In Donning New White Coats, Students Take on a New Chapter

Updated on Sep 20, 2022 | Featured, School

The excitement in the Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts was palpable as families and friends waited for their loved ones to receive their coats in the White Coat Ceremony on Tuesday, September 13, as part of their journey at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Meanwhile, outside the hall, medical student Mateo Restrepo was feeling nervous.

“It’s been challenging getting to this point,” he said, “but this is a moment me and all my classmates have been waiting for a long time.”

In his address, Dennis Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of Icahn Mount Sinai, posed challenges to the 120 students who make up the class of 2026.

“But, now, as first-year students embarking on a career in medicine, the white coat you are about to receive represents a new tabula rasa,” Dr. Charney said. “How will you paint that blank canvas? What will you contribute to the field of medicine? How will you relieve suffering?”

Medical trainees then stepped up to the stage to receive their short white coats—a symbol of their journey to becoming fully fledged physicians with long white coats. As a faculty member robed each student, their stories about why they chose to enter health care were shown on a screen, spanning personal encounters with the health profession, heartfelt struggles with disease by family or themselves, and inspiration to challenge boundaries of health and science.

Meet: Mateo Restrepo, Class of 2026

Born in Colombia, Mr. Restrepo moved to Canada when he was five years old and was a professional soccer player. He then left his soccer career to pursue a medical education after graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

What drew you to Icahn Mount Sinai?
Mount Sinai is uniquely situated to help underserved communities. Its presence in East Harlem especially means there are communities there that speak to my Latin [American] roots, and I look forward to seeing where I can help and learn from them.

What medical fields do you envision entering?
My sports background naturally makes me inclined toward orthopedic surgery, but I’m keeping an open mind.

What challenges might you anticipate in your medical journey?
One challenge that comes to mind is something I’ve already encountered: the need to take time to reconnect with myself during stressful times. I’ve learned more about myself during my time here and how I am able to deal with future challenges.

Meet: Katrina Nietsch, Class of 2026

Ms. Nietsch is one of three students who joined the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai through the school’s Institutional Partnership with the U.S. military. She was a pilot in the U.S. Navy and was accepted into the school in 2019.

What drew you to the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai?
I was drawn to the school’s commitment to underprivileged communities, which is second-to-none, and its commitment to veterans’ health. Just walking around campus and seeing the humility, expertise, and resourcefulness of the faculty and students is inspiring.

What medical fields do you envision entering?
I am thinking about a career in orthopedic surgery and sports medicine, but I am also looking at other possibilities, including women’s health.

What challenges might you anticipate in your medical journey?
I took the winding route since I served for 11 years in the military before finishing my commitment to the Navy and coming to medical school. It was time-consuming balancing a full-time career and preparing for medical school, so I am so grateful to be here now. As an older student, it has been a while since I was an undergraduate college-student, but I’m confident that with my intellectual curiosity and my military training, I will be able to tackle any challenges head on.

“Your white coats will never be cleaner or whiter than they are today,” remarked Victor Sta. Ana, MD, Director for Mount Sinai’s Primary Care Scholars Program, and Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health at Icahn Mount Sinai, in his keynote speech. He noted that the students’ journeys will only get more challenging. He described the isolation and grief he and his colleagues experienced during the height of the pandemic, and urged upon the incoming students a commitment to compassion and equity.

“I feel humbled and grateful for the opportunity to wear the white coat. I am also acutely aware of the responsibility which comes with wearing it,” said Katrina Nietsch. ”But I’m sure with the support of the faculty and my fellow peers, I’ll be up to the task to learn and find ways to get better as a provider.”

Here’s what some medical students had to say about what receiving their white coats meant to them:

Jennifer Chan, PhD, Receives Robin Chemers Neustein Postdoctoral Fellowship Award for Innovative Research

Updated on Aug 31, 2022 | Featured, Research, School

Jenneifer Chan, PhD, and Ian Maze, PhD

Jennifer Chan, PhD, whose work is vastly expanding knowledge about pregnancy, brain health, and stress, is the recipient of the 2022 Robin Chemers Neustein Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, established in 2010 to encourage and support female research scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Recipients are senior postdoctoral scientists who intend to complete their training within two years, have demonstrated high-impact accomplishments in biomedical sciences, and exhibit the potential for an independent scientific career. Dr. Chan is the 23rd recipient of the award, created through a generous gift from Robin Chemers Neustein, JD, MBA, a former member of Mount Sinai’s Boards of Trustees.

