There were many achievements to celebrate at Mount Sinai’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences 2025 Master’s Commencement Ceremony in Stern Auditorium, a lively event of cheers and tears, applause and hugs, that graduated a class of 178 students committed to advancing science, health care, and medicine.
“One of our graduates led groundbreaking research on anti-tumor T cell immunity and published six papers in academic journals, including two as first author,” said Marta Filizola, PhD, who leads the Graduate School as Dean and is the Sharon and Frederick Klingenstein/Nathan Kase, MD Professor of Pharmacological Sciences, and Professor of Neuroscience, and Artificial Intelligence and Human Health.
“Another graduate presented innovative research at national conferences on the role of motivation in major depressive disorder. And yet another conducted award-winning studies in skeletal muscle regeneration,” Dr. Filizola said.
“The inventive work of this year’s graduates also includes an artificial intelligence-based craving management tool for cocaine use disorder, and a technology platform for managing symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome,” she continued, listing other achievements. “You represent the very best of what Mount Sinai aspires to cultivate in its students.”
The graduates earned degrees across nine programs: Master of Science in Biomedical Science; Master of Science in Biostatistics; Master of Health Administration; Master of Science in Health Care Delivery Leadership; Master of Science in Biomedical Data Science and AI; Master of Science in Clinical Research; Master of Science in Genetic Counseling; Master of Science in Epidemiology; and Master of Public Health.
From left: Brendan G. Carr, MD, MA, MS; David Sandman, PhD; Marta Filizola, PhD; and Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD.
Brendan G. Carr, MD, MA, MS, Chief Executive Officer and Professor and Kenneth L. Davis, MD, Distinguished Chair of the Mount Sinai Health System, greeted the students and their families, faculty, and guests.
“I want to make sure that your family, friends, and loved ones know how important you are to this wonderful ecosystem that is Mount Sinai because our relationships with each other—our connectivity—is a superpower,” he said. “The symbiotic connection between our educational portfolio, our research, and our clinical care is what allows us to transform health care delivery and save lives.”
Dr. Carr continued: “Every part of our whole learns from the others, and we will continue to iterate and to evolve over time. We are a learning health system—ever curious and always pushing the boundaries. That’s what has driven Mount Sinai for over a century: the never-ending search for a better answer, one that unlocks a previously impossible challenge. Academics and clinicians who work together to find new ways to help people live longer, fuller, healthier lives…Thank you for being a critical part of this ecosystem.”
Master’s program graduates celebrate their achievements at the 2025 Commencement Ceremony.
Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Interim Dean and Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System, applauded the graduates for their academic achievements and career ambitions. “Your work will be especially meaningful because we are living in a time of unprecedented challenges to science and medicine,” he said.
Dr. Nestler added: “The United States has long been, by far, the world’s leading funder of biomedical research. But suddenly, that research is under assault. New federal research grants this year have been only about half of what we would normally expect. This is especially disappointing because today’s research technologies are more powerful than ever and have the potential—with continued robust funding—to dramatically improve human health over the next decade.
“Biomedical research—funded by the National Institutes of Health [NIH]—has transformed health care, and led to remarkable improvements in life, and life expectancy, for tens of millions of Americans. Consider the treatment of heart disease and stroke. We witnessed a 56 percent decrease in age-adjusted deaths due to heart disease and a 70 percent reduction in deaths due to stroke over the course of my lifetime. This extraordinary improvement in health is directly related to NIH-funded research.”
“Despite these major challenges, I want you to know I am most confident this will be a momentary detour on the path to greater knowledge and better medicine. For the sake of humanity, science must prevail—and it will. Biomedical knowledge will grow. Our ability to treat and prevent disease—and care for patients—will continue to improve.”
Master’s program graduates celebrate their achievements at the 2025 Commencement Ceremony.
David Sandman, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York Health Foundation, gave the Commencement address and received an honorary Doctor of Science degree for his lifelong visionary commitment to transforming the health and well-being of New Yorkers and marginalized people in New York and around the globe.
Dr. Sandman reflected on past health crises—including AIDS and the COVID-19 pandemic—and discussed the inequities in health care that remain entrenched in communities today.
“Right now, we are in upper Manhattan, but we can ride just a few subway stops in either direction, and it’s as if you are on different planets, with big differences in health status and life expectancy,” he said. “We have some the best academic medical centers in the world, including Mount Sinai. People come from all over the globe to get care here, but it’s also true that you can live right in the shadow of one of these miraculous places and be almost completely shut out of the health care system.”
Yet, he told the graduates, “I have faith that, together, we will keep fighting for what is right, no matter how strong the current headwinds might be.”
Then, he relayed what he called his “common-sense advice,” telling graduates: “First, dream big. Aim high, but keep your feet on the ground. Do things that are both ambitious and achievable. Second, be fearless, but not reckless—there is a big difference. Third, remember it’s all about people in the end.”
“These are hard times for public health,” he said. “We really need you. We need your brains. We need your creativity. We need your passion, and your compassion. I wish you all great success.”
Student speaker Pamela Ming Ern Toh
Student speaker Pamela Ming Ern Toh, who earned a Master of Science in Biomedical Science, galvanized her classmates.
“You, my friends, are the ones who did the work,” she said. “You are the ones who took the steps, who overcame the challenges. You pursued, and persisted, and, my friends, you prevailed. Look at all the things you know now that you didn’t know before, all the things you can do now that you couldn’t do before.
“Let every problem you have solved be a mark of your creativity. Let every challenge overcome [be] a testament to your resilience. Let every failure [be] a mark of hope and bravery, because you wanted something and took a risk, and learned a lesson.
“Despite the forces against science at the moment, and the injustices we are witnessing every day, I hope we can continue to be moved toward action over apathy, to be guided more by inspiration than fear, to continue showing up for the communities we serve, and to stick around to lift others up, the way we have been lifted up.
“Your futures are bright because of the light inside yourselves,” she said. “Nobody gave you your work ethic; nobody gave you your tenacity. Those traits are yours and they are precious. So when uncertainty makes it hard to know what steps to take, as inventor Simone Giertz said: ‘Remember, you are good at trying hard, and you are good at trying different. And between those two things, there will always be a way forward.’”
Click below for a celebratory slideshow of graduates.
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