mount sinai science & medicine fall 2013
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Fall 2013: Redefining Innovation Mount Sinai is firing up discovery and creating solutions.TRANSCRIPT
Mount Sinai is firing up discovery and creating solutions
REDEFINING INNOVATION
T h e M a g a z i n e o f T h e M o u n T S i n a i M e d i c a l c e n T e r
Mount SinaiSCiEnCE & MEDiCinE
in this issue Breaking new Frontiers + Revolution in education + Data’s human side + team Players + how to innovate + Genomics to the Bedside FALL 2013
Please contact us by telephone (212.659.8500) or email ([email protected]) if you wish to have your name removed from our distribution list for fundraising materials.
President and Chief exeCutive OffiCer,
the MOunt sinai MediCal Center
Kenneth L. Davis, MD
anne and JOel ehrenkranz dean,
iCahn sChOOl Of MediCine at MOunt sinai
exeCutive viCe President fOr aCadeMiC
affairs, the MOunt sinai MediCal Center
Dennis S. Charney, MD
President, the MOunt sinai hOsPital
David L. Reich, MD
seniOr viCe President, develOPMent,
the MOunt sinai MediCal Center
Mark Kostegan, FAHP
editOr
Celia M. Regan
assOCiate editOr
Travis Adkins
assistant editOr
Vanesa Sarić
COntributOrs
Philip BerrollSara DanielsDon HamermanAndrew LichtensteinEdward McGowanRhianna MorrisBarbara J. NissSima RabinowitzKatie Quackenbush Spiegel Radio Co. Illustration
design
Taylor Design
Mount Sinai Science & Medicine is published twice annually by the Office of Development, The Mount Sinai Medical Center, for an audience of friends and alumni. We welcome your comments; please contact us at [email protected] or call us at (212) 659-8500. Visit us on the Web at philanthropy.mountsinai.org
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In •no •va •tionInnovation—define it, and everything it connotes seems to disappear;
it loses the innate power of its meaning and becomes just a word, like
any other. But examine what it really means, the creativity it prompts,
the dialogue it inspires, and you can come closer to capturing its essence.
So for this issue of Mount Sinai Science & Medicine, we are examining
the concept through actions.
From research labs, to hospital administrative offices; from first-year
classrooms, to the work of a singular business pro; from the white boards
and dry-erase markers of the Leon and Norma Hess Center for Science
and Medicine, to its massive data servers: Mount Sinai’s commitment to
fostering innovation is all-encompassing. No area of the medical center
is untouched by the power of creative thinking and new concepts.
We present you here with the ideas and solutions of the people whose
work serves as the best definition there can be for a word that deserves
nothing less than our best thinking.
ABOUT THE COVERSInnovation is high tech—and low.
On the front cover: Your brain at work. Photographic rendering of a synapse firing. Created by Spectral-Design.
On the back cover: the hess Center's white and green boards are designed to inspire everything, from scribbles to complex ideas. Photography by Don Hamerman and Andrew Lichtenstein.
Volume IV, number 1
Mount SinaiSCiEnCE & MEDiCinE
MESSAgE02 innovation is in Mount sinai’s history—and at the heart of everything we do
NEwS03 Mount sinai and Continuum to combine + school of Medicine named for Carl
icahn + new grads urged to bring passion to innovation + hospital boasts first designated comprehensive stroke center + Campaign surges toward record finish + new logo for Mount sinai + sinai innovations, part two + founding school of Medicine charter turns 50 + dr. fuster = dr. ruster + aspen, usta partnerships offer new forums + rensselaer collaboration creates new opportunities + news in brief
FACUlTy10 from alia-klein to Wasserman: spotlight on 37 new recruits + nearly 200 faculty
receive honors and recognition + researchers investigate cell reprogramming, mitigating depression, flu’s internal clock, bypass surgery for diabetics, genomic sequencing and e. coli, hospice’s benefits, therapy for fibrotic diseases, halting myelofibrosis, and ketamine’s effect on treatment-resistant depression
giViNg46 Campaign gifts transforming Mount sinai + the tisches to be honored at
October Campaign Celebration event + Philanthropy reaches far and wide + Celebrating the hess Center opening, the dubin breast Center, the Cohen Center for labor and birth, the friedman brain institute, Children’s health, greening our Children, the Crystal Party, Mount sinai in Palm beach, and Meet the directors + Philanthropy at Work: the Mindiches explore children’s health with dr. gelb
AlUMNi 53 legacy: the galson family + dr. Paul Cunningham + Jacobi honorees + Welcoming
new alumni director + valedictory from dr. Jeffrey laitman + reunion 2013
FEATURESRedefining Innovation
16 the Pathway to innovation think like an innovator, in three easy steps.
18 the searchers 17 innovators who are breaking new frontiers.
26 the icahn lift Carl icahn brings an activist approach to investing
and philanthropy.
29 revolutionizing Medical education Our students are being admitted and taught to innovate—innovatively.
34 surprise! Jeff hammerbacher finds the human side of data.
36 team Play drs. david reich, Mark Callahan, and annetine gelijns
make innovation possible.
39 dialogue drs. bottinger, Cordon-Cardo, and kazarskis bring
big data to the bedside.
42 new voices Mount sinai’s graduate students give voice to the
fresh future of biomedicine.
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LEXICONThroughout the feature section, we define the buzzwords.
01
CO
NTE
NTS
In the fulfillment of our mission, we have always encouraged brilliant research and the development of its fruits: These are the critical components of innovative thinking—the thinking that led to some of Mount Sinai’s most important discoveries.
But while innovation has been a constant in our history, it is now becoming central to
our core values: We are putting our full energy into the creation of the next generation of
diagnostics, therapeutics, and devices that will save lives and eradicate disease. To do this,
we are fostering a culture of innovation and transformation, where anything is possible;
our students and faculty must believe that they can change the future of biomedicine,
science, and clinical medicine. We are investing in technology, a new Center for Innovation,
Technology and Entrepreneurship, a host of extraordinary new courses, and significant
new faculty recruitments, including an array of professionals with expertise in venture
capital and big data analytics.
Such a culture is essential to brilliance and success. Our model is Silicon Valley, where
charting new directions and alternate paths is almost a way of life. Yet, for the most part,
the biomedical universe—including most of the great academic medical centers in this
country—does not emulate that model.
But we are emulating it—and refining it, beginning by linking disciplines not ordinarily
linked. For example, we have made recruitments in mathematics who are helping to forge
and solidify connections that seemed unthinkable before we acquired our super computer,
Minerva. Adding their expertise to our faculty—and giving them an astonishingly powerful
tool like Minerva—allows them to produce algorithms that we know will transform our
work: They are already working with our electronic medical records system, analyzing
genomic data, and beginning to develop predictive models of disease, as well as identifying
patients at highest risk for relapse and readmission; this, in turn, will help us to improve
the ways we diagnose and treat patients, and also help to control the costs of health care.
An innovative culture like ours builds an institute for genomics whose director thinks
differently about how genes interact, applying new predictive models to tens of thousands
of genes and proteins to determine the real causes of disease. And an innovative culture
extends to its students. By reshaping our admissions process for the MD program, we
are expanding the creative range of the student body and encouraging different kinds of
candidates to come here, work together, and think innovatively from day one.
Even more crucially, an innovative culture takes risks. This is especially important
for a health care institution, where failure has serious consequences, because taking no
risks—maintaining the status quo—guarantees three things: Chronic diseases will not
be conquered, quality of life will not be improved, and life spans will not be extended.
Passivity is not an alternative to fear of failure; what matters is how we walk the adven-
turous path. We must recognize that safety must be paramount when we work with
patients, but before we get there, we must look at problems in unique ways—and that
means trying things that could fail.
Great findings come from unexpected places, and Mount Sinai’s culture of innovation
means that, in every classroom, in every lab, in every clinical space, the opportunity to
change medicine is everyone’s priority.
Kenneth L. Davis, MD Dennis S. Charney, MDPresident and CEO, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean,The Mount Sinai Medical Center Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, The Mount Sinai Medical Center
While innovation has been a constant in our history, it is now becoming central to our core values.
Message from the President the dean&
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MESSAGEMg
The Mount Sinai Medical Center and Continuum
Health Partners announced that they will combine
to form The Mount Sinai Health System, the largest
private network in New York City and one of the
largest nonprofit systems in the country, comprising
seven hospitals and 3,300 beds.
“Our goal in combining to form an integrated
health care system and academic medical center is to
provide exceptional medical care to New Yorkers,” said
Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and Chief Executive
Officer of The Mount Sinai Medical Center, who will
serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of The
Mount Sinai Health System. “The combination will
create increased efficiencies and expand access to
advanced primary and specialty care throughout this
citywide system.”
The Mount Sinai Health System will include Beth
Israel Medical Center in Manhattan, Beth Israel
Brooklyn, The Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai
Queens, New York Eye & Ear Infirmary, St. Luke’s
Hospital, and Roosevelt Hospital. The complementary
strengths of the two partners, which together offer
a comprehensive array of primary and specialty care
programs, will position the new system to success-
fully navigate the changing health care landscape,
said Peter W. May, Chairman of The Mount Sinai
Medical Center Boards of Trustees.
“I am confident that our leaders are working well
together to create an exceptional health system that
will serve as a model for the entire country,” said Mr.
May, who will remain as Chairman of the Boards of
Trustees for the new system.
“Bringing together the clinical and administrative
excellence of Mount Sinai and Continuum will help
provide us a position of significant strength and
resourcefulness,” said Steven Hochberg, the Chairman
of the Boards of Trustees for Continuum, who will
serve as Vice Chairman.
“This combination makes readily available a more
robust and multidisciplinary network of services that
neither institution could have offered independently,”
said Stanley Brezenoff, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Continuum. Following the completion
of the merger, Mr. Brezenoff will retire from his
current role and serve in an advisory capacity to the
leadership during the transition process.
Physicians and scientists affiliated with Continuum
hospitals will assume academic appointments at the
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. All affili-
ations that Continuum currently has with other
medical schools will be transitioned to Mount Sinai,
which will be the sole medical school for the System.
Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz
Dean of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and
Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs of The
Mount Sinai Medical Center, sees the opportunity for
increased research collaboration.
“We will build on Mount Sinai’s legacy of ground-
breaking clinical and translational research that has
led to improved methods of diagnosing and treating
human disease,” said Dr. Charney. “With this combi-
nation, we will widen our research base and accelerate
the pace of breakthrough treatments and protocols.
The combination will also provide for an outstanding
and diverse educational experience for our medical
students, residents, and fellows.”
The combination is expected to receive final
regulatory approval before the end of the year.
“�Our�leaders�are�working�well�together�to�create�an�exceptional�health�system�that�will�serve�as�a�model�for�the�entire�country.”
–���Peter�W.�May,�Chairman,��Mount�Sinai�Boards�of�Trustees
Mount Sinai, Continuum to Combine
Kenneth L. Davis and Peter W. May; Steven Hochberg
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NEWSNw
Mount Sinai Renames Medical School in Honor of Trustee Carl C. Icahn
Mount Sinai has renamed its medical school
the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in
honor of Trustee Carl C. Icahn, whose November
2012 gift—the largest in the institution’s history
and one of the biggest ever given to a medical
school—brings his total lifetime giving to Mount
Sinai to more than $200 million.
“Carl’s support enables our scientists and
clinicians to continue pursuing groundbreaking
discoveries. We are honored to bear the Icahn
School of Medicine name as we revolutionize
health care for Mount Sinai patients and for
patients around the world,” said President
Kenneth L. Davis, MD.
Mr. Icahn’s latest gift significantly expands
Mount Sinai’s research capacity by increasing
the budget of the President’s Strategic Initiative
Fund, which is used to advance promising
research projects, recruit world-renowned
faculty, and provide critical support for other
strategic priorities. In addition to the new name
for the medical school, Mount Sinai renamed
its burgeoning genomics program the Icahn
Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology in
light of Mr. Icahn’s longstanding interest in the
field and of the pivotal role the Institute
will play in accelerating groundbreaking
research across disciplines. Mount Sinai will
also designate several of its most outstanding
scientists across several institutes and
departments as Icahn Scholars.
“Carl Icahn’s generosity has tremendously
strengthened Mount Sinai’s capacity for
innovation by allowing us flexibility and oppor-
tunistic creativity, two of the greatest assets for
any innovative organization,” said Anne and
Joel Ehrenkranz Dean Dennis Charney, MD.
“We are extremely grateful to Carl not only for
his philanthropic support but also for his trust
and confidence in Mount Sinai and the major
role our institution will continue to play in
transforming global health care.”
Mr. Icahn’s gift ranks among the ten largest
ever given to a medical school and among the
20 largest given to an American university or
college, according to The Chronicle of Higher
Education.
“Carl Icahn has been a remarkable supporter
of the capital campaign, and as a philanthropist,
he is a game-changer for Mount Sinai,” said
Chairman Peter May. “His gift helped us to
surpass our original $1 billion goal and gave us
the momentum to reach the challenge goal of
$1.3 billion.”
“Mount Sinai clinicians and researchers
are performing some of the most exciting,
important work in medical science today—work
that has the potential to dramatically improve
and extend human life,” said Mr. Icahn. “I am
confident that my support will help them shape
the future of medicine.”
“�Mount�Sinai�is�poised�to�make�enormous�breakthroughs�in�biomedical�science,�and�Carl’s�extraordinarily�generous�gift��will�help�us�fulfill�that�promise.”
–���President�and�CEO�� �Kenneth�L.�Davis,�MD
Carl Icahn and Kenneth L. Davis in May 2013.
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Innovation, Collaboration, Graduation Highlights from 44th Commencement
Held May 10 at Avery Fisher Hall, Mount Sinai’s 44th Commencement saw 307 degrees
granted to Icahn School of Medicine students and students in the Graduate School of
Biomedical Sciences, including 142 MDs, 63 PhDs, and 98 Masters degrees. Nobel Prize-
winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman, PhD addressed the Mount Sinai graduates
as commencement speaker and received an honorary Doctor of Science degree. Other
honorary degree recipients were Aaron Ciechanover, MD, DSc (Doctor of Science),
a Nobel Prize-winning biochemist who has made monumental contributions to the
understanding of crucial biochemical processes; Eva Andersson-Dubin, MD (Doctor of
Humane Letters) and Glenn Dubin (Doctor of Humane Letters), philanthropic leaders
who helped found Mount Sinai’s Dubin Breast Center; and Mortimer B. Zuckerman
(Doctor of Humane Letters), one of the most influential voices in print news media in
the last 20 years and a generous supporter of medical research.
“Wemustpossesstheintellectualcouragetochallengetraditionanddogma,theimaginationtoachievetrueinnovation,andthepassiontodeliveronourpromiseoftransfor-mativediscovery.”
–�Dean�Dennis�S.�Charney,�MD
HospitalisFirstinNYStatetoBeDesignatedComprehensiveStrokeCenterMount Sinai is the first hospital in New York State—and among the few nationwide—to be designated a Comprehensive Stroke Center by the Joint Commission, the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. The designation is awarded only to medical centers that meet rigorous requirements in advanced imaging capabilities, round-the-clock avail-ability of specialized treatments, staff with the unique education and competencies to care for complex stroke patients, and other key criteria.
“Mount Sinai has been steadfastly committed to educating our commu-nity about stroke risk, signs, and symptoms,” said Stanley Tuhrim, MD, Director of the Mount Sinai Stroke Center and Professor and Clinical Vice Chair of Neurology (at left, above). “We are honored that the Joint Commission has recognized us for our dedication to research and the care of our patients.”
“Doctorsalonecannothelppatientspreventormanagechronicconditions,butasophisticated,dedicatedcareteam,whereallareworkingtothemaximumoftheirlicense,canhelpensuresuchchange.”
–�President�and�CEO�Kenneth�L.�Davis,�MD
“Youneedthecouragetoactonyourintuitionwhenyoutrustit,thedisci-plinetofollowtherulesandskillsyouhaveacquiredwhenit’sthebestyoucando,andthewisdomtoknowwhentouseoneortheother.”
� –�Daniel�Kahneman,�PhD
05
Months before its scheduled end in December 2013,
the Campaign for Mount Sinai has surpassed its new
challenge goal of $1.3 billion, which was set by the
Boards of Trustees after the original $1 billion goal was
reached in October 2012—more than one year ahead
of schedule. The Campaign stands at $1.36 billion as of
press time; the new total was powered by five recent
transformational gifts:
• A $5 million gift from philanthropic leaders Leonard
and Emily Blavatnik that will support a variety
of initiatives at the Recanati/Miller Transplant
Institute, as well as the Ovarian Cancer Translational
Research Program and a renovation project to create
a floor in the hospital devoted to caring for women
with breast or reproductive system cancers.
• A $12 million gift from Trustee David S. “Sandy”
Gottesman and Ruth Gottesman, EdD, supporting
the recently completed renovation of the pediatric
intensive care unit, in recognition of which the
medical center has named The Alice Gottesman
Bayer Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
• A $25 million commitment from Trustee Henry R.
Kravis and Marie-Josée Kravis to advance the work
of the clinicians and researchers housed in the
Center for Advanced Medicine, home to many of
Mount Sinai’s programs in primary care, preventive
medicine, community health, and global health, and
which will be renamed the Marie-Josée and Henry R.
Kravis Center for Advanced Medicine.
• A leadership gift from Trustee Eric S. Mindich and
Stacey Mindich, bringing their lifetime giving to $15
million, to accelerate translational research in science
and medicine for infants, children, and adolescents
at The Mindich Child Health and Development
Institute.
• A $15 million gift from the estate of Ruth Ward
Coleman, a longtime Mount Sinai supporter who will
be recognized for her generosity with the creation of
several Ward-Coleman Chairs, to be held by some of
Mount Sinai’s leading physician-scientists.
(For more about some of these gifts, see page 46.)
“The impressive accomplishments of the Campaign are
a testament to the leadership of Ken Davis and Dennis
Charney, who defined a strong, essential course for the
Medical Center, one that sparked support from the
Boards of Trustees at record levels,” noted Peter May,
Chairman of the Mount Sinai Boards of Trustees. “Well
over half our total to date was given by Trustees—a
rare accomplishment for any academic medical center.”
“The capital campaign has exceeded our expectations
in every way and has given us a deeper appreciation of
Campaign Surges Toward Finish Line with Transformational Gifts
1.36 BILLION
CAMPAIGNTOTALAS�OF�PRESS�TIME
$
“�The�phenomenal�success�of�this�effort,�begun�just�before�the�recession�of�2008,�is�an�example�of�how�Mount�Sinai�brings�out�the�best�in�all�of�us.�The�impact�of�this�campaign�will�be�felt�for�generations.”
–����James�S.�Tisch,�Chairman,�Campaign�for�Mount�Sinai
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FiveDecadesofExcellenceMount�Sinai�Celebrates�50th�Anniversary�of�School�Charter
On June 28, 1963, the Board of Regents of New York State approved the charter of what was then known as the Mount Sinai Hospital School of Medicine, marking the first time since 1910 that a hospital in the U.S. had been granted permission to found a medical school. That watershed moment continues to reverberate today, as the Icahn School of Medicine carries on the legacy of breaking barriers and blazing new paths. “We are proud of what we have accomplished in the past fifty years, and excited about what the future holds,” said Dean Dennis S. Charney.
MountSinaiIntroducesNewLogoA new logo reflecting Mount Sinai’s mission of cross-disciplinary collabo-ration and capturing the momentum behind the institution’s continuing growth was unveiled at the December 13, 2012 public opening of the Leon and Norma Hess Center for Science & Medicine. The new logo—intersecting
lines that suggest both the historical Mount Sinai itself and the letter M and symbolize the connection among physicians, scientists, patients, and other members of the Mount Sinai community—is the centerpiece of a larger branding campaign that focuses on Mount Sinai’s excep-tional care and research.
All-StarSpeakerstoDiscuss“TeamScience”atSecondSINAInnovationsConferenceA roster of speakers including leaders from the arts, military, business, and sports
worlds will take the field at this year’s SINAInnovations conference to discuss how
physicians and researchers can apply the secrets of successful teamwork to discover
breakthroughs. To be held November 18 -19, the conference highlights how new
technologies and concepts in biomedical science increasingly require teamwork to
achieve success, said Scott L. Friedman, MD, Fishberg Professor of Medicine and Dean
for Therapeutic Discoveries, who is one of the event’s organizers. “Effective teamwork
to foster groundbreaking science is a major element of our efforts to transform the
culture at Mount Sinai,” said Dr. Friedman, who noted that the 2012 SINAInnovations
conference drew more than 600 attendees to hear from innovative thinkers such as
Ivan Seiderberg, the former CEO of Verizon Communications; Paul Stoffels, MD, Chief
Scientific Officer and Worldwide Chairman for Pharmaceuticals at Johnson & Johnson;
and David Zaslav, President and CEO of Discovery Communications.
For more information, visit www.mssm.edu/sinainnovations.
just how generous our philanthropic partners
are,” said President Kenneth L. Davis, MD,
noting that the vast majority of the Campaign’s
fundraising total comes from 52 gifts of $5 million
and above and 132 gifts of between $1 million
and $5 million.
Launched in 2007, the Campaign has
strengthened Mount Sinai’s position as one of
the foremost academic medical centers in the
country through its support for the creation of 14
innovative translational research institutes, the
construction of new, state-of-the-art research and
clinical care facilities, the recruitment of more
than 200 leading physician-scientists, and the
naming of the Icahn School of Medicine at
Mount Sinai.
Trustee James S. Tisch, who chairs the
Campaign, said, “The phenomenal success of this
effort, begun just before the recession of 2008, is
an example of how Mount Sinai brings out the
best in all of us. The impact of this campaign will
be felt for generations.”
“Our donors have enabled us to increase Mount
Sinai’s research footprint by thirty percent and
put us in a position to draw more than $350
million in NIH funding over the next five years,”
said Dean Dennis S. Charney. “But this campaign
has always been about transforming the future
of biomedicine. The ultimate measure of its
success will be the discoveries we make at Mount
Sinai that advance the diagnosis, prevention, and
treatment of human disease.”
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Valentín Fuster, MD, PhD, Physician-in-Chief and Director of Mount Sinai Heart, has already been recognized by every major award in cardiology, but now he has one more illustrious title to add to his crowded CV: Muppet. Dr. Fuster is the inspiration for “Dr. Valentín Ruster,” a character on “Barrio Sesamo: Monstruos Supersanos”—the version of the “Sesame Street” children’s program shown in his native Spain—who teaches kids about leading healthier lifestyles through exercise and a better diet.
New Forums for Mount Sinai’s Best IdeasCommitted to play a leading role in advocacy and education,
Mount Sinai is presenting some of its most prominent minds
in new settings and partnerships. President Davis was among a
group of national figures invited to discuss the future of health
care during the 2013 Aspen Ideas Festival, a celebrated forum
for thinkers and leaders from around the world. Dr. Davis and
other doctors gave Mount Sinai a strong presence at the Festival,
providing insights into genetic sequencing and containing medical
costs. Other recent partnerships with Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute (see page 9), the United States Tennis Association (USTA),
and The Atlantic magazine have strengthened the Medical Center’s
position as a significant contributor to the national debate in terms
of education, research, and patient care. An upcoming Big Data
conference in collaboration with The Atlantic will highlight Mount
Sinai’s pioneering position in leveraging supercomputers, complex
algorithms, and new information-collection techniques to treat
patients more precisely. As the official provider of medical services
for the United States Tennis Association, Mount Sinai will deliver
on-site clinical care for tennis players competing in the US Open,
work with the USTA to develop injury prevention policies, and
conduct co-branded educational outreach to promote the health
benefits of tennis. For more about the Aspen Ideas Festival,
and to view videos of Mount Sinai’s presentations there, visit
http://blog.mountsinai.org/blog/aspen-ideas-festival.
Dr.Fuster,MeetDr.Ruster
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NewAdmissionsCriteriaIsaFirstforU.S.MedicalSchools
The Icahn School of Medicine announced that under its new FlexMed policy, which begins in 2013, half of the positions in each entering class will be offered to college sophomores with any undergraduate major, with no MCAT required. The School of Medicine is the first in the country to adopt such an admis-sions policy. (See page 30 for more about FlexMed.)
