Calls for Courage and Caring at Commencement 2017

Jun 5, 2017 | Community, Featured

Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA, former U.S. Surgeon General, receives an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Dennis S. Charney, MD.

A former U.S. surgeon general, the chief executive officer of an innovative health care system, a leader in public health, and pioneers in chromatin biology and genome editing were honored at the 48th annual Commencement of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, held on Friday, May 12, at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center.

The Icahn School of Medicine granted a total of 139 MDs, 79 PhDs, and 25 dual degrees. Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA, the 19th Surgeon General of the United States, delivered the commencement address to the 1,000 faculty, staff, graduates, and their families and friends who filled the hall.

The event began with a sweeping overview of the “unusual times” facing graduates as they start their careers, in an address by Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mount Sinai Health System. “Our ability to treat each and every patient in need of care, to prevent disease, and to optimize care is under threat today,” Dr. Davis said, describing a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that might cause as many as 24 million Americans to lose health care coverage.

“At Mount Sinai, we are committed to caring for everyone,” Dr. Davis told the graduates. “We have always been committed to that core value—serving the most vulnerable, as well as the most fortunate. So now I implore you to retain and live the values you’ve been taught here.”

Dr. Murthy said the nation is increasingly divided, driven by a fear of change, and struggling with an epidemic of chronic illness. Yet he expressed a strong belief in “the power and the promise of America,” which allowed him, the grandson of a poor rice farmer in India, to become the nation’s chief public health officer. “As society’s newest leaders, the choice of how to lead starts with all of you,” Dr. Murthy said. “Lead with love, always. Love is our greatest source of power. It is what we need to build a nation that is safe and strong for our children.”

Dr. Murthy received an honorary Doctor of Science degree for his work addressing public health challenges, including tobacco-related disease, the Zika virus, and the nation’s opioid crisis.

Honorary degrees also were awarded to:

David Allis, PhD, Joy and Jack Fishman Professor, and Head of the Laboratory of Chromatin Biology and Epigenetics, Rockefeller University, who received an honorary Doctor of Science degree for discovering that a protein complex called chromatin plays a crucial role in expressing and silencing genes, paving the way for new approaches to treating birth defects, cancer, and neurological disorders.

Jennifer Doudna, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, University of California, Berkeley, who received an honorary Doctor of Science degree for research that led to the development of CRISPR-Cas9, a revolutionary technique that may enable researchers to manipulate DNA in order to someday treat, and potentially cure, devastating diseases.

Bernard J. Tyson, Chairman and CEO, Kaiser Permanente, who received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree for leading a $65 billion integrated health system that embraces advances in technology and a holistic approach to preventive care.

Howard Alan Zucker, MD, JD, Commissioner, New York State Department of Health, who received an honorary Doctor of Science degree for devoting his career to advancing public health and safety, and pioneering programs that influence the health of individuals in New York State and around the world.

In his address, Peter W. May, Chairman, Boards of Trustees, Mount Sinai Health System, focused on the fast-changing world of health care, with innovations in treatment and a shift from a fee-for-service model to a population health approach. “The training you have received at Mount Sinai has given you the tools that you need to meet these challenges,” Mr. May said. “And knowing what you have already accomplished, I have every faith that you will be compassionate and formidable leaders of this exciting evolution in health care.”

The graduates were congratulated for their scholarship, research, and “legendary” community service by Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and President for Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System.

“To be a great leader, you are going to need to be resilient and have courage,” Dr. Charney said, and recounted three “profiles in courage”: A young woman who fought off beta-cell lymphoma and dreams of being a researcher; a young man who lost his father to cardiomyopathy, then was treated for the same disorder, and founded a health nonprofit in his native Zimbabwe; and a young woman who was hit by a drunken driver and, still suffering from residual health problems, organized a citywide antiracism coalition.

“Do not underestimate how hard it is to be resilient. It requires the courage to confront painful realities, the faith that there will be a solution when one is not immediately evident,” Dr. Charney said. “In my dream, where Mount Sinai graduates change the world, they do so by shining through on their darkest days. How do I know this is possible? The three heroes I just described are not only in this room right now, they are graduates of the Class of 2017.”

