Engagement | Mount Sinai Today

Celebration Week for Nurse Practitioners—Ever Rising to Meet the Needs of Patients

Updated on Nov 14, 2025 | Engagement, Featured, Nursing, Stories of Excellence

The Mount Sinai Health System celebrates nurse practitioners (NPs) during the week of Sunday, November 13, to Saturday, November 19—and recognizes their commitment toward furthering the mission and vision of the organization. “Nurse practitioners are a critical link in the comprehensive compassionate care we provide,” says Beth Oliver, DNP, RN, FAAN, Chief Nurse Executive, Mount Sinai Health System.

Since the NP role began more than 50 years ago, nurse practitioners have risen to meet each challenge, worked to eliminate health care disparities, and strengthened the nation’s ability to ensure patients have equitable access to high-quality care, says Priscilla Samuel, DNP, FNP-BC, Vice President of Advanced Practice Nursing, Mount Sinai Health System.

“NPs are integral in promoting clinical excellence and fostering patient safety and quality,” Ms. Samuel says. “In collaboration with interdisciplinary teams, we provide exceptional patient care while ensuring that patient preferences and values guide all clinical decisions.”

Here are the thoughts of several of Mount Sinai’s dedicated nurse practitioners on what inspires them, what fills them with pride, and what they wish people knew about their role:

Lena Chang, MSN, RN, ANP-BC
Clinical Program Manager, Cardiology
Mount Sinai Beth Israel

I’ve been working at Mount Sinai Beth Israel and Mount Sinai Union Square for 28 years, 24 of which have been in the Cardiovascular Services Department.

What is the most interesting and inspiring aspect of your role as an NP?
As a nurse practitioner and Clinical Program Manager, I am able to involve myself directly with the patients along with system-wide projects. I have a wonderful team of nurse practitioners and am so proud of their hard work to make the department excel.

What do you wish people knew about nurse practitioners?
I wish people knew how much nurse practitioners do for our patients, using the latest evidence-based research treatment protocols. They are also excellent problem solvers and strong patient advocates.

Charleen Jacobs, MS, ANP-BC
Sickle Cell Nurse Practitioner
The Mount Sinai Hospital

I work in the Mount Sinai Comprehensive Sickle Cell Program.

What is the most interesting and inspiring aspect of your job?
As a sickle cell nurse practitioner at The Mount Sinai Hospital, the most interesting aspect of my job is having the ability to provide longitudinal care to a unique population. Sickle cell disease requires specialized care. Our approach to care is holistic, preventative, and lifespan-focused.

Every day at work, I have the opportunity to care for patients in inpatient and outpatient settings. The sickle cell nurse practitioners provide consult services to inpatient teams once a patient arrives in the Emergency Department, and continue to follow them throughout their hospital course. Once a patient is discharged, we can provide outpatient follow-up care, as well. With this approach, we can provide high-quality, evidence-based care, identify potential gaps, and prevent long-term complications associated with sickle cell disease.

As a Black health care provider, I am most proud that I can provide care for my community, which is disproportionately affected by sick cell disease. As their nurse practitioner, there is no feeling more incredible than knowing I can serve people with this disease. It is one of the most fulfilling parts of this role.

What do you wish people knew about nurse practitioners?
I hope that others in the larger health care community understand the value of nurse practitioners. There is so much diversity among nurse practitioners—from those in leadership, academia, clinical care, and research. With this, nurse practitioners are well-posed to participate in significant decision-making due to our wide experience in a variety of health care roles.

David Skovran, NP
Internal Medicine Associates
Respectful and Equitable Access to Comprehensive Healthcare (REACH) Program
Division of General Internal Medicine
Director of Nursing, East Harlem Health Outreach Partnership

I am a primary care provider currently with Mount Sinai Doctors Internal Medicine Associates at The Mountain Sinai Hospital.

What is the most interesting and inspiring aspect of your role as a nurse practitioner?
The most inspiring aspect of my role is having the opportunity be a primary care provider with my own panel of patients. I have cared for some patients for the past six years, which has allowed me to establish long-term relationships with my patients, encourage open communications, and strive to provide personalized care.

