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Introducing Mount Sinai Future You, a New Television Series

May 2, 2018 | Featured, Future You, Patient Stories, Research

A new television series called 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.

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.

In its first 30-minute episode, Mount Sinai Future You highlights:

Dennis Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who discusses the anniversary of the Icahn School of Medicine, a leader in medical breakthroughs since 1968, and shares his own story of resilience after recovering from a traumatic event.
Breakthroughs in operating room technologies, such as augmented reality, simulation, and 3D printing, by surgeons and researchers in the Department of Neurosurgery.
The science of addiction, with Eric Nestler, MD, PhD, Dean for Academic and Scientific Affairs and Director of The Friedman Brain Institute, who is researching addiction and depression, and Yasmin Hurd, PhD, Ward-Coleman Chair of Translational Neuroscience and Director of the Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai, who is investigating how a component of the marijuana plant may aid in treatment of opioid addiction.
How vaccines developed in the lab of Joshua Brody, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology), are targeting cancer cells.
Douglas Dieterich, MD, Professor of Medicine (Liver Diseases), and a patient of his, who relate their shared journey with hepatitis C.

A Promising New Approach to Treat Stroke Patients

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Featured, Research

J Mocco, MD, MS

In recent years, there has been dramatic progress in the treatment of stroke—with significant contributions made by Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai researchers— especially in the development of endovascular therapy that quickly and safely removes the stroke-causing blood clots that form in an artery that supplies blood to the brain.

In January, at the International Stroke Conference 2018 in Los Angeles, Mount Sinai researchers unveiled preliminary clinical trial data that further advance the effectiveness of a new clot-aspiration treatment as a first-line approach for retrieving and removing these blood clots from arteries.

The findings, which were presented by J Mocco, MD, MS, Professor of Neurosurgery, and Vice Chair of Neurosurgery and Director of the Cerebrovascular Center at the Mount Sinai Health System, showed that using, as a first-line approach, a clot-aspiration system that acts like a “vacuum” to retrieve and remove the clot was not inferior to using a stent, the current standard of care. Over the years, research conducted by Dr. Mocco was instrumental in developing both approaches.

“Our data strongly demonstrate that the two approaches are clinically equivalent, meaning that patients do just as well when you start with aspiration, or clot suction, as when you start with a stent retriever to trap and pull out the clot,” says Dr. Mocco, who designed the still-to-be-published study in collaboration with two leading stroke experts from other institutions. “Ours is the first trial designed to compare patient functional outcomes between these treatment approaches.”

Both the aspiration and stent retriever techniques are initiated by inserting a guide catheter into the femoral artery in the groin and moving it up into the brain under image guidance. The aspiration approach involves passing a specialized aspiration catheter through the guide catheter, the first step in a system that allows the clot to be suctioned from the artery. The stent retriever approach involves introducing a stent retriever, which resembles a tiny wire cage, through the guide catheter and moving it to the clot, where it opens up and traps the clot. The stent that contains the clot is then removed through the guide catheter.

Specifically, the study enrolled 270 stroke patients at 15 centers into a prospective, multicenter, randomized trial to assess how functional they were after treatment using either a large-diameter aspiration catheter system, made by Penumbra, Inc., or a stent retriever, as a first approach. To compare clinical outcomes, researchers used the modified Rankin Scale for neurologic activity, (mRS), a standard measurement of the degree of disability or dependence in the daily activities of people who have had a stroke. The scale runs from 0 (no symptoms at all) to 6 (death).

The data showed that 52 percent of patients treated with Penumbra’s aspiration system achieved the primary endpoint of functional independence (mRS 0-2) at 90 days compared with 49 percent of patients treated with stent retrievers.

“This study is very exciting because it shows that there are other ways to open the arteries that are just as effective and perhaps may be even faster, safer, and less expensive,” says Dr. Mocco.

The clinical trial was funded by Penumbra, Inc., but was conducted independently by Dr. Mocco and his collaborators, who also handled all data analysis. Dr. Mocco does not have a financial interest with Penumbra. Dr. Mocco serves as a consultant and has equity in companies that develop and manufacture devices for the treatment of neurologic diseases and is a manager for Neurotechnology Investors.

‘Scarless’ Thyroid Surgery Wins a Patient’s Gratitude

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Featured, Patient Stories

Sarah Bird during a follow-up visit with Hyunsuk Suh, MD.

