News Archive
February 2008 News Flashes
FACULTY AND STAFF NEWS
Global Health Care and Human Rights Seminar
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On February 2, 2008, Weill Cornell Medical College and the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church presented Health Care and Human Rights: A World In Need. The interactive seminar explored questions of physician responsibility and medical ethics in a global community, with an emphasis on the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Americas. The event was moderated by Dr. Antonio M. Gotto Jr., Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College, and Dr. Joseph J. Fins, Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics, Departments of Medicine and Public Health. Dr. Fins’ talk, “From Four Freedoms to Four Challenges,” is posted on the Hastings Center’s Bioethics Forum. The featured speakers also included Division of Medical Ethics faculty members Dr. Pablo Rodríguez del Pozo, who spoke on the topic, “Global Health Ethics: Lessons From the Middle East,” and Dr. Holly G. Atkinson, who spoke on “Health as a Human Rights Issue.” Other faculty and students from Weill Cornell Medical College presented at the day-long event as well, including Dr. Oliver Fein, who discussed “Politics of Health Care: Lessons From Abroad.” The seminar concluded with a panel discussion and audience questions. For more information on the event’s speakers and presentations, please see the World-in-Need web site, as well as the Medical College press release about the event. A report on the seminar was featured on Bioethics.com.
Dr. Lewis Drusin Receives James D. Bruce Memorial Award from A.C.P.
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Lewis M. Drusin, M.D., M.P.H., Professor of Clinical Public Health and Clinical Medicine, has been elected the 2008 recipient of the prestigious James D. Bruce Memorial Award from the American College of Physicians. Dr. Drusin will be one of 17 honorees to receive an award in internal medicine at a convocation ceremony to be held May 15, 2008. He was selected for his distinguished contributions in preventive medicine. Read the press release for more on Dr. Drusin and the award. Dr. Drusin’s award was covered by Firstscience.com and Cornell Chronicle.
Dr. Joseph Fins Elected Hastings Center Fellow
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Joseph J. Fins, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Public Health, and Medicine in Psychiatry and Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics, has been elected a Fellow of the Hastings Center, a significant honor in bioethics. The Hastings Center is a multidisciplinary research institution dedicated to bioethics and the public interest since 1969. Its members work to frame and examine issues that inform professional practice, public conversation, and social policy. The Hastings Fellows comprise an international body of leading researchers influential in bioethics who help to guide the Center’s research agenda. According to the Center's bylaws, Fellows are selected "from among individuals who have made a distinguished contribution to the fields in which the Center is engaged.” Dr. Fins was one of the five North American and three international Fellows elected this year.
Dr. Heather Gold Elected to Board of the Society for Medical Decision Making
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Heather Taffet Gold, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Public Health in the Division of Health Policy, was elected to a three-year term as Trustee of the Board of the Society for Medical Decision Making (SMDM). She has been an active member of SMDM since 1998. She just served her first of two years as Co-Chair of the Scientific Review Committee for the annual SMDM meeting. Dr. Gold was previously the Mentoring Program co-coordinator and an active member of the Education Committee (2002-2006). Under her leadership, the Mentoring Program expanded from a one-time activity to include a year-long mentoring program, as well as an informal program to encourage involvement by newer Society members (Meandering Meeting Mentors). Dr. Gold developed and helped run the Career Panel (2003, 2005) and was a panelist for the short course, “How to successfully obtain a career development award” (2007). She has been on the Scientific Review Committee since 2003, including as a subcommittee co-chair (2003-2005), and has also served on the SMDM Nominations Committee (2005) and the Lee Lusted Student Prize Committee (2004, 2006). She received a Lee Lusted prize from SMDM in 2002 for her dissertation research.
“Bang’s Blinding Index” Incorporated into STATA Statistical Software
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A method for assessing blinding in clinical trials developed by Heejung Bang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Public Health in the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, has been built into a new version of STATA statistical software. Blinding is a technique for eliminating bias, in which either or both the investigators and the participants don’t know if they are part of the experimental or control group. The success of blinding is a fundamental issue in many clinical trials; the validity of a trial may be questioned if this important assumption is violated. Dr. Bang’s Blinding Index consists of a simple survey to be conducted to assess blinding at the end of a clinical trial. It has been available since December 2007 to users of STATA as a user-written command. The reference for the original study is Bang, H., Ni, L. and Davis, CE. (2004). Assessment of blinding in clinical trials. Controlled Clinical Trials 25: 143-156. (Letters & Response, 2005;'26: 514-515)
Division of Community and Public Health Programs Faculty Present at Opioid Dependence Conference
On October 23, 2007, Ann Beeder, M.D., Medical Director of the Division’s Opioid Dependency services; Eugenia Curet, Ph.D., Administrative Director, Anthony Martinez, M.D., Assistant Professor, and Herman Joseph, Ph.D., Research Scientist, presented on "Hepatitis C: An Integrated Treatment Approach” at the American Association for the Treatment of Opiate Dependence Conference in San Diego, California. Conference participants were physicians, nurses, social workers and counselors from methadone clinics throughout the country, Europe, and Asia. The presentation was very well attended and generated an enthusiastic response.
