Gratitude and Joy at the Master’s Commencement

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community, Featured

From left: Dennis S. Charney, MD; Commencement speaker Debrework Zewdie, PhD, who received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree; Prabhjot Singh, MD, PhD, Director of The Arnhold Institute for Global Health; and Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Dean for Academic and Scientific Affairs.

Graduates in the Biomedical Sciences master’s program, from left: Emmy Sakakibara, Arielle Strasser, and Serife Uzun.

Marta Filizola, PhD, Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and Professor of Pharmacological Sciences

Chukwuemeka Iloegbu, MPH, received his hood from Nils Hennig, MD, PhD, MPH, Director of the Graduate Program in Public Health.

The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai held the 2018 Master’s Commencement on Friday, June 22, in a ceremony that celebrated the graduates’ achievements and looked ahead to their fulfilling and varied careers.

“While some of you will continue on to careers in academia, others will consider the pharmaceutical or biotech industries, community-based public health, health care administration, epidemiology, or global health. Some of you may even start your own companies,” said Marta Filizola, PhD, Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and Professor of Pharmacological Sciences. “Whatever career path you take, we hope you will remain in touch with the Icahn School of Medicine—a home you can always come back to for mentoring, career advice, respect, and appreciation.”

In total, 165 students were conferred master’s degrees, including 93 in Public Health, 25 in Biomedical Sciences, 19 in Health Care Delivery Leadership, 11 in Clinical Research, 10 in Genetic Counseling, 5 in Biostatistics, and 2 in Biomedical Informatics. At the MD/PhD Commencement in May, an additional 7 MD/Master of Public Health degrees and 5 MD/Master of Science in Clinical Research degrees were conferred.

The master’s ceremony often returned to the theme of gratitude. 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, asked the graduates to thank the “parents, grandparents, siblings, spouses, and friends” present, saying, “I know that you helped set the path for each of these students to achieve their greatest potential.”

The graduates were challenged to “tackle the hard issues, the seemingly intractable ones,” by Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Dean for Academic and Scientific Affairs, Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience, and Director of The Friedman Brain Institute. One such problem is the epidemic of opioid addiction, he said, which costs the nation $80 billion a year and kills 115 Americans a day. “We need you to confront these difficult questions of our time, knowing that there are few simple solutions and that success will require your bold imagination and working across many disciplines to improve our nation’s public health,” Dr. Nestler said.

The commencement speaker, Debrework Zewdie, PhD, former Director of the World Bank Global HIV/AIDS Program, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree for her distinguished career in public health. She spent two decades at the World Bank, where she said she often felt like “a mouse in a lion’s den” as she tried to raise awareness and increase funding for the group’s fight against AIDS. By 2000, the level had reached $1 billion, funding programs that have saved millions of lives, she said.

As she stood at the podium, Dr. Zewdie first acknowledged the outside world: “Let us all take a moment to think about the thousands of children who are separated from their families at the border,” she said.

Dr. Zewdie began and ended her address with a focus on children who are “born in the ‘wrong’ part of the world” with limited access to education and health care. She told story of a 5-year-old girl in Ethiopia who was blinded by the measles for 15 days, recovered, then contracted dysentery a few months later. As one of four children of a single mother, growing up on a struggling farm, the girl faced tough odds. But she grew stronger, drinking fortified milk provided by UNICEF and becoming a voracious reader with encouragement from her older brother.

The little girl is now “standing in front of you,” Dr. Zewdie said, pausing as the audience realized it was her. And in the crowd was a slim man with white hair. It was her brother, Girma Moguss, who had supported her journey from a village school to the University of London and Harvard University. She asked him to stand, and the crowd applauded loudly, a show of gratitude that moved her and many others to tears.

“Dear graduates, if I—the 5-year-old from a very humble background— could not only beat the measles and dysentery but could also do well enough to be recognized today, then for you the sky is the limit,” Dr. Zewdie said. “Go and make the world a better place.”

Barbara Murphy, MD, Honored by Her Alma Mater in Ireland

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Featured, Research

Barbara Murphy, MD

Barbara Murphy, MD, Chair of the Samuel Bronfman Department of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, was a featured speaker at the May 2018 graduation ceremony of her alma mater, the School of Medicine of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI).

During the event, Dr. Murphy—a pioneering nephrologist and immunology researcher, the Murray M. Rosenberg Professor of Medicine, and Dean for Clinical Integration and Population Health, at the Icahn School of Medicine—received a prestigious Honorary Doctorate Degree from RCSI, an award she found particularly gratifying. RCSI is based in Dublin, her hometown. Dr. Murphy was one of three siblings who graduated from RCSI with a medical degree, and her parents were again in the audience cheering her on.

