Recognizing Recipients of the 2023 Mount Sinai Alumni Awards

Updated on May 25, 2023 | Community, Featured

At the Awards Ceremony Dinner, from left:  Back Row: Dennis Charney, MD; Leo Keegan, MD; Christopher Bellaire, MD; Hashem Emad Zikry, MD; Daniel J. Weiss, MD, PhD; Basil Hanss, PhD; David R. Friedland, MD, PhD; Alberto Paniz-Mondolfi, MD, PhD; Robert O. Wright, MD, MPH; Cardinale Smith, MD, PhD; Alexis Colvin, MD. Seated: Silvia Chavez, MSN; Leif Holgersen, MD; Meg A. Rosenblatt, MD; Bret P. Nelson, MD; James C. Tsai, MD, MBA; Carl W. Braun, MD; Katherine A. Hawkins, MD, JD; and Vesna Najfeld, PhD

More than 225 alumni, faculty, and honored guests gathered for the 2023 Alumni Reunion Awards Ceremony Dinner held at the New York Academy of Medicine. This was the first time in four years that the event was held in person to celebrate the recipients of the Mount Sinai Alumni Awards and the St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Alumni Awards, as well as milestone graduation years: the classes of 1978, 1983, and 1998.

This year’s event, held Wednesday, May 10, was particularly special for another reason: It was the first reunion to honor the first four graduating classes from the original Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The classes of 1970, 1971, 1972, and 1973 jointly celebrated their 50th anniversaries, which is a signifier of the extraordinary trajectory taken since the School of Medicine’s founding.

Guests were welcomed with opening remarks from Alexis Colvin, MD, Associate Dean for Alumni Affairs, Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Kenneth L. Davis, MD, Chief Executive Office of the Mount Sinai Health System, who is also an alumnus of the class of 1973. Leo Keegan, MD, Vice President of the Mount Sinai Alumni Association, and Carl Braun, MD, President of the St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Alumni Association, presented the awards. A special welcome video with Talia Swartz, MD, PhD, President of the Mount Sinai Alumni Association, was also shown.

The Alumni Award recipients are:

The Mount Sinai Alumni Leadership Award: Christopher Bellaire, MD Candidate ’23, Hashem Emad Zikry, MD, ISMMS ’18

St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Distinguished Young Physician of the Year: Alberto Paniz-Mondolfi, MD, PhD, SLR ’11

The Jeffrey T. Laitman, PhD Award for Achievement in Medical Education: Bret P. Nelson, MD

The Mount Sinai Graduate School Alumni Award: Basil Hanss, PhD, Cardinale Smith, MD, PhD, MSSM ’15, MSH ’10

The Mount Sinai Master Clinician Award: Meg A. Rosenblatt, MD, MSH ’89

The Mount Sinai Alumni Special Recognition Award: Silvia Chavez, MSN, ANP-BC, Vesna Najfeld, PhD

The Terry Ann Krulwich Physician-Scientist Alumni Award: Daniel J. Weiss, MD, PhD, MSSM ’88

The Dr. Sidney Grossman Distinguished Humanitarian Award: James C. Tsai, MD, MBA

The J. Lester Gabrilove Award: Robert O. Wright, MD, MPH

St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Distinguished Alumni Award: Katherine A. Hawkins, MD, JD, SLR ’77, Leif Holgersen, MD, FACS, SLR ’70

The Saul Horowitz, Jr. Memorial Award: David R. Friedland, MD, PhD, MSSM ’95, MSH ’00

The Alumni Association also held a series of events from Wednesday, May 10, to Friday, May 12. The event series included a symposium with two panel conversations and a discussion with Dr. Charney, and an Open House for the new Alumni Office and Wisch Physician Lounge. Members of the 50th anniversary classes participated in the 2023 Commencement Ceremony.

To view the digital Reunion Dinner Program Book, see event photos, watch the welcome video, and listen to the Alumni Podcast from the graduating class of 1972, click here.

At the 2023 Commencement Ceremony, from left: Ernst Schaefer, MD; Jacob Rispler, MD; Steven C. Port, MD; Naomi LC Luban, MD; Katherine Teets Grimm, MD; Arthur L. Frank, MD; Kenneth L. Edelson, MD; and Michael S. Balkin, MD.