I am proud to be part of the Respectful and Equitable Access to Comprehensive Healthcare (REACH) Program. As part of this program, I am able to provide a comprehensive, patient-centered, harm reduction approach to primary care for persons who use alcohol or other drugs, and for individuals living with hepatitis C. As part of this program, I have had the opportunity to present at national conferences on buprenorphine treatment, stigma-free risk reduction counseling, hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment, and overdose response training. I am most proud of being able to educate people about the important work this program does within the Mount Sinai Health System.

What do you wish people knew about nurse practitioners?
Nurse practitioners play a vital role in our nation’s health care system. They provide acute and primary care to patients across the health care continuum, from assessing, diagnosing, and treating illnesses to educating communities on disease prevention.

Katherine D. Reina, DNP, APRN, AGNP-C
Clinical Program Director, Delirium Program
Mount Sinai Morningside
Faculty Member, Committee on Professionalism

I work for the Mount Sinai Health System’s Delirium Program, a one-of-kind approach that enables early recognition and treatment of patients who develop delirium while hospitalized, which I oversee at Mount Sinai Morningside.

What is the most interesting and inspiring aspect of your role as a nurse practitioner?
As a nurse practitioner, I am honored and humbled to be a part of the Health System’s interdisciplinary team caring for some of our most vulnerable patients and their families. I feel that nurse practitioners are uniquely positioned to manage patients across their lifespan. As nurse practitioners, we get to combine the best of nursing and medicine to optimize the health care delivery model. I truly believe the Health System is at the forefront of innovation and research in health care.

I am most proud of first being a part of the Delirium Program. As a nurse practitioner, I have helped expand the program at Mount Sinai Morningside while helping to manage patients. My work within the program has helped reimagine the role of the nurse practitioner as one that includes serving as a lead consultant for a clinical program. It has also increased awareness of delirium and best evidence-based practices to improve management of our patients.

What do you wish people knew about nurse practitioners?
Nurse practitioners are the fastest growing career field in the United States, with more than 355,000 nurse practitioners practicing across the country. Nurse practitioners hold the potential to become the foundation of health care delivery models and standards.

Luz Lucero-Calabro, MS, RN
Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nurse Specialist
Mount Sinai Brooklyn

I am a nurse practitioner engaged in system policy changes, standardizing pressure injury prevention practices, managing products, and providing education for the staff.

I started in 2019 as the Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nurse (WOCN) Nurse Practitioner specialist at Mount Sinai Brooklyn, with a unique position as an educator, provider, and nurse administrator. While I work mainly at Mount Sinai Brooklyn, I am also engaged in a number of Mount Sinai Health System initiatives related to the prevention of hospital acquired-pressure injuries.

What is the most interesting and inspiring aspect of your role as a nurse practitioner?
I have the autonomy to plan and develop treatment plans as a provider while also engaging in a holistic approach due to my nursing roots. I take into account the patient as a whole. It is rewarding to make a difference in the wound and ostomy community.

I am most proud of helping to create the Mount Sinai Brooklyn Skin Care team with registered nurses and personal care assistants. I am also proud of collaborating on the development of a program to improve electronic reporting to the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators®, which provides reporting of structure, process, and outcome indicators to evaluate nursing care at the unit level, and using the data for quality improvement projects. I am also proud of my engagement in standardizing the WOCN practice throughout the Mount Sinai Health System, and serving as chair of the WOCN Steering Committee.

What do you wish people knew about nurse practitioners?
We uphold the highest professional standards for ourselves, and desire to succeed and model care through our practice.

James Murphy, DNP, ANP-C
Administrative Director
Advanced Practice Nursing
Mount Sinai South Nassau

I am currently the Administrative Director of Advanced Practice Nursing at Mount Sinai South Nassau. Clinically, I work with the Critical Care team as a provider on the Rapid Response team.

What is the most interesting and inspiring aspect of your role as a nurse practitioner?
I love clinical work and being able to spend time caring for and speaking with patients and their families regarding care. I also enjoy assisting the resident physicians with their education through the Rapid Response team. Both are very rewarding.

I am co-chair of the Resuscitation Committee at Mount Sinai South Nassau and love working on this proactive committee. I believe we all work well together and make changes where it counts most—through policies and at the bedside of patients. I am also called upon to review charts and medical team cases when questions arise. I have also had the pleasure of working on the Mount Sinai Health System CPR Committee, which worked on a system-wide medical team policy.