Joseph J. Fins, M.D., Presents at Grinnell College Healthcare Symposium
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Dr. Joseph J. Fins, Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics and Professor of Public Health, Medicine, and Medicine in Psychiatry, participated in a public symposium on “Healthcare Reform in the U.S: Can Government Meet the Challenge?” held October 29-November 1, 2007 at Grinnell College in Iowa. The title of Dr. Fins’ presentation was “Traumatic Brain Injury: Health Care Challenges from Iraq to Iowa.” His presentation was covered by Radio Iowa.
Dr. Nicholas Schiff Receives Research Award in Neuroscience
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Nicholas Schiff, M.D., Associate Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience and Public Health, was honored with a Research Award for Innovation in Neuroscience from the Society for Neuroscience. The award recognizes “"imaginative, innovative research that will advance novel ideas and have the potential to lead to significant breakthroughs in the understanding of the brain and nervous system and related diseases." Dr. Schiff’s research initiatives have included a study showing that deep brain stimulation could significantly help a patient in a long-term minimally conscious state. Dr. Schiff was the lead author of an article describing the study in the August 2, 2007, issue of Nature. His co-investigators included Joseph J. Fins, M.D., Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics and Professor of Medicine, Public Health and Medicine in Psychiatry, as well as researchers from the Cleveland Clinic and the JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Center for Head Injuries. Read the press release about the neuroscience award.
Dr. Emilio Carrillo Appointed Co-Chair of National Quality Forum Steering Committee
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Emilio Carrillo, M.D., M.P.H., Associate Professor of Clinical Public Health in the Division of Community and Public Health Programs, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, and Vice President of Community Health Development for NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, has been asked by the National Quality Forum (NQF) to Co-Chair their Steering Committee: "Endorsing a Framework and Preferred Practices for Measuring and Reporting Culturally Competent Care Quality." The project seeks to endorse a comprehensive national framework and core competencies for evaluating cultural competency across all healthcare settings, as well as a minimum set of preferred practices based on the framework. More information on the project can be found can be found on the NQF web site.
Dr. Marcus Reidenberg Chairs WHO Committee on Essential Medicines for Infants and Children
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Marcus Reidenberg, M.D., Professor of Pharmacology, Medicine, and Public Health, chaired a special meeting of the World Health Organization Expert Committee on the Selection and Use of Essential Medicines on the topic of essential medicines for infants and children, at W.H.O. headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Oct. 25-26, 2007. He also chaired a small workshop to discuss research needs for improving the availability of medicines for infants and children and to develop a priority ranking for the research needs.
Drs. Joseph Cooke and Mona Q. Cho Among Those Honored by Medical Center Alumni Council
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Joseph Cooke, M.D., Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine and Associate Professor of Clinical Public Health, was awarded the 2007 Outstanding Service Award Recipient from the NewYork Weill Cornell Medical Center Alumni Council, the collegial association for health care professionals at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, at a celebration on Nov. 19, 2007.
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Also honored were 27 residents or members of the house staff from each department at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, including Mona Q. Cho, M.D., Resident in General Preventive Medicine in the Department of Public Health.
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Bruce R. Schackman, Ph.D., Chief of the Division of Health Policy, has received a two-year award for $100,000 by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Policy Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for his study, "Cost-effectiveness of buprenorphine treatment for opioid dependence.” Ann B. Beeder, M.D., Associate Professor of Public Health in the Division of Community and Public Health Programs, is a co-investigator.
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The objective of this project is to develop and use a cost-effectiveness computer simulation model of opioid dependence treatment in the United States, to evaluate buprenorphine maintenance treatment compared to methadone maintenance treatment and no treatment options, identify how costs and benefits are allocated among government or health insurance payers and patients, and determine the impact of regulatory barriers on cost-effectiveness results.
Dr. Schackman is also the Weill Cornell Medical College co-investigator for the New York State Health Foundation’s new Consortium to address the crisis in health insurance coverage in New York. News coverage on the new coalition has appeared in The New York Sun,The Ithaca Journal, and the Cornell Chronicle.
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Bruce R. Schackman, Ph.D., Chief of the Division of Health Policy, is the lead author of an article published in the October 15, 2007, issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases titled, “Potential Risks and Benefits of HIV Treatment Simplification: A Simulation Model of a Proposed Clinical Trial.” One of the co-authors is Timothy J. Wilkin, M.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. The senior author is Kenneth A. Freedberg, M.D., Director of Epidemiology and Outcomes Research at the Partners AIDS Research Center/Massachusetts General Hospital. The article projects the long-term outcomes of a treatment simplification strategy to inform the design of a proposed multicenter, randomized clinical trial. The authors found that an HIV treatment simplification strategy involving use of a “boosted” protease inhibitor alone may lead to longer survival overall at lower cost, compared with the standard-of-care combination therapy, because the simplification strategy potentially adds an additional line of therapy. The risk of emergence of protease inhibitor resistance during treatment with a simplified regimen is a critical determinant of the viability of this strategy.
