Mathew Maurer, MD

Dr. Ersilia M. DeFilippis, FACC, FAHA, FHFSA is a highly accomplished physician and an Assistant Professor of Cardiology and Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiologist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. She graduated from Yale University summa cum laude with a Bachelors of Arts in Women’s Studies and a concentration in Women’s Health. Dr. DeFilippis received her medical degree from Weill Cornell Medical College where she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha honor Society and graduated with an MD with Honors in Research. She was also granted the Janet M. Glasgow-Rubin Memorial Achievement Award for graduating first in her medical school class. She then completed her Internal Medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Subsequently, she finished her fellowships in cardiovascular disease and advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. She is board certified in internal medicine, cardiology, and advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology. Her clinical interests include peripartum cardiomyopathy, pregnancy and cardiovascular disease, heart failure, heart transplantation, and mechanical circulatory support. Her research interests include sex-specific outcomes and disparities in advanced heart failure and transplantation as well as the intersection of heart failure and cardio-obstetrics. She is also interested in health disparities and health equity more broadly.She has over 230 peer-reviewed publications and has published in leading journals including JAMA Cardiology, Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation, Circulation: Heart Failure; JACC and JACC: Heart Failure. She has also given invited talks at multiple national and international conferences. She received the 2024 American Society of Transplantation Clinical Career Development Achievement Award for her research endeavors and was named a 2025 Lewis Katz Scholar by the Division of Cardiology. She was a Co-Chair of the ISHLT Consensus Statement on Reproductive Health after Thoracic Transplantation and has served as a member of various committees for the American College of Cardiology, Heart Failure Society of America, American Heart Association, and American Society of Transplantation. She is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Women’s Health Community of Practice of the American Society of Transplantation and the Diverse Populations Editor for the Journal of Cardiac Failure. She is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, Heart Failure Society of America, and American Heart Association.

Jason Hawksworth, MD is a noted pioneer in minimally invasive robotic hepatobiliary and transplant surgery. Dr. Hawksworth is the Surgical Director of Adult Liver Transplantation, Chief of Hepatobiliary Surgery, and the Director of Robotic Liver Surgery Program in the Division of Abdominal Organ Transplant and Hepatobiliary Surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Irving Medical Center and is an Associate Professor at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Hawksworth is known for unique and innovative minimally invasive robotic surgeries to remove tumors of the liver, bile duct and pancreas, including robotic major hepatectomy, robotic pancreatectomy, and robotic Whipple. He also specializes in robotic transplantation including robotic kidney transplantation, robotic living donor nephrectomy and robotic living donor hepatectomy. Dr. Hawksworth received his undergraduate degree from The United States Military Academy at West point and his medical degree from Wake Forest University Bowman Gray School of Medicine. Dr. Hawksworth completed general surgery residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center followed by an abdominal transplant and hepatobiliary surgery fellowship at Georgetown University Hospital. Previously the Chief of Robotic Surgery at Georgetown University Hospital, Dr. Hawksworth established one of the nation’s premier robotic hepatobiliary and transplant programs in 2018 at Georgetown. He was recruited to Columbia University Irving Medical Center in 2023 to lead the liver transplant and hepatobiliary programs and continue to develop innovative techniques in robotic surgery. Dr. Hawksworth is a member of several key organizations including a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, American Society of Transplant Surgeons, International Laparoscopic Liver Society, and Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association. His research interests include clinical transplant and hepatobiliary trials, and he has published over 60 scientific manuscripts and book chapters in leading journals such as Annals of Surgery, Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, American Journal of Transplantation and Transplantation. Dr. Hawksworth is a Colonel in the Army reserves and has deployed four times to support combat operations in Afghanistan and the Middle East. Visit The Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation at columbiasurgery.org/liver.

Joshua R. Sonett MD FACS is the Edward C. and Anne K. Weiskopf Professor of Surgical Oncology (in Surgery) at CUMC, Chief of General Thoracic Surgery and Director, The Price Family Center for Comprehensive Chest Care, Lung and Esophageal Center. He is instrumental in making the Thoracic Surgery section at Columbia University Medical Center one of the best in the U.S. and he is one of the youngest professors of surgery at a major academic institution in the United States. Dr. Sonett is best known for his work on the multidisciplinary treatment of lung and esophageal malignancies. Leading work in minimally invasive treatment of lung and esophageal cancer, Dr. Sonett and his team at Columbia are innovators in the development and teaching techniques of Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS) and Minimally Invasive Esophageal (MIE) surgery, allowing surgeons to incorporate these techniques into their daily practices. Dr. Sonett and his team make up one of the few programs in the country to employ a combination of maximal chemo and radiation and surgical therapies in the treatment of locally advanced lung malignancies. He is also a leader in multi-modality therapies for lung and esophageal cancers, and a pioneer in endo-bronchial palliation of benign and malignant airway stenosis. In the clinical area of lung transplantation, Dr. Sonett is best known for developing an extended-donor lung transplant criteria protocol. Extended donor criteria (EDC) applies to the use of organs that don't meet the usual criteria for transplantation due to various health problems, but are still healthy enough for a successful transplant (Liver MD 2006). Dr. Sonett and his team have been aggressively trying to alleviate the donor shortage by evaluating lungs that may be rejected from other centers (CS News 2005). Between 2001 and 2003, 53 percent of the lungs transplanted at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia were extended donor criteria lungs, with no difference in survival between EDC lung recipients and regular lung recipients. The Columbia programs has a 95% survival rate after one year and 83% after three years, which far surpasses the national average of 79% and 62% respectively (CS Lung News 2006). Dr. Sonett has been an invited speaker and principal and co- investigator of numerous clinical trials, author of numerous publications in renown journals such as the Journal of The American College of Cardiology, Annals of Thoracic Surgery, and the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplant, among many others. Dr. Sonett received his MD from Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University Medical School, and completed his surgical residency at the University of Massachusetts, and Thoracic Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Professional Memberships include the New York Thoracic Society, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and member of the American Association for Thoracic Surgeons Dr. Sonett has received numerous award and honors including annual awards to America's Top Doctors, Castle Connolly America's Top Doctors for Cancer, New York Magazine's Best Doctors, the Barbara Neibauer Celebration of Life Award, Foundation for Thymic Cancer and the Humanitarian Award, Chesed of New Square.