD, senior vice president and vice dean for education, faculty and academic affairs, the Frederick H. King Professor of Internal Medicine, chair of the Department of Medicine, and professor of the Department of Pathology; Jill P. Buyon, MD, the Lady Va and Sir Deryck Maughan Professor of Rheumatology, and director of the Division of Rheumatology; Steven R. Flanagan, MD, the Howard A. Rusk Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine and chair of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine; Richard Iorio, MD, the Dr. William and Susan Jaffe Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, and chief of the Division of Adult Reconstructive Surgery; Andrew D. Rosenberg, MD, the Dorothy Reaves Spatz, MD Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Medicine, and professor of the Departments of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care, and Pain Medicine, and Orthopaedic Surgery; and Joseph D. Zuckerman, MD, Walter A.L. Thompson Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, and chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.

Getty Images available for the Musculoskeletal Ball here: http://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/gyipa_public?nav=pr483761777.

About NYU Langone Medical Center
NYU Langone Medical Center, a world-class, patient-centered, integrated academic medical center, is one of the nation's premier centers for excellence in clinical care, biomedical research, and medical education. Located in the heart of Manhattan, NYU Langone is composed of five hospitals—Tisch Hospital, its flagship acute care facility; Rusk Rehabilitation; the Hospital for Joint Diseases, the Medical Center's dedicated inpatient orthopaedic hospital; NYU Lutheran Medical Center, a full-service, 450-bed teaching hospital located in Brooklyn, and Hassenfeld Children's Hospital, a comprehensive pediatric hospital supporting a full array of children's health services across the Medical Center. Also part of NYU Langone is NYU School of Medicine, which since 1841 has trained thousands of physicians and scientists who have helped to shape the course of medical history, and the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute–designated cancer center. The Medical Center's trifold mission to serve, teach, and discover is achieved 365 days a year through the seamless integration of a culture devoted to excellence in patient care, education, and research. For more information, go to www.NYULangone.org, and interact with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Google+.