Read the full text of the address by Dr. Davis

A Special Ceremony For Master’s Degrees

Jun 5, 2017 | Community, Featured

Graduates in the Master of Public Health program, from left: Ceciley Bly, who was the student speaker, Alycia Gardner, and Heather Omdal.

The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai conferred 207 master’s degrees at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center on Friday, May 12, during a ceremony that marked significant growth in its master’s degree programs.

“This is a special ceremony,” noted 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, who presided over the commencement before a jubilant audience of graduates, their families and friends, and Mount Sinai faculty and staff. “It is only the second time that we have had a commencement just for Master’s graduates. This signals that the master’s programs at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai are very important—and much larger.” The Graduate School granted 54 more master’s degrees this year compared to last year’s 153 master’s degrees.

In total, the Graduate School conferred 121 degrees in Public Health, one of its oldest master’s degree programs, and 22 in Health Care Delivery Leadership, one of its newest master’s programs, as well as 35 in Biomedical Sciences, 17 in Clinical Research, 9 in Genetic Counseling, and 3 in Biostatistics.

Marta Filizola, PhD, Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and Professor of Pharmacological Sciences, addressed the graduates. “Our Class of 2017 comes from all over the world and represents different cultures and backgrounds,” she said. “But your common strength—and what unites you—is your desire to learn, to embrace new challenges, to experiment, to discover, and to collaborate with others to envision and create a better world.”

Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Dean for Academic and Scientific Affairs, Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience, and Director of The Friedman Brain Institute, greeted the graduates and spoke about the need for continued diversity in the research community. “Empirical evidence has shown that a diverse group of people, with different backgrounds, perspectives, and viewpoints, can tackle highly complex problems with far greater innovation and creativity,” he said, “but despite progress, we still have a lot of work to do to create a society and culture that values what we have in common, as well as what makes us all different. Mount Sinai is at the vanguard of capturing this strength through diversity and demonstrating to others how we can do better.”

Helene D. Gayle, MD, MPH, Chief Executive Officer of the nonprofit organization McKinsey Social Initiative, who has addressed social inequity and health-related challenges on an international scale, was the commencement speaker. She told the graduates that in the midst of a deeply divided political landscape, economic inequality, and racial tensions across the United States, “You have taken an affirmative step toward action by choosing a career in health” and would be able to make a difference in the lives of people everywhere—an effort, however, that would take more than science, technology, and know-how to achieve. “If we want equality in health care, we are going to have to stand up for it, and we’re going to have to keep standing up for it,” she exhorted. “It is time that we affirm that access to health services is a right. It is as basic as education, clean water, and clean air.”

Dr. Gayle concluded: “If you can maintain the will to pursue that highest ambition, I believe we can all meet the greatest challenges of our time and leave a legacy of healthy populations and health equity for generations to come. So, let’s go do it!”

Exposure to Specific Toxins and Nutrients During Late Pregnancy and Early Life Correlated With Autism Risk

Jun 4, 2017 | Featured, Mount Sinai Spotlight, Research

Using evidence found in baby teeth, researchers from The Senator Frank R. Lautenberg Environmental Health Sciences Laboratory and The Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai found that differences in the uptake of multiple toxic and essential elements over the second and third trimesters and early postnatal periods are associated with the risk of developing autism spectrum disorders (ASD), according to a study published June 1 in the journal Nature Communications.

The critical developmental windows for the observed discrepancies varied for each element, suggesting that systemic dysregulation of environmental pollutants and dietary elements may serve an important role in ASD. In addition to identifying specific environmental factors that influence risk, the study also pinpointed developmental time periods when elemental dysregulation poses the biggest risk for autism later in life.

Read the press release

In Commencement Speech, Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and CEO of Mount Sinai, Says “These Are Unusual Times; Our Core Values Are at Stake”

May 29, 2017 | Featured, Insights

Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and CEO of the Mount Sinai Health System, delivered this speech at the MD, PhD and Dual Degree Commencement of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai on Friday, May 12.

Graduates, four years ago, at our first gathering, you each received your white coat—a symbol of compassion. As you’ve worn it, I trust you’ve come to understand that the practice of medicine requires more than study, more than knowledge, more than skill. It also requires compassion and empathy. As graduates of our school, I want you to hold firm to that core value, because the compassion you feel will never allow you to abandon the most vulnerable, or being my brother’s keeper.

