Neha B. Pannuri, MPH, one of 147 candidates receiving a degree from Mount Sinai
The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai conferred 147 master’s degrees in eight programs during a recent ceremony, an interactive virtual event that recapped a year of great challenges and extraordinary achievement. In 2020, the Graduate School added a ninth master’s program, in epidemiology, which will graduate its first cohort in 2022.
Pediatrician, scientist, and activist Mona Hanna-Attisha, MD, MPH, Founder and Director of the Michigan State University-Hurley Children’s Hospital Pediatric Public Health Initiative, received an honorary Doctor of Science degree for playing a pivotal role in helping to uncover the Flint, Michigan, water crisis. Dr. Hanna-Attisha also delivered the commencement address.
Marta Filizola, PhD
Graduate School Dean Marta Filizola, PhD, greeted the graduates and guests, saying, “This pandemic is the latest we have seen, but it is not the first,” and recounting “some of the things that really are unprecedented about our times.” Dr. Filizola is also the Sharon & Frederick A. Klingenstein/Nathan G. Kase, MD Professor of Pharmacological Sciences, and Professor of Neuroscience.
“The world is undeniably more complex today than ever before—interactions of people and nature with sophisticated technologies and human-made systems, taking place in a world of unprecedented population size and unprecedented levels of interdependence,” she said. “This is the reality that presents us with immense challenges.”
Yet, she continued, “What is also unprecedented is the extent of the cooperation, compassion, and teamwork we must bring to bear on these challenges. The breadth of professional training and expertise the world calls for is the reason our graduates today represent such a diversity of degree programs, training areas, and specialty tracks.”
Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD
Presiding over the ceremony was Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Director of The Friedman Brain Institute, Dean for Academic and Scientific Affairs, and Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience. “The fact that you are all here today is testimony to your fortitude and impressive resilience. Today’s master’s graduates exemplify the full range of expertise that our society has needed to combat and overcome the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. “We are very proud of your inspiring accomplishments at Mount Sinai, and look forward to all the good that you will do as you embark on your exciting careers.”
Dr. Hanna-Attisha gave a heartfelt speech that drew on her own experience in public health, and she exhorted the graduates to be fearless leaders.
“We need tough graduates like you,” she told them. “Fueled by the power of this place, the engine of knowledge and innovation, you are the light that will illuminate some of our hardest and greatest challenges. You, and especially the field of science, will be on the front lines of some of the most important battlegrounds of society today.”
Mona Hanna-Attisha, MD, MPH
“My story, the Flint, Michigan, story, is a story not unlike our current crisis, about failing to respect science and public health, and failing to protect the most vulnerable among us,” she said. “Remember—somewhere, somehow, sometime in your life—you will have to make a choice. The issue may not be as momentous as a poisoning of a town, but there are Flints everywhere, there are injustices everywhere, there are places and people that will need you to open your eyes and take action and to do the hard things. I urge you to keep your eyes open, to stay vigilant, to remain curious, to take action, to keep doing the hard things for the right reasons.”
Student speaker Meghan Smith, who received a Master of Public Health, spoke of the perseverance and compassion of this unique graduating class, and the hope that they represent.
“At the onset of the pandemic, and this very dark period of time, many people were at a paralyzing low. Incredibly, the students channeled all of these emotions and possessed the strength to step up,” she said, citing the medical- and graduate-student COVID-19 workforce, and other efforts around New York City to support clinical and research efforts. “At one point, it seemed like every student I knew, across all programs, was doing something to help the devastation this nation had witnessed.”
Meghan Smith, MPH
And, as the “country began to recognize the racism and oppression that has existed as part of our society for hundreds of years,” she continued, “powerful social justice movements inspired all of us to make our voices heard.”
With robust optimism, Ms. Smith concluded: “As we embark on our journeys, not knowing what challenges we may face, I know we will all continue to be the people who are willing to step up.”