Featured | Mount Sinai Today

Transformational Gift Supports Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science at Mount Sinai

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Featured, OB/GYN

Raquel and Jaime Gilinski

In visionary support for women’s health, the Mount Sinai Health System has received a multimillion-dollar commitment from Raquel and Jaime Gilinski for the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science at The Mount Sinai Hospital.

The gift is being given in honor of Michael Brodman, MD, who for 19 years has served with distinction as the Ellen and Howard C. Katz Chairman’s Chair in Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Mrs. Gilinski, who serves on the Board of Trustees at Mount Sinai, and her family, have an enduring history of philanthropic support around women’s health at Mount Sinai under Dr. Brodman’s leadership.

“I am honored and thankful to Raquel and Jaime for their ongoing support and advocacy for women’s health at Mount Sinai,” Dr. Brodman says. “This gift will ensure that we continue to offer women and their families excellent care in a modern and comfortable environment”.

Oversight and implementation of the gift will be managed by Joanne L. Stone, MD, Director of the Maternal Fetal Medicine and Fellowship program for the Mount Sinai Health System, Vice Chair for Diversity and Inclusion of the OB/GYN Department, and immediate past President of the Faculty Council. Dr. Stone, a world-renowned physician-scientist with special expertise in women’s health and fetal imaging, will succeed Dr. Brodman as Chair effective January 1, 2022.

“We are ever so grateful for the tremendous gift that the Gilinskis have made to champion women’s health at Mount Sinai. Their visionary support will allow us to build upon Mount Sinai’s legacy of providing comprehensive care, research, and advocacy to women for generations to come,” says Dr. Stone.

This generous gift will establish the Raquel and Jaime Gilinski Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science at Mount Sinai. The new gift will support capital projects and renovations to elevate care and services in women’s health at The Mount Sinai Hospital.

“As the torch of leadership is passed from Dr. Brodman to Dr. Stone, we remain committed to the outstanding work of Mount Sinai in the field of Obstetrics and Gynecology that will ultimately lead to more comprehensive care and positive outcomes for women,” says Mrs. Gilinski.

Medical Student Michelle Tran, Whose Non-Profit Combats Anti-Asian Hate, Is Featured on NBC Special

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community, Diversity and Inclusion, Featured, School

Michelle Tran and her friend Howard Chen donate a personal safety alarm to a senior in Manhattan’s Chinatown in April 2021.

When Michelle Tran is not pursing her MD/PhD degree with a specialization in cancer immunology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, she is busy helping Asian Americans protect themselves against hate crimes through Soar Over Hate, the non-profit she created last March.

Soar Over Hate has since raised more than $100,000 and distributed more than 24,000 protective noise-making devices primarily to elderly and vulnerable Asian Americans in New York City and San Francisco—as well as to the Mount Sinai Health System’s essential health care workers who commute to work. Her organization has established a need-based college scholarship fund for local high school students, arranged community health fairs in Manhattan’s Chinatown, and offers free, culturally competent mental-health therapy—either remote or in-person—in several languages, including Mandarin, Cantonese, and Korean, to victims of anti-Asian hate crimes.

Mount Sinai medical students volunteered with Soar Over Hate to distribute 1,000 personal safety devices, whistles, and booklets about reporting hate incidents to elderly in Manhattan’s Chinatown in April 2021. In addition to Michelle Tran, student volunteers included: Alyce Kuo, Serena Zheng, Axel Epié, Fred Kwon, Rachel Levantovsky, and Matthew Lin.

Recently, Ms. Tran was among 10 “fearless change makers” who were named 2021 L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth by the popular beauty brand. L’Oréal Paris USA donated $20,000 to Soar Over Hate and, in November, flew Ms. Tran and the nine other Women of Worth award recipients to Paris for a special ceremony. On Thursday, December 16, at 8 pm, the women and their non-profit work will be featured on an NBC special hosted by L’Oréal Paris and including guest appearances by Helen Mirren, Camila Cabello, Gemma Chan, and Eva Longoria. One of this year’s awardees will receive an additional $25,000 for their philanthropy.

