News Archive
October 2007 News Flashes
DEPARTMENT NEWS
State of the Department of Public Health Fiscal Year 2007
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On September 26, 2007, Dr. Alvin I. Mushlin, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Public Health, presented the Department’s major accomplishments for the past academic year and outlined plans for the future. The theme of this year’s presentation was “Recognizing what we add.”
Beginning by acknowledging that it was impossible to mention all of the numerous accomplishments of the Department, its faculty, and its staff, Dr. Mushlin highlighted the department’s activities. Among the significant scientific contributions that he mentioned were studies confirming the cost-effectiveness of healthcare IT, HIV care, and syphilis prevention; contributions to clinical and research ethics, especially concerning the treatment of minimally conscious patients; advancing statistical techniques for predicting kidney disease risk; epidemiological studies associating high blood pressure and hot flashes; improving algorithms identifying newly diagnosed breast cancer; developing computer models to plan for public health emergencies; proving the effectiveness of prevention programs in reducing HIV risk behavior as well as substance abuse; and identifying precise elements of disparities in health care.
Dr. Mushlin described many noteworthy events of the past year, including major grants, awards, and appointments for faculty members; the more than 100 new articles and books authored by faculty and staff; and several special conferences organized by faculty members. He also outlined the significant expansion of research projects and educational programs sponsored by the department. After presenting the department’s personnel, program, and financial statistics, he talked about future directions in the areas of research, education, and service. These plans include playing a major role in developing the clinical research infrastructure for the Clinical Translational Science Center (CTSC), strengthening and expanding the department’s fellowship programs and courses taught to medical and graduate students, and partnering to strengthen quality assurance and patient safety initiatives at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital , the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare Network , and The Methodist Hospital in Houston.
View slides from the State of the Department Presentation.
FACULTY AND STAFF NEWS
Dr. Joseph Fins Is Keynote Speaker at White Coat Ceremony
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Joseph J.Fins, M.D., Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics and Professor of Medicine, Public Health, and Medicine in Psychiatry, was the keynote speaker at this year’s white coat ceremony for new Weill Cornell medical students in the class of 2011. In his talk, he emphasized the importance of finding good mentors. Read the press release, as well as Dr. Fins’ speech, “Medical Mentors, Past and Future.”
Public Health Department Members Present at Society for Medical Decision Making Meeting
 Heather T. Gold, Ph.D.
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Heather T. Gold, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Division of Health Policy, Eric Hollingsworth, B.A., Research Data Specialist in the Division of Outcomes and Effectiveness Research, and Andrew Vickers, Ph.D., Associate Attending Research Methodologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Assistant Professor in the Division of Outcomes and Effectiveness Research, will present posters at the 29th annual meeting of the Society for Medical Decision Making to be held October 20-24 in Pittsburgh, PA. Dr. Gold’s poster reflects an ongoing study she is conducting with Michael J. Hall, M.D., of Columbia University Medical Center, Victoria S. Blinder, M.D., Fellow in Public Health and Hematology/Oncology, and Bruce R. Schackman, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Chief of the Division of Health Policy. The study evaluates the cost-effectiveness of using a genetic test to guide dosing of a chemotherapy drug (irinotecan) to treat metastatic colorectal cancer, since patients with a certain genetic variant metabolize the drug differently and may have severe side effects unless they are given a reduced dose.
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Eric Hollingsworth’s poster is titled “Optimal Ambulance Routing in Mass Casualty Events.” It describes a simulation model he developed with Wei Xiong, Ph.D, Instructor, and Nathaniel Hupert, M.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor, both in the Division of Outcomes and Effectiveness Research. Their model sought to determine the fastest way to get all victims of a hypothetical mass casualty event at the New York Stock Exchange treated at ten New York City hospitals.
 Andrew Vickers, Ph.D. |
Dr. Vickers’ poster describes the use of a novel decision analytic technique called decision curve analysis to distinguish useful molecular markers for the detection of prostate cancer. The co-investigators on this study are all from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, including Elena Elkin, Ph.D., who is also an Assistant Professor of Public Health in the Division of Health Policy.