Mammograms Have Been in the News. Here’s What You Need to Know

Updated on May 23, 2023 | Diversity and Inclusion, Featured, Your Health

Mammograms have been in the news lately, and it can sometimes be a bit confusing. But the guidance from Mount Sinai doctors remains unchanged and simple: You should start getting mammograms at age 40 and continue yearly.

In this Q&A, Elisa Port, MD, FACS, Chief of Breast Surgery and Co-Director of the Dubin Breast Center, explains why changing guidelines from groups such as the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force have not altered the recommendations of doctors like herself to urge women to start mammograms at age 40 and have them every year. She also explains why this longstanding recommendation for annual mammograms starting at age 40, based on extensive data, is critical for Black women, who are more susceptible to an aggressive form of breast cancer, and why new regulations from the Food and Drug Administration on breast density are also important.

Elisa Port, MD, FACS

What is the latest advice on the age that people should start getting regular mammograms?

The age that women should start getting mammograms has never changed from the perspective of health care professionals. There is tons of data and research that has shown that starting at age 40 and yearly thereafter is the best way to detect breast cancer early and gives women of all those age groups the best chance of survival if they do develop breast cancer that is found through early detection. What has not been consistent is that, starting in 2009, and then again in 2016, a number of groups, such as the American Cancer Society and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, started putting out guidelines that differed from that. These were basically prioritizing different factors, and taking into account such things as the anxiety of patients, false positives, and cost. But doctors have known all along that the optimal way to screen women for breast cancer, with the highest chance of survival, is starting at age 40 and continuing yearly thereafter.

What is the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force?

The task force is an independent, volunteer panel of experts on prevention and evidence-based medicine that provides guidance to primary care physicians about preventive services such as screenings and counseling services. It is one of several leading sources of guidance to physicians.

What are the reasons for the new guidance from the task force to start mammograms at age 40?

One of the reasons for the change in its guidance on mammograms was newer data, very disturbing, showing that Black women—who we know can develop cancers younger—are more at risk for developing a particularly aggressive kind of cancer called triple negative breast cancer that can grow more rapidly. The death rate in Black women who get breast cancer is substantively and unacceptably higher. So this change in recommendation is a limited response to that data, saying one thing we can do to address that is revert back to starting screening at a younger age. But they did not go far enough.

How is the risk for Black women different?

One of the biggest issues specific to Black women is that breast cancer is not just one disease. Breast cancer involves multiple different subtypes. Each of these different subtypes is treated differently, has a different pathway, and behaves differently. One of these subtypes, called triple negative breast cancer, is the most aggressive kind of breast cancer and also one of the most difficult to treat. We know that of all breast cancers, triple negative makes up only about 15 percent. However, there are certain groups that have a higher chance of developing triple negative breast cancer and are at high risk for developing that subtype. Black women are one of those groups. When they develop breast cancer, there is a 30 percent chance it will be triple negative, not 15 percent. So it is much higher. As a result, they may need to be screened earlier, and with greater frequency.

Should people be concerned if they cannot afford a mammogram?

At Mount Sinai, we feel very strongly that women should keep to our guidelines, and we accept all insurance. We will do everything within our power to make sure that all women, even those without insurance, regardless of their ability to pay, get the care they need.

Are there any exceptions for the guidance that mammograms should start at age 40?

One of the things that we have made so much progress on, and that I’m so proud of, is there is not a one-size-fits-all approach. There are groups where we might even start screening earlier. Women with a family history of breast cancer, particularly at a young age, may start screening earlier and add other adjunctive tests like ultrasound or MRI—these are all considered in our high-risk populations. For example, if your mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 45, we typically advise starting screening about 10 years younger than the youngest family member diagnosed with breast cancer. Doctors might recommend starting at age 35, and recommend that you seek personalized advice and guidance regarding screening.

The FDA recently updated its regulations to require mammography facilities to notify patients about the density of their breasts. What does this mean for patients?

The density notification is a very important step because it tells women and their providers if they might be at higher risk for having a cancer missed, and potentially should be adding screening tests, like ultrasound and MRI, to close the gap in case mammograms are missing something. What is most important is that knowledge is power—women should be empowered to know more about their bodies. It does not automatically mean everyone needs an ultrasound or an MRI. It is a very nuanced discussion with one’s doctor, but it is a data point that can factor heavily into making these decisions. Breast density can only be determined one way, and that is based on a mammogram. We cannot tell breast density from the physical exam, or age, or family history. Based on that mammogram, one can then have an educated conversation regarding whether any additional imaging is appropriate

Will this new regulation produce any changes for Mount Sinai patients?

