Montefiore Einstein Department of Medicine

Medicine Congratulates Award-Winning Faculty

BRONX, NY - April 22, 2014 - The Dean’s Teaching Award Selection Committee has chosen Drs. Lawrence Cytryn, Charles Nordin, and Viijay Shetty to receive distinguished teaching awards at the Einstein graduation on May 28, 2014.

Dr. Lawrence (Larry) Cytryn (Division of Hematology) is the 2014 recipient of the Harry Eagle Award for Outstanding Basic Science Teaching. This award acknowledges Dr. Cytryn's many years of teaching excellence and his superb educational contributions to the success of the Hematology course.

Dr. Cytryn, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Hematology), has directed Einstein’s second-year Hematology course since 2009. He also serves as attending physician in the Division of Hematology and on the Hematology Consult Service at Montefiore Medical Center, and as Director of Hematology in the graduate program for physician assistant studies at Mercy College. </p>

Dr. Cytryn joined the Einstein faculty in 1998, having served as both a clinician and an educator at the State University of New York at Stony Brook Health Sciences Center and North Central Bronx Hospital, and began teaching in Einstein’s Hematology course that same year. An enthusiastic educator, Dr. Cytryn consistently earns praise from students, residents and fellows for his passion for the subject matter, his devotion to patient care and his investment in his students’ learning. In 2010, he was awarded membership in the Leo M. Davidoff Society in recognition of his excellence in the teaching of medical students. The following year, he was nominated by students elected to the Gold Humanism Honor Society to speak at their induction ceremony, and received the Leonard Low Humanism in Medicine Award.

Dr. Cytryn is a member of the hematology course leaders’ committee of the American Society of Hematology and is actively involved on education committees at both Einstein and Montefiore. He received his bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 1973 and his medical degree from the Tel Aviv University Sackler School of Medicine (New York division) in 1981. He completed his residency in internal medicine at St. Luke’s–Roosevelt Hospital Center and hematology-oncology fellowships at St. Luke’s–Roosevelt and Lenox Hill Hospital.


Dr. Charles (Charlie) Nordin (Division of Cardiology) is the 2014 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Teaching. This award acknowledges Dr. Nordin's many years of extraordinary teaching of Einstein’s physicians-in-the-making.

During his 31-year career at Einstein, Dr. Nordin, currently Professor of Medicine, has been a distinguished clinician and gifted educator. An attending cardiologist at Montefiore and Jacobi Medical Centers since 1983, Dr. Nordin also served as Chair of Medicine at Jacobi/North Central Bronx Hospital and co-director of the Einstein-sponsored medicine residency program at Jacobi from 1997 to 2009.

As an educator, Dr. Nordin has been co-director (with Dr. Steven Factor) of Einstein’s second-year Cardiovascular System course for the past 21 years. In 2010, he was asked to assume directorship of the first-year Cardiovascular Physiology course as well, vastly improving student understanding of and competence in this challenging subject. Dr. Nordin’s excellence in teaching has been recognized numerous times, first by his election to the Leo M. Davidoff Society. He subsequently received the student-nominated Samuel M. Rosen Award for Outstanding Teaching (Basic Science) in 1996 and the Harry Eagle Award for Outstanding Basic Science Teaching in 1999. The following year, he was chosen by the graduating M.D. class as its Alpha Omega Alpha Faculty Inductee.

Dr. Nordin is a member of the scientific council of the American Heart Association and serves as a journal reviewer for numerous publications, including Cardiovascular Research, the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology and the American Journal of Physiology. A native of Iowa, Dr. Nordin comes from a family of physicians, including his father, grandfather and two brothers. He received his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from Yale in 1971 and his medical degree from Harvard in 1976. Following his internship and residency at Bellevue Hospital, he spent a year as a research fellow in cardiology at Einstein before joining the Einstein faculty in 1983.


Dr. Viijay Shetty (Division of Cardiology, Maimonides) is the 2014 recipient of the Samuel M. Rosen Outstanding Clinical Teacher Award for excellence in basic science teaching. This award acknowledges Dr. Shetty's excellent contributions to the clinical education at Einstein.

Dr. Shetty is Assistant Professor of Medicine at Einstein and Deputy Assistant Dean at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY, one of Einstein’s newer affiliate institutions. In the latter role, he is responsible for overseeing all Einstein student-related activities across clinical departments at Maimonides. He is also Director of Undergraduate Education, Director of the Cardiac Telemetry Unit, and a consultant cardiologist at Maimonides.

Dr. Shetty is a deeply committed educator who has been actively involved in the teaching of Einstein students since its affiliation with Maimonides began in 2010. Completing his fellowship in cardiology that same year, he was the unanimous choice to be the first site director for students rotating at the Maimonides medicine clerkship; a year later he became Site Director for the medicine subinternship as well.

Dr. Shetty has received numerous commendations from students and peers alike for his excellent teaching and his efforts in shaping the educational structure for Einstein students at Maimonides. He is the recipient of several teaching awards, most recently the Teacher of the Year Award from the Department of Medicine at Maimonides for two consecutive years: 2010–11 and 2011–12.

Dr. Shetty earned his medical degree at J. S. S. Medical College in India in 2000. He completed his residency training in internal medicine at K. S. Hegde Medical Academy in India and came to the United States in 2002. After spending a year doing research at Weill Cornell Medical College, he completed his residency training in internal medicine in 2006 and a cardiology fellowship in 2010, both at Maimonides.

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