Mount Sinai’s Master’s Commencement—Celebrating Resilience and Achievement

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Featured, School

Neha B. Pannuri, MPH, one of 147 candidates receiving a degree from Mount Sinai

The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai conferred 147 master’s degrees in eight programs during a recent ceremony, an interactive virtual event that recapped a year of great challenges and extraordinary achievement. In 2020, the Graduate School added a ninth master’s program, in epidemiology, which will graduate its first cohort in 2022.

Pediatrician, scientist, and activist Mona Hanna-Attisha, MD, MPH, Founder and Director of the Michigan State University-Hurley Children’s Hospital Pediatric Public Health Initiative, received an honorary Doctor of Science degree for playing a pivotal role in helping to uncover the Flint, Michigan, water crisis. Dr. Hanna-Attisha also delivered the commencement address.

Marta Filizola, PhD

Graduate School Dean Marta Filizola, PhD, greeted the graduates and guests, saying, “This pandemic is the latest we have seen, but it is not the first,” and recounting “some of the things that really are unprecedented about our times.” Dr. Filizola is also the Sharon & Frederick A. Klingenstein/Nathan G. Kase, MD Professor of Pharmacological Sciences, and Professor of Neuroscience.

“The world is undeniably more complex today than ever before—interactions of people and nature with sophisticated technologies and human-made systems, taking place in a world of unprecedented population size and unprecedented levels of interdependence,” she said. “This is the reality that presents us with immense challenges.”

Yet, she continued, “What is also unprecedented is the extent of the cooperation, compassion, and teamwork we must bring to bear on these challenges. The breadth of professional training and expertise the world calls for is the reason our graduates today represent such a diversity of degree programs, training areas, and specialty tracks.”

Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD

Presiding over the ceremony was Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Director of The Friedman Brain Institute, Dean for Academic and Scientific Affairs, and Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience. “The fact that you are all here today is testimony to your fortitude and impressive resilience. Today’s master’s graduates exemplify the full range of expertise that our society has needed to combat and overcome the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. “We are very proud of your inspiring accomplishments at Mount Sinai, and look forward to all the good that you will do as you embark on your exciting careers.”

Dr. Hanna-Attisha gave a heartfelt speech that drew on her own experience in public health, and she exhorted the graduates to be fearless leaders.

“We need tough graduates like you,” she told them. “Fueled by the power of this place, the engine of knowledge and innovation, you are the light that will illuminate some of our hardest and greatest challenges. You, and especially the field of science, will be on the front lines of some of the most important battlegrounds of society today.”

Mona Hanna-Attisha, MD, MPH

“My story, the Flint, Michigan, story, is a story not unlike our current crisis, about failing to respect science and public health, and failing to protect the most vulnerable among us,” she said. “Remember—somewhere, somehow, sometime in your life—you will have to make a choice. The issue may not be as momentous as a poisoning of a town, but there are Flints everywhere, there are injustices everywhere, there are places and people that will need you to open your eyes and take action and to do the hard things. I urge you to keep your eyes open, to stay vigilant, to remain curious, to take action, to keep doing the hard things for the right reasons.”

Student speaker Meghan Smith, who received a Master of Public Health, spoke of the perseverance and compassion of this unique graduating class, and the hope that they represent.

“At the onset of the pandemic, and this very dark period of time, many people were at a paralyzing low. Incredibly, the students channeled all of these emotions and possessed the strength to step up,” she said, citing the medical- and graduate-student COVID-19 workforce, and other efforts around New York City to support clinical and research efforts. “At one point, it seemed like every student I knew, across all programs, was doing something to help the devastation this nation had witnessed.”

Meghan Smith, MPH

And, as the “country began to recognize the racism and oppression that has existed as part of our society for hundreds of years,” she continued, “powerful social justice movements inspired all of us to make our voices heard.”

With robust optimism, Ms. Smith concluded: “As we embark on our journeys, not knowing what challenges we may face, I know we will all continue to be the people who are willing to step up.”

Why a master’s degree? Read more about the experiences and aspirations of our outstanding graduates and students.

Tina Aswani Omprakash: A Journey From Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patient, to Patient Advocate, to Master of Public Health Student

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Featured, School

Tina Aswani Omprakash

When Crohn’s disease forced Tina Aswani Omprakash to leave a career on Wall Street, she began looking for a way to rebuild her life. Having navigated the surgeries, the health disparities, and the South Asian cultural stigmas—shame and taboo—associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) for more than a decade, Ms. Aswani Omprakash knew she had insights on IBD that could be beneficial for people of color facing the same challenges.