What do you wish people knew about nurse practitioners?
I wish more people knew who we are and what we can offer. Nurse practitioners take time with our patients and are holistic in looking at all aspects of our patients’ physical and emotional care. We see the whole patient.

Kimberley Ennis DNP, APRN-BC
Senior Director of Nursing
Mount Sinai Queens

I am a nurse practitioner currently practicing as a nurse leader at Mount Sinai Queens, overseeing all operations of medical-surgical units, cancer center, dialysis, catheterization/electrophysiology, and hospital administrator team. I also act as liaison to the Magnet Recognition Program for nursing excellence, and oversee advanced practice nurses.

What is the most interesting and inspiring aspect of your role as a nurse practitioner?
The most inspiring part of my role is the ability to mentor, coach, and inspire new and experienced nurse leaders and other nurses and nurse practitioners who aspire to leadership roles.

I am proud to be a part of a system that is leading change in diversity, equity, and inclusion and a system that has many opportunities for RNs to advance to nurse practitioners. I am proud of the projects and initiatives I have led, in opening a new clinical unit and lab and significantly impacting multiple quality metrics at Mount Sinai Queens. I am even more proud to be a mentor to Mount Sinai Health System nurses and nurse leaders.

What do you wish people knew about nurse practitioners?
I want more people to understand the multifaceted roles of a nurse practitioner in the health care setting.

Monica An, PhD, RN
Inpatient Oncology Nurse Practitioner
Hematology and Oncology Infusion Center
Mount Sinai West

I am currently an inpatient consultant for a non-teaching service in the Hematology/Oncology program.

What is the most interesting and inspiring aspect of your role as a nurse practitioner?
Inpatient consultants have a big responsibility to optimize the patient’s oncologic care during hospital admission. My role is to provide a unique inpatient nurse practitioner service, which bridges oncologic care with that of the primary medicine and primary oncology teams.

I am proud that the Mount Sinai Health System supports our nurse practitioner service as an advanced practice provider in many ways, such as orientation programs that combine essential, detailed information with extensive mentorship for new nurse practitioners. The Health System also supports nurse practitioners in initiating research projects. And leadership consistently provides a supportive environment for nurse practitioners who want to advance their degrees, which was instrumental in my earning a PhD. Working as a nurse practitioner at the Health System has been a precious and extraordinary experience that has allowed me to grow in my profession.

What do you wish people knew about nurse practitioners?
Everything we do, including the critical role we play in nursing and medicine. Nurse practitioners practice with independence, profound knowledge, and experience. As such, we are crucial in ensuring better outcomes and greater satisfaction for our patients.

Patient Dining Associate Recognized for Her Commitment to the Patient Experience

Oct 27, 2022 | Engagement, Featured, Stories of Excellence

Tessor Tyrell, Patient Dining Associate at Mount Sinai West

Tessor Tyrell, Patient Dining Associate at Mount Sinai West, is considered to be a shining example of how the Department of Food and Nutrition Services can make a significant impact on the patient experience.

John Gkanios, Patient Service Manager, explains: “Tessor is totally focused on the needs and preferences of her patients. Before she leaves a patient’s room, she asks if they are happy with their meal and follows up before coming back to the kitchen to set up for the next meal period. If there is a non-food issue that the patient brings to her attention, Tessor always informs the appropriate nurse to ensure the concern is addressed.”

Tessor recently received the following praise from a patient in a letter addressed to Kenneth Davis, MD, Chief Executive Officer, Mount Sinai Health System: “Ms. Tyrell demonstrates a passion for her job and people. Always with a smile and a wonderful positive attitude, Ms. Tyrell makes a patient feel comfortable in an atmosphere of uncertainty and stress. It certainly takes a team to address the physical issues and the mental conditions as well. Health care professionals will work to keep the body healthy. It is the other team members, from housekeeping to food and nutrition, that are essential to keeping the mind as positive and healthy as the body. Ms. Tyrell has exceeded in all of these categories, and I would appreciate your acknowledging Ms. Tyrell as a professional, caring, and outstanding employee and member of your team.”

Tessor is clearly dedicated to her patients.

“I love my job,” she says. “I like taking care of people and giving patients the care and attention they need. If they want to tell me their stories, once all my rounds are completed, I am happy to listen. Patients have even given me their numbers so I can follow up with them after they are discharged.”

Not only does Tessor serve her patients with care, she also is appreciated for her skills in the kitchen.