Sarah Bird, a 27-year-old accounting supervisor, had a “very rough” month about a year ago. She went to Mount Sinai Union Square to check out a lump on her neck that she had first spotted in a photograph. During follow-up visits, an ultrasound scan and biopsy of her thyroid found a nodule the size of a golf ball, and she was advised to have it removed.

“I went from not even knowing I had this condition to being told, ‘You have to have surgery pretty quickly,’” she says.

Ms. Bird was worried about a long recuperation after surgery. And because she is fair-skinned and prone to thick, raised keloid scars, she also worried that she would have “this huge worm across my throat for the rest of my life.”

But those fears were put to rest by Hyunsuk Suh, MD, who used an advanced robotic procedure to remove the nodule. Ms. Bird says she is “just so thankful” that she was referred to Dr. Suh, Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who in 2015 was the first in the United States to perform robotic bilateral axillo-breast approach (BABA), a “scarless” technique in which part or all of the thyroid is removed through four small incisions to the breasts and axilla (underarms). Mount Sinai is still one of only a few health systems in the nation to perform the procedure.

Dr. Suh also was the first in the nation to use robotic BABA to perform a radical modified neck dissection—removing a patient’s metastatic thyroid cancer and neck lymph nodes. Radical modified neck dissection typically requires an incision of about 10 centimeters, but the BABA technique uses four very small incisions, from 8 to 12 millimeters, making it unique among thyroidectomy approaches.

Dr. Suh, who earned his medical degree at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, trained with the physicians who developed the BABA procedure at Seoul National University in South Korea. When that six-month fellowship ended in 2015, he came to the Mount Sinai Health System, where he works closely with his mentor William B. Inabnet III, MD, Chair of Surgery, Mount Sinai Beth Israel, and Professor of Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Robotic surgery is common in other specialties, such as urology and gynecology, Dr. Suh says, but it is an innovation in his field. “As surgeons we take great joy in learning new skills, new approaches, and new techniques,” he says, “and being in a place like Mount Sinai where there is an abundance of research and interests and innovations—that is very special.”

The BABA technique is as safe and effective as conventional thyroid surgery, Dr. Suh says, but some patients still prefer conventional surgery, which is typically performed through the front of the neck.

“Some people are apprehensive and fearful of something that is new. That is a natural response,” Dr. Suh says.“You have to explain to the patient how you were trained, and what the surgery entails, and what it means to do robotic surgery. Some people think you push a button and a robot comes out of a closet!”

Hyunsuk Suh, MD, was first in the nation to perform the advanced robotic procedure known as BABA.

Thyroid surgery—whether conventional or robotic—is usually ambulatory, meaning that patients are discharged after a few hours of observation. So Dr. Suh calls patients at home for a few days to check in. “Otherwise,” he says, “it is possible to lose the connection to the patient—being able to follow up on their symptoms and listen to their concerns.”

During Ms. Bird’s surgery, in March 2017, Dr. Suh removed the left lobe of the thyroid, including a benign four-centimeter nodule. Ms. Bird went home that day, and Dr. Suh called soon after.

“That was great,” she says. “I’ve never had a doctor who calls you at home and asks you how you’re doing.”

After some initial hoarseness and pain, Ms. Bird recovered quickly and was left with scars in her armpits that she says are “pretty much nonexistent.” In April 2017, she ran the SHAPE Women’s Half Marathon in 2 hours, 24 minutes. “It was my slowest half marathon ever,” Ms. Bird says. “But at least I finished, and it was very cool to be able to say, ‘You know, I had surgery a month ago, and I was down and out for a week, and now here I am crossing the finish line.’”

Two Mount Sinai Hospitals Work as One to Save a Life

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Featured, Patient Stories

Amit Pawale, MD

When 24-year-old Andrea Giraldo arrived in New York City from Miami to ring in 2018 with friends in the East Village, she had no idea how gravely ill she would soon become.

Her ordeal began with terrible leg pain, which sent Ms. Giraldo to a New York City hospital that is not affiliated with the Mount Sinai Health System. There, she was treated for blood clots in her leg vein and sent home. But later that night in her friend’s apartment, she had trouble breathing and collapsed.

