Alumni toured the Innovators in Science and Medicine display at Guggenheim Pavilion.
More than 200 alumni gathered recently to celebrate 50 years of education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s annual Alumni Reunion and Awards Ceremony.
Eleven distinguished alumni of the Icahn School of Medicine and St. Luke’s-Roosevelt (SLR) received awards at the event on Wednesday, May 16, at the New York Academy of Medicine. The event also included a keynote discussion by two panelists on the diverse communities cared for by the Mount Sinai Health System: Theresa A. Soriano, MD, MPH, ISMMS 2001, Professor of Medicine, and Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, spoke about patients’ social and economic challenges, and Scott Jelinek, MD, ISMMS 2018, focused on Mount Sinai’s leadership in caring for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender patients.
Both physicians represent the future of medical care, said David Muller, MD, Dean for Medical Education, and the Marietta and Charles C. Morchand Chair for Medical Education, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “People like Scott and Theresa make us better. They make us a better school, better people, better doctors,” Dr. Muller said.
Before the ceremony, current medical students presented research projects to alumni and led a tour of the School of Medicine. The anatomy lab and the library were familiar to all, but alumni were intrigued by some newer aspects of student life. For example, students who do not attend lectures in person can watch later on videos—sometimes playing them at double speed to save time. And most exams can be taken online. “The tests are timed, but you can take them in your bedroom, or wherever you have Wi-Fi,” said tour guide Evan Garden, Class of 2021. “There are so many initiatives to improve student wellness, and this is definitely one of the more popular ones.”
The tour ended at Guggenheim Pavilion, site of a major exhibition of Innovators in Science and Medicine. The display focuses on the work of 48 physicians and scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai who have made advances in fields as diverse as genomics, immunology, orthopedics, transplant surgery, environmental health, and equity in health care. The innovators all have a common goal, the exhibition states: “Striving to generate better scientific understanding and treatments that will change lives.”
The alumni award winners were:
The Saul Horowitz, Jr. Memorial Award: Mitchell B. Cohen, MD, MSSM ’77
The J. Lester Gabrilove Award: Bonnie M. Davis, MD, MSSM, ’73
The Mount Sinai Alumni Special Recognition Award: Richard R.P. Warner, MD, MSH ’61
The Mount Sinai Alumni Award for Achievement in Medical Education: Claude Bloch, MD, FACR, MSH ’60
The Mount Sinai Alumni Award for Achievement in Medical Education: Rainier P. Soriano, MD, MSH ’99
The Dr. Sidney Grossman Distinguished Humanitarian Award: Ann Marie Beddoe, MD, MPH
The Mount Sinai Alumni Student Leadership Award: Benjamin M. Laitman, PhD, MD, ISMMS ’18
The Terry Ann Krulwich Physician-Scientist Alumni Award: Ayotunde Dokun, MD, PhD, MSSM ’03
The Mount Sinai Alumni Award for Achievement in Graduate Education: Ana Fernandez-Sesma, PhD, MSSM ’98
St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Distinguished Alumnus Award: George Todd, MD
St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Distinguished Young Physician of the Year: Shanna K. Patterson, MD
