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2021

Virtual Alumni Reunion and Awards Ceremony WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 2021 6-7:30pm ET

1 REMARKS

Eric M. Genden, MD, ISMMS ’92, MSH ’99 President, The Mount Sinai Alumni Association Professor and Chairman, Department of Otolaryngology– Head and Neck Director of the Mount Sinai Head, Neck, and Thyroid Center Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Alexis Colvin, MD, MSSM '02 Associate Dean for Alumni Affairs Professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Chief Medical Officer, US Open Team Physician, US Fed Cup

Talia H. Swartz, MD, PhD, ISMMS '08, MSH '12 Vice President and Alumni Awards Chair The Mount Sinai Alumni Association Associate Dean for MD/PhD Education Assistant Professor of Medicine Division of Infectious Diseases Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Carl W. Braun, MD Associate Chief Medical Officer - President, The St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Alumni Association Clinical Professor of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

1 2021 ALUMNI AWARDS

In recognition of their distinguished service and achievements, we proudly bestow the 2021 Alumni Awards to the following individuals:

The Mount Sinai Alumni Leadership Award James Blum MD, MPP, ISMMS ‘21

The Mount Sinai Alumni Student Leadership Award Taylor Harrell, MS2

St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Distinguished Young Physician of the Year Joseph P. Mathew, MD, FACP, FCCP, SLR ‘07

The Jeffrey T. Laitman, PhD Award for Achievement in Medical Education Susan Lerner, MD

The Mount Sinai Alumni Award for Achievement in Graduate Education Carolina B. López, PhD, MSSM ’02, MSH ‘05

The Mount Sinai Alumni Award for Achievement in Graduate Education Padmini Rangamani, PhD, MSSM ‘10

The Mount Sinai Master Clinician Award Alejandro Berenstein, MD

The Mount Sinai Alumni Special Recognition Award Franklin M. Klion, MD, MSH ‘64

The Terry Ann Krulwich Physician-Scientist Alumni Award Noura S. Abul-Husn, MD, PhD, MSSM ‘09

The Dr. Sidney Grossman Distinguished Humanitarian Award Elizabeth Singer, MD, MPH, MSH ‘00

The J. Lester Gabrilove Award Jean-Frédéric Colombel, MD

St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Distinguished Alumnus Award George V. DiGiacinto, MD, SLR ‘78

St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Distinguished Alumnus Award Danne R. Lorieo, MD

The Saul Horowitz, Jr. Memorial Award Michael A. Palese, MD, MSSM ‘97

2 The Mount Sinai Alumni Student Leadership Award James Blum, MD, MPP, ISMMS ‘21

For exemplary leadership and service to the Mount Sinai Community.

James Blum, MD, MPP, is a recent graduate of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Harvard Kennedy School. During his time at Mount Sinai, he has served extensively in two of the largest organizations on campus: the East Health Outreach Partnership (EHHOP) and the Student Council. As a leader and clinician at EHHOP, Dr. Blum helped create a partnership to obtain free medications, expanded the ability of social work to provide case management, and established a new partnership with . He has held several roles on the Student Council including treasurer and, most recently, president. During his term as president, he helped guide the school through the COVID-19 pandemic. Through his leadership, Dr. Blum has advanced racial and social justice and is planning to continue these important efforts throughout his career. He has relied on many for mentorship, encouragement, and support during his time in the Mount Sinai community and is grateful to all those who made his work possible. He will be starting as an resident at Boston Medical Center in July 2021.

3 The Mount Sinai Alumni Student Leadership Award Taylor Harrell, MS2

For exemplary leadership and service to the Mount Sinai Community.

Taylor Harrell is a second-year medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Ms. Harrell has a strong commitment and passion for equity, reproductive justice, and servant leadership. In 2017, she graduated magna cum laude from Spelman College with a BA in comparative women’s studies with a focus on women’s health. While an undergraduate, she served in student government for three consecutive years where she played a role in piloting projects such as expanding the college’s recruitment strategy, establishing students as key stakeholders in a local gentrification effort, and advancing student-led proposals for institutional transformation. Upon graduating from Spelman, Taylor accepted a position as a fellow with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where she worked in Control and Prevention and had the opportunity to serve on the ebola emergency response team.

As a medical student, Taylor has served as President of the Icahn Mount Sinai Student National Medical Association (SNMA), an Executive Committee Member of Mount Sinai’s Task Force to Address Racism, and student representative for Mount Sinai Hospital’s Community Advisory Board. In addition, she has served as co-leader of The Doula Project and was recognized this past summer as a Margaret E. Mahoney Fellow in Health Policy to support her research in maternal health disparities.

