Could Dogs Serve as Hosts for the Next Flu Pandemic?

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Featured, Research

Study investigators Adolfo García-Sastre, PhD, left, and Guojun Wang, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow

Dogs are becoming increasingly friendly hosts for a surprising array of influenza viruses, a situation that could pose a potential threat to humans. That is the finding of a new study from the Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, published June 5, 2018, in mBio.

The results were based on scientific evidence that dogs in southern China had the capacity to serve as “mixing vessels” for influenza viruses they receive from swine and birds—two animals considered to be the most common reservoirs of influenza viral genetic diversity.

“The more diversity we see in influenza viruses, the greater the chance they could jump from one host to another,” says the study’s lead author, Adolfo García-Sastre, PhD, Professor of Microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine, and Director of the Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute. He is also Director of the Center for Research on Influenza Pathogenesis, one of five National Institutes of Health (NIH) Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance. The research took place in the Guangxi region of southern China, an area where diverse animal species are raised in proximity to one another and intermingle in live-animal markets.

In the study, researchers swabbed the noses of some 800 dogs that had all been brought to veterinarians or clinics in the region after showing respiratory symptoms consistent with canine influenza. The scientists sequenced the complete genomes of 16 influenza A viruses obtained from the dogs. All of these strains represented introductions of H1N1 swine influenza viruses circulating in pigs in Asia and Europe into these dogs.

They also found a set of three new viruses (H1N1r, H1N2r, and H3N2r) in which these swine-origin canine influenza viruses exchanged genes with previously identified avian-origin H3N2 canine influenza viruses.

Flu viruses have eight mini chromosomes and when two different strains infect the same cell they can exchange genetic segments, a process known as reassortment. All pandemic flu viruses that have been tracked have involved reassortment. The 2009 H1N1 swine-origin human influenza pandemic, for example, was a derivative of two different strains of swine influenza, one that had been circulating in Asia and Europe and the other in the Americas, particularly North America. That pandemic virus traced to a very small region in central Mexico, and was responsible for more than 17,000 deaths worldwide when it jumped from pigs into humans.

There is no known case of a human contracting a canine flu. Nor is it certain that the new strains of dog flu virus discovered in China would have that transmission capability. Still, as Dr. García-Sastre points out, the potential exists, especially in light of the frequent contact between pets and their owners. Moreover, the health risk increases for humans who have not previously been exposed to these viral strains and have not built an immunity to them.

Dr. García-Sastre does not predict a new pandemic, but he says there is a need for additional research and heightened vigilance by public health authorities around the world.

“We must start thinking about dogs as potential reservoirs for influenza viruses,” he says. “The more awareness we create, the more likely that countermeasures can be developed by countries to diminish the circulation of influenza virus in domestic animals.”

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Melinda Lantz, MD, Assumes Leadership Role

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

Melinda Lantz, MD

Members of the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP) have elected Mount Sinai Beth Israel physician Melinda Lantz, MD, to become the organization’s President. Dr. Lantz, Vice Chair, Chief of Geriatric Psychiatry, and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, assumes her new role at a pivotal time.

Founded in 1978 to promote the well-being of older people through education, advocacy, and career development of psychiatrists, AAGP has embraced change. Its growing ranks now include nurses, physician assistants, and mental health professionals coping with a growing geriatric population.

Every day, an estimated 10,000 people reach age 65. Behavioral health problems affect 15 percent of older adults and up to 5 percent have serious mental illnesses, according to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. In 2013, more than 7,000 people age 65 or older died by suicide. Additionally, experts say direct health care costs associated with dementia in the elderly often equal or exceed the costs for heart disease and cancer.

In her role as President of AAGP, Dr. Lantz—a specialist in dementia care and geriatric mental illness—plans to address the need for additional recruitment and training by increasing interest in and availability of subspecialty fellowships in geriatric psychiatry. Boosting physician compensation for providing care to older adults with complex needs would also revitalize career opportunities.

Dr. Lantz would like to see an emphasis placed on empathy during training, a critical element for older patients who often cannot advocate for themselves. Elderly patients as a whole, she says, tend to like and respect doctors and welcome human contact.

Encouraging empathy in the treatment of patients “inspired me to be in the organization,” she says.

