Obstetrics & Gynecology

News and Events

Programs and providers of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine are often the focus of news stories and features appearing in major national media. We invite you to review some stories that typify the breakthrough accomplishments of our remarkable team and highlight the impact our care has had on patient’s lives.

Dr. Timothy R. Donahue Named Chair of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine and Surgeon-in-Chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center

Portrait of a man in a laboratory

New York (July 9, 2026)—Dr. Timothy R. Donahue, a distinguished surgeon-scientist specializing in pancreatic cancer, has been appointed chair of the Department of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine and surgeon-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, effective Sept. 1.

Building on the academic medical center’s long history of surgical excellence, Dr. Donahue will focus on developing multidisciplinary programs that align patient care, research and education while fostering collaboration and discovery across the two institutions. He is particularly excited about integrating translational and clinical research into surgical care and leveraging cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence, to expand access to the highest quality and most innovative care across Weill Cornell Medicine and its affiliated NewYork-Presbyterian campuses on the Upper East Side, Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

A leading pancreatic cancer surgeon-scientist, Dr. Donahue was recruited from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where he served as executive vice chair of the Department of Surgery, chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology and medical director for cancer services across the health system. He succeeds Dr. Fabrizio Michelassi, who has led the department since 2004.

Weill Cornell Medicine Awarded Grant for Alzheimer’s Gene Therapy Research

photo of a man in a white coat

The National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health has awarded a five-year grant initially worth $8.37 million for Weill Cornell Medicine researchers to study a new gene therapy for Alzheimer’s disease in people who have a high genetic risk of developing the condition. The research could garner nearly $14 million in total if prescribed milestones are reached for years three through five.

The grant will allow researchers to study a treatment for patients with apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4) gene variants inherited from both parents, a group known as APOE4 homozygotes. These people have up to a 15-fold increased risk of developing Alzheimer's, “and it occurs earlier and is more aggressive,” said Dr. Ronald G. Crystal, principal investigator and chair of the Department of Genetic Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine.

AI Research Team Could Streamline Clinical Trial Design

AI for clinical trial design

An artificial intelligence system that operates like a collaborative team of medical experts could accelerate clinical trial design, one of the most difficult steps in drug development, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The findings, published July 7 in Nature Communications, evaluated the potential of the system, called EmulatRx, to simulate, design and improve clinical trials using real-world patient data. A necessary step before a drug is approved for market, a randomized clinical trial is a rigorous study in which participants are randomly assigned into separate groups to evaluate how well treatments or interventions work and their side effects.

The researchers predict that combining real-world data with collaborative AI reasoning has the potential to make clinical trials faster, more affordable and more precise, which could ultimately lead to new treatments for patients with higher success rates.

Dr. Fei Wang

Dr. Fei Wang

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