News and Events

New York Medical College and the Westchester Medical Center Health Network announced Wednesday a 12-year agreement that they hope will strengthen medical research and clinical care.

Under the agreement, hospitals on Westchester Medical Center's  Valhalla campus will be the primary teaching sites for the clinical education of students of New York Medical College and Touro College affiliated programs.

NYMC Leadership: Edward C. Halperin, M.D., M.A., chancellor and chief executive officer

Framing cancer as a kind of war within our bodies can also seriously harm a persons emotional psyche. Who wants to go to war with themselves? radiation oncologist Edward Halperin, of New York Medical College, writesin the journal Practical Radiation Oncology. How is it ever helpful to think of oneself as a victim who was randomly attacked and now you're trying to kill your assailant in order to survive? For some, the war imagery, the determination to hit hard and hit fast, can be empowering, he and others acknowledge. Some cancer patients may perceive themselves as a soldier going to war, Halperin said. But surely not all do.

NYMC Leadership: Edward C. Halperin, M.D., M.A., chancellor and chief executive officer

Framing cancer as a kind of war within our bodies can also seriously harm a person’s emotional psyche. “Who wants to go to war with themselves?” radiation oncologist Edward Halperin, of New York Medical College, writes in the journal Practical Radiation Oncology. “How is it ever helpful to think of oneself as a victim who was randomly attacked and now you’re trying to kill your assailant in order to survive?

NYMC Leadership: Edward C. Halperin, M.D., M.A., chancellor and chief executive officer

Twenty six trainees graduated from Westchester Institute for Human Development’s LEND program this past week, adding to the growing number of individuals educated with the leadership skills and knowledge necessary to work with and on behalf of children with disabilities and  their families.

NYMC Mentions:
Susan W. Fox, Ph.D., associate professor of health policy and management and director of the Center on Disability and Health
MegAnn McGinnis, M.P.H. student in behavioral sciences and health promotion, Surbhi Arora, M.P.H. student in behavioral sciences and health promotion, Amanda Apa, M.S. in speech-language pathology Class of 2017, and Jennifer Sparano, M.S. in speech-language pathology Class of 2017.

Twenty six trainees graduated from Westchester Institute for Human Development’s LEND program this past week, adding to the growing number of individuals educated with the leadership skills and knowledge necessary to work with and on behalf of children with disabilities and their families.

NYMC Mentions: 

Susan W. Fox, Ph.D., associate professor of health policy and management and director of the Center on Disability and Health
MegAnn McGinnis, M.P.H. student in behavioral sciences and health promotion, Surbhi Arora, M.P.H. student in behavioral sciences and health promotion, Amanda Apa, M.S. in speech-language pathology Class of 2017, and Jennifer Sparano, M.S. in speech-language pathology Class of 2017

Fidget spinners may be the latest must-have kids' toy, but claims that the gizmos help students pay attention aren't backed by science, experts say. Some retailers market the devices as a way to help kids with anxiety, autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) keep themselves calm and focused in the classroom. The claims likely are based on small-scale studies that show kids with ADHD pay better attention if they are allowed to fidget, said Dr. Matthew Lorber, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "They actually perform better because it indirectly forces the brain to work harder to focus on the task at hand," Lorber said.

NYMC Faculty: Matthew Lorber, M.D., M.P.A., clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences

The race for the Mount Pleasant Town Board is heating up as three Republicans are seeking the party’s nomination for two council seats while a Democrat recently announced he was entering the fray. In recent years, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and New York Medical College has expanded its facilities and North 60 would be “a project that’s not only good for Mount Pleasant, it’s good for the area,” Smalley said. “I think we’re on the precipice of something really good here in Mount Pleasant. We’re moving forward,” she said. 

They’ve been called the ”must-have office toy” by Forbes. Some teachers and parents love them; others loathe them. Fidget spinners are toy-like devices that sit on a ball bearing and spin easily on your hand or a hard surface. By keeping your hands busy, they are supposed to ease stress, manage fidgeting and help people with ADHD (attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder) focus. Prices range from as little as a dollar to several hundred for the more elaborate designs. Matthew Lorber, MD, a child psychiatrist at Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, says many parents of children with ADHD are asking his opinion about the popular toy and how it works. He shared the most common questions he hears with WebMD.

NYMC Faculty: Matthew Lorber, M.D., M.P.A., clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences

Bending the Arc, Kief Davidson and Pedro Kos’s documentary about doctors working in a rural Haitian village, will serve as the opening film at the 3rd annual Greenwich International Film Festival, which runs from June 1-4 in Greenwich, Conn.  The film will screen on June 2, followed by a Town Hall Panel Q&A moderated by Barbara Pierce Bush with Ophelia Dahl (Partners in Health), writer/producer Cori Stern, Joia Mukherjee (Partners in Health) and Rifat Latifi  M.D. from Westchester Medical Center, discussing the state of global healthcare.