ThreeAppointedtoLeadershipPosts
Mount Sinai recently appointed three acclaimed physicians to key leadership posts. David L. Reich, MD has been named President of The Mount Sinai Hospital, leading operations for the 1,171-bed hospital. Arthur Klein, MD has been named President of The Mount Sinai Health Network, overseeing the network of satellite practices, affiliations, and Mount Sinai-owned practices throughout the greater New York City area. Jeremy Boal, MD has been named Chief Medical Officer, directing the Hospital’s efforts in patient safety, quality of care, and other critical areas.
BoardsofTrusteesElectsFiveNewMembers
The Boards of Trustees has elected Gerald J. Cardinale, Gail Golden Icahn, Howard Marks, Kenneth B. Mehlman, and Neil S. Mitchell to serve for three-year-terms. “I look forward to working closely with our new Trustees, each of whom has a distinguished history of philanthropic leadership at Mount Sinai and other institutions,” said Peter W. May, Chairman of the Boards of Trustees.
AndrewFyfeStewart,MDNamedDirectorofDiabetes,MetabolismandObesityInstitute
Andrew Fyfe Stewart, MD, a foremost expert in the replication and regeneration of the insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells that are destroyed by type 1 and type 2 diabetes, has joined Mount Sinai as Director of the Diabetes, Metabolism, and Obesity Institute. “Mount Sinai is on the leading edge of big biology,” said Dr. Stewart, who was previously at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “My team is thrilled to round out Mount Sinai’s existing diabetes research with our expertise in beta cells.”
NEWSINBRIEFIcahn School of Medicine Forges Partnership with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
The Icahn School of Medicine will combine its leadership in biomedical
research and patient care with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s
expertise in engineering and invention prototyping through an
agreement that calls for the two institutions to collaborate on educa-
tional programs, research, and the development of new diagnostic
tools and treatments.
Announced May 22, the far-reaching partnership will include
developing complementary research programs and pursuing joint
funding; launching the Mount Sinai and Rensselaer Collaborative
Center for Research Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which will focus
on transitioning basic research into innovative startup projects; and
offering unique educational opportunities such as a program in which
students can earn an MD from Mount Sinai and a PhD from Rensselaer.
Initially, key areas of collaboration will be in genomics, imaging, tissue
engineering, and neuroscience.
“With high competition for funding and with the pharmaceutical
industry investing less in research and development, institutions with
complementary strengths must partner to revolutionize biomedical
research,” said Dean Dennis S. Charney, MD. “With both institutions
committed to a culture of innovation in research and education, we look
forward to working with Rensselaer to help provide the blueprint for 21st
century science and health care delivery.”
Shirley Ann Jackson, PhD, President of Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, and Dean Dennis S. Charney,
MD, at the signing in May.
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Nelly Alia-Klein, PhD, Associate Professor, Departments of Neuroscience and Psychiatry and member, The Friedman Brain Institute; previously at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD, Director of the Immunotherapy Program and member, The Tisch Cancer Institute; previously at New York University Langone Medical Center.
Ira Blaufarb, MD, Associate Professor of Cardiology, Department of Medicine; previously in private practice; also affiliated with Lenox Hill Hospital.
Andrew Casden, MD, Associate Professor of Spinal Surgery, Leni and Peter W. May Department of Orthopaedics; previously at Beth Israel Medical Center.
Julide T. Celebi, MD, Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Dermatology, Professor, Department of Pathology and member, The Tisch Cancer Institute; previously at Columbia University Medical Center.
Farooq A. Chaudhry, MD, Professor of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Director, Echocardiography Laboratories, and Associate Director, Mount Sinai Heart Network; previously at St. Luke’s Hospital.
Jean-Frederic Colombel, MD, Professor of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine; previously at University Hospital of Lille, France.
Veronica Delaney, MD, PhD, Professor of Nephrology, Department of Medicine; previously in private practice.
Pallavi Devchand, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and member, the Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology; previously at Harvard Medical School.
Larry Di Fabrizio, MD, Associate Professor of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Director of the Pulmonary Faculty Practice; previously at Lenox Hill Hospital.
Nicholas DuBois, MD, Associate Professor, of Cardiology, Department of Medicine; also affiliated with Lenox Hill Hospital.
Mary E. Fowkes, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology; previously at Norton Healthcare.
Adolfo García Ocaña, PhD, Professor of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Bone Disease, Department of Medicine and member, The Mindich Child Health and Development Institute; previously at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Sacha Gnjatic, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Hematology, and Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine and member, The Tisch Cancer Institute; previously at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Rita Goldstein, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychiatry/Department of Neuroscience and member, The Friedman Brain Institute; previously at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Jorge E. Gomez, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Hematology, and Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Director of the Thoracic
Oncology Program, and member, The Tisch Cancer Institute; previously at University of Miami and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Dorothy Grice, MD, Professor, Department of Psychiatry and member, The Friedman Brain Institute; previously at Columbia University Medical Center/New York State Psychiatric Institute.
Fatemeh Haghighi, PhD, Associate Professor, Departments of Neuroscience and Psychiatry and member, The Friedman Brain Institute; previously at Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute.
Ching He, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and member, the Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology; previously at Amgen.
Donna A. Ingram, MD, Associate Professor of Cardiology, Department of Medicine; previously in private practice; also affiliated with Lenox Hill Hospital.
Stuart B. Kahn, MD, Associate Professor, Leni and Peter W. May Department of Orthopaedics and Department of Rehabilitation Medicine; previously at Beth Israel Medical Center.
Paul Kuflik, MD, Associate Professor, Leni and Peter W. May Department of Orthopaedics; previously at Beth Israel Medical Center.
Francesco Leanza, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and Director, Harlem Residency in Family Medicine; also affiliated with the Institute for Family Health.
The Mount Sinai Medical Center welcomes the following new recruits.
New ReCRUITS
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Sabina Lim, MD, Associate Professor and Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs, Department of Psychiatry and member, The Friedman Brain Institute; previously at Yale-New Haven Psychiatric Hospital.
Joseph Lurio, MD, Director of the Immunotherapy Program and member, The Tisch Cancer Institute; previously at New York University Langone Medical Center.
Michael G. Neuwirth, MD, Professor, Leni and Peter W. May Department of Orthopaedics; previously at Beth Israel Medical Center.
Ellen M. Olson, MD, Associate Professor, Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine; previously at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center.
Samir M. Parekh, BBS, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Hematology, and Medical Oncology, Departments of Medicine and Oncological Science; previously at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Ramon Parsons, MD, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Oncological Sciences and member, The Tisch Cancer Institute; previously at Columbia University Medical Center.
Linda Prine, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health; also affiliated with the Institute for Family Health.
Avraham Reichenberg, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychiatry and member, The Friedman Brain Institute; previously at King’s College, London.
Robert Schiller, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health; also affiliated with the Institute for Family Health.
Donald Scott, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Bone Disease, Department of Medicine and member, the Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism Institute; previously at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Amy Tiersten, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Hematology, and Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine; previously at New York University Langone Medical Center.
Rupangi Vasavada, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Bone Disease, Department of Medicine and member, Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism Institute; previously at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Alfin Vicencio, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Chief of the Division of Pulmonology, and member, The Mindich Child Health and Development Institute; previously at Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System.
Randi S. Wasserman, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics; previously at New York University Langone Medical Center.
PICTURED: 1. Nelly Alia-Klein, PhD. 2. Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD. 3. Ira Blaufarb, MD. 4. Andrew Casden, MD. 5. Julide T. Celebi, MD. 6. Farooq A. Chaudhry, MD. 7. Jean-Frederic
Colombel, MD. 8. Veronica Delaney, MD, PhD. 9. Larry Di Fabrizio, MD. 10. Nicholas DuBois, MD. 11. Mary E. Fowkes, MD, PhD. 12. Adolfo García Ocaña, PhD. 13. Sacha Gnjatic, PhD.
14. Rita Goldstein, PhD. 15. Jorge E. Gomez, MD. 16. Dorothy Grice, MD. 17. Fatemeh Haghighi, PhD. 18. Donna A. Ingram, MD. 19. Stuart B. Kahn, MD. 20. Paul Kuflik, MD.
21. Francesco Leanza, MD. 22. Sabina Lim, MD. 23. Joseph Lurio, MD. 24. Michael G. Neuwirth, MD. 25. Samir M. Parekh, BBS. 26. Ramon Parsons, MD, PhD. 27. Linda Prine, MD.
28. Avraham Reichenberg, PhD. 29. Donald Scott, PhD. 30. Amy Tiersten, MD. 31. Rupangi Vasavada, PhD. 32. Alfin Vicencio, MD.
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The Friedman Brain Institute Dara Dickstein, PhD, Assistant Professor; New Investigators Research Grant; Alzheimer’s Association
Charles Mobbs, PhD, Professor; China Strategic Alliance of Prevention and Treatment Technology for Diabetes, Consortium of Chinese Central Government, Universities, Research, Institute and Industries
Eric Nestler, MD, PhD, Professor; Anna Monika Prize in Depression Research, Anna Monika Foundation
Anne Schafer, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor; Director’s New Innovator Award, National Institute for Health
The Tisch Cancer Institute
Margaret Baron, MD, PhD, Professor; Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Program, Drexel University College of Medicine
Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD, Professor; Chair-elect, steering committee Cancer Immunology Working Group, American Association for Cancer Research; member, Scientific Advisory Council of the Cancer Research Institute
Carmel J. Cohen, MD, Professor; National Leadership Award, American Cancer Society
Ross Cagan, PhD, Professor; Editor-in-Chief, Disease Models and Mechanisms
Scott Friedman, MD, Professor; Paustian Visiting Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center; Winter Memorial Lecture, University of Chicago, Illinois School of Medicine; Balistreri Visiting Professor, University of Cincinnati School of Medicine; visiting professor, Loyola University, School of Medicine; fellow, American College of Physicians; International Recognition Award, European Association for the Study of Liver; keynote lecturer, International Conference on Viral Hepatitis; keynote lecture, Latin American Association for the Study of Liver
Kenneth Rosenzweig, MD, Professor and Chair, Radiation Oncology; President-elect, American Radium Society
Julie B. Schur, PhD, Assistant Professor; Early Career Contribution Award, St. John’s University
Ming-Ming Zhou, PhD, Professor; fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Department of Dermatology Kenneth Edelson, MD, Associate Clinical Professor; Volunteer 25th Year Recognition Award, American Academy of Dermatology
Emma Guttman, MD, PhD, Associate Professor; Awarded grant to study Biomarks of Pediatric Dermatitis, The American Academy of Dermatology
Mark Lebwohl, MD, Chairman and Sol and Clara Kest Professor; Everett Fox Award in Recognition of Expertise in the Clinical Practice of Dermatology and Volunteerism Award, The American Academy of Dermatology; Lifetime Achievement Award, The National Psoriasis Foundation; Lifetime Achievement Award, The American Skin Association; Leader of Distinction Award, Journal of Drugs in Dermatology
Department of Genetics and Genomics Sciences Alessia Baccarini, PhD, Assistant Professor; Paola Campese Award, the Italian Scientist and Scholars Foundation
Kurt Hirschorn, MD, Professor emeritus of pediatrics, genetics and genomic sciences and medicine; Victor McKusick Leadership Award, American Society of Human Genetics
Robert Desnick, PhD, Professor and Chairman Emeritus; Lifetime Achievement Award, Genetic Disease Foundation; Inventor of the Year Award, New York Intellectual Property Law Association
Gurav Pandy, PhD, Assistant Professor; program Chair, Biological Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (BIOKDD) 2013 Workshop
Edward H. Schuman, PhD, Professor; Inventor of the Year Award, New York Intellectual Property Law Association
Brookdale Department of Geriatrics & Palliative MedicinePatricia A. Bloom, MD, Associate Professor; Special Recognition Award, The Mount Sinai Medical Center
Linda DeCherrie, MD, Assistant Professor; named House Call Doctor of the Year, American Academy of Home Care Physicians
James F. Holland, MD, Professor; Inaugural Fellow of the AACR Academy, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Hanna Yoko Irie, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor; 2013 AACR—Genentech BioOncology Career Development Award for Research, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Joseph M. Llovet, MD, Professor; president, International Liver Cancer Association (ILCA); International Hanns Popper Award, Falk Foundation; lecturer and Chair, American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL; lecturer and Chair, European Association for the Study of Liver—the International Liver Cancer Association joint Symposium, Barcelona; lecturer and Chair, Asia-Pacific Primary Liver Cancer Expert Meeting (APPLE 2013); lecturer and Chair, International Liver Cancer Association, Berlin, Germany; keynote lecturer; American Society of Clinical Oncology - Gastrointestinal Cancer Symposium, San Francisco; keynote lecture, European Association for the Study of Liver—The International Liver Congress, Barcelona, Spain; keynote lecture, Israel Association for the Study of the Liver, Tel Aviv; visiting professor, Mayo Clinic, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, NY, Fudan University, Shangai
Robert G. Maki, MD, PhD, Professor; Nobility in Science Award, Sarcoma Foundation of America
Vesna Najfeld, PhD, Research Professor; member and presenter, Plenary Session presentation “Cytogenomics of MPN”, Myelo Proliferative Neoplasms & related diseases, Euronet
Philippe Soriano, PhD, Professor; keynote speaker, Seattle Developmental Biology Winter Symposium; distinguished speaker, National Cancer Institute, Frederick MD; keynote speaker, North East Regional Meeting of the Society for Developmental Biology, Woods Hole, MA
Derek Leroith, PhD, Professor; Distinction in Endocrinology Award, American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists
Recognition Awards& More than 100 Mount Sinai faculty received significant honors in recent months.
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Judith L. Howe, PhD, Professor; Walter M. Beattie Jr. Award, State Society on Aging of New York State
Will Hung, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor; New Investigator Award, American Geriatrics Society
Amy Kelly, MD, Assistant Professor; Visiting Scholar, Aging Center, Duke University School of Medicine
Rosanne M. Leipzig, MD, PhD, Gerald and May Ellen Ritter Professor; named Council of Medical Specialty Societies Liaison, National Board of Medical Examiners; Allan Sandler Visiting Scholar in General Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital; Distinguished Professor in Geriatrics, Society of General Internal Medicine; Visiting Professor, University of Toronto, Baycrest
Diane E. Meier, MD, Catherine Gaisman Professor of Medical Ethics; Carol Selinske Founder’s Award, Hospice and Palliative Care Association of New York State; Contemplative Care Award, New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care
Albert L. Siu, MD, MSHS, Professor and Chair; Scientific Achievement Award, Chinese Medicine Society
Rainier P. Soriano, MD, Associate Professor; Leonard Tow Humanism Award In Medicine, the Gold Foundation
Department of Health Evidence and Policy Deborah D. Ascheim, MD, Associate Professor; Chair, Board of Directors, Physicians for Human Rights
Emilia Bagiella, PhD, Professor; member, Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Nina A. Bickell, MD, Professor; member, Cance Education Committee, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
Annetine C. Gelijns, PhD, Professor and Chair; keynote presentation, Devices are not Drugs: Challenges for Assessing the Value of Innovation, Health Technology Assessment international (HTAi) Policy Forum, Barcelona, Spain
Lawrence C. Kleinman, MD, MPH, Associate Professor and vice Chair, Research and Education; 2012 consulting expert, Community Forum, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; guest editor, Pediatrics Supplement on Visioning, Measuring and Improving the Quality of Healthcare for Children: Insights from the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; guest speaker, meeting of Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality-Centers for Medicare and Medicated Services Pediatric Quality Measures Program Informatics Workgroup, Innovating Health Information Technology: Moving Beyond the Electronic Medical Record for Pediatric Quality Measure Development; Letter of Honor for Excellence in Reviewing, Annals of Internal Medicine
Alan J. Moskowitz, PhD, Professor and Vice-Chair; keynote presentation, Devices are not Drugs: Challenges for Assessing the Value of Innovation, Health Technology Assessment international (HTAi) Policy Forum, Barcelona, Spain
Michael K. Parides, PhD, Professor; member, Editorial Board, Stroke
Mount Sinai Heart Institute Hina W. Chaudhry, MD, TEDMED Innovator Scholar, TEDMED; keynote speaker, Dr. Hans G. Folkesson Memorial Lecture Series, Northeast Ohio Medical University; Best Manuscript 2012, The Editorial Board of Circulation Research at the American Heart Association Scientific Session 2012
Valentín Fuster, MD, Director of Mount Sinai Heart and Physician-in-Chief; Legend of Cardiovascular Medicine, American College of Cardiology; Honoris Causa, La Plata National University, La Plata, Argentina; 2012 Research Achievement Award, American Heart Association; 2013 2013 Münster Heart Center International Award, Münster, Germany; 2013 Simon Dack Award (Opening Lecture), American College of Cardiology, San Francisco, CA; 2013 Leahey Lecture Award, Columbia University; 2013 Ron Haddock AHA/ASA International Impact Award, American Heart Association; 2013 Arthur S. Agatston Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Award, Society of Cardiovascular Computer Tomography (SCCT)
Jason Kovacic, MD, Assistant Professor; Emerging Leader, American College of Cardiology and Society of Cardiac Angiography and Interventions; keynote speaker, Annual Scientific Session, Meeting American Heart Association
Lori Kroft, MD, Professor; American Heart Association Luminary of Heart, American Heart Association
Mary Ann McLaughlin, MD, Professor; American Heart Association Luminary of Heart, American Heart Association
Pedro Moreno, MD, Professor; Two Star Rating, Cardiac Cauterization Safety Rating, New York State Department of Health
Jagat Narula, MD, Professor; Master of the American College of Cardiology (MACC), American College of Cardiology
Jeffrey Olin, MD, Professor; Chair for Vascular Section for the American College of Cardiology 2014 Scientific Program Committee, American College of Cardiology; Chair Writing Group: American Heart Association State of the Science on Fibromuscular Dysplasia, American Heart Association
Robert S. Rosenson, MD, FACC, Professor; board member, National Lipid Association; regional board member, North East Lipid Association; Richard Lewar Plenary Lecturer, University of Toronto; Grand Rounds/Visiting Professor, William Beaumont Hospital-Oakland University School of Medicine (Royal Oak, MI)
Partho P. Sengupta, MD, DM, FACC, FASE, Associate Professor; 2013 Fleigenbaum Lecturer, American Society of Echocardiography; 2013 International Lecturer, 2013 Honorary Lifetime Member, Education Committee, British Society of Echocardiography; 2012-2015 Board of Directors and Officers Slate, American Society of Echocardiography
David A. Vorchheimer, MD, Associate Professor; Best Presenatation, ACC 2013 awarded to abstract “Dabigatran versus Standard Antithrombotic Therapy for New Onset Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation: Impact on Hospice Length of Stay”, American College of Cardiology, Annual Scientific Sessions
Department of Medical EducationJoy Reidenberg, PhD, Professor; 2012 World Gold Medal, Best Science/Nature Film category, New York Television and Film Awards
Reena Karani, MD, Associate Professor and associate dean for curricular affairs and undergraduate medical education; National Award for Scholarship in Medical Education, Society of General Internal Medicine
Ki-Mark Mark, PhD, Associate Professor; 2012 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, Icahn School of Medicine
Yasmin S. Meah, MD, Associate Professor; Medical Student Teaching Award, Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine
continued on page 57 »
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Protein Acts As “Off Switch” for Cell Reprogramming
A study led Emily Bernstein, PhD, Assistant Professor of Oncological
Sciences and Dermatology, showed that the protein macroH2A
prevents normal cells from being reprogrammed into stem cells and
has broad implications for both induced pluripotent stem cell technology and cancer biology. Dr. Bernstein’s team
compared cells with and without macroH2A; those
without the protein were much more plastic and
more easily reprogrammed into stem cells. The study,
published in Nature Communications, grew out of
Dr. Bernstein’s earlier discovery that the loss of
macroH2A is a key factor behind the metastasis of
melanoma. “These findings help us to understand the
progression of different cancers and how macroH2A
might be acting as a barrier to tumor development,”
said Dr. Bernstein.
Discovery of How Flu Times its Attack Suggests Novel Therapies
In a finding that could provide a novel design
platform for influenza vaccines, a team of researchers
led by Benjamin tenOever, PhD, Fishberg Professor of
Microbiology, discovered that the flu’s ability to thrive
is predicated upon a precise schedule. If it leaves a
cell too soon, the virus is too weak; if it leaves too late,
the immune system has time to kill it. Dr. tenOever’s
team found that the virus slowly accumulates one
particular protein that acts as a timer. “We wanted
to tap into the flu’s internal clock and find a way to
dismantle it,” said Dr. tenOever. The discovery may
lead to a new type of spray vaccine that is composed
of a virus with a “defective clock,” which could prove
safer for the very old and very young. The study was
published in Cell Reports.
Researchers Identify Promising Drug Target for Depression
Decreased expression of a protein called Rac1 may be a primary
cause of depression, according to a study by Mount Sinai researchers
published in Nature Medicine. The animal model study also found
that, by increasing the levels of Rac1 through a process called gene
transfer, researchers could mitigate depression. “Major depressive
disorder affects millions of Americans, many of whom are no longer
benefitting from currently available treatments,” said first author
Sam Golden, a graduate student in the laboratory of Scott Russo, PhD,
Assistant Professor of Neuroscience. “There is a significant unmet
need for new drug targets for treatment-resistant depression and for
better understanding of the epigenetic underpinnings of this disease.”
(For more information about Dr. Russo’s research,
see p. 24; for more about Mr. Golden, see p. 44.)
Bypass Surgery May be Best Treatment for Diabetics with Coronary Artery Disease
The FREEDOM trial, led by Valentín Fuster, MD, PhD,
Physician-in-Chief and Director of Mount Sinai Heart,
answered a longstanding question about the best way
to treat diabetics who suffer from advanced coronary
artery disease: Its conclusive finding shows that bypass
surgery is more effective than angioplasty. Heart
disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality
for people with type 2 diabetes. “Treating people with
diabetes and heart disease presents unique challenges
due to increased risk for death, heart attack, and
stroke,” said Dr. Fuster. “The FREEDOM trial is the first
long-term, multisite trial that seeks to firmly establish
a standard of care for this high-risk population.” The
largest clinical trial of its kind, the study followed 1,900
patients at 140 sites in 20 countries. The results were
published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
New Genomic Sequencing Approach Solves Mystery of E. Coli Outbreak
Underscoring the potential impact of “big data”
analytical techniques, a team of researchers led by
Eric Schadt, PhD, Director of the Icahn Institute for
Genomics and Multiscale Biology, was able to pinpoint
the causes of a deadly 2011 outbreak of E. coli bacteria in
Germany by harnessing advanced genomic sequencing
technology capable of integrating DNA and epigenetic
data. The researchers discovered that the unusual
virulence of the particular strain in the outbreak was due not simply
to its genetic code, but also to modifications to that code produced by
different types of enzymes. “Living systems are composed of lots of
pieces interacting in very complex ways,” said Dr. Schadt, who is also
the Jean C. and James W. Crystal Professor of Genomics, and Chair
of the Department of Genetics and Genomic Science. “To understand
Research Roundup
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These findings
help us to understand
the pro-gression
of different cancers.
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such systems, we need to take into account more of the information
on a global level, not just a single protein level. This is how we can see
the whole picture of an organism’s biology.”
Study Shows Hospice Care for Medicare Patients Is Higher Quality, More Cost Effective
A study conducted by a team of Icahn School of
Medicine researchers and published in Health Affairs
found that terminally ill Medicare patients who
enrolled in hospice for end-of-life care received better
care at a significantly lower cost to the government
than those who did not, and that hospice enrollment
was associated with significant reductions in admis-
sions to hospital and intensive care units, days spent
in a hospital, rates of 30-day readmissions, and
in-hospital death. “Our study is the first to combine
rich survey data and Medicare claims to demonstrate
that an investment in the Medicare hospice benefit
could translate into millions of dollars saved annually
for the Medicare system and higher quality care for
patients and families,” said the study’s lead author,
Amy S. Kelley, MD, MSHS, Assistant Professor of
Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine.