Dr. Heejung Bang Presents Invited Talks and Poster
 Heejung Bang, Ph.D. |
Heejung Bang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Public Health in the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, presented invited talks at the University of Pittsburgh and at Cornell University in Ithaca on “De-mystifying medical cost estimators: what we found after 10 years.” In addition, she presented her poster, “SCreening for Occult REnal Disease (SCORED), a simple prediction model for kidney disease: Development & Validation, at the 18 th Annual Symposium on Health Care Services in New York: Research and Practice, held in New York City, October 2007.
Dr. Bang was also appointed Editor for the book "Statistical Methods in Molecular Biology: A Beginners' Guide," to be published in 2009 by Humana Press (part of Springer). Madhu Mazumdar, Ph.D., M.A., M.S., Chief of the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, and Xi Kathy Zhou, Ph.D., M.S., Assistant Professor of Biostatistics, will be co-Editors.
Weill Cornell Medical College Bookstore Now Selling “Hippocratic Oath T-shirts”
Some of the new t-shirts being sold at the Weill Cornell Medical College bookstore now have the Hippocratic oath printed on the back. The shirts sport the version of the oath revised in 2005 at the request of Dean Gotto by a committee chaired by Joseph J. Fins, M.D., Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics and Professor of Medicine, Public Health, and Medicine in Psychiatry. The shirt was created by bookstore manager Adelino Guimaraes in conjunction with Dean Gotto and Dr. Fins. Dr. Fins has arranged for proceeds from the sale of the T-shirt to be donated to student financial aid. Read more.
NEW GRANTS
Dr. Inmaculada de Melo-Martín Receives National Science Foundation Grant
 Inmaculada de Melo-Martín, Ph.D., M.S. |
Inmaculada de Melo-Martín, Ph.D., M.S., Associate Professor of Public Health in the Division of Medical Ethics, was awarded a grant of $150,000 from the National Science Foundation for her two-year project, “Biology and Ethics: Evaluating the Claim that Biotechnologies Pose a Threat to Human Dignity.” This study will examine the ways in which the concept of human dignity is used in current debates about contentious biotechnologies such as human genetic enhancement, the creation of human-nonhuman chimeras, and embryonic stem cell research. It will provide the first systematic assessment of what several influential scholars and recent national and international science policy documents mean when they say that these technologies threaten human dignity. Thus, the research can play a role in improving dialogue between the sciences and the humanities, and between the sciences and society. Read more about the grant.
Dr. Kenneth Griffin Awarded Major New NIDA Grant
 Kenneth W. Griffin , Ph.D., M.P.H. |
Kenneth W. Griffin, Ph.D., M.P.H., Associate Professor of Public Health in the Division of Prevention and Health Behavior, has received a $1.6 million NIH grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. This new three-year grant is designed to examine the long-term effects of a school-based drug abuse prevention program previously delivered to urban minority youth attending New York City middle schools. The study will focus on a sample of approximately 3500 young adults ages 21 to 23 who participated in a randomized prevention trial during their early teens. In addition to testing the long-term effects of the prevention program on alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use among the participants as youth adults, the study will test whether the effects generalize to a variety of sexual risk behaviors. More on the new study.
PUBLICATIONS AND PUBLICITY
New Book Focusing on the Interconnection of Politics and Public Health Policy by Madelon Finkel, Ph.D.
