Professor C.S. Pitchumoni is an acclaimed author, a dedicated teacher, a well-published researcher, and an editor of several popular books and prestigious journals in the field of clinical gastroenterology. For his many academic contributions spanning more than five decades at New York Medical College, Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine, and Drexel University, Dr. Pitchumoni has the rare distinction of being recognized as a master of two leading professional organizations, the American College of Physicians as well as the American College of Gastroenterology. Medical students and residents in internal medicine and fellows in gastroenterology look up to Dr. Pitchumoni, or “Pitch,” as they affectionately call him, fondly remember his guidance during the period of training and beyond for many decades. His mentors in gastroenterology at Yale and New York Medical College, Dr. Howard Spiro, Dr. Martin H Floch, and Dr. Gerzy B Glass, inculcated in him the value of hard work and readiness to share knowledge. Following his role models, he has no desire to retire from teaching and writing. True to his learning, Dr. Pitchumoni xxvii shares his knowledge and experience and continues to teach and help many students worldwide despite the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.Dr. Pitchumoni ’s publication of over 250 articles in major peer-reviewed journals and more than 100 chapters in the reputable textbooks are in addition to 7 edited books. A long period of six decades in academic medicine, Dr. Pitchumoni considers, is a boon to satisfy his desire to learn and teach. The return is his vast knowledge of internal medicine and gastroenterology. Dr. Pitchumoni has received various awards and recognitions. The one award that he takes pride in is the recognition by students of Drexel University with the covetable Blockley-Osler award for excellence in teaching clinical medicine at bed side in the tradition of Sir William Osler. The Royal Colleges of Physicians of Ottawa, Canada, and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh have honored Dr. Pichumoni as a fellow of the respective colleges. Dr. Pitchumoni is board certi fied in internal medicine, gastroenterology, and clinical nutrition. The MPH quali fication from New York Medical College substantially expands his broad knowledge in clinical medicine, clinical epidemiology, and research methods. With his professional experience at senior levels in teaching and administration for over 50 years, he is currently the emeritus chief of gastroenterology, hepatology, and clinical nutrition at Saint Peters University Hospital, Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine; emeritus chairman of medicine at Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center of New York Medical College; adjunct Professor of medicine at New York Medical College; and clinical Professor of medicine at Rutgers University. The initialpublications that brought him to the academic forefront were focused on pancreatology; his pioneering work in the field is well quoted in the literature. However, his passion was to be a general gastroenterologist, he expanded his interests to cover nutrition and geriatrics. The desire to emphasize the older adults ’ unique needs encouraged Dr. Pitchumoni to work closely with Professor Dharmarajan, a longtime professional colleague with a similar background and professional xxviii About the Editors achievements. Both the editors, one with tremendous experience in the science of geriatrics and the other an experienced clinical gastroenterologist, perceived the need for a comprehensive book in geriatric gastroenterology. The success of the first edition of Geriatric Gastroenterology by Springer, which was released in 2012, prompted the authors to expand the book with many more chapters in the second edition. The editors expect the same enthusiastic reception for the second edition.T. S. Dharmarajan, MD, is vice chairman, Department of Medicine; clinical director, Division of Geriatrics; and program director of the geriatric medicine fellowship program at Montefiore Medical Center (Wakefield Campus) Bronx, a University Hospital of Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECOM), Bronx, New York. He is a Professor of medicine, AECOM, and adjunct Professor of medicine at New York Medical College. He was formerly Professor of medicine and Associate Dean of New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, and chairman of the Department of Medicine at Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center, until its transition to Montefiore Medical Center. Dr. Dharmarajan is certified by the American Boards in Internal Medicine, Nephrology and Geriatric Medicine. He is a fellow of the American Geriatrics Society (AGSF), Master of the American College of Physicians (MACP), and fellow of Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh (FRCPE). About the Editors xxix Dr. Dharmarajan was instrumental in developing a reputable inpatient geriatric medicine program at Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center in the Bronx (currently Monte fiore Medical Center), with clinical, academic, and research components, including a fully accredited fellowship program (for 10 fellows) in geriatrics. Dr. Dharmarajan co-edited the textbook Clinical Geriatrics (CRC Press/Parthenon Publishing) released in 2003. His second textbook, Geriatric Gastroenterology (Springer), co-edited with CS Pitchumoni, was released in July 2012. Dr. Dharmarajan authored several chapters in the two books. The latter was a best seller in the Springer category of textbooks. Based on its success, he co-edited Geriatric Gastroenterology, a Major Reference Work (Springer), a far more comprehensive work. His publications in peerreviewed journals and textbooks number around 200. He has over 500 scienti fic presentations (abstracts) in county, state, national, and international conferences. He has been a principal investigator for several research projects, including national multicenter studies for the AMDA Foundation. He won the Howard Gutterman Award for best research project in the National Annual AMDA (2006) meeting; several of his abstracts were winners in county, state, or national society meetings. At Monte fiore, he received the first prize for best clinical science paper published in 2016 and the second prize in 2019. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award at New York City in April 2019 and in the same year received Recognition for Leadership and Community Services from Monte fiore at the tenth anniversary celebrations. Dr. Dharmarajan is a regular speaker at local, national, and international conferences. Some of his many recognitions in medicine include: Teacher of the Year; Peer to Peer recognition by the Bronx County Society; Dedication as Teacher and Mentor to young Physicians in the Bronx (from American Assn. of Physicians of Indian origin); and Unparalleled Leadership in the Medical Community for medicine and research (from the Bronx County Society). In 2013, he was featured on the cover of AgingWell magazine, as one of five noteworthy geriatricians. xxx About the Editors Dr. Dharmarajan was the president of the Monte fiore Physician Council, Wake field Campus, for 5 years until 2015; he was a member of the board of trustees at Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center. For much of his professional career, Dr. Dharmarajan has been fortunate to be associated with a renowned colleague and master teacher, Professor CS Pitchumoni. During the period that spanned decades, the two initially published a series of articles in the field of geriatric gastroenterology, which caught Springer ’s attention, and became the foundation for the first edition of Geriatric Gastroenterology. The huge success of the first edition laid the platform for the more comprehensive second edition of Geriatric Gastroenterology, the current Major Reference Work.