“Asian hate, unfortunately, does exist,” says Ms. Tran. “I felt very disheartened by what was going on in my backyard and with the people around me who were being harassed, and attacked, and physically hurt, and I wanted to do something. A colleague of mine was attacked on his way to work and he still avoids the subway. The long-term impact of these incidents leaves a mental scar. So we’re helping to address the healing of the community, and we’re empowering youth with scholarships.”

In the fall, Soar Over Hate provided six low-income high-school seniors in New York City with scholarships of between $500 and $1,000, based on their essays about addressing anti-Asian hate.

Initially, Ms. Tran started her charity as a GoFundMe page with the help of teenager Tiffany Yuen. Ms. Tran is Ms. Yuen’s mentor through the organization, Apex for Youth, which partners Asian American professionals with low-income youth. The money they raised was used to purchase personal safety alarms and whistles for the elderly and supported several community events that featured self-defense classes and health screenings.

Michelle Tran in Chinatown

But Ms. Tran soon realized she could continue to pursue her two “passions” of growing her charity and focusing on her MD/PhD studies by combining efforts with her friend Kenji Jones, who ran a similar Asian American grassroots effort. That is when they developed the current line-up of services for Soar Over Hate. This fall, she was thrilled to learn that she had received a L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth award.

Ms. Tran also credits her mentors at Mount Sinai with providing support for her advocacy work. She works in the lab of Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD, Director of Immunotherapy and Co-Director of Cancer Immunology, who serves as her Principal Investigator. Ms. Tran is a co-President of the Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association at Mount Sinai, supervised by Nolan Kagetsu, MD, Clinical Professor of Radiology, and Ann-Gel Palermo, DrPH, MPH, Senior Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She is also a student representative on Mount Sinai’s Committee on Anti-Asian Bias and Racism, which is led by Amanda J. Rhee, MD, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, and James C. Tsai, MD, MBA, President of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, and Chair of Ophthalmology at the Mount Sinai Health System.

A Generous Multimillion-Dollar Gift Advances Medical Education at Mount Sinai

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Featured, School

Peter W. May and his wife, Leni

Peter W. May and his wife, Leni, have made a generous multimillion-dollar gift in support of medical education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Steadfast champions of Mount Sinai and the future of medical education, the Mays have had a long, illustrious history of philanthropic support across numerous areas of the Health System. This commitment is the latest example of their tremendous generosity and will be recognized with the naming of the Leni and Peter W. May Department of Medical Education at Mount Sinai.

The Mays are strong advocates in bolstering the culture of innovation, service, and groundbreaking science and medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine. Their gift will be instrumental in ensuring the School continues to provide a strong foundation to prepare physicians to advance medical care and research that will ultimately result in equitable health care and better outcomes for the diverse communities Mount Sinai serves.

“Leni and Peter have always recognized the uniqueness of our medical school, its values rooted in justice and care for the underserved, and the rigorous training we put our medical students through to ensure they are well positioned to pursue their professional ambitions,” says David Muller, MD, Dean for Medical Education and the Marietta and Charles C. Morchand Chair for Medical Education at Mount Sinai. “We are grateful for the role this gift will play in building upon our continued success at the Icahn School of Medicine.”

During his tenure as Chairman of the Mount Boards of Trustees, Mr. May helped drive Mount Sinai’s transformation into one of the top health systems in the world, and he continues his visionary leadership as Chairman Emeritus. The May family’s tireless support of Mount Sinai was previously recognized with the naming of the May Center for Mount Sinai Doctors on East 98th Street and the Leni and Peter W. May Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. They remain committed as ever to supporting the ever-growing needs of Icahn Mount Sinai as it continues to prepare the most promising students to improve the health of communities locally and globally and to shape the future of science and medicine.

“Leni and I are happy to support the next generation of medical leaders,” says Mr. May who now serves as Chairman Emeritus of the Boards of Trustees at Mount Sinai. “The Icahn School of Medicine provides students with an extraordinary education in a translational context, and we are proud to be a part of that.”

Mount Sinai Hosts Visit by Senior Health Official From Greece

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community, Featured

Zoe Rapti, right, Deputy Minister of Health of Greece, and George Dangas, MD, PhD

A senior health official of the Greek government visited Mount Sinai on December 7 to learn more about how Mount Sinai responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York and about Mount Sinai’s cardiovascular programs in Queens, where there is a large Greek-American population.

