A “big data” approach that analyzed the factors beyond grade point average (GPA) that contribute to academic success in medical school could be used to customize the medical school curriculum for more successful student training.Conducted by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and published online January 15 in PLOS One, the new work suggests that such an approach could be used to individualize medical school education, as well as in other fields, such as law and business. Learn more.

When Tonya Richards spots an opportunity, she pursues it with energy and passion. In 2016, she started a new job as a member of the human resources team at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) and immediately noticed that more could be done to engage staff members in the workplace, especially around diversity initiatives. Learn more.

After earning her Ph.D. in 2018, Nikesha Gilmore left a tumor immunology laboratory that used frogs and tadpoles as animal models to become a Grasshopper. She joined the Cancer Control Research Training Program at Wilmot Cancer Institute, where each trainee – like the young student in the 1970s TV classic Kung Fu – is affectionately given that moniker. Her goal is to improve the lives of people with cancer by addressing the acute and long-term side effects of treatment. Learn more.

Many healthcare practitioners have the requisite expertise and skills needed to conduct forensic asylum evaluations. However, despite growing interest in this area, the demand for medical and psychiatric forensic evaluations exceeds the number of clinicians who are prepared to conduct them. In an effort to increase the number of qualified clinicians interested and involved in medical and psychiatric evaluations of asylum seekers, students from Downstate’s Physicians for Human Rights chapter organized the first-ever Asylum Medicine Clinic. Learn more.

Five high school seniors who participated in the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine Medical Scholars Pipeline Program (MSPP) are college-bound with support from generous scholarships from Northwell Health. The awards were presented at Northwell’s 50th Annual Martin Luther King Memorial Celebration held at North Shore University Hospital. Learn more.

Wilmot’s support for education continues beyond formal medical and scientific training to professional development for faculty and staff. “Given that this field is wholly dependent upon novelty and science to provide patients the best care possible and to help them live longer and with better quality of life, we are on a career trajectory of learning,” says Carla Casulo, M.D., Wilmot’s Assistant Director of Mentoring & Career Development. Learn more.

Upstate Medical University has entered into a new agreement with two partner SUNY schools that reserves a spot in Upstate’s growing behavior analysis studies master’s degree program for students from Cobleskill and Binghamton. The new partnership creates a “mutually agreeable, clearly defined and easily understood pathway” for students in the applied psychology bachelor of science degree programs at SUNY Cobleskill and Binghamton University to then complete their master’s degree at Upstate. Learn more.

The National Hispanic Health Foundation (NHHF) recently recognized Dr. Irene Blanco, associate dean for diversity enhancement at Einstein and a rheumatologist at Montefiore Medical Center, with its Hispanic Health Leadership Award. The NHHF is the philanthropic arm of the National Hispanic Medical Association, a nonprofit organization that represents 50,000 licensed Hispanic physicians in the United States and acts as a partner organization of the National Institutes of Health. Learn more.

The Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society has awarded the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University with its Professionalism Award for 2019. The award highlights best practices in medical professionalism education and recognizes the School for its Professional Identity Formation curriculum, which is part of medical school training from the initial white coat ceremony to graduation. Learn more.

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai-an international leader in medical and scientific training, biomedical research, and patient care-today announced the recipients of the first-of-its-kind Distinguished Scholar Award, a new annual grant sponsored by the Office of Gender Equity in Science and Medicine. The awards aim to mitigate gender gaps in medical research by supporting researchers with additional project resources while they serve as family caretakers. Learn more.

At a ceremony on Jan. 15, the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) honored five employees and a student group for their contributions to the medical school’s workplace and community. More than 100 individuals and groups were nominated for the 2019 Awards for Excellence. The awards will now be known as the Martha A. Hooven Awards for Excellence, in recognition of Hooven’s contributions as vice dean of administration at VP&S since 2007, when she joined Columbia from UCSF. Learn more.

Paresh Dandona, MD, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, will be honored with the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation’s 2020 Life Time Contribution Award in Chennai, India, in July. He is the eighth scientist to receive the award. Learn more.

Being able to help people is a true passion for Danny MacKenzie Jr. “Nothing excites me more than being able to use my knowledge of human physiology to help people become physically and mentally healthier,” he says. MacKenzie comes from a long line of people who know the meaning of service and hard work. “Most of my family has served in the U.S. Armed Forces, including my father, grandfathers, great grandfathers, uncles, and even my brother,” he says. Learn more.