That revelation led her to the Master of Public Health (MPH) degree program at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

“I chose the program in part because I had heard Mount Sinai was accommodating of students with disabilities, and that was important to me in rebuilding my career and self-worth,” she explains.

 

 

“I gained a knowledge base that expanded my understanding of the disease and gave me insights to approach public health not just from my own personal experience, but from a broader health care perspective.”

A long-time patient advocate and public speaker who has presented at many domestic and international gastroenterology conferences, Ms. Aswani Omprakash is pursuing the General Public Health track to better understand the needs of different patient populations and develop her research skills. In 2020, she conducted a qualitative study, sponsored by the biotechnology company Genentech, on the unmet needs among diverse patients living with IBD. Her abstract was published in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and presented at the 2021 Crohn’s and Colitis Congress.

“This was a groundbreaking study in that it was the first patient advocate-led study in the IBD space. I hand-picked and recruited patients of various races, ethnicities, genders, age groups, sexual orientations, and geographical locations via my social media presence,” Ms. Aswani Omprakash says. “Although the conclusions we came to were expected, the study helped to legitimize the needs and concerns of patients—such as more access to mental health care, improved access to specialists who understand the complexities of the disease, and better medications that target the disease in different communities.”

For her MPH Applied Practice Experience, Ms. Aswani Omprakash worked with the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust on two projects: a guidebook for caregivers of children and adolescents with Crohn’s disease, created with the National Alliance of Caregiving, and a series of web pages detailing surgical treatment options, which she developed with the United Ostomy Associations of America. “These resources are designed to fill an information gap among health care providers and patients living with IBD, and to change perceptions of surgery as a last resort,” Ms. Aswani Omprakash says. “The fact that they are written by a patient who is earning an MPH further enhances the content.”

Nils Hennig, MD, PhD, MPH, Director of Mount Sinai’s Graduate Program in Public Health says: “Tina Aswani Omprakash is a great example of our patient-focused approach to public health. Proximity to the populations we serve is fundamental. The study of Public Health at Mount Sinai goes beyond mere analysis and repair: it offers choices, it provides a human touch, and it may ultimately help reestablish human dignity.”

Ms. Aswani Omprakash has been completing the program one course at a time and will graduate in December 2022. “This has been an incredible experience,” she says. “I gained a knowledge base that expanded my understanding of the disease and gave me insights to approach public health not just from my own personal experience, but from a broader health care perspective.”

To learn more about Ms. Aswani Omprakash’s patient advocacy journey, go to her blog at ownyourcrohns.com.

 

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A Robust Immunotherapy Program and a Highly Collaborative Environment for Research Draws Matthew Brown, MSCR, to the Master of Science in Clinical Research Program

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | School

Matthew Brown

Matthew Brown was spending his first year of college studying cell biology and neuroscience and exploring the full breadth of academic opportunities when his grandfather passed away from an aggressive form of lung cancer.

“That drove me toward the field of cancer biology and immunotherapy,” Mr. Brown says. “I became interested in the potential of translational studies to improve patient treatment.”

It was an interest that led Mr. Brown to the Master of Science in Clinical Research program at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

He knew that Mount Sinai had a robust immunotherapy program and was a highly collaborative environment for research—not just internally but with other academic institutions and organizations across New York City.

 

“The potential to have a significant impact in improving patient outcomes and expanding the range of therapeutic options available to patients is what excites me.”

Once enrolled, he was drawn to the lab of Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD, who has made seminal contributions to human dendritic cell biology, studying their crucial function as sentinels of the immune system and their application in vaccine design. Mr. Brown planned to conduct research evaluating adaptive immune responses to new tumor antigens until the COVID-19 pandemic became New York City’s—and the world’s—most significant public health threat.

Mr. Brown quickly shifted his research focus to explore adaptive immune responses in the context of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Specifically, his research is primarily focused on viral epitopes, the part of the antigen that is recognized by T cell and B cell receptors following exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and how this viral recognition is replicated in the context of vaccination.

“In doing these high-sensitivity mapping studies, we began to identify the shared and highly dominant epitopes that may provide the foundation for monitoring people after exposure and vaccination to assess their immunity and how that is sustained,” says Mr. Brown. “These mapping studies also allowed us to consider the impact of SARS-CoV-2 variants on immune recognition and identify potential targets for next-generation coronavirus vaccines.”

Mr. Brown, who graduated from the Clinical Research program in 2021, envisions using the same tools to identify shared and highly dominant epitopes on tumor antigens to enhance vaccine design in the context of cancer immunotherapy. He is now enrolled in the PhD in Biomedical Sciences Program at the Graduate School to continue his translational immunology training.

“My ultimate goal is to start my own lab to conduct translational research on therapeutics and vaccines in the context of cancer,” he says. “The potential to have a significant impact in improving patient outcomes and expanding the range of therapeutic options available to patients is what excites me.”