Researchers Propose New Strategy for Diagnosing and Treating Fibrotic Diseases
A team of scientists led by Scott Friedman, MD, Dean
for Therapeutic Discovery at the Icahn School of
Medicine, recently published a paper recommending a
new approach to treating fibrotic diseases of the liver,
lung, kidney, and other organs, which are responsible
for as many as 45 percent of all deaths in the industri-
alized world. “Therapy for Fibrotic Diseases: Nearing
the Starting Line” summarizes research conducted by
Dr. Friedman and other leaders in the field and finds
that many organ-specific fibrotic diseases may share
biological triggers that could form the basis for new,
broadly effective diagnostics and therapeutics. “Our
intention was to capture the leading edge of the science and also to
provide pointers for how to move the field forward,” said Dr. Friedman,
who was the first scientist to isolate and characterize the hepatic
stellate cell, the key cell type responsible for scar production in liver.
(For more information about Dr. Friedman, see p. 7.)
Ketamine Shows Significant Benefit in People with Treatment-Resistant Depression
Patients with treatment-resistant major depression saw dramatic
improvement in their illness after treatment with the anesthetic
ketamine, according to the largest ketamine clinical trial to date,
directed by researchers from the Icahn School of
Medicine. The antidepressant benefits of ketamine
were seen within 24 hours, whereas traditional
antidepressants can take days or weeks to demon-
strate a reduction in depression. Dan Iosifescu,
MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, and James
Murrough, MD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry,
co-led the clinical trial with Sanjay Mathew, MD,
of Baylor College of Medicine. Dennis S. Charney,
MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the
Icahn School of Medicine, who discovered the
depression-treatment potential of ketamine,
hailed the trial’s findings as a breakthrough.
“Major depression is one of the most prevalent and
costly illnesses in the world, and yet currently
available treatments fall far short of alleviating
this burden,” said Dr. Charney. “There is an urgent
need for new, fast-acting therapies, and ketamine
shows important potential in filling that void.”
Phase 1 Clinical Trial Finds First Drug to Stop Progression of Myelofibrosis
A phase I clinical trial designed and ran by
Mount Sinai physicians found that, at low-doses,
panobinostat (LBH589) successfully halted and
reversed myelofibrosis, a life-threatening blood
cancer. Ronald Hoffman, MD, Albert A. and Vera
G. List Professor of Medicine and Director of the
Myeloproliferative Disorders Research Program,
and John O. Mascarenhas, MD, Assistant Professor
of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology),
the principal investigators, found that signs of
significant improvement appeared a year after
patients were started on an oral regimen of low-dose panobi-
nostat. “We have patients who are doing well after two to three
years, and whose survival was predicted to be on the order of
months,” says Dr. Mascarenhas. Results of the clinical trial were
published in the British Journal of Haematology.
“
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We have patients who are
doing well after two to three years.
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How do you tHink like an innovator?According to Geoffrey W. Smith, JD, Director of Mount Sinai’s Center for Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
and a professor in the Department of Health Evidence and Policy, innovation is a process—and it can be learned.
Step 2: analyze
Map tHe Gap ➔ StakeHolderS & MarketS ➔ Specification
• Do a gap analysis: Build a map to show where are there gaps in the current
state of care that could be filled with different technology solutions.
• Look at every stakeholder involved in this process and their perspectives:
clinical, administration, company, patient perspectives. Who will win or
lose based on the invention of a new technology?
• Do a market analysis: Do you want to pursue
this commercially?
• Return to the NEED statement and draft a
NEED specification, summarizing in one
document all the various components of this
first part of the innovation process, and the
criteria necessary to solve the problem.
tHe patHway to innovation
Side Step:
Don’t take at face
value what everyone
is saying to you.
Synthesize, but add
creative thinking and
move beyond just
received wisdom.
Step 1: identify the problem and the need
obServation ➔ probleM ➔ need
• Spend time—a lot of time—observing
the challenges at hand.
• Identify the problem: A recurring
situation in which doubt, uncertainty
or difficulty is met in the process of
what you’re observing.
• Reshape that problem into a need:
What is the CHANGE in outcome
required to address the need?
That CHANGE is the INNOVATION.
Side Step:
Be sure to write every-
thing down—create a
NEED statement that
describes the CHANGE
you’re looking for.
Identifying that NEED is
critical and important,
because that’s what will
create the technology
opportunity.
IllustratIon By radIo Co.16
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So, How do we follow a Structured proceSS to Generate ideaS? brainStorMinG.
Brainstorming requires participants to suspend temporarily
their instinct to criticize new ideas and open themselves up
to a rapid flow of new possibilities and connections. Failure
is inevitable—you must be open to failure so that you can
eventually get to the right answer.
four tHeMeS to keep in mind while…
1 : Ideation. don’t be analytical. Just put aside your critical
filter and all preconceived notions. It doesn’t matter if an
idea is possible or impossible—it just needs to be new.
Ideation in and of itself is valuable. don’t just accept
received wisdom; get outside it.
2 : Cross pollinate. look across specialties and disciplines;
don’t go into your silo and use your usual shorthand.
For this, you need people—other people, people who
will think differently.
3 : the stage. apply your ideas across different platforms
to see how they will play on different stages.
4 : repeat. Each idea has to be used repetitively, differ-
ently, iteratively in a feedback loop, through different
technology. Cover the full range of possibilities
available to you.
…you practice these 7 steps to successful brainstorming
1 : defer judgment. accept any new idea, and move on
quickly to the next concept. think about the interaction
in that room and don’t include people who haven’t
bought in.
2 : Have wild ideas. a good idea may be hiding right next to
your crazy, goofy idea.
3 : Build on the ideas of others. Force yourself to say,
“Building on your idea, what if….” this keeps everyone in
the conversation and may get more ideas out of them.
4 : Go for quantity. set a goal—how many can we generate
in the time we have? the target forces the pace.
5 : one conversation at a time. a facilitator can help.
6 : Be visual. People need to see the ideas as they’re being
generated. Write them down or project them.
7 : stay focused on the topic. on a different board, write
down ideas that are interesting but not on-topic.
and remember—your goal is to connect that hunch that’s
been sitting in the back of your mind and waiting to become
a good idea.
tHe patHway to innovation
Step 3: invent
find tHe network ➔ ideaS ➔ SolutionS
Many of the best ideas are hunches, not revelations—something
itching at you in the back of your mind. GENUINE INSIGHT IS HARD
TO COME BY. The missing element is often in someone else’s brain,
and you need to get to it.
• Find and hook into the network that allows you to connect to that
missing element. Give it time: You don’t want anything to keep you
from following up on that initial hunch.
• The natural tendency is to skip straight to Solutions, but we lose
the important exploration that comes from coming up with new
IDEAS—often dismissed as childlike or a playful waste of time. But
it’s just as important as fact-finding because it allows us to envision
what is really possible. Generate as many ideas as you can, working
with a network of people {for more on this, see sidebar}.
• Idea generating leverages a group of
cross-functional contributors, people
with different perspectives, who are
seeking to solve a problem, and not just
a single “expert” or group of “experts” to
come up with a solution.
• SOLVE. Your goal: One good idea, and
one good development strategy to
support that idea.
Side Step:
Beware the devil’s
advocate, and suspend
criticism. We’re great
critics but not so good
at going with the flow
and seeing how many
new ideas we can
generate.
17
THE SEARCHERS
SEARCHERSSEARCHERSBy Travis adkins
illusTraTion By edward mcgowan
TheThe
THE SEARCHERS
Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhDDirector of the Immunotherapy Program at The Tisch Cancer Institute
ProBlem? “I’ve spent my career studying the immune system’s
response to cancer. We’ve learned that there are three primary
challenges. The first involves optimally activating dendritic cells, the
cells that normally initiate a potent immune response by priming T
cells that can eliminate cancer cells. Secondly, even if the dendritic
cells are making a steady supply of T cells, the cancer can shut the T
cells off before they reach the tumor. Finally, the tumor itself is such a
‘messy’ microenvironment that when the T cells get there, they can’t
get in and do their job. My lab is tackling all three problems, with a
particular focus on dendritic cells.”
soluTion “I led the first controlled study in humans that showed
that we can ‘jumpstart’ the immune system by taking precursors
of dendritic cell out of patients, cultivating them in the lab, and
returning them to the patient’s body. Now I’m
investigating ways to make that process
simpler and less expensive; for example,
invigorating cells while they’re still in
the body with specialized adjuvants.
We’re also working to improve other
steps in the immune response, such
as ‘rearming’ exhausted T cells, and
designing drugs that can modify the
tumor’s microenvironment. As we
learn more about the immune system
and cancer, I predict that as many as
one-third of patients will be treated with
immunotherapies.”
and… i’d like to see this problem solved: “Poverty. Poverty robs people
of their potential, especially for children. Without resources so many
people cannot dream and cannot hope. Eliminating poverty would
level the playing field for so many.”
Kristen Brennand, PhDAssistant Professor, Psychiatry and Neuroscience Member, The Friedman Brain Institute
ProBlem? “I study schizophrenia. When it comes right down to it,
we don’t know what types of neurons are affected in schizophrenia
or how they’re altered, at least in part because is it’s extremely difficult
to get live cells from human patients. Without knowing what’s going
wrong in the disease, we can’t identify new drugs. Every drug used
to treat schizophrenia today is derived from
one discovered by accident in the 1950s,
and they’re all imperfect drugs with
serious side effects.”
soluTion “With induced
pluripotent stem cell technology,
I can take skin cells from patients
with schizophrenia as well as
from healthy individuals and turn
them into neurons. So then I have
live human neurons from patients
and controls that I can compare in order
to ask simple questions. How are the cells
different? How can I make them the same again?
We’re able to model how schizophrenia starts developing
in its earliest stages, in the fetal or early childhood brain. That’s really
important, because up until now, we’ve only been able to look at the
endpoint. Now we can ask, ‘What goes wrong twenty years before
schizophrenia manifests?’”
and…innovation means: “Asking questions that no one else is asking.
The team of researchers that developed induced pluripotent stem
cells asked a question that no one else dared to ask, and revolu-
tionized what we know about cell fate determination. Ten years ago
people thought cell fate was permanent; now we know they’re much
more plastic than anyone would have imagined.”
It’s the quintessential plot of a classic Western. An enigmatic stranger rides into town and is inevitably drawn
into a confrontation with the villain. And somewhere along the way, one of the locals will deliver a variation
on this: “You must be looking for trouble.” What does this have to do with the 17 innovators you’ll meet here?
They go in search of problems. They roam the medical frontier because it’s the only place where they feel at
home. And though their turf is a lab bench instead of the OK Corral, and they draw samples instead of a six
shooter, they don’t back down. And they’re a little more articulate than the prototypical good guy. Let’s listen.
19
THE SEARCHERS
Kevin Costa, MS, PhDDirector of Cardiovascular Cell and Tissue EngineeringAssociate Professor, Medicine (Cardiology)
ProBlem? “The way cardiovascular drugs are currently developed, a
lot of the data and validation process is based on model systems that
aren’t representative of what happens in patients. The screening tests
required for FDA approval involve either animal studies or human
cells that aren’t cardiac cells, which don’t have much relevance. Drugs
can make it all the way to preclinical or clinical trials and fail. Or worse,
they can get on the market and end up failing because of unexpected
side effects.”
soluTion “We’re using induced pluripotent stem cell technology
to recreate functional, living heart muscle in the laboratory. It’s a
brand new approach; my colleagues and I published one of the first
three papers to describe it. We’re also developing new technology
and analytical tools that will allow us to measure the recreated heart
muscle’s function and monitor how it works. Our hope is that by
creating something that’s more representative of human heart muscle,
we’ll enable more effective screening outcomes and improve the
process of drug discovery. I think that within five years, we’re going
to be able to routinely create and analyze the unique heart cells of
individual patients.”
and…The person who inspires me is:
“The physicist Richard Feynman. He
was a fascinating character. He once
described how one of the key equations
he developed came about when he was
sitting in a cafeteria and someone threw
a paper plate, and he observed how
it wobbled and spun through the air.
He worked out the equations that described that motion just for the
fun of it, and realized that those equations also applied to the spin of
subatomic particles. He ended up getting the Nobel Prize for it.”
Arvin Dar, PhDAssistant Professor, Oncological Sciences and Structural and Chemical Biology Member, The Tisch Cancer Institute
ProBlem? “It’s easy to find drugs that can kill tumor cells—but
incredibly difficult to find drugs that can kill tumor cells without
affecting normal biology. Right now we might have an idea of what
particular gene or protein targets we want to inhibit, but we don’t know
which ones to avoid because the network they’re embedded in is very
complex; targeting just one part of the network can result in toxic
outcomes. We’re identifying genes that are important drivers of disease
and pathology, but we haven’t been able to translate that understanding
into new therapies.”
soluTion “My research focuses in particular on applying a systems
pharmacology approach to the oncogenic form of the RAS gene,
which occurs in more than twenty percent of all cancers. Instead of
focusing on a single target, we design a model of the entire network of
which RAS is a part. By genetically
engineering fruit flies and other
simpler organisms to replicate that
network, and probing it with small
molecules and compounds, we can
immediately get a sense of whether
a drug will be useful or toxic. That
will bring us closer to our goal of
developing therapeutics in diseases
where we don’t have any.”
and…The person who inspires me is: “I really admire Steve Jobs for
creating an entirely new industry. He once said that Apple created the
type of products that people didn’t even know they needed. That’s an
amazing vision to see something so far in advance.”
Joel Dudley, PhDAssistant Professor, Genetics and Genomics Sciences Member, Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology
ProBlem? “Historically there’s been little integration among different
medical and biology disciplines, whether through sharing data or
working together. An evolutionary biologist might never work with a
researcher investigating drug response—even though evolution can
clearly inform how people respond to drugs. The same thing is true
with disease areas: A cardiologist working on heart disease might
never interact with an immunologist who specializes in psoriasis, even
though there are well-established links between the two diseases. We
need to understand how everything is connected across biology and
medicine to discover new findings, new knowledge, and new drugs.”
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soluTion “We now
have the data, the
computing power,
and the informatics
methodologies to
identify new oppor-
tunities for improved
medicine. For example,
I developed a software
system that matches
diseases and drugs at
the molecular level, to
see if drugs used for
one disease can be
repurposed for others.
One of the matches
was between a specific
type of small cell lung cancer and imipramine, which is used to
treat depression; the results were so promising that investigators
are conducting a human trial. Ultimately we want to throw out our
preconceptions about how things should be connected, and let data
tell us how things are connected.”
and…The person who inspires me is: “Eric Schadt [Director of the Icahn
Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology] is one of the biggest
reasons I left sunny California to come to New York. He showed how
powerful it was to take broad, genome-wide measurements and
develop mathematical and computational methods that are able to
figure out connections between the data.”
Jeremiah Faith, PhDAssistant Professor, Genetics and Genomics Sciences and Medicine (Clinical Immunology)Member, Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology
ProBlem? “I’m trying to understand how bacteria in our intestine
influence our health, in particular in patients with inflammatory
bowel disease (IBD). Every human has about a hundred to two
hundred different types of intestinal bacteria, which
are difficult to study for several reasons. The
sheer number of possible combinations
between the way those bacteria interact
with each other and with their host is
an enormous quantitative problem.
Another challenge is that most intes-
tinal bacteria will grow only in an
anaerobic (no oxygen) environment;
recreating that environment in the lab—
without sacrificing the ability to rapidly
combine different permutations—is crucial.”
soluTion “We’re harnessing next-generation sequencing technology
and mathematical algorithms and developing the biotechnology
tools—such as an anaerobic robotic system—to manipulate and
quantify large communities of bacteria quickly. I think the thing that
sets my lab apart is that we have the mathematical framework to
model the whole system, the biotech background to build
the tools we need, and the ability to put those skills and
technologies together, all in one place.”
and… i’d like to see this problem solved: “The human
tendency to favor conservative incremental progress,
over taking risks that might foster economic, cultural,
political, or scientific paradigm shifts.”
Jean-Sebastian hulot, MD, PhDAssociate Professor, Medicine (Cardiology)
ProBlem? “I’m interested in the molecular and cellular mecha-
nisms and alterations that occur during heart failure, and in how we
can directly intervene within heart muscle cells to treat the disease.
Specifically, I’m focusing on the role that calcium plays during heart
failure. Calcium makes the heart contract. During heart failure, the
heart’s ability to contract is impaired, so intuition would tell you that
calcium levels must be decreasing. In fact, it’s exactly the reverse:
heart muscle cells are completely overwhelmed by calcium, and they
don’t know how to use it. We’re trying to understand why that is, and
how we can change it.”
LeXICON
Risk: Embracing, not just accepting, the possibility of failure.
21
THE SEARCHERS
soluTion “We’ve identified the signaling error in the protein, Stim1,
that allows calcium to continue entering the heart when it isn’t
needed. Researchers already knew that heart cells were unable to
move calcium to the right place at the right time, but we proved that
the problem is much more fundamental. The overactive Stim1 leads
to a permanent refilling of calcium that worsens the disease over time.
That insight opens up a whole new area of drug targeting possibilities.
Most current therapies treat the consequences of the disease, not the
cause. Our discovery can change that paradigm.“
and…innovation means: “Progressive evolution, not revolution.
It’s different teams providing different pieces of a puzzle, and then
working together to build something.”
Chang Won Kho, PhD and Ah Young Lee, PhD Postdoctoral Fellows, Medicine (Cardiology)
ProBlem? “The discovery of the Serca2a protein, which is deficient
in heart failure, by Dr. Roger Hajjar [Director of Mount Sinai’s Wiener
Family Cardiovascular Research Laboratories and the Arthur and
Janet C. Ross Professor of Medicine]—and Dr. Hajjar’s subsequent
work on a gene therapy treatment that can restore Serca2a [MYDICAR,
now in phase 2 clinical trials]—has been one of the most tantalizing
developments in cardiovascular care of the past decade. MYDICAR
has shown extraordinary success in reversing heart failure. The
problem has been that the effects of the treatment haven’t been
permanent. We wanted to determine why that was.”
soluTion “We found that Serca2a is regulated by another protein,
Sumo1, and that increasing Sumo1 stabilizes levels of Serca2a. That
finding has important implications for improving the efficacy of
MYDICAR. But beyond that, because Sumo1 protects Serca2a from
being damaged in the first place, it can also serve as the basis for
therapies that target heart failure at its earliest stages rather than
reversing the damage, as MYDICAR does. In just the two years since we
announced our findings, we have already identified two molecules, as
well as a gene therapy approach, that could be used to enhance Sumo1.”
and…innovation means: “Having our different perspectives. Our original
research focus was cancer biology, but it turns out that studying how
to kill cancer cells also makes it easier to understand how cells can
survive heart failure; the mechanisms are very similar. A cancer biology
background gave us a perspective that we would not have had as
cardiology researchers.”
Paul Lawrence Vice President, Academic Informatics and Technology
ProBlem? “My team has been charged with reimagining the way that
students, faculty, and researchers access academic content at Mount
Sinai by deploying next-generation support environments. Our goal
is to make the process simpler, more elegantly designed, user-friendly,
and to expand the Medical Center’s ability to deliver scholarly resources
and distance learning platforms to constituencies anywhere in the
world. There are many incredibly powerful systems in the medical
field; the next generation of leading academic medical centers will be
those that make those systems easy to use. Our second goal is to evolve
our development process into building systems and processes that
focus on innovation and usability, encouraging rapid prototyping and
deployment. This is a technology support environment that embraces
change, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit.”
soluTion “In practical terms, one of the first things we’ll do is draw up
a blueprint for redesigning the Levy Library to become a world-class
research and learning commons that sparks intellectual discovery,
creativity, collaboration, and scholarly communication. Beyond our
Library, we are investing new resources to evolve our classrooms
into more flexible learning spaces so that they can meet a variety of
teaching styles, especially teaching at a distance. I’m also hoping to
improve the day-to-day technological experience so that the next
generation of questions will be not, ‘How do I connect my laptop up
to the internet?’ but ‘How can technology speed my path to discovery
and innovation?’”
and…The person who inspires me is:
“Sir Richard Branson, the founder
of Virgin Group. He epitomizes the
concepts of innovative thinking,
creativity, and world-class service. It’s
great to build something innovative—
but to ensure that it’s sustainable, and
that you can keep that brand consis-
tently excellent, is incredible.” © stocklight
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Michael Linderman, MS, PhDAssistant Professor, Genetics and Genomic Sciences Member, Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology
ProBlem? “As our understanding of the genetics of disease has
grown, we’ve realized that isolating the genes associated with a
particular condition is just the beginning. The data aren’t static,
they’re dynamic; to think that one analysis, at one moment, will give
us the total picture is just not the reality. We have to interact contin-
ually with patients and integrate new infor-
mation about their family, their environment,
their reaction to medications, and more to draw
an ever-richer picture of how the genome affects
their health.”
soluTion “We’re building the technology, the
infrastructure, and the capabilities that will facil-
itate an ongoing conversation among patients,
clinicians, and researchers. One of our first priorities is to educate
clinicians on how to interpret and manipulate these large, complex
sets of data; last year we offered a first-of-its-kind personal genome
analysis course in which students had the opportunity to sequence
and analyze their own genome. In the longer term, we want to offer
patients personalized tools that empower patients to take more
control of their health care, like mobile apps they can use to monitor
their condition. Leveraging ‘big data’ will enable doctors to work more
effectively with their patients to improve their health.”
and…The person who inspires me is: “It’s actually three people: Jerome
H. Saltzer, David P. Reed, and David D. Clark, the co-authors of the
paper ‘End to End Arguments in System Design.’ It’s a seminal paper
in computer science and system design. It’s not about an invention—
it’s about a philosophy on how to approach design in a way that
focuses on the end result that you’re really trying to seek, instead of
focusing on smaller problems.”
hirofumi Morishita, MD, PhDAssistant Professor, Psychiatry , Ophthalmology, and Neuroscience Member, The Friedman Brain Institute and The Mindich Child Health and Development Institute
ProBlem? “One of the most exciting developments in neuroscience
in the last 10 years has been new insights into the biology of neuro-
plasticity, which refers to the brain’s ability to learn, adapt, and rewire
itself. Until recently we thought neuroplasticity was limited to a critical
period in childhood, and
that the window was largely
closed by adulthood. That
meant that many neuro-
developmental disorders
were almost untreatable in
adults. But neuroscientists
have come to understand
that we can actually reopen
that critical period later in
life. My research uses the
visual system to identify the
molecular mechanisms that
govern neuroplasticity and
explores how those mecha-
nisms can be applied to the
adult brain for therapeutic
intervention.”
soluTion “We’re looking at a molecule called Lynx1, which acts as
a ‘brake’ that limits neuroplasticity. In my previous investigations, I
conducted animal model studies of the visual disorder ambylopia (‘lazy
eye’), and established that by removing Lynx1, we could reintroduce
plasticity and restore normal vision. We also found that an existing
drug used to treat Alzheimer’s disease has an opposite action to
Lynx1 and could have possible therapeutic value for ambylopia; that
finding is now being tested in an early clinical trial. Using Lynx1 as
our basis, we’re expanding our map of the molecular network that
regulates plasticity. This will allow us to find better, more robust drugs
to enhance brain plasticity and to improve therapies for neurodevelop-
mental disorders from autism to schizophrenia.”
and… i’d like to see this problem solved:
“I would like to see Paul Gauguin’s question
‘Where Do We Come From? What Are We?
Where Are We Going?‘ answered. I believe
the key is the merge of humanities and
sciences. Science can unmask ‘what are
we?‘ but humanity is necessary to decide
how we use science and technology to
define ‘where we are going.‘”
LeXICON
PhenotyPe: Observable characteristics, such as hair or eye color, that correspond to a genetic condition.
