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Why a Master’s Degree? New Graduates Share Their Perspective and Aspirations

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

“Mount Sinai has been the perfect academic community for me for the past two years, growing my love of research while at the same time challenging me and developing my skills. I’m excited to keep chasing my aspirations as I continue on to complete my PhD at Mount Sinai and further my research goals.” —Kimberly Okoli, MSCR

“I’m the first one in my family to attain my master’s; therefore, while this is an academic achievement, it also feels like a hugely personal one. In retrospect, Mount Sinai provided the perfect environment and opportunity for me to pursue my graduate education. The rigor and wisdom of the professors really helped spark the curiosity and interest to learn. And, while my last semester here wasn’t exactly as I envisioned (due to COVID-19), Mount Sinai adapted really well and still opened new doors for me and my future.” —Aaron Sunil, MSCR

“The Master of Science in Clinical Research Program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has the most comprehensive curriculum and exceptional faculty from a diverse clinical background, which provided me with the perfect intellectual and social milieu to extend my research skills and actively participate in this field. The knowledge and the experience I gained here will help me to pursue a career as a clinical researcher in the field of neurology.” —Dhaivat Shah, MBBS, MSCR

“My time in the Master of Public Health program gave me the opportunity to discover passions for health disparities research, environmental health, and preventive medicine that I never knew existed. Before coming here, I didn’t know that being a physician and research scientist was possible to balance. Having physicians as professors, and forming bonds with these mentors and becoming a part of their research endeavors created a very unique experience that I’m truly thankful for.” —Acacia Smash, MPH

“Upon graduating the Health Care Delivery Leadership Master’s program, I find both the world and myself transformed. The knowledge and expertise that I gained from the program have been invaluable in successfully leading my clinic through the pandemic. Armed with a renewed sense of determination and skills, I’m taking this opportunity to expand into various areas by both building on the clinic redesign I have started and taking the Addiction Medicine boards this fall.” — Jameela Yusuff, MD, MPH, Medical Director and Associate Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases), STAR Program, SUNY Downstate Medical Center

Meet one graduate with a passion for community wellness

A Passion for Community Wellness Drives New Graduate Gavriella Hecht, MPH

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community, School

Gavriella Hecht, MPH, was one of 201 students receiving a master’s degree from Mount Sinai.

At a time when the world is focused on public health, the students in the Master of Public Health (MPH) program at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai are as committed as ever to preventing disease, protecting the environment, and promoting good health at the local level and in populations around the globe.

Gavriella Hecht, who graduated from Mount Sinai’s MPH program on Friday, June 26, pursued the epidemiology track, taking on a variety of projects to gain knowledge and experience. She served as a research assistant on data management for the Integrated Care at Mount Sinai study on substance use among HIV patients. The study was conducted at outpatient HIV clinics within the Mount Sinai Health System.

In 2019, she presented research on opioids and HIV at the annual conference of the American Public Health Association. Earlier, Ms. Hecht had the opportunity to participate in county-level New York State projects that included lab work with mosquitoes and research on how certain species impact the West Nile virus.

“One of the great things about the Mount Sinai MPH program is that students have the opportunity to do significant work and really make a difference,” she says. “It allowed me to pursue my passions and to feel valued for my work. The faculty and staff are very committed to the success of their students.”

Today, Ms. Hecht is continuing her training through a two-year Centers for Disease Control and Prevention / Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists Applied Epidemiology Fellowship at the Arizona Department of Health Services. She is assigned to its Public Health Preparedness/Epidemiology and Disease Control Office of Infectious Diseases, working primarily on projects involving data management related to COVID-19, including the evaluation of electronic laboratory reporting and contact tracing.

At the Master’s Achievement Ceremony that preceded Commencement, Ms. Hecht was recognized for her accomplishments with the Excellence in Public Health Leadership and Service Award. She is also a member of the Delta Omega Honorary Society.

Ms. Hecht plans to continue her focus on epidemiology, studying patterns of zoonotic and vector-borne diseases, an emerging field she became interested in after taking a class on the topic at Mount Sinai. “My biggest passion,” she says, “is understanding how human, animal, and environmental health all impact each other.”

How a Small Force of Mount Sinai Nursing Students Played Key Support Roles at the Height of COVID-19

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | COVID-19, Featured, School

Nursing student volunteers, from left, Pearl Scalzo, Sylvie Jean Baptiste, and Jacky Lee stocked emergency trays for the Mount Sinai Beth Israel Pharmacy.