 Madelon L. Finkel, Ph.D. |
Dr. Madelon Finkel, Professor of Clinical Public Health, is the author of a newly published book called Truth, Lies, and Public Health: How We Are Affected When Science and Politics Collide (Westport, CT: Praeger Press, 2007). This is Dr. Finkel's tenth book. In it, she examines the many ways that politics and ideology often distort, diminish, and compromise scientific research results, which in some cases serves to undermine public health and welfare. This instructive and readable book focuses on current public health topics including public policy concerning contraception, the global AIDS epidemic, stem cell research, marijuana as medicine, needle exchange programs, tuberculosis control, dietary supplements, silicone breast implants, obesity, vaccination, and disease prevention. Each of these topics, deliberately selected, have generated heated discussion and debate among policy makers and the general public. Dr. Finkel uses numerous historical examples in which policies were made according to a majority party's political position in direct contrast to clear and compelling research findings, and she describes how these decisions have affected us all. Dr. Finkel is grateful to five Weill Cornell Medical students (Ryan Cauley, Sandra Demars, Ivan Ip, M.P.H., Joanna Paladino, and Tony Rosen, M.P.H.) who helped research the book's topics and are named as contributors to specific chapters. This book is available at the Samuel J. Wood Library, 1300 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065.
Medical Ethics Faculty Publish Article on the Role of an Ethics Consultation Service
Inmaculada de Melo-Martín, Ph.D., M.S. |
Inmaculada de Melo-Martín, Ph.D., M.S., Associate Professor of Public Health, Larry I. Palmer, L.L.B., Professor Emeritus at Cornell University Law School and Professor at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, and Joseph J. Fins, M.D., Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics and Professor of Medicine, Public Health, and Medicine in Psychiatry, were the authors of an article describing the Weill Cornell Research Consultation Service in the September issue of Academic Medicine. The article, titled "Developing a Research Ethics Consultation Service to Foster Responsive and Responsible Clinical Research," argues for the importance of collaboration between researchers and ethicists and describes the establishment of a new Research Ethics Consultation Service at Weill Cornell Medical College. Such a service, say the authors, promotes ethics in clinical research that goes far beyond a mere regulatory approach. Read the press release.
Dr. de Melo-Martín is also a co-author, with Dr. Kristen K. Intemann of Montana State University, of "Regulating scientific research: should scientists be left alone?" published online October 10, 2007, in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. The article explores how ethical values should be arrived at appropriately when they are used to determine funding for scientific research.
Outcomes and Effectiveness Faculty and Staff Author Article on Effect of Overtriage on Mortality
 Nathaniel Hupert, M.D., M.P.H. |
Three members of the Division of Outcomes and Effectiveness Research, Nathaniel Hupert, M.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor of Public Health, Eric Hollingsworth, B.S., Research Data Specialist, and Wei Xiong, Ph.D., Instructor in Public Health, are the authors of an article published in the September 2007 issue of Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness titled “Is Overtriage Associated With Increased Mortality? Insights From a Simulation Model of Mass Casualty Trauma Care.” The article is included in a special issue of the journal dedicated to lessons learned from the tragedy at Virginia Tech University. Its purpose was to examine the relationship between overtriage (the proportion of noncritical patients among all of those labeled as critical) and critical mortalitiy after a mass casualty incident using a simulation model of trauma system response. Read the press release. The authors’ previous study, published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, “Hospital ‘Self-Prophylaxis’: Strategies for Efficient Protection of the Workforce in the Face of Infectious Disease Threats,” has also continued to garner media coverage, most recently being featured in Scientific Computing World.
Heejung Bang, Ph.D, is Co-Author of Article on HIV Infection and Alcohol Use
Heejung Bang, Ph.D. |
Heejung Bang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Public Health in the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, is a co-author of an article called “The Association Between HIV Infection and Alcohol Use: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of African Studies,” published in the November 2007 issue of Sexually Transmitted Diseases. The other authors are Joseph C. Fisher, Ph.D., M.P.H., of Interdata, Inc., and Saidi H. Kapiga, M.D., M.P.H., Sc.D., from the Department of Population and International Health at Harvard School of Public Health. The authors reviewed African studies that related alcohol use to HIV infection and conducted meta-analyses to find pooled univariate and multivariate relative risk estimates. They concluded that alcohol use was associated with HIV i nfection in Africa and that interventions to prevent alcohol problems might help reduce the spread of the HIV epidemic.