In the future, Taylor hopes to continue using her narrative coupled with her devotion to diversity, innovation, and clinical medicine to drive important changes at the community and policy level that will uplift historically disenfranchised populations.

4 St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Distinguished Young Physician of the Year Joseph P. Mathew, MD, FACP, FCCP, SLR ‘07

For excellence in critical care and educating the next generation of physicians in simulation.

Joseph Mathew, MD, is the Director of the Intensive Care Unit at Mount Sinai West and Associate Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is former Director of the Center for Advanced Medical Simulation (CAMS) at Mount Sinai West and continues to serve as Associate Director. Dr. Mathew is also Co-Chair of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee and First Secretary of the Medical Board.

After completing his BA in Economics at University, Dr. Mathew obtained his MD from St. George’s University School of Medicine. He completed his residency and chief residency at St. Luke’s- Roosevelt Hospital. He went on to complete a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care at Beth Israel Medical Center. Dr. Mathew was recruited to Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, NY, where he was Assistant Professor of Medicine at SUNY Stony Brook School of Medicine. He was the inaugural Medical Director of Winthrop’s Simulation Center and also served as Medical Director of Respiratory Care.

At Mount Sinai West and Morningside, he is involved in many quality and educational initiatives, which have improved quality and safety within the Mount Sinai . As Director of CAMS, he led simulation-based educational projects that have improved the confidence and competence of a wide range of clinicians and decreased complications of high-risk procedures. He is co-founder of the highly successful Tristate Simulation Symposium, an annual gathering of simulation leaders. He led Critical Care Operations for Mount Sinai West during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, overseeing expansion of ICUs and working with system leads to help develop COVID-19 treatment guidelines.

Dr. Mathew has served as faculty for regional and international critical care ultrasound courses. He has been teaching at the ACCP Critical Care Ultrasonography courses since 2009. He has published several papers and book chapters on topics such as critical care ultrasonography, airway management, critical care outcomes, and healthcare simulation. He serves as an ad hoc reviewer for multiple prestigious journals. He has also won multiple awards including of the Year, UHF Excellence in Healthcare award, and the ACCP Distinguished Chest Educator award.

5 The Jeffrey T. Laitman, PhD Award for Achievement in Medical Education Susan Lerner, MD

For her dedication and enthusiasm educating the next generations of physicians.

Susan Lerner, MD, is an Associate Professor of Surgery and Medical Education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is an abdominal transplant surgeon specializing in renal transplantation at the Recanati Miller Transplantation Institute (RMTI).

Dr. Lerner completed her medical school training and general surgery residency training at the University of Pennsylvania and her transplant fellowship at the University of California – Los Angeles. She is very involved in education and is the Director of Education and Quality at RMTI and the Co-Director of the Surgery Clerkship for the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

6 The Mount Sinai Alumni Award for Achievement in Graduate Education Carolina B. López, PhD, MSSM ’02, MSH ‘05

For excellence in RNA virus research.

Carolina López, PhD, is Professor and BJC Investigator at the Department of Molecular Microbiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, and a member of the Center for Women’s Infectious Disease Research. Dr. López came to the USA in 1996 after graduating as a biochemist and obtaining a MS from the Universidad Católica of Chile. She got her PhD from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in 2002, and continued there for postdoctoral and junior faculty positions. Dr. López joined the University of Pennsylvania in 2010 as an assistant professor and was promoted to tenured associate professor in 2016. She relocated to Washington University in St. Louis in June of 2020.

Dr. López’ laboratory studies how different components of a virus population affect the infected organism and how this interaction influences the infection outcome. Work from the López Lab revealed that defective forms of viral genomes that accumulate naturally during infections are fundamental components of RNA viruses and play a critical role in determining the outcome of infections.

Dr. López is an active member of the American Association of Immunologists and the American Society for Microbiology. She is a section editor for PLoS Pathogens and the Journal of Immunology. Dr. López is also a member of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Virology-B Study Section, a Fellow of the Professional Mentoring Skills Enhancing Diversity Program funded by the NIH-National Research Mentoring Network, and a 2018-2019 US Fulbright Scholar.

7 The Mount Sinai Alumni Award for Achievement in Graduate Education Padmini Rangamani, PhD, MSSM ‘10

For her extraordinary mentoring efforts and pioneering contributions to basic science.