Twenty-two students at the Phillips School of Nursing at Mount Sinai Beth Israel have logged more than 1,000 volunteer hours since early April, taking on key support roles in pharmacy and research to help overburdened Mount Sinai Health System staff at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The effort was launched by two student leaders, Shayna LaSala, President of Student Government at the School of Nursing, and Frances “Frankie” Burney, chapter president of its National Student Nurse Association. They say they were inspired by the several hundred medical and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai who had been volunteering through the newly created Sinai Student Workforce.

With the help of Dean Todd F. Ambrosia, DNP, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, FNAP, Ms. LaSala and Ms. Burney created the Nursing Student Workforce, giving nursing students the opportunity to volunteer in the pharmacy at Mount Sinai Beth Israel and at Mount Sinai Morningside, and to play vital roles in a significant COVID-19 research project at the Icahn School of Medicine.

As part of their efforts, the nursing students assembled crash carts and emergency kits, prepared medications, and performed whatever tasks were requested by pharmacy technicians. One student who was particularly skilled in phlebotomy trained registered nurses and personal care assistants on the latest venipuncture techniques. They also joined a cadre of staff and other volunteers on the Mount Sinai COVID-19 Tissue Collection Taskforce, where they helped to create a biobank of specimens from COVID-19 patients that later would be analyzed in research laboratories as part of a study by Mount Sinai scientists. The students were assigned to help assemble test tubes, deliver them to unit nurses, and then collect the full ones hours later, working in day or evening shifts.

Nursing student volunteers, from left, Dominique Falci, Rebecca Dornfeld, and Gurpawan “Gia” Kang helped to create a biobank of specimens from COVID-19 patients as part of a research study.

“Our nursing students were determined to help during this crisis,” says Dr. Ambrosia. “Their actions demonstrated that nursing truly is a calling—one that attracts those who strive to help humankind. I am extremely proud to stand with them and the nursing profession as we continue to care for our patients and one another.”

“It was inspiring to be part of a team where everyone—doctors, nurses, volunteers—came together to get through this,” says Dominique Falci, a nursing student who was involved in both research and pharmacy tasks. “There were so many extremely sick patients and so much bad news, but staff and volunteers were so warm and supportive of each other. It was very uplifting, especially as a student,” she says.

The students believe they got a unique perspective that will influence how they perceive hospital relationships. “Everyone brings a different skill set into a situation,” says Ms. Burney. “This experience has, for me, highlighted the special relationship between doctors and nurses and how much they can achieve by working together closely as a team across all disciplines.”

The students volunteered between semesters, launching the project in April after completing their final exams. However, now that classes have resumed, most are unable to continue volunteering, though Ms. Falci intends to make it part of her schedule. Fortunately, as new COVID-19 admissions have been declining, there is less need for volunteers. The student volunteers, who are in the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program, will graduate in August.

“It really has been a privilege to ease some of the burden on front-line workers,” says Ms. LaSala. “And, seeing our student body come together and work seamlessly as an interdisciplinary team with the medical students and Mount Sinai staff during such a stressful time is a learning experience we’ll never forget.”

Nursing student volunteer Gurpawan “Gia” Kang, left, helped Nicole Simons, MA, Team Leader of the COVID-19 biobank research study, collect biospecimens at an inpatient unit in Guggenheim Pavilion.

Saving Lives, One Mask at a Time

May 19, 2020 | COVID-19, Diversity and Inclusion, Featured, School

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai student Tyler McChane (MS3) delivered mask kits to the New York Common Pantry in East Harlem.

Aishwarya Raja, a rising fourth-year medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, looked at the East Harlem community that surrounds Mount Sinai and knew she had to help her neighbors as the COVID-19 pandemic surged in New York City. She understood they often lacked the most basic health care necessities, and with a sizable number of them considered essential workers and unable to stay at home, she wanted them to remain safe. She was unsure they would even have access to one fundamental item needed to confront the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19—protective masks.

Then, she had an idea and founded Mask Transit, an initiative dedicated to delivering masks and educational materials to vulnerable neighbors, an effort to help slow the spread of COVID-19. She mobilized 50 medical students across 15 institutions in mid-April, and they began sourcing and delivering masks and creating educational materials.

The project was launched under the guidance of Yasmin S. Meah, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, and Medical Education. Dr. Meah is the Program Director and Chief Medical Attending of the East Harlem Health Outreach Partnership (EHHOP), Mount Sinai’s student-run, physician-supervised clinic, which provides free primary, preventive, and mental health care to uninsured adults.