 

 

Rosemary Espinal, BSN, RN: An ICU Nurse Enrolls in the Master of Science in Health Care Delivery Leadership Program To Bring New Perspectives to Patient Quality and Safety

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | School

Rosemary Espinal, BSN, RN

After years dedicated to raising her family and working 12-hour nursing shifts, Rosemary Espinal, BSN, RN, decided that January 2020 was the right time to return to school and take her health care career to the next level.

She enrolled in the Master of Science in Health Care Delivery Leadership program at Mount Sinai’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, excited at the opportunity to drive innovation, address challenges, and elevate patient care. But then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit New York City.

Faced with the unknowns and the risk of exposing her family to the disease, Ms. Espinal, a cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) nurse at The Mount Sinai Hospital, initially thought of leaving both the program and her position—but she stayed. As she continued her studies, and as the CICU was converted to a COVID-19 ICU, she was able to identify real-time opportunities to maintain a cohesive staffing structure for her team and improve delivery of care by applying what she had learned through the program.

“I want to use what I have learned to provide excellent care from a new perspective, address the disparities my mother faced as a non-English-speaking immigrant, and guide the next generation of nurses to high standards of quality and safety for our patients.”

For her capstone project, Ms. Espinal undertook a quality improvement initiative to prevent hospital-acquired pressure injuries—using wound care champions to assess patient risk, incorporating injury prevention into her nursing unit’s daily huddles, and creating innovative applications of dressing foams and padding—with considerable success. She estimates there has been a 10 percent decrease in hospital-acquired pressure injuries. In November 2021, she started a new position as a quality manager for Mount Sinai’s Institute for Critical Care Medicine.

Ms. Espinal plans to receive her degree in spring 2022, a milestone achievement: she will be the first person in her immediate family to earn both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree. Her goal is to explore positions in quality management or risk management.

“I want to use what I have learned to provide excellent care from a new perspective, address the disparities my mother faced as a non-English-speaking immigrant, and guide the next generation of nurses to high standards of quality and safety for our patients,” she says. “But I also hope that my daughters will see that it is possible to excel as Hispanic women and to make a difference no matter what life throws your way.”

Brian J. Nickerson, PhD, JD, Senior Associate Dean for Masters Programs, says: “Rosemary’s story is an inspiring illustration of the kind of resilience, determination, and creativity prevalent in great leaders. We are truly fortunate to have her as student in our Leadership Program and proud to know she represents excellence in patient care.”

 

 

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Jeannys Nnemnbeng, MD, RRT: On the Road to Becoming a Physician-Scientist With a Master of Science in Clinical Research

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | School

Jeannys Nnemnbeng, MD, RRT

Growing up in Gabon, Jeannys Nnemnbeng, MD, RRT, knew she wanted to enter the world of medicine. Her passion was inspired by her father, an orthopedist, and by her own experience after being hospitalized with a pulmonary abscess.

But as she began her journey to become a clinician, Dr. Nnemnbeng discovered that studies of treatment efficacy among African populations are hard to find.

“It is not because there is a lack of brilliant minds,” says Dr. Nnemnbeng. “I believe it is because of a lack of training in clinical research methodology. I wanted to change that.”

That led Dr. Nnemnbeng to the Master of Science in Clinical Research program (MSCR) at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

 

“I was looking for a program with a very specific focus on clinical research, and I knew Mount Sinai was top-notch, which meant I would have a very strong foundation for achieving my goal of becoming a physician-scientist in internal medicine.”

Dr. Nnemnbeng, who has expertise in respiratory therapy, started the MSCR program as the COVID-19 pandemic was about to ravage New York City hospitals. Recognizing that intensive care units urgently needed to determine best practices for patients put on mechanical ventilators after a combined diagnosis of COVID-19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome, Dr. Nnemnbeng launched an observational study of those patients who were admitted to Mount Sinai during the first three months of the pandemic and published preliminary results. She intends to publish more studies related to mechanical ventilation and quality improvement through clinical management.

Dr. Nnemnbeng, who graduated from the MSCR program in 2021, is pursuing a PhD in Clinical Research at Mount Sinai and preparing her dissertation under the mentorship of Alex Federman, MD, Professor of Medicine (General Internal Medicine), and Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine. She intends to conduct research evaluating the effect of peer support on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease outcomes in patients of African ancestry.

Eventually, Dr. Nnemnbeng would like to start a nonprofit aimed at mobilizing U.S. medical students to help other medical students and institutions around the world. “I love the idea of students from various countries collaborating to improve patient care, and I would like to do that for countries such as Guadeloupe, and in Gabon and Mali, where I trained,” she says.