Padmini Rangamani, PhD, is a Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. She joined the department in July 2014. Earlier, she was a UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow, where she worked on lipid bilayer mechanics. She obtained her PhD in biological sciences from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in 2010. She received her BS and MS in Chemical Engineering from Osmania University (Hyderabad, ) and the Georgia Institute of Technology respectively.

She is the recipient of a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and the Young Investigator Awards from the Army Research Office, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), and the Office of Naval Research. Dr. Rangamani is also a Sloan Research Fellow for Computational and Molecular Evolutionary Biology and lead PI for a Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative award on bioinspired low energy information processing from the AFOSR. The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering recently elected Dr. Rangamani to their College of Fellows, Class of 2021.

8 The Mount Sinai Master Clinician Award Alejandro Berenstein, MD

For excellence in clinical research, teaching, and dedication to his .

Alejandro Berenstein, MD, is a Clinical Professor of , Neurosurgery, and at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Director of the Hyman-Newman Institute for Neurology and Neurosurgery at Mount Sinai West, and Director of Pediatric Endovascular Neurosurgery at the Mount Sinai Health System. Dr. Berenstein was born in Mexico City in 1947, and graduated from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in 1971. He completed his residency in Diagnostic Radiology at The Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was chief resident, and where he developed and pioneered the field of “interventional radiology” or “endovascular surgery,” also known as “Interventional neuroradiology” or “surgical neuroradiology.”

Dr. Berenstein performed the first catheter-based therapeutic embolization for a GI bleeder, following a gastrectomy at Mount Sinai in 1974, under the supervision of Harold Mitty, MD. After completing his residency, he did a fellowship in diagnostic Neuroradiology at NYU from 1976- 1978, where he remained until 1996, becoming tenure professor of Radiology and Neurosurgery in 1984 at the age of 37. In 1996, he established The Hyman-Newman Institute for Neurology and Neurosurgery at Beth Israel, and became a Clinical Professor of Radiology and Neurosurgery at The Albert Einstein School of Medicine.

Within his clinical and research achievements, he established the first comprehensive center for the multidisciplinary treatment of head, neck, and peripheral vascular lesions, contributing to over 220 peer-reviewed publications, more than 40 chapters in the field, and 9 books, including the groundbreaking, five-volume textbook, Surgical Neuroangiography, with co-authors Piere Lasjaunias, MD, and Karel TerBurge, MD. His achievements include innovative, high-impact contributions in his field of expertise. These range from the description of the functional vascular anatomy of the brain, head, neck, spine, and spinal cord to the understanding of the clinical presentation and description of the natural history of various vascular lesions, such as Vein of Galen Malformations, spinal cord AVMs, maxillofacial vascular lesions, and pioneering new ways of treating them. He has developed multiple medical devices to treat vascular lesions throughout the body, which use all over the world, gaining him national and international recognition.

9 The Mount Sinai Alumni Special Recognition Award Franklin M. Klion, MD, MSH ‘64

For his pioneering work in the field of liver disease.

Franklin M. Klion, MD, is a liver disease specialist in private practice who is also a Clinical Professor in the Division of Liver Disease at The Mount Sinai Hospital. He earned his MD at The New York Medical College, and after finishing a rotating internship at Mount Sinai served for two years in the US Navy as Permanent Officer of the Day at the Great Lakes NavaI Station. He returned to The Mount Sinai Hospital in 1962, to complete his medical residency followed by a year as a fellow in gastroenterology and an additional year as a fellow in liver disease. He remained at The Mount Sinai Hospital as full-time faculty, obtaining the rank of Assistant Professor before transitioning to private practice in 1969.

Dr. Klion has performed basic research focused on the use of electron microscopy to monitor the effects of insecticides and space exploration on liver pathology. Next, he turned his attention to more clinical projects, including seminal work defining primary biliary cholangitis and participating on the team that initiated liver transplantation at The Mount Sinai Hospital. He served as chief of the liver clinic for over ten years and was a member of the teaching faculty for interns, residents, and fellows in gastroenterology and liver disease. He has authored more than fifty articles in addition to textbook chapters and reviews. He served on the editorial board of Seminars in Liver Diseases and was editor of Clinical Pathologic Conferences in the Mount Sinai Journal for which he received the Ralph Cope Award. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, a member of The American Association for the Study of Liver Disease, The American Gastroenterology Association, and The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

10 The Terry Ann Krulwich Physician-Scientist Alumni Award Noura S. Abul-Husn, MD, PhD, MSSM ‘09

For leadership and contributions to equality in research.