Greek Deputy Minister of Health Zoe Rapti visited The Mount Sinai Hospital and met with David Reich, MD, President, and others, including George Dangas, MD, PhD, an interventional cardiologist who is Director of Cardiovascular Innovation at The Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute and Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

“It was a great honor to meet the health minister and to share ideas and learn from one another. Mount Sinai has a long history serving the Greek community, and we look forward to further discussions and collaboration,” said Dr. Reich, who also serves as president of Mount Sinai Queens.

Dr. Dangas, who completed medical and postgraduate studies at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, said they discussed a number of issues, including the ways Mount Sinai Queens serves the Greek-American population and the tremendous response mounted against the pandemic. Ms. Rapti also had a chance to meet a patient from Chios Island—the fifth largest of the Greek islands—leaving the hospital and hear about the hospital’s highly specialized care.

They were joined by Stamatios Lerakis, MD, PhD, Director of Noninvasive Cardiology for Mount Sinai Heart, Director of Imaging for Structural and Valve Interventions for the Mount Sinai Health System, and Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), and Diagnostic, Molecular and Interventional Radiology. He also received his MD degree from the Medical School of Athens.

“We were very pleased to walk through the exact pathways of outpatient and inpatient care at Mount Sinai Heart with the minister and discuss how things have evolved over the past extraordinary years,” Dr. Dangas said.

Zoe Rapti, center, Deputy Minister of Health of Greece, with Stamatios Lerakis, MD, PhD, left, and George Dangas, MD, PhD

Mount Sinai Experts Explain What the Omicron Variant Means for You

Nov 29, 2021 | COVID-19, Featured, Vaccines, Your Health

Until very recently, you probably never heard of the term omicron. If you did, it was as a letter in the Greek alphabet, like delta or pi. Now, Omicron dominates the news as the latest coronavirus variant that was first discovered in Southern Africa and is now being found around the world, including in the United States.

Although data on the Omicron variant is incomplete, a clearer picture is beginning to emerge, note two of Mount Sinai’s leading experts in infectious diseases Judith A. Aberg, MD, Dean of System Operations for Clinical Sciences and Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, and Bernard Camins, MD, Medical Director for Infection Prevention.

New Guidance on COVID-19 Vaccines: In April 2023, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced some major changes for COVID-19 vaccines. Click here to read more about what you need to know.

What do we know about the Omicron variant?

According to Drs. Aberg and Camins, the limited evidence we have suggests that while Omicron is more transmissible than earlier variants, it causes mainly mild disease—especially in people who are fully vaccinated and who have received their booster dose. Additionally, it appears to produce symptoms in line with those expected of COVID-19. This includes fatigue and headache as well as sore throat, runny nose, coughing, and fever. If you feel any of these symptoms, please get tested.

It will take more time for researchers and clinicians to fully assess how effective existing COVID-19 vaccines are against the Omicron variant. But if you have not yet been vaccinated, or are eligible and have not yet received a booster shot, you should do so as soon as possible. Vaccine makers are assessing the need to reformulate their vaccines against the new variant, but that may take months; Drs. Aberg and Camins say it is better to get some additional protection now rather than waiting for the potential for better protection later.

How do we protect ourselves against a more transmissible variant?

Drs. Aberg and Camins say that it is more important than ever to follow current guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for avoiding infection, such as wearing masks in public indoor settings, staying home if you feel sick, getting vaccinated, and getting your booster shot when you are eligible. This is especially important as we enter the holiday season and as rates of infection rise in the New York metropolitan region and around the country, although there is no evidence that Omicron is the cause.

In addition, Drs. Aberg and Camins say you should be vigilant about following the CDC’s detailed guidelines on gathering for the holidays, which emphasize keeping your gatherings small and outdoors if possible. For traveling, the CDC says you should avoid travel if you have been exposed to COVID-19 unless you are fully vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 in the past 90 days. You should avoid international travel until you are fully vaccinated. Some international travel is already being curtailed because of the new variant.

What else should be taken into consideration as this global pandemic continues?

Viruses constantly change through mutation.