23
THE SEARCHERS
Ramon Parsons, MD, PhDChair, Department of Oncological Sciences Member, The Tisch Cancer Institute
ProBlem? “Cancer is partly caused when the signal that tells a cell
to stop growing is switched off or altered in some other way and
a communications breakdown occurs. I’m investigating how that
happens. If we can gain greater understanding about how cells
communicate with each other to control growth, how tumor cells
corrupt that process, and how we can regulate these signals, we
can potentially suppress tumors from growing or even block them
from developing.”
soluTion “My most significant discovery so far has been the PTEN
gene, a tumor-suppressor gene that is mutated to become inactive in
a wide variety of cancers including breast cancer and prostate cancer.
Interestingly, we’re seeing evidence that PTEN may be inhibited by
insulin. So we’re also exploring the possibility that while PTEN may
be inactive in cancer, it may be overactive in diabetes—which could
mean that it’s a good target for new
diabetes therapeutics as well. Figuring
out how PTEN is regulated will give
us a better idea of how to intervene
therapeutically.”
and… i’d like to see this problem solved:
“Job opportunities for young people in
our evolving economy. I feel our society
needs to pay more attention to nurturing
creativity and productivity.”
Poulikos Poulikakos, PhD Assistant Professor, Oncological SciencesMember, The Tisch Cancer Institute
ProBlem? “For as many advances as we’ve made in cancer treatment,
the biology of the disease still remains largely a mystery. For example,
we do not know why some tumors depend on certain oncogenes
and signaling pathways for their growth, whereas others do not. My
research is about understanding such fundamental questions using
small molecule inhibitors. My focus is to develop strategies that target
the BRAF oncoprotein and downstream signaling, which is known to
give rise to some forms of melanoma, but I’m trying to use that lens to
answer broader questions that may apply to different types of cancer.”
soluTion “RAF inhibitors—which are the drugs used to treat
melanomas with the BRAF mutation—have been shown to be very
successful in blocking the growth of the cancer for a significant
amount of time, but eventually, the cancer becomes resistant to
the drug. I discovered a molecular mechanism which leads to that
resistance—a finding which is important not only because it allows
us to begin searching for better RAF inhibitors, but also because it
tells us something about cancer biology that we didn’t know before
and opens up new avenues of investigation for many forms of
cancer besides melanoma.”
and… i’d like to see this problem solved: “The increasing inequality in
the US and the world. Despite the technological advances, more and
more people have less access to education and high quality health care.
The ultimate goal of our efforts in science and medicine should be to
serve people and their needs.”
Scott Russo, PhD Assistant Professor, NeurosciencesMember, The Friedman Brain Institute
ProBlem? “When researchers develop drugs for depression, we
look for drugs that can affect the brain circuits that we know control
mood and motivation, so we can get rid of symptoms like anhedonia.
The problem is that the brain is by far the most complex organ in
body. The very same protein that in one area of the brain causes
depression, could be an anti-depressant in another area of the brain.
Since it’s so difficult to differentiate between the ‘good’ and ‘bad’
protein, the drug acts on everything and is rendered either marginally
effective or results in significant side effects.”
soluTion “I’m convinced that depression is strongly linked not only
to the brain and the central nervous system, but also to the body’s
immune system. I’ve conducted both human and animal model studies
that have shown there’s a very strong correlation. If my hypothesis is
valid, that could mean that depression is partly a dysfunction of the
immune system—which, in turn, means that we can target it there,
rather than in the brain, which would be vastly simpler. That would give
rise to an entirely new class of drugs that would be more effective than
those we have now.”
and…The person who inspires me is: “Charles
Darwin. He made a seemingly random obser-
vation that led to the formulation of a theory
that challenged dogma and transformed how
we think about evolution. His theory led to
major cultural changes and continues to
have a major impact on the fields of science
and medicine.”
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hugh Sampson, MDDean for Translational Biomedical ResearchProfessor, Pediatrics, Allergy, and Immunology
ProBlem? “‘Will my child have a fatal reaction?’ That’s the first
question parents ask when they find out their child has a food allergy—
and right now, with the diagnostic tools that we have, we can’t give
an answer. We have no way of telling how severe the reaction will be,
or whether they will outgrow it. Treatment options are also poor. The
current standard of care is to recommend avoidance and to provide
patients with medication like epinephrine to treat themselves. This
has created a situation in which emergency room departments in the
U.S. see one anaphylactic reaction every three minutes.”
soluTion “We’re developing a diagnostic test that identifies where
the IgE molecule—the antibody at the root of allergic reactions—
attaches to different food proteins, which will allow us to predict
with much greater accuracy the severity of a patient’s reaction. We’re
collaborating with an industry partner to commercialize that test.
Therapeutically, we’re conducting a phase one clinical trial of an
IgE-based vaccine for peanut allergies, and a phase two clinical trial
of a compound formulated from traditional Chinese herbal medicines
that has shown the potential to block anaphylactic reactions for
months and even years at a time.”
and… i’d like to see this problem solved: “The loss of civilized, reasoned
exchanges of ideas in the political and public arena, and the inability
to compromise. The world is not black and white, and our approach
to the world cannot be either.”
Robert Wright, MD, PhD Professor, Pediatrics and Preventive MedicineMember, The Mindich Child Health and Development Institute
ProBlem? “I want to understand why some people
are more susceptible than others to developing illness
when exposed to chemical toxicants. Some of it has
to do with genetics factors, but there are many other
susceptibility factors such as nutrition or social condi-
tions. These factors act synergistically with chemicals
too and we can use that information to develop
treatments. Even genetics needs environmental
measures to be understood. Think of the theory of
natural selection. Fundamentally, it’s about how genes
interact with the changing environment. Somehow,
we forgot that principle and study genetics in the
absence of environmental measures.“
soluTion “There needs to be a research investment
in the technology to measure our environment
that matches the effort we made in measuring our
genome. Even genetics research suffers without
environmental measures because they interact.
What my lab is doing is screening for many different
chemical toxicants at once—using patient samples
as well as samples from the person’s environment (air,
water, etc). We then analyze all that data with novel statistical methods
to quantify exposure. That measurement is then linked to genetics and
epigenetic measures so we can understand how they all interact and in
some cases produce disease.”
and… i’d like to see this problem solved: “The Detroit Tigers really
need a closer this year. Other than that, I would like to see a national
investment in public transportation, especially an increased use of
subways and commuter trains in midsize cities. It would help with the
environment and increase walking and exercise compared to driving.“
LeXICON
innovate:To make changes in something established; to introduce new ideas, methods, or projects.
25
THE ICAHN LIFTWhy the world’s most prominent activist investor picked Mount Sinai as his next investment—and his most meaningful yet.
26
BEST IN CLASS
Not too bad, as he would say, for
the Queens-born son of a cantor
and school teacher. Carl Icahn,
who is known the world over for his
corporate conquests and formidable
powers of persuasion in the board
room, has earned billions of dollars as
a result of careful pinpointing of his
potential targets. “In business, I look
for undervalued companies that have
good assets but that can be improved.
Sometimes this improvement is
attained by replacing top managers that
have done a poor job and are not held
accountable. I also look for companies
at the edge of secular change—
where innovation drives returns,”
Mr. Icahn said in a recent interview.
That approach has been extremely
successful for him. Since 2000, the
stock of his flagship company, Icahn
Enterprises, has increased well over
1,000 percent in value, which translates
into an annualized return of approxi-
mately 20 percent for those who
owned the units through that period.
“I have a tremendous passion for
what I do,” he says. “The most exciting
thing for me is when I find an under-
valued situation—something really new.
I read a biography of Alexander the
Great, and I can understand his need
to succeed. I’m certainly not Alexander,
but like him, I am a strategist.”
His success in business has also
propelled his efforts in philanthropy.
Over the years Mr. Icahn’s generosity
has benefitted—among others—various
children’s welfare organizations in New
York City, Mount Sinai, and Princeton
University, his alma mater. In 2010, he
signed Warren Buffet’s Giving Pledge,
answering the call to contribute
a substantial part of his fortune to
charity. Aware of the pressing need
for education reform, in 2001 Mr.
Icahn and his wife, Gail Golden Icahn,
embarked on a program to build
charter schools in the Bronx. Spurred
on the by the program’s academic
success, this year the seventh school
is opening its doors, and there are
plans to open a high school next year.
“We are very excited by the charter
movement and, among other initia-
tives, we hope to collaborate with the
experts at Mount Sinai to help train
the health care workers of tomorrow
from our community of committed
and successful students,” Mr. Icahn
said. “It’s important to me to give back
to this country that gave me so much.
I try to give money in ways that I think
will improve people’s lives and that will
give the best benefit to society for the
dollars to be spent.”
CoNvErSATIoN
A member of Mount Sinai’s Boards
of Trustees since 2000, Mr. Icahn
made his first contribution to the
Medical Center in 2001. That gift,
which resulted in the creation of the
Icahn Medical Institute, began a close
relationship between the Icahn family
and Mount Sinai as its strategic plan
took shape. Mrs. Icahn joined
her husband on the Boards of Trustees
earlier this year; she has been involved
with the Icahn family philanthropic
effort in health care and education for
many years. Kenneth L. Davis, MD,
the Mount Sinai CEO who was
recruited in 2003 by a Trustees
committee that included Carl Icahn,
noted that “Carl is extremely trusting
of our relationship, and he and Gail
have made an intellectual commitment
to believe in the management team
and the direction of Mount Sinai.
They share our desire to retain and
attract extraordinary people to create
innovative medical treatments based
on leading-edge science.”
After his arrival at Mount Sinai,
Dr. Davis and Mr. Icahn began to
meet every few months at a restaurant,
or at Mr. Icahn’s apartment, to talk
about changes at Mount Sinai.
Dr. Davis says that as an investor in a
number of biotech and pharmaceutical
companies, Mr. Icahn understands
the methods and goals of medical
research and the transformative nature
of the work of the Medical Center.
“He knows about the opportunities
that lay at our doorstep.” In turn,
Dr. Davis learned more about Carl
Icahn: his drive for new challenges;
his insatiable appetite for reading; his
love of chess—“things that didn’t have
to do with his business.” A philosophy
major who attended Princeton on a
scholarship, Mr. Icahn had enrolled in
medical school at New York University
but dropped out to join the Army, and
then headed to Wall Street, working for
Dreyfus & Co.
Mr. Icahn and Dr. Davis have forged
a friendship based on mutual respect,
through which the former’s intellectual
interests—research, education and
THE ICAHN LIFT
BY CELIA REGAN AND KATIE QUACKENBUSH SPIEGELPHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW LICHTENSTEIN
ArL ICAHN IS A ForCE oF NATurE. “I believe strongly in the Graham Dodd philosophy; the only difference is that I am not a
passive investor,” he says, using some simple syntax that belies the complex strategic process he
brings to his deals. Hundreds of Icahn deals, over decades, have been the result of his drive for
success, including corporate shifts that have changed the way entire industries do business.
With the stroke of a pen last November, Carl Icahn gave a significant boost to the innovative
activity at the heart of Mount Sinai. By donating $150 million to the medical school, and creating
the Icahn Medical Research Foundation (a medical research organization), to focus on genomics
and multiscale biology in collaboration with the Icahn School of Medicine, Mr. Icahn has voiced
his faith in the explosive potential of research and technology at Mount Sinai and its ability to
move medical mountains.
Left, the view from Carl Icahn’s midtown offices
on the November evening when he
and Kenneth Davis (insets, above left)
met to sign their historic agreement.
27
strategy—were matched with the latter’s
evolving vision for Mount Sinai’s future.
“The recent donation came together
through our shared conversations and
friendship,” says Dr. Davis. According to
Dr. Davis, Mr. Icahn’s gift will evolve over
many years. “It’s not just putting his name
on something. What he is facilitating is
the recruitment of many of the world’s
greatest scientists, particularly in the areas
of genomics, computational biology, and
big data management,” said Dr. Davis.
LogICAL EMpIrICISM
Maybe it was his NYU experience that
instilled in Mr. Icahn an affinity for and
sense of trust in the medical school setting,
where ideas flow and are exchanged,
synergies happen, and collaborations
are formed. Or maybe it was his love for
philosophy, honed at Princeton, which
energized both his passion for investment
and his fascination with science.
“I really got deeply into philosophy,”
Mr. Icahn said, “especially the meaning
of empiricism. I believe that you have to
have a very logical approach to what you
do. When you have that approach, you
are in the best position to overcome the
limiting structures that may appear to be
insurmountable. I believe that scientific
methodology and the philosophy of
science can change your society, and this,
in turn, plays into my love of strategy.”
While Mr. Icahn certainly has an interest
in research overall, genomics is the area in
which he has decided to make an impact
with his monumental philanthropy. “What
is so fascinating to Carl about genomics
is that he understands it is the key that
can unlock the pathophysiology of the
diseases,” said Dr. Davis. “And Carl knows
that genomics will give us targets for many
new therapeutics.”
“In the future, medicine will be so
personalized,” said Eric Schadt, PhD,
Director of the Icahn Institute for Genomics
and Multiscale Biology, where he and his
team are using leading-edge sequencing
technologies and powerful supercom-
puters to build disease models based on
a vast bank of samples collected at Mount
Sinai and other institutions. Ultimately,
Dr. Schadt and his team are creating a
huge, but accessible, data analytics center
where researchers can make inquiries,
characterize disease, and learn.
“The health care provider (of the future)
will have such a fine-grained understanding
of what has perturbed the network of
networks that resulted in the individual’s
disease that the physician will have both
the knowledge to predict the course of
the individual’s disease and the tools to
treat or even prevent it,” says Dr. Schadt.
Kind of like investing. “But instead of asking
which companies to bet on, we’re using
mathematical techniques to bet on which
patients require treatment, and for those
patients requiring treatment, we determine
what the best treatment is for them.”
grEAT pEopLE/ grEAT SCIENCE
Intellectually and financially, with the
naming of the Icahn School of Medicine,
Carl Icahn has invested in the education of
the next generation of outstanding doctors,
and in the kind of research that will soon
transform the treatment of human disease.
He has leveraged his reputation and name,
once again, to help transform an institution
and facilitate innovation—and this time,
improve the health and well-being of
many people.
Dr. Davis hails the evolutionary nature
of the gift—and Mr. Icahn welcomes that
evolution. “In business, secular change is
often an indicator of significant financial
opportunity,” said Mr. Icahn. “I believe
that genomics is a secular change in
science and health care, change that can
be realized at Mount Sinai. Money can do
great things in providing the opportunity
for engaged and dedicated people to
unleash the power of ideas. I am very proud
to have the opportunity to help unleash
the power of Mount Sinai and am confident
that, over time, we will all see the benefits
of that investment.”
“ I am very proud to have the opportunity to help unleash the power of Mount Sinai.”– Carl Icahn
LEXICON
NEED: A challenge or problem of profound significance that a solution must meet to truly be called an innovation; something that matters.
Carl Icahn and Gail Golden Icahn
after the signing.28
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RevolutionizingMedical education
icture yourself in the future—
not so far from now—with your
primary care doctor. She speaks
English, Mandarin Chinese, and
Spanish. As an undergraduate
she majored in international
relations and minored in history. She never
took the MCATs—the standard test required
for admission to schools of medicine in the
US—yet she excelled in medical school, where
her classmates had bachelor’s degrees in
computer science, music, American literature,
and engineering, among many other fields,
including biology and biochemistry. She is a
graduate of the Icahn School of Medicine at
Mount Sinai.
Or maybe this is the future you: Your
cancer has been in remission for years and
you feel strong and healthy. The scientist who
discovered the small molecule that led to the
treatment that has changed your life brought
the novel therapeutic from conception to
market by challenging preconceived notions
about the treatment of cancer. He collabo-
rated with colleagues who had expertise
in genomics, epidemiology, virology and
biomedical engineering. His seamless
relationship with investors and industry
allowed him to turn his out-of-the-box idea
into a therapy available to patients like you.
He is an alumnus of the Graduate School of
Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of
Medicine at Mount Sinai.
In both scenarios, the smart, creative, and
nontraditional students trained at Mount
Sinai provide the new paradigm for health
care. Diversifying the health care workforce,
accelerating the development of effective
therapies from the lab to patients’ lives, and
helping consumers take advantage of the
knowledge scientists possess about human
biology requires innovation, a
willingness to take risks, and a
commitment to new ways of
educating physician-scientists.
Mount Sinai is reimagining, reshaping, redesigning, and
By SiMa RaBinowitz
PhotogRaPhy By andRew lichtenStein
and don haMeRMan
P29
While biomedical science has changed
dramatically over the last century,
medical school admission require-
ments and curricula, and training in the
biological sciences, changed relatively
little. At the Icahn School of Medicine at
Mount Sinai and the Graduate School of
Biological Sciences, we’re in the process
of transforming every aspect of our
approach to education, from admissions
policies and requirements, to restruc-
turing of conventional science curricula,
to paradigm shifts in the undergraduate
medical education curriculum, to
professional development for faculty.
Mount Sinai’s recent affiliation with
the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
adds another new dimension: access
to engineering and the computational
sciences.
“Our times require the commitment
and courage to pursue better ways of
preparing students for careers in health
care and biomedical science,” says David
Muller, MD, Dean for Medical Education,
Professor of Medical Education, and
Professor of Medicine. His perspective is
shared by leaders across the institution.
“We must think differently,” says John
Morrison, PhD, Dean of Basic Sciences
and the Graduate School of Biomedical
Sciences, and Willard T.C. Johnson
Professor of Geriatrics and Adult
Development in the Neurobiology of
Aging. “We cannot and will not sacrifice
scientific rigor. At the same time, we
must find ways to translate science into
the realm of public policy and public
health, industry, advocacy, and even
venture capital,” he says. “We have an
obligation to lead.”
Icahn School leaders and faculty
are working with great urgency and
creativity to ensure that graduates of our
educational and training programs will
be the researchers and clinicians who
will revolutionize biomedical knowledge
and health care practice and policy in the
21st century.
Beginning in the 2013-2014 academic year,
Mount Sinai will recruit up to half of its
incoming classes from applicants who will not
be required to complete traditional pre-medical
science requirements or to take the Medical
College Admissions Test (MCAT). A quarter
century’s experience with the Humanities
and Medicine Program (HuMed), our “early
assurance” alternative to the traditional
pre-medical track, has shown that students
who did not pursue traditional pre-med
science preparation perform as well as their
peers in medical school.
The new program, called FlexMed, will
recruit students in their sophomore year
of college. These students may pursue any
major of their choosing and, if admitted, will
be expected to pursue that area of academic
interest to its fullest extent, driven more by
passion and intellectual curiosity than by
pre-determined medical school requirements.
Admitted students must maintain a 3.5 grade
point average (GPA) and complete a senior
thesis or the equivalent. They will be required
to take courses that are far more relevant
to the practice of medicine and biomedical
science, including subjects such as health
policy, bioethics, and statistics. Students will
be strongly encouraged to gain proficiency
in Mandarin Chinese or Spanish and to take a
year off between college and medical school
to volunteer or engage in scholarly or profes-
sional pursuits. Those who have not taken
advanced science classes as undergraduates
will be required to participate in a six-week
summer enrichment program at Mount Sinai
prior to their first year at Icahn.
“We believe this program can dramatically
expand the educational, cultural, and socio-
economic diversity of entering classes and
our health care workforce,” says Dean Muller.
“By eliminating MCAT use, outdated require-
ments, and ‘premed syndrome,’ we aim to
select students who are self-directed, who
will pursue independent scholarship, and
who will be lifelong learners.”
The FlexMed program will enable talented
students who are passionate about becoming
physicians, yet who want to focus on
non-traditional disciplines as undergraduates,
to take advantage of a Mount Sinai education.
“A student who studies theater arts, interna-
tional affairs, mathematics, or engineering,
rather than spending four years memorizing
facts for the MCAT, will be just as well equipped
as a student who has spent most of her under-
graduate career studying chemistry or biology,”
says Dean Muller. “We’re uncoupling pre-med
preparation from the MCAT and developing
more relevant criteria for admission.”
“ Our times require the
commitment and courage to
pursue better ways of preparing
students for careers in health
care and biomedical science.”
– Dean David Muller
an alternative to traditional Pre-Med PreparationFLEXMED
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“We must transform basic science education
and research to reflect what the 21st century
will look like,” says Ross Cagan, PhD, Associate
Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical
Sciences, Professor of Developmental and
Regenerative Biology, Professor of Oncological
Sciences, and Professor of Ophthalmology,
“We’ve got to step out into the real world.
Scientists must know how to apply what
they’ve learned.”
At Mount Sinai, this means training that can
lead to innovative thinking, awareness of the
options for scientific careers outside of the
traditional academic laboratory environment—
industry, public health, advocacy, and
business, among other endeavors—and a
focus on translating scientific knowledge
rapidly into effective treatments for patients.
“We may be one of the only schools in the
country educating basic biomedical scientists
to write business plans, explain their work to
non-scientists, contribute in specific ways
to public policy decisions, or pitch highly
promising discoveries to potential investors,”
says Dean Morrison.
The PhD program offers students an
opportunity to pursue eight unique multi-
disciplinary training areas (MTAs), soon to be
joined by a ninth: Design, Technology, and
Entrepreneurship. New, innovative offerings
include Translating Science and Translating
Neuroscience, two courses which focus on
translational research (“bench to bedside”
approaches) and expose young scientists to
clinicians and patients, as well as to experts
in other professions (foundations, private
firms, community leaders, financial profes-
sionals, and practicing physicians); Becoming
a Professional Scientist, training in organi-
zational skills, financial planning, media
relations, and related areas to enable scientists
to optimize the value of their work outside of
the lab; a genome-sequencing course through
the Department of Genetics and Genomic
Sciences for PhD and MD students as well as
students in the Masters in Genetic Counseling
program—the first of its kind in the country—
in which students can opt to sequence their
own genomes; the QED Project, a course that
implements engineering and design school
models of team-based, problem-solving
learning in which students develop prototypes
of innovative technologies to solve real-world
problems [see page 32]; and the 4D (Discover,
Design, Develop, Deliver) Technology
Development Program, a similar educational
opportunity for faculty, that will lead to pilot
funding for the most promising projects.
“This is a moment of great opportunity for
young scientists,” says Dean Morrison. “We
have a duty to refrain from insularity, to not
only push scientific discovery forward, but
also to reach out and educate the community
and disseminate science information and
knowledge more broadly. Our work can
impact and benefit Wall Street, the pharma-
ceutical industry, public policy, and patients’
lives, and that, of course, is our most pressing
concern. Ultimately, innovation must result in
real change for patients.”
Real-world SmartsNEW CURRICULA IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES
“ We’ve got to step out into the real world. Scientists must know how to apply what they’ve learned.”– Associate Dean Ross Cagan
LEXICON
Disruptive innovation: any technology, business strategy, or scientific breakthrough that creates an entirely new market and renders the previous paradigm obsolete.
31
In the first year of this pioneering course,
students in the Graduate School of Biomedical
Sciences—taught by Geoffrey Smith—worked
in teams to develop innovative solutions to
problems they identified. How did it work?
Five of them tell us below.
Matthew: Our team thought deeply about
how non-scientists can take advantage
of knowledge that scientists possess. We
created an app called PharmaGnome
to help consumers who’ve had their
genomes sequenced—which sooner or
later many people will do—to find out how
non-prescription medications may affect
them, given their unique genetic make-up.
Mount Sinai is a place where students are
encouraged to challenge conventional
thinking and dogma. And that’s my goal. I
want to be an investigator who knows how
to create something attractive, accurate, and
useful that contributes to people’s lives.
Sebastian: I want to do something I’m
passionate about that gives something back.
That’s the biggest reward. So learning how
to develop new tools to make the commu-
nication of science engaging and compre-
hensible was a great opportunity. There’s
a huge need to make science more acces-
sible. Our team created a suite of dynamic
digital materials to explain complex scientific
information in a way that is compelling and
exciting, including an online textbook and
e-learning tools with really cool graphics. Our
product was designed for scientist-to-scientist
communication, as well as to enhance science
literacy for the public.