Noura S. Abul-Husn, MD, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Genetics, founding Chief of the Division of Genomic Medicine in the Department of Medicine, and Clinical Director of the Institute for Genomic Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Dr. Abul-Husn is a physician scientist working to uncover the clinical impact of human genetic variation in diverse populations and drive the equitable implementation of genomic medicine. Her scientific contributions include pioneering genome-first approaches to provide novel clinical insights and inform therapeutic discovery. She is an expert at leveraging large-scale genomic data linked to electronic health records, and her work has been published in leading journals, including Science, Cell, and the Journal of Medicine. She recently launched a genomic screening program tailored to diverse participants of the BioMe Biobank and is leading efforts to integrate polygenic risk information into clinical care at Mount Sinai. Dr. Abul-Husn directs a new Genomic Health Clinic to provide the infrastructure for emerging genomic applications and initiated a Genomic Medicine Track for Internal Medicine residents to expand genomics knowledge across specialties.

Dr. Abul-Husn has a BSc Honors in Life Sciences and MSc in Pharmacology from Queen’s University in . She completed her MD and PhD at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She received the Terry Ann Krulwich Doctoral Dissertation Award for the top thesis and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine and Medical Genetics at Mount Sinai and was Chief Resident in Medical Genetics. Dr. Abul-Husn has senior-level pharmaceutical industry experience, having served as director of Translational Genetics at the Regeneron Genetics Center, during which time she was recognized with a “2017 Westchester’s 40 Under 40 Rising Star Award.” She is board certified in Internal Medicine and Medical Genetics.

11 The Dr. Sidney Grossman Distinguished Humanitarian Award Elizabeth Singer, MD, MPH, MSH ‘00

For her dedication to helping vulnerable patients and improving the health care system.

Elizabeth Singer, MD, MPH, is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Medical Education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, an attending clinician at Mount Sinai Morningside and West. She is also a faculty member in the Emergency Medicine Global Health Division and the Director of the Mount Sinai Human Rights Program, which serves asylum seekers to the U.S. who have suffered human rights violations by providing forensic medical evaluations, continuity of medical care, and social services. Over the past two decades, she has worked with Physicians for Human Rights, the ACLU’s National Prison Project, and HealthRight International addressing systemic forces of oppression.

Dr. Singer currently serves as a healthcare provider for torture survivors, a national trainer of clinicians in trauma-informed care, an educator of students and residents, and a contributor to research and policy agenda. She is especially dedicated to improving policies and conditions in U.S. immigration detention centers and their impact on the health of asylum seekers. Dr. Singer’s background in human rights frequently informs her global health involvement. She has worked with the Clinton Health Access Initiative and Ministry of Health in Cambodia to empower women with reproductive health decisions, in Peru, India, and Eastern Europe improving emergency healthcare access, and in Tanzania where she serves as an expert medical advisor for an NGO addressing education and health inequities in vulnerable children. She is grateful to the asylum seekers and refugees who have courageously shared their stories over the years and from whom she has learned so much.

12 The J. Lester Gabrilove Award Jean-Frédéric Colombel, MD

For his excellence in caring for patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Jean-Frédéric Colombel, MD has been the Director of the Susan and Leonard Feinstein Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Center since January 2013, where with colleagues he has built an “IBD Home.” Here, patients can benefit from the most advanced and coordinated care, including access to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) specialists, surgeons, psychologists, nutritionists, pharmacists, social workers, and affiliated health professionals.

Dr. Colombel began his career at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Lille, France in 1980, where he was Professor of Hepato-Gastroenterology from 1991 and Head of the Department of Gastroenterology from 2010 to 2012. Since 1984, his research has focused on IBD. Thanks to the development of multiple local, national and international collaborations, he has been able to contribute to important advances in the pathophysiology of IBD.

Dr. Colombel has trained several generations of fellows both in the US and in Europe, and many of them are now key opinion leaders in IBD in their respective countries. This leadership in IBD has been recognized and he was elected as the President of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization (ECCO) (2008–2010) and Chair of the International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IOIBD) (2010–2012). Professor Colombel was awarded the United European Gastroenterology Federation (UEGF) Research Prize in 2009, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation (CCF) Clinical Research Award in 2014, and the Sherman Prize in 2018.

The main concretization of Dr. Colombel’s work has been the publication as primary author or co- author of more than 950 peer-reviewed papers, most of them in the domain of IBD, which has made him one of the most published gastroenterologists in the world. Dr. Colombel has been an associate editor of major gastroenterology journals including Gut, Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics and Gastroenterology (current).

13 St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Distinguished Alumnus Award George V. DiGiacinto, MD, SLR ‘78

For his career long dedication and excellence in neurological surgery.