Dr. Chan works in the laboratory of neurobiologist Ian S. Maze, PhD, in the Nash Family Department of Neuroscience. Dr. Maze, who was appointed as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator in 2021, is a Professor of Neuroscience, and Pharmacological Sciences, and the founding director of the Center for Neural Epigenome Engineering at Icahn Mount Sinai, the nation’s first center devoted exclusively to neuroepigenomic engineering.

Dr. Maze’s lab is focused on delineating the molecular and biochemical mechanisms of neuroepigenetic plasticity—changes in the underlying biochemical mechanisms that control whether genes are turned on or off within a given cell-type in the brain. This plasticity is important for allowing brain cells to appropriately respond to changing environments, which is critical for proper neurodevelopment—and which can cause disease when there is inappropriate tuning of gene expression.

Jennifer Chan, PhD

For example, aberrations in these processes can produce devastating neurological and psychiatric disorders, such as epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, substance use disorders, and major depressive disorders. These aberrations can occur during brain development or throughout life due to such factors as environmental toxins, physical trauma, chronic stress, and exposure to drugs of abuse.

The Maze lab—through the integration of technologically innovative and sophisticated new methodologies in chemical biology, proteomics, protein biochemistry/engineering, and structural biology—is advancing the understanding of these processes and working toward the development of targeted neurotherapeutics to treat these conditions.

“Using the most advanced epigenomic, metabolomic, and gene editing approaches in my lab, Dr. Chan is revolutionizing our understanding as to how environmental stimuli, both adaptive and maladaptive, impact epigenetic regulation of gene expression in the maternal brain to alter neural circuitry and behavior,” says Dr. Maze. “Delineating the mechanisms through which the experience of pregnancy imparts long-lasting changes in molecular and physiological properties of the brain promises to greatly aid in our understanding of how such a profound lifetime experience—shared by so many—contributes to brain health. Dr. Chan is an exceptionally talented and innovative young scientist, and I am absolutely thrilled by such prestigious recognition of her paradigm-shifting work.”

Dr. Chan joined the lab in 2018. Her research interests focus on understanding how biological systems outside the nervous system interact with stress to impact the brain during windows of neuroplasticity—times of active brain organization that are particularly susceptible to environmental and physiological challenges. Specifically, her work examines periods of early brain development and female reproductive experiences in rodents, including the long-term impact of pregnancy and postpartum experiences on the brain, and how stress disrupts normal organizational processes during these important windows.

“The experience of being pregnant dramatically changes both the body and brain,” says Dr. Chan. “While studies in patient populations and animal models have shown that these changes can persist long after giving birth, we still don’t understand the molecular mechanisms that control these processes.”

In particular, Dr. Chan investigates the contribution of epigenetic mechanisms underlying these experiences by combining molecular, biochemical, genome editing, and behavioral approaches in her postdoctoral research.

“The fundamental understanding of what reproductive experience does to the brain long-term has not been well studied,” says Dr. Chan. “My work shows that stress during these periods has a significant effect on the maternal rodent brain. I hope that through my research we can learn more about how pregnancy and postpartum experiences contribute to brain health and also emphasize that overall we need to do a better job of reducing stress during these critical windows—such as encouraging parental leave and making sure people have the financial, social, and health-related resources needed to support themselves.”

Says Dr. Chan: “I am incredibly honored to be the recipient of this year’s Robin Chemers Neustein Postdoctoral Fellowship Award. The direction for this research project was sparked by personal interest, and I am extremely encouraged by Dr. Maze’s support and that the selection committee also believes in these important questions.”

Read more stories about research at Mount Sinai
Learn more about the Maze Lab

White Coat Ceremony at the Phillips School of Nursing Welcomes a New Generation of Nurses

Updated on Aug 5, 2022 | Community, Featured, School

The Phillips School of Nursing at Mount Sinai Beth Israel recently held its annual White Coat Ceremony for nursing students. Held on Monday, July 11, at the Hatch Auditorium at The Mount Sinai Hospital, the ceremony’s speakers included nursing administrators from throughout Mount Sinai Health System who shared their wisdom with the next generation.

“As you leave the stage today, you are now a part of an extraordinary interdisciplinary team, who provide and lead care to our patients,” Beth Oliver, DNP, MSN, Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Executive at Mount Sinai Health System, said in an address.

Ms. Oliver added that she hoped the 128 students from the December Class of 2022, who donned traditional white coats for the ceremony, would continue their journey at Mount Sinai Health System after they graduated. “I look forward to following your progress as the next generation of nurse leaders and innovators,” she said.

