News and Events

Global Bioethics Initiative (GBI) launches its third edition Summer School Program

GBI starts its summer school program sponsored by Pace University, College of Health Professions and New York Medical College. Lead by experts in the field of Bioethics, students and professionals will witness Bioethics in various forms such as film screenings, field trips, and lectures/seminars, ending with a completion ceremony. Topics addressed in the program are: embryonic stem cell research, cloning, gene therapy, end-of-life care, genetics, reproductive technologies, human subject research, organ transplantation and access to health care.

In a glittering ceremony Amity University Conferred an Honorary Professorship Prof Raj K Tiwari for his exceptional achievements and his unsurpassed contribution to the field of Cancer Biology. The Vice Chancellor Prof P B Sharma, Vice Chancellor of Amity University Haryana conferred the Honorary Professorship degree to the Dr Raj K Tiwari, Professor and Graduate Program Director at NYMC.

NYMC Faculty: Raj K. Tiwari, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and immunology and associate professor of otolaryngology

College of Mount Saint Vincent biology professor Robert Suriano is a co-investigator of a patent that could increase the safety of vaccines. The majority of vaccines are created with aluminum-based products designed to enhance the body’s response against antigens like bacteria and viruses, Suriano said in a release. Although aluminum has been FDA approved for nearly a century, it’s still a known neurotoxin. Suriano’s work, in partnership with New York Medical College in Valhalla could lead to a safer alternative to aluminum-based products in vaccines to fight infectious diseases. It also could lead to a breakthrough in the creation of a cancer vaccine, the Mount said.

NYMC Alumn: Robert Suriano, Ph.D. ’07

The St. Elizabeth Seton Children’s Foundation has announced five board appointments for its operations Continuum of Care at the Foundation, the Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center and the John A. Coleman School. Benny Caiola of Bettina Equities Co. LLC will serve the Continuum. Pediatric Center board additions are Michael Gallagher of Corporate Risk Solutions LLC, David Ingber of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network and Claudia Pici-Morris of consultants Egon Zehnder. At the John A. Coleman School, Lisa Marrero of Sound Shore Medical Center and New York Medical College joins the board.

NYMC Faculty: Lisa A. Marrero, M.D., clinical assistant professor of pediatrics

Robert W. Amler, dean of the New York Medical College’s School of Health Sciences and Practice and the college’s vice president for government affairs, was among the 200 community, educational, and government leaders who gathered at the Westchester County Center on June 7 to begin an initiative to combat opioid abuse. It’s called “Westchester Opioid Response Teams Helping You (WORTHY).” Westchester County Health Commissioner Sherlita Amler, who also is an associate professor at NYMC and married to Robert Amler, told the gathering, “There is no room on the sidelines in the fight against opiate addiction….We need the help of our partners to change the lives of the mothers and fathers, sons and daughters with opiate addictions.”

NYMC Leadership: 
Robert W. Amler, M.D., M.B.A., dean of the School of Health Sciences and Practice and vice president for government affairs
Sherlita Amler, M.D., M.S., FAAP,  clinical associate professor of pediatrics and distinguished lecturer in the Department of Epidemiology and Community Health

To explain the situations that New York Medical College’s Center of Excellence in Precision Responses to Bioterrorism and Disasters will help address, Dr. Robert W. Amler said to picture the final scene of an action or disaster movie.

“You see the credits are rolling, the hero is being loaded in the back of an ambulance, but he’s OK,” said Amler, vice president of government affairs and dean of the School of Health Sciences and Practice at the medical school in Valhalla. “He gives a high five or chuckles with his friend. He’s only shot in the shoulder, so maybe it’s not so bad. Then you see the ambulance roll off into the distance.”

NYMC Leadership: 
Robert W. Amler, M.D., M.B.A., dean of the School of Health Sciences and Practice and vice president for government affairs
Michael J. Reilly, Dr.Ph. ’10, M.P.H., Director of Center for Disaster Medicine, Associate Professor of Environmental Health Science, and Associate Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine

“If I don’t get older soon, I’m never going to die and get to see Grandpa again.” Those words stopped me cold one afternoon on a regular Tuesday drive with my 5-year-old son. We’d been talking about nothing, or so I thought, as he was absorbed in his standard rapid-fire line of questioning. “How many days until my next birthday?” he asked. I was busy thinking about the million things that needed tending to that day so I dismissed him quickly, “It was just your birthday. Not for a long time.” 