Neil: Young investigators need to know
what’s been published in their field over the
last thirty or forty years. But the basic resource,
Pub Med (the web site that aggregates research
publications), which gets 80 million hits a
month, has a very inefficient interface and
it’s extremely time-consuming to locate the
relevant articles. The team I was on designed
a simple Web interface so that scientists
can access information more quickly and
efficiently. One key aspect of our project—our
customer is our QED class. So our classmates
essentially served as a mini clinical trial.
Mount Sinai leaders agree: Innovation in
the 21st century will require cross-disciplinary
partnerships. And our students uniformly
express their appreciation for an environment
that supports and encourages collabo-
ration. “The opportunities to collaborate are
great,” says Lauren Peters, a PhD student in
immunology. “Our graduate school is unique
in this regard and it was one of the reasons I
chose Mount Sinai.”
Given the specificity of scientific specialties
(from neuroscience, to immunology, to cancer
biology) and the complexity of affiliated
fields (bioinformatics and the analysis of “big
data,” for example), scientists and clinicians
from multiple disciplines and specialties
must work together to identify problems
and design solutions. To foster cross-disci-
plinary work, Mount Sinai has established
the Center for Technology, Innovation, and
Entrepreneurship (cTIE) to bring together
research, education, and training at the inter-
section of basic science discovery and applied
science implementation.
cTIE director Geoffrey Smith, Professor,
Department of Health Evidence and Policy,
says, “Technology is not just about devices. It’s
really a process of taking inputs—information,
capital, labor, materials—and creating higher
value out of them. To develop new technol-
ogies to treat unmet clinical needs, we need to
bring these elements together, and scientists
need to be engaged at all levels in order to
effectively bring their discoveries to market.”
cTIE educational programs will focus on
teaching processes for reliably producing
creative solutions to problems in biology
and medicine. “Mount Sinai is the ideal place
for this Center,” says Smith, who has a law
degree from the University of Pennsylvania,
is a co-founder and partner in a local venture
capital firm, and serves as adjunct faculty at
Rockefeller University’s Center for Clinical
and Translational Science. “Mount Sinai has
focused on translational research, applying
scientific knowledge to real-world outcomes.
Mount Sinai’s leaders understand that to
innovate, we have to disrupt traditional
paradigms and train our students differently.
And that’s what we’re doing. ”
applying Scientific discoveriesTHE CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION, AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP (cTIE)
the Qed ProjectIDEAS—INNOVATION—IMPLEMENTATION
At the end of the semester, students in the QED Project present their work to their peers and visiting corporate leaders.
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Mission driven“ Our educational mission is to graduate
physicians and scientists prepared to enter
society as informed advocates and activists,
able to advance clinical care and science,
and capable of promoting change.”
–David Muller, Dean for Medical Education
“Our imperative was to create a curriculum
aligned with our mission and committed
to and invested in graduating physicians
who will be nimble, adaptable, resourceful,
innovative, and collaborative. These are the
skills and attitudes physicians and scientists
need to address the incredibly complex health
care challenges we will face in the twenty-
first century,” says Reena Karani, MD, MHPE,
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical
Education and Curricular Affairs.
The new curriculum is the result of a
rigorous and thoughtful process involving
Icahn School of Medicine leaders, faculty,
students, and staff. The curriculum team
reviewed national guidelines and accredi-
tation mandates, best practices from across the
country, and Mount Sinai student outcomes,
among other data and materials, and met
with thought leaders from across the insti-
tution. Their research and analysis led to the
creation of 11 guiding principles (including
integration of the biological and social deter-
minants of health, disease, and treatment; and
commitment to the dignity of patients, health
advocacy, and social responsibility), which, in
turn, led to the development of 80 measurable
competencies in four core competency
domains constituting the knowledge, skills,
and attitudes expected of all graduates.
The new curriculum, to be implemented
this fall, builds on the School’s strengths
articulated as four central curricular themes—
research and discovery, service learning,
global health, and frontiers in science—and
incorporates significant innovations in each
year of the four-year program. “Two funda-
mental goals drove the design of the new
curriculum: to enhance what we excel in
and what makes Mount Sinai unique, and to
provide an education on the leading edge of
science,” says Associate Dean Karani.
Innovative opportunities begin in the first
year with incorporation of Mount Sinai’s
pioneering Longitudinal Clinical Experience,
which gives students the earliest and most
intense exposure to patients of any medical
school in New York City, into Art and Science
of Medicine, a two-year integrated course that
combines study with direct patient contact and
care. From the very first days of their medical
education, Mount Sinai students interact with
patients in some of the nation’s most diverse
and underserved neighborhoods, an approach
that is consistent with the School’s long history
of emphasis on the vulnerability of patients,
urban primary care, and reflective practice.
“We’re also formalizing our approach to
research training and scholarship,” says
Associate Dean Karani. “We want to be sure
that our students have the skills to design and
conduct leading-edge biomedical research.”
All MD students will be required to complete a
research project by graduation.
“How will you be a leader?” asks Associate
Dean Karani. “Our new curriculum has been
designed to ensure that students understand
the complex and critical relationships among
scientific knowledge, patient care, biomedical
research, human rights, public health, and
advocacy.”
THE STUDENTS
Lauren Peters Phd student; MS in biotechnology, columbia university
Matthew Pendleton Phd student; MS in pharmacology, university of Minnesota
Neil Dawhan Phd student, MS in molecular biology/genetics, columbia university
Juliet Morrison Post-doc, Microbiology; Phd in microbiology, columbia university
Sebastian Aguirre Post-doc, Microbiology; Phd in biotech, universidad de Buenos aires, argentina
Lauren: We were presented with an
entire toolkit. We learned how to evaluate
an idea, develop strategies for execution,
how to interact with investors, how to
network to promote the idea, how to
maintain optionality, and how to think
through the challenges and opportunities.
There’s so much to consider: marketability,
regulations, usability, framing the value
proposition to differentiate the product,
profitability. I have degrees in economics
and in biotech. But, immunology is
what fascinates me. QED has helped me
understand how I can bridge my business
experience and scientific knowledge to
achieve something meaningful in the field
of immunology.
Juliet: I am starting a job at the
University of Washington in Seattle this
summer in a computational biology
department. Eventually, I would like to work
in an academic lab and also to develop a
start-up company so that I can move my
discoveries quickly from the lab to the
clinic. This class has been enormously
helpful. I’ve never taken any other like it. I
always thought innovation was something
you just had to understand intuitively—but
QED showed me that a class can teach
the strategies, tactics, and techniques to
become an innovative thinker.
“ Mount Sinai’s leaders
understand that to innovate,
we have to disrupt traditional
paradigms and train our students
differently. And that’s what we’re
doing.”
– Geoffrey Smith, JD
NEW CURRICULAR ADDITIONS INCLUDE:
• InFocus: total immersion experiences during
each year (no other classes or activities are
scheduled) focused on critical themes in
science and medicine. Key topics include
research skills and scholarly dissemination,
global health, service learning, patient safety
and quality, health policy and delivery,
innovation, the business and economics of
medicine, and leadership training.
• Frontiers in Science: every course across the
curriculum includes a Frontiers in Science
component. a Mount Sinai leader in transla-
tional research will serve as a guest presenter
to educate students about the relationship
between scientific knowledge and the
potential for specific patient outcomes.
• FlexTime: one half-day every week for the
first two years is protected time, devoted
to self-directed learning, discovery, and
leadership opportunities.
33
If I were to look for where innovation is
going to happen in health care delivery, it’s
probably going to be where you want to be able
to deliver the high quality care
at a much lower cost.
Mount Sinai: You’ve worked with data all your professional life. Have you lost your capacity to be surprised?Jeff Hammerbacher: That’s a very good question. I’m still surprised by things, but it is kind of like a slow motion surprise. There are a lot of things that I suspect can be done with data and they get uncovered gradually. When you are a child and you read popular books on science, you get the sense that just like out of nowhere, something gets created. But it’s really hard to pull one thing out of your hat and say, “Hey look what I found!” On the other hand, there are things that I thought that we would be able to do, but actually can’t do; I would say that those are far most frequent than the upside surprises.
MS: This fall you told the SINAInnovations audience, “Failure hurts more here.”JH: A lot of the skills and the mindset that I’ve built up for problem-solving came out of my experiences in the consumer Web and enterprise software domain, where the problems are not really life or death…
MS: Well, maybe they are to teenagers.JH: That’s true—that’s actually a fairly profound statement: bullying and suicide, these are real life or death problems that happen on some consumer Web properties. But I will say that life and death will be more present in my work here.
MS: What will your Mount Sinai work entail?JH: I’m working on a program to take cancer patients who have exhausted their treatment options, and see if we can use some data analysis to emerge some potential treatment options for them. As soon as you have someone in front of you whose life depends on your work, you really can’t think about, say, what’s neat about the theoretical underpinnings. You have to focus on actually building something that will help this person.
MS: Is that one of the draws that working for Mount Sinai has for you? JH: I think the most exciting thing about Mount Sinai for me is that having that life and death problem in front of you creates a real sense of presence and immediacy and constraints.
MS: How important is the collaboration you will experience at Mount Sinai? JH: Ideas never occur in isolation, and even if they were to occur that way, they would likely not have a lot of relevance to most people. It is a false dichotomy to say that there are two ways innovation
happens: one is the loner off in the woods, and the other is collaboration. Even that loner off in the woods has a set of ideas, a set of mental constructs built through some form of collaboration, such as reading books. So you may be innovating alone in the woods, but you are not as alone as you think.
MS: How about teams working in isolation? In the medical field, teams in different places are often tackling the same problems.JH: Yes—what happens when multiple groups of people work on the same problem in isolation, and then seeing how different solutions arise? During the Cold War there was an interesting pseudo-experiment, when Russian scientists worked on advancing math in one direction, and American scientists worked on advancing math in another direction, and it was fascinating when things started to come together. Integration plays a very large role; you can see how the ideas evolve differently. There is definitely value in allowing groups to pursue different paths to solutions for the same problem, but the most interesting things happen when you bring them together. “What did they do differently?” “Where did we go faster?” A lot of innovation happens because of the constraints imposed, not because the engine within an innova-tor’s head is faster or more capable, or because they combine sets of ideas with more volatility.
MS: Constraints are good?JH: Constraints are important. Google was able to invent an entirely new infrastructure for doing science because they were faced with a constraint of having incredibly cheap servers. This is pretty exciting for the medical domain as well: If I were to look for where innovation is going to happen in health care delivery, it’s probably going to be where you want to be able to deliver the high quality care at a much lower cost—for instance, places like India and China, where they want to deliver the same standard of care at a very high volume at a much lower cost.
Jeff Hammerbacher, a pioneer shaper of Facebook and the founder of Cloudera, joined the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai faculty. He will join the Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology to apply his expertise in working with data to the domain of medicine.
SUR
PR
ISE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
AnDREW LICHTEnSTEIn
35
TEAM PLAYTEAM PLAYSETTing ThE bAr The Mount Sinai Hospital
“The integration of an honor roll hospital with a
top 20 medical school that we have at Mount Sinai
is something that is relatively unique,” says David
Reich, MD, President of The Mount Sinai Hospital
and Professor and Chair of the Department of
Anesthesiology. “This means we can implement
innovative approaches more organically than other
institutions can. But with that also comes a responsi-
bility as leaders in both hospital care and in academic
medicine to achieve greater things than stand-alone
hospitals or medical schools are able to do in isolation.”
Under Dr. Reich’s leadership, The Mount Sinai
Hospital is developing a wide range of innovative health
care delivery programs aimed at applying Mount Sinai’s
intellectual and technological resources to transform
standards of care.
“We’ve found that early intervention is a critical focal
point in improving patient care,” Dr. Reich says. “Indeed,
early intervention is more than a goal; it’s a strategy.
Many programs currently underway at Mount Sinai are
investigating opportunities for proactive interventions
for at-risk patients.”
One such research project, led by Dr. Reich, sends
alerts to anesthesia providers through Epic, Mount
Sinai’s state-of-the art electronic medical records
system, when surgery patients under general anesthesia
have mildly low blood pressure at a phase when there
is relatively deep anesthesia; even though neither
condition is alarming by itself, retrospective data have
shown that the combination is associated with worse
outcomes for patients. Tracking these alerts, researchers
can test their effectiveness; their hypothesis is that
prompting anesthesia providers to alter anesthesia
levels and blood pressure will lead to better patient
outcomes.
Dr. Reich is also a sponsor of TeamSTEPPS—an
innovative, evidence-based training program developed
by the Department of Defense’s Patient Safety Program
By Sara DanielS
big, game-changing events are more than an “aha” moment, more than the images we conjure up when we envision “innovation”: laboratory scientists discovering a new vaccine; a surgeon applying life-changing techniques for the first time; patients adapting to devices that return function to missing limbs.
Behind these big moments are the equally innovative efforts
of background experts and the infrastructure that supports such
progress. Technology and rigorous data analysis are the tools of
change in 21st century health care delivery, and it takes teamwork
to understand how these tools work and to wield them with
creativity and precision.
Here are three Mount
Sinai teams that are
innovating in ways you
may never hear about,
advancing the health
of our patients while
improving efficiency
and directing resources
more effectively to
enhance the quality
of care we deliver.
D. rEich
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in collaboration with the US Department of Health and
Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality. TeamSTEPPS uses teamwork as a strategic
tool for improving patient safety and quality of care.
The program, first launched in the Department of
Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science and
now used throughout Mount Sinai’s operating rooms,
focuses on building better communication among all
members of a care or surgical team, changing team
dynamics, and leveraging multidisciplinary expertise
for a positive effect on patient care.
“Uneven power structures in a team can prevent a
person at a lower level of authority from speaking up
when he or she thinks something is not going in the
right direction,” says Dr. Reich. “What we’re trying to
do with TeamSTEPPS and projects like it is level the
playing field so that every member of the team feels
empowered to speak up for patient safety and best
practices in the delivery of care.”
cLoSing ThE gAPSMount Sinai Care
“We think the future of medicine is transitioning
toward a new model, in which a physician works
in a team setting to take care of a population of
patients,” says Mark Callahan, MD, Chief Executive
Officer of Mount Sinai Care, LLC, Mount Sinai’s new
Accountable Care Organization (ACO). Mount Sinai
Care is charged with providing integrated care and
meeting new quality benchmarks for more than
20,000 Medicare patients throughout the New York
metropolitan area—and, once again, teamwork is key.
The ACO, one of only
ten such organizations
in New York State and
among the few based
in an academic medical
center, is building
innovative care teams
and closing the gaps in
patient care that can lead to complications and unnec-
essary hospital readmissions, especially in patients
with chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease.
The Mount Sinai Care team includes care coordinators
who work with doctors, nursing staff, and patients to
facilitate referrals and appointments, ensure patients
get the proper medications, track follow-up proce-
dures like mammograms and colonoscopies, navigate
health insurance issues, and perform other critical
tasks that physicians lack the time and resources to
do. Providing these vital support services means that
Mount Sinai Care can be an active partner in helping
patients to manage their
illnesses.
Mount Sinai Care has
also launched several
innovative electronic
information tools that
can prevent unnecessary
events. For example, the
ACO uses a predictive
mathematical model—
developed by Mount
Sinai’s Preventable
Admissions Care Team
(PACT) and incorporated
into Epic—to identify the
patients most at risk for
hospital readmissions.
This allows care teams to
intervene with appropriate
social and medical support
to try to keep those high-risk patients healthy.
The immediate impact of these interventions is better
care coordination and more resources allocated to the
care team to help patients stay healthy. Over time, the
ACO’s focus on quality and coordination of care is
expected to reduce unnecessary admissions and lower
health care expenses.
“A lot of what we spend money on in health care isn’t
necessarily good for the patient,” Dr. Callahan points
out. “Let’s say a patient’s diabetes isn’t well controlled
and he ends up in the hospital with kidney failure and
needs dialysis. That’s not good for the patient and it’s not
good from a cost point of view. Our focus is preventing
disease and then managing chronic illnesses to reduce
their complications. In some cases that requires more
resources, used differently. Instead of putting people in
the hospital and treating
them for advanced illness,
we’d rather put resources in
the outpatient setting and
prevent advanced illness
from developing.”
Mount Sinai has gone
one step further by applying
the same innovative tools to its Medicaid population
through the Patient-Centered Medical Home initiative.
Additional care coordinators and extra diabetes resources
will help address the unique health care needs of
these patients.
“Mount Sinai is very far ahead of the curve on this,” says
Dr. Callahan. “By putting the teams and IT resources into
an ACO model now, when a lot of other academic medical
centers decided not to do it, we’re building the experience,
the workflows, the care patterns, and the information tools
we need to be successful as health care reform comes
down the pike.”
LEXICON
Transparency:a commitment to sharing information and encouraging communication as a way to bring teams closer together.
“ We think the future of medicine is transitioning toward a new model, in which a physician works in a team setting to take care of a population of patients.”
M. cALLAhAn
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TrAnSLATing DATA inTo cArEHealth Evidence and Policy
Mount Sinai’s ambitious clinical
research enterprise is also driving
new evidence-based innovations in
delivery of care, according to Annetine
Gelijns, PhD, Chair of the Department of
Health Evidence and Policy. Within the
Department, the International Center
for Health Outcomes and Innovation
Research and the Center for Biostatistics
enable clinical and translational research
partners throughout the institution to
design and analyze innovative trials.
“The research and development
process doesn’t end when a new
intervention is introduced into practice
because the criteria change: how we
select eligible patients, and how we
embed clinical management strategies,”
Dr. Gelijns says. “It’s a moving target and
that’s why it’s becoming increasingly
important to conduct comparative effec-
tiveness research after a new intervention
has been introduced into widespread
clinical practice.”
The research that Dr. Gelijns and her team conduct
aims to fill in some of the gaps of medical knowledge
in treating patients. Typically, there are two short-term
evaluations, conducted in limited patient populations
over a relatively brief period: exploratory clinical trials,
evaluating whether an intervention (a new diagnostic,
drug, device, or procedure) is safe and effective, and
confirmatory trials, which are regulated by the FDA
and attempt to validate the safety and effectiveness
of an intervention for a
particular population of
patients—but long-term
outcomes remain
unstudied.
Dr. Gelijn’s area
bridges that gap by
addressing the whole
spectrum of translational research, from first-in-
human trials to large-scale trials and analysis of clinical
data sets, to see how interventions perform over time.
Her team also compares them to other types of inter-
ventions—say, a beta blocker versus surgery—to assess
cost-effectiveness and key outcomes such as survival
and quality of life. That information is then fed back
into the clinical and research enterprises, enabling
clinician-scientists and manufacturers to make
important improvements.
The outcomes can be dramatic—and surprising.
Take the evolution of the Left Ventricular Assist
Device (LVAD), a mechanical pump designed to help
keep patients with advanced heart failure alive while
awaiting transplantation. Dr. Gelijns’ team explored
the possibility of using these devices in patients
ineligible for transplantation—which turned out to
double survival rates in these patients compared with
traditional medical management of their condition. But
it was also prohibitively expensive—$600,000 for each
additional year of survival—and produced such adverse
effects as infections, bleeding, and neurological events.
“Clinicians and engineers used the results of that
trial to develop improved devices that minimized
risks and costs,” says Dr. Gelijns. “As a result, we’re
now involved in trials evaluating novel LVADs, which
are much smaller, with fewer adverse events, and the
cost of intervention has dropped to $100,000 for each
additional year of life.”
The Department’s institution-wide mission includes
many more areas of concentration, including helping
to lead a community-based Transitions of Care
program, supported by a significant Medicare grant.
The program tests models for improving care transi-
tions from hospitals to other outpatient settings,
with the goal of reducing hospital readmissions for
Medicare patients by 20 percent over five years.
Fortunately, says Alan Moskowitz, PhD, Vice Chair
of the Department of Health Evidence and Policy,
Mount Sinai was ahead of the game in launching such
a program, thanks to its PACT program, originally
developed to reduce readmissions among patients
with heart failure.
“We took that program and modified it to suit a
broader population, and we reviewed re-hospitalization
patterns at Mount Sinai to create a statistical model that
identified risk factors for readmission—the basis for a
profile of high-risk patients to target with the program.”
The result? The
Community Preventable
Admissions Care Team
(CPACT), which partners
with the Institute for
Family Health, a large,
community-based
and independently run
family practice headed by Neil Calman, MD, Professor
and Chair of Mount Sinai’s Department of Family
Medicine and Community Health.
“Mount Sinai subscribes to the idea that you have
to mine the data at your own institution to identify
problems and monitor solutions to see if they’re really
working,” Dr. Moskowitz says. “That philosophy speaks
to the innovation that’s going on at Mount Sinai
irrespective of what funding opportunities exist.”
“ Mount Sinai subscribes to the idea that you have to mine the data at your own institution to identify problems and monitor solutions to see if they’re really working.”
A. gELijnS
03
LEXICON
adjacenT possible: a finite amount of first-order combinations available from a given starting point that, together, lead to an almost infinite amount of further possibilities. as, “Take a few primordial molecules, combine them, and the adjacent possible leads to the building blocks of life; take the building blocks of life, combine them, and the adjacent possible leads to simple one-cell organisms; take a few one-cell organisms, combine them, and the adjacent possible leads to every species we see today.”
38
Mount Sinai Science & Medicine recently sat down with a trio of Mount Sinai faculty whose work involves massive amounts of information to see how they are collaborating to optimize the impact of data; we began by asking each doctor to talk a bit about what he does.
Andrew KASArSKiS: The Icahn Institute
for Genomics and Multiscale Biology
is focused on bringing to Mount Sinai
a degree of comfort with high dimen-
sional data analysis and genomics
technologies. We’re working in a team
fashion with colleagues from Erwin’s
Institute of Personalized Medicine, Carlos’s
team in Pathology, and other depart-
ments to address large-scale interdisci-
plinary problems that have a technical
component where the different types of
expertise could be applied. We have an
ambition to make genomic medicine a
pervasive influence in the work we do at
Sinai, both clinically and in research. That
does not happen in isolation: you need
to be pretty good at computation as well
as genomics, and that is where we have
been putting a lot of effort collectively
over time.
erwin Bottinger: Our model going
forward towards precision and person-
alized medicine is like a three-legged
stool: We have to bring together
people like you, Andrew, who generate
new hypotheses and ideas, such as in
genomics and multiscale biology and the
Department of Genetics; people—like
Carlos—who are the experts in how to
diagnose and how to run molecular
diagnostic tests; and people who think
deeply about how to bring the infor-
mation back to patient care, back to
bedside, which is closer to my role. Taking
information from a study to a clinical care
context, where it is integrated into the
clinical work flow and allows our practi-
tioners to deliver optimal care, is critical:
We need to bring the newest discoveries
in genomics, in molecular diagnostics
directly to the fingertips of our physicians.
That is what we see as our primary role in
the Institute for Personalized Medicine.
We are also informing Mount Sinai
patients about a groundbreaking research
enterprise in which they can participate,
which we call the Clinical Care Cohort for
Personalized Medicine. Patients consent
to make all their clinical information
available for research, and donate a
tube of blood and some other samples
which we can test for genetic variance,
conduct sequencing, examine biomarker
profiles, and then allow our researchers
to bring together the molecular data with
the clinical data. We have enrolled over
25,000 patients, but our goal is more
ambitious: to expand to 100,000 patients
overall. We are truly a digital health care
system, which allows us to make the link
between the big data capabilities that are
presented in genomics and multiscale
biology, and the actual clinical records; we
extract information for research, and then
also return information into the electronic
health record for the purpose of testing
new methods of guiding clinical care.
CArloS Cordon-CArdo: Our
Department of Pathology is the second
largest in volume in the country,
performing nearly 23,000 tests every day,
including blood chemistries, specimen
analyses, biopsies, and autopsies.
dr. KASArSKiS: So 23,000 tests today?