“Lucky for us,” John says, “Tessor is also a great cook! She volunteered and prepared a dish for the Juneteenth Celebration, which was enjoyed by the entire hospital.”

PhD Students Get Lab Coats, Marking the Start of New Journeys in Research and Training

Oct 19, 2022 | Engagement, Featured, School

Dozens of members of the 2022 PhD and MD/PhD matriculating class of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences were presented with lab coats in a celebratory event held Monday, September 19, amid the cheers and applause from the audience—which included faculty, mentors, and the students’ families and friends. Wearing their coats, the students would later take a vow, together, “to uphold the highest levels of integrity, professionalism, scholarship, and honor,” as they embarked on new scientific paths.

Marta Filizola, PhD

“We hold this ceremony to mark the start of our students’ journey in academic research and training,” said Marta Filizola, PhD, the Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and the Sharon & Frederick A. Klingenstein-Nathan G. Kase, MD Professor. “The lab coats we present to them are a symbol of the professionalism and authority that trainees develop and foster during their time in our programs,” added Dr. Filizola, who is also Professor of Pharmacological Sciences, Neuroscience, and Artificial Intelligence and Human Health. Mount Sinai offers PhD degrees in biomedical sciences, neuroscience, and clinical research, and a dual MD/PhD medical scientist training program degree, in addition to nine master’s program degrees.

Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD

Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Dean for Academic Affairs at Icahn Mount Sinai, and Chief Scientific Officer for the Mount Sinai Health System told the students: “Getting a PhD is hard work. There is no way around that. It’s hard work because PhDs—unlike all professional degrees, for example, an MD or law degree—require each of us to create a body of knowledge that is new to the world.” Still, he encouraged each not only to “work hard—but play hard,” adding, “Life must go on. No one should defer having a social life during their PhD studies.” Dr. Nestler is also Director of The Friedman Brain Institute and Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience.

A rousing keynote speech was presented by Xiaosi Gu, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, and Neuroscience, and Founding Director of the Center for Computational Psychiatry. Dr. Gu, a foremost researcher in the area of computational psychiatry, received her PhD degree in Neuroscience at Mount Sinai.

Dr. Gu shared her thoughts on curiosity, which she described as the one “secret Ingredient” capable of helping the students face the PhD journey, while making it enjoyable—and successful.

Xiaosi Gu, PhD

“Curiosity is the fundamental reason why you are still sitting here today instead of already working in a tech company, or Wall Street,” she began. “What should we be curious about? Be curious about science, be curious about people, and be curious about life.

“First, be curious about your work … you must love what you do,” she urged. “Be curious about people. A huge reason I feel pumped every morning going into the office is the people I work with. Face-to-face meetings, small talks in the hallway, grabbing lunch together, these are the daily doses of happiness that keep a day going.

“Finally, be curious about life. This, I believe, is the holy grail of curiosity … We, as scientists, have an obligation to stay curious about the real world and pursue work that can meet human needs … Staying curious about humanity and its issues might be the only way to unlock your intellectual potential and find your path.”

This was followed by a lively presentation of the lab coats, an effort sponsored by the Mount Sinai Alumni Association, and finally, the reading of the PhD Oath. “I will conduct my research and professional endeavors with honesty and objectivity,” they said in unison, while wearing their crisp white lab coats, and reciting a pledge to uphold a set of guiding principles as they launched their science training at Mount Sinai.

What makes this class special? This is who they are:

Read why one student is getting a PhD in clinical research

Learn more about the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

Social Worker at “Coming Home” Program Helps Former Inmates Build a Better Life

Oct 12, 2022 | Engagement, Stories of Excellence

Iris Bowen, LMSW

Since 2006, the Coming Home program at Mount Sinai has worked to improve the physical and mental health and the emotional and social well-being of men and women during their transition from prison or jail to the community. The program, a division of the Institute for Advanced Medicine, was originally conceived to serve patients with HIV and now provides services to anyone with a history of arrests. In addition to primary care, the program connects clients with medical specialists if needed. Importantly, some of the case management is provided by formerly incarcerated staff who understand well the challenges of returning to a pre-prison life. Clients have access to supportive counseling individually and in groups. In addition, the Coming Home Program trains integrated teams of medical providers, clinicians, and staff to ensure that formerly incarcerated patients receive their health care in a safe and welcoming environment.

