Close to 1,000 organ transplantation patients, their donors and their families reunited with their medical teams at the 168th St. Armory in New York City May 4 as part of a Circle for Life celebration, organized by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, the principal hospital affiliate of Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC).

The emotional event underlined the power of academic medicine to transform lives. The hospital's organ transplant program has the highest volume in the nation, including 237 transplants at NewYork-Presbyterian last year alone.

Herbert Pardes, president and CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian, recognized his institution's important partnership with WCMC and the leadership of Antonio M. Gotto Jr., dean of WCMC and provost of medical affairs at Cornell.

One of the featured speakers, Sandip Kapur, associate professor of surgery at WCMC, highlighted the importance of research in advancing the treatment of transplant patients.

The hospital's history of organ-transplantation innovations, Kapur noted, began with the first kidney transplant in New York state (and one of the first in the nation) in 1963 and extends to the recent discovery of a molecular method to detect organ rejection, which is being spearheaded by Manikkam Suthanthiran, the Stanton Griffis Distinguished Professor of Medicine at WCMC.

Kapur also pointed to WCMC's advances in islet cell transplantation, adding, "We hope that one day this will result in a cure for type-1 diabetes."

These innovations and others have ensured the success of transplantation medicine, translating into longer and better lives for patients, he noted.

Finally, Kapur thanked patients and donors, saying, "I am personally honored by the courage and trust they have placed in us."

Mark LaRose, a 46-year-old Queens resident originally from Guyana who received a pancreas at NewYork-Presbyterian, said he now has planned a trip to Asia with his son this summer. His transplant operation, he said, has "given me the opportunity to experience the sweetness of life."

Tim Paul is a staff writer at Weill Cornell Medical College.