Many states, including New York, already had laws regarding breast density notification before the FDA’s action. So here at Mount Sinai, patients are already learning about their breast density, without the new FDA notification. Now all states, including New York, will need to do this in a uniform way. So there may be some small change for us in the notification language we send to patients.

What should I do if I have any questions or concerns about mammograms?

Primary care providers and gynecologist are the ones who order most of these tests. Their role is to customize and personalize any kind of cancer screening based on the individual, her family history, age, and other medical issues. That is what a good doctor does: takes all these considerations and puts it all together in a thoughtful approach for the individual.

Learn more about the Center of Excellence for Breast Cancer at Mount Sinai

A Historic Commencement to Remember

Updated on May 19, 2023 | Alumni, Featured, School

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Members of the pioneer classes of Mount Sinai medical school attending the 54th Commencement.

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai celebrated its 54th graduating class on Thursday, May 11. A total of 172 degrees were conferred that day, ushering in a new generation of clinicians and researchers. However, the Commencement ceremony also celebrated another historic milestone:

“In attendance today are distinguished alumni who have had long and highly productive careers,” said Kenneth L. Davis, MD, Chief Executive Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System. “They are members of our first few graduating classes, from 1970, ’71, ’72, and my class, 1973. Together, they are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their graduation.”

One distinguished alumni who joined the Icahn Mount Sinai faculty on stage was Jeffery Flier, MD, Class of 1972, who had helped organize events celebrating this milestone. Events in the week leading up to Commencement included the 2023 Alumni Reunion Awards Ceremony Dinner at the New York Academy of Medicine, and a 50th milestone anniversary podcast, which interviewed members of the pioneer class.

“I would frequently tell people, ‘Don’t overthink what your career is going to be,’” Dr. Flier said in the podcast. As advice to recent graduates and future medical students, Dr. Flier noted that many people have many different careers during the course of their medical life, and one can’t predict what their opportunities are going to be. “Look for what you think will give you the greatest pleasure and opportunity that’s facing you right now,” he said.

Throughout the careers of these alumni, they have pushed the frontiers of medicine and science. Hover to read about where some of these outstanding individuals are today:

Ernst Schaefer, MD, class of 1972

Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Boston Heart Diagnostics.

Arthur Frank, MD, PhD, class of 1972

Professor of Public Health and Chair Emeritus of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Drexel University’s School of Public Health, Philadelphia.

Jeffrey Flier, MD, class of 1972

Caroline Shields Walker Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; former Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard University.

Naomi Luban, MD, class of 1972

Chair of the Institutional Review Board in the Office of Human Subjects Protection at Children’s National Hospital, Washington, D.C.

Learn more about the graduating classes of 1970-1973

Curious how Icahn Mount Sinai has evolved over the years? From its first class to the present, the medical school has pushed itself to higher heights, reinventing itself many times over. Here’s a timeline of Icahn Mount Sinai through the decades.

1963

The New York State Board of Regents granted a charter to The Mount Sinai Hospital to create The Mount Sinai Hospital School of Medicine, permitting the school to grant MD and PhD degrees. A separate but overlapping Board of Trustees for the School was created.

1964

Charter amended to change name to Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

1967

Affiliated with City University of New York, name changed to Mount Sinai School of Medicine of City University of New York. First Faculty Assembly held, with approximately 1,200 faculty members.

1968

First students arrive: a first-year class with 36 students, including four women; a third-year class with 23 students; and 19 students in the Graduate School. Basic Science building on 102nd Street was opened.

1970

The first class of Mount Sinai School of Medicine graduated, with 23 students.

1972

First commencement of graduates who had spent all four years at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

1973

First classes were held in the Annenberg Building.

1982

Department of Geriatrics and Adult Development created—a first in a U.S. medical school.

1984

Aron Residence Hall opened for medical students.

1987

Humanities and Medicine Program established to attract liberal arts students to careers in medicine

1989

Master of Science Degree in Community Medicine added, later changed to Master in Public Health.