Dr. Xi Kathy Zhou Co-Authors Article on Nicotine’s Contribution to Atherosclerosis
 Xi Kathy Zhou, Ph.D., M.S. |
Xi Kathy Zhou, Ph.D., M.S., Assistant Professor of Public Health in the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, was a co-author of new study showing that nicotine may contribute to atherosclerosis as well as tar. Published in the September 2007 issue of Cardiovascular Toxicology, the study, entitled “Potentially Reduced Exposure Cigarettes Accelerate Atherosclerosis: Evidence for the Role of Nicotine,” compared the effects on mice of mainstream smoke from cigarettes with differing amounts of nicotine. It found that the extent of cigarette-smoke induced atherosclerosis correlated with the levels of nicotine. The results suggest that nicotine may accelerate atherosclerosis by increasing oxidative stress. The principal investigator of the study was Daniel F. Catanzaro, Ph.D., Associate Research Professor of Physiology and Biophysics in the Departments of Medicine and Cardiothoracic Surgery. Read the press release.
Paul J. Christos, M.S., M.P.H., is Co-Author of Article on Diagnosis of Breast Cancer Metastasis
 Paul J. Christos, M.S., M.P.H. |
Paul J. Christos, M.S., M.P.H., Lecturer in Public Health in the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, co-authored an article titled “Sentinel Node Positivity Rates With and Without Frozen Section for Breast Cancer,” published online September 19, 2007, in Annals of Surgical Oncology. The other authors, all from Weill Cornell Medical College, include lead author Nimmi Arora, M.D., from the Department of Surgery, and senior author Rache M. Simmons, M.D., Associate Professor of Surgical Oncology and Surgery. The study compared two variations in the use of sentinel node biopsy to detect breast cancer metastases: one including intraoperative frozen section (FS) for immediate axillary dissections, and one without FS (permanent section alone). The authors found that contrary to concern, the evaluation of sentinel lymph nodes by FS does not underdiagnose small metastases and that intraoperative FS continues to offer the advantage of less delayed axillary dissections.
Work of Drs. Fins and Schiff Featured in The New Yorker and Time Magazine
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The work of Joseph J. Fins, M.D., Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics and Professor of Medicine, Public Health and Medicine in Psychiatry, and Nicholas D. Schiff, M.D., Associate Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience and Public Health, in studying and advocating for minimally conscious patients was featured as part of an article, “Silent Minds,” by Jerome Groopman in the October 15, 2007 issue of The New Yorker.
 Nicholas D. Schiff, M.D. |
The article included a discussion of their work with Terry Wallis, as well as the study of the use of deep brain stimulation to improve the functioning of a severely brain injured man published recently in Nature. The Nature study has continued to receive additional publicity, including in a recent issue of Time Magazine.
More Publicity for Dr. Heejung Bang’s Article on Kidney Disease Screening
Heejung Bang, Ph.D. |
There has been more media attention to the article “Screening for Occult Renal Disease (SCORED): A Simple Prediction Model for Chronic Kidney Disease,” by Heejung Bang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Madhu Mazumdar, Ph.D., Chief of the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, and Abhijit V. Kshirsagar, M.D., M.P.H., of the Kidney Center and Division of Nephrology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, published in the February 26, 2007, issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. The study, including the questionnaire, was recently described in the lead story of Physician’s Weekly (September 3, 2007).
January Health Policy Roundtable Discussed in Tom Duane’s Newsletter
In his Fall 2007 Legislative and Community Update, State Senator Thomas K. Duane of the 29th Senatorial District describes participating in the January 18, 2007, health policy roundtable held in the Public Health Department conference room, titled “Covering the Uninsured in New York State: What Lessons Can We Learn from Other State Initiatives?” Senator Duane states, “I left the roundtable strengthened in my belief that there are feasible and cost-effective ways that we can provide universal, comprehensive health insurance for New York State and redoubled in my commitment to make it a reality.” More on the January event.
