At the Awards Ceremony Dinner, from left: Back Row: Dennis Charney, MD; Leo Keegan, MD; Christopher Bellaire, MD; Hashem Emad Zikry, MD; Daniel J. Weiss, MD, PhD; Basil Hanss, PhD; David R. Friedland, MD, PhD; Alberto Paniz-Mondolfi, MD, PhD; Robert O. Wright, MD, MPH; Cardinale Smith, MD, PhD; Alexis Colvin, MD. Seated: Silvia Chavez, MSN; Leif Holgersen, MD; Meg A. Rosenblatt, MD; Bret P. Nelson, MD; James C. Tsai, MD, MBA; Carl W. Braun, MD; Katherine A. Hawkins, MD, JD; and Vesna Najfeld, PhD
More than 225 alumni, faculty, and honored guests gathered for the 2023 Alumni Reunion Awards Ceremony Dinner held at the New York Academy of Medicine. This was the first time in four years that the event was held in person to celebrate the recipients of the Mount Sinai Alumni Awards and the St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Alumni Awards, as well as milestone graduation years: the classes of 1978, 1983, and 1998.
This year’s event, held Wednesday, May 10, was particularly special for another reason: It was the first reunion to honor the first four graduating classes from the original Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The classes of 1970, 1971, 1972, and 1973 jointly celebrated their 50th anniversaries, which is a signifier of the extraordinary trajectory taken since the School of Medicine’s founding.
Guests were welcomed with opening remarks from Alexis Colvin, MD, Associate Dean for Alumni Affairs, Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Kenneth L. Davis, MD, Chief Executive Office of the Mount Sinai Health System, who is also an alumnus of the class of 1973. Leo Keegan, MD, Vice President of the Mount Sinai Alumni Association, and Carl Braun, MD, President of the St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Alumni Association, presented the awards. A special welcome video with Talia Swartz, MD, PhD, President of the Mount Sinai Alumni Association, was also shown.
The Alumni Award recipients are:
The Mount Sinai Alumni Leadership Award: Christopher Bellaire, MD Candidate ’23, Hashem Emad Zikry, MD, ISMMS ’18
St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Distinguished Young Physician of the Year: Alberto Paniz-Mondolfi, MD, PhD, SLR ’11
The Jeffrey T. Laitman, PhD Award for Achievement in Medical Education: Bret P. Nelson, MD
The Mount Sinai Graduate School Alumni Award: Basil Hanss, PhD, Cardinale Smith, MD, PhD, MSSM ’15, MSH ’10
The Mount Sinai Master Clinician Award: Meg A. Rosenblatt, MD, MSH ’89
The Mount Sinai Alumni Special Recognition Award: Silvia Chavez, MSN, ANP-BC, Vesna Najfeld, PhD
The Terry Ann Krulwich Physician-Scientist Alumni Award: Daniel J. Weiss, MD, PhD, MSSM ’88
The Dr. Sidney Grossman Distinguished Humanitarian Award: James C. Tsai, MD, MBA
The J. Lester Gabrilove Award: Robert O. Wright, MD, MPH
St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Distinguished Alumni Award: Katherine A. Hawkins, MD, JD, SLR ’77, Leif Holgersen, MD, FACS, SLR ’70
The Saul Horowitz, Jr. Memorial Award: David R. Friedland, MD, PhD, MSSM ’95, MSH ’00
The Alumni Association also held a series of events from Wednesday, May 10, to Friday, May 12. The event series included a symposium with two panel conversations and a discussion with Dr. Charney, and an Open House for the new Alumni Office and Wisch Physician Lounge. Members of the 50th anniversary classes participated in the 2023 Commencement Ceremony.
To view the digital Reunion Dinner Program Book, see event photos, watch the welcome video, and listen to the Alumni Podcast from the graduating class of 1972, click here.
At the 2023 Commencement Ceremony, from left: Ernst Schaefer, MD; Jacob Rispler, MD; Steven C. Port, MD; Naomi LC Luban, MD; Katherine Teets Grimm, MD; Arthur L. Frank, MD; Kenneth L. Edelson, MD; and Michael S. Balkin, MD.