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Mount Sinai Creates COVID-19 Vaccine for Low- and Middle-lncome Countries

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

An effective COVID-19 vaccine developed by scientists, from left, Florian Krammer, PhD; Adolfo García-Sastre, PhD; and Peter Palese, PhD, could help ease the shortage of vaccines available to low-and-middle-income countries.

The development of a safe, effective, and inexpensive COVID-19 vaccine that can easily be produced and distributed in low- and middle-income countries is underway at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where early phase 1 clinical testing in Vietnam and Thailand has shown positive results.

The vaccine is the brainchild of three renowned scientists at Mount Sinai—Peter Palese, PhD, Horace W. Goldsmith Professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology; Adolfo García-Sastre, PhD, Irene and Dr. Arthur M. Fishberg Professor of Medicine and Director of the Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute; and Florian Krammer, PhD, Mount Sinai Professor in Vaccinology. By combining their expertise, the scientists—who previously developed a universal influenza vaccine—hope to bring closure to this deadly pandemic by providing less affluent countries with an accessible and cost-effective COVID-19 vaccine they can manufacture themselves.

To date, the World Health Organization has distributed only 90 million vaccine doses to 131 countries, far short of the number needed to stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that leads to COVID-19. More contagious variants of the virus will continue to evolve and plague countries around the world as long as their populations remain unvaccinated. “When we protect other countries we protect ourselves, as well,” says Dr. Palese.

Dr. Krammer says, “In North America and Europe many people are getting vaccinated and the virus circulation is going down. But that is not the case in countries in Asia or Latin America, for example. Their COVID-19 case numbers are going up quickly. They need a vaccine and they don’t have access.”

Anticipating this need, Dr. Palese and his colleagues designed Mount Sinai’s COVID-19 vaccine to use the avian Newcastle virus (NDV), and constructed it similarly to an influenza virus vaccine, which can be manufactured in embryonated or fertilized chicken eggs.

Mount Sinai’s COVID-19 vaccine, which would require two doses, could be made using the same influenza vaccine production facilities that many countries already have in place.

The NDV-based vaccine is engineered to express the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. The construct is injected into an embryonated egg, the virus replicates, and the amplified vaccine virus is then collected, purified, and inactivated. According to Dr. Palese, the resulting vaccine is stable, extraordinarily immunogenic, and induces highly protective immune responses against SARS-CoV-2. Immunogenicity is a measure of the type of immune responses that a vaccine generates and their magnitude over time.

“The beauty of this vaccine is that it can be made using the same influenza vaccine production facilities that many countries already have” in place, Dr. Krammer says. Approximately three billion doses of flu vaccine are produced each year using embryonated eggs.

There are other advantages, as well. Mount Sinai’s Newcastle vector vaccine does not appear to cause any side effects, such as the low-grade fevers, headaches, or pain and swelling at the injection site that are associated with the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccines. The vaccine can also be stored at the same temperature as a home refrigerator, whereas both mRNA vaccines require extra-cold temperatures found only in commercial-grade freezers.

Mount Sinai’s vaccine, says Dr. Palese, can “probably be produced for under one dollar per dose,” and will require two doses spread over 21 days. By comparison, the mRNA vaccines, which also require two doses spread over three to four weeks, cost roughly $50 per dose. To keep costs down, Mount Sinai has agreed to grant licenses for its intellectual property to low- and middle-income countries that produce the vaccine and forgo any royalties on its use.

Dr. Garcia-Sastre says, “Prior to COVID-19, we realized the potential of NDV-based vaccines and for several years optimized this vaccine vector to achieve optimal immunogenicity of the delivered antigen (or toxin). NDV-based vaccines not only have the potential to stop COVID-19 in countries that have no access to the existing SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, but  could be easily tailored to stop future pandemics caused by novel pathogens.”

As phase 2 testing for the vaccine ramps up in Thailand and Vietnam, accelerated phase 1 trials are ongoing in Mexico and Brazil. The trial designs used in these countries should lead to rapid phase 3 results. So far, the scientists say they have been pleased with their phase 1 results and with the tests that have been conducted in animal models.

“You can say that in animals, the vaccine protects beautifully,” says Dr. Krammer. “There is preliminary immunogenicity data that suggests the vaccine induces very good neutralizing titers.”

It is not yet clear whether the current vaccine will need to be updated to protect against aggressive new variants, according to Dr. Krammer. “But if it’s needed, we can change and move quickly to a variant vaccine. It would not be complicated.”

With regard to safety, which is top priority in a phase 1 trial, Dr. Palese says, “We are passing with flying colors.”

 

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