“It was a chance to look back and see what pieces of advice I would have given myself as a graduate 29 years ago,” she said. Her advice was straightforward. “Do not be afraid to stand up and take risks for the good of your patients,” Dr. Murphy told the 283 graduates, who came from 29 countries. “You cannot have an impact if you live in the shadows afraid to fail or afraid of upsetting others. Success is not about abstracts, papers, awards, or titles. It is about having a positive impact on the lives of others, about meaningful change.”

Dr. Murphy discussed a highlight of her career, her work as a young physician at Mount Sinai in 1997, where she helped establish the feasibility of performing kidney transplants on patients with HIV, which is the standard of care today.

“We were still in the midst of the AIDS crisis, patients had staggering mortality rates and were socially ostracized,” she said. “I had met precisely two people affected by HIV prior to arriving in New York, and was now faced with many otherwise ‘healthy’ HIV patients who had no hope of getting off dialysis.” She and a small group of other researchers from eight U.S. medical centers—with support from the National Institutes of Health—found a clear scientific rationale for moving forward with transplants.

“We faced resistance,” she said, “and were even verbally abused and insulted by people who did not look at patient suffering, the science, or the data, but rather felt it was their right to pass moral judgment on people with HIV, and that there was a moral hierarchy when it came to allocation of donor kidneys.” Interestingly, she added, “Two weeks ago we received an email from one of our patients who was in that trial thanking us on his 15th renal transplant birthday!”

During medical school, Dr. Murphy said she planned on becoming a full-time clinician, not a researcher, and that the field of genomics research did not exist. “You cannot predict the circumstances, opportunities, discoveries that will occur that will change your lives,” she told the audience. “The question is, will you step forward and run with it when opportunity comes your way, or will you choose the status quo?”

Recently, Dr. Murphy took on an additional leadership role as Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of RenalytixAI, Plc. RenalytixAI has partnered with the Mount Sinai Health System to create a novel artificial intelligence-based platform, KidneyTrack™, that predicts a patient’s risk for progressive chronic kidney disease.

Celebrating Trailblazer Pamela Sklar, MD, PhD

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community, Featured, Psychiatry

Luminaries in the study of psychiatric genomics joined the Mount Sinai community in celebrating the work of the late Pamela Sklar, MD, PhD, a groundbreaking psychiatrist and neuroscientist who made major discoveries that established the genetic roots of mental illness.

In her honor, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai launched the annual “Advances in Psychiatric Genomics” lecture, held on Monday, April 16, in Goldwurm Auditorium, and renamed the division she created—now one of the best in the nation—the Pamela Sklar Division of Psychiatric Genomics. Dr. Sklar was Chair of the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences.

Celebrating her trailblazing research—and presenting their own—were scientists from the National Institute of Mental Health, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, and the Icahn School of Medicine, among others. Attendees also included Dr. Sklar’s husband, Andrew Chess, MD, Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences; Cell, Developmental and Regenerative Biology; and Neuroscience; and their children, Michael and Isabel. The day after the event, the inaugural “Get Psyched” 5k Run/ Walk was held in Central Park to benefit the newly named division.

“Pamela was perhaps one of the bravest people I’ve ever met,” said 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. “She led a revolution in the study of the genetic basis of mental illness, showing that hundreds of genes are implicated, not just a handful as was previously believed. It took courage to challenge the prevailing point of view.”

“With a keen intellect and an unusual force of personality, Dr. Sklar was both an outstanding scientist who changed the field of psychiatric disease and a beloved mentor to students and young scientists,” said Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience; Director of The Friedman Brain Institute; and Dean for Academic and Scientific Affairs.

Kristen Brennand, PhD, Associate Professor, Genetics and Genomics, Neuroscience and Psychiatry, added: “In memory of Pamela Sklar, it was incredibly meaningful to spend a day surrounded by her closest friends and collaborators, hearing stories of the psychiatric genetics of lore as well as the newest insights from cutting-edge genetic research.”

 

At the inaugural “Advances in Psychiatric Genomics” lecture in honor of Pamela Sklar, MD, PhD, were, from left: Dennis S. Charney, MD; Isabel Sklar Chess; Andrew Chess, MD; Michael Sklar Chess; and Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD.

Participants in the “Get Psyched” 5k Run/Walk.

