Smiles All Around
Former orthodontist Robert Cornfeld isn’t given to making snap judgments. The Hollywood resident prefers a steady, deliberate approach, as one might expect of someone who meticulously fixed thousands of crooked smiles for more than three decades.
That same modus operandi allowed Cornfeld, who left dentistry 20 years ago, to turn the purchase of a small Hollywood storefront building into a thriving commercial real estate business. Cornfeld’s association with investments that yield impressive dividends bodes well for the Miller School’s Department of Neurology, to which Cornfeld recently made a significant philanthropic contribution.
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| Robert and Judy Cornfeld, whose generosity helped establish The Miami Transplant Institute, recently made a major gift that will strengthen Department
of Neurology resources. |
“This particular gift is geared toward the purchase of a sophisticated CAT scan machine,” Cornfeld says in his office at The Cornfeld Group, his Hollywood real estate holding company. “I’m very excited because, from what I understand, this will enable the Miller School to attract more researchers and clinicians into the area of neurology.”
A decade ago, Cornfeld and his wife, Judy, forged a link with the medical school through a gift that established The Miami Transplant Institute.
“One of our family members needed a kidney transplant,” Cornfeld recalls, “and we were very impressed with the type of care she received. At that time we were working with Dr. Joshua Miller, and the personal attention that he paid and the quality of the care that he and the Department of Surgery were able to give us was extraordinary.”
Originally from the Bronx, Cornfeld got his D.M.D. degree from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, located in Boston.
“I always enjoyed working with children, and I also enjoyed working with my hands,” Cornfeld says of his decision to specialize in orthodontics.
A stint as an Air Force dentist brought Cornfeld to Homestead Air Force Base (now Homestead Air Reserve Base). Cornfeld got out of the Air Force while at Homestead and, “loving Florida, I decided to make it home.”
The Kennedy administration was just getting under way when Robert and Judy Cornfeld put down roots in Hollywood, 45 miles north of Homestead. Robert Cornfeld put out a shingle for his orthodontics practice, and got on with the post-military phase of his life. Fifty years hence, Cornfeld is in a position to make his mark philanthropically.
“The Cornfeld gift will allow
us to significantly expand our research efforts in brain imaging and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s Disease, age-related memory loss, and cerebrovascular diseases,” says Ralph L. Sacco, M.D., M.S., Olemberg Family Chair in Neurological Diseases and Chairman, Department of Neurology.
“Our enhanced capabilities in functional, structural, and metabolic MRI imaging of the brain will help us improve our understanding of how the brain works and what we can do to discover new treatments for these common neurological conditions,” Sacco says. “We have a terrific opportunity to build stronger research collaborations among neurology, radiology, human genetics, and psychiatry.”
A man used to funneling his time and resources into areas where the benefit will be greatest, Cornfeld believes he’s once again made a prudent investment.
“I feel that the Miller School is an excellent resource for research and clinical treatment,” Cornfeld says. “And a resource of the Miller School’s quality is sorely needed here in South Florida.” |