Iris Bowen, LMSW, joined the Coming Home program in 2013, and knows how tough a transition can be for her clients. “People come out of prison confused and not sure of their next steps. My clients say they never had anyone to care for them or listen to them—so many come from a history of foster care or group homes before they went to prison,” Iris says. “They tell me about physical and mental abuse. About having families they cannot care for. We do not judge them. We listen to them, we care for them. We meet them where they are and go from there. That means connections to health care, of course, including mental health and help with substance abuse, but also education and job training.”

Iris has forged special relationships with all of her clients, but is very proud of John Gargano, a man who spent 12 years in prison on drug charges and completely turned his life around with the support of Coming Home.

Iris met John shortly after he found out he was being discharged into the New York City shelter system from a halfway house. John told his inspiring story of prison and post-prison life in the blog Humans of NY: He was referred to Iris by a fellow inmate, and he was prepared to be disappointed. Instead, John says, Iris had a “calm and comforting” presence and wanted to know everything about him. Iris helped him find an apartment, arranged for him to have hip surgery, get through the red tape of applying to school, and into a job-training program. With her encouragement, he completed a bachelor’s degree at New York University (and was the keynote speaker at graduation) and land a job as the General Manager of Craft Restaurant in Manhattan, where he works today.

Iris loves being a member of the highly dedicated Mount Sinai Morningside Social Work team and the Coming Home program staff and helping patients. “I tell my patients that we can make it happen, that they can have a better life. I like to see people be happy and become productive and successful, and most of all, empower them.”

Members of the Coming Home program team (left to right): Jennifer Guzman, MSW, Substance Use Specialist, Cory Butler, Outreach Coordinator, Serina Yancey, Peer Education Specialist, Jesus Robles, LCSW, Program Coordinator.

Three New Students at the Icahn School of Medicine Show the School’s Unique Partnership with the U.S. Military

Sep 21, 2022 | Engagement, Featured, School

The first year of medical school is probably one of the toughest challenges for any young person. For three incoming students at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, maybe not.

Three members of the United States military whose careers propelled them in different ways toward medicine have joined Icahn Mount Sinai through the school’s Institutional Partnership with the U.S. Military.

Through this unique pathway, the only one of its kind in the country, veterans gain an unprecedented opportunity to apply for admission to the School of Medicine without having to take the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT). Also, candidates admitted into the program are offered provisional acceptance with the flexibility to defer their acceptance to continue their military service to meet all necessary requirements.

In interviews, the three talked about their experiences in the military, why they decided to attend medical school, and their plans for the future.

Katrina Nietsch

When Katrina Nietsch enrolled in the U.S. Naval Academy after graduating college, she knew she wanted to serve on the front lines.

She had been in middle school on September 11, 2001, and that was a major moment for her. “I wanted to serve my country from that moment on,” the former Lieutenant Commander says.

“The Navy underlined for me that the essence of mission success relies on the team, and caring for others.”

She signed up to be a pilot in the U.S. Navy and soon found herself flying the C-2A Greyhound, a twin-engine plane that delivers cargo to aircraft carriers.

Among many high stakes missions around the world, her first deployment as a C-2 pilot was a career turning point. She was on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean about 400 miles off the coast of Acapulco, Mexico, when a young sailor on board got very sick, suffering from severe seizures. She was tapped to fly the sailor to Mexico for life-saving care.

“Flying that MEDEVAC mission with our sailor on board was a watershed moment for me, as it galvanized my desire to pursue medicine,” she says.

She applied to Icahn Mount Sinai through the streamlined pathway to medical school for active service members. She was accepted in 2019 but the unique Military Institutional Partnership allowed the flexibility to defer acceptance for several years to fulfill her service commitment to the Navy.

“The flexibility of the program allowed me to continue my service as a pilot, which ultimately prepared me for medicine,” she says. “As in the Navy, medicine involves high-stakes responsibility and quick risk calculations under pressure. The Navy also underlined for me that the essence of mission success relies on the team, and caring for others.”

She played sports all her life, first as a young girl playing football with her older brother and was recruited to play varsity lacrosse at the Naval Academy. Now in medicine, she is leaning towards a career in sports medicine.