Zeauriya Tabassum, left, and Mirza Tamanna

Originally established by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation in 1993 to welcome students into the medical profession and set expectations for their roles as future physicians, the White Coat Ceremony expanded to all future health care workers, including future nurses, in 2014. For all health care workers, the ceremony symbolizes a commitment to compassionate, humanistic, patient-centered care rooted in scientific proficiency.

The keynote address was given by Maria Vezina, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, Vice President and Chief of Nursing Practice, Education, Advanced Practice Nursing Credentialing, and Nursing Labor Relations Partnerships for Mount Sinai Health System. She quoted the late Virginia Henderson, a nurse theorist and educator known as the “first lady of nursing,” who said nurses are “temporarily the consciousness of the unconscious” and “a voice for those too weak to speak.”

From left: Tam Ha, RaeAnne Haggard, and Valmira Helshani

The ceremony concluded with a standing ovation for Lorraine McGrath, MA, RN-BC, Senior Director of Clinical Affairs and Associate Professor of the Phillips School of Nursing, who was recognized for 40 years of exceptional teaching and strong commitment to excellence at the school. Ms. McGrath called the name of each student, while they were cloaked and received their pins from faculty. The pin with a gold Mobius loop from the Gold Foundation, symbolizes the continuous bond of trust, respect, and communication that connects nurses with their patients. Todd F. Ambrosia, DNP, MSN, MBA, APRN, FNP-BC, FNAP, Dean of the Phillips School of Nursing and Vice President of Nursing Affairs at Mount Sinai Health System, closed the ceremony by advising students to “remember always to care for yourselves and for each other.”

Learn more about the Phillips School of Nursing

Annette Stauber Cohn, RN, Phillips School of Nursing at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Class of 1943, Turns 100

Updated on Jul 8, 2022 | Alumni, Community, School

Annette Stauber Cohn, RN, will be 100 years old on Saturday, July 9, 2022. Ms. Cohn enrolled in the former Beth Israel Hospital School of Nursing (now Phillips School of Nursing at Mount Sinai Beth Israel) in 1940. At that time, it was a three-year diploma program.

Back then, the nursing students resided on two floors of the hospital. As at other nursing schools of the time, students conformed to strict standards of behavior, dress, and health habits. A housemother made rounds every night at 10 pm. A dress inspection was conducted weekly, and the students were weighed to make sure they did not “get too heavy” since it was perceived as a professional necessity that nurses possess the required stamina and “look well.” The uniforms were green. Because World War II was on, there were no silk stockings, rayon was too expensive, and nylon was being used for parachutes, which left black cotton hose. By the end of the day their feet would be purple.

All the instruction was provided by the physicians and nurses at the hospital. Students worked 12-hour shifts six days a week on the hospital wards, and attended classes in between their other duties. In return, they were given housing, uniforms, and books and were paid a small monthly allowance.

Although times were different and certainly much stricter, Ms. Cohn fondly recalls her time in New York City, first as a student and later as a registered nurse. On weekends, she would visit museums, galleries, and flower markets, and attend free concerts. An avid lover of the arts, she once took a group of nursing students to the opera, where they bought standing-room tickets.

She began her nursing career at Beth Israel Hospital when she was asked to work directly for the hospital and nursing school director, Dorothea Daniels. This was quite a testament to Ms. Cohn’s skills, since Ms. Daniels had a reputation as “a woman to be reckoned with.” Her first assignment was to review nursing applications and later she taught at the nursing school.

It was at Beth Israel Hospital that Ms. Cohn met the love of her life, Perry David Cohn, MD, who completed his residency and internship in pediatrics at the hospital. They were engaged when World War II broke out; Dr. Cohn was drafted and served his country as a physician. He finished his tour with an honorable discharge, but then received orders to return and was stationed in Georgia. These events kept delaying their marriage and so they decided to have a small wedding in New York City and then move to Georgia together. Eventually they made their way back up North to New Jersey where they later built a house in Passaic.

Like most physicians back then, her husband operated his practice out of their home. During those early years, Ms. Cohn was for the most part a homemaker with three children, but she also worked as a nurse alongside her husband when it was very busy. When the children were older, she returned to nursing practice full-time. Over the years her family grew to include three children, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Upon retirement, she and her husband enjoyed traveling and New York theatre, opera, and ballets. Ms. Cohn always had an eye for art and she enjoyed taking lessons in sculpture and art (paintings and pastels), along with gardening, knitting, and needlepoint, and, of course, spending time with her family and friends.