When I sit in the doctor’s office, I wonder what she thinks of me. When she walks in, there’s the initial glance: young female, pleasant appearance. Then there’s the quick logging into the chart, the swift downward scroll through my vitals. Pulse, 75. Oxygen saturation, 99 percent. Height, five foot six; weight, 175 pounds. Here, she might pause-just briefly. We exchange the usual pleasantries. How are you; I’m fine, thank you; what brings you in today; I’m just here for my annual check-up. Learn more.

In light of the growing global concern about the novel coronavirus and the emergence of the new cases in the United States, the New York Medical College (NYMC) Center for Disaster Medicine and the Touro College and University System (TCUS) hosted an informational event on January 31, “Coronavirus: What we know, what we don’t know, and what you need to know.” The event took place at the Touro College Midtown Manhattan campus to shed light on the virus and inform health care professionals and the public on the novel coronavirus origins, transmission, symptoms and how to manage infectious disease outbreaks. Learn more.

Third-grade students from the Barack Obama Elementary School, Hempstead, NY, learned about the building blocks for being well at the second annual Healthy Living Long Island event-a public health initiative designed and led by Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell medical students to help lay the foundation at for a lifetime of healthy habits at an early age. The event was held on Friday, Jan 17, at the Zucker School of Medicine. Learn more.

What started as a chat between Einstein anatomy lab partners on healthcare justice grew into a town hall event that filled Robbins Auditorium last week, featuring U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who gave a short talk before answering students’ many questions about healthcare policy in the United States. Learn more.

Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine (TouroCOM) and Touro College of Pharmacy (TCOP) in Harlem held a Candlelight Vigil Monday night in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. Students, faculty, staff, administrators and other community members came out for the vigil. It was held outside the schools’ entrance, formerly the site of Blumstein’s Department Store, wherein 1958 Dr. King was stabbed in the chest with a letter opener while signing his first book, “Stride Toward Freedom.” Learn more.

On January 14, members of the Putnam County Police Department participated in a training session to learn basic austere medicine techniques conducted by New York Medical College’s Center for Disaster Medicine (CDM). CDM is an organization that provides workshops, training and education to better prepare law enforcement, EMS, fire departments, other first responders, educational institutions, business and public health professionals and communities for natural or man-made disasters, including mass casualty incidents and bioterrorism. Learn more.

Carol A. Gomes, MS, FACHE, CPHQ, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH), effective immediately, announced Stony Brook University Interim President, Michael Bernstein, PhD and Senior Vice President for Health Sciences and Dean of the Renaissance School of Medicine, Kenneth Kaushansky, MD. Gomes has been serving as Chief Operating Officer for SBUH for the past six years and recently took on additional responsibilities as Interim Chief Executive Officer. Learn more.

Dr. Katherine Hajjar, an esteemed physician-scientist with expertise in pediatric hematology and vascular cell biology, has been named senior associate dean for faculty at Weill Cornell Medicine, effective Jan. 1. Dr. Judy Tung, a distinguished internist and educator, has been appointed associate dean for faculty development. Dr. Hajjar will lead Weill Cornell Medicine’s Office of Faculty, which will focus on all aspects of faculty advancement at the institution and under whose auspices the Offices of Faculty Affairs and Faculty Development will operate. Learn more.

Mikhail V. Pletnikov, MD, PhD, has been named professor and chair of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo. The appointment was announced Jan. 21 by Michael Cain, MD, UB’s vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School. Learn more.

Aurora D. Pryor, MD, was elected president of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), a leading surgical society, representing and educating a global community of over 6,500 surgeons that can bring minimal access surgery, endoscopy and emerging techniques to patients worldwide. She will serve a term for one year. Learn more.

Earlier this month, Albany Medical College inducted the 42 students who comprise the Class of 2022 into the Physician Assistant Studies program. Drawn from more than 2,700 applicants, roughly half of the class hails from New York state with additional representatives from points across the U.S., including Michigan, Colorado and southern California.  Albany Med’s Center for Physician Assistant Studies is a nationally recognized leader in physician assistant education and one of the oldest physician assistant programs in the country. Learn more.

By the end of 2020, millennials, the 23-38 age group, will make up about 45 percent of the U.S. workforce, demographers say. Millennial workers are expected to hit the 50 percent mark in two years, making a cooperative work environment with mutual respect even more critical. You’ve probably heard some of the bad raps from baby boomers about their millennial co-workers: They can’t keep a schedule, they need lots of supervision, they’re impatient about waiting for promotions and feel that flex time is an entitlement. But many local bosses who supervise millennials aren’t finding those stereotypes to be the case. Learn more.