That’s a hard act to follow, Carlos.
dr. Cordon-CArdo: Yes, can you believe
it?! But what matters so much here—
unlike many other institutions where
silos are created—is that Mount Sinai
has a culture of breaking silos, and this is
what leads to innovations. For example,
for cancer patients we are now offering
panels that include the analysis of body
fluids, from blood to urine, and tissue
studies that integrate biomarkers and
molecular genetics, such as mutational
analysis, along with critical information
from the patient’s family history and
clinical setting. This will produce a
comprehensive report that will allow
better navigation for managing the case.
Our patients will definitely receive a very
personalized treatment, guided by clinical
and molecular knowledge. Our goal is
to translate data into knowledge, and
to manage this knowledge to give each
patient a better chance
of being cured, while offering
a superior quality of life.
erwin P. Bottinger, Md
• Director, The Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine
• Professor, Medicine, Nephrology
• Professor, Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics
Carlos Cordon-Cardo, Md, Phd
• Professor and Chair, Department of Pathology
• Professor, Oncological Sciences
• Professor, Genetics and Genomic Sciences
Andrew Kasarskis, Phd
• Vice Chair, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences
• Co-Director, Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology
• Associate Professor, Genetics and Genomic Sciences
Dial guePArtiCiPAntS
the innovative
promise of “Big data” means that we know more about patients and illnesses
than ever before. But how do we integrate this knowledge into a clinical care plan and
come up with equally innovative changes in
patient lives?
39
dr. KASArSKiS: It is so interesting the way
all these results, all these tests get captured
in a way that allows us to exploit the
information using the clinical cohort that
Erwin has put together, and the electronic
medical records system. It is really quite
exciting and it is one of my favorite things
going on around here. And some of the
most interesting work—where the rubber
meets the road—is in your work, Erwin, to
actually educate the general practitioners
and other Sinai physicians as to what needs
to happen when they encounter patients
whose genetic information is relevant to
their care—the IPM Pharmacogenetics
project, for example, that is using your
CLIPMERGE technology platform.
dr. Bottinger: Yes, this is a huge step
forward to run big programs where we
examine the real barriers impeding the
widespread introduction of genomic
medicine in basic clinical practices. Since
you mention our CLIPMERGE platform
(which stands for Clinical Implementation
of Personalized Medicine in Electronic
Health Records and Genomics), we believe
it could provide in essence a natural
conduit for colleagues in Pathology to
deliver results to patients, as they are the
experts in turning out high quality genomic
and molecular diagnostic results—results
that come from molecular pathology
laboratories or molecular diagnostics
laboratories, that can be plucked directly
into our CLIPMERGE platform, where
genomic results are translated into a
language that the physician can under-
stand and convey to the patient.
dr. Cordon-CArdo: In fact, this is
going to open the door for a new kind of
medicine, in which being more precise
will allow us to render superior services to
the patient, and as we discussed, a better
chance of being cured. In this context, we
also hope to offer improved quality of life
based on the ability to take this evidence-
based scientific approach.
dr. KASArSKiS: I do not know how many
other institutions out there have a vice
chair of pathology who actually has a
physics PhD, focused on data analytics! It
is very nice to have strong partners across
the institution who are capturing rich
information on patients, and then actually
building a constructive, computationally
and statistically rigorous model of what
we have learned about those patients—
the Bio Bank—that can then be distilled
down to actionable infor-
mation in any given patient’s
case. And perhaps change
the course of care. It is an
empowering thing, contem-
plating what the actual
support system of a medical
decision would be based
on: not just HPA1C blood
pressure, LDL cholesterol,
HGL cholesterol and so forth,
but also potentially more
information-rich things. At
the Icahn Institute, we focus
on integrating the full range
of molecular measures you can get from
DNA and RNA sequencing and other high
information content technologies with
the longitudinal clinical information in our
patients’ electronic medical record, to
better understand disease in general and
better manage the well-being of individual
patients.
dr. Cordon-CArdo: The wave of
“innovation” that Mount Sinai is leading
extends to several critical areas, including
technology. Some technologies—like
microscopes—have been quite similar
for the past two hundred years. So one
of the areas we are further developing is
optical engineering; we have attracted
faculty coming from the fields of physics
and engineering who are assembling
microscopes that use liquid crystal lenses,
allowing us to use the tissue as the ultimate
microchip. In addition, we are expanding
our armamentarium in pathology
to add to our diagnostics tools
a series of novel predictive
tools, so we can more
precisely ascertain
what may happen to
a patient based on
the knowledge we
obtain by bringing
together his or her
specific genotypes
and phenotypes,
along with clinical
variables in order to
better assess clinical outcome. This can
also help us select treatments that may be
more efficacious and cost-effective.
The reality is that the medical practice of
today while facing chronic diseases, such
as cancer, offers patients periods of health
which are more and more prolonged,
along with a better quality of life—but in
too many situations the disease comes
back. It does so because we are treating
the symptoms, the by-products of the
disease, such as the cellular
growth in cancer, but not
necessarily the disease itself.
Why is this? Because we
do not know the cause. We
do not know where cancer
starts. We do not know where
hypertension starts. Our
hypothesis is that by assem-
bling and implementing a
multidimensional approach,
pathologists, geneticists,
clinicians, and basic scien-
tists—working together and
using innovative tools—may
be able to drill down to find, in at least
some diseases, the causation. We will then
be armed to move forward and design
effective, individualized, personalized treat-
ments, targeting that very specific element.
It will be wonderful.
dr. Bottinger: Because we’re located at
a medical center in northern Manhattan,
serving diverse communities throughout
the region, we have a particular responsi-
bility to make genomic medicine a reality
for all of our patients irrespective of their
color. There is great concern that genomic
medicine will be a domain for a privileged
patient population, but, based on charac-
teristics of our diverse patient populations
and the diverse communities who come
for excellent health care, Mount Sinai has a
tremendous opportunity to seek innovative
ways to actually
CArloS Cordon-CArdo,
Md, Phd
erwin P. Bottinger,
Md
“our department of Pathology is
the second largest in volume in the
country, performing nearly 23,000 tests every day, including blood chemistries, specimen analyses,
biopsies, and autopsies.”
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bring genomic medicine to anybody that
receives care here regardless of color or
ethnic background. In fact, this is a huge
opportunity where together we can create
new paradigms for many other large
cosmopolitan, urban areas and the health
care practiced there in the future.
dr. KASArSKiS: That’s the difficulty: trying
to calibrate any new technology for gener-
ating molecular information is dependent
on what is “normal.” “Normal” for a
group of Caucasian people of Northern
European ancestry—such as families
from Utah, which was how a large chunk
of the genetic research was done in the
past—does not necessarily translate very
well to our patient population out in, say,
Queens. Our patient population here has
certainly proven to be interested in genetic
information. They want to understand and
are willing to participate in research when
approached which gives us an ability to
actually start to develop technologies for
our patient population in a way that reflects
their characteristics and redefines “normal.”
Be it a fancy new imaging technology,
a fancy new molecular technology, one
thing is for sure: there is a huge amount of
innovation going on with new techniques
to generate data on biological systems, and
we are working to keep pace with that in
terms of how to integrate that information
and model it. But none of that
gets you anywhere unless you
actually have good samples that
are linked to rich history about
the individuals from whom the
samples have come to us.
dr. Cordon-CArdo: Senior
leadership at Mount Sinai has
a unified vision, supports our
efforts, and is quite unaffected
by academic politics. I have
been able to recruit over
twenty-five faculty members in
the past two years, from basic
to translational scientists, from
mathematicians to clinicians.
We have also renovated major
service laboratory areas and brought in
state-of-the-art equipment. Another
major asset here is our outstanding clinical
colleagues. The reputation that we have in
the medical community comes from great
clinicians who put so much detail into
their work; it is so granular that together
with the new innovations in the laboratory,
we can generate and implement a new
paradigm in patient management. We can
optimize outcomes by switching from
group management approaches that
stratify patients into disease categories
and apply therapies based on pre-deter-
mined protocols, to a patient-specific
approach that integrates unique clinical
and biological characteristics to predict
treatment efficacy and drug sensitivity.
dr. KASArSKiS: That has got to be good for
training as well.
dr. Cordon-CArdo: It is. Right now, we
have one department of medicine, one
department of surgery, but maybe one day
when we all have learned how to work
together and validate each other’s assays,
we may be able to integrate pathology,
genetics, and even radiology to form a
department of advanced diagnostics.
dr. KASArSKiS: We could call it the
department of diagnosis—and maybe the
department of prediction.
dr. Cordon-CArdo: We are in part
implementing it—many tangibles prove
that this is happening. We are designing
biomarker panels together, we are
implementing strategies that use superior
biological tools, and we are validating
each other constantly, learning together
for the good of the patient and our
community.
dr. Bottinger: I think,
Carlos, you a raise a very
critical point for genomic
medicine in clinical care:
the quality and excellence in
training, performance, and
practice of the clinical staff.
Over the last few years, we
have engaged very actively
with our clinical staff in
various practices about
delivering genomic medicine;
they are all highly motivated,
fascinated, and willing to
participate in the kind of
translational research required
to make genomic medicine
happen. Let us make no mistake, the time
is now and it is up to us, the genomic
scientists, the molecular pathologists, the
clinicians, the outcomes researchers to
demonstrate that all of this can improve
care, outcomes, the utilization of health
services, patients’ lives—and last but not
least, also reduce health care costs. Mount
Sinai is a unique place to actually make
first-in-class kinds of contributions. I am
certainly an optimist but I am confident
that we will be able, together, to demon-
strate that this is indeed the medicine of
the future. And we can do it.
dr. KASArSKiS: What is really interesting,
Erwin, is that when you are talking
about diagnosis and prevention,
you are also talking about
behavioral change. We all
know that behaviors are
hard to change. There
is a lot of applied
behavioral science
and human factor
engineering involved
in actually defining
risks, being sure that
we really believe the
risks, and that they are
accurately measured,
and then reflecting that
in a way that changes
behavior. But difficult as
this is, it is ultimately what
we want to do if our goal is to
focus our business on promoting
health as opposed to simply wishing
people Godspeed. But I believe there is
a lot to gain from addressing behavioral
change over the next decade or two.
dr. Cordon-CArdo: It is part of our
mission to pioneer change in health care
management. This will be achieved mainly
through more precise diagnosis, a better
selection of appropriate therapies, and an
enhanced understanding of the predictive
course of the disease.
dr. Bottinger: Carlos has provided,
I think, the key word: Prediction. For
hundreds of years, medical students have
been taught based on chief complaints:
A patient comes and says, “Something is
wrong, doctor”. We are at a very good spot
to transition to teaching medicine and
practicing medicine in the future around,
“What is the risk for you, our patient, that
we need to be careful about?” We can
devise particular plans to limit that
risk and keep you from ever
having a complaint. So
the curriculum will
change, and students
will be taught to
look at genetic
data, molecular
data, lifestyle
data, all the data
analyzed together
for a true prediction
of what is to come.
LEXICON
Big data:The practice of analyzing enormous sets of data, such as the human genome, with mathematical and computational techniques to find previously undis-covered patterns and connections.
Andrew KASArSKiS,
Phd
“there is a huge amount of
innovation going on with new
techniques to generate data on
biological systems, and we are
working to keep pace with that
in terms of how to integrate that information and
model it.”
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New
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Here are the voices of a group of young game-
changers who are students in the Graduate School
of Biological Sciences, addressing what it means
to be innovative, how innovation applies to their
work, and why Mount Sinai inspires innovative thinking.
Arielle Klepper, MD/PhD 2016Expecting to defend her thesis in January, Ms. Klepper is investigating how the
Hepatitis C virus affects the liver—and how different forms of treatment affect
patient outcomes. She also plays a leading role in two Mount Sinai student/faculty
organizations that promote awareness and unity of underrepresented groups:
Women in Science and Medicine, and Students for Equal Opportunity in Science.
In order to innovate, you need to be able to maintain pathways, pipelines, and ways
to make sure everybody is in the fold and can succeed. Mount Sinai is growing
and expanding. The new Hess Center for Science and Medicine is a great example
of this. The face of Mount Sinai is also changing. Thus, having organizations such
as Women in Science and Medicine represents promoting equal opportunity on
multiple levels, like for women or for minorities. It really is timely and hopefully can
make an impact as the institution grows. It is important to develop those things to
ensure that the recruitment we are doing translates into improved representation
and success. And I think that ties in to the patient side, too—having a more diverse
population of physicians is obviously important to understanding your patients and
where they come from.
“ This is a wonderful time to be training young scientists. These students see the opportunities in front of them very clearly. They know that rigorous training in fundamental basic science is essential for them to be what they want to be. However, they also know that they can and should go beyond that wonderful moment of discovery, and bring their discovery to the rest of the world through innovation. They assume that their science will improve the lives of patients and they would not have it any other way.”
– Dean John H. Morrison
By Rhianna MoRRis
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Sam A. Golden, PhD 2014One of Mr. Golden’s major projects in the Department
of Neuroscience recently was published in the presti-
gious journal Nature Medicine: Following chronic
stress, robust restructuring of neurons can occur; his
work has been instrumental in illuminating one of the
mechanisms involved in the restructuring, offering the
potential for this mechanism to aid in the development
of targeted therapeutics for depression.
What is affecting the world we live in today? What
are the things in the news that make you either smile
or frown? The nice thing about being in the trans-
lational research environment of Mount Sinai is that
you can ask those larger questions, and then you can
find a clinical population to look at. You are given the
freedom to investigate your questions at a very deep
level. Innovation requires this process. It is having
those questions and wanting to follow through. You
know you have a difficult road ahead when you have
a question that you know is completely outside the
scope of anything anyone else is doing and still say,
“I’m going to spend a couple years working on this.”
It is a high risk situation. But you also know that if it’s
high risk, it could also be high reward.
Theodore Pak, MD/PhD 2020Mr. Pak is passionate about the intersection of medicine
and technology, especially in genomics and bioinformatics.
Although he’s just finished his first year of studies, he is
already following his research passion in a laboratory in
the Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology by
working on predicting influenza virulence using machine-
learning algorithms. He also is involved in developing a
mobile web application for medical students working with
Mount Sinai’s East Harlem Health Outreach Partnership.
These efforts will help the students efficiently coordinate
the care provided at this free community clinic.
Innovation, as it applies to my interests, can be looked at
as marrying two distinct disciplines and trying to find new
connections between them in ways that perhaps only
few can see. When I came to Mount Sinai for a visit and
interviews, I met researchers who all had this mindset:
They actively sought investigators across the many disci-
plines to collaborate with. I saw a lot of groups where
there were two people on different sides of the fence, so
to speak, and one might say to the other, “If I could work
with you for some computational analysis, we could take
this research to the next level and make more of an impact
with the results.” This is exciting; it jumped out at me and
encouraged me to come here.
Jillian Shapiro, PhD 2013No stranger to the spotlight, Dr. Shapiro was named
by Forbes as one of 2012’s “30 Under 30 Rising Stars
Transforming Science and Health,” an accolade which
highlights how much she has accomplished in a very short
period of time. Her research in microbiology has focused
on one of the major challenges that had stood in the way
of advancing the emerging field of microRNA-mediated
therapeutics. She developed a novel method for delivering
any small RNA sequence to a target cell’s cytoplasm—
something previously thought not possible—and now has
accelerated the move toward more effective therapeutics
for a range of diseases.
In my opinion, innovation is taking existing knowledge and
building on it or putting it together in a different way to
create something new that has the capacity to positively
affect society. While innovative research most certainly
requires a deep understanding of the problem at hand and
ready knowledge of any current related issues, at the same
time, one really needs to let go of preconceived notions of
how a problem may be solved and just try something new,
regardless of whether people say it’s “impossible.” Once I
understood this, I was able to approach problems from a
different angle, allowing for really innovative research to
take place.
Faces to the voices: (from left) Thomas Gardner, sam Golden, Theodore Pak, Jillian shapiro, Benjamin Laitman, Jie su, and (inset) arielle Klepper
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Benjamin Laitman, PhD 2016/MS 2018With the first part of his medical education coming to a
close, Mr. Laitman will soon be starting his research in
Mount Sinai’s Department of Neurology. He is inter-
ested in exploring the mechanism that leads to the
degradation of myelin in multiple sclerosis, ultimately
hoping to find new therapeutic targets for the disease.
Mr. Laitman also was a student panelist at the inaugural
SinaInnovations conference last year, where he took
part in discussions that explored Mount Sinai’s thriving
culture of innovation.
When you’re walking around the Medical Center, you
see doctors, patients, researchers, students; everyone
mixed in together. No one is isolated. This is where the
students are, this is where the researchers are, this is
where the doctors are. And I think that’s a great thing
about Mount Sinai. All of these different worlds have
been brought physically together, and that becomes
very inspiring. My ultimate dream is to be that person
who discovers a new treatment for a disease and then
actually implements it. I know that this is a place
where I can go after that dream.
Thomas Gardner, PhD 2015In his work with cytomegalovirus (CMV) at Mount
Sinai’s Center for Therapeutic Antibody Development,
Mr. Gardner is attempting both to discover more
about the basic mechanism of this common infection
and to find new therapeutic targets to aid the patient
population that is susceptible to its more dangerous
effects. He was able to develop an assay that allows
one not only to learn new information about how
CMV recognizes and enters cells, but also to measure
precisely the severity of an infection. This work has led
to his recent awarding of a Pre-Doctoral Fellowship
from the American Heart Association.
I know this is a cliché, but you really have to think outside
the box when trying to be innovative. For example, many
people would see the assay system I developed and say,
“This has one purpose and that is to quantify an infection.”
But when you think outside the box, you often just can’t
stop considering all of the potential applications of the work.
I think this obsessive thinking is part of being a scientist.
You start to see all the potential, all of the off-shoots that
can happen, and the different ways to interpret the data.
You throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. And
then that’s what you go with. You become accustomed to
a certain amount of failure in the process, but it ends up
driving you. When you do have something that works, it’s
super invigorating.
Jie Su, PhD 2013In trying to understand the pathways involved in stem
cell differentiation, Dr. Su came across a certain enzyme
that had never been reported in stem cell science before.
However, it had been linked to a mutation in cancer,
making her discovery an exciting new bridge between
these two fields. Her study was published last year in Stem
Cell. She now is able to move forward with trying to model
the cancer in human induced pluripotent stem cells.
Our lab links basic research to human disease studies. When
you move beyond basic studies and start to work with
patient samples, the impact of your work really hits you. I
thought, “Wow. Real patients are now a part of my research.”
Knowing that my work might make an impact on someone’s
struggle with a terrible disease like cancer inspired me to
work harder. My translational endeavors became that much
more exciting when I realized someone’s quality of life
might improve because of what I’m doing. I feel very lucky
to work in the field that I do because it allows me to pursue
my burning questions and search for innovative solutions,
while also contributing to new therapies and understandings
in biomedical research.
LEXICON
SiLoS:Departmental bureaucracy and other organiza-tional barriers that must be removed to promote collaboration and innovation.
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“ Now, more than two decades after its last face-lift, the newly renovated PICU permits our remarkable physicians, nurses and other members of the interdisciplinary team to deliver care in a unit that is
state-of-the-art.”
–LisaM.satLin,MD
serious illnesses,” said Mr. Gottesman.
“Now, more than two decades after its last face-lift,
the newly renovated PICU permits our remarkable
physicians, nurses and other members of the interdis-
ciplinary team to deliver care in a unit that is state-of-
the-art in terms of design, operations and technology,”
said Lisa M. Satlin, MD, Professor and Chair of the
Department of Pediatrics, at the dedication. “The
consolidation of the PICU on one floor optimizes the
smooth and seamless delivery of care, while also giving
patients and their families a single place to gather in
support of one another.”
The renovation project involved a comprehensive
redesign, the major feature of which was consolidating
the PICU on the third floor of the Kravis Children’s
Hospital from its previous quarters on part of the third
and sixth floors—a move that will bring physicians and
staff closer to their patients and optimize the delivery
of care. The new unit provides greater privacy and
Gift from Trustee Gottesman Supports New PICU
Trustee David S. “Sandy” Gottesman and Ruth L.
Gottesman, EdD have made one of the largest gifts
to children’s health in Mount Sinai’s history with
a $12 million commitment to support the recently
completed renovation of the pediatric intensive care
unit (PICU), in recognition of which the Medical
Center has named The Alice Gottesman Bayer
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
The new unit was formally dedicated at an event in
November 2012. Speaking at the event, Mr. Gottesman,
a Trustee since 1989, paid tribute to his younger sister,
who passed away in 1955 and in whose memory the
unit is named. “I think she would have had great
pleasure in knowing that this new facility will take
care of children who have the most complex and
Campaign Gifts Transforming Mount Sinai
Left to right: Dean Dennis Charney, Lisa Satlin, President Kenneth Davis, David S. “Sandy” Gottesman, and Ruth L. Gottesman at the dedication of the PICU.
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trust to make a difference.”
One of the largest donations toward endowed chairs in
Mount Sinai’s history, the gift supports six Ward-Coleman
Chairs to be held by faculty members whose work shows
the greatest promise to “enhance the prevention, treatment,
and cure of diseases, illnesses, and disabilities of human
beings,” as Mrs. Ward Coleman wished. Five new faculty have
been appointed to chairs to date: Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD
(Cancer Research), Director of the Immunotherapy Program;
Judy H. Cho, MD (Translational Genetics), Associate Chief of
Research in the Division of Gastroenterology, and Vice Chair
for Translational Genetics in the Department of Genetics
and Genomic Sciences; Yasmin L. Hurd, PhD (Translational
Neuroscience), Professor, Department of Psychiatry,
Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics, and Neuroscience;
Paul Kenny, PhD (Pharmacology and Experimental
Therapeutics), Chair of Pharmacology and Systems
Therapeutics and Director of the Experimental Therapeutics
Institute; and Ramon Parsons, MD, PhD (Cancer Research),
Chair of the Department of Oncological Sciences. At press
time, one additional appointment was in process.
The fact that the gift will support some of Mount Sinai’s
most original and innovative physician-scientists is a fitting
tribute to Mrs. Ward Coleman, whose spirit and energy
never dimmed even in the last years of her life—as one
government agent discovered when he came to investigate
the rather improbable claim that a 110-year-old woman
continued to draw Social Security checks. Dr. Shimony says
that Mrs. Ward Coleman invited the agent in and gave him
a first-person account of the history of the Social Security
Administration’s creation.
“She was a remarkable woman,” says Mr. Spanbock.
“Mount Sinai meant a lot to her.”
comfort for children and their families; each room is
equipped with a sleep sofa for parents, a wardrobe for
patient/family belongings, and other amenities. Other
improvements include a family lounge with a special
playroom and a separate family consultation room for
parents to meet privately with physicians.
At the event, Dr. Satlin addressed the Gottesmans
directly. “Please know how deeply we value your gift
and your commitment to child health at Mount Sinai,”
she said.
Full of Life Mount Sinai supporter Ruth Ward Coleman left an
unforgettable impression on all who knew her—and a
legacy that will last for generations
Ruth Ward Coleman, who was 110 when she died in
2012, was never one to take half measures. Passionate
and strong-willed, Mrs. Ward Coleman became a
lawyer at a time when women were discouraged
from harboring such ambitions, and went on to play
an active role in establishing the Social Security
Administration during its formative years. “She was
so much her own person,” says Maurice Spanbock, her
longtime lawyer and the executor of her estate. “She
was like an Edith Wharton character.” When she and
her husband, Lucius Coleman, who passed away in
1990, decided to leave their estate to endow a number
of professorships at Mount Sinai, she embraced the
idea with the single-mindedness of purpose that was
her defining quality. The bequest started out as a
$2 million gift when Mr. and Mrs. Coleman arranged it
in 1980, but in the 30 years since, Mrs. Ward Coleman
guarded her investments carefully and shrewdly to
increase the gift into a $12 million bequest.
“She made a conscious choice to live modestly so
that there would be more in the fund to give to Mount
Sinai,” says Rony Shimony, MD, Assistant Professor
of Cardiology at Mount Sinai Heart and a longtime
friend of Mrs. Ward Coleman. “She enjoyed immensely
over the years discussing how the fund would
positively impact basic research and clinical care.”