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The article proposes two models to characterize the epidemiology of the minimally conscious state (MCS) and applies them retrospectively to existing brain injury registries. The authors caution that the results are not conclusive but demonstrate the complexity of tracking evolving brain states and the ethical need for prospective collection of reliable epidemiologic data for MCS patients.
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Jennifer A. Epstein, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Public Health, and Gilbert J. Botvin, Ph.D., Chief of the Division of Prevention and Health Behavior and Professor of Psychology in Public Health and Psychology in Psychiatry, are the authors of an article to be published in the April 2008 issue of Addictive Behaviors, currently available on line. “Media resistance skills and drug skill refusal techniques: What is their relationship with alcohol use among inner-city adolescents” provides empirical evidence that young people in New York City with greater "media resistance skills," that is, critical thinking skills to evaluate advertising content, and drug refusal skills (specific techniques for resisting peer pressure to smoke, drink, or use drugs) are less likely to drink.
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Using sophisticated statistical analyses, the authors found that seventh graders with better media resistance skills were significantly less likely to drink alcoholic beverages as ninth graders. The results also show that these same seventh graders were more likely to have developed better drug resistance skills by the eighth grade--which further reduced their likelihood of drinking. A practical recommendation flowing from these findings is that prevention programs should teach adolescents media resistance skills and drug refusal skills to reduce the likelihood that they will succumb to the powerful dual influences of alcohol advertising and peer pressure.
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An article whose authors included three faculty members of the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology was published in the February 2008 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology. Heejung Bang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Public Health; Linda M. Gerber, Ph.D., Professor of Public Health and Epidemiology in Medicine; and Madhu Mazumdar, Ph.D., Division Chief and Professor of Biostatistics in Public Health; were co-authors of the article, “Association of C-Reactive Protein and Microalbuminuria (from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 1999 to 2004).” The lead author, Abhijit V. Kshirsagar, M.D., M.P.H., is from the University of North Carolina. Another co-author, Christie M. Ballantyne, M.D., is Director of the Methodist DeBakey Heart Center and Professor of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
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Acknowledging that chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular disease share many risk factors, the authors set out to determine if injury to the vascular endothelium, measured by elevated levels of serum C-reactive protein, was associated with microalbuminuria, a marker of early kidney injury.
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The investigators did find this association in a large, nationally representative data set, leading them to conclude that vascular inflammation may be a common contributor to early heart and kidney disease.
Dr. Bang was also a co-author of “Association of diabetes, homocysteine, and HDL with cognition and disability after stroke,” published in the November 20, 2007, issue of Neurology.The lead author was George C. Newman, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman of the Department of Neurology at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA, and the senior author was James F. Toole, M.D., Professor of Neurology at Wake Forest University. The study aimed to delineate factors associated with cognitive function following stroke and test the hypothesis that vascular risk factors associated with oxidative stress impair recovery. The authors concluded that the finding that diabetes, high-density lipoprotein, and homocysteine predict poorer cognitive function and greater disability after stroke is consistent with the hypothesis that metabolic stress plays a significant role in the poststroke period.
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Nathaniel Hupert, M.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor of Public Health in the Division of Outcomes and Effectiveness Research, and Wei Xiong, Ph.D., Instructor in Public Health in the Division of Outcomes and Effectiveness Research, were co-authors of an article published in the September-October 2007 issue of Public Health Reports, titled “Operational Evaluation of High-Throughput Community-Based Mass Prophylaxis Using Just-in-Time Training.”
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The article described an exercise conducted in Multnomah County, Oregon, to evaluate emergency staff training and computer modeling of workforce requirements when there is a need to vaccinate a large number of people. The goal was to validate staffing estimates and to reduce waiting times.
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Fredric M. Pieracci, M.D., M.P.H., a surgical resident at Weill Cornell Medical College and formerly a resident in general preventive medicine in the Department of Public Health, was the lead author of an article in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons titled “Insurance Status, but Not Race, Predicts Perforation in Adult Patients with Acute Appendicitis.” The other authors, all affiliated with Weill Cornell Medical College, were Soumitra R.Eachempati, M.D., Associate Professor of Surgery and Public Health, Philip S. Barie, M.D., Professor of Surgery and Public Health, and Mark A. Callahan, M.D., formerly Chief of the Division of Outcomes and Effectiveness Research in the Department of Public Health and currently Senior Vice President and Medical Director of the Federation for Jewish Philanthropies Service Corporation. The study, which was also reported in the New York Times, found that compared with patients who had private insurance coverage, those on Medicare were 14 percent more likely to have a burst appendix, people on Medicaid were 22 percent more likely, and those with no insurance at all were 18 percent more likely to have a rupture.
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Phyllis G. Supino, Ed.D., Associate Research Professor of Public Health in Medicine and Public Health, was the Principal Investigator for a study published in the American Journal of Cardiology that found that exercise testing may help predict the seriousness of mitral regurgitation. “Patients with mitral regurgitation who perform well on the treadmill will likely remain healthy and not have to undergo further testing for a number of years,” said Dr. Supino. Read the press release. The study was also reported in Sciencedaily.com.
