Marching in Support of Science

May 15, 2017 | Community

Holding the banner, from left: Josefa M. Sullivan, PhD candidate, Neuroscience; Tamjeed Sikder, Senior Associate Researcher, Neuroscience; and Victor H. Leyva-Grado, PhD, Instructor, Microbiology.

“Scientists have to speak out and protect our earth, our patients, and our work,” Scott L. Friedman, MD, Dean for Therapeutic Discovery and Chief of the Division of Liver Diseases, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said while participating in the recent March for Science in New York City. “We all have a stake in this.” The nonpartisan celebration of science and scientific research, held on Earth Day, had its central event in Washington, D.C., which was attended by nearly 30 Mount Sinai participants.

Above, from left: Marta Filizola, PhD, Dean, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; Miriam Merad, MD, PhD, Director, Immunology Institute; Margaret H. Baron, MD, PhD, Senior Associate Dean for Education, and Director, MD-PhD Program; Barbara Murphy, MD, Chair, Department of Medicine, Mount Sinai Health System, and Dean for Clinical Integration and Population Health; and Benjamin K. Chen, MD, PhD, the Irene and Dr. Arthur M. Fishberg Professor of Medicine.

A total of 400 Mount Sinai faculty and staff joined the more than 50,000 people who marched in New York City. Among them was Jill Dvornik, Senior Associate Researcher, Pharmacological Sciences, and co-chair of the March for Science NYC, who said the event also aimed to create an educational scientific dialogue with the community. “Most of our speakers were ordinary citizens who have done extraordinary things in science. You do not have to wear a lab coat to be involved and engaged. That is the best way to protect publicly funded science.”

A Run for Fun and Heart Health

May 15, 2017 | Community

For the fourth year, Mount Sinai Heart staff and their families joined in a festive 5k run around the reservoir in Central Park. The event, on Saturday, April 22, was organized by Annapoorna S. Kini, MD, Zena and Michael A. Wiener Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Director, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at The Mount Sinai Hospital. “We are all busy, but even 20 minutes of cardio a day is helpful,” says Dr. Kini. “Incorporate movement by taking the stairs or walking more.” Dr. Kini also encourages staff throughout the Health System to participate in International Yoga Day on Wednesday, June 21.

Vivid Art by Stroke and Brain Injury Patients

May 15, 2017 | Community

Belita Jones created this painting depicting the emotional toll of brain injuries with a fellow patient Rendy Kowal.

In honor of Brain Injury Awareness Month in March, the Recreation Therapy Service team with the Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Center held its second annual “Shedding Light on a Hidden Injury” art exhibition. At the event, the Guggenheim Pavilion displayed art created by stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients.

Among the works were masks depicting the emotional toll of TBI and collaborative paintings like the one that Belita Jones, at right, made with a fellow patient, Rendy Kowal, and a professional artist. The Center also collaborated with a virtual reality company, Jump Into the Light, on an activity that allowed participants to use the Google Tilt Brush to draw colorful 3-D shapes in a virtual landscape.

Honoring Mount Sinai’s Compassionate Volunteers

May 15, 2017 | Community, Featured

Mount Sinai leaders saluted volunteers at The Mount Sinai Hospital and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai during a breakfast held Wednesday, April 26, during National Volunteer Recognition Week. More than 160 volunteers attended the celebration. Also making an appearance was a special breed of Mount Sinai volunteers—the gentle dogs, big and small, who bring comfort and smiles to patients and staff through the Pet-Assisted Therapy program.

“The Mount Sinai Hospital was founded by a group of volunteers, and today more than 1,200 volunteers continue this rich legacy of service,” Peter W. May, Chairman, Boards of Trustees, Mount Sinai Health System, told the guests. “Our patients are so grateful, and it’s always a pleasure to honor all that you do.”

Volunteers are visible in more than 200 areas, where their efforts benefit patients, research, administrative offices, and community outreach.

Linda Frank and Tazzy have volunteered in the Pet-Assisted Therapy program for eight years.

Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mount Sinai Health System, thanked all volunteers, but also singled out their efforts with PACT, the Preventable Admissions Care Team, which was created to reduce 30-day hospital readmissions and Emergency Department visits—a program now considered a national model. “Volunteers became the backbone of this program to keep people well and out of the hospital, and their contributions make a difference between Mount Sinai being a good Health System, and a great Health System,” said Dr. Davis.

One table of guests—including first-year medical students—were among the volunteers applauded by Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and President for Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System. “At the beginning of 2017, more than 200 volunteers, including high school, college, and post-baccalaureate students interested in health care careers were assisting in basic science laboratories, and 150 volunteers were helping with clinical research projects,” he said. “The volunteers become part of our family.” Dr. Charney also noted that Mount Sinai students have a supportive role in Chemo Companions, a program that pairs them with patients undergoing chemotherapy at The Tisch Cancer Institute.