The Emergency Medical Services ambulance took her to Mount Sinai Beth Israel (MSBI). Now unconscious, with very low blood pressure and a low blood-oxygen level, Ms. Giraldo was placed on a breathing machine. A CAT scan revealed that she had large life-threatening clots in her lung arteries. She received clot-busting medication (tPA) with no effect.

MSBI physicians contacted Amit Pawale, MD, Assistant Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery at The Mount Sinai Hospital, and a team of ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) specialists led by Dr. Pawale was dispatched immediately. They placed Ms. Giraldo on an ECMO machine, which supported her heart and lungs and prevented imminent cardiac arrest. ECMO works by draining blood from a patient’s vein and pumping it to an artificial lung or oxygenator that adds oxygen, removes carbon dioxide, and sends it back to the patient.

Her blood pressure and oxygen level normalized, and Ms. Giraldo was transported to The Mount Sinai Hospital on ECMO support. Dr. Pawale and his team performed open heart surgery, removed large blood clots from her arteries, and discontinued ECMO support. Vascular surgeons implanted an intravascular filter to prevent future clots from reaching her heart.

Four weeks after her surgery, Ms. Giraldo returned home to Miami, where she gradually resumed her work and daily activities. “I’m so glad I ended up at Mount Sinai,” Ms. Giraldo says. “I got the best care. The nurses were amazing, and Dr. Pawale literally saved my life.”

Dr. Pawale attributes Ms. Giraldo’s excellent outcome to exceptional teamwork throughout the Mount Sinai Health System: the Pulmonary Embolism Response Team, and the doctors, nurses, and technicians in the Cardiothoracic Surgery Intensive Care Unit.

The ECMO machine was used to help provide Andrea Giraldo with life-sustaining support.

Creating an Oasis of Calm During a Busy Shift

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community, Featured

From left, Neha Dangayach, MD; Elka Riley, RN; Chaplain Maggie Keogh, BCC; and volunteer Romana Reyes in the Neurosurgical ICU.

It is always a welcomed break for hospital staff when the Chi CartTM swings into their busy work areas bringing tea, a healthy snack, aromatherapy, and music—and importantly, a reason to gather, if just for a few minutes. The word “chi” (pronounced chee) is taken from Chinese philosophy and can be translated as energy flow, life force, or breath.

Chi Time was first introduced on inpatient units at The Mount Sinai Hospital by Chaplain Maggie Keogh, BCC, in 2013, and later to Mount Sinai Beth Israel and Mount Sinai St. Luke’s. In August 2017, David L. Reich, MD, President and Chief Operating Officer of The Mount Sinai Hospital, requested that the program continue to expand to other areas of the Hospital.

“Health systems are increasingly shifting their focus from employee satisfaction to employee engagement because engagement levels have a significant impact on retention, absenteeism, patient satisfaction, and ultimately, patient safety,” says Deborah B. Marin, MD, the George and Marion Sokolik Blumenthal Professor of Psychiatry, and Director of the Center for Spirituality and Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which oversees the program.

Chaplains—and the more than 40 staff and non-staff volunteers known as “Maggie’s Team” they have trained—are behind the success of Chi Time, which now has eight carts and has served more than 9,000 staff since its expansion in August.

Chaplain Maggie with “Maggie’s Team” volunteers in their distinctive scarves.

During a recent visit to the Neurosurgical ICU at The Mount Sinai Hospital, Chaplain Maggie and volunteer Romana Reyes rolled the Chi Cart into a small room behind the nurses’ station, dimmed the lights, turned on soft music, and began offering a selection of tea, aromatherapy, and snacks. The Chi Cart is always just steps away so that staff do not have to leave their units or interrupt patient care.

Elka Riley, RN, Nurse Manager, a regular visitor at the weekly Chi Cart, received drops of lavender aromatherapy oil on her wrist, found her favorite snack, and sipped tea. “I could be a ‘10’ on the stress scale when I walk in, but after Chi Time, I am a ‘2,’” she says. Neha Dangayach, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, and Neurology, and Director of Neuro-Emergency Management and Transfers for the Health System, says, “It gives you time to breathe. I wish we could translate the feeling into our routines every day.”

Chaplain Maggie, who serves as the Director of the Chi Time program for the Health System, adds: “The overwhelming positive response from staff indicates that Chi Time is successfully serving its purpose, which includes giving staff the chance to feel they are worthy to be acknowledged, and providing a calm and nurturing space, a time to ‘be still’ during a very demanding work shift.”

