Academic Honors & Events

Role Model & Mentor — Dr. Melvin Stone has been appointed academic advisor in the office of diversity enhancement. An associate professor of surgery who has dedicated his surgical career to providing excellent care for the underserved patient population at Jacobi Medical Center, Dr. Stone has contributedto the development of an outstanding surgical department. During this time he also has been a mentor to residents and medical students—teaching the fundamentals of surgery as well as the philosophy of good patient care, a philosophy that the College of Medicine stresses to its students. He has served as the clerkship director for surgery at Jacobi for nine years, and also as a minority advisor and role model to multiple high school students from the Einstein Enrichment Program. He possesses the patience, sensitivity and knowledge needed to teach and guide our medical students.

Crowning Achievement — Dr. Michael B. Prystowsky, professor and chair of pathology, has been elected Governor of the College of American Pathologists (CAP). He will be sworn in at the CAP 2012 meeting, on September 12, in San Diego.

"Stem”ulating News — On October 10 and 11, 2012, at the New York Stem Cell Foundation’s (NYSTEM) seventh annual Translational Stem Cell Research Conference, Dr. Paul Frenette will chair the “Cancer and Blood Disease” session. Dr. Frenette also was recently elected vice-president of the International Society of Experimental Hematology (ISEH) and will become president of ISEH in 2015.

Recognizing Excellence — The American Thyroid Association (ATA) has awarded Dr. Antonio Di Cristofano, associate professor of developmental and molecular biology, the 2012 Van Meter Award, presented to a young researcher in recognition of outstanding contributions to research on the thyroid gland or related subjects. As part of the honor, Dr. Di Cristofano delivered the 2012 Van Meter Lecture, “Modeling Thyroid Transformation in the Mouse: Lessons and Perspectives,” at the 82nd ATA annual meeting. He discussed recent results from his laboratory, elucidating a novel role of the PI3K pathway in subverting the thyroid metabolic landscape before neoplastic transformation occurs, and the translational opportunities offered by the first genetically engineered mouse model of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma.

Honorable Mentoring — Dr. Anne Etgen has received the Society for Neuroscience’s (SfN) Bernice Grafstein Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Mentoring.  Named for the first woman president of SfN, the award honors excellence in mentoring, specifically for promoting advancement of women in neuroscience and facilitating their entrance into and retention in the field.  Dr. Etgen was recognized for her impressive record of mentoring female graduate students and postdoctoral scientists in both her own laboratory and as the co-chair of the Professional Development Committee and chair of the Diversity in Neuroscience Subcommittee of the SfN.  Dr. Etgen is professor of neuroscience, of psychiatry and behavior sciences, of pediatrics and of obstetrics & gynecology and women’s health.

Excellence Recognized — Dr. David Prezant was awarded the 2012 Presidential Citation Honor Lecture of the American College of Chest Physicians  (ACCP), in recognition of his exceptional work in the field of pulmonary medicine. Following the collapse of the World Trade Center in 2001, Dr. Prezant has focused on monitoring, treating and improving care of FDNY firefighters and EMS rescue workers. During the past decade he has published more than 40 research papers on the topic. His honor lecture discussed “World Trade Center-Related Respiratory Diseases: How Science Has Informed Clinical and Public Health Decision Making.” Dr. Prezant is professor of medicine and instructor in physiology & biophysics, as well as chief medical officer for the FDNY and special advisor to the fire commissioner for health policy.

Arthritis Awareness — On October 11, 2012, Montefiore Medical Center hosted a kick-off event for the celebration of World Arthritis Day. As part of the festivities, Drs. Irene Blanco, Neil Cobelli, John Hardin and Clement Tagoe made presentations on issues relevant to arthritis, followed by a question and answer forum. Event attendees also had the opportunity to receive expert counsel on how to manage the condition. Dr. Blanco is director of the Montefiore Lupus Clinic, co-director of the arthritis clinic, director of the Einstein Lupus Cohort and assistant professor of medicine. Dr. Cobelli is professor and chair of orthopedic surgery. Dr. Hardin is professor of medicine, of microbiology & immunology and of orthopedic surgery, as well as vice president of research at the Arthritis Foundation. Dr. Tagoe is associate professor of clinical medicine.

The “Wright” Stuff — The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) presented its 2012 Irving Wright Award of Distinction to Dr. Jan Vijg. Named for AFAR’s founder, the award honors individuals who have made exceptional contributions to basic or clinical research in the field of aging. As the award recipient, Dr. Vijg presented the Wright Award lecture “Genome Dynamics in Aging” at the 65^th Gerontological Society of America annual meeting on November 16, 2012. He is professor and chair of genetics.

Swedish Invitations — Dr. Vern Schramm was invited to give two talks in Sweden about his specialized research in developing activity blockers (inhibitors) for proteins called enzymes. Inhibiting enzyme activity has proven to be an effective way to treat various diseases, including malaria, leukemia, and HIV-1. Dr. Schramm presented “Enzymatic Transition States, Analogues and Protein Dynamics” at the 2012 Trends in Organic Chemistry Symposium, held in Uppsala, Sweden. He then traveled to Stockholm, where he presented “Drug Design from Transition State Analysis” at the Karolinska Institute Seminar. Dr. Schramm is professor and chair of biochemistry, and the Ruth Merns Chair in Biochemistry.

Double Billing — Drs. John Condeelis and Robert Singer have been invited to speak at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2013 annual meeting, in February.   Each will discuss innovations in imaging technologies and applications that they use in their own research.  Dr. Condeelis’ presentation will focus on the use of multi-photon microscopy to image cells in the breast tumor microenvironment at single-cell resolution in vivo, while Dr. Singer will discuss the detection and imaging of individual mRNA molecules in single cells. Additionally, in connection with the AAAS meeting, they will take part in a special press conference hosted by the association.  Drs. Condeelis and Singer are each professor and co-chair of anatomy and structural biology, as well as co-director of the Gruss Lipper Biophotonics Center.