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Madhu Mazumdar, Ph.D., M.A., M.S., has been promoted to Professor of Biostatistics in Public Health. Dr. Mazumdar holds an M.A. in Mathematics from the University of Pittsburgh, a Ph.D. in Statistics from Penn State University, and an M.S. in Statistics from the University of Delhi, India. Dr. Mazumdar was recruited by Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC) in 2004 to become Chief of the then newly created Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology in the Department of Public Health. For 13 years previously, she was an Associate Attending Biostatistician at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). Over the past three years she has been highly successful in building the division--crystallizing its mission, creating a viable financial plan, and promoting its collaborative and methodological research agenda. She has also supported divisional faculty in developing their own research agendas.
Dr. Mazumdar’s research efforts have resulted in over a hundred papers, book chapters, and presentations, and she has successfully obtained numerous grants. At MSKCC, she collaborated extensively with clinical researchers in germ cell tumors, bladder cancer, radiology, and surgery; performed statistical research guided by these clinical collaborations; and led a group of masters statisticians. At WCMC, she has expanded her collaboration to other disease systems such as chronic kidney disease, therapeutic medical devices, thoracic surgery, and hematological oncology. Her current grant awards include leading the biostatistics and data management core for the Phase II contract from National Cancer Institute (NCI), co-leading the same core for the Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics (CERTs) grant from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and leading the Research Design and Biostatistics Core in support of the newly acquired Clinical Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She is a consultant statistical editor of Journal of Experimental Medicine, RU Press, and serves on various data safety monitoring boards.
Dr. Mazumdar has developed and co-directs courses in introductory and advanced statistical methods for the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. She also organizes a CME approved seminar series for the division, providing a platform for the faculty and methodologists from the division, neighboring institutions, and beyond to showcase their methodology and collaborative research. She also provides mentorship to the public health, hematology-oncology, neurology, and cardiology fellows and supports their training grants.
Martin Lesser, Ph.D., has been promoted to Professor of Biostatistics in Public Health. Dr. Lesser obtained his undergraduate degree at Cornell University, Ithaca and was awarded a PhD in Statistics from Rutgers University. He joined the North Shore-LIJ Health System in 1985 and now is the Director of the Biostatistics Unit at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research at LIJ. He has served at chairman of the University Hospital’s IRB since 2000. In 1988 Dr. Lesser joined the WCMC General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) and led its biostatistical team efficiently until 2007 when he has smoothly transferred it to Dr. Madhu Mazumdar, Chief, Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology. He has been an asset to the GCRC in providing statistical guidance and follow-up to investigators from throughout the College on their GCRC protocols and has participated in five NIH site visits for the renewal applications of the GCRC. On a national level, he is a founding member and past president of the Association of GCRC Statisticians and continues to be very active in that organization. He has served as a member of the Data and Safety Monitoring Committee for the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network funded by the National Center for Research Resources as well as the National Cancer Institute Study Section for Cancer Biomarkers. He also serves on the editorial board of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition. Dr. Lesser has been part of the teaching team for the biostatistics/epidemiology module of the first year course “Medicine, Patients and Society”
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Carla Boutin-Foster, M.D., M.S., has been promoted to Associate Professor of Public Health in the Division of Community and Public Health Programs. Dr. Boutin-Foster’s primary appointments are as Associate Professor of Medicine and Associate Professor of Complementary and Integrative Medicine. In the Department of Public Health, she is the Nanette Laitman Clinical Scholar in Community Health. She is also an Associate Attending Physician at NewYork-Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Boutin-Foster received her M.D. from the Health Science Center at SUNY Downstate and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. She then obtained an M.S. degree at Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University, where she also completed a fellowship in Clinical Epidemiology. She is board certified in Internal Medicine. Her many teaching, clinical, and administrative duties include serving as a mentor for Health Services research fellows, an instructor for the Medicine, Patient, and Society course on Cross-Cultural Medicine, the supervisor and faculty advisor for Weill Cornell Community Clinic-Medical student free clinic, and Co-Director of the Office of Multicultural and Minority Health. In her role as Laitman Scholar, she is researching initiatives to help communities that experience the highest burden of health disparities. Focusing especially on cardiovascular disease, HIV/AIDS, and mental health, she is developing academic partnerships in Brooklyn and other regions that have the poorest health profiles. The goal of this work is to identify social, cultural, and political barriers to the effective dissemination of health messages in order to develop and evaluate community-based strategies such as curricula, conferences, or workshops that improve the spread of health information.