“These students have done an amazing job of serving the most vulnerable members in the community,” says Dr. Meah. “Many of them are essential workers, isolated from services, with low health literacy, so getting masks and information into their hands can be lifesaving.”

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai student Matthew Eveleth (SY) put together mask kits that were mailed and delivered to more than 250 EHHOP (East Harlem Health Outreach Partnership) households.

Reema Navalurkar (MS3), and Parth Trivedi (SY), education co-chairs, developed educational materials to explain why and how to wear a mask, and how to clean it, along with information about COVID-19. Materials are available in Spanish, French, Mandarin, and Arabic, in addition to English. Under the leadership of Tyler McChane (MS3), the team sourced face masks and fabric. They found local seamstresses willing to donate their time to sew masks, and they partnered with grass roots organizations to help distribute them. The team delivered mask kits, consisting of masks and information, to distribution points and to individuals. They created a website, raised funds for their initiative, and promoted the program throughout the community and through social media.

To date, Mask Transit has distributed more than 6,000 mask kits with a goal of distributing 100,000 by mid-June. In addition to partnering with EHHOP, they also work with New York Common Pantry and Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Health Services, an organization that helps families meet basic needs, and they recently broadened their reach to West Bronx. Mask Transit has also established branches in Boston, where they are partnering with Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program, and in New Haven, where they are partnering with the HAVEN clinic, Yale School of Medicine’s student-run free clinic. Their new goal is to branch out to all five boroughs in New York City and to other cities across the United States.

Aishwarya Raja, a rising fourth-year medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, oversees the Mask Transit initiative that she founded in April 2020.

“What has been most rewarding is that we have been able to harness the power of individuals to make a difference,” says Ms. Raja. “Everyone—students, businesses, seamstresses, and community organizations—has stepped up. They are great examples of how kind, generous, and resilient our community members can be in the city’s time of need.”

Anyone interested in donating masks or mask materials can click here. To find out more information about the organization, visit masktransit.org or contact them at contact@masktransit.org.

Learn more about Mask Transit

Mount Sinai Student Named a 2020 Paul & Daisy Soros New Americans Fellow

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Featured, School

Sherman Leung with his parents, Chris and Joanne, after getting his white coat and a stethoscope as a first-year medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai student Sherman Leung is among 30 recipients—out of 2,211 applicants—to be named a 2020 Paul & Daisy Soros New Americans Fellow. The program recognizes outstanding immigrants and children of immigrants pursuing graduate studies in the United States who have the potential to make significant contributions to the nation through their work. Each Fellow will receive up to $90,000 in funding over two years. Sherman, whose family came to the United States from Hong Kong, is a rising second-year medical student. The award will support his medical education.

The selection team specifically emphasized creativity, originality, initiative, and sustained accomplishment—all of which are found in abundance in Sherman’s early career.

Sherman was born in Maryland after his parents emigrated from Hong Kong during the handover of Hong Kong. His parents re-started their college educations and careers once in the United States; his father is a biochemist-turned-software engineer, and his mother, a literature major-turned-program analyst. “They taught me the importance of interdisciplinary thinking from an early age,” says Sherman. In high school, he conducted research that applied music theory to organic chemistry, and computational approaches to vaccine design.

Sherman’s diverse interests led him to Stanford University where he completed premedical requirements, initially planning to be a doctor. As he learned more about artificial intelligence, he shifted his focus to technology, conducting machine learning and social gamification research. While at Stanford, he started SHIFT, an interdisciplinary student group promoting and cultivating health care innovation initiatives.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, and a master’s degree Management Science and Engineering, Sherman moved to Boston, where he was an early product manager at PatientPing, a startup connecting providers across organizations and facilities to coordinate care and improve patient outcomes. For his work launching a national care coordination platform at PatientPing, Sherman was named to MedTech Boston’s “40 under 40 Healthcare Innovators” list in 2018.

“During my time working with health care startups and volunteering with immigrant and indigent patient populations, I was so inspired by many intimate patient-provider encounters to more directly serve patients as a physician,” he says. “I looked carefully for institutions that were eager to integrate new and underrepresented perspectives, and support extracurricular interests in addition to clinical medicine.” He found this at the Icahn School of Medicine, saying, “Dean Muller’s support of my diverse interests across entrepreneurship, health care technology, and clinical medicine, and the opportunity to work with Mount Sinai’s Diversity Innovation Hub, have been especially affirming in my first year as a medical student.” David Muller, MD, is Dean for Medical Education, and Professor and Marietta and Charles C. Morchand Chair in Medical Education.

