News and Events

In an effort to educate teenagers about the perils of marijuana use and its negative effects on brain development, Westchester County leaders on Thursday joined dozens of students, community advocates, health professionals and members of the Westchester Coalition for Drug and Alcohol Free Youth for an event celebrating young people who choose to abstain from the drug.

“The American Academy of Pediatrics recently issued guidelines for parents and physicians that include telling teens that marijuana is not a benign drug. It can cause abnormal brain development and impact memory, concentration and executive functioning skills,” according to Marcia J. Nackenson, M.D., clinical associate professor of pediatrics at New York Medical College and interim chief of adolescent medicine at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital, which is a member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network.

NYMC Faculty: Marcia J. Nackenson, M.D., clinical associate professor of pediatrics

It was supposed to be one team with a mission far more important than winning games. That was two teams ago. By next year, the Westchester Warriors ice hockey program will expand from three to six teams. So many want to play. And to give. Saturday night the Westchester Warriors’ 2004, 2005 and 2006 teams will play kids from the Doritos Selects Hockey Club at EJ Murray Skating Center in Yonkers. At the end, what’s on the scoreboard will be secondary to how much money is raised through a silent auction of things ranging from skating instruction and signed hockey memorabilia (Alex Ovechkin, Pat LaFontaine, Ryan McDonagh and the New York Islanders) to an Elizabeth Arden Swedish massage and makeover, to Botox treatments and William Sonoma cooking classes, to a Pottery Barn kids room makeover, a night at the Ritz Carlton in White Plains, a party at Funcraft, as well as clothing gift certificates.

Two former patients, Jack Pastor of Rye Brook and Ryan Gilchrist of Crestwood, and Dr. Mitchell Cairo, professor of pediatrics, medicine, pathology, microbiology and immunology, and cell biology and anatomy at New York Medical College and Fareri’s chief of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation, will participate in a ceremonial puck drop. It’s be a lot of work but Panchame isn’t complaining. Noting he’d received a photo from Fareri of 50 pediatric cancer patients with a poster reading, “Thank you, Warriors,” he said, “That made everything worth fighting for.”

NYMC Faculty: Mitchell S. Cairo, M.D., professor of pediatrics, medicine, pathology, microbiology and immunology, and cell biology and anatomy

In his 2017 State of the County Address, Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino on Thursday highlighted how Westchester is strong and growing stronger with safer streets, more people working, a greener environment and active economic development -- all while keeping property taxes flat. Astorino and the Board of Legislators worked together to shepherd a proposed $1.2 billion Westchester Bio-Science and Technology Center. Earlier this month, the county board approved a lease with Fareri Associates on 60-acres of county owned property at the Grasslands campus in Mount Pleasant that is poised to position Westchester as one of the world’s great innovation hubs – right alongside Cambridge, Mass., the Research Triangle in North Carolina, and Silicon Valley. When finished, the new center will feature more than two million square feet of biotechnology and research facilities, alongside space for medical offices, shopping, a hotel and a Children’s Living Science Center. The benefits of the North 60 project are that it will generate $9 million in estimated new real estate taxes; $7 million in estimated new annual rent to Westchester County and 12,000 jobs. It’s adjacent to highways, close to mass transit, has access to the most educated workforce in the nation and is near world-class medical and pharmaceutical institutions like Westchester Medical Center, New York Medical College and Regeneron.

The Westchester County Association (WCA) announced today its Community Partnership with the Westchester Biotech Project (WBP), a consortium dedicated to stimulating knowledge-sharing and collaboration among researchers, engineers, and data scientists from companies and institutions across the region. Ongoing programs will launch this spring, leading to the Innovation in Research Symposium on October 26 at New York Medical College. The Westchester Biotech Project reflects ongoing discussions between WCA member Michael Welling, Head of the Life Sciences Group at Meridian Risk Management, and Joanne Gere of BioPharma Research Initiatives. BioInc@New York Medical College is also a Community Partner.

Britain's Prince Harry's two-decade struggle to deal with the death of his mother, Princess Diana, is sadly all too common for children who suddenly face the loss of a parent, mental health experts say. Children who fail to process their grief following a tragic loss tend to be haunted by it for years and even decades, said Matthew Lorber, M.D., M.P.A., clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. "The way he describes handling it, which is really initially not doing anything about it, having some problems, and then family pushing him to get help is quite a common pattern with many people who experience that kind of loss," Lorber said. "It's not at all surprising for me."

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

With healthcare reform at the top of the nation’s agenda, this year’s VNSW Foundation Spring Benefit Gala Honorees have undertaken initiatives that provide greater access to high quality, affordable care; bring lasting improvement to population health; and help to prepare the next generation of healthcare leaders to tackle pressing issues. For her outstanding healthcare leadership, legislative achievements, and advocacy for a healthy society, Congresswoman Nita Lowey will receive the organization’s Distinguished Service Award. VNSW will also honor healthcare innovator Dr. Amy Ansehl with its Community Leadership Award, for her tremendous contributions in advancing public health and for her dedicated service to the organization over the past several years. They will receive the awards at the organization’s 19th Annual Spring Benefit Gala, to be held Wednesday, May 10 at the Willow Ridge Country Club in Harrison. Michael Gargiulo, Anchor