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Eric J. Cassell, M.D., M.A.C.P., has been appointed Clinical Professor of Public Health Emeritus in the Division of Medical Ethics. Dr. Cassell is also Adjunct Professor of Medicine at McGill University Dr. Cassell received his B.A. from Queens College, an M.A. from Columbia University, and his M.D. from New York University College of Medicine. He did postgraduate training in Internal Medicine on the 3rd Medical Division of Bellevue Hospital, and was a U.S. Public Health Service Fellow in infectious disease in the Department of Public Health of Cornell University Medical College, serving under Dr. Walsh McDermott and Dr. Rene Dubos. He was a captain in the Medical Corp of the U.S. Army from 1956 to 1958. Dr. Cassell remained in the Department of Public Health at Cornell where, in 1961, he started doing research and writing extensively on the health effects of air pollution which continued for several years, reaching the rank of Clinical Professor of Public Health in 1971. He has been on the faculty of New York University School of Medicine and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and a Master of the American College of Physicians. He was a member from 1997 to 2001 of the President’s National Bioethics Advisory Commission. In 1971, Dr Cassell became a fellow of The Hastings Center and served on its Board for 33 years. He has written on moral problems in medicine, the care of the dying and the nature of suffering. He is the author of The Healer's Art, The Place of the Humanities in Medicine, Changing Values in Medicine, two volumes on doctor patient communication entitled Talking with Patients, Doctoring: The Nature of Primary Care Medicine, and The Nature of Suffering. Dr. Cassell is currently working on a new book, The Nature of Healing .
Katherine Golar, M.D., has been appointed Assistant Professor of Public Health (Courtesy) in the Division of Community & Public Health Programs. Dr. Golar is the Medical Director and Chief Medical Officer of the Brownsville Community Development Corporation (BCDC) of the Brownsville Multi-Service Family Health Center in Brooklyn, New York. The BCDC is one of the sites visited in the Public Health Systems Clerkship for Weill Cornell fourth-year medical students. Dr. Golar received her B.A. degree from Cornell University and her M.D. from Boston University School of Medicine. She completed her residency in Social Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center, and has held academic positions as Associate Clinical Professor at Long Island University School of Nursing in Brooklyn, NY; Adjunct Faculty member at University of Massachusetts Medical Center and the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education of the City University of New York; and Clinical Instructor at New York Medical College. She is currently also Assistant Attending Physician at Brookdale Hospital and Medical Center; previously she held this title at St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center. Before directing the BCDC, Dr. Golar was Assistant Medical Director and Academic Liaison at Settlement Health in New York City and was also a physician in private practice, specializing in Integrative Medicine. Dr. Golar is board certified in Internal Medicine.
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Wayne Shelton, Ph.D., M.S.W., has been appointed Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Health in the Division of Medical Ethics. Dr. Shelton received his Ph.D. in Philosophy with a concentration in Medical Ethics from the University of Tennessee, and his M.S.W. from the University of Chicago. He also has a Certificate in Health Administration and Policy from the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, and he completed a fellowship at the McClean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Dr. Shelton is Associate Professor of Medicine and Director, Alden March Bioethics Institute Program on Ethics in Health Outcomes at Albany Medical College. In this capacity he was Co-Director of the Master’s Program in Bioethics, and Director of the Clinical Ethics Online Master’s Course. He also serves as an Ethics Consultant at Albany Medical Center. He is widely published and has been Series Co-editor of “Advances in Bioethics” from Elsevier Publishing since 2000. Dr. Shelton’s research activity has focused on ethical issues in alcoholism, the physician-patient relationship, medical futility, and ethics education in medical schools.
Dr. Shelton’s appointment is being funded by the Hospital for Special Surgery-Weill Medical College Joint Fellowship in Biomedical Ethics. He is with us two days per month, teaching a seminar in philosophical methods in medical ethics. In addition, he works with Joseph Fins, M.D., Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics, to assist trainees and junior faculty with their research and scholarship.
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Jennifer S. Brennan, M.A., is new Assistant Research Biostatistician in the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology. Ms. Brennan graduated summa cum laude in January 2008 with an M.A. and B.A. in Applied Mathematics and Statistics from Hunter College of the City University of New York. While earning her degrees, she was a Graduate Statistics Fellow and a Student Educational Technologist. Ms. Brennan has been the sole author of several publications including: a navigation manual and study guide to accompany ActivStats Software, and a survey methodology to assess undergraduate satisfaction and success at Hunter College. Ms Brennan has taught differential equations, English as a second language, sailing, and swimming. She has volunteered as a librarian and as an auxiliary police officer.
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Bianca D. Bernard, M.P.H., M.S., has joined the Department as a Research Biostatistician in the Division of Outcomes and Effectiveness Research, reporting to Dr. Rainu Kaushal. Ms. Bernard graduated in May 2007 with an M.P.H. in Epidemiology and an M.S. in Biostatistics from New York Medical College, School of Public Health. Her experience has included positions at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center as a Research Grants Manager, a Research Project Coordinator in the Department of Medicine and Department of Pediatrics, Bone Marrow Transplantation service, and a Research Study Assistant/PET Study Coordinator in the Department of Surgery, Colorectal Service. Previously, Ms. Bernard was a Clinical Interviewer and phlebotomist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and an Intern in the Health Research Training Program of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Ms. Bernard has also volunteered as an outreach worker, grants writer, and health educator at community health programs and hospitals, and has worked as an emergency medical technician. She has co-authored three articles concerning colorectal cancer.
