Dennis S. Charney, MD, delivered the State of the School address.

A year of great achievement in science and medicine was celebrated at the 2019 Convocation Ceremony, which marked the beginning of the academic year at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and featured the annual State of the School Address by Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and President for Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System. The event, held on Thursday, October 17, before a standing-room-only audience at Goldwurm Auditorium, also honored 10 renowned faculty members who have advanced the fields of neurosurgery, molecular pharmacology, oncology, bioinformatics, vaccinology, population health, cardiovascular clinical research, and gene and cell medicine.

In one of the School of Medicine’s chief accomplishments, Dr. Charney said, it received $393 million in National Institutes of Health funding in fiscal year 2019—a 13 percent increase over the prior year—ranking the school No. 12 in the nation. The Icahn School of Medicine also rose to No. 3 from No. 4 in research dollars per principal investigator, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

“We are by far the best-funded independent medical school and are competing very effectively with all the major universities,” Dr. Charney said. “But most important—our science is leading to breakthroughs that have the potential to help our patients.”

The matriculating class of medical students is a well-rounded and diverse group who came from some of the nation’s top universities and had a median grade point average of 3.82 (out of 4.0). “We have a great class of students, not only because of their metrics but because of their passion for social justice, for gender equity, and for science,” Dr. Charney said. “They want to do it all, and we are here to be their teachers and make sure that is possible.” To further support medical students, in April 2019 Mount Sinai announced the Enhanced Scholarship Initiative, which ensures that medical students with a demonstrated need will graduate with a maximum debt of $75,000. Mount Sinai remains the largest sponsor of graduate medical education in the nation, with 2,500 residents and clinical fellows. And it has added six accredited programs at Mount Sinai South Nassau, which joined the Health System in 2019.

The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences was granted accreditation for a new Master of Health Administration program, which will launch in 2020, and it has expanded training in data science and entrepreneurship in response to requests from students. The school has an “outstanding” matriculating class of 44 PhD students, Dr. Charney said. “And 70 percent of the class are women, which is very encouraging, given that we want more women going into science and medicine.”

Among other high points:

Mount Sinai Innovation Partners (MSIP), which translates research findings into health care products and services, generated 209 patent applications and 60 new licenses and options for the use of research. MSIP helped create several spin-out companies, including HiberCell, Inc., which develops therapeutics focused on preventing cancer relapse, and RenalytixAI, PLC, which advances tools to identify patients at risk for fast-progressing kidney disease.

The Mount Sinai Doctors Faculty Practice had its most successful year, with annualized revenue of $1.1 billion in 2019, an increase of 7 percent over 2018. The practice is one of the largest in the nation, with 1.4 million ambulatory visits to The Mount Sinai Hospital campus in 2019. The number of phone calls to its Access Center rose to 4.4 million in 2019 from 3.65 million in 2018.

“The Best Employers for Diversity,” a list of 500 companies compiled by Forbes, ranked Mount Sinai No. 1 among health systems and hospitals in 2019, and No. 19 overall. In January 2019, Carol Horowitz, MD, MPH, was named Dean for Gender Equity in Science and Medicine—the first such dean in the nation. Dr. Horowitz is overseeing a range of initiatives in areas including compensation, recruitment and retention, gender bias, and mentorship. The School of Medicine in 2019 created the Change Now Initiative to promote health care and education that are free of racism and bias. And in October 2019, the Diversity Innovation Hub (DIH) was launched by a team led by Gary C. Butts, MD, Dean for Diversity Programs, Policy, and Community Affairs, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. DIH intends to create fellowships in technology and entrepreneurship for Mount Sinai medical and graduate students and to work with partners such as MSIP, local community leaders, and start-ups to seek innovative solutions to disparities in health and health care.

Looking ahead, Mount Sinai is continuing to carry out the wide-ranging strategic plan developed in 2017, Dr. Charney said. In 2019, it created new institutes focusing on digital health, biomedical engineering, and transformative clinical trials. Mount Sinai is also planning a new building at 98^th and Madison.