WELCOME NEW FACULTY
Hassan Ghomrawi, Ph.D., M.P.H., Appointed Instructor in Division of Health Policy
Hassan Ghomrawi, Ph.D., M.P.H., has been appointed Instructor of Public Health in the Division of Health Policy. Dr. Ghomrawi received his B.S. and M.P.H. degrees from the American University of Beirut in Beirut, Lebanon, and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He has worked as a Lecturer in Health Economics in the School of Public Health and a Research Coordinator in the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of Minnesota, as a marketing analyst at Merck and Co. in Beirut, Lebanon, and as a health outcomes researcher at MedImpact Healthcare Systems, Inc. in California. Dr. Ghomrawi has coauthored a number of journal articles, several in the field of orthopedics. Among the projects he will be involved with is the Weill Cornell Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics (CERT), which is evaluating outcomes in orthopedic devices in collaboration with researchers at the Hospital for Special Surgery.
Aviva Goldstein, M.P.A., M.A., New Research Project Manager for HITEC
 Aviva Goldstein, M.P.A., M.A. |
Aviva Goldstein, M.P.A., M.A., has joined the department as Research Project Manager for the Health Information Technology Evaluation Collaborative (HITEC) project, led by Dr. Rainu Kaushal, Associate Professor of Public Health in the Division of Outcomes and Effectiveness Research. Ms. Goldstein most recently was Director of Planning and Operations for the Community Health Access Department of the Community Service Society of New York. Previously she worked as an independent consultant in health policy, as Director of the Prospectively-Paid Health Network Project of Health Research, Inc., in Albany, NY, as a project coordinator for the Public Policy and Education Fund of New York, and as a policy analyst for the New York City Comptroller’s Office. She also has experience as a program coordinator for the New York Alliance for the Public Schools, a youth leader for City Volunteer Corps, and a teacher at Columbia Grammar ad Preparatory School. Ms. Goldstein received her B.A. in American history from Wesleyan University, her M.A. in Latin American and Caribbean history from New York University, and her M.P.A. with a concentration in health policy and management from Rockefeller College of Public Affairs at the University of Albany.
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
Upcoming Department Seminars and Conferences
All divisions of the Department sponsor seminars in which current or prospective research is discussed. The departmental grand rounds, the Medical Ethics seminars, the Biostatistics and Epidemiology conferences, and the Outcomes and Effectiveness Research in Progress seminars have been approved for Continuing Medical Education credit. Unless otherwise noted, the following presentations will take place in the third floor conference room of the Kips Bay Building, 411 East 69th Street. Please call Maritza Montalvo at 746-1264 for more information. For more upcoming events, please see the Department of Public Health Academic Calendar.
October 15, 2007, 1 – 2:30 p.m.
Community and Public Health Programs Clinical Rounds
George Abdelsayed, M.D.
Director, Department of Gastroenterology
Yale University
“Hepatitis C—Part 2 (Case Studies)”
*In Room F-1190 at NYPH
October 16, 2007, 12 – 1 p.m.
Public Health Grand Rounds
Eliot J. Lazar, M.D.
Vice President & Chief Medical Officer
New York Presbyterian Healthcare System
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine & Clinical Public Health
Weill Cornell Medical College
“Quality Patient Safety and Service Excellence in the Academic Healthcare System”
October 18, 2007, 3 – 4 p.m.
Biostatistics and Epidemiology Research Seminar
Joseph Schulman, M.D., M.S.
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Public Health
Weill Cornell Medical College
“How to Interpret Your Dot: Assumptions and Limitations of Benchmarking Analyses”
October 25, 2007, 1 - 2 p.m.
Prevention & Health Behavior Research-in-Progress Seminar
Kenneth W. Griffin, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Associate Professor of Public Health
Weill Cornell Medical College
“Adolescent Alcohol Use and Young Adult Psychosocial Functioning: Planning an R21 Resubmission to NIAAA”
October 29, 2007, 12 – 1:30 p.m. *Note time change
Community and Public Health Programs Clinical Rounds
Speaker to be determined
“HIV/AIDS Update and Treatment Issues”
CANCELLED
November 1, 2007, 3:30 - 5 p.m.
