Amy L. Friedman, M.D., who has held faculty positions at Yale University School of Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania, has been named director of SUNY Upstate Medical University’s Division of Transplantation. Friedman also will serve as a professor of surgery in the College of Medicine. University Hospital of SUNY Upstate performs pancreas and kidney transplants.

Friedman joins the SUNY Upstate faculty from Yale University School of Medicine where she served as a member of the surgery faculty since 1994. Prior to joining Yale, Friedman served on the faculty of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, including as transplant surgery fellow.

As a surgeon, Friedman specializes in live donor kidney transplantation, laparoscopic kidney donation and pancreas transplantation.

Friedman has served as principal investigator for numerous drug trials and led a $1.5 million NIH-study on using the Web to educate kidney transplants recipients on drug regimens.

Friedman is editor in chief of the Journal of Patient Safety and Adherence and serves as an article reviewer for Archives of Surgery, American Journal of Transplantation, Transplantation and the American Journal of Kidney Diseases.

She earned her bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in 1979 and her medical degree from SUNY Downstate in 1983, where she served as a postdoctoral fellow in surgery. Friedman also completed her residency in general surgery at SUNY Downstate.

Friedman has been recognized for her medical care and research efforts by numerous organizations, including the U.S. Department of Commerce, with the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award, the American Association of Kidney Patients and the American Transplant Congress.

Pediatric Surgeon Joins SUNY Upstate

Cynthia Ann Corpron, M.D., one of only a handful of physicians nationwide trained in pediatric surgical oncology, has been appointed assistant professor of pediatric surgery at SUNY Upstate Medical University. In addition, she will also serve as a surgeon in the Olivia Louise Pietrafesa Center for Children’s Surgery at University Hospital. The appointment is effective Aug. 1.

“We are delighted that Dr. Corpron has joined the university and our pediatric surgical team,” said Paul Cunningham, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Surgery. “She brings to our campus an abundance of talent, having trained and worked in critical care surgery, trauma and pediatric surgical oncology.”

Corpron will perform general pediatric surgery at University Hospital, but her specialized training in pediatric surgical oncology at the University of Texas’ M.D. Anderson Cancer Center brings a new area of specialty to University Hospital’s complement of pediatric services.

Cunningham said providing areas of specialty is a hallmark of academic medicine. “Academic medicine attracts specialists and that benefits our patients and the community,” he said.

Also attracting Corpron to Syracuse was the institutional and community commitment to support a children’s hospital. “The desire to bring a children’s hospital to the community and to make it a reality was a significant factor in my decision to join SUNY Upstate Medical University,” Corpron said. “Children’s hospitals are so important to communities. They hold families together by keeping them in town during a child’s hospitalization for illness or accident.”

Corpron comes to SUNY Upstate from Albany Medical College, where she served as assistant professor of pediatric surgery. She also has held faculty positions at Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Michigan and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Upon receiving her medical degree from the University of Michigan in 1988, Corpron completed her residency in general surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center (1988-93), and completed a fellowship in pediatric surgical oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (1993-97). She served as a research fellow in surgical oncology at the University of Michigan (1997-2001), and as a fellow in surgical critical care at the University of Michigan (1998-99).

In addition, Corpron held two fellowships at Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio: She served as trauma research fellow (2001-2002) and as chief resident in pediatric surgery (2002-2004).

An award winning researcher, Corpron has served as principal investigator for studies on the growth of blood vessels in pediatric tumors, and breast cancer screening in survivors of childhood cancers.

Corpron joins Michael Ratner, M.D., in the Center for Children’s Surgery. SUNY Upstate continues to actively recruit additional pediatric surgeons. An endowment fund to help recruit pediatric surgeons has been established and has raised more than $750,000 to date.

“Everyday we continue to reach out to pediatric surgeons across the country and discuss with them the opportunities here at SUNY Upstate,” Cunningham said. “Dr. Corpron’s appointment is evidence that our recruitment efforts are paying off for the community and our patients.”

The Olivia Louise Pietrafesa Center for Children’s Surgery opened in 2003 and performs more than 2,000 pediatric surgical cases annually.