PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL MEDICINE NEWS BUREAU
Contact: Leonard N. Karp
lkarp@philadelphiamedicine.com
215-735-3989
February 24, 2003

For Immediate Release:

In This Month's Edition:

1. Renowned Liver Transplant Surgeon Named Director of Jefferson Program

2. MossRehab Gains $2 Million Grant for Treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury

3. Advanced Radiation Technique Minimizes Side Effects in Breast Cancer Treatment

Winner of 50 International Awards Named Director of Jefferson Liver Transplant Program

Philadelphia - Renowned transplant surgeon Ignazio R. Marino, MD, who has personally performed more than 650 liver transplants, has been named director of Liver Transplant and Liver Surgery in the Division of Transplantation at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, a member of Philadelphia International Medicine (PIM).

"PIM and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital are very proud that Dr. Marino has brought his international practice here to Philadelphia," said Andrew Wigglesworth. "The hospitals and physicians of PIM include some of the best in the world, and we look forward to introducing Dr. Marino to our international patients and clients."

Dr. Marino has also been appointed associate director of the transplantation division and professor of surgery, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. Dr. Marino recently came to Jefferson from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and from Palermo, Italy, where he served as director of the Mediterranean Institute for Transplantation and Advanced Specialized Therapies (a partnership between the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the Italian National Government).

Dr. Marino most recently served as professor of surgery at the School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, and the Schools of Medicine of the Universities of Perugia, Milan, and Palermo, Italy.

Board certified in general and vascular surgery, Dr. Marino was assistant professor of Surgery from 1983 to 1990 in the department of Surgery of the Catholic University of Rome, Italy, during which time he spent four years training in the two most prestigious transplant centers in the world-- the Transplant Center of the University of Cambridge, directed by Prof. Sir Roy Y. Calne, and the Pittsburgh Transplantation Institute, directed by Dr. Thomas E. Starzl.

In 1989 he accepted a permanent position at the University of Pittsburgh, where he was appointed professor of surgery. He has been an attending physician at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and associate director of the National Liver Transplant Center of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center of Pittsburgh and director of the European Medical Division of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

In 2001, he was publicly proclaimed by the National Italian American Foundation and the Honorary Consulate of Italy in Pittsburgh for his worldwide prestige and achievements in transplant surgery.

Dr. Marino has served as one of three consultants chosen by the Secretary of the Department of Health for the National Transplant Committee of the Italian Republic. He was also a member of the regional committee of the Organ Procurement Organization for the Region of Sicily and the National Center for Transplantation of the Italian Republic.

He has been awarded 50 international prizes. Dr. Marino is a member of 25 scientific societies, including the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, the American College of Surgeons and the International Liver Transplantation Society. He is a member of the editorial board of Transplantation, Med, Digestive Diseases and Sciences and the Journal of Investigative Surgery and has authored 539 scientific publications and two books.

MossRehab Gains $2 Million Grant for Treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury

MossRehab has received an almost $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research to operate a regional "Model System of Care" for traumatic brain injury patients.

The Model System of Care is a center of excellence for both treatment and research related to a particular disability. MossRehab is one of only 16 facilities nationwide to be awarded the grant.

MossRehab will operate its Traumatic Brain Injury Model System in cooperation with Magee Rehabilitation Hospital. Both hospitals are members of Philadelphia International Medicine. Together, they will offer treatment to patients with traumatic brain injury beginning with emergency room admission and acute care through rehabilitation and community re-entry.

As a traumatic brain injury Model System of Care, MossRehab will continue to study long-term patient outcomes and develop new brain injury treatments. Through the grant, MossRehab and Magee "are one of the top centers for traumatic brain injury treatment and research in the country," said Ruth Lefton, MossRehab's chief operating officer.

Advanced Radiation Technique Minimizes Side Effects in Breast Cancer Treatment

Fox Chase Cancer Center is now offering the most precise radiation therapy currently available for treating women with breast cancer. It's called intensity-modulated radiation therapy, or IMRT.

Radiation therapy is a must after breast conserving surgery to decrease the risk of the cancer recurring. However, it is common for a woman who needs radiation to be concerned about the possible long-term effects of radiation to her skin, lungs and heart after traditional radiation therapy. IMRT is a technological advance that improves the delivery of radiation for breast cancer while minimizing the side effects.

IMRT can be optimally designed to deliver radiation to the breast while sparing surrounding healthy tissue and organs with a precision not possible with traditional radiation. IMRT works by allowing the radiation beams to vary in intensity. IMRT equipment divides each beam into multiple, smaller, more focused, pencil-thin beams that precisely target the tumor.

"Traditional radiation therapy often causes skin irritation during treatment, and may result in long-term swelling, redness or hardening of the treated breast," says Gary Freedman, MD, a radiation oncologist at Fox Chase. "In some cases, the lung and parts of the heart and coronary arteries can be exposed to radiation. With the precise technology offered by IMRT, these side effects of conventional radiation are minimized by avoiding or reducing the radiation dose to these sensitive areas."

Another benefit of IMRT is that radiation oncologists are able to shorten the treatment time for patients. "Traditionally, women undergo radiation treatment every weekday for seven weeks. With IMRT, we are developing ways to shorten that treatment to five weeks, which is a huge advance when it comes to the patient's quality of life," Freedman explains.

Fox Chase Cancer Center physicians have hundreds of hours of experience with IMRT, which is routinely used to treat men with prostate cancer at Fox Chase. Fox Chase Cancer Center, one of the nation's first comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute in 1974, conducts basic and clinical research; programs of prevention, detection and treatment of cancer; and community outreach.

Philadelphia International Medicine is an organization that provides medical and patient support services to international patients. It also provides continuing medical education and health care training and education to international physicians, administrators and other practitioners. As the international department of several Philadelphia-area hospitals, international patients gain access to physicians and hospitals rated among the best in the world through one telephone call to PIM. You can reach PIM by calling 1-215-735-3575; fax, 1-215-790-1267; or e-mail, physicians@philadelphiamedicine.com. You can find out more about PIM through its Website at www.philadelphiamedicine.com.