Medical Ethics Seminar Series
Gerd Richter, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Philosophy
Philipps University
Marburg, Germany
“Developments of Clinical Ethics in Germany”
November 8, 2007, 3 - 4 p.m.
Outcomes & Effectiveness Research/Health Policy Research-in-Progress Seminar
Curtis Cole, M.D.
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine and Clinical Public Health
Director, Information Services, Cornell Internal Medicine Associates
Weill Cornell Medical College
“Taking the Garbage Out: Current Efforts to Improve Data Quality in the EMR”
November 12, 2007, 1 - 2:30 p.m.
Community and Public Health Programs Clinical Rounds
Richard Friedman, M.D.
Professor of Clinical Psychiatry
Weill Cornell Medical College
“Psychotropic Medications: What We Know and What's to Come”
November 13, 2007, 2 - 3 p.m. *Note time change
Prevention & Health Behavior Research-in-Progress Seminar
Madhuvanti Mahadeo, Dr.P.H.
Assistant Professor of Public Health
“Drug Use in West Indian Immigrant Adolescents: Planning an R03 Submission”
November 15, 2007, 3 - 4 p.m.
Biostatistics & Epidemiology Research Seminar
Alexia Iasonos, Ph.D.
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
“Continual Reassessment Method for Phase I Design”
November 20, 2007, 12 - 1 p.m.
Public Health Grand Rounds
Jeremiah A. Barondess, M.D.
Immediate Past President
The New York Academy of Medicine
Professor Emeritus of Clinical Medicine,
Professor of Clinical Public Health
Weill Cornell Medical College
“How to Live a Long Time: A Life Course Perspective on Health Preservation”
November 26, 2007, 1 - 2:30 p.m.
Community and Public Health Programs Clinical Rounds
Ann B. Beeder, M.D.
Associate Professor of Public Health and Psychiatry
Weill Cornell Medical College
Director, Adolescent Development Program and Adult Services Clinic
“Brief Assessment of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse and What to do Next”
November 29, 2007, 3 - 4 p.m.
Outcomes & Effectiveness Research/Health Policy Research-in-Progress Seminar
Stephen Lyman, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Public Health
Weill Cornell Medical College
Assistant Scientist, Foster Center for Clinical Outcome Research
Hospital for Special Surgery
Alvin I. Mushlin, M.D., Sc.M.
Chairman of the Department of Public Health
Professor of Public Health and Medicine
Weill Cornell Medical College
Title to be determined
December 6, 2007, 3:30 - 5 p.m.
Medical Ethics Seminar Series
Steven Laureys, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Neuroscience
University of Liege, Belgium
“The Locked-In-Syndrome: Right to Die or Wish to Live?”
December 10, 2007, 1 - 2:30 p.m.
Community and Public Health Programs Clinical Rounds
Patricia McDonald, D.S.W.
“Applied Relaxation Training”
*In Room F-1190 at NYPH
December 11, 2007, 12 - 1 p.m.
Public Health Grand Rounds
To be determined
December 13, 3 - 4 p.m.
Outcomes & Effectiveness Research/Health Policy Research-in-Progress Seminar
Ashutosh Tewari, M.B.B.S. & Robert Leung
Title to be determined
December 20, 2007, 1 - 2 p.m.
Prevention & Health Behavior Research-in-Progress Seminar
Gilbert J. Botvin, Ph.D.
Title to be determined
EAPC Workshops
The Employee Assistance Program Consortium (EAPC) will be offering a free three-session workshop in communication skills to be held Wednesdays, October 31-November 14, 12-1 pm, in NYPH Room F-1300. Reservations are required. Information on this series as well as other workshops is available at http://www.youreapc.us/Workshops.shtml.