It is important to understand how your child is processing their grief. “Children don’t always verbalize or feel safe enough to ask questions about their feelings,” Jeanette Sawyer Cohen, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at New York Medical College and co-founder of Everyday Parenting Psychology, LLC explains. Being able to determine if their feelings of grief are driving “fight or flight” behavior in your child is critical.

NYMC Faculty: Jeanette Sawyer Cohen, Ph.D., Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences

The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging recognized seven new SNMMI Fellows during a Special Plenary Session at the society’s 2017Annual Meeting, held June 10-14 in Denver, Colorado. The SNMMI Fellowship was established last year to recognize distinguished service to the society as well as exceptional achievement in the field of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging. It is one of the most prestigious formal recognitions available to long-time SNMMI members. All past SNMMI presidents were granted Fellowship at the 2016 Annual Meeting. Now, 2016-17 SNMMI President Sally W. Schwarz, MS, RPh, BCNP, FAPhA, has joined their ranks. She is professor of radiology, director of PET Radiopharmaceutical Production and co-director of the Cyclotron Facility at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri. Also recognized as SNMMI Fellow this year is Diwakar M. Jain, MD, professor of cardiovascular medicine and director of nuclear cardiology, New York Medical College, Westchester Medical Center, Valhalla, New York. 

NYMC Faculty: Diwakar Jain, M.D., professor of medicine

The inaugural class at the Touro College of Dental Medicine at New York Medical College in Valhalla completed its first year at the new school on Monday.

The 112 students, who entered the college last July, will graduate in 2020. Touro also operates a college of Osteopathic medicine in Middletown.

The new dental school is expected to improve the oral health care delivery in New York State, where the population has grown by 4.5 million people since 1968 when the last school of dentistry opened. The new college seeks to address New York’s projected shortage of dentists as well as expand the network of dentists practicing in underserved areas.

“Although it is only the first year, we are beginning to make inroads as we have students not only interested in outreach projects to the rural communities in upstate New York, but also have multiple students applying for the National Health Service Corps scholarships, a program to place dentists in areas of the US where oral health care is needed while helping students to cover the cost of their dental education,” said Dr. Aaron Yancoskie, DDS, associate professor at Touro College of Dental Medicine.

NYMC Faculty: Aaron E. Yancoskie, D.D.S., associate professor at Touro College of Dental Medicine and adjunct assistant professor of pathology at New York Medical College

If it feels like the weather has been more like autumn than summer, that's all about to change quickly. Forecasters are predicting much warmer temps for the week ahead. As it gets hotter, local health experts say to pay closer attention to your activity level and give extra care to older and younger members of your family.

Ivan T. Miller, M.D., assistant professor of clinical emergency medicine, says people should definitely prepare for the sudden change in temperature.

"It does make sense to remind people that there are a lot of illnesses that are brought on by excessive heat," he says. "People should make sure they are well hydrated, use plenty of sun block and cover exposed skin." 

Take breaks if you have to be outside in the heat, whether for work or play, Miller advises. "And although it may be very hot outside, remember water temperatures are still pretty cold so if you jump in a lake or into the ocean, it could be a shock to the cardiovascular system."

NYMC Faculty: Ivan T. Miller, M.D., assistant professor of clinical emergency medicine

In the war on terror, bio-terrorism is perhaps one of the scariest of threats we face. Attacks using Sarin gas, Anthrax and other bio hazards while uncommon, pose a serious threat to large portions of the population. Now the region’s residents can feel a bit safer. On Monday, officials gathered at New York Medical College in Valhalla to dedicate the new Center of -Excellence in Precision Responses to Bioterrorism and Disasters. 

At the center the College’s researchers and physicians will use medical countermeasures and translate research findings to protect Americans from the threat of catastrophic bioterrorism, man-made disasters and public health emergencies.

NYMC Leadership: 
Edward C. Halperin, M.D., M.A., chancellor and chief executive officer
Robert W. Amler, M.D., M.B.A., dean of the School of Health Sciences and Practice and vice president for government affairs

State Sen. Terrence Murphy (R-Yorktown) announced that a $500,000 state grant will help New York Medical College in Valhalla become the first Center of Excellence in Precision Responses to Bioterrorism and Disasters in the Hudson Valley. The grant will allow the college to expand its research on preparedness planning, training and response strategies for communitywide emergencies, including biological and chemical threats. 