“Our unique programs provide insight into a wide range of areas and lead many of our volunteers into social work, nursing, and other patient-centered health careers,” said Claudia Colgan, Vice President, Hospital Operations, The Mount Sinai Hospital. David L. Reich, MD, President and Chief Operating Officer, The Mount Sinai Hospital, talked about the innovative ideas that volunteers introduce to Mount Sinai and also noted the compassion that they bring. “The human kindness that our volunteers show to patients is invaluable,” said Dr. Reich, “and every day, this contributes to patient healing.”

Mount Sinai History Wall: A Timeline of Achievements

May 15, 2017 | Community

Kenneth B. Mehlman, Trustee, left, and Charles R. Bronfman, Emeritus Trustee, at the Mount Sinai History Wall.

Mount Sinai Health System leaders, including members of the Boards of Trustees, were invited to a special tour of the Mount Sinai History Wall, an artistic timeline created to showcase the institution’s transformative contributions to medicine, science, and patient care over the last two centuries.

The History Wall was commissioned in early 2014, the year following the 2013 integration of The Mount Sinai Medical Center with Continuum Health Partners, and has a commanding presence on the fourth floor of the Corporate Services Center at 150 East 42nd Street. It spans three sections of wall and is approximately 104 feet in length and eight feet in height, and provides a vast narrative timeline that includes vintage photographs and documents.

Unveiled in December 2016, the History Wall resides in the area where New Beginnings takes place—the weekly orientation session for new employees hosted by the Department of Human Resources. “The History Wall provides an inspirational welcome to more than 5,000 new hires annually when they attend New Beginnings,” says Diane Adams, Chief Learning Officer, Mount Sinai Health System. “The impressive historical highlights provide a sense of importance and pride in our new employees, painting a picture of excellence and reinforcing messages introduced throughout the orientation program.”

Faculty and staff are encouraged to visit the History Wall and follow the timeline, beginning in 1820, the year that New York Eye and Ear Infirmary was founded and became the first U.S. institution to successfully operate on congenital cataracts. Stops along the way include the first description of Crohn’s disease (1932, The Mount Sinai Hospital); the development of ultrasound and ultrasound equipment (1969, St. Luke’s Hospital); discovery of the antiplatelet benefits of aspirin (1971, Roosevelt Hospital); and being among the first physicians to recognize AIDS as a new disease (1981, Beth Israel Medical Center). The History Wall is current to 2016—the first organ transplant from an HIV+ donor to an HIV+ recipient in New York State—with space for new discoveries to be added.

Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery Celebrates its First Year

May 15, 2017 | Community, Featured

Barbara Barnett, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Mount Sinai Beth Israel, center left, and David L. Reich, MD, center right, flanked by two strong allies of the transgender community, New York City Councilwoman Rosie Mendez and New York State Assemblyman Richard N. Gottfried.

Patients, caregivers, family, friends, and elected officials recently gathered to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery. “What is CTMS? CTMS is a reflection of the vision of the Mount Sinai Health System,” David L. Reich, MD, President and Chief Operating Officer, The Mount Sinai Hospital, said at the event, on Monday, April 10, at Mount Sinai Beth Israel. “We see ourselves as champions of social justice, and one aspect of social justice is providing the highest quality, seamless, coordinated, and culturally sensitive care to the transgender community.”

The outpatient location offers care that incorporates primary, transition, and behavioral-health services. The Center completed its first surgical procedure at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in March 2016, and has since performed more than 200 procedures, including vaginoplasty, phalloplasty, metoidioplasty, facial feminization, chest-wall reconstructions, hysterectomy, and orchiectomy. CTMS is the first such center in New York, and among the pioneers in the nation. Health care services are delivered in a welcoming and affirmative environment devoted to the wellbeing of transgender patients.

Mahogany Phillips with Leonie Taylor, RN, a Senior Nurse Manager at Mount Sinai Beth Israel.

“We’re all proud of what we have accomplished, and are enthusiastic about what the future holds for us,” Dr. Reich said. This summer, the Center will welcome its first fellows—one in transgender surgery and another in psychiatry—and an experienced reconstructive urologist, in further pursuit of Mount Sinai’s core missions of clinical care, education, and research.

Mahogany Phillips, who reunited with friends and caregivers at the event, says that while growing up, she felt like “just a regular girl” and had surgery at Mount Sinai in September 2016 and March 2017. “For me it was important to make me comfortable in my own body and to see myself, whole, in the mirror,” she says.

Read more in the HuffPost about how parents can play a major role in keeping their transgender children healthy and safe