The Jacobi Medallion: Honoring Excellence

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Featured, Research

Front, from left: Thomas P. Naidich, MD; Paul R.G. Cunningham, MD, MSH; Sandra K. Masur, PhD; Wayne A. Gordon, PhD; Yasmin L. Hurd, PhD; Blaine V. Fogg, Esq. Back, from left: Burton Cohen, MD; Dennis S. Charney, MD; Bruce D. Gelb, MD; Joseph R. Masci, MD; Mary Ann McLaughlin, MD, MPH, MSH; Srinivas Ravi V. Iyengar, PhD; and Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mount Sinai Health System.

The Jacobi Medallion—one of the Mount Sinai Health System’s highest honors for distinguished achievement in medicine or extraordinary service to the school, alumni, or The Mount Sinai Hospital—was bestowed upon nine individuals this year, at a special event at The Plaza. More than 300 Mount Sinai Health System alumni, donors, faculty, and staff attended the ceremony on Thursday, March 15, which helped kick off the 50th anniversary of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Burton Cohen, MD, President of The Mount Sinai Alumni Association and Associate Clinical Professor of Radiology, delivered opening remarks. The honorees had “taken different paths,” Dr. Cohen said, but as Mount Sinai alumni, faculty, or trustees, they had all, at one point, “called Mount Sinai home.”

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, welcomed the audience. “Fifty years ago,” he said, “the Mount Sinai School of Medicine opened its doors to its first students and began its journey to become the institution that we know today: one of the country’s premier centers of innovation in research, education, and clinical care. Those whom we honor tonight, and many others in this room, have played crucial roles over this half-century in building Mount Sinai’s tradition of invention and creativity.”

A new history wall that adorns the fifth floor of the Annenberg building celebrates innovation and excellence in education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Dr. Charney said that in addition to being ranked among the nation’s 20 leading medical schools, Mount Sinai was among the top 15 in National Institutes of Health funding, and among the top 10 research institutions worldwide, as cited in a Nature supplement. In addition, he said, “No medical school is more committed to social justice and human rights; mentoring; and student, house staff, and faculty wellness and resilience.”

Sandra K. Masur, PhD, Chair of the Jacobi Medallion Award Selection Committee, and Professor of Ophthalmology, introduced the 2018 awardees, who, she said, “were chosen from a superb group of candidates by their peers, former Jacobi recipients.”

The honorees are:

Paul R.G. Cunningham, MD, FACS, MSH ’79

Immediate Past President, North Carolina Medical Society, Dean Emeritus, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University

Dr. Cunningham has held numerous appointments in surgery, medical education, and hospital administration throughout his career. Currently, he is the outgoing Dean and Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. Prior to his appointments at East Carolina University, Dr. Cunningham served as Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at the State University of New York, Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, N.Y. He also served as President of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma, and as a Governor of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Cunningham is interested in the mentoring and career development of minority students in medicine.

Blaine V. Fogg, Esq.

Trustee, Mount Sinai Health System

Mr. Fogg joined the Mount Sinai Boards of Trustees in 1987. He chairs the Legal Committee and serves on the Executive; Compensation, Employee Benefits, and Employee Relations; Finance; and Technology Transfer committees. A corporate and securities lawyer, he has practiced at the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP since 1966, and has represented clients in matters that include negotiated mergers, acquisitions, and leveraged buyouts; unsolicited tender offers; proxy contests; and corporate restructurings and reorganizations. Mr. Fogg champions numerous initiatives at Mount Sinai that support underserved populations, including the Mount Sinai Medical Legal Partnership.

Bruce D. Gelb, MD

Gogel Family Professor and Director of The Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, Professor of Pediatrics, and Genetics and Genomic Sciences

A member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Society for Clinical Investigation, Dr. Gelb is a physician-scientist committed to discovering improved methods for diagnosing and treating childhood diseases. He is the founder and Co-Director of the Cardiovascular Genetics Program, a multidisciplinary program that cares for patients and families with genetic-based cardiovascular disorders.

Dr. Gelb also is a site Principal Investigator for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute-funded Pediatric Cardiac Genomics Consortium. In addition to establishing a Pediatric Undiagnosed Disease Program, he is a Multiple Principal Investigator for the National Human Genome Research Institute-funded Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research project.