NYMC Faculty: Rifat Latifi, M.D., professor of surgery 

Most people consider maternal mental health to be synonymous with postpartum depression. However, there are many other similar disorders, collectively described as perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs). One such disorder is postpartum post-traumatic stress disorder. While PTSD as a whole used to be characterized as an anxiety disorder in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), it is now in a new chapter in DSM-V titled “Trauma- and Stress-Related Disorders.” 

NYMC Faculty: Ami S. Baxi M.D., instructor of psychiatry & behavioral sciences

NYMC Faculty: 

Kira A. Geraci-Ciardullo, M.D., M.P.H., adjunct assistant professor of pediatrics
Andrew W. Grose, M.D., assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery
Howard J. Luks, M.D., assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery
Daniel Zelazny, M.D.,  assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery
Jeremy Mangion, M.D., instructor of orthopaedic surgery
John Galeno, M.D., assistant professor of clinical orthopaedic surgery
David E. Asprinio, M.D., professor of clinical orthopaedic surgery and chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Richard Magill, M.D., assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery
Damon DelBello, M.D., assistant professor of clinical orthopaedic surgery

The Heart and Vascular Institute, a member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth), recently celebrated the opening of its first Long Island practice, which brings cardiac care to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients living in the area.

NYMC Faculty: Julio A. Panza, M.D., professor of medicine

Westchester Medical Center
Phelps Memorial Hospital Center
Calvary Hospital

While most kids at 16 are learning how to drive and worried about what to wear to prom, Stephanie Gallagher of Pompton Plains NJ is going through menopause and worried about her fertility.

NYMC Faculty: Kutluk Oktay, M.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology, cell biology and anatomy, medicine  and pathology

Westchester Institute for Human Development

Homeopathy has a very rich history here in the U.S. The oldest medical organization in the U.S. is the American Institute of Homeopathy, which predates the formation of the AMA by several years and is still active today. At its peak in the late 1800s, there were 22 homeopathic medical schools and over 100 homeopathic hospitals. The Albany Homeopathic Hospital once stood on North Pearl Street. It later moved to the current location of Albany Memorial Hospital, which was originally a homeopathic hospital, before it eventually became an allopathic hospital. My grandfather graduated as an M.D. from New York Homeopathic Medical College in 1928. By the mid-1930s, the school dropped its homeopathic designation and became New York Medical College, which now resides in Valhalla, N.Y.

Three accomplished professionals in different sectors share a commitment to improving the lives of those they touch with their spirited community leadership. The three – Mae Carpenter, John Giocobbe and Steven Zelicoff – were honored by United Hebrew of New Rochelle on May 10th at the organization’s Sixth Annual Community Service Awards, which recognized their advocacy and commitment to developing programs, services, and medical procedures that enrich the lives of seniors on United Hebrew’s campus and beyond.

NYMC Faculty: Steven B. Zelicof, M.D., Ph.D., professor of clinical orthopaedic surgery and clinical assistant professor of medicine

Lior Raz-Farley, senior at Ossining High School, was mentored by Jana Veliskova, M.D., Ph.D., professor of cell biology and anatomy, obstetrics and gynecology and neurology, and Libor Velíšek, M.D., Ph.D., professor of cell biology and anatomy, pediatrics, and neurology

The YWCA White Plains and Central Westchester in collaboration with the Women’s Research and Education Fund (WREF) will hold the 9^th annual In the Company of Women on Friday, May 12 at the DoubleTree in Tarrytown. This year’s honorees will be Millie Hernandez-Becker, president and CEO of Skyqueen Enterprises and Dr. Jin Li, neurologist with Westchester Medical Center. Keynote speaker for the occasion is Lauren Leader-Chivèe, co-founder and CEO of All in Together, a nonprofit campaign dedicated to engaging American women in politics and civic action. The highly-acclaimed event will draw over 500 diverse and successful women (and a few good men!) from across Westchester County and beyond.

NYMC faculty: Jin Li, M.D., Ph.D., clinical associate professor of neurology

Richard French speaks with Dr. Edward Halperin, the Chancellor and CEO of New York Medical College about the effects the Obamacare repeal will have on hospitals and patients in our area.

NYMC Leadership: Edward C. Halperin, M.D., M.A., chancellor and chief executive officer