Tamatha Fenster, M.D., M.S., gynecologic surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian and director of innovation and technology at The Weill Cornell Medicine Fibroid and Adenomyosis Center, explains how her team has developed a new 3D MRI technology to enhance patient outcomes in fibroid surgery. The novel software, called smartHER MRI, renders a 3D image of a patient’s uterus to more accurately identify fibroids and their precise location, which can be used for both laparoscopic and robotic surgical procedures. In a pilot study analyzing smartHER MRI vs. 2D imaging, results demonstrated that surgeons who relied on traditional imaging had residual fibroids at the 6-month follow-up, while surgeons who used smartHER MRI had no residual fibroids with their patients.

© 2025 NewYork-Presbyterian

On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh talks to Dr. Andrew Goldstone, pediatric cardiac surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia, about the groundbreaking heart transplant that saved the lives of three separate children. It was the first time doctors at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital performed a split-root domino partial heart transplant. In this procedure, one child was transplanted with a new heart and their original heart was used to donate living pulmonary and aortic valves to two separate recipients in need.

Dr. Goldstone, his colleague Dr. David Kalfa, and the rest of the team at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia had previous experience with a handful of domino partial heart transplants where one patient is transplanted with a new heart and another receives a valve from the explanted heart. Those experiences helped prepare for the split-root domino, which took nearly 24 hours of extremely coordinated care. In addition to their efforts to increase the number of domino heart transplants being done, physician-researchers at the institution are leading new studies that are also helping improve living valve procurement and storage, allowing more children to receive heart valves that will grow with them and require less surgeries.

© 2025 …

As the array of novel therapies for plaque psoriasis expands, a strategy to navigate treatment options is to focus on the specific needs of different patient groups, like Medicare-aged patients. ILUMYA® (tildrakizumab-asmn) is the only biologic for plaque psoriasis guaranteed to be covered under the medical benefit of Medicare, with no prior authorization and zero cost as a likely possibility. Join Dr Charles Turck and Dr John Koo as they share insights on the efficacy, safety, and accessibility of ILUMYA in this patient population. Dr. Koo is a Professor of Dermatology at the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine.

Guess what? The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices had a unanimous vote in favor of a preferential recommendation of vaccines for the cool adults who are 65 and older—one of these options is adjuvanted influenza vaccines.1 Talk about a milestone in the world of public health! Now the burning question is why on earth did they decide on adjuvant vaccines? Let's unravel this immunization mystery together, shall we?

Reference:

1. Grohskopf LA, Blanton LH, Ferdinands JM, Chung JR, Broder KR, Talbot HK, Morgan RL, Fry AM. Prevention and control of seasonal influenza with vaccines: recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices - United States, 2022-23 influenza season. MMWR Recomm Rep. 2022 Aug 26;71(1):1-28. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.rr7101a1

USA-CRP-23-0037 12/23

For children with rheumatic diseases, early diagnosis, personalized care, and multidisciplinary collaboration are critical for optimal long-term management. Join Dr. John Bridges, Assistant Professor in the Division of Pediatric Rheumatology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine, as he explains how access, timing, and collaboration shape pediatric rheumatology care. Dr. Bridges presented on this topic at the 2025 Congress of Clinical Rheumatology East conference.

On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh explores the story behind the GUARDIAN study, where thousands of newborn babies have been screened against rare disease by sequencing their genes, and looking for more conditions than any of the current standard screening panels. First, she hears from Dr. Jordan Orange, Physician-in-Chief at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia, about why genetic testing is a promising way of not only catching treatable rare diseases in infants, but also expanding health equity and medical resources to marginalized populations.

Erin also hears from Dr. Josh Milner, a pediatric immunologist who treated a patient with a rare form of SCID, or severe combined immune deficiency, also known as bubble boy disease that was detected in the GUARDIAN screening panel. SCID is a disease that typically occurs in 1 of 50,000 babies. But GUARDIAN caught two cases within the first 10,000 babies involved in the program, indicating that the rate of the disease might be higher than expected, and that the most accurate way to detect is through genetic screening.

Dr. Steven Lobritto, a pediatric gastroenterologist, also weighs in on how genetic screening can help identify Wilson’s disease, a copper storage …

Biosimilars have greatly impacted the US healthcare system over the last decade, creating cost savings and increasing access for patients.1,2 However, although some biosimilars have seen significant adoption, not all biosimilars have been able to achieve sustainable market use.1 Learn about the barriers to biosimilar adoption in the US and strategies for overcoming them from Dr. Andre Harvin. Dr. Harvin is the chief pharmacy officer at Cone Health in Greensboro, North Carolina.

References:

1. AAM, The U.S. Generic & Biosimilar Medicines Savings Report, September 2023
2. IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, Biosimilars in the United States 2023-2027: Competition, Savings, and Sustainability, January 2023

© Fresenius Kabi USA, LLC 2025 03/2025

Although acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a relatively rare disease with fewer than 7,000 people diagnosed each year in the US,1,2 there’s been a lot of progress in the management of B-cell ALL over the years. One key development comes from the E1910 Phase III trial, which explored the addition of blinatumomab to frontline consolidation chemotherapy for patients with Philadelphia chromosome-negative B-lineage ALL (B-ALL).3 Joining Dr. Charles Turck to discuss the impacts of this data on B-ALL clinical guidelines and practice is Dr. Aaron Logan. Dr. Logan is a Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology and Director of the Hematologic Malignancies Tissue Bank at UCSF.

References:

1. National Cancer Institute. SEER Cancer Stat Facts: Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL). Accessed at https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/alyl.html on March 31, 2025
2. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). Accessed September 17, 2024. https://www.dana-farber.org/cancer-care/types/acute-lymphoblastic-leukemia
3. Litzow MR, et al. Blood. 2022;140(suppl 2):LBA-1

Defined by the production of 2-hydroxyglutarate, mutant isocitrate dehydrogenase (mIDH) gliomas are diffuse, slow-growing tumors. Managing these tumors requires personalized strategies that consider resectability, histology, and long-term treatment impacts. Dr. Jennie Taylor, Assistant Professor of Neurology and Neurological Surgery at the University of California San Francisco, explains the complexities behind this type of tumor and implications for patient care. Dr. Taylor also spoke about this topic at the 2025 American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting.

Glioblastomas are fast, aggressive, and resistant to many standard therapies. Dr. Lauren Schaff, a neuro-oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, explains how new molecular understandings and treatment avenues are paving the way for a more personalized, hopeful approach to care.