Herb Pardes, MD, Executive Vice Chairman Of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Elected To CASAColumbia Board

NEW YORK, Oct. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASAColumbia™) announced today that Dr. Herb Pardes, has been elected to its board of directors.

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Dr. Pardes serves as the Executive Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.  He was President and CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System from 1999 to 2011.

Prior to joining the Hospital in 1999, he served as Vice President for Health Sciences at Columbia University and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Pardes served as Director of the National Institute of Mental Health and as the US Assistant Surgeon General during the administrations of Presidents Carter and Reagan, and was President of the American Psychiatric Association.

He was appointed by Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton to serve on health policy commissions, including the Commission on Systemic Interoperability, and the Presidential Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Healthcare Industry. Dr. Pardes is Chair of the Healthcare Association of New York State, and former Chairman of the Greater New York Hospital Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges and the New York Association of Medical Schools.

"The addition of Herb Pardes to the board of directors continues our effort to assemble the best and the brightest individuals to lead and counsel CASAColumbia," said Jeffrey B. Lane, CASAColumbia's Chairman. "Herb is nationally recognized for his broad expertise in education, research, clinical care and health policy and is passionate about the power of science based research and innovation to transform medical care.  He believes in the CASAColumbia mission and in our efforts to prevent and eliminate the disease of addiction."

"I have the highest regard for both Jeffrey Lane and Joe Califano and all they do for this country.  I share the concern about the damage done to people in this nation from substance abuse and I am happy to help CASAColumbia, Jeffrey and Joe in their efforts to address these problems," said Dr. Pardes.

Dr. Pardes is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and has earned the Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health from the Institute of Medicine.  In 2009, the New York State Office of Mental Health named the main building of its New York State Psychiatric Institute in his honor.

CASAColumbia is a science-based, multidisciplinary organization focused on transforming society's understanding of and response to the disease of addiction.  Founded in 1992 by Former US Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Joseph A. Califano, Jr., CASAColumbia assembles the professional skills needed to research, prevent, treat and eliminate this disease.  CASAColumbia conducts its own research and also utilizes the scientific findings of others to inform Americans of the economic and social costs of substance use and addiction in all sectors of society and its impact on their lives.  CASAColumbia aims to reduce the stigma attached to this disease and replace shame with hope.  For more information www.casacolumbia.org

SOURCE The National Center on Addiction & Substance Abuse