Said Saab, MD, MED

Dr. Blume has a consultative rheumatologic practice with a special interest in inflammatory rheumatic diseases, including Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (Lupus), Rheumatoid Arthritis and Vasculitis. Throughout his career, Dr. Blume has received numerous professional accolades, including being recognized as a "Top Doctor" by Castle/Connolly and New Yorkmagazine, among others. In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Blume is a Professor of Clinical Medicine at Columbia University where he has an integral role Rheumatology Fellowship Training Program. Dr. Blume is the Director of the Harkness Report, a long-standing Columbia tradition for junior and senior residents on outpatient rotations to present cases to a two-attending panel. Dr. Blume's reputation and dedication as a senior educator in the Department has led this conference to be coined as "Blume Rounds".

Torsten P. Vahl, MD, is the Director of Translational Research and an attending physician at Columbia University Irving Medical Center/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. He is also an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.Dr. Vahl is board-certified in interventional cardiology, cardiovascular disease, echocardiography, and internal medicine. He specializes in the percutaneous treatment of coronary artery disease and structural heart disease, including cardiac catheterization. His primary focus areas include transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), transcatheter mitral valve repair and replacement (TMVR), and left atrial appendage closure.Dr. Vahl is involved in preclinical and first-in-human studies through his work with the Cardiovascular Research Foundation. He served as the national principal investigator for the ALIGN-AR trial, following his involvement in the device's preclinical research. He also proctors other interventional cardiologists on TAVR using the Trilogy valve and on TMVR with the Cephea valve. In the area of left atrial appendage closure, he has helped develop an intracardiac echo program that enables patients to undergo the procedure without general anesthesia or transesophageal echocardiography (TEE).Dr. Vahl earned his medical degree from Philipps-Universität in Marburg, Germany. He completed his residency in internal medicine and his fellowship in cardiovascular disease at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. He then completed fellowships in interventional cardiology and structural interventional cardiology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

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.