Allison Beth Levey, MD

Dr. Virendra I. Patel is the chief of vascular surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. A vascular surgeon-scientist, Dr. Patel is highly skilled in the full range of vascular disorders that can lead to stroke, renal issues, intestinal problems, and peripheral arterial disease. Dr. Patel has a particular interest in clinical outcomes research and has served as principal investigator of several studies to evaluate open and minimally invasive repairs of complex aortic aneurysms. He participated in the TEVAR and EVAR Committees of the Vascular Quality Initiative of the Society of Vascular Surgery, and hel has also been a member of the Executive Council of the New England Society of Vascular Surgery and the Research Advisory Committee for the Society’s Vascular Study Group. A graduate of Tufts University School of Medicine, Dr. Patel completed his surgical residency and a research fellowship in vascular surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and was a clinical fellow in vascular and endovascular surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. He earned a Master of Public Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Program of Clinical Effectiveness.

Sana H. Siddiqui, MD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Division of Laryngology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. A fellowship-trained Laryngologist, Dr. Siddiqui specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of throat disorders, including those affecting the voice, upper airway, and swallowing. As part of the Columbia Center for Voice and Swallowing, she collaborates closely with a multidisciplinary team of physicians and speech-language pathologists to provide comprehensive, patient-centered care. A New Jersey native, Dr. Siddiqui earned her medical degree from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, where she was awarded the Ruy V. Lourenço Dean’s Achievement award and inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. She then completed her residency in Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals in Philadelphia. There, she developed a strong interest in improving the quality of life for survivors of head and neck cancer - a focus that continues to shape her research today. Additionally, her work during residency on the treatment of Retrograde Cricopharyngeal Dysfunction earned her the Dr. Steven F. Balshi award through Jefferson and the Steven Dean Gray award through the American Broncho-Esophageal Association. Following residency, Dr. Siddiqui pursued fellowship training in Laryngology at the Columbia University Center for Voice and Swallowing and the Weill Cornell Medicine Sean Parker Institute for the Voice. During her fellowship, she gained extensive experience caring for professional voice users - including performers, teachers, and lawyers - as well as patients with complex swallowing and airway disorders, and she continues to provide specialized care for these populations. Dr. Siddiqui finds deep fulfillment in working alongside her team and helping patients speak, breathe, and swallow with greater ease. Alongside her clinical practice, she remains active in research aimed at advancing treatments for voice, airway, and swallowing disorders.

Dr. Zitsman graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a degree in natural sciences, and received his M.D. degree from Tufts University Medical School in 1976. He received his training in General Surgery at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston, and completed his Pediatric Surgery training at the Babies & Children's Hospital of New York. He is Board-Certified in General Surgery and Pediatric Surgery, and also holds a Certificate of Special Competence in Surgical Critical Care. Dr. Zitsman has maintained an active clinical practice in pediatric surgery in the New York area since 1985. He holds the rank of Professor of Surgery at the Columbia University Medical Center. His areas of interest include applications of minimally invasive techniques in pediatric surgery, chest wall deformities, and weight loss surgery in adolescents. Dr. Zitsman has been named to Castle Connolly’s Best Doctors in the New York area list annually since 2002. Dr. Zitsman is founder and Director of the Center for Adolescent Bariatric Surgery at the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian. He is Principal Investigator for an FDA-approved adolescent laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding study. He has performed over 500 minimal access weight loss procedures and served as Chairman of the Committee on Obesity of the American Pediatric Surgical Association as well as Chairman of the Childhood Obesity Committee of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. Dr Zitsman has served as a Consultant to the Medical Devices Evaluation Panel of the FDA.