1993

Mount Sinai School of Medicine, for the first time, graduated more women than men; a first in New York State.

1995

The Mount Sinai School of Medicine Consortium for Graduate Medical Education was established.

1996

East Building (now Icahn Medical Institute) opened.

1999

Affiliated with New York University, name changed to Mount Sinai School of Medicine of New York University.

2001

Institute for Medical Education established.

2003

Master of Science in Clinical Research added.

2005

Mount Sinai School of Medicine added new offerings, including Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program, and Master of Science in Genetic Counseling.

2010

The Middle States Commission granted the School initial accreditation to be a free-standing accredited body and to grant its own degrees. Name changed to Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

1998

First White Coat Ceremony for first-year medical students.

2013

Name changed to Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in honor of trustee Carl Icahn. Mount Sinai Health System is announced, comprising Icahn Mount Sinai and seven affiliated hospitals. The medical school also announced an affiliation with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to collaborate on educational programs, research, and development of new diagnostic tools and treatments.

2015

The Tisch Cancer Institute at Icahn Mount Sinai was named a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center.

2016

Icahn Mount Sinai and Stony Brook University on Long Island announced a partnership to develop joint graduate and medical educational programs.

2019

Master of Health Administration program added.

Read about the Class of 2023 Commencement

Voices From the Class of 2023 at Icahn Mount Sinai’s Commencement

May 16, 2023 | Featured, School

Nicholas Athayde-Rizzaro, MD

Next step: psychiatry residency at Mount Sinai

I was part of the Primary Care scholars program, and the amazing thing about it is, from Year 1, you get exposure to clinics serving folks who are underprivileged and who can’t afford to go to bigger hospitals. That’s exactly what I wanted to get out of medical school. My family and, most importantly, my husband had been my pillars of support. He certainly went through medical school with me, and I could not have done this without him.

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Christopher Bellaire, MD

Next step: orthopedic surgery residency at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.

Even before I started at Mount Sinai, Valerie Parkas, MD, Senior Associate Dean of Admissions, Recruitment, and Alumni Affairs, and David Muller, MD, Dean for Medical Education, had helped me out a lot. They spearheaded a new program for military veterans interested in medicine, and created a one-of-a-kind program for veterans going into medical school. I’m just forever grateful for their leadership and advocacy for veterans in medicine.

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Alexandra Capellini, MD

Next step: medicine/pediatrics residency at University of Michigan

My classmates are some of the most motivated, driven people to be around, and it’s made the whole journey exciting. It’s been quite a transformative journey. We started out as first-year med students, very eager and curious, and over the last five years, I really had a lot of mentors and classmates encouraging me to keep growing as a clinician and as a clinical researcher.

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Steven Chen, MD, PhD

Next step: internal medicine residency at Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York City

I’m nervous, excited, happy—a whole mix of things. Very happy to be finally finishing my degree, but I’m nervous for what’s next, which is residency. I’m a little nervous for that, but excited to get started. When I came, I was a young 20-year-old. Since then, we’ve gone through a global pandemic. I feel like I’ve grown as a human, as a scientist, as a doctor, and I’m excited for the next part of my journey.

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Christopher Guevara, PhD

Next step: business development associate at Mass General Brigham, Boston

One of the biggest moments that will stick with me is the PhD proposal, where you present your ideas, and getting your committee’s thumbs up. Like, “OK, this is what you’re going to be doing for the next couple of years.” It was awesome to have so many supportive people and being at the forefront of innovation.

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Margaret Hung, PhD

Next step: postdoctoral fellow at Mount Sinai

This is one of the first times that it’s been just me and a microscope, finding out things for the first time, and to know something that no one else knows in the world for just a second, by yourself, is so incredible. That passion for discovery, the friends I’ve made here, and the contributions that I’ve made to Mount Sinai is something I’m going to carry with me forever.

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James Johnson, MD

Next step: internal medicine residency at Mount Sinai

What I’ll miss about our class: it feels like we have such diversity, not only in demographics, but also in schools of thought and the ways people approach thinking about issues and tackling difficult cases. That kind of perspective variety makes us a really well-rounded group that it’s been an honor to be a part of.