These variants do not necessarily present a significant new risk. Last summer, the Delta variant was found to be more easily transmitted, but people who were vaccinated did not face a significantly increased risk of serious illness or hospitalization. Many other variants were initially thought important enough to be assigned a Greek-letter name but later turned out not to have a widespread or significant effect.

Scientists and researchers are hard at work to fully assess this variant.

Currently, scientists are working in labs to assess how effective the existing COVID-19 vaccines are against Omicron. The testing involves taking blood samples from those who have been fully vaccinated and seeing if their antibodies neutralize the new variant. Results are expected in a few weeks. Additionally, Mount Sinai researchers are continually analyzing the positive SARS-CoV-2 samples for variants, including Omicron, to see if these variants are circulating among the local population.

We are keeping an eye on the effectiveness of monoclonal antibody treatments.

One of the main concerns with the Omicron variant is that the number and type of mutations it contains may make some monoclonal antibody treatments less effective. Monoclonal antibody treatments are given to non-hospitalized people diagnosed with COVID-19 who are at high risk of developing more severe symptoms. Scientists are working to learn which treatments will be most effective against Omicron.

Get more information about COVID-19 vaccines

What You Need to Know About COVID-19 Booster Shots Now Available for All Adults

Nov 23, 2021 | COVID-19, Featured, Vaccines, Your Health

In another step to strengthen the public health defense against the COVID-19 pandemic, federal regulators have authorized “booster” shots for all adults.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized a booster dose for the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is recommending booster shots for all adults over age 16. Health experts are encouraging all those eligible to consider getting the booster shot.

“The most important thing is to get vaccinated, and get a booster shot” if you over 16, says Waleed Javaid, MD, Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and an expert on infectious diseases. “We at Mount Sinai are closely monitoring reports on various variants including Omicron and Delta. At this time, we encourage everyone to get vaccines and boosters, and continue to wear masks in public and follow guidance provided by the public health officials.”

Update: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has strengthened its recommendation on booster shots to include everyone 16 or older when they are eligible. The CDC is working to learn more about the new Omicron variant. The CDC continues to recommend wearing a mask in public indoor settings in areas where there are high rates of COVID-19, and getting vaccinated and booster shots for those who are eligible. Read more from the CDC

Waleed Javaid, MD

In this Q&A, Dr. Javaid answers other frequently asked questions about COVID-19 booster shots.

When should I get a booster shot?

If you were fully vaccinated with the Pfizer or the Moderna vaccine, you should get the booster at least six months after getting the two vaccine doses. If you received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, you should get the booster at least two months after completing the primary vaccination.

What do we know about side effects from the booster shot?

I received my booster, and I had pretty much the same reaction as my second dose. Most of those around me also experienced very similar reactions as their second dose. The short-term side effects include pain in the arm where you got your shot, tiredness, and headache. There is nothing in the literature or in our experience at Mount Sinai to suggest the reaction will be any different from the first and second doses.

Does it matter which booster shot I get?

The most recent recommendation from the FDA and the CDC is that we can use these vaccines interchangeably, and they have not found one is better than the other. Right now, they are considered equal.

What if I got the J&J vaccine?

People who have received a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine can get a booster using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, or they can get a Pfizer or Moderna dose as a booster. However, as of Thursday, December 16, the CDC recommends that patients receive an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine over Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine due to the increased effectiveness of mRNA vaccines.

What is the difference between a booster shot and a third dose?

A third shot is considered part of the original series and is considered necessary to provide full protection to a group of people who have reduced ability to fight infections, which includes patients being treated for some cancers or those with an organ transplant. Boosters are shots that have now been authorized for all adults after a certain time period has passed since they were fully vaccinated in order to boost their immune system to ensure they can continue to fight the infection. Right now, a booster shot is not required to be considered fully vaccinated if you are not among the special group specifically recommended for a third shot.

I’ve had COVID-19 and two doses of the vaccine, should I get the booster shot?

People who have had COVID-19 and got two doses of vaccine can certainly get their booster shot. There seem to be questions about this. The data shared by the CDC and other agencies is that getting the booster shot after being infected with COVID-19 offers you additional protection against infection. To all adults, I would say, definitely consider a booster as an option to protect yourself and your loved ones around you. I encourage everybody to reach out to their providers or to Mount Sinai for any advice we can provide.