Medical Education: As Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education, I oversee all aspects of the educational experience of Einstein’s diverse and exceptional medical students. We are continuously striving to innovate our approach to medical education, building upon Einstein’s outstanding basic and translational scientific opportunities, our commitment to community-based programming and team-based active learning, and our rigorous clinical skills experiences. Infused with a humanistic approach to medicine, in which medical students engage in advocacy for their patients, Einstein’s medical training continues to reflect the institution’s mission of promoting social justice and delivering quality care to all.
I have been privaledged to serve on diverse external education committees, and I am currently on the Executive Board of the National Board of Medical Examiners.
Basic Science Laboratory: There are two main areas of research in the Nosanchuk laboratory: fungal pathogenesis and innovative therapeutic development.
Fungal diseases are a major global health threat, resulting in over 1.5 million deaths annually. A dramatic rise in fungal disease incidence over the past few decades is directly associated with the growing numbers of immunocompromised individuals, particularly patients receiving chemo- or immuno-therapy, recovering from invasive surgery, or individuals with HIV/AIDS. Despite the increased prevalence of mycotic diseases, there remains an enormous gap in knowledge and our current therapeutic armamentarium all too often fails to eradicate these insidious pathogens. The Nosanchuk laboratory is investigating the pathogenesis of human pathogenic fungi, especially Histoplasma capsulatum, Candida parapsilosis, Candida auris and Cryptococcus neoformans. In particular, we are focusing on 1) how antibody can modify disease outcomes and 2) the role of melanin production on pathogenesis. We are also working on deciphering the impact of extracellular release of vesicles from fungi, which contain numerous products associated with virulence.
A second focus area of the laboratory is on innovative approaches to combat 1) fungal infections and 2) wound healing, especially leveraging the delivery of compounds via antibody or nanoparticles. With antibodies, we are using the approach of radioimmunotherapy (labeling antibody with a radionuclide). For fungi, we have identified cell surface antigens that are conserved on diverse fungi in order to develop a “pan-antifungal” therapeutic. In more advanced development, we are using antibodies to melanin for the treatment of melanoma. In collaboration with the laboratory of Dr. David Sharp (Physiology & Biophysics), we are targeting microtubule severing enzymes as a mechanism for tightly regulating cell migration in order to enhance tissue regeneration. In collaboration with Dr. Joel Friedman (Medicine and Physiology & Biophysics) we are exploring diverse applications of a novel, simple and inexpensive nanoparticle platform for drug delivery. We are exploring the therapeutic potential of nitric oxide delivered in sustained release by the nanoparticles for accelerating wound healing as well as for the treatment of diverse infectious diseases, including bacterial and fungal diseases.