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APRIL 2004

Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health Opens
By Herman Rosen, M.D.

The Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health opened at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Named in honor of the late husband of NBC co-anchor Katie Couric, who died at the age of 42 of colon cancer, the center will provide comprehensive therapeutic, preventive screening and family support by a multidisciplinary team of dedicated specialists. Dr. Mark Pochapin, director of the center, stated that the center was meant to be "a model of health care delivery that focuses on the individual rather than just on the disease" involving also application of genetics, nutrition and psychosocial health in the patient's care. He said that we want to educate everybody about how important it is to screen for colon cancer. It is one of the most preventable cancers and curable if caught early. However, "it still remains the number two cause of cancer deaths in the US", said Dr. Pochapin.

Funding for the Center was provided through efforts of Katie Couric, who founded the Entertainment Industry Foundation's National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance (EIF's NCCRA). Ms. Couric stated that the mission of the Alliance is to increase awareness of colorectal cancer, develop better diagnostic techniques and to seek better treatment options for the disease. The Alliance has raised over 20 million dollars so far to fund research by scientists in various institutions. Areas under investigation include DNA stool testing, a technique that may be useful in noninvasive screening for colorectal cancer, and genetic research.

Katie Couric has been instrumental in raising the public awareness of colon cancer. She underwent a colonoscopy on national TV. Since then, colonoscopy screening has increased by almost 20%. This increase has been coined "the Couric effect", which may have already saved countless lives.

Dr. Herbert Pardes, President and CEO of New York Presbyterian Hospital said, "Katie Couric converted a personal tragedy into something which is of extraordinary positive benefit to a large number of people. Her magic and the high regard to which she is held add a tremendous amount to our ability to get that message out. A lot of lives are going to be saved and a lot of people better treated as a result of that."

On a personal note, I would like to add what an exemplary caring person Katie Couric is. I recently ran into Katie while we were in a neighborhood pharmacy. An elderly woman was sobbing while waiting for a prescription to be filled. Katie immediately went over to the woman and tried to comfort her. The woman, recently moved to New York, was sobbing because her husband was sick and because she recently received chemotherapy for a malignancy. Katie wrote her own cell phone number and the name Katie on a slip of paper and told the woman to call if she needed help.#

Dr. Herman Rosen is clinical professor of medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

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