“We expect this to be an iconic building and a gateway to our campus,” Dr. Charney said. “It will allow an expansion of our faculty practice and enhance our initiatives in digital health, artificial intelligence, and biomedical engineering.” To fund this and other capital projects, Mount Sinai is working with the Boards of Trustees to raise $2 billion by 2024. Thirty-one percent of the goal has been achieved as of October 2019.

Mount Sinai’s “great track record of discovery” was saluted by James S. Tisch, who in spring 2019 became Co-Chairman of the Boards of Trustees with Richard A. Friedman. “Our recent achievements and research rankings are truly impressive, particularly for a standalone medical school that is not a part of a larger research university,” Mr. Tisch said.

Mount Sinai is a leading driver of innovation at a critical time, said Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mount Sinai Health System, comparing the present day to the dawn of quantum physics in the early 20th century. Physicists of that time could never have predicted that their discoveries would lead to artificial intelligence and cellphones that can send a photo across the globe in milliseconds. “Today we are in the midst of another incredible revolution, but this time it is in biology. We are seeing changes at an exponential rate as our research is transforming modern medicine and our understanding of disease,” Dr. Davis said. “Our grandchildren may look back and wonder why people ever died of cancer or why they only lived to 80.” He urged leading physician-scientists—like Mount Sinai’s 10 newly endowed professors—to use their prestige and expertise to convince government policymakers of the opportunities that lie ahead.

Concluding his address, Dr. Charney said he was looking forward to working further with Mr. Tisch and Mr. Friedman, and he expressed sincere gratitude to Peter W. May, who stepped down as Chairman of the Mount Sinai Boards of Trustees in May 2019 after guiding the Health System through 17 years of enormous growth and change.

“Peter May enabled us to go from good to great—to be among the best medical schools and health systems in the world,” Dr. Charney said. “And we thank him for his inspirational leadership and wisdom.”

Front row, from left: Florian Krammer, PhD; Sundar Jagannath, MBBS; Fred R. Hirsch, MD, PhD; Lakshmi A. Devi, PhD; Joshua B. Bederson, MD; and Dennis S. Charney, MD. Back row, from left: James S. Tisch; Sarah E. Millar, PhD; Roxana Mehran, MD; Avi Ma’ayan, PhD; Daniel M. Labow, MD; and Nathalie Jette, MD, MSc.

Before a standing-room-only audience of wellwishers, 140 medical students of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Class of 2023 received symbolic white coats during a rousing ceremony held Tuesday, September 17, in Stern Auditorium. Always a jubilant affair for the students and their families and friends, and for Mount Sinai Health System leadership, faculty, and alumni, this year’s event was marked by frequent applause as speakers brought special attention to key issues in medical education and health care.

After receiving their white coats, the aspiring physicians also recited a student oath they wrote— a set of principles to guide them. They committed to be innovative collaborators, to push medicine to new heights, and to courageously advocate for patients and their communities, among other ideals.

In attendance were Richard A. Friedman and James S. Tisch, Co-Chairmen of the Mount Sinai Health System Boards of Trustees. “The Trustees care deeply about you, our students,” said Mr. Friedman in welcoming remarks. “We want you to be able to learn without the anxiety of graduating with a financial burden that might severely limit your ability to pursue your dreams. So, earlier this year, the Boards of Trustees approved the Enhanced Scholarship Initiative that enables students with demonstrated need to graduate with no more than $75,000 of debt. This is a gift from the Trustees who have funded the Initiative.”

Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and President for Academic Affairs for the Mount Sinai Health System, spoke eloquently of gifts of a different sort. “It is important that you be thankful for all the gifts that are associated with becoming a physician and scientist,” he told the students. “It will enrich your personal life, enhance your professional sense of purpose, and most importantly, improve the lives of patients who place their trust in you.”

Among the gifts, he said, are the gifts of family, of gratitude, of giving and showing compassion to patients, of solving life’s greatest challenges, and of demonstrating strength, courage, and resilience while under duress. “Perhaps your ultimate gift,” he concluded, “is the chance to dream big.”

Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System, took the opportunity to urge the future physicians to uphold and advance the values that have defined Mount Sinai since its earliest days—values, he said, that are now being threatened.