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David Kohler, MD

Next step: pediatrics residency at Mount Sinai

There were challenges during my time at Mount Sinai. I have a complex case of inflammatory bowel disease, and it was what informed my coming to medical school to begin with. I had five intestinal surgeries during the course of medical school, and had a bowel perforation, which was treated at the Mount Sinai Emergency Department. The support that I had from the faculty and administration was phenomenal.

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Ryan Neff, MD, PhD

Next step: internal medicine residency at Mount Sinai

This has been such an incredible, long journey. I’ve been at the MD/PhD program at Mount Sinai for the last eight years. It feels like I’ve taught myself so many things about my own resiliency and learned about the resiliency and dedication of my classmates. It had been a difficult time; there had been so many unforeseen things. This Commencement is such a capstone on all that, and we’re moving into the next chapter where we really take all those lessons and put them into practice.

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Kasopefoluwa (Sope) Oguntuyo, MD, PhD

Next step: internal medicine residency at Mount Sinai

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, I had the opportunity to repurpose some of the tools that I used during grad school to study SARS-CoV-2 entry as well as entry inhibition. During my clinical years, I had the opportunity to leverage my virology background to talk to patients about SARS-CoV-2 and vaccines. My time at Mount Sinai had been a beautiful blend of both conducting research and learning to care for patients.

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Paloma Orozco Scott, MD

Next step: internal medicine residency at University of California, San Francisco

The question now is: who is going to shape me next? I am over the moon. I keep on telling myself that it feels like I just got into summer camp, but I know I’m going to be working really hard, and I really feel that every day is going to be so full. I’m going to be learning exactly what I want to be learning, in a community that I want to be learning in, and I have every confidence that I will be shaped into an excellent doctor.

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Roosheel Patel, PhD

Next step: senior translational scientist at Tempus Labs, New York City

I think every day at Mount Sinai has been a journey, and I’m glad the last three years has culminated to this moment. I’m going to miss the friends and community. I’m from Texas, so when I moved here, it felt like I moved to a different country. But within a week or two, I found a group of friends who helped me get through the last three to four years.

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Navigate with the arrows to learn more about the Class of 2023 and their time in medical school.

The class of 2023 graduated from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai on Thursday, May 11, after a journey that was not only long, but marked by tribulation.

“You witnessed the strong moral character of our Mount Sinai physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals. You saw them put their lives on the line to battle COVID-19, to save lives,” said Dennis Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of Icahn Mount Sinai, addressing graduating students and their families and friends, faculty, and trustees, at the Commencement ceremony.

“You witnessed our scientists, shortly after the onset of the pandemic, return to their laboratories to solve the riddles of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Dr. Charney said.

As guests gathered at David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center to celebrate the new cohort of physicians and scientists embarking on the next step of their careers, none were more excited than the graduating students.

“We are the last class to graduate from Mount Sinai who all began medical school before the pandemic,” noted graduating student James Johnson, MD, who gave a speech on behalf of his class.

“Because of this, we all had other motivations to practice medicine—other primary drivers in our pursuit of this field,” Dr. Johnson said. “We still own those passions and hobbies we enjoyed at the start, and we can still channel them when the road ahead appears dark yet again.”

Click to read what some graduates had to say on what drew them to the profession and Icahn Mount Sinai:

Margaret Hung, PhD

What drew you to research and to Mount Sinai?

I fell in love with the vibrancy and community at Mount Sinai. It’s a world class hospital with incredible basic science and translational research, but what sets it apart from other high-ranking institutions was how down to earth my training area, department, and institute were. Mentors truly cared and were heavily invested in my success beyond what I could supply from the bench. That type of commitment provided me with a very well-rounded, foundational training as a scientist.

Was there a challenging moment during your time at Icahn Mount Sinai, and how did you overcome it?

Like many other researchers at Mount Sinai, the COVID-19 pandemic turned my research upside down. I was a third-year student and my work with mice on a skeletal muscle stem cell project had just started scaling up when the pandemic hit.

Unfortunately, I did not have the option to pivot to COVID-19 research for my thesis work. It felt like the floor had fallen out from under me. The enthusiasm and excitement I had gave way to severe anxiety from not knowing what would happen next, if I would be able to complete a project, or what my PhD would even look like.

