Jay Meltzer Chair Established

(01/07/2010)    A chair in nephrology and hypertension has been

Jay I. Meltzer, M.D., right, with  Lee Goldman, M.D., dean of the faculties of health sciences and medicine at Columbia University Medical Center

established in honor of Jay I. Meltzer, M.D., at the Columbia University Medical Center in Manhattan, where Dr. Meltzer was a clinical professor of medicine for many years until his recent retirement. He is a part-time resident of Water Mill and a contributor of book reviews to The East Hampton Star.

    At a reception at the Asia Society and Museum in December, Dr. Meltzer was hailed as a private physician and a research scientist. Lee Goldman, M.D., dean of the faculties of health science and medicine, noted that Dr. Meltzer was a founder of the division of nephrology at the center and a pioneer in dialysis and liver biopsies. He participated in establishing a formal program on medical ethics for students and staff, in part as a response to the issues raised by what had been a scarcity of dialysis machines.

    In establishing the Jay Meltzer academic chair, Dr. Meltzer was praised not only for his scientific achievements but as a teacher whose “enthusiasm for the patient as partner rather than consumer” had been transferred to other members of the faculty.

    The endowment of the Jay Meltzer academic chair will be used to recruit a distinguished scientist in the field of nephrology to the teaching staff.