World-Renowned Researcher and Clinician to Lead Nationally-Ranked Children's Hospital at Montefiore and Pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine

NEW YORK, July 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine today named Michael deCastro Cabana, MD, MPH, Physician-in-Chief at Children's Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) and Professor and Michael I. Cohen, M.D., University Chair of Pediatrics at Montefiore and Einstein. Dr. Cabana is currently a Professor of Pediatrics and Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where he also serves as the Chief of the Division of General Pediatrics and is a member of the Core Faculty at the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies. He will assume his new role at Montefiore and Einstein on September 9, 2019.

Dr. Cabana will lead the next phase of the continued growth for Children's Hospital at Montefiore, which is recognized worldwide for its expertise in a wide range of pediatric specialties, as well as its innovative clinical and translational research. CHAM has more than 9,400 discharges, 350,000 outpatient visits and 53,000 emergency department visits annually.

"It is an honor to welcome Dr. Michael D. Cabana to Montefiore and Einstein, as he joins us to lead this very special part of our institution," said Philip O. Ozuah, MD, PhD, President, Montefiore Health System. "Children's Hospital at Montefiore touches the lives of hundreds of thousands of children and their families each year. Dr. Cabana's deep experience and dedication to healing and improving the lives of all children is a perfect fit with our vision for the future of pediatric care. We look forward to his leadership."

Dr. Cabana is a world-renowned clinician investigator in general pediatrics. He has been recognized for his record of mentorship and support of the next generation of pediatricians.

"I look forward to adding to the long tradition of excellence in clinical care, research, education and advocacy at Montefiore and Einstein," Dr. Cabana said. "It is an honor to assume the leadership role at these preeminent institutions.The Pediatrics Department and CHAM are uniquely well-positioned to develop new ways to deliver high-value care, discover new therapies, train the next generation of pediatricians and advocate for children and communities."

Dr. Cabana's research focuses on understanding and improving the diagnosis, prevention, and management of common childhood conditions, such as pediatric asthma. He has conducted innovative clinical trials on the effect of probiotics and prebiotics on asthma, infant colic and growth. He was a Principal Investigator for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute AsthmaNet Clinical Trials network. He is currently a Principal Investigator for the UCSF IMPLEMENT Center of Excellence, which is funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, to evaluate new quality measures for pediatric asthma and sickle cell disease. 

"Dr. Cabana's extensive experience in clinical research and strong commitment to primary care, prevention and evidence-based medicine makes him the ideal leader for our pediatric research and educational communities," said Gordon F. Tomaselli, MD, the Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz Dean of Einstein and Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer at Montefiore. "He will be a tremendous addition to our enterprise and we all look forward to his contributions in advancing our mission."

Dr. Cabana received his Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude in Government at Cornell University. He received his MD and MA at the Combined Degree Program at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Wharton School of Business. He completed his residency at the Harriet Lane Service at Johns Hopkins in 1997, as well as his fellowship as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar in 1999. He received his MPH at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Dr. Cabana worked at the University of Michigan as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, before being recruited to UCSF in 2005 to serve as Director of the Division of General Pediatrics.

Dr. Cabana has held leadership positions with the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Academic Pediatric Association, and the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics. He is a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Pediatrics and editor of the popular pediatric textbook, The Five Minute Pediatric Consult. Dr. Cabana received the 2006 Nemours Child Health Services Research Award from Academy Health and the 2010 Hal Luft Mentorship Award at UCSF.  He is currently serving a four-year term on the United States Preventive Services Task Force.

About Montefiore Health System
Montefiore Health System is one of New York's premier academic health systems and is a recognized leader in providing exceptional quality and personalized, accountable care to approximately three million people in communities across the Bronx, Westchester and the Hudson Valley. It is comprised of 11 hospitals, including the Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Burke Rehabilitation Hospital and close to 200 outpatient care sites. The advanced clinical and translational research at its medical school, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, directly informs patient care and improves outcomes. From the Montefiore-Einstein Centers of Excellence in cancer, cardiology and vascular care, pediatrics, and transplantation, to its preeminent school-based health program, Montefiore is a fully integrated healthcare delivery system providing coordinated, comprehensive care to patients and their families. For more information please visit www.montefiore.org. Follow us on Twitter and view us on Facebook and YouTube.

About Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine is one of the nation's premier centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation. During the 2018-2019 academic year, Einstein is home to 711 M.D. students, 160 Ph.D. students, 107 students in the combined M.D./Ph.D. program, and 265 postdoctoral research fellows. The College of Medicine has more than 1,800 full-time faculty members located on the main campus and at its clinical affiliates. In 2018, Einstein received more than $172 million in awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This includes the funding of major research centers at Einstein in aging, intellectual development disorders, diabetes, cancer, clinical and translational research, liver disease, and AIDS. Other areas where the College of Medicine is concentrating its efforts include developmental brain research, neuroscience, cardiac disease, and initiatives to reduce and eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities. Its partnership with Montefiore, the University Hospital and academic medical center for Einstein, advances clinical and translational research to accelerate the pace at which new discoveries become the treatments and therapies that benefit patients. Einstein runs one of the largest residency and fellowship training programs in the medical and dental professions in the United States through Montefiore and an affiliation network involving hospitals and medical centers in the Bronx, Brooklyn and on Long Island. For more information, please visit www.einstein.yu.edu, read our blog, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and view us on YouTube.

SOURCE Montefiore Health System; Albert Einstein College of Medicine