I raise this because our ability to treat each and every patient in need of care, to prevent disease, and to optimize care is under threat today. Last week, the House of Representatives passed a bill that sharply conflicts with our core values. I speak, of course, of the American Health Care Act, which, if allowed to become law, would dramatically alter the health care of America.

Since 1965, when President Lyndon Johnson signed the law that created Medicare, the United States has increased access to health care under both Democrats and Republicans. President Ronald Reagan expanded Medicaid to cover more low-income children and their mothers. President George H.W. Bush created the Children’s Health Insurance Program to provide health care coverage for low-income children previously not covered by Medicaid. President George W. Bush further expanded the number of Americans who could receive coverage under Medicaid and added a prescription drug benefit to Medicare. And of course the Affordable Care Act, signed by President Obama, continued the tradition of Americans caring for Americans, drastically reducing the number of uninsured.

Turning back the clock

What the House of Representatives has done turns back the clock. For the first time in over 50 years, we would be diminishing access to health care for tens of millions of our citizens. For the first time in over 50 years, we would become a less compassionate society.

Those who promoted the bill make some extraordinary claims. Among those are: Our most vulnerable citizens would have improved health care; no one would lose their insurance; people with pre-existing conditions would be protected.

Here’s the reality: The bill would slash nearly a trillion dollars from Medicaid—nearly a trillion dollars— causing millions to lose health care coverage. New York State alone stands to lose $7 billion a year. Federal Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, which some of you may know was started by Mount Sinai OBGYNs, would be ended, and tax credits could not be used to buy insurance that includes abortion coverage. States would allow insurance companies to charge patients with pre-existing conditions higher rates—thousands, even tens of thousands, more dollars than they’re being charged now. And, of course, we’ve heard that high-risk pools will be established, allegedly to offset some of the rate increases. I need to say a word about those high-risk pools. High-risk pools are not a panacea. They’ve been underfunded in the past. They have been tried before, and by most estimates the number in this bill is inadequate. In fact, 35 states have tried high-risk pools, and in 31 of them they have failed. Most of the pools lost huge amounts of money. The consequence was that patients could not afford to buy into those high-risk pools.

Stripped-down health policies

The House bill also allows states the option to waive the requirement that insurance plans have the essential benefits. Essential benefits under the Affordable Care Act included ambulatory care, emergency care, hospitalization, maternity care, prescription drugs, lab services, pediatric services, mental health and substance abuse, and prevention and wellness services. So what’s left? What kind of stripped-down policies would insurance companies be allowed to sell under the rubric that we’ll have more affordable, less expensive policies? Under the heading of choice, Americans can be sold virtually worthless policies, policies that carry high deductibles and co-pays, policies that will produce awful surprises when the buyer becomes ill and discovers what services are not covered.

One of the essential services that need not be covered is mental health and substance abuse care, this despite the fact that 60 percent of the leading disabilities in the world are brain diseases. When we make mental health coverage optional, what we say is, “You don’t really need that.” But this could not be further from the truth, particularly as many people with mental health problems deny their illness until it is too late, a circumstance that is aided and abetted by this choice.

The Affordable Care Act has delivered health insurance to 16 million Americans. The Act has brought the uninsured rate down to the lowest level in American history. As a result, Americans are healthier and living longer; there is lots of data to support that. The bill passed by the House would roll back those victories. Indeed, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that 24 million Americans would lose health care coverage, and, of course, people without health care insurance often go without health care.

A study published prior to the Affordable Care Act found that nearly 45,000 deaths per year in the United States were a consequence of a lack of health care coverage. The truth is the American Health Care Act, as passed by the House of Representatives, would have devastating consequences for millions of Americans. And the most vulnerable—the poor and the sick—would suffer the most severe consequences.

Unusual request in unusual times

Our society at its best accepts the notion that we take care of each other. In fact this is the idea underlying the economics of health care insurance: We all pay in so that those who do get sick have affordable insurance. Insurance that makes possible the quality of health care we need and does so at an affordable price. For an insurance pool to work, the well and the wealthy must help the sick and the unfortunate. Health insurance, after all, is a subtle social contract, a contract built on the long-held religious ethic of caring for one’s neighbor, especially those who are less fortunate than we might be.