At the United States Military Academy at West Point Graduation in 2016, Tirone Young with with his stepfather James Imoh and his mother, Marie Imoh

Tirone Young

When Captain Tirone Young graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2016, he was commissioned as an infantry officer.

Due to injuries from an Army football career as a running back, he leveraged his background in nuclear engineering and transitioned to work as a nuclear medical scientist. While stationed in Landstuhl, Germany, he gained experience in health care and in public health. He also served as a subject matter expert on radioactive material and radiation-producing devices for United States and NATO Forces in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

“As members of our immediate environments and the larger country, we all stand to benefit if each person feels a responsibility to care for the people and resources around us.”

While working overseas, he noticed parallels between the values upheld in military service and those of a physician.

At the same time, he was processing some tough news in his family. “I lost my two biological grandmothers to cancer, he says. “With my mom being treated for breast cancer after successfully battling Hodgkin’s lymphoma, my interest in pursuing an oncology-related specialty within medicine was solidified.”

In 2020, he applied to Icahn Mount Sinai through its military institutional partnership program, and he was able to defer for a year while concluding his active-duty service abroad.

“My mother, father, and step-father honorably served in the military,” he says. “They introduced me to the concept of communal stewardship: As members of our immediate environments and the larger country, we all stand to benefit if each person feels a responsibility to care for the people and resources around us. Despite a dynamic change in careers, I continue to be guided by this foundational concept that my family embraced.”

Michael Auten with his father, George Auten, a retired U.S. Air Force officer, at graduation day at West Point in 2016.

Michael Auten

After graduating from West Point in 2016, Mike Auten traveled to Ukraine on a Fulbright fellowship focused on security studies. He then joined the Marine Corps as an officer, serving five “very fast-paced” years throughout the United States, Europe, and Africa. During his last tour of duty, while at a small base with a small emergency medical and trauma unit, he began to explore a career in medicine by shadowing the doctors and medics.

“This incredible team took care of the entire base, but they also treated the local security forces as well,” he says. “It was part of our mission and obligation to provide them with care, particularly if things went wrong.”

On witnessing emergency surgery on a remote military base: “It was a powerful introduction to the field of medicine and the rewards of helping and healing. That night completely changed my life.”

One night, a group of local security forces were traveling in a vehicle when they hit a roadside bomb.

“The whole medical team, from the front-line medics to the trauma surgeon, immediately sprang into action with a well-rehearsed plan,” he says. “When the patients arrived, they found that one had been badly hit in the calf, and I was able to observe an extremely intricate and challenging surgical procedure to repair a critical artery and save this patient’s life. The surgery endured for 12 hours, but afterward, I felt full of energy and clarity about what I wanted to do next. It was a powerful introduction to the field of medicine and the rewards of helping and healing. That night completely changed my life.”

A month later, he submitted his application to the Military Institutional Partnership Program at Icahn Mount Sinai.

“I wouldn’t be in medical school now if it wasn’t for the flexibility of the military pathway,” he says. “I am grateful for this program and for the very warm welcome we all received as veterans. We have experienced a huge feeling of belonging with fellow students and faculty and are thrilled to have the opportunity to go to medical school as part of this amazing community.”

Celebrating Summer Interns: Rich Experience in Labs of Genetics and Genomic Sciences

Sep 15, 2022 | Community, Engagement, Featured

From left, Michael Katz, MD, PhD, with interns Samantha Whipple and Sofia Kim in the laboratory of Efrat Eliyahu, PhD.

About a dozen undergraduate college students conducted research this summer with faculty members of the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The interns received interdisciplinary research experience in experiment-based and computation-based research, in addition to mentoring and professional development opportunities.

They each worked full-time on a research project under the mentorship of a Mount Sinai researcher and attended weekly events, such as scientific seminars and workshops.

Research topics include functional genomics and multiomics, gene editing and cellular engineering, computational and data sciences, neuropsychiatric genomics, cancer genomics, gene and cell therapy, statistical genetics, genetics of human disease, and drug discovery. The Scholars Program is directed by Efrat Eliyahu, PhD, Assistant Professor of Genetic and Genomic Sciences and member of the department’s Diversity Committee.

“This summer I learned that you don’t need to be perfect, or know how to do everything correctly the first time,” says Samantha Whipple, a New York University student who was an intern in Dr. Eliyahu’s laboratory. “Learning is a part of the scientific process, and learning from your mistakes makes you better.”