Wayne A. Gordon, PhD, FACRM, ABPP

Jack Nash Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine

Since joining the faculty in 1986, Dr. Gordon has helped the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine become one of the specialty’s most successfully funded programs, placing it among the top 10 for research funding in the United States.

Dr. Gordon’s current research is focused on cognitive rehabilitation, screening for traumatic brain injury (TBI), developing and testing the utility of behavioral interventions to improve the function of individuals with TBI, and examining the relationship between pediatric TBI and criminality. He has received numerous awards, including the Gold Key Award from the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, and the William Fields Caveness Award from the Brain Injury Association of America.

Yasmin L. Hurd, PhD

Ward-Coleman Chair in Translational Research, Director, Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai, and Professor of Psychiatry, Neuroscience, and Pharmacological Sciences

Dr. Hurd is an internationally recognized researcher in the field of addiction disorders who has distinguished herself as an innovative investigator, educator, and role model. Her lab has made major inroads in addiction research and has shown that marijuana use has different effects on developing brains and adult brains. In recognition of the impact of her research and commitment to informing public health and education, she was recently inducted into the National Academy of Medicine. A member of the Mount Sinai faculty since 2006, Dr. Hurd has served as Director of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s MD/PhD program, and sits on multiple Mount Sinai committees, including Women in Science and Medicine.

Srinivas Ravi V. Iyengar, PhD

Dorothy H. and Lewis Rosenstiel Professor of Pharmacology and Biological Chemistry, Director, Mount Sinai Institute for Systems Biomedicine, Professor of Pharmacological Sciences

An expert in systems biology and systems pharmacology, Dr. Iyengar studies signaling networks and regulatory pathways using systems biology approaches. His research is focused on understanding the design principles by which mammalian cells are constructed and drug action at a systems level. Dr. Iyengar has served as the lead Principal Investigator on a Transformative R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health Common Fund for which he and his colleagues have used computer modeling and nanotechnology and human kidney cells in ongoing research to rebuild a filtration device in vitro. A member of the faculty since 1986, Dr. Iyengar has served as Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics and Dean of Research.

Joseph R. Masci, MD

Chairman, Global Health Institute, Elmhurst Hospital Center, Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases), and Environmental Medicine and Public Health

During the Ebola epidemic in West Africa from 2014 to 2016, Dr. Masci served as the infectious diseases physician on the planning committee for Ebola of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (NYC H+H), the largest municipal hospital system in the United States. He served as Chairman of the Emergency Preparedness Council of NYC H+H and currently acts as infectious diseases consultant on Zika virus for NYC H+H. Dr. Masci has conducted two international projects directed at the care of HIV and other infectious diseases in Russia and Ethiopia. He has served as the medical director of AIDS services for the Queens Health Network and chaired the health workgroup of the New York City Health and Human Services HIV Planning Council.

Mary Ann McLaughlin, MD, MPH, MSH ’96

Medical Director, Cardiac Health Program, Associate Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), and Population Health Science and Policy

A physician-scientist, Dr. McLaughlin has focused on the development of clinical programs and clinical research to improve cardiovascular care in vulnerable populations. Dr. McLaughlin’s interest in gender differences and cardiovascular health led her to obtain research grant funding from the National Institutes of Health, the American College of Cardiology, and the American Heart Association. She has also received grant support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and partnered with colleagues at the World Trade Center-Clinical Centers for Excellence to design and implement research and clinical programs to evaluate cardiovascular risk in thousands of people who sustained extensive exposure to particulate matter.

Thomas P. Naidich, MD, FACR

Irving and Dorothy Regenstreif Research Professor of Neuroscience (Neuroimaging), Professor of Pediatrics, Neurosurgery, and Radiology

Dr. Naidich’s research interests have centered on the imaging display of neuroanatomy and gross pathology. Over the course of his career, Dr. Naidich has published extensively and has held numerous editorial positions with scientific journals. He was recognized by the American Society of Neuroradiology with the Award for Outstanding Contributions to Research in 2011, and the Gold Medal in 2014, and by the American Society of Pediatric Neuroradiology with the Gold Medal in 2005. His additional awards include the Cornelius Dyke Award for outstanding research from the American Society of Neuroradiology.

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