“She watched her investments daily, right up until
she passed away, and was always focused on the
growth of the Mount Sinai trust,” says Chy Bullard, a
neighbor whose family Mrs. Ward Coleman regarded
as her own.”She had a lifelong dream of building the Rony Shimony, MD and Ruth Ward Coleman
“ Ruth enjoyed immensely over the years discussing how the fund would positively impact basic research and
clinical care.”
–RonyshiMony,MD
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Internal Medicine Associates is also part of the
recently formed Mount Sinai Cares, a federally
designated Accountable Care Organization (ACO).
The ACO designation was created to encourage
medical centers to find new, cost-effective solutions
that will lead to better care and improved outcomes
for Medicare and Medicaid patients. “Mount Sinai’s
ACO is just one example of the innovative, patient-
centered programs emerging from the Kravis Center,”
said Dean Dennis S. Charney, MD. “We are committed
to redefining the standard of care for hospitals and
medical centers everywhere, and the Kravis family’s
extraordinary philanthropy will help us live up to
that commitment.”
Mount Sinai Global Health, which since 2007
has trained nearly 850 health care workers in local
communities in more than 30 countries, is deeply
rooted in the Kravis Center, according to Philip
Landrigan, MD, MSc, Dean for Global Health and
the Ethel H. Wise Professor of Preventive Medicine.
“Many of the things we are doing to improve the
care of patients right here in New York City are
directly applicable to improving global health, and
vice versa,” said Dr. Landrigan. “The world needs
philanthropic leadership of this caliber to overcome
the cultural and economic barriers that prevent
underserved populations from practicing good health.
We are profoundly grateful for Henry and Marie-
Josée Kravis’s support.”
Henry and Marie-Josée Kravis Make $25 Million GiftA transformational $25 million gift from Trustee
Henry R. Kravis and Marie-Josée Kravis will enable
Mount Sinai to extend its reach to underserved
patients in New York City and around the world by
supporting the work of the clinicians and researchers
housed in the Center for Advanced Medicine, the
base of the Medical Center’s programs in primary
care, preventive medicine, community health, and
global health.
In recognition of Mr. and Mrs. Kravis’s generosity,
the building will be renamed the Marie-Josée and
Henry R. Kravis Center for Advanced Medicine.
“Mount Sinai’s excellence in care, research, and
education is changing attitudes and behaviors about
healthy living in the neighborhood of East Harlem
and around the greater community of New York
City,” said Mr. Kravis. “Marie-Josée and I are proud to
support such a visionary institution.”
“The Kravis Center for Advanced Medicine is both
an integral part of the foundation of our surrounding
community and the launching pad for our growing
global health work,” said President and CEO Kenneth
L. Davis, MD. “Henry and Marie-Josée’s remarkable
gift will touch countless people, and represents the
direction for health care for generations to come.”
Programs headquartered in the 137,000-square-foot
Kravis Center include Internal Medicine Associates,
the primary care practice, which schedules more than
60,000 visits each year; Mount Sinai Global Health,
which oversees and integrates global health activities
across the medical center; and Visiting Doctors,
which delivers care to more than 1,000
homebound adults and is
the largest program
of its kind in the
country.
“ The Kravis Center for Advanced Medicine is both an integral part of the foundation of our surrounding community and the launching pad for our growing global
health work.”
– PResiDentanDCeo KennethL.Davis
More than 200 Trustees and other close friends of Mount Sinai came together on November 28 to celebrate the opening of the Leon and Norma Hess Center for Science and Medicine; a public ceremony on December 13 featured civic leaders from across New York City, who hailed the impact the new building will have on the community, and a warm welcome for Trustee John B. Hess and his family. “Only by investing in the most outstand-ing physicians, scientists, and staff, will we ensure that Mount Sinai continues its leadership in medicine,” Mr. Hess said. “My family and I have a deep sense of gratitude for all the wonderful people at Mount Sinai and the outstanding work you do every day to save lives, care for patients, and conduct groundbreaking research.”
CeNTer oF ATTeNTIoN
Marie-Josée Kravis and Henry R. Kravis
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Mount Sinai will honor Trustee James Tisch and his wife, Dr. Merryl Tisch, with the Noble Deeds Society award at a celebration of the successful conclusion of the Campaign for Mount Sinai. The event, to be held at The Plaza Hotel in October, will pay tribute to the Tisches’ generous support of Mount Sinai over nearly three decades and recognize the many leading donors to the Campaign. Mr. Tisch has served as chairman of the Campaign, which raised more than $1.3 billion in philanthropy, since 2008. “Jim and Merryl’s leadership has had an incalculable impact on our success. They were among the first to champion our bold vision for Mount Sinai’s future. Their generosity trans-formed The Campaign for Mount Sinai, setting the bar for unprecedented giving and inspiring Mount Sinai’s vast community of support-ers to invest in our institution’s growth,” said President Kenneth L. Davis, MD. The Tisches have been dedicated members of the Mount Sinai community since the 1980s. Mr. Tisch became a Trustee in 1988; he and Dr. Tisch have built a lasting legacy at Mount Sinai through their transformational gift in 2008 to
create The Tisch Cancer Institute, now taking its place among the most dynamic, innovative hubs for cancer care and research and increas-ing its global stature. As founding co-chairs of the Children’s Center Foundation, the Tisches have also helped improve the caliber and breadth of pediatric services at Mount Sinai. “Jim and Merryl Tisch embody, in the best sense, the philanthropic tradition that has sustained Mount Sinai for one hundred and sixty years. Their generosity and foresight in establishing The Tisch Cancer Institute have made Mount Sinai an institution of choice for patients facing many of the most com-mon cancer diagnoses,” said Peter W. May, Chairman of the Mount Sinai Boards of Trustees. Mr. and Dr. Tisch have deep roots in the illustrious Tisch family tradition of giving back to the community. In addition to Mount Sinai, they have championed numerous institutions throughout New York with unflagging advocacy and visionary philanthropy. As President and Chief Executive Officer of Loews Corporation, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Diamond Offshore Drilling,
Inc., and a member of the Board of Directors of CNA Financial Corporation and of Loews Corporation, Mr. Tisch leads one of the largest, most influential family businesses in corpo-rate America. Dr. Tisch has built a successful, prominent career in public service. Currently, she serves as the first female Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents.
Mount Sinai to Honor James and Merryl Tisch at End-of-Campaign Celebration
Mr. and Mrs. Hess (above, center) surrounded by family, friends, fellow Trustees, and Mount Sinai leadership at the Hess Center opening in November.
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Over the past several months, 22 events in New York City and Florida have drawn more than 2,000 guests. Here are some glimpses of how Mount Sinai continues to celebrate our community of dedicated, committed partners.
Celebrations
Greening our ChildrenWhen: May 20 WheRe: Hyatt Regency Greenwich, Old Greenwich, ConnecticutWhO: Phillip Landrigan, MD, MSc, and Jessica Alba
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Dubin Breast Center Second Annual Benefit When: December 10 WheRe: Mandarin Oriental, New York CityWhO: 1. Dean Dennis Charney, Eric M. Ruttenberg, Trustee, President Kenneth Davis, Janet Ruttenberg, Kathy Ruttenberg, Eva Andersson-Dubin, MD, Perri Peltz Ruttenberg. 2. Glenn Dubin, Trustee, Perri Peltz Ruttenberg, Eric Ruttenberg. 3. Elisa Port, MD, FACS, Eva Andersson-Dubin.
Meet the Directors of the Leon and Norma Hess Center for Science and MedicineWhen: April 10 WheRe: Leon and Norma Hess Center for Science and Medicine, New York City WhO: 1. Laurence Magro, Dr. Zahi Fayad, Director, Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute. 2. Susan Mirsky, Dr. Eric Nestler, Director of The Friedman Brain Institute, Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience.
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Honoring richard and Susan FriedmanWhen: April 10 WheRe: Leon and Norma Hess Center for Science and Medicine, New York City WhO: Richard Friedman, Trustee, and Susan Friedman
2013 Crystal PartyWhen: May 2 WheRe: Central Park Conservatory Garden, New York City WhO: 1. Marilyn Friedman and Thomas R. Block, Trustee. 2. Gail Golden Icahn and Carl Icahn, Trustees. 3. Christopher Williams, Trustee, and Janice S. Williams. 4. Eric S. Lane, Trustee and Sarah D. Lane.
A Prescription for Healthy Aging When: February 21 WheRe: The Brazilian Court, Palm Beach, FloridaWhO: 1. Maurice Deane, Barbara Deane. 2. Peter W. May, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and Leni May.
Children’s Health in the News When: April 3 WheRe: 320 Park Avenue, New York CityWhO: Fabian Silverman, Suzanne B. Price, Jane Novick, Hillary Sherman
Dedication of The Steven and Alexandra Cohen Center for Labor and BirthWhen: May 30 WheRe: Leon and Norma Hess Center for Science and Medicine, New York CityWhO: President Kenneth Davis and Alexandra Cohen
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Trustee Eric M. Mindich and his wife, Stacey, had one criterion for a leadership gift to Mount Sinai. “We wanted to give to something we feel passionate about, and children’s health galva-nized us,” says Mrs. Mindich. The newly named Mindich Child Health and Development Institute (MCHDI), launched three years ago, is directed by Bruce Gelb, MD. “When it comes to children’s health, we should get people fired up about sup-porting the hospital’s needs, especially for our sickest kids,” says Dr. Gelb. “But we also want to convince people that it’s an important invest-ment to conduct the kind of research that will ensure the kids aren’t there in the first place.” Eric Mindich is a Mount Sinai Trustee and the founder and CEO of Eton Park Capital Management, a successful investment man-agement firm; Stacey Mindich is the producer of such Broadway hits as Annie and Lucky Guy. Over the years, the Mindich family—including their three sons, all born at Mount Sinai—has supported a variety of programs at the Medical Center, including The Zone, a recreational and educational space at Mount Sinai’s Kravis Children’s Hospital. Their oldest son, Russell, has become particularly involved, creating a program
for The Zone’s in-hospital television network and helping to launch Surge, a magazine “written by teenagers for teenagers” and produced by the Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Department. Dr. Gelb and the Mindiches recently discussed building the MCHDI, philanthropy, and children’s health. Bruce Gelb: What was it about our children’s health research that appealed to your philan-thropic interests? eric Mindich: We’d been discussing for some time making a larger commitment, and as we looked for the area where we could have an impact, we asked ourselves three questions.
Is the mission some-thing that we believe in and something that’s within reach? Is it part of an institution that’s a winning organiza-tion? Does it have the leadership to see that through? This institute met all three criteria and that’s what got us interested. Stacey Mindich: It was important to us that we could be believable in talking about the mission we’re supporting because we’d like to be able to bring other people to the table, and we’ve put a lot of thought into that strategy. We want to focus on the people who can collaborate and understand that the MCHDI’s vision is an investment in the future. Dr. Gelb: It’s been obvious to me in work-ing with you that you’re committed to creating something enduring, and that extends to the way you’ve involved your children. Mr. Mindich: All of our children are excited about the idea of the MCHDI, realize that there’s
a stewardship obligation, and have shown an interest in growing their involvement over time. Mrs. Mindich: Teaching our kids to appreciate the importance of philan-thropy has been a priority for us. We’ve been careful to find something that we can really get engaged in, because
we want them to learn that philanthropy is a core value, not a casual commitment. Mr. Mindich: In any organization like this, it requires a lot more resources than just one gift to fulfill the vision over a sustained period of time. Bruce, what would be your perfect role for us? Dr. Gelb: I see our relationship as a part-nership and a conversation. We launched the institute three years ago, and it’s still coming together; so far, we’ve concentrated on recruiting faculty and doing basic infrastructure building. We have work to do to make it a substantive entity. That’s where our partnership with you
can be helpful. Both of you are people who have built things, and that skill set is something that can be applied to building the MCHDI into something that’s highly visible and credible, both internally and externally. Mrs. Mindich: Bruce, what’s your vision for the MCHDI? Where would you like it to be ten years from now? Dr. Gelb: We’re going to be broadening our mission around children’s health over time. We have made a significant investment in basic science research, and that will continue to be an important part of our work, but we’re going to expand our focus into bringing our findings out of the lab and into communities in terms of looking at outcomes and disparities in health. In ten years, I’d like the MCHDI to be a successful, self-sustaining, highly visible endeavor that’s on anyone’s short list of places where great research is being done in children’s health. Mrs. Mindich: That’s going to be a powerful message as we recruit philanthropic partners to join us in this endeavor, filled with promise and potential. Being there at the beginning is exciting. We’re going to travel a long road together and watch something grow.
Philanthropy at WorkThe Mindich Child Health and Development Institute
Stacey Mindich, Dr. Bruce Gelb, and Trustee Eric M. Mindich.
“ When it comes to children’s health, we should get people fired up about supporting the hospital’s needs, especially for our sickest kids.” – Bruce Gelb, MD
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During their time at Mount Sinai, Steven Galson MD,
ISMMS ’83 and Jessie Wolfe Galson PhD, ISMMS ’86
each found not only a career path, but something
equally important: a life partner.
Their choices have worked out very well. Dr. Galson,
one of America’s leading public health physicians,
served as acting Surgeon General in the Bush and
Obama Administrations; Dr. Wolfe Galson has had a
successful career as a medical writer. And the couple
has raised three children, two of whom have followed
in their parents’ footsteps as Mount Sinai students.
Daughter Sophie, after graduating from the Icahn
School of Medicine in May, is embarking on a career
in emergency medicine, and son Victor is in the
class of 2015.
“It’s kind of nice that both of them were interested
in the same profession as their parents,” Dr. Wolfe
Galson says with a laugh, “because you know it
sometimes has the opposite effect—kids say, ‘I never
want to do what my dad or mom does.’”
The senior Galsons met at Mount Sinai through
a mutual friend who knew they had one important
thing in common: the ability to converse in both
English and French.
Dr. Galson, a native of Syracuse, decided on a
medical career in his senior year at SUNY Stony Brook,
after spending a semester working at a hospital in
France—an experience, he says, that made him realize
“how much I really loved working with patients.”
After studying for two years at a medical school in
the city of Lille, he then transferred to Mount Sinai.
His future wife also had a “French connection”
in her background. Dr. Wolfe Galson was raised,
along with her three brothers, in Paris before she
returned to the US for undergraduate studies at the
University of Chicago.
Her choice of Mount Sinai was influenced
by a family friend, Jack Peter Green, MD, the
founder and longtime chair of the Department of
Pharmacology. “He got me excited about the Mount
Sinai program,” Dr. Wolfe Galson says.
While Dr. Wolfe Galson was studying under Dr.
Green for her PhD in pharmacology, her husband
found a Mount Sinai mentor of his own: Irving
Selikoff, MD, the pioneering public health physician
who first alerted the public to the link between
asbestos and mesothelioma.
“He was my strong supporter,” says Dr. Galson, “and
he helped me figure out how to pursue this career [in
public health], which at that time wasn’t a very well-
appreciated area for medical students.”
During his residency, he spent time in Dr. Selikoff’s
laboratory studying human immunodeficiency virus—
soon to be known by its acronym, HIV—which had
only recently come to the attention of medical author-
ities. “The excitement of being a ‘medical detective’
really appealed to me,” he recalls. “That’s what got me
to join the Centers for Disease Control [CDC] after I
finished my residency.”
While he worked at CDC, the Food and Drug
Administration, and other government agencies,
his wife was establishing herself as a writer in the
pharmaceutical industry, working for such companies
as Marion Merrell Dow and Otsuka America
Pharmaceutical. In 2000, she founded the medical
writing department at Human Genome Sciences,
located in the Washington, DC suburb of Rockville, MD.
From 2008-09, the couple were in the Washington
spotlight when Dr. Galson served as acting Surgeon
General. (“I was like ‘the first lady of the public health
service,’ ” Dr. Wolfe Galson jokes.) While serving in a
Medicine: The Galson Family Business
”�The�excitement��of�being�a�‘medical�detective’�really�appealed�to�me.�That’s�what�got�me�to�join�the�Centers�for�Disease�Control�[CDC]�after�I�finished��my�residency.”
–�Steven�Galson,�MD
The Doctors Galson hood daughter Sophie at the 2013 Icahn School of Medicine commencement.
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position that has sometimes attracted strong contro-
versy, Dr. Galson drew praise from both Republicans
and Democrats for his professionalism and his efforts
to raise public awareness on issues such as childhood
obesity and underage drinking.
For the past two and a half years, the Galsons
have finally been able to work together—in the
Southern California headquarters of biotech giant
Amgen, where Dr. Galson is Vice President for Global
Regulatory Affairs and his wife serves as Director of
Regulatory Writing. They have watched with pride
as their children have taken the first steps toward
a medical career. Sophie is now a resident in
emergency medicine at the University of Arizona
Medical Center in Tucson; Victor has not yet decided
on a medical specialty.
Their parents were happy to return to New York
to attend Sophie’s graduation.
”As graduates of Mount Sinai, we both got to
wear the Mount Sinai robes, and we escorted her,”
says Dr. Wolfe Galson. “There’s a hooding ceremony
where each medical student comes up and gets their
diploma and a hood—and we ‘hooded’ her ourselves.
It was really wonderful.” – Philip Berroll
Paul Cunningham, MD, ISMMS ’79, a native of Jamaica, had visited the United
States several times during his childhood. But nothing had prepared him for the
total-immersion experience of a medical student in New York City.
“I grew up on an island 144 miles long and 54 miles wide, and I was a country
boy, very unsophisticated,” he recalls. “And then I was transported into
Manhattan, the most sophisticated, high-intensity outpost of American culture.
It was incredibly exciting, and also completely distracting. But I was there to
learn, so I just took it one day at a time.”
What Dr. Cunningham learned at Mount Sinai has served him well in a distin-
guished career as surgeon and educator. For the better part of three decades, he
has taught at East Carolina University in North Carolina, where he currently
serves as Dean and Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs at the
University’s Brody School of Medicine while supervising residents at the school’s
affiliated medical facility, Vidant Medical Center.
Dr. Cunningham had dreamed of a career in surgery since early childhood;
his role model, he says, was his family physician, who was also a surgeon. But he
didn’t think seriously about studying medicine in the US until his senior year at
the University of the West Indies in Kingston.
“One of my fellow seniors had gone to Mount Sinai for an externship in
internal medicine,” he recalls, “and he said it was a fabulous facility where he’d had
a very valuable, enjoyable experience. So I decided that I wanted to go there, too.”
At Mount Sinai, Dr. Cunningham studied under distinguished surgeons such
as Drs. Isidore Kreel, Robert Paradny, Arthur Sicular and Edward Jemerin. But his
greatest mentor, he says, was then-Surgery Chair Dr. Arthur Aufses, Jr.
“He remains a legendary figure to me,” says Dr. Cunningham. “He was a
‘surgeon’s surgeon’ who commanded the utmost respect from everyone, because
he had enormous compassion and a work ethic which was second to none. He
taught me not only the art of surgery, but also how to deal with patients in the
most professional manner—to treat each patient as an equal, to do the absolute
From “Country Boy” to Surgeon and Educator
Mount Sinai Honors 2013 Jacobi Medallion Recipients
One of Mount Sinai’s highest awards, the Jacobi Medallion, was presented in March 2013 to a distin-guished group of recipients who have had a lasting impact on the institution (from left): Karen Zier, PhD; Michael L. Brodman, MD, ISMMS ’82; Wayne S. Fuchs, MD, ISMMS ’79 MSH ’83; Senior Vice Chairman of the Boards of Trustees Donald J. Gogel; Jeffrey S. Freed, MD, MSH ’76; and Lisa M. Satlin, MD.
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best for each of them, regardless of who they were.”
It wasn’t long before another change of scenery allowed
Dr. Cunningham to fully practice what he had learned at
Mount Sinai. Two years after graduation, he was working at
Joint Diseases North General Hospital in Harlem (later known
simply as North General Hospital) when he saw an intriguing
want ad in a medical journal.
“It said there was a need for a surgeon in Windsor, in a
remote part of eastern North Carolina,” he recalls. “There was
one aging surgeon serving a population of 10,000 people in the
surrounding county. So I thought, why not go take a look? My
wife and I flew down there on a four-seat plane provided by
the town’s mayor—and I literally fell in love with the people,
and decided that I could do more for them than anywhere else
that I could imagine.”
At Bertie Memorial Hospital in Windsor, Dr. Cunningham
performed a wide variety of surgical tasks –from trauma
surgery to delivering babies through C-section—while also
serving as the local medical examiner. In addition, he taught
part-time at the ECU medical school, which had opened only
four years earlier. By 1984, he was a full-time faculty member;
he became a professor of surgery in 1993 and chief of general
surgery in 1999.
After leaving Windsor to chair the Department of Surgery at
SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, Dr. Cunningham
returned in 2008 to take his present position.
“They had been struggling with leadership transitions,”
he explains, “and thought that perhaps I’d developed some
leadership skills in Syracuse that would help me serve the
people of their region. I was intrigued by the responsibilities
and decided to take the job.”
Dr. Cunningham believes that present-day medical educators
face challenges no less serious than in his student days at
Mount Sinai.
“We need to teach our students to maintain professionalism
amidst all the transformative changes taking place in medicine,
and to not be distracted by enticements that are more
business-related and less professional,” he asserts, “so that they
can move our profession forward in a meaningful way—a way
that benefits the people whom we serve.” – Philip Berroll
A Message from Jeffrey Laitman, PhD
As my term as President has recently ended, I want to share the major items I‘ve learned—and especially one thread: Reverence for our home and excitement for our future. I am well aware of many of our accomplish-ments, legends, and recountings of “The Giants,” as my colleagues often called some of our past greats. I’ve also come closer to understanding the special bond that many have with Mount Sinai. Born out of necessity, Mount Sinai was founded for the castaways of society, outsiders, second-class refugees who were not welcome—or cared for—elsewhere. From our beginning, we understood that, if our home was to continue, it had to be stronger than the forces around it; we had to see further and more clearly. Since 1977, when I came to Mount Sinai, and more recently as president of our alumni, I’ve had many instances both to learn and to reflect upon the accomplishments that were fostered here by our own: breakthroughs by insightful physicians who were scientists by night, by incomparable National Academy Members, and Nobel laureates, that led to more diseases being named after Mount Sinai physicians and scientists than at any other hospital. The recent challenges by President Davis and Dean Charney to bring forth a new era of “innovation” are appropriately rooted in the fertile soil of creativ-ity that our forbearers began to till so lovingly in 1852. I’ve also learned that success and survival, now as in 1852, take money. Through the historical generosity of our Trustees the framework of our Medical Center is strong. Now it up to us to assure that the chain of good-ness and the values we ascribe to will retain its strength forever. To dig deep, to give generously, is not a burden but a blessing. As our alumni have done since the founding of our “House of Noble Deeds,” we will provide the vision and support to keep the chain strong and enable the spirit of innovation that is part of our genetic blueprint to soar always.
Greetings from the New Alumni Director
I am thrilled to serve as the Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving. With more than 10 years experience in development and alumni work, I most recently held the position of Director of Development at The Aleph Society, an organization supporting the work of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz. Prior to that role, I worked with alumni from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. I am excited to grow and strengthen the alumni base in close collaboration with our development team. It is a true privilege to work with Mount Sinai Alumni representing, not one, but two wonderful institutions: the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and The Mount Sinai Hospital. The degree of cutting-edge research, expertise and camarade-rie among colleagues is truly astonishing and no doubt reflects its undispu-table reputation. As alumni, you make up the foundation of our continued success and ongoing achievements. We would not be here today without you so please stay in touch and keep us informed of your most recent email address so we can do the same. We can be reached at [email protected], and we certainly want to hear from you.
”�We�need�to�teach�our�students�to�maintain�professionalism�amidst�all�the�transformative�changes�taking�place�in�medicine,�and�to�not�be�distracted�by�enticements�that�are�more�business-related�and�less�professional.”
–�Paul�Cunningham,�MDJeffrey Laitman is Past President of Mount Sinai Alumni Association.