You graduates chose to become doctors today to live up to those principles, simply put, to help others, and this is the ethic that underlies the Mount Sinai Health System. We are committed to caring for everyone. We have always been committed to that core value—serving the most vulnerable as well as the most fortunate; we don’t differentiate. So now I implore you to retain and live the values you’ve been taught here. Practice compassionate care. Help the most vulnerable.

And in that spirit I have a request, a request I have never made at a commencement, but these are unusual times. Our core values are at stake. Lives are at stake. I ask each and every one of you— graduates, parents, family, faculty, and staff—to call or write your senators, demand that they stand by our values, your values. Demand they refuse to rip up the nation’s social contract. Demand that they not turn back the clock on the extension of health care to all Americans.

Please do not allow the rhetoric of choice, free markets, and personal responsibility to eclipse the fact that, as doctors, we are our brother’s keeper.

New Capital Campaign to Bring Transformational Growth

May 29, 2017 | Community, Featured

From left: Dennis S. Charney, MD; Mark Kostegan, Chief Development Officer; Peter W. May, Chairman, Boards of Trustees; and Kenneth L. Davis, MD.

The Mount Sinai Health System has launched a new capital campaign that is expected to raise $1.5 billion over the next seven years and serve as the organization’s roadmap for the future in medical research, patient care, and education.

As fundraising begins in earnest in 2018, Mount Sinai will steer a course that calls for significant investments in precision medicine, next generation health care, and emerging areas in cancer, immunology, neuroscience, heart disease, pediatrics, and other specialties.

This is the first capital campaign since the formation of the Mount Sinai Health System in 2013, when The Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Queens, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai combined with the former Continuum Health Partners and its five hospitals to become one of the largest health systems in the New York region.

“We anticipate that our new capital campaign will be transformational, a game changer that is as successful as the campaign we undertook 10 years ago for The Mount Sinai Hospital and the Icahn School of Medicine,” says Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System. The earlier campaign raised $1.6 billion and led to the creation of 19 research institutes, the recruitment of 150 academic faculty, and the establishment of the 500,000 square-foot Leon and Norma Hess Center for Science and Medicine.

Backed by robust investment, Mount Sinai advanced its research portfolio and experienced significant growth in funding for genetics, microbiology, pharmacology, and neurosciences from the National Institutes of Health. In addition, The Tisch Cancer Institute expanded its programs and received the elite classification as a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center, one of 69 such centers in the country.

Mount Sinai also broadened its culture of innovation and entrepreneurship by entering into educational and industry partnerships and investing in high-performance computing, genomics, and multiscale biology.

The new strategic plan was the result of a yearlong study led by Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System; and Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Dean for Academic and Scientific Affairs, Director of The Friedman Brain Institute, and Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience.

“We enlisted 200 faculty members and more than 150 external experts—some of the best minds in science and medicine—to participate in a dynamic exchange of knowledge and ideas that would help us chart our future in education, biomedical science, and clinical research with the ultimate goal to improve human health,” says Dr. Charney. “Our campaign is based on their bold recommendations.”

To fully capture the clinical and capital needs of Mount Sinai’s seven hospitals, each hospital president worked closely with Margaret Pastuszko, MBA, Chief Strategy and Integration Officer, and her team to establish priorities and develop a strategic plan to support the unique strengths of each hospital.

The new capital campaign will help fund strategic investment in infrastructure, equipment, training, and other services. Mount Sinai’s patients will receive advanced clinical care in every hospital throughout the Health System. This coordinated approach, in combination with world-renowned research, will enable Mount Sinai to achieve its objective—improving human health.

Plans call for Mount Sinai to expand the scope of its advanced research and clinical care in diabetes and obesity, and kidney, lung, and gastrointestinal disease. In addition, Mount Sinai will leverage its large and diverse patient population to excel in areas that include drug addiction, and environmental, adolescent, and women’s health. It will establish five institutes devoted to this research and to creating transformative clinical trials.

“The connectivity between our education, research, and clinical care reflects a collaborative and unified Health System,” says Mark Kostegan, Chief Development Officer and Senior Vice President for Development, Mount Sinai Health System, who is leading the current campaign and led the earlier one. “Our new effort will strengthen Mount Sinai in its entirety, advancing all of our hospitals and our school.”

Honoring Mount Sinai’s Compassionate Volunteers

May 15, 2017 | Community, Featured

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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