Too often, physicians lose empathy when they are stressed and have heavy workloads. “Everybody does better when they perceive empathy from physicians. One of the things that fellowships can do is help them get it back.”

After robust lobbying by the AAGP, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently agreed to assign an insurance code to monitor the impact of geriatric psychiatry. “Getting that code suffix added was a major win,” says Dr. Lantz, who anticipates a favorable outcome once all of the factors are weighed. Tracking patients will show how geriatric psychiatry affects medical costs and resources.

Having spent billions of dollars researching dementia drugs with little success, many drugmakers have pulled back, according to Dr. Lantz. Today, she adds, “There are limited drug options for dementia in the pipeline. We need to focus on care and quality of life for those with dementia.”

An area that does show promise for helping in the treatment of geriatric psychiatry is technology. For elderly patients who are less mobile, telemedicine via videoconferencing can ease loneliness and increase access to care.  Dr. Lantz says technology will also expand the scope of support to other health care providers who are located in communities where there are no specialists in geriatric psychiatry.

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Paying Tribute to a Giant in Medicine

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

Dr. Holland’s children, from left: David Holland; Diane Holland; Sally Holland; Peter Holland; Mary Holland; and Steven Holland, MD.

Family, friends, and colleagues of the late James F. Holland, MD, Distinguished Professor of Neoplastic Diseases at The Tisch Cancer Institute, gathered in May at the Mount Sinai Health System to celebrate his work as a renowned physician-scientist who helped cure acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children.

Dr. Holland’s work helped establish oncology as a medical discipline. In the 1950s, when chemotherapy was a relatively new treatment, he and his colleagues began treating seemingly incurable patients with drug combinations rather than administering each one sequentially. Nine out of 10 patients successfully responded to the therapy. Combination chemotherapy remains the standard of care today.  Dr. Holland encouraged physicians to share data and create common protocols. In 1972, he received the prestigious Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award.

James F. Holland, MD

Speakers at Mount Sinai’s Celebration of Life event included many esteemed physicians from around the country whom Dr. Holland influenced and once mentored, as well as Mount Sinai leaders in academic affairs and cancer research. Dr. Holland’s six adult children attended the event, with several sharing their thoughts and memories.

In his opening remarks, William K. Oh, MD, Deputy Director of The Tisch Cancer Institute and Chief of Hematology and Medical Oncology, said Dr. Holland “was absolutely committed to changing the poor outcomes of patients with leukemia, breast cancer, and other devastating cancers by investing in translational research and clinical trials, principles that drive our work at The Tisch Cancer Institute today.”

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Fourth Episode of Mount Sinai Future You

Updated on Mar 11, 2026 | Featured, Future You

The fourth episode of Mount Sinai Future You features former supermodel Mahogany Phillips, who went through surgery to transition from male to female through Mount Sinai’s Transgender Fellowship program that is training the next generation of doctors to perform transgender surgeries. Mahogany received treatment from Jess Ting, MD, Associate Professor, Plastic and Reconstructive surgery.

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 Four, also features:

  • Denise Ely shares her story after receiving an “advanced age” liver transplant 20 years ago. Ely meets her donor’s family for the first time and discovers surprising similarities between her life and the life of her donor. Sander Florman, MD, Director of the Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute, and Nancy Bach, MD, Associate Clinical Professor of Liver Disease, discuss the future of liver transplant and how utilizing “at risk” organs allows more people to have this life-saving surgery.
  • Matilda, who was diagnosed with a severe form of Neonatal Hermochromatosis, became the youngest liver transplant recipient at Mount Sinai.
  • Manuel Rivera, a patient who went through medical treatment in the comfort of his own home. The Mobile Acute Care Team (MACT) has partnered with Contessa Health to create an efficient payment and operating model that decreases the cost of treatment for patients.
  • Ettore Vulcano, MD, Foot and Ankle Orthopedic Surgeon, uses new technology to perform minimally invasive foot surgeries that significantly decrease a patient’s recovery time and allows them to return to their normal lives much faster than expected.
  • Joanne Loewy, Director of the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine, shares research about how music therapy is helping decrease stress and anxiety levels among cancer patients, as well as those recovering from spine surgery.

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 3 of Mount Sinai Future You

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.