“The federal government has released a rule that could deny permanent resident status to some immigrants if they accept government assistance, including Medicaid, food stamps, or housing assistance, all of which we know impacts a person’s health and well-being,” he began. “In accepting federal government assistance, these individuals and families risk being labeled as a ‘public charge,’ and under this rule, it would jeopardize their ability to remain in the United States.” As a result, Dr. Davis continued, immigrant and low-income families served by Mount Sinai are choosing to forgo health care to avoid possible deportation.

“How does that affect you, future physicians and researchers? This is what I want you to commit to when you leave this room: We must defend our ability to be health care providers for all. By accepting your white coat today, you are pledging to uphold our values and to fulfill Mount Sinai’s vision.”

Zara Cooper, MD, MSc, FACS, MSSM ’00, Kessler Director of the Center for Surgery and Public Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, gave a heartfelt keynote speech, which each year is dedicated to the late Hans Popper, MD, PhD, a world-renowned physician and academic leader who was President and Dean Emeritus of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

“It’s hard to describe the gratification of saving a patient’s life, helping bring a new life into the world, making a patient’s life longer or more enjoyable, or easing their transition to death,” she told the medical students. “You will do each of these things before you leave here. You will witness extraordinary things. You will experience the greatest joy and satisfaction that life can offer, and the deepest regret, shame, sadness, and self-doubt. But through it all, what will keep you centered, what will help you maintain your ethical compass, avoid burnout, maintain hope and optimism and joy in this work, is that you must always do what is best for the patient—always, always, always.”

The 56 members of the matriculating classes of PhD and MD/PhD students in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai received white lab coats during a special ceremony held Monday, September 9, in Goldwurm Auditorium.

“It is with great pride and joy that I welcome you,” Marta Filizola, PhD, Dean of the Graduate School, and the Sharon and Frederick Klingenstein/Nathan Kase, MD Professor of Pharmacological Sciences, and Professor of Neuroscience, told the students. “This ceremony serves as a symbolic induction to your professional PhD training in the Biomedical Sciences and Neuroscience programs, as well as to the MD/PhD Medical Scientist Training Program.” The Graduate School, which began the tradition in 2018, is the only institution in New York City, and one of a few in the nation, to honor its matriculating PhD classes in this manner.

Also receiving recognition were 43 PhD and MD/PhD students who have officially joined a lab and confirmed their PhD candidature by passing their thesis proposal exams. They were presented with honorary plaques.

The PhD students recited an oath to guide them through their training, and beyond. In part, they pledged to uphold the highest levels of integrity, professionalism, scholarship, and honor, and to conduct their research and professional endeavors with honesty and objectivity.

Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Dean for Academic and Scientific Affairs, Director of The Friedman Brain Institute, and Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience, who was the event’s master of ceremonies, gave this advice to the students. “The most critical dimension of your graduate student career will be finding the right laboratory in which to do your dissertation research—and the most critical aspect of that choice will be the lab’s principal investigator, who will be your mentor,” he said. “I would argue that the lab principal investigator is more important to your future than the content of the lab’s work or the experimental approaches the lab utilizes. If it works as it should, your lab mentor will be one of your more significant relationships of your professional lives.”

When keynote speaker Francesca Cole, PhD, stepped to the podium, she almost immediately acknowledged her own mentor, Robert S. Krauss, PhD, Professor of Cell, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, and Oncological Sciences, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who was in attendance. Dr. Cole received a PhD in Biomedical Sciences in 2003 at Mount Sinai, followed by postgraduate training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and today she is an Associate Professor of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

She outlined the struggles of a typical scientist. “We have to live with the knowledge that we could be wrong, that our approach may not work, that we may not be asking the right question. In short, doing research makes you feel stupid,” said Dr. Cole. “You must accept this. If you don’t feel that way, you aren’t working hard enough or pushing the boundaries of our knowledge enough.”

Dr. Cole also encouraged the students to select a mentor wisely and to support each other. “But this is my most important message to you,” she said. “It is abundantly clear that you all belong here. So, welcome to biomedical research, and let’s make beautiful science together.”