Today, while pursuing his medical degree, Sherman continues to invest in and launch health care companies at AlleyCorp, a venture studio and early-stage investment fund based in New York City. “I care deeply about leveraging technology to support underserved patient populations and increasing the efficiency and efficacy of health care delivery,” he says.

He additionally supports student COVID-19 efforts at the Icahn School of Medicine, and is a New York City leader for Off Their Plate, a national initiative started by a 2019 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow that simultaneously supports restaurant and health care workers during this time of public health and economic upheaval. The organization raises funds that go directly to pay the wages of restaurant workers, who in turn prepare nutritious meals for front-line health care workers.

When asked for a famous quote that has inspired him, he chose this African proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” The word “together” is one that has long shaped him. “As the proud son of immigrants from Hong Kong, I am the product of parents who chose to prioritize democratic freedom over their own professional careers,” he says. “I believe that I am where I am today because of their sacrifice in choosing the more difficult path. To me, being the child of immigrants means that you never forget where you come from—they are the roots I will always acknowledge as I hope to continue my family’s heritage in both service and entrepreneurship.”

Students, Postdoctoral Fellows, and Faculty Team Up to Advance Immunology Research on COVID-19

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | COVID-19, Featured, Research, School

Members of the Sinai Immunology Review Project. From left to right: Matthew Spindler; Louise Malle; Berengere Salome, PharmD, PhD ; Miriam Merad, MD, PhD ; Luisanna Paulino; Verena van der Heide, PhD; and Nicolas Vabret, PhD. Via Zoom, left to right, top row to bottom: Alvaro Moreira, MD; Robert Samstein, MD, PhD; Rachel Levantovsky; Matthew Park, Conor Gruber; and Emma Risson.

The unprecedented generation of non-peer-reviewed scientific information about COVID-19 in just a few months helped galvanize more than 50 members of the Precision Immunology Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai into forming a group to parse through the data.

The effort, called the Sinai Immunology Review Project, is composed of faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students. By sharing their knowledge and expertise, project members evaluate the quality of the research being posted to the bioRxiv and medRxiv preprint servers and help advance the most significant findings that are related to their field. Peer review is quality control provided by a panel of experts who evaluate whether a study has used proper research methods and is scientifically valid.

“Reviewing the preprinted studies benefits the authors and the scientific community, provides the public with access to what is being discussed, and helps reinforce scientific credibility,” says one of the project leaders, Nicolas Vabret, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology) and a member of the Precision Immunology Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine. “To help pick the best treatments for COVID-19 you need to have a strong understanding of the pathology of the disease and we are able to help with this.” Many of the researchers who are working from home during this pandemic welcome the collaborative opportunity to contribute to the field.

Since mid-March, the project’s participants have ranked more than 2,000 studies according to their immunological relevance and written 130 reviews that are then posted alongside the corresponding study on the preprint servers. To ensure that the best science is elevated, each summary is written by a fellow or student specializing in a specific area of the immune system and then reviewed by a faculty member. A website built by Nicolas Fernandez, PhD, a computational scientist at Mount Sinai’s Human Immune Monitoring Center, hosts all of the reviews.

Recognition of this work recently led the editors of Nature Reviews Immunology to reach out to Miriam Merad, MD, PhD, Mount Sinai Professor of Immunology and Director of the Precision Immunology Institute, to form a unique collaboration. Mount Sinai is now publishing three short commentaries in the publication each week on the most promising immunological findings on COVID-19. Within a few days of launching the collaboration with Nature Reviews Immunology, Mount Sinai’s work was viewed more than 10,000 times.

Project co-leader Robert Samstein, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology, and a member of the Precision Immunology Institute, says, “This has been a massive effort. It’s been a great opportunity for Mount Sinai’s trainees to integrate all of their knowledge and provide a summary for the scientific community,” so quickly and efficiently. “The huge flurry of output on COVID-19 by the scientific community is unprecedented and this effort is responding to that.”

While speed and the open sharing of information are vital to enhancing further understanding of the COVID-19 health emergency, the peer-review process is an essential part of scientific advancement and the preprint servers that are now publishing all of this new information were never meant as a replacement. In the absence of the peer-review process, members of the Immunology Project are stepping in to provide their expertise in the best way they can, says Dr. Samstein.

“By doing this we can really help make it easier for policy makers, physicians, and scientists to see what the best information is as it evolves and have a direct impact on treatments,” adds Dr. Vabret.

As time goes on, the medical and scientific community is learning more about the disease and calling into question some of its earliest hypotheses about possible treatments. This makes the need to highlight quality science to inform decision-making a continued priority, according to Dr. Vabret.

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