From left: Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Dean for Academic and Scientific Affairs; Marta Filizola, PhD, Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; and Rosalind J. Wright, MD, MPH, Dean for Translational Biomedical Research, after presenting Marie Lynn Miranda, PhD, Howard R. Hughes Provost, and Professor of Statistics, Rice University, with an Honorary Doctor of Science degree.
The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai conferred 216 master’s degrees during a jubilant commencement ceremony held before a standing-room-only audience at Stern Auditorium on Thursday, June 20.
“We are proud that the Class of 2019 includes graduates from around the globe who have enriched Mount Sinai with their diversity of culture, language, and experience,” said Marta Filizola, PhD, Dean, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, who presided over the commencement. “This is among our School’s great assets. To truly flourish, science and health care must attract talented students from across nationalities, socioeconomic backgrounds, race, and gender. It is their diversity of thought and approach that will make it possible to solve the complex problems we confront in the disciplines of biomedical sciences and health care.” Dr. Filizola is also the Sharon and Frederick A. Klingenstein/Nathan G. Kase, MD Professor; and Professor of Pharmacological Sciences, and Neuroscience.
New Master of Public Health graduates, from left: Divya Jain, Danielle Agpalo, Benjamin Boateng, Naissa Piverger, and Keith Ngede.
The Graduate School conferred 90 master’s degrees in Public Health; 54 in Biomedical Sciences; 38 in Clinical Research; 15 in Health Care Delivery Leadership; 12 in Genetic Counseling; 5 in Biostatistics; and 2 in Biomedical Informatics.
Also presiding over the ceremony was Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Dean for Academic and Scientific Affairs, Director of The Friedman Brain Institute, and Nash Family Professor in the Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, who spoke about artificial intelligence (AI), or his preferred term—“augmented intelligence”—that will likely bring scientific and ethical challenges to the graduates as they embark on new careers or continue in academia.
“The Mount Sinai Health System is using AI to help identify which patients are at greatest risk of falls in the hospital, or infections in neonatal care units, to target those individuals for preventive care. We are already seeing significant improvements in outcomes,” said Dr. Nestler. “Radiologists and pathologists are increasingly using AI to analyze X-rays, MRI scans, and tissue sections to more accurately and consistently diagnose disease.”
However, he cautioned, “despite the enormous potential of augmented intelligence, our responsibility—your responsibility as future leaders in health care science and delivery—is to provide the healthy skepticism that is required to ensure that we don’t overpromise and that we apply AI advances in a safe, balanced, and ethical manner. As you face these challenges, be bold, be creative, and always have our patients foremost in mind.”
Basil Hanss, PhD, Director of the Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences, hooded graduate Serena Chang.
A rousing commencement address was presented by Marie Lynn Miranda, PhD, Howard R. Hughes Provost and Professor of Statistics at Rice University in Houston, who also received an Honorary Doctor of Science degree. Dr. Miranda is a celebrated scientific leader whose pioneering research into environmental health—especially how the environment shapes health and well-being among children—is changing today’s approaches to improving global health.
“The decision to pursue a master’s can be a hard choice to explain,” Dr. Miranda told graduates. “I imagine that some of you have been asked many questions. Like, what does it mean to get a master’s? And, what’s a thesis? And, what’s it for? And, so who’s going to read it? And, why would you do that anyway?”
Dr. Miranda continued: “I have been thinking about how one might respond. When you pursue a master’s, you are deciding that you are going to work hard enough and long enough to, as the name suggests, achieve mastery over something. Think about that: achieve mastery. And, not just mastery over a little something—it’s mastery over a field. You have committed yourself to the pursuit of mastery in the belief that all of us, both individually and collectively, bear responsibility for making the world more functional, more sustainable, more just, more beautiful.”