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A segment of CBS 60 Minutes that aired November 21, 2007, titled “Awakenings: Return to Life,” featured the work of Nicholas Schiff, M.D., Associate Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience and Public Health, Joseph J. Fins, M.D., Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics, and other physicians who treat and study patients in minimally conscious states. Specifically, the report focused on patients who were “awakened” with the use of drugs, including medications usually used for Parkinson’s disease, and, paradoxically, Ambien, a commonly used sleeping pill. In addition to Drs. Schiff and Fins, Jennifer Hersh, M.B.E., a research coordinator in the Division of Medical Ethics, appeared in the broadcast. The airing followed an editorial written by Dr. Schiff and Dr. Jerome B. Posner of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in the Annals of Neurology (July 2007), which discussed a case report in the same issue on the improving effect of Ambien on a patient who was conscious but unable to speak or move.
Truth, Lies, and Public Health: How We Are Affected When Science and Politics Collide, the new book by Madelon Finkel, Ph.D., Professor of Clinical Public Health and Director of the Office of Global Health Education, has received interest from media outlets including The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, ABC Medical Unit, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Ivanhoe Broadcasting, and FirstScience.com. Dr. Finkel was hosted live on the Gary Knowles radio show on the local National Public Radio station in New York. Read the Medical College press release on Dr. Finkel’s book.
The study in the August 2, 2007 issue of Nature by Nicholas Schiff, M.D., Associate Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience and Public Health, Joseph J. Fins, M.D., Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics, and other researchers on deep brain stimulation improving the functioning of a patient in a minimally conscious state has continued to garner an enormous amount of publicity. The article has recently been discussed in Scientific American, Neurology Reviews, the Institute of Engineering Technology, Nurse.com, and JBS.org, as well as in the October 2007 issue of Weill Cornell Medical College’s the Scope.
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The Medical College published a press release on the study authored by 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, titled “Is Overtriage Associated With Increased Mortality? Insights From a Simulation Model of Mass Casualty Trauma Care.” ( Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness September 2007) The study has been reported in Crain’s Health Pulse, Scientific Computing World, MedicalNewsToday.com, ScienceDaily.com, MediLexicon.com, and Weill Cornell Medicine (Winter 2007, p. 7).
Dr. Hupert was also quoted in an article published by the Associated Press on December 5, 2007, about airports that offer travelers flu shots from kiosks next to gates. He said the idea is a good one and makes sense as a public health measure.
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A Medical College press release on the new federal grants awarded to Inmaculada de Melo-Martín, Ph.D., M.S., Associate Professor of Public Health in the Division of Medical Ethics, and Kenneth W. Griffin, Ph.D., M.P.H., Associate Professor of Public Health in the Division of Prevention and Health Behavior, has been publicized in MedicalNewsToday.com and Crain’s Health Pulse.
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Gilbert J. Botvin, Ph.D., Chief of the Division of Prevention and Health Behavior and Professor of Psychology in Public Health and Psychology in Psychiatry, was quoted in a January 13, 2008, article in The New York Times on the growing use of heroin among young adults in the New York City metropolitan area, called “Heroin’s Hold on the Young.” Dr. Botvin, who has studied drug abuse and developed prevention programs for more than 30 years, states that a major concern is that heroin currently available is much purer than it was in the past.
A recent special issue of Weill Cornell Medicine devoted to global health featured several faculty members of the Department of Public Health. An article on page 11 about Dr. Ida Scudder, the founder of the Christian Medical College in Vellore, India, quotes Madelon Finkel, Ph.D., Professor of Clinical Public Health and Director of the Office of Global Health Education. With colleagues in Vellore, Dr. Finkel has initiated a cervical and breast cancer screening program for women living in rural areas in India. An article beginning on page 19 describes the Global Health Education program for Weill Cornell Medical College students. It focuses on the lasting positive effect of the program for both the students and the people they serve and discusses the role of Dr. Finkel and Oliver Fein, M.D., Associate Dean for Affiliations and Professor of Clinical Medicine and Clinical Public Health, in leading it. Drs. Finkel, Fein and Nathaniel Hupert, Assistant Professor of Public Health, were invited to a huge Cornell fundraising party, "Big Red in the Big Apple," in January to highlight their work in global health.
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Andrew Vickers, Ph.D., Associate Attending Research Methodologist in the Division of Health Outcomes at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Associate Professor of Public Health, wrote an essay for the New York Times called “Cancer Data? Sorry, Can’t Have It,” published in the January 22, 2008, issue. His article describes a disturbing reluctance of many cancer researchers to release trial data, and argues that a proprietary attitude toward study results can harm current patients and impede the development of cancer treatments.
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Phyllis G. Supino, Ed.D., Associate Research Professor of Public Health in Medicine and Public Health, was featured on a blog on the Huffington Post on “Women and Heart Disease.” Dr. Supino discussed a variety of issues surrounding women and heart disease, including risk factors, symptoms, and, compared with men, a relative lack of awareness of the seriousness of the disease’s threat.
