Dr. Anthony Hollenberg, a physician-scientist specializing in endocrinology, has been appointed chairman of the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Department of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and physician-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, effective Feb. 1, 2018.

Hollenberg will lead the institutions’ largest clinical and academic department, overseeing 16 divisions and nearly 2,600 physicians and scientists. He will leverage opportunities afforded by Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian’s clinical expansion to enhance the department’s clinical and research programs, and recruit physicians and scientists to complement the team already assembled in the Weill Department of Medicine.

He will also nurture the next generation of medical leaders through its medical education and residency programs and fellowships in medical subspecialties.

Hollenberg was recruited from Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center in Boston, where he is chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism and vice chair for mentoring in its Department of Medicine. He is also director of Clinical and Translational Training Programs at Harvard Catalyst, the Clinical and Translational Science Center at Harvard Medical School, where he is a professor of medicine.

As an endocrinologist interested in thyroid disorders, Hollenberg investigates physiological and molecular underpinnings of metabolism, with a particular focus on understanding how thyroid hormones regulate metabolism and lipid levels and affect body weight. His lab is establishing protocols to develop functioning thyroid tissue from embryonic stem cells.

An accomplished basic and translational researcher, Hollenberg uses findings gleaned from his basic science research to help his patients, who further inform his work in the lab.

“Dr. Hollenberg is an esteemed physician-scientist, educator and a proven leader, and we are thrilled he will be joining us as chairman of the Weill Department of Medicine,” said Dr. Augustine M.K. Choi, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine. “Under his direction, the department will continue to cultivate and attract top talent in academic medicine and research, advancing our mission of scientific discovery and our world-class reputation for clinical, research and educational excellence.”

Said Dr. Steven J. Corwin, president and CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian: “We are delighted to welcome Dr. Hollenberg, an accomplished physician-scientist and outstanding leader who will continue our longstanding commitment to providing world-class, compassionate care to our patients. As physician-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, he will improve patients’ lives through his innovative research and clinical work, and his commitment to education and mentoring will help foster the remarkable talent at our academic medical center.”

“It’s an enormous honor to be selected for this position,” Hollenberg said. “Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian have nurtured an incredible culture for excellence in science and medicine, which is reflected in the exemplary nature of their entire biomedical enterprise and the resources the institutions provide for innovation. I consider it a privilege to take on these roles, and I’m thrilled about this opportunity.”

Hollenberg said his goal as chairman of medicine will be to “build the most outstanding Department of Medicine that excels in its tri-partite mission of exceptional clinical care and education, and world-class research, ensuring excellence in basic, clinical and translational work.”

With nearly 280,000 patient visits in 2016 and a complement of 2,593 physicians, scientists and research trainees, the Weill Department of Medicine has national and global reach. It provides care to patients in New York at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Hospital for Special Surgery, as well as Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca; at Houston Methodist in Texas; at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar in Doha; and at Weill Cornell Medicine’s hubs for global health around the world.

Hollenberg plans to capitalize on opportunities provided by Weill Cornell Medicine’s and NewYork-Presbyterian’s clinical expansions into Lower Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn, as well as at the new David H. Koch Center, a state-of-the-art ambulatory care center set to open in 2018 at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Dr. Hollenberg plans on leveraging the institutions’ reach to foster new opportunities for scientific discovery and strengthen existing collaborations between investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian and their colleagues at Memorial Sloan Kettering, The Rockefeller University and Hospital for Special Surgery, as well as Cornell University campuses in Ithaca and on Roosevelt Island. The Weill Department of Medicine is a hub for cutting-edge biomedical research, with total research grants exceeding $44 million in 2016.

“The beauty of a department of medicine,” Hollenberg said, “is that by providing such unparalleled care for a wide variety of people, both inside and outside the hospital, you really get to identify the major complex issues that need to be solved scientifically, from a policy level all the way to an experiment in the lab.”

Hollenberg has a longstanding commitment to teaching and mentoring, and one of his top priorities will center on fostering emerging talent.

“I’m committed to supporting the next generation of young investigators,” he said, “making sure that the best trainees who come to Weill Cornell and NewYork-Presbyterian are able to stay and develop into outstanding investigators.”

A native of Toronto, Hollenberg received his bachelor’s degree in biochemical sciences from Harvard College and his medical degree from the University of Calgary, Canada. He completed an internal medicine residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center – rising to chief medical resident – as well as a clinical and research fellowship in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1993, he was recruited back to Beth Israel to start his laboratory, where he most recently served as director of strategic research planning and development, in addition to vice chair of mentoring and division chief. He joined the faculty of Harvard Medical School in 1993.

Board-certified in internal medicine, Hollenberg is a member of the American Thyroid Association, the Endocrine Society and the American Diabetes Association. He has published more than 80 studies in journals and contributed 25 book chapters and reviews, and currently serves as associate editor of the journal Endocrinology. His awards and honors include the Van Meter Award from the American Thyroid Association, and election to the American Association of Physicians.

Kathryn Inman is a writer for Weill Cornell Medicine.