In the months following our return to labs, when I had to restart my projects, everything felt slow and hopeless due to supply chain issues and lack of mice. With the support of my mentor, Robert Krauss, PhD, professor of Cell, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, my lab, and my colleagues, I was able to celebrate small victories as I slowly returned to full-scale experiments. I’m so grateful that I could find that excitement again and finish a dissertation that I could be proud of.

Kasopefoluwa (Sope) Oguntuyo, MD, PhD

What drew you to medicine and research and to Mount Sinai?

My experiences during my undergraduate and post-baccalaureate years drew me to medicine and research. I recognized that medicine represented the application of current knowledge to care for patients now and research represented the potential to generate knowledge to ultimately improve patient care in the future. I am excited to continue using my stethoscope to care for patients now and a pipette to work towards improving patient care.

Prior to my matriculation into the MD/PhD program, I was a National Institutes of Health scholar at the Post-baccalaureate Research Education Program at Mount Sinai. As a result, I had a glimpse into the unique community here, which included an incredibly passionate student body with varied interests, a collaborative and innovative research environment, and compassionate clinicians.

What three words would you use to describe your journey at Icahn Mount Sinai?

Creative—In my pre-clinical years, I took a short writing seminar called “Words to Live By.” We discussed pieces by published authors and workshopped our own pieces. I had the opportunity to read incredible pieces from my peers, which included chapters from novels, short stories, or poems. I have had the opportunity to receive feedback on several of my pieces and even published a few essays and poems.

Collaborative—Throughout my graduate years in the lab of Benhur Lee, MD, Professor of Microbiology, I’ve collaborated with various labs at Mount Sinai and other domestic and international labs. The SARS-CoV-2 work we did was a reflection of this collaborative spirit and we shipped out a ready-to-use system of Biosafety Level 2 (BSL2) viruses and cells to collaborators in Louisiana and Argentina and many other places to study SARS-CoV-2 entry biology and test entry inhibition.

Community—I’ve been a member of various communities during my time at Mount Sinai. These included organizations intended to foster community for students from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in medicine or research, the Mount Sinai Climbing Club, and playing adult league soccer with my peers.

Nicholas Athayde-Rizzaro, MD

What drew you to medicine and Mount Sinai?

Growing up as a transgender person in Brazil was not easy. I suffered with institutional and societal exclusion, including being kicked out of high school and being unable to access health care simply for being queer.

While I had always dreamed of pursuing a career in medicine, my experiences of marginalization motivated me to become a physician who can create a safe, respectful, and welcoming environment not only for trans folks, but for all of those who come from vulnerable and underserved communities.

Not only was I accepted into Mount Sinai, I was also accepted to the Primary Care Scholars Program, which provided an opportunity to get longitudinal exposure to safety-net clinics throughout all four years of medical school. My acceptance to the program, coupled with Mount Sinai’s humanistic ethos, the diversity of New York City’s patient population, and my own personal story of coming back full circle to the place where I was born to pursue my dream of studying medicine made Icahn Mount Sinai the clear choice for me.

Can you recall a moment at Icahn Mount Sinai that has helped you grow?

During the height of the pandemic, students were not allowed to go into labs, which completely derailed my summer research project. I had to change directions, and I ended up designing a survey to assess what access to health care looked like for the trans community during the pandemic. This was a difficult undertaking since it was an independent research project and I had never built an entire project from scratch.

However, I had help from the Director of the Medical Student Research Office, Mary Rojas, PhD, who guided me along the way. I also never expected to get the amount of responses I did on my survey, and was profoundly grateful that so many participants trusted this project to make their voices heard. Not only did I push my limits and learn a lot, but I was also moved by the support I received from Dr. Rojas and by the engagement from the trans community.

Read more about the 50th anniversary of Mount Sinai's first class of medical students

Workplace Resilience Program Targets Health Care Worker Well-Being

Updated on May 11, 2023 | Featured, Psychiatry

What do resilient people do when times get tough? Researchers at Mount Sinai, including Dennis Charney, MD, the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs of the Mount Sinai Health System, have a long history of exploring that question.

So when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in New York City early in 2020, Dr. Charney gathered together Mount Sinai experts in trauma and resilience, who recognized almost immediately what lay ahead. They saw that their staff was at risk for stress-related conditions from the mounting crisis—and they didn’t wait to react.

