Mount Sinai Introduces New Genetic Screening Tests

The Mount Sinai Genetic Testing Laboratory’s Executive Director, Lisa Edelmann, PhD, left, and Director, Ruth Kornreich, PhD

The Mount Sinai Genetic Testing Laboratory’s Executive Director, Lisa Edelmann, PhD, left, and Director, Ruth Kornreich, PhD

The Mount Sinai Genetic Testing Laboratory in January introduced a new panel of comprehensive pan-ethnic carrier screening tests for 281 genetic disorders, the largest currently available. Mount Sinai’s NextStep Carrier Screening also includes the most comprehensive panel of tests for 96 diseases found in the Ashkenazi Jewish population and is the first of its kind to address the largely overlooked needs of the Sephardi and Mizrahi Jewish populations.

“Building on years of in-house genetic research and technology adaptation in our clinical laboratory, we created tests that not only expand the number of diseases screened, but also increase the breadth of coverage, to improve carrier detection rates and provide more accurate residual risk estimates to patients,” says Lisa Edelmann, PhD, Executive Director of the Mount Sinai Genetic Testing Laboratory within the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences. (more…)

Genetic Testing Under Way in Connecticut

Genetic Testing Under Way in Connecticut

In Mount Sinai’s Branford, Connecticut, laboratory, Research Associate Courtney Pietropaolo prepares DNA samples for sequencing.

In its first full year of operation, the Mount Sinai Genetic Testing Laboratory in Branford, Connecticut, has become an integral part of the Mount Sinai Health System’s efforts to better diagnose and treat disease.

The 16,400-square-foot facility, located 85 miles from New York City, has the high-throughput equipment to sequence thousands of samples monthly to uncover variations in DNA that code for Alzheimer’s and coronary disease, and cancer, among other diseases. (more…)

New Chairs for Orthopaedics and Neurology

Leesa M. Galatz, MD

Leesa M. Galatz, MD

Two renowned physicians and researchers—Leesa M. Galatz, MD, and Barbara G. Vickrey, MD, MPH—recently became the Mount Sinai Health System Chair of Orthopaedics, and Neurology, respectively, at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Galatz was recruited from Washington University in St. Louis, where she was a Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Chief of the Shoulder and Elbow Service. Dr. Vickrey had served for 25 years on the faculty of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she was Professor of Neurology. (more…)

Use of Big Data Leads to Discovery in Diabetes

Joel Dudley, PhDAfter carefully analyzing the electronic health records (EHRs) of 11,000 patients, investigators at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have discovered three potential new subtypes of type 2 diabetes.

The discovery, led by Joel Dudley, PhD, Director of Biomedical Informatics at the Icahn School of Medicine, highlights the power of new technology and the promise of precision medicine, as the Mount Sinai Health System ushers in the use of Big Data in discovering, treating, and preventing disease. The results of the study were published in Science Translational Medicine in October, 2015. (more…)

Herminia Palacio ’87, MD, MPH Appointed NYC’s Deputy Mayor for Health & Human Services

Herminia Palacio ’87, MD, MPH

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has appointed Dr. Herminia Palacio as the city’s new deputy mayor for health and human services, filling a post that has been vacant since the end of September 2015. Palacio will oversee several key city departments, including the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, NYC Health + Hospitals, the Human Resources Administration and the Department of Homeless Services, among others. (more…)

National Recognition for Autism Researcher

National Recognition for Autism Researcher

Joseph D. Buxbaum, PhD

Joseph D. Buxbaum, PhD, a pioneering researcher in the field of autism, recently was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, considered one of the highest honors in medicine. New members are elected annually by current active members through a selective process that recognizes individuals who have made major contributions to advance medical sciences, health care, and public health.

A world-renowned molecular geneticist and neurobiologist, Dr. Buxbaum is Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Psychiatry, and Director of the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is also Professor of Neuroscience, and Genetics and Genomic Sciences, and the G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Research Professor of Geriatrics and Adult Development. (more…)

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