Read more about Mount Sinai and the Community

Novel Product to Help Patients at Risk for Kidney Disease

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Featured, Research

Girish N. Nadkarni, MD, left, and Steven G. Coca, DO

Steven G. Coca, DO, and Girish N. Nadkarni, MD, nephrologists in the Samuel Bronfman Department of Medicine at the Mount Sinai Health System, have invented an artificial intelligence-based prognostic scoring system that is designed to identify patients at high risk for developing progressive kidney disease.

The pioneering product, KidneyTrack™, will enable medical professionals to intervene early in a patient’s disease cycle when treatment is most effective, before kidney disease advances to kidney failure, which requires dialysis. KidneyTrack combines data from the electronic medical record, with genetic information and novel blood biomarkers, and is paired with suggestions for optimized preventive treatment and management options for patients, particularly those at early stages of kidney disease.

To commercialize KidneyTrack, Mount Sinai Innovation Partners, in collaboration with Drs. Coca and Nadkarni, entered into a partnership agreement with RenalytixAI, Plc. The partnership will leverage Mount Sinai’s data warehouse, which contains more than 3 million patient health records and 43,000 patient records in its BioMe™ Biobank repository. KidneyTrack, which will enable clinicians to continuously monitor and identify patients in the Mount Sinai Health System who are at risk for progressive kidney disease and dialysis, will be tested for its clinical utility in a multicenter study beginning in mid-2019.

Barbara Murphy, MD, Chair of the Samuel Bronfman Department of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, will serve as Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of RenalytixAI. Along with Drs. Coca and Nadkarni, Judy H. Cho, MD, Director of the Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine, and John Cijiang He, MD, PhD, Chief, Division of Nephrology, also will serve on the Scientific Advisory Board.

Diabetes and high blood pressure are the leading causes of kidney failure. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates that the United States spends approximately $34 billion to treat kidney failure. The National Kidney Foundation reports more than 500,000 patients are being treated with dialysis for the disease.

“There is a general lack of awareness on the part of patients and health care providers regarding chronic kidney disease and there hasn’t been enough focus on and resources in preventing it,” says Dr. Coca, Associate Professor of Medicine (Nephrology), Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “Both the providers and the patients themselves will receive updates on their risk score generated by KidneyTrack, which will serve to increase awareness and motivation for behavioral change and management strategies.”

Adds Dr. Nadkarni, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Nephrology), Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Clinical Director of the Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine, “Using comprehensive data from so many patients will make a difference in people’s lives. Now we can look at associations and relationships that were not possible before at this scale and change the paradigm.”

Initially, KidneyTrack will focus on patients with type 2 diabetes and those of African ancestry. Data generated from this will potentially be useful in analyzing other groups of patients at risk for progressive kidney disease.

“This new technology has the potential to help patients with renal disease on a global basis and may support the development of additional applications for monitoring individuals with other chronic diseases,” says Erik Lium, PhD, Executive Vice President of Mount Sinai Innovation Partners.

 

Care and Empathy From a Nurse Inspire Former Pediatrics Patient to Become a Physician

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Featured, Patient Stories

When Naysha Lopez, MD, received her medical degree, Evelyn Sotomayor, RN, the Mount Sinai nurse who helped care for her in 2004, was there to celebrate.

When Naysha Lopez graduated from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine in June, Evelyn Sotomayor, RN, a pediatric nurse in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Kravis Children’s Hospital at Mount Sinai, was in the audience. It was no surprise that Ms. Sotomayor would travel more than 1,500 miles to be by Naysha’s side—this was another celebratory milestone in a long journey that first brought them together in 2004.

In August of that year, 13-year-old Naysha woke up one morning not feeling well, and by the time she got home from school, her skin and eye tone were yellow, and she had considerable abdominal pain.

Her doctor in Carolina, outside San Juan, Puerto Rico, diagnosed liver failure, and he immediately arranged for a medical plane to take her to The Mount Sinai Hospital, widely renowned as a center for adult and pediatric liver transplants.

Thirteen-year-old Naysha Lopez with Evelyn Sotomayor, RN, at Kravis Children’s Hospital at Mount Sinai.

At Mount Sinai, doctors determined she had Wilson disease, an inherited condition that prevents the liver from filtering excess copper from the body correctly, causing organ damage. They initially feared she had 12 hours to live, and they placed Naysha at the top of the transplant list. A match was found one week later, and, on August 27, Mount Sinai surgeons transplanted the donated liver during a 10-hour surgery.

