LaparoscopicUmbilicalorVentralHerniaRepair near Newark, NJ

Biography: Dina Podolsky, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. She is a board-certified general surgeon who graduated with honors from Rutgers University, where she also received her medical degree, and completed a residency in general surgery at Montefiore Medical Center. Dr. Podolsky then completed fellowship training in complex abdominal wall reconstruction and robotic surgery at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, where she worked closely with one of the world's leading hernia surgeons, Dr. Novitsky. She is a member of several national organizations, including the Americas Hernia Society and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons. Dr. Podolsky has received numerous awards for her training and teaching, including the Leo M. Davidoff Award for Outstanding Teaching and the Golden Apple Teaching Award. Dr. Podolsky specializes in all aspects of hernia surgery, including inguinal, ventral, and complex abdominal wall reconstruction, employing minimally invasive techniques with laparoscopic and robotic surgery. She has presented research at major professional associations and continues to be active in research, publishing both academic research and textbook chapters. Dr. Podolsky currently sees patients in midtown Manhattan and Washington Heights.

Biography: Dr. Bret Taback is a nationally recognized surgical oncologist in the New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center department of surgery. Dr. Taback is a leader in the clinical management of melanoma, sarcoma and skin/soft tissue tumor surgery. Dr. Taback is the Director of the Melanoma and Sarcoma Program and Director of the Breast Surgery Fellowship. Dr. Taback received his MD degree at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston , and completed his general surgery residency at Brown University, Rhode Island Hospital. During that time he completed a Basic Science Research Fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School in Boston. Following this, he completed a fellowship in Complex Surgical Oncology at the John Wayne Cancer Institute, Santa Monica, California. Dr. Taback is a member of a number of organizations and societies including Society of Surgical Oncology, American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Association for Cancer Research. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He has published and authored numerous peer review manuscripts, abstracts and presentations, as well as book chapters over the years in notable publications such as Annals of Surgery, Annals of Surgical Oncology, Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research and the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. He is a clinical investigator with SWOG and Alliance for clinical trials. Dr. Taback has served on numerous hospital committees including tumor boards, Institutional Review Boards, Oncology Operations Council and is the American College of Surgeon's Commission on Cancer Physician Liaison for NYP Hospital. Most recently, Dr. Taback is a noted Castle Connolly Top Doctor.

Care Philosophy: I have been in active practice in General Surgery since 1986, with a special interest in Breast and Oncologic surgery. This includes surgery for melanoma, sarcoma, thyroid and parathyroid, and laparoscopic and robotic procedures. I am committed to resident education, and I have been a Staten Island resident since 1987, with strong ties to the local community.

Biography: Juan Pablo Rocca, MD MHA is the Surgical Director for the Weill Cornell Liver Cancer Program, attending surgeon in the Division of Liver Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery, Department of Surgery at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine and Assistant Professor (Interim) of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University.Dr. Rocca has been practicing abdominal organ transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery in New York City since 2009, having prior appointments at the Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute in the Mount Sinai Health System and at the Montefiore-Einstein Center for Transplantation in the Montefiore Health System. Devoted to surgical innovation, Dr. Rocca spearheaded the application of minimally invasive liver surgery at Montefiore Medical Center, employing both laparoscopic and robotic techniques for performing challenging oncologic operations in the liver affected by fibrosis and cirrhosis. Dr. Rocca has been also principal investigator in two multicenter research trials for the implementation of different novel machine perfusion devices for organ preservation in liver transplantation.Other remarkable past leadership positions in transplantation have been Surgical Director of the Living Donor Kidney program and Associate Director of the Transplant Surgery Fellowship program at Mount Sinai, Director of the Living Donor program and Surgical Director of the Kidney/Pancreas Transplantation program at Montefiore, Chair of the Membership and Workforce Committee of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS), leading the latest Transplant Surgeons National Workforce Survey and Chair in the Clinical Policy Committee at the New York Center for Liver Transplantation (NYCLT). Dr. Rocca was awarded in 2018 by El Diario New York for his role and outreach within the Hispanic Community in the metropolitan area.Dr. Rocca earned his MD degree in 1999 at Universidad de Buenos Aires, completing a Residency in General Surgery in 2005 at Hospital Britanico de Buenos Aires, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. He continued his surgical training in the U.S. with a Transplant Surgery Fellowship at Westchester Medical Center, New York Medical College, followed by a second Transplant Surgery Fellowship at the Northwestern University Comprehensive Transplant Center in Chicago, completing his surgical training in 2009. Dr. Rocca also completed in 2019 an Executive Master in Health Administration (MHA) at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University.