Newswise Michael A. Weber, MD, professor of medicine and associate dean for research at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, will deliver the New York Academy of Medicine's 2013 Nahum J. Winer Lecture on October 8, 2013, from 6:00 to 7:30 pm, at the Academy, 1216 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street, New York, NY 10029. The Winer lectureship was created by the family of Nahum J. Winer, a respected clinical and research cardiologist who was an officer of the New York Academy of Medicine for many years. Dr. Winer received his medical degree from SUNY Downstate.

Dr. Webers talk is titled, "Unresolved Issues in Diagnosing and Treating Hypertension: Is Renal Sympathectomy an Answer?" He will review what blood pressure levels are appropriate for treatment, currently proposed drug strategies, and the possible role of renal sympathectomy.

Renal sympathectomy is a new but not yet FDA-approved procedure for treatment-resistant hypertension to get blood pressure below a defined goal. This technique destroys the nerves serving the kidneys, important in blood pressure control, by using a catheter to apply an electric current through the arteries that supply the kidneys. This method, although invasive, appears to be effective in many patients whose blood pressures cannot otherwise be controlled. Major clinical trials are now underway to examine this treatment more thoroughly.

Dr. Webers focus as a cardiologist has primarily been on hypertension and preventive cardiology. He has published numerous research articles in the medical literature and has authored or edited 16 books. Together with Suzanne Oparil, MD, he is responsible for the widely used reference volume, Hypertension. He is the editor-in-chief of The Journal of Clinical Hypertension and was one of the founders of The American Society of Hypertension (ASH), for which he has served as president. He also served as chair of the ASH Hypertension Specialists Program. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. He has also served on the Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Board of the Food and Drug Administration, and continues as a consultant to that agency.

His main current research interests are in clinical trials of patients at high risk of cardiovascular events or strokes. He is also participating actively in trials in patients with metabolic disorders such as diabetes and kidney disease. Dr. Weber currently serves on the steering committees of several national and international clinical outcomes trials.

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SUNY Downstate Medical Center, founded in 1860, was the first medical school in the United States to bring teaching out of the lecture hall and to the patients bedside. A center of innovation and excellence in research and clinical service delivery, SUNY Downstate Medical Center comprises a College of Medicine, Colleges of Nursing and Health Related Professions, a School of Graduate Studies, a School of Public Health, University Hospital of Brooklyn, and an Advanced Biotechnology Park and Biotechnology Incubator.

SUNY Downstate ranks ninth nationally in the number of alumni who are on the faculty of American medical schools. More physicians practicing in New York City have graduated from SUNY Downstate than from any other medical school.

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Dr. Michael A. Weber to Deliver Nahum J. Winer Lecture at the New York Academy of Medicine