The family recalls a scary and lonely time. In addition to the stress of a life-threatening illness, they didn’t speak English, were strangers to New York, and had limited financial resources. But good fortune intervened: Ms. Sotomayor, a New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent, immediately took Naysha and her parents under her wing in the ICU, explaining what to expect throughout the illness, reassuring them, and giving them hope. She also showed Naysha’s parents how to use the subway and where to shop for food and clothing.

When Naysha was transferred out of the ICU to another unit, Ms. Sotomayor visited Naysha’s bedside at the end of her shift, braiding her hair while encouraging her to be brave. “Sometimes when you’re sick, all you want is someone to talk to,” Naysha recalls. “Evelyn went above and beyond to show us she cared.” They talked for hours, and envisioned a future beyond the illness. Ms. Sotomayor even suggested that Naysha become a doctor, noting that her experience would give her a unique perspective.

After two months of hospitalization, when Naysha was transferred to the Transplant Living Center to continue her recovery, it was Ms. Sotomayor who brought her there, on her day off, to help her get settled. When Naysha was stronger, Ms. Sotomayor took the family on a Circle Line cruise and brought them to her Long Island home for the weekend.

Naysha Lopez at her high school prom with Evelyn Sotomayor, RN, in 2009.

In December 2004, fully recovered, Naysha and her family returned to Puerto Rico, where they have kept in touch with Ms. Sotomayor, who over the years has attended many of Naysha’s milestones, including her quinceañera—the traditional birthday celebration for Latina girls when they turn 15—and her high school prom and graduation. “She is like family,” says Naysha, who also recalls the excellent care she received from her entire medical team, and social workers who raised donations for the family and brought in a teacher to help with her schoolwork.

In July, as Naysha—now Dr. Lopez—begins her residency in Emergency Medicine in Carolina, she continues to be inspired by her own experience at Mount Sinai, and, most significantly, by Ms. Sotomayor. “She showed me how rewarding it is to take care of people. Because of Evelyn, I trust nurses and have tremendous respect for the role they play in healing their patients.”

Adds Ms. Sotomayor, “I feel blessed that they have been in my life. I feel good when I can help people and give them hope. That’s the best feeling of all.”

Third Episode of Mount Sinai Future You

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Featured, Future You, Research

The third episode of Mount Sinai Future You features a 22-year-old man from Idaho with a rare facial tumor called a lymphangioma. Following two dozen unsuccessful surgeries, he sought treatment from Gregory Levitin, MD, Director of Vascular Birthmarks and Malformations at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, and one of the only surgeons in the country with expertise resecting these types of tumors.

Mount Sinai Future You, which highlights innovation at Mount Sinai, is being broadcast on CUNY TV, the non-commercial educational-access cable channel run by The City University of New York.

Mount Sinai Future You takes viewers behind the scenes as doctors at Mount Sinai Health System leverage innovative science to change patients’ lives every day. The series  highlights preventative care and treatment models that will lead to better health and longer lives.

Mount Sinai Future You, Episode Three, also features:

  • An interview with Paula Klein, MD, Medical Director of Breast Cancer Clinical Trials and Charles Shapiro, MD, Director of Translational Breast Cancer Research, on new technologies allowing breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy to keep their hair during treatment and the latest research allowing many early-stage breast cancer patients to avoid using chemotherapy.
  • David Stark, MD, Director of Lab 100, discusses the hybrid clinic-research lab that is leveraging data from physical fitness and cognitive tests to help doctors obtain a more comprehensive health assessment of their patients.
  • Sam Gandy, MD, PhD, Associate Director of Mount Sinai Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, and Joel Dudley, PhD, Director of the Institute for Next Generation Healthcare, discover a link between strains of the herpes virus and Alzheimer’s disease.
  • Kevin Costa, PhD, Director of Cardiovascular Cell and Tissue Engineering, shares the latest research on stem cells that are engineered to create new heart cells.

New episodes of Mount Sinai Future You will run monthly, in the first week of each month, on Wednesdays at 9:30 pm, Thursdays at 6:30 am and 5 pm, and Saturdays at 11 am. They will cover newsworthy topics in medicine, as well as highlight new treatments, innovations, and preventive care for patients. The series is produced by Mount Sinai.

Here is where you can find this series:

Cable System CUNY TV Channel
Spectrum 75
Cablevision 75
Optimum Brooklyn 75
RCN Cable 77
Verizon FiOS 30

 *Some RCN digital cable and MMDS systems carry CUNY TV and/or NYC TV on different channel numbers. For example, some RCN systems in Manhattan and Queens carry CUNY TV on channel 24, 106 or 108. Please consult your cable provider directly to be sure.

Watch Episode 2 of Mount Sinai Future You

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