NEW YORK CITY,NY (March 7, 2005) -- The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) has expanded its internationally acclaimed team of experts to enhance existing services as the top referral site for pediatric neurosurgery in the tri-state region.

Rick Abbott, MD, comes to CHAM to specialize in the surgical treatment of malignant pediatric brain tumors, the second most common cancer in children. Each year about 2,000 children under age 16 are diagnosed with a brain tumor, according to The Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation.

“Sadly, the number of pediatric brain tumor cases is on the rise. But with our expert staff and technological brilliance, CHAM continues to push the envelope in innovative neurosurgical care,” said Dr. Abbott. “CHAM’s great neurosurgeons and their teams are making medical history every day. This inspires me to dream of new and creative ways to use technology to treat brain tumors in children.” CHAM is home to the history-making surgical team responsible for the separation of Carl and Clarence Aguirre, twins who had been born joined at the tops of their heads.

Dr. Abbott specializes in "functional neurosurgery,” or the use of surgery to treat conditions in which the brain and spinal cord function abnormally, such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy or brachial plexus, a birth injury that affects one in 1,000. “Dr. Abbott brings an international reputation for enhancing surgical options for babies and children with pediatric brain and spinal cord tumors,” said Eugene Flamm, MD, chair, Department of Neurosurgery, Montefiore Medical Center. “His important investigations into developmental and functional disorders will increase our ability to provide the best care anywhere for our youngest patients.”

Montefiore Medical Center, The University Hospital and Academic Medical Center for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, ranks among the top one percent of all US hospitals based on its investments in medical innovation and cutting-edge technology.

Montefiore invests more in order to enable compassionate, personalized care and the most positive outcomes for patients and their families in New York, the tri-state area and beyond. Montefiore’s unique combination of ‘state-of-the-art’ technology with ‘state-of-the-heart’ medical and nursing care in a teaching and research environment provides patients with access to world-class medical experts, the newest and most innovative treatments and the best medical center experience anywhere.

This 1,062 bed medical center includes the Henry and Lucy Moses Division, the Jack D. Weiler Hospital and The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, a large home healthcare agency and a 21-site medical group practice located throughout the Bronx and nearby Westchester.

Montefiore treats all major illnesses and has distinguished centers of excellence in cardiology and cardiac surgery, cancer care, tissue and organ transplantation, children's health, women's health, surgery and the surgical subspecialties. Montefiore Medical Center focuses on providing family-centered healthcare in a nurturing environment that extends well beyond hospital and clinic walls.