Dr. Shoshanna Sofaer is 2008 Lubin Visiting Professor
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On February 13, Shoshanna Sofaer, Dr.P.H., spent a day at Weill Cornell Medical College as the 2008 Lorraine and Ralph Lubin Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department of Public Health. The Lubin Visiting Professorship was established by a gift from Madelon Finkel, Ph.D., Professor of Clinical Public Health and Director of the Office of Global Health Education, in memory of her parents. The Professorship supports an annual visit and lecture by a prominent speaker on significant public health policy concerns, and brings important, timely issues in health care to the attention of students and faculty at the Medical College.
Dr. Sofaer is the Robert P. Luciano Professor of Health Care Policy in the School of Public Affairs at Baruch College. Her current and recent research addresses the development and dissemination of public reports on hospitals, physician practices, nursing homes and hospices; the development and testing of hospital quality measures; the formation of state and local partnerships to improve community health and health care; the adequacy of information provided to members of “consumer driven” health plans; and the response of the public to the use of cost-effectiveness information in making resource allocation decisions.
At the David Rogers Health Policy Colloquium, Dr. Sofaer gave a presentation called “Should Cost Constrain What (Instead of Who) We Cover?” Beginning by listing reasons for medical cost inflation in the United states, including the aging of the population, increased prevalence of chronic disease, new technologies, rising administrative costs, high prices and profits, and disincentives to provide “cognitive” vs. “procedural” services, she examined attempts that have been made to constrain costs. These have included, on the policy/payer side, shifting costs to consumers, reducing provider reimbursement, and covering fewer people. Hospitals and facilities have responded by increasing efficiency, but also by cutting staffing levels and shifting to higher profit “service lines” and patients. The result has been lower population health compared to other developed countries, as well as implicit rationing of health care, in which people with financial means get better care. Dr. Sofaer then explored an alternative approach for constraining costs, in which policy makers would use available cost-effectiveness studies to decide at the population level which medical treatments should be covered by insurance. An important element in this plan is to determine the most appropriate people to serve on an advisory committee for making these coverage decisions. Dr. Sofaer urged the medical students and faculty in the audience to become involved in this process.
During her talk Dr. Sofaer acknowledged her research collaborators, especially Marthe Gold, M.D., M.P.H., Chair of Community Health and Social Medicine at the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education at City University of New York, who attended the event and contributed to the discussion. Before and after the lecture, Dr. Sofaer met with Public Health faculty and medical students in a number of individual and small group sessions to further explore health policy issues.
Public Health Department Faculty and Staff Honored with Service Awards
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In 2007, 13 primary faculty and staff members of the Department of Public Health were presented with service awards by the Medical College.
For 40 years of service: Lewis M. Drusin, M.D., M.P.H., Professor of Clinical Public Health and Clinical Medicine.
For 30 years: Cathleen A. Acres, R.N., M.A., Lecturer in Public Health; Madelon L. Finkel, Ph.D., Professor of Clinical Public Health.
For 15 years: Eugenia Curet, Ph.D., L.C.S.W., Instructor in Public Health.
For 10 years: Nawan O. Bailey, M.S.W., Counselor; Kenneth W. Griffin, Ph.D., M.P.H., Associate Professor of Public Health
For 5 years: Kim Alexander, L.C.S.W., C.A.S.A.C., Social Work Supervisor; Heather T. Gold, Ph.D., Assistant Professor or Public Health; Michael Grady, Associate Counselor; Andrea Jaffee, M.S.W., Counselor; Lisa M. Kern, M.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor of Public Health and Medicine; Sharon A. Kourt, M.S.W., Counselor; Hector Rodriguez, L.CS.W., Social Work Supervisor.
A special cocktail reception was held to honor employees with 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 55 years of service in 2007. A luncheon was held for those with 5 years of service.
More information on the ceremonies.
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.
February 19, 2008, 12 – 1 p.m.
Public Health Grand Rounds
John A. Muckstadt, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Operations Research and Industrial Engineering
Cornell University
“Quantitative Planning for Epidemic and Disaster Response: An Engineering and Supply Chain Approach to Public Health Response Logistics ”
February 21, 2008, 3 – 4 p.m.
Biostatistics and Epidemiology Research Seminar
Linda Gerber, Ph.D.
Professor of Public Health and Epidemiology in Medicine
Weill Cornell Medical College
“Using a Patient Activation Measure to Tailor an Intervention: Results from a Randomized Study”
February 28, 2008, 1 - 2 p.m.
Prevention & Health Behavior Research-in-Progress Seminar
To be determined
February 28, 2008, 3 - 4 p.m.
Outcomes & Effectiveness Research/Health Policy Research-in-Progress Seminar
Caren Heller, M.D., M.B.A.
Assistant Dean for Intercampus Initiatives, Research and Sponsored Programs
Assistant Professor of Public Health
Division of Outcomes & Effectiveness Research
Assistant Professor of
Medicine
Weill Cornell Medical College
“Clinical and Translational Science Awards: Can They Increase the Efficiency and Speed of Clinical and Translational Research? ”
March 3, 2008, 1:30 - 3:00 p.m.