Dr. Edward Halperin, chancellor and chief executive officer of the college, said the grant is crucial for his institution’s work. “This Center of Excellence in Precision Responses to Bioterrorism and Disasters allows us to expand our research on preparedness planning, training and response strategies for communitywide emergencies, and help protect us all against biological and chemical threats,” Halperin said.

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

If you're like most parents, you may be worried about your child developing an allergy to bee stings, especially during the summer months. However, there's little cause for fear according to the experts at Westchester Medical Center, as dangerous reactions to bee stings are present in only a small percentage of the population.

“Anaphylaxis to bee stings is much less common than people think — between .15 percent and .8 percent of children in the U.S are affected," said Dr. Subhadra Siegel, assistant professor of pediatrics at New York Medical College. "It is much more common for children to have a large local reaction, which is not typically life threatening.”

NYMC Faculty: Subhadra A. Siegel, M.D., M.A., assistant professor of pediatrics

Inside a new facility on New York Medical College's Valhalla campus, blinking, pulsing, and injured mannequins are used to replicate a victim in need of emergency treatment following a chemical attack or disaster.

"There could be blast injuries following the explosion of a bomb, which we know happens all too frequently these days,” said Dr. Robert Amler, dean, and professor of public health at the college. “When these go off, there will be many different types of injuries and our responders need to be able to deal with the immediacy of those injuries." The training mannequins are located inside of the Center of Excellence in Precision Medicine and Responses to Bioterrorism and Disasters, where professionals are trained for emergency scenarios.

NYMC Leadership: 
Robert W. Amler, M.D., M.B.A., dean of the School of Health Sciences and Practice and vice president for government affairs
Michael J. Reilly, Dr.P.H. ’10, M.P.H., Director of Center for Disaster Medicine, Associate Professor of Environmental Health Science, and Associate Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine

These aren’t mannequins you’d see in a department store. The mannequins in a new facility at New York Medical College are used to train for responses to bioterrorism and disasters. They breathe and they cry and they moan while injuries are simulated and their vital signs are monitored. They also ‘die.’

“The people who are being trained experience the same kind of remorse and sense of failure that they get in a real victim situation,” Dr. Robert Amler, dean and professor of public health, told attendees on a tour of the facility Monday. “It gets that real when you’re being trained and so we don’t smile quite as much in here because we know this can be reality.”

Elected officials, law enforcement and health professionals attended the dedication of the college’s new Center of Excellence in Precision Medicine and Responses to Bioterrorism and Disasters. The center, the 11th “Center of Excellence” in the state and the first in the Hudson Valley, was supported in part by a $500,000 grant from the state, according to state Sen. Terrence Murphy.

NYMC Leadership: 
Robert W. Amler, M.D., M.B.A., dean of the School of Health Sciences and Practice and vice president for government affairs
Alan Kadish, M.D., president

The New York Medical College unveils 'Center of Excellence' Video.

NYMC Leadership: Robert W. Amler, M.D., M.B.A., dean of the School of Health Sciences and Practice and vice president for government affairs

The New York Medical College is making major investments in its Valhalla facility, hoping to become a leader in bioterrorism and disaster training. The college unveiled the new center devoted to helping train medical professionals and first responders how to identify, manage and treat victims of biological and chemical attacks. The facility, which is being run out of the medical college, will be called the Center for Excellence. Officials say it will offer the kind of repetitive specialized training normally only available at military facilities. Dr. Robert Almer says his goal is to make sure first responders can handle any disaster that could arise. "If you don't practice, what you learn, suffers and begins to fade away," he says. The center is coming to fruition due to large grants from state politicians. Officials say they hope it’s fully operational in a couple of months.

NYMC Leadership: 
Robert W. Amler, M.D., M.B.A., dean of the School of Health Sciences and Practice and vice president for government affairs
Michael J. Reilly, Dr.P.H. ’10, M.P.H., Director of Center for Disaster Medicine, Associate Professor of Environmental Health Science, and Associate Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine

NYMC Leadership: Robert W. Amler, M.D., M.B.A., dean of the School of Health Sciences and Practice and vice president for government affairs