Dr. George Vincent DiGiacinto is a neurosurgeon who retired from active practice in 2019. At the end of his nearly 40-year career, he was Vice Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery and Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery at Mount Sinai West.

After graduating from Harvard Medical School, Dr. DiGiacinto began his long association with what was then Roosevelt Hospital, first as a surgical intern and then a surgical resident. His training continued at The Neurological Institute and then he returned to what is now Mount Sinai West as an Associate Attending Physician and then Senior Attending Physician, both in Neurological Surgery. He also lent his talents to the and and was an instructor at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, . Dr. DiGiacinto published often on spine and brain surgery and related subjects and also contributed to the textbook, Tumors of the Spine.

14 St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Distinguished Alumnus Award Danne R. Lorieo, MD

For his contributions to the field of surgery and caring for a diverse population of patients.

Danne Lorieo, MD, is a surgeon specializing in surgical critical care with affiliations at Mount Sinai Morningside and The Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Lorieo earned his medical degree from Columbia University. He went on to complete an internship, as well as a residency in general surgery, at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center. Dr. Lorieo is certified by the American Board of Surgery. Dr. Lorieo treats patients for a myriad of reasons, including colorectal and abdominal , hernia, and fistula. He is a multilingual communicator who can converse in English, French, Spanish, and German, which makes him skilled in building and strengthening relationships with diverse populations.

Dr. Lorieo has a comprehensive approach to care and carefully considers all aspects of his patient’s health in the interest of properly diagnosing and treating them. He takes a genuine interest in researching and educating himself on various new advancements in surgical medicine, so his patients get the best and the most advanced treatment possible.

15 The Saul Horowitz, Jr. Memorial Award Michael A. Palese, MD, MSSM ‘97

For his pioneering work in the field of urology and robotic care at Mount Sinai.

Michael A. Palese, MD, is a Professor of Urology in the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Chair of the Department of Urology at Mount Sinai Downtown and . He received his undergraduate degree at Cornell University and medical degree at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He completed his urology residency at the University of Maryland, spent a research year at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and completed a robotic and laparoscopic fellowship at the Weill Cornell Medical College.

As Director of Minimally Invasive Urologic Surgery for the Mount Sinai Health System, he specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of kidney, ureter, adrenal, bladder, and prostate disease, and performs robotic, laparoscopic, and endoscopic surgery. He established the robot surgery program at Mount Sinai in 2004, helping to pioneer its use in kidney cancer and kidney stones.

Dr. Palese has performed several robotic surgeries for the first time in The Mount Sinai Health System, including donor nephrectomy, radical nephrectomy, partial nephrectomy, nephroureterectomy, adrenalectomy, and ureteral reimplant and reconstruction. Most recently, he performed the world’s first robotic single-port donor nephrectomy and published on the experience. He holds several patents for the design of novel surgical devices. Dr. Palese is the author of multiple book chapters and more than one hundred peer-reviewed articles and abstracts. He actively tutors and mentors medical students, residents, and fellows.

16 USE THESE RESOURCES TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

ALUMNI GMAIL ACCOUNTS Sign up for a Mount Sinai Alumni Gmail account—a great way to stay connected with Mount Sinai and your fellow graduates.

Please email [email protected] for set up instructions.

BECOME AN ALUMNI ADVISOR Please take a moment to register on our new alumni advising platform, Alumni Connect. Stay in touch with fellow alumni, offer mentoring to current students, and stay up-to-date about the latest alumni events and information.

Register here: https://mountsinaialumni.xinspire.com

REGISTER FOR DOXIMITY Doximity.com is the largest online social network in the country for health professionals. If you have not yet registered with Doximity.com, please follow the steps below to create an account. This will allow you to vote in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals” rankings, as well as residency rankings.

Register here: www.doximity.com

ALUMNI DISCOUNT FOR MOUNT SINAI CME COURSES Mount Sinai Alumni are eligible for a 10% discount on registration fees for up to two CME activities sponsored by ISMMS per year. In order to take advantage of this offer, please contact [email protected] with subject line “Alumni Discount.”

For the near future, CME courses will be virtual, learn more at: https://icahn.mssm.edu/education/cme/courses

SUPPORT MOUNT SINAI STUDENTS With the support of our alumni and faculty, Mount Sinai has become a thriving center of biomedical education, where scientists-in-training pursue their passions and interests without fear of failure and where medical students follow the paths that most interest them, without crushing burdens of debt.

Please consider making a gift at: giving.mountsinai.org/scholarships

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