Sharon Meiri Fox, MPA, joined Mount Sinai earlier this year.
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The pride of Mount Sinai came together at Reunion
2013 as more than 100 alumni gathered to reconnect,
celebrate, and pay special tribute to the classes of 1973
and 1988 upon their 40th and 25th anniversaries.
Held May 10 in the new, state-of-the-art Leon and
Norma Hess Center for Science & Medicine, Reunion
2013 featured campus tours led by current students,
the Mount Sinai Alumni Association’s annual Alumni
Awards Ceremony, and a special cocktail reception
and dinner at which alumni from the classes of 1973
and 1988 were the guests of honor.
Graduates from those years recognized their
milestone anniversaries by giving more than $40,000
to the Icahn School of Medicine’s scholarship fund;
their gift was doubled through a generous match
provided by President Kenneth L. Davis and Trustee
Bonnie M. Davis, both ISMMS ’73.
“Mount Sinai’s graduates are some of the most
accomplished physician-scientists in the world,”
said President Davis. “It is an honor to call them
my fellow alumni.”
A Connection That Stands the Test of Time
Pictured: 1. Members of the ISMMS class of 1973 celebrate with each other and their families. Sitting, from L: Justin Rispler, son of Jacob Rispler, MD; Ilene Steiman, Dr. Rispler’s wife; Dr. Rispler; and Jeremy Tortsveit, MD. Standing, from L: Dorothy Morrison, mother of Bonnie M. Davis, MD; Dr. Davis; Samuel Nussbaum, MD; President and CEO Kenneth L. Davis, MD; and Shawn Tortsveit, Dr. Tortsveit’s wife. 2. Trustee Jean C. Crystal, winner of the Alumni Association’s Dr. Sidney Grossman Distinguished Humanitarian Award, and Trustee James W. Crystal. 3. From L: Debra Wattenberg, MD, Julie Fox, MD, and Susan Drossman, MD, members of ISMMS Class of 1973. 4. Members of the ISMMS Class of 1988 and their families. Standing, from L: Marjorie Seidenfeld, MD; Mark Seidenfeld (husband of Marjorie); Jeffrey Erksine (husband of Pamela Marcus); Anthony Weiss, MD; Jeffrey Levine, MD, Steven Lev, MD, Nancy Basri (wife of Bill Basri), and Bill Basri, MD. Seated, from L: Pamela Marcus, MD, and Jill Baron, MD.
With one of the lowest tuition rates of any top-ranked school in the country, Mount Sinai is committed to helping the next generation of physician leaders take on the medical challenges of tomorrow without taking on excessive debt. But with the cost of attending medical school rising every year, it is still a financial challenge for even the best students to pursue their dreams. Your support can be the difference. Please consider making a gift to scholarships at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
For more information, please contact:
Lisa Harper Kennedy
Director of Development and
Alumni Relations
212.731.7492
philanthropy.mountsinai.org
Medicine is a caLLing. scHoLarsHips are an answer.
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Recognition Awards&
Jeffrey Laitman, PhD, Distinguished Professor; Doctor of Medical Science (D. Med. Sc.) honoris causa, Medical College of Wisconsin; elected Fellow American Laryngological Association (Associate/Scientific Fellow Category, American Laryngological Association)
Gary Butts, MD, Professor; appointed to the NYS Council of Graduate Medical Education, Council of Graduate Medical Education; appointed co-chair of the newly established Mount Sinai Diversity Council in 2012
Samuel Bronfman Department of MedicineAshish Atreja, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor; fellow, Rome Foundation; Career Development Award, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America; member, Executive Board, Center for GI Innovation and Technology, American Gastroenterological Association; web-editor, American Gastroenterological Association
Zachary T. Bloomgarden, MD, MACE, Clinical Professor; awarded Master of the American College of Endocrinology, American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists
Christoph Buettner, MD, Associate Professor; Outstanding Scientific Abstract, Endocrine Society (abstract will be included in the Guidelines for Writing Scientific Abstracts)
Lawrence B. Cohen, MD, Clinical Professor; elected chair, Standards of Practice and Publication Committee, World Endoscopy Organization
Stephanie Factor, PhD, Assistant Professor; inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society
Gerald Friedman, MD, PhD, Clinical Professor; Guest Editor, Gastroenterology Clinics of North America; member of NIH Working Group on Further Directions for Medical and Other Health Professionals Nutrition Education, Training and Research, National Institute of Health
Christopher DiMaio, MD, Assistant Professor; elected Membership Chairman, Executive Council of the New York Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
Emily Gallagher, MD, Assistant Professor; poster presentation, American Diabetes Association
Donald Gardnier, DNP, FNP-BC, Assistant Professor; awarded NP/PA Clinical Hepatology Fellowship, American Association for the Study of Liver Disease; appointed to Board of Directors, American Association of Nurse Practitioners; appointed to Hepatology Association Committee, American Association for the Study of Liver Disease; awarded Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing Alumni Award for Outstanding Clinical Competence, Case Western Reserve University
Eliza B. Geer, MD, Assistant Professor, Medicine and Neurosurgery; awarded Endocrine Society Presidential Poster Award, Endocrine Society; awarded The Mount Sinai Medical Center Dr. Harold and Golden Lamport Research Award for Research, The Mount Sinai Medical Center
Charles Gerson, MD, PhD, Clinical Professor; appointed Fulbright Specialist, Fulbright Scholar Program; awarded Rome Foundation Fellow, Rome Foundation
Susana Gonzalez, MD, Assistant Professor; awarded American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy the 2013 Cook Medical Don Wilson Award
John Ci-jiang He, MD, Professor; President, Chinese American Society of Nephrology
Joseph Kannry, MD, Associate Professor; awarded Mentored Cancer Prevention, Control, Behavioral Sciences, and Population Sciences Career Development Award, National Cancer Institute
Michelle Kim, MD, MSc, Assistant Professor Department of Gastroenterology; Inducted as an American Gastroenterological Association Fellow; appointed President of New York Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
Asher Kornbluth, MD, Clinical Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, Co-Director of first annual Mount Sinai—Hadassah Inflammatory Bowel Disease course in Eilat, Israel; Co-Director of 2nd Annual “Great Debates and Updates in IBD” course in San Francisco
Rauf Latif, MD, Assistant Professor; Endo 2013 Oral Presentation, Endocrine Society
Mikyung Lee, MD, Assistant Professor; appointed Faculty Member, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, Lambda Chapter; awarded Teaching Excellence Award and Solomon Berson Award, Department of Medicine, The Mount Sinai Medical Center
Staci Leisman, MD, Assistant Professor; Student Council’s Edward J. Ronan Award, Icahn School of Medicine
David DeLaet, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor; awarded fellowship, American College of Physicians and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Derek LeRoth, MD, PhD, Professor; awarded Distinction in Endocrinology Award, American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists
Jenny Lin, MD, Associate Professor; Mentored Cancer Prevention, Control, Behavioral Sciences, and Population Sciences Career Development Award, National Cancer Institute
Aimee Lucas, MD, Assistant Professor; awarded KL2 Translational Research Faculty Scholar award
Luz Amarilis Lugo, MD, Assistant Professor; awarded 2013 Latin Trendsetter, Latin Trends Magazine
Richard MacKay, MD, Assistant Professor; awarded Fellow of the American College of Physicians, American College of Physicians
James Marion, MD, AGAF, Associate Clinical Professor; President, Charaka Club; Physician of the Year, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America
Jeffry I. Mechanick, MD, Clinical Professor; appointed President-Elect (2013-2014) American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists; appointed Lead Editor (2013-2015), President’s Council on Fitness Sports and Nutrition-Research Digest; appointed Chair, Transcultural Diabetes Nutrition Algorithm, Core International Committee
Adolfo García-Ocaña, PhD, Professor; Editorial Board of American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and Metabolism, American Physiological Society
Grishma Parikh, MD, Assistant Professor; Poster presentation, “A Case of Ketoacidosis in Pregnancy”, Endocrine Society
Elliot J. Rayfield, MD, Clinical Professor, Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Bone Disease; member, Annual Steering Committee, Endocrine Society
Rajeev Rohatgi, MD, Associate Professor; 2012 Renal Paper of the Year, “Flow-induced prostaglandin E2 release regulates Na and K transport in the collecting duct,” AJP
Gina Sam, MD, Assistant Professor; elected to the Executive Council of the New York Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy as Committee Member, NYSGE Membership Committee
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Recognition Awards& Bruce Sands, MD, MS, Professor; Thirteenth Annual Burton A. Shatz Visiting Professor, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO; Chairman, International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IOIBD)
Donald A. Smith, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, member of Mount Sinai Heart; appointed to Board of Directors, National Lipid Association; appointed Associate Editor, Journal of Clinical Lipidology, National Lipid Association
Brijen Shah, MD, Assistant Professor Department of Gastroenterology; 2013 Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award; 2012 Department of Medicine General Teaching Excellence Award
Theresa Soriano, MD, MPH, Associate Professor; awarded Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Early Career Physician Award for Palliative Care Leadership, Hastings Center and Cunniff-Dixon Foundation; awarded Cornell University College of Human Ecology Recent Alumni Achievement Award, Cornell University
Yaron Tomer, MD, Professor; elected member, Interurban Clinical Club
Eva Waite, MD, Assistant Professor; awarded fellowship, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Richard Warner, MD, Professor; awarded Abramson Cancer Center, Penn Medicine: Focus on Neuroendocrine Tumors Distinguisher Partner in Hope Award; elected to Scientific Advisors Board of The Sandler-Kenner Foundation; Appointed Advisor to the Editors of the Journal of Clinical Oncology
Jerome Waye, MD, Professor; appointed President of the World Endoscopy Organization; awarded Mount Sinai Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award, Mount Sinai Medical Center; awarded Hippocrates Award for presenting a paper in Athens, Greece; Visiting Professor, Panama Society for Gastroenterology; honored by Wong-Tang Fellowship in Advanced Endoscopy at Mount Sinai Medical Center
Robert Yanagisawa, MD, Associate Professor; awarded Clinical Professorship of Medicine, Tohoku University, Japan; awarded Department of Medicine Teaching Award for 2012 Best Grand Rounds Award, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Xiaoming Yin, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor; presented at ENDO 2013, Endocrine Society
Department of Microbiology Benjamin tenOever, PhD, Fishberg Professor of Medicine; Palmenberg Award, American Society of Virology
Peter Palese, PhD, Horace W. Goldsmith Professor and Chair; Sanofi–Institut Pasteur Award for Biomedical Research, Sanofi–Institut Pasteur; member, Institute of Medicine of the National Academies
Estelle and Daniel Maggin Department of Neurology Steven Frucht, MD, Professor; named Associate Editor, Movement Disorder Journal; Leadership Award, Dystonia Medical Research Foundation
Fred Lublin, MD, Saunders Family Professor; elected Chairman, Clinical Advisory Committee, National Multiple Sclerosis Society/Southern New York Chapter; Co-Chief Editor, Multiple Sclerosis and Related Diseases; William S. Fields Lecturer and visiting professor, University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston, December 14, 2012
Aaron Miller, MD, Professor; elected Secretary, American Academy of Neurology
Rajeev Motiwala, MD, Assistant Professor; A. B. Baker certificate for excellence in Neurologic Education, American Academy of Neurology
Warren Olanow, MD, Professor; Henry P. and Georgette Goldschmidt Professor; Honorary FRCP, Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom; Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Movement Disorders; Keynote Speaker, Japanese Neurological Society Meeting
Pullani Shashidharan, PhD, Associate Professor; named Regional Editor of Central Nervous System Agents in Medicinal Chemistry
David Simpson MD, FAAN, Professor; Best Doctors, Castle Connolly, New York Metro Area, Best Doctors in America
Kristina Simonya, MD, Assistant Professor; Award of Merit for Contribution to Neuroscience and Psychiatry, St. John’s College
Coro Paisan-Ruiz, MD, Assistant Professor; 2012 Lucien Côté Early Investigator Award in Clinical Genetics, Parkinson’s disease Foundation
Janet C. Rucker, MD, Associate Professor; elected Chair, Neuro-Ophthalmology and Neuro-Otology Section, American Academy of Neurology
Ruth Walker, MD, PhD, Associate Professor; Associate Editor, Tremor and other hyperkinetic movement
Zhenyu Yue, PhD, Associate Professor, Appointed Director for Basic and Translational Research in Movement Disorders; a regular member of NIH/NINDS study section CMND
Department of Nursing Carol Porter, DNP, RN, FAAN, Edgar M. Cullman, Sr. Chair of Department of Nursing, Chief Nursing Officer, Senior Vice President for the Mount Sinai Medical Center Associate Dean of Nursing Research and Education; Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, American Academy of Nurses
Janet Johnson, MA, ACNP, ANP-BC, Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Mount Sinai Heart, Cardiology ADS Service; Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, American Association of Nurse Practitioners
Dianne LaPointe Rudow, DNP, Associate Professor; Keynote Speaker, University of Alabama Joint Doctor of Nursing Practice Intensive; awarded 2013 Clinical of Distinction Award, American Society of Transplantation
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive SciencesMichael Brodman, MD, professor and Chair; 2012 Saul Horowitz, Jr. Memorial Award, The Mount Sinai Hospital; 2013 Jacobi Medallion Award, The Mount Sinai Hospital
Katherine Chen, MD, Associate Professor; keynote speaker, “Interactive Techniques for Teaching the Millennial Learner”, 2012 Institute of Medicine Faculty Development Seminar, Icahn School of Medicine
Nimesh Nagarsheth, MD, Associate Professor; Purple Passion Prize, National Award by Foundation for Women’s Cancer
Department of OphthalmologyTamiesha Frempong, MD, Assistant Professor; member, Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society
Naomi Goldberg, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor; presented Diagnostic Challenges in Uveitis and the Role of Ancillary Testing and Imaging, Women in Ophthalmology, New York Chapter
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Carlo Iomini, PhD, Assistant Professor, 2012 Speaker, “Cornea, Biology and Pathobiology”, Gordon Research Conference, Ventura, CA
Douglas A. Jabs, MD, MBA, Chairman and Professor; 1st Annual A.E. Finely Distinguished Visiting Professor, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC; 29th Annual Marion K. Humphries Jr., MD Lecture, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA
Edward Raab, MD, Professor; appointed to Board of Governors and Advisory Council, American College of Surgery
Janet Rucker, MD, Assistant Professor; appointed Chair, Nuero-Ophthalmology and Neuro-Otology Section, American Academy of Neurology
Leni and Peter W. May Department of OrthopaedicsAndrew C. Hecht, MD, Assistant Professor; NFL Brain and Spine Committee, National Football League
James Iatridis, PhD, Professor; Chair, Skeletal Biology and Structural Regeneration (SBSR) Study Section, National Institute of Health (two year appointment); guest faculty, the Anatomical Society Summer Meeting in Dublin, Ireland
Department of Otolaryngology
Anthony Reino, MD, Associate Professor; Physician of the Year, James J. Peters VA Medical Center
Lilian and Benjamin Hertzberg Palliative Care InstituteHelen M. Fernandez, MD, MPH, Associate Professor; outstanding Mid-Career Clinical Teacher of the Year Award, American Geriatrics Society
Reena Karani, MD, FACP, Associate Professor; Scholarship in Medical Education Award, the Society of General Internal Medicine
Amy Kelley, MD, MSHS, Assistant Professor; Outstanding Junior Investigator of the Year Award, the American Geriatrics Society
Leslie Libow, MD, CMD, Professor; James Pattee Award for Excellence in Education, the American Medical Directors Association
Diane E. Meier, MD, FACP, Catherine Gaisman Professor of Medical Ethics; Medal of Honor for Cancer Control, the American Cancer Society; Edward Henderson Award, the American Geriatrics Society
R. Sean Morrison, MD, Herman Merkin Professor and Director; Distinguished Achievement Award, American Cancer Society; Excellence Award in Scientific Research in Palliative Care, American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; Presidential Citation, American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
Albert L. Siu, MD, MSPH, Professor and Chair; Circle of Life Award, Department of Emergency Medicine, the Mount Sinai Medical Center
Jack and Lucy Clark Department of PediatricsCorinne Benchimol, MD, assistant Professor; NY “Superdoctors” list, SuperDoctors.com; Top Pediatric Nephrologists, US News & World Report
Angela Diaz, MD, Professor; Legacy Award, San Ysidro Health Center; New York “SuperDoctor”, SuperDoctors.com; Best Doctor in Adolescent Health, Castle Connelly
Anne Nucci-Sack, MD, assistant professor; Best Doctor in Adolescent Health, Castle Connelly
Jessica Reid-Adam, PhD, Assistant Professor; awarded a KL-1 research grant, Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), Mount Sinai Medical Center
Jeffrey Saland, MD, Associate Professor; New York “Superdoctors” list, SuperDoctors.com; Top Pediatric Nephrologists, US News & World Report
Lisa Satlin, MD, Chair and Herbert H. Lehman Professor; Castle Connolly list of Best Doctors for the region; J. Lester Gabrilove Award, Mount Sinai Medical Center; Hans Ussing Lecturer, Annual Meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 2013; Jacobi Medallion recipient, Icahn School of Medicine
Annemarie Stroustrup, MD, Assistant Professor; member, Society for Pediatric Research; member, Perinatal Research Society
Dorothy H. and Lewis Rosenstiel Department of PharmacologyLakshmi A. Devi, PhD, Professor; National Institute for Health Merit Award, 2012-2022, National Institute for Health; Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science; keynote speaker, 2012 Postdoctoral Scientist Award Symposium, Neuropharmacology Division, American Society for Pharmacology Experimental Therapeutics
Francesco Ramirez, PhD, Dr. Amy and James Elster professor; 2012 fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Department of Preventive MedicineNils Henning, MD, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor; Award for Outstanding Service in the International Community, Mount Sinai Auxiliary Board and the Young Women’s Division; symposium speaker “Making the Leap: From Training to a Career in Global Health”, The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygine (ASTMH) Annual Meeting; keynote speaker at the International Health and Development Conference, Cornell University
Emily Senay, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor; first place National Headliner Award, PBS news magazine Need to Know
Susan Teitelbaum, PhD, Assistant Professor; keynote speaker, “Looking Upstream for Environmental Links to Breast Cancer”, Cincinnati Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program (BCERP) at Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati
Department of Psychiatry Cindy J. Aaronson, PhD, Assistant Clinical Professor; member, Board of Directors of Anxiety and Depression Association of America
Schahram Akbarian, MD, PhD, Professor; Eva King Killam Research Award of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP); Distinguished Investigator Award, Brain Behavior Research Foundation (BBRF)
Sam Gandy, MD, PhD, Professor; Chairman, Cure Alzheimer’s Fund International Stem Cell Consortium
Rita Z. Goldstein, PhD, Professor; Joel Elkes Research Award, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP)
Marianne Goodman, MD, Assistant Professor; Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 3 Directors’ Award for provision of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy to clinicians across the VISN
Wayne Goodman, MD, Professor and Chair; Career Achievement Award from the International OCD Foundation; Elected to the Scientific Council of Anxiety and Depression Association of America
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Recognition Awards& Hirofumi Morishita, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor; 2012 Travel Award, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology; 2013 Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Research Award, March of Dimes
Larry Siever, MD, Professor; Invited Plenary Speaker at: IASR 2013 World Congress on Suicide (June 2013); XIIIth International Congress on the Disorders of Personality (ISSPD) (Sept 2013)
James Strain, MD, Professor; Master Teacher Award, Institute of Medical Education
Department of Radiology
Burton P. Drayer, MD, Dr. Charles M. and Marilyn Newman Professor of Radiology; appointed to Board of Chancellors, American College of Radiology; appointed Board Member and Treasurer, Radiology Society of North America, Research and Education Foundation
Lale Kostakoglu, MD, Professor; Honored Educator Award, Radiological Society of North America (RSNA)
Thomas Naidich, MD, Professor; named Honorary Founding Member and Invited Lecturer, Opening Session of Inaugural Meeting, Russian Society of Neuroradiology Moscow, Russia; appointed consultant Neuroradiologist, New York State Krabbe Consortium
William Simpson, MD, Associate Professor; appointed Chairman, Radiology Section, The New York Academy of Medicine
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine
Joshua B. Cantor, PhD, ABPP, Associate Professor; member, Board of Governors of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine; Chair-elect, Brain Injury Special Interests Group of American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine; Associate Editor, Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation
Wayne Gordon, PhD, Jack Nash professor; Gold Key Award, American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
Kristjan T. Ragnarsson, MD, Lucy G. Moses Professor and Chairman, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine; president, Foundation for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation;
Board Member and immediate Past President, Association of Academic Physiatrists; recipient of “The Excellence Award” by the Academy of Spinal Cord Injury Professionals; named G. Heiner Sell Distinguished lecturer 2013, the American Spinal Injury Association
Ruth J. Maxwell Hauser and Harriet and Arthur H. Aufses, Jr., MD Department of Surgery Joel J. Bauer, MD, Clinical Professor; keynote speaker, Joint Meeting of Israel Society of Colorectal Surgery and the Israel Society of Minimally Invasive Surgery
Celia M. Divino, MD, Professor; keynote speaker, National Leadership Institute, Student National Medical Association (SNMA)
Neil A. Halpern, MD, Associate Clinical Professor; Roger C Bone Memorial Lecture in Critical Care, American College of Chest Physicians
Thomas M. Heimann, MD, Professor; New York State Chair, Area B, Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons
William B. Inabnet, III, MD, Professor; Chair of the Fellowship Accreditation Committee, Chair of the Collaborative Endocrine Surgery Quality Improvement Program (CESQIP) Committee, American Association of Endocrine Surgeons (AAES); Chair, Standards Committee , the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program, American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery; Chair of the Executive Committee for Video-Based Education, American College of Surgeons; Arthur M. Shipley Award, 124th Annual Southern Surgical Association Session; fellow, American Surgical Association at the 133rd Annual Meeting; keynote speaker: America Thyroid Association, 82nd Annual Meeting; Argentina Congress of Surgery, 83rd Annual Meeting; Southern Surgical Association; The 4th Annual International Consensus Summit for Sleeve Gastroectomy (ICSSG-4)
Lester Silver, MD, Professor; President’s Award, American Society of Plastic Surgeons; Honorary Fellow, West African College of Surgeons
Translational and Molecular Imaging InstituteZahi Fayad, PhD, Director; Henry I Russek Distinguished Lecturer, 45th Anniversary of the American College of Cardiology Foundation New York Cardiovascular Symposium; International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
Fellow; Charter Member, NIH Center of Scientific Review Clinical Molecular Imaging and Probe Development Study Section
Milton and Carroll Petrie Department of UrologyMichael J. Droller, MD, Katherine and Clifford Goldsmith Professor; visiting professor, Department of Urology, University of California, San Francisco; visiting professor and Battert Lecturer, Department of Urology, Ohio State University; guest speaker, Urologic Journal Editors Meeting, Hefei China; guest speaker, Department of Urology Medical Center, University of Santiago Medical Center, Santiago, Chile
Grace Hyun, MD, Assistant Professor; 2012-2013 Leadership Program, American Urological Association; member, Urology Committee, New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM)
Michael Palese, MD, Associate Professor; invited speaker, Department of Spiritual Care and Community Education; 2013 grant committee member, National Medical Research Council, Ministry of Health for Singapore; grand rounds speaker; Urology Grand Rounds of Beth Israel Medical Center; invited speaker and panel member, the New York Section of the American Urological Association, Taormina Sicily; invited speaker, Intensive Update with Board Review in Geriatric and Palliative Medicine: 2012 Continuing Medical Education Course, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; moderator, multidisciplinary Minimally Invasive Surgery, Minimally Invasive Robotic Association (MIRA) & Society of Robotic Surgery (SRS) Joint Annual Meeting, Society of Laproendoscopic Surgeons; 2013 Superdoctors, Superdoctors of New York, New York Times; 2013 Patient Choice Award, patientschoice.org
Jeffrey Stock, MD, Associate Professor; Blue Ribbon, the Institute for Medical Education (IME), Icahn School of Medicine
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