By early that summer, the Center for Stress, Resilience, and Personal Growth (CSRPG) opened its doors, directed by Deborah B. Marin, MD, the George and Marion Blumenthal Professor of Psychiatry.  Over its first few years, the Center has become a firmly established resource available to all Mount Sinai staff, faculty, students, and trainees.

When developing the program, the Center’s leadership, including Vanshdeep Sharma, MD, Craig L. Katz, MD, and Jonathan DePierro, PhD, drew on their collective expertise managing the behavioral health impact of the September 11, 2001, attacks in emergency responders.

“We had existing services that predated this Center, but there was a clear need as the pandemic raged on to have an on-the-ground resource led by mental health professionals,” says Dr. DePierro, the Center’s Associate Director and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Icahn Mount Sinai.

The Center was designed to provide evidence-based services to increase resilience and support the psychological well-being of the people who make the Health System function. Three years later, it remains a valuable and effective resource for the Mount Sinai community, and a model for other health systems.

Treating Health Care Provider Stress

Dr. DePierro and his colleagues at the Center set out to create a program that would support staff with mental health needs while also offering preventive measures to reduce the risk of stress-related conditions. Their dedicated team includes clinical social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and support staff. Together, that team supports the 43,000 people who work within the Mount Sinai system, including health care workers, administrative and support staff, medical students, and trainees.

Jonathan DePierro, PhD

One of the Center’s earliest offerings was an immediate way to connect to support. “Anyone employed at Mount Sinai can call to be evaluated over the phone and referred for behavioral health care as needed,” Dr. DePierro says.

While some in-person services are available, telehealth options are also available for behavioral health services. That makes care more easily accessible for those who need it—and helps them feel more comfortable seeking services in the place where they work. “We take many efforts to ensure we’re protecting confidentiality,” Dr. DePierro adds. The Center’s faculty practice is led by Clinical Director Ashley Doukas, PhD.

While providers at the Center often help people manage work stress and burnout, their concerns don’t have to be job-related. “We started in the midst of the pandemic, but people are presenting with stress from all sorts of things: exhaustion, relationship problems, sleep problems, depression, anxiety,” he adds. “We take care of you first as a person, and second as a health care provider.”

Boosting Resilience Through Prevention

Treatment is only part of the Center’s scope. The Center’s leadership team also drew from the deep well of scientific literature on resilience to develop training materials that would help employees weather the storm of stress.

Based on that science, the team developed a series of resilience training curricula to give people the tools and skills to manage stress in healthy ways. Since 2020, they’ve led almost 400 resilience workshops with the Mount Sinai community. Those workshops are tailored to the needs and cultures of a given group. Nurses, for instance, may have different needs and stressors than hospital security staff or medical students. “One important lesson to take away from this is that there is not a one-sized-fits-all approach,” DePierro says.

The workshops are customized for each population, but they share a common goal: “They provide the tools people need to manage the ups and downs they deal with on a daily basis,” Dr. DePierro says. Scarlett Ho, PhD, Director of Education, is responsible for the ongoing expansion and evolution of the resilience workshops.

Tools that can boost resilience in the face of stress and trauma include:

  • Social support
  • Remaining optimistic
  • Facing fears rather than withdrawing from them
  • Physical exercise
  • Having a role model or mentor
  • Thinking flexibly about challenges
  • Avoiding negative self-talk

Much of the evidence in support of these strategies is described in detail in the forthcoming third edition of the book Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life’s Greatest Challenges, by Drs. Charney, DePierro, and the late Yale University psychiatrist Steven M. Southwick, MD.

An Investment in Health Care Provider Well-Being

The Center continues to grow and expand its offerings. In 2021, the team shared its resilience training program with the broader New York City community, partnering with faith-based organizations in Harlem, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens.

“In 2022, we trained community health advisors and pastors in nine organizations to teach workshops to their congregations, reaching over 1,000 community members,” Dr. DePierro says. This work built on more than a decade of community-based partnerships fostered by Dr. Marin and health care chaplain Zorina Costello, DMin, Director of Community Engagement for the Center and the Center for Spirituality and Health at Mount Sinai.

