News and Highlights
June 2009
Honors and Appointments
Paul J. Christos, DrPH, MS, Lecturer in Public Health and Senior Research Biostatistician in the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, was awarded a Doctor of Public Health degree in Epidemiology from the New York Medical College School of Public Health. He previously received a Masters (MS) in Biostatistics and Masters (MPH) in Epidemiology, also from the New York Medical College School of Public Health. Prior to joining Weill Cornell Medical College in January 2000, Dr. Christos worked as a biostatistician and epidemiologist at Strang Cancer Prevention Center, and later as a biostatistician in the Dermatology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. During this time he also served as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Public Health, Weill Medical College, and in the Department of Health Quantitative Sciences, New York Medical College. Dr. Christos has collaborated with nearly all of the academic departments at Weill Medical College, providing statistical analyses, sample size/power calculations, assistance with the design of studies, and assistance with manuscript preparation and submission. He also dedicates a significant portion of his time to teaching at Weill Medical College, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and a number of our affiliated institutions.
Two Public Health Faculty Members Awarded Qatar Senior List Award
Pablo Rodríguez del Pozo, MD, PhD, JD, Associate Professor of Public Health/ Qatar in the Division of Medical Ethics, and Ravinder Mamtani, MBBS, MD, MSc, Professor of Public Health/Qatar, were both awarded the Senior List Award by the Class of 2009 in Doha. This award is a significant achievement for best-ever professors in Qatar, in recognition of commitment to and excellence in teaching. Recipients are presented with a lapel pin, and their names are inscribed on a plaque displayed in the Weill Cornell Medical College/Qatar Teaching Hall of Fame. The awardees included four faculty members based at Weill Cornell Medical College/Qatar, two visiting faculty from Weill Cornell in New York, and two from Hamad Medical Corporation.
Dr. Mamtani was also selected for two additional Excellence in Teaching Awards by medical students in Qatar: for Advanced Biomedical Science; and Medicine, Patients and Society I.
Heather Taffet Gold, PhD, Assistant Professor of Public Health in the Division of Health Policy, will be this year’s recipient of the Award for Best Paper by a Young Investigator from the Society for Medical Decision Making for her article “Correlates and effect of suboptimal radiotherapy in women with ductal carcinoma in situ or early invasive breast cancer” (Cancer, December 2008). Dr. Gold will be presented with the award at the Society’s meeting in October.
Hassan Ghomrawi, PhD, MPH, Instructor in Public Health in the Division of Health Policy, attended the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons/Orthopedic Research Society Clinical Trials in Orthopaedics Research Symposium in May. The symposium's aim is to create a forum that brings together experts from multiple disciplines to identify cultural barriers to conducting orthopaedic randomized clinical trials (ORCT), identify methodological issues in ORCT, and develop research priorities for the future of OCRT. Dr. Ghomrawi attended as a Young Investigator. He and three other young investigators were selected by the organizing committee from a competitive pool of applicants responding to nationwide announcement.
Sandy Saintonge, MD, MPH, has been appointed Associate Director of the Department’s General Preventive Residency Program. Dr. Saintonge is also Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Assistant Professor of Clinical Public Health in the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at Weill Cornell Medical College, as well as a Pediatric Emergency Physician at the New York Hospital of Queens Department of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Saintonge completed a two-year General Preventive Medicine Fellowship in the Department of Public Health in August 2008. She is board certified in Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine. Her research has included studies of vitamin D deficiencies in pregnant women, adolescents, and the general U.S. population; in addition to other issues in pediatric health.
Joseph J. Fins, MD, FACP, Professor of Medicine, Public Health, and Medicine in Psychiatry and Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics, delivered the Phi Beta Kappa address at Wesleyan University’s 2009 Commencement ceremony. Membership for Phi Beta Kappa is conferred for scholastic achievement. Dr. Fins is chair of the Wesleyan Alumni Association. The title of his talk was “Minding Time.”
Dr. Fins was also elected to the American Osler Society. The Society brings together members of the medical and allied professions who are, by their common inspiration, dedicated to memorialize and perpetuate the just and charitable life, the intellectual resourcefulness, and the ethical example of William Osler (1849-1919).
J. Emilio Carrillo, MD, MPH, Vice President of Community Health Development at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Associate Professor of Clinical Public Health and Clinical Medicine, received the National Medical Fellowships (NMF) Distinguished Alumni Award at the NMF New York Annual Award Gala. The celebration was held March 31, 2009, at the Union League Club in New York City.
Michael Herman, MD, Fellow in Public Health Research and Resident in Urology; and Joseph Cooke, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine and Clinical Public Health, were two of the four physicians at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell selected by nurses for the 2008 Physician of the Year award. These annual events recognize collegiality, collaboration, and physicians’ contribution to nursing practice across all NYP campuses.
Marcus M. Reidenberg, MD, Professor of Pharmacology, Medicine, and Public Health, was elected chair of the World Health Organization Expert Committee on the Selection and Use of Essential Medicines at its meeting at WHO headquarters March 23-27, 2009. The WHO Essential Medicines Concept is that medicines meeting the priority medical needs of a country must be made available to everyone in that country. The Expert Committee prepares a model list of the medicines it deems essential. Procurement lists of medicines based on this model list are then used by all the UN agencies, such as UNICEF; Médecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders); and most of the other non-governmental organizations donating drugs. Many countries’ national health services also use this model list for advice for their own procurement systems.
