MONTEFIORE MEDICAL CENTER RECEIVES $75,000 GRANT FROM
KOMEN GREATER NYC TO SUPPORT BREAST CANCER PROGRAM
Full-Time Registered Dietician Joins the Comprehensive Care Team
NEW YORK (July 10, 2014) – Montefiore Medical Center today announced it has received a $75,000 grant from the Greater New York City Affiliate of Susan G. Komen®. The grant enables the hospital to hire a registered dietician (RD) for its multidisciplinary Breast Cancer Program team at Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care.
“We are thrilled to receive this grant from Komen Greater NYC to improve the care of our patients in the Bronx and surrounding area,” said Leslie Montgomery, M.D., chief, Division of Breast Surgery, Montefiore and Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and director, Breast Service at Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care and associate professor, Clinical Surgery, Department of Surgery, Einstein. “In addition to breast cancer, many of our patients have serious health issues that can complicate their treatment and recovery. A dedicated registered dietitian will help reinforce the importance of healthy nutrition to impact their overall health.”
Obesity and diabetes rates are high in the Bronx, with residents facing an estimated 85 percent elevated risk of being obese, compared to those in Manhattan.
“Our research has shown a strong relationship between obesity and a higher risk of cancer recurrence, especially late recurrence in women with estrogen-receptor positive tumors, the most common breast cancer subtype,” said Joseph Sparano, M.D., vice chairman, Medical Oncology, Montefiore, and associate director, Clinical Research at Albert Einstein Cancer Center. “Our findings have recently been confirmed in a large analysis of approximately 90,000 women with early stage breast cancer, suggesting that lifestyle changes such as attention to diet and exercise, could have a profound effect in reducing breast cancer death rates.”
The RD will work with Montefiore’s team of breast cancer specialists to help patients adapt healthier diets and lifestyles. The goal is to help patients overcome health obstacles so they can receive the best possible care, such as losing weight to then be eligible for certain cancer-related procedures.
“We conducted a needs assessment of our community and found that providing funding for a dietician would complement the comprehensive support services Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care provides those impacted by breast cancer,” said Anita R. McFarlane, MPH, director, Grants & Public Policy, Komen Greater NYC. “We are confident this addition to the program will help women with breast cancer live healthier lives that may protect them from future cancer recurrence.”
Montefiore’s Breast Cancer Program was founded in 2010 and treats approximately 400 patients with a breast cancer diagnosis each year. In June, the National Consortium of Breast Centers recognized the program as a certified participant in its National Quality Measures for Breast Centers Program. In 2013 it was accredited by the National Accreditation of Breast Centers.
About Montefiore Medical Center
As the University Hospital and academic medical center for Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore is renowned for its clinical excellence, scientific discovery and commitment to its community. Recognized among the top hospitals nationally and regionally by U.S. News & World Report, Montefiore provides compassionate, patient- and family-centered care and educates the healthcare professionals of tomorrow. The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore is consistently named in U.S. News’ “America’s Best Children’s Hospitals.” With four hospitals, 1,512 beds and more than 84,000 annual admissions, Montefiore is an integrated health system seamlessly linked by advanced technology. State-of-the-art primary and specialty care is provided through a network of more than 150 locations across the region, including the largest school health program in the nation and a home health program. Montefiore’s partnership with Einstein advances clinical and translational research to accelerate the pace at which new discoveries become the treatments and therapies that benefit patients. The medical center derives its inspiration for excellence from its patients and community, and continues to be on the frontlines of developing innovative approaches to care. For more information please visit www.montefiore.org and www.cham.org. Follow us on Twitter; like us on Facebook; view us on YouTube.
About Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University is one of the nation’s premier centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation. During the 2013-2014 academic year, Einstein is home to 734 M.D. students, 236 Ph.D. students, 106 students in the combined M.D./Ph.D. program, and 353 postdoctoral research fellows. The College of Medicine has more than 2,000 full-time faculty members located on the main campus and at its clinical affiliates. In 2013, Einstein received more than $155 million in awards from the NIH. This includes the funding of major research centers at Einstein in diabetes, cancer, 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 Medical Center, 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. Through its extensive affiliation network involving Montefiore, Jacobi Medical Center –Einstein’s founding hospital, and five other hospital systems in the Bronx, Manhattan, Long Island and Brooklyn, Einstein runs one of the largest residency and fellowship training programs in the medical and dental professions in the United States. 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.
About Susan G. Komen Greater New York City
Since 1990, Susan G. Komen Greater NYC has raised over $60 million and awarded $45 million in grants. In the last five years alone, it has helped more than 875,000 women, men and families in New York City, on Long Island, and in Westchester and Rockland Counties. Twenty-five percent of every dollar raised funds national breast cancer research while seventy-five percent of the net monies raised goes right back into the communities to help the women, men and families in our service area. This year, Komen Greater NYC is awarding $2.0 million to 27 local breast health programs as well as more than $730,000 for national breast cancer research programs to find the cures.
For more information, please visit www.komennyc.org or call 212-293-CURE.
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