In 2022, the Center and Mount Sinai’s Office of Well-Being and Resilience jointly received a $2.1 million Health Workforce Resiliency grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to further develop the resilience training and tools. In collaboration with partners in digital health, including the Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Health at Mount Sinai, the Center’s leadership also created an app called Wellness Hub. Available to Mount Sinai’s health care workers, the self-guided digital health platform allows users to screen themselves for stress and provides activities to boost resilience.

Staff of the Center for Stress, Resilience, and Personal Growth at Mount Sinai

The Center’s team is collecting data to evaluate the efficacy of their workshops and the app. So far, feedback has been positive. Surveys from workshop participants suggest that following the training, people feel better prepared to manage stressors from their jobs and their personal lives. “They have a better sense that they can bounce back from life’s challenges,” Dr. DePierro says.

As the team collects more data about program outcomes, they are considering packaging the material for other health systems to use to boost resilience among staff. In the meantime, Dr. DePierro says he’s happy to share his knowledge with other health system leaders who want to take steps to invest in the mental health and well-being of their providers.

“We’re exceptionally lucky that Mount Sinai has had the vision to invest in this resource at a time it was badly needed,” he says. But even as the pandemic eases, that investment is paying dividends, he adds. “We’re baked into the system now, and we’re not going anywhere.”

Mount Sinai Doctors-787 Eleventh Avenue Provides Comprehensive Breast, Spine, and Imaging Services

Updated on May 11, 2023 | Community, Featured

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Mount Sinai Doctors-787 Eleventh Avenue is a new outpatient center designed to provide comprehensive, convenient care for breast and spine patients, and imaging services.

The Center welcomes new and existing patients to a relaxing, beautifully designed facility. Home to Mount Sinai’s outstanding multidisciplinary team of surgeons, specialists, and medical support staff, the new facility allows patients to experience Mount Sinai expertise in a convenient, state-of-the art facility.

“This space was designed to emphasize collaboration across disciplines in caring for our patients,” said Lisa Mazie, Chief Administrative Officer, Mount Sinai West. “Breast Surgeons and staff work in partnership with radiologists and technical imaging specialists to coordinate cohesive care. Orthopedic and neurosurgical spine surgeons and interventional physiatrists work together in one practice with their own EOS low-dose X-ray, plain film standing X-ray, and fluoroscopy within their space.  We want to provide patients one location with varying modalities of care and expertise to meet their health care needs.”

Samuel K. Cho, MD, right, and a patient

At the same time, the facility’s design, from the artwork on the walls to the lighting and furniture, seeks to create a soothing environment for patients.

“The new location will be home to an expanding array of breast imaging services including the most advanced mammography, ultrasound, and MRI available,” said Laurie Margolies, MD, FACR, FSBI, Vice Chair for Breast Imaging, Mount Sinai Health System, and Professor, Diagnostic, Molecular and Interventional Radiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

“Patient-centered care is at the heart of everything we do,” said Stephanie Bernik, MD, FACS, Chief of Breast Service at Mount Sinai West and Associate Professor, Surgery at Icahn Mount Sinai. “This state-of-the-art facility is thoughtfully designed with patients’ needs in mind, is easy to access, and will allow more people to benefit from Mount Sinai’s world-class surgeons, radiologists, and support staff.”

Stephanie Bernik, MD, FACS, right, speaks with a patient.

Mount Sinai Spine at Mount Sinai Doctors offers a fully integrated collaboration among providers in orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, and physiatry/pain management to provide the highest quality, comprehensive spine care.

“We have created a seamless structure that is able to provide whatever treatment and care a patient needs, regardless of spinal condition,” Jeremy M. Steinberger, MD, Director, Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, Mount Sinai Health System, and Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery, and Orthopedics, at the Icahn Mount Sinai.

“Our doctors at the new Mount Sinai West Spine Center offer a full complement of comprehensive spine services that meet your needs using the latest minimally invasive techniques in our state-of-art facility,” said Samuel K. Cho, MD, Chief of Spine Surgery, Mount Sinai West, and Professor, Orthopedics, and Neurosurgery at the Icahn Mount Sinai. “Whether you are a teenager with scoliosis or an adult suffering with disc herniation, we are here to help you.”

For spine patients, EOS, a low-dose alternative to X-rays and CT scans, is available. EOS provides 3D, weight-bearing images that enable physicians to get the most accurate view of the spine and lower limbs in a natural standing position.

Get more information or to book an appointment with a specialist

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