Fond memories of her time in nursing school and living in New York City led Ms. Cohn to write a memoir (“Out of Time and Place”) about those early days. Recognizing how important the school was to Ms. Cohn, for her 85th birthday her children established a graduation award in her name. Ms. Cohn was delighted to attend the pinning and graduation ceremonies annually and have the opportunity to share some of her experiences with the students and personally congratulate the recipients of her honorary award.

When asked what the secret to such a long life is, she did not hesitate to say, “Having a wonderful husband, fantastic children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and the support of my friends and exceptional health care providers.”

Varsha Venu, MBBS, MPH: How Her Training as a Medical Doctor Revealed a New Passion for Public Health

Updated on Jul 8, 2022 | School

Students graduating with a Master of Public Health (MPH) typically have not completed medical school—but Varsha Venu, MBBS, is no ordinary student. Before enrolling in the Master’s program at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Dr. Venu had already received her MBBS degree at Kasturba Medical College in Mangalore, India. As part of her internship training, she practiced community health—and it was during that time she found her true passion.

“I recognized the importance of public health when I realized that patients were coming in with diseases that could have been easily prevented if the health of the community was improved,” Dr. Venu says. “Without good public health, the entire community suffers, and that is probably the biggest reason why I chose not to become a practicing doctor, but instead to take on roles that would ensure that I could give the best care to an entire community and not just individual patients. Public health enables me to contribute to society in a more holistic way.”

As part of her MPH training, Ms. Venu did a part-time internship at the North HELP Coalition, a Mount Sinai program dedicated to improving emergency preparedness of medically vulnerable populations and their health care providers. She focused much of her attention on dialysis, an area that is close to her heart since her grandfather passed away from kidney disease without adequate access to dialysis in India.

Outpatient dialysis providers everywhere face unique challenges during natural disasters and, most recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ms. Venu worked with the Coalition to provide preparedness training, tools, and advocacy efforts, which grew into her capstone project.

Throughout her two years in the Mount Sinai program, Ms. Venu also served as a teaching assistant (TA) for three courses, which she found invaluable to her training. “Being a TA is a very good way of interacting with your peers while also working with some of the best professors and directors in the field,” she says.

Ms. Venu, who was born in India and raised in Dubai, plans to stay in the United States after graduation to build on the knowledge she gained here. “I want to contribute to this society in an even greater way,” she says. Her goal after graduation is to combine her passions for public health policy and health care management.

“I want to take on a role that enables me to assure that hospitals are giving the best care to the entire community, while at the same time, ensuring that the entire team of doctors, nurses, and ancillary staff, are all well looked after,” she says.

Trisha Tagle: A Project Manager in Neurology Plans to Use Her Master of Health Administration Degree To Move Health Care Forward for All Patients

Updated on Jul 8, 2022 | School

Trisha Tagle’s connection to Mount Sinai goes back 10 years when, as an undergrad pharmacy student, she was a pharmacy apprentice at The Mount Sinai Hospital. Soon, however, she would change course, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Care Administration/Management, having internships at two hospitals—and discovering that she could effect greater change in health care as an administrator.

Ms. Tagle returned to Mount Sinai as a project coordinator, and in 2018, took a new position as a project manager in the Department of Neurology, where she currently works. It was then that she realized that she could rise to even greater heights with a Master of Health Administration (MHA) degree.

“When I transitioned from a clinical role to health care administration, I realized I had the opportunity to bring about change to health care operations in a way that was more inclusive and holistic for everyone,” she says.

Ms. Tagle, who received her MHA from the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in June 2022, recalls the strengths of the program. “There was a lot of emphasis on the use of process improvement, project management skills, and technology to effect change in health care delivery, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, and especially for patients lacking access to health care,” she says. “One of my project proposals focused on how to make health care technology more inclusive. Not every patient has a smartphone, for example. So how can we give more patients access, to make sure they don’t fall through the cracks? I’m a very process-oriented person, so the idea of making sure we capture everyone is very important to me.”

As a project manager, Ms. Tagle is exposed to many different areas of the Health System, and she sees things on the macro level as well as the department level. “I’m able to not only work on a particular project, but I can help make the Neurology department more efficient, and the more efficient it is, the better and more efficient care we can offer our patients,” she says. “Now with my master’s, I hope to implement change and also come up with ideas that will help to move health care forward. I find that very exciting.”

With her new degree, Ms. Tagle will soon be taking on an intern from the MHA program. “As an alum and someone who’s also already in the field, I have been asked to join Mount Sinai’s MHA mentors program. This is an additional way for me to give back and try to help students navigate the program and their careers in health care administration,” she says. “I have always loved connecting with others and sharing my experiences in a way that may help guide them to their own discovery of where they’d like to go in health care.”

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