Community and Public Health Programs Clinical Rounds
Eugenia Curet, Ph.D.
Instructor in Public Health
Instructor in Psychiatry
Administrative Director, Adolescent Development Program and Adult Services Clinic
Weill Cornell Medical College
“Diversity and Cultural Competence”
*Note time change
March 6, 2008, 3:30 - 5 p.m.
Medical Ethics Seminar Series
Franklin G. Miller, Ph.D.
Bioethicist, Department of Clinical Ethics
National Institutes of Health
Associate Professor of Public Health
Weill Cornell Medical College
“Epidemiological and Health Services Research Without Consent: An Ethical Perspective”
March 10, 12 - 1 p.m.
Division of Cardiology Grand Rounds, Department of Medicine
Alvin I. Mushlin, M.D., Sc.M.
Chairman, Department of Public Health
Professor of Public Health and Medicine
"Clinical Experience and Outcomes with Automatic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators"
*Starr 460
March 11, 12 - 1 p.m.
Public Health Grand Rounds
Marc N. Gourevitch, M.D., M.P.H.
Director, Division of General Internal Medicine
Dr. Adolph and Margaret Berger Professor of Medicine,
Department of Medicine, NYU School of Medicine
“Integrating Substance Abuse Treatment into General Medical Settings”
March 13, 11 a.m. - 12 noon
Departments of Medicine & Public Health Grand Rounds
Charles L. Bosk, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology and Medical Ethics
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
“The Pottery Barn Principle of Ownership & Medical Error”
*Uris Auditorium, 1300 York Avenue
March 13, 2008, 3 - 4 p.m.
Outcomes & Effectiveness Research/Health Policy Research-in-Progress Seminar
Ethan Basch, M.D., M.Sc.
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
“Patient-Reported Outcomes for Toxicity Monitoring in Oncology”
March 13, 2008, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
Medical Ethics Seminar Series
Charles L. Bosk, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology and Medical Ethics
University of Pennsylvania School
of Medicine
“Heroes and Villains in Medical Ethics ”
*Note time change
March 17, 2008, 12 - 1:30 p.m.
Community and Public Health Programs Clinical Rounds
Andrew Tatarsky, Ph.D.
“Harm Reduction Psychotherapy”
*Note time change
March 19, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds
Joseph J. Fins, M.D., F.A.C.P.
Chief, Division of Medical Ethics
Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry, and Public Health
Bruce Hedges Memorial Lecture: "What an Injured Brain Can Teach Us About Ourselves"
*Uris Auditorium, 1300 York Avenue
March 20, 2008, 1 - 2 p.m.
Prevention & Health Behavior Research-in-Progress Seminar
To be determined
March 27, 2008, 3 - 4 p.m.
Biostatistics and Epidemiology Research Seminar
Marcia Levinstein, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Global Medical Statistics
Pfizer, Inc.
“Statistics as Practiced in the Pharmaceutical Industry”
April 3, 2008, 3:30 - 5 p.m.
Medical Ethics Seminar Series
Elizabeth Bobrick, Ph.D.
Writer
“Constructing Medical Narratives”
April 7, 2008, 1 - 2:30 p.m.
Community and Public Health Programs Clinical Rounds
Wendy Behary, Ph.D.
Director, Cognitive Therapy Center of New Jersey
“Empathic Confrontation: Schema Therapy with Narcissists and Difficult Patients”
April 10, 2008, 3 - 4 p.m.
Outcomes & Effectiveness Research/Health Policy Research-in-Progress Seminar
Andrew Vickers, Ph.D.
Associate Attending Research Methodologist in the
Division of Health Outcomes at
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Associate Professor of Public Health
Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology
Weill Cornell Medical College
Title to be determined
April 15, 2008, 12 - 1 p.m.
Public Health Grand Rounds
Mathew E. Fink, M.D.
Vice Chair and Professor of Clinical Neurology
Department of Neurology
Weill Cornell Medical College
April 17, 2008, 3 - 4 p.m.
Biostatistics and Epidemiology Research Seminar
Yuelin Li, Ph.D.
Assistant Attending Behavioral Statistician
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
“Attainment of Life Goals in HIV/AIDS Patients in New York City”
April 21, 2008, 1 - 2:30 p.m.
Community and Public Health Programs Clinical Rounds
Marshall Glesby, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine and Public Health
“HIV/AIDS Update and Treatment Issues”
April 24, 2008, 1 - 2 p.m.
Prevention & Health Behavior Research-in-Progress Seminar
To be determined
EAPC Workshop
The Employee Assistance Program Consortium (EAPC) will be offering a Parent Communication Skills Workshop exclusively for employees of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College. The workshop will be offered twice (Monday, March 3, and Monday, March 10, 12-1 p.m.) on the 2 nd floor of 1305 York Ave. March 3 will be in Conference Room B and March 10 will be in Conference Room C. Reservations are required; call (212) 746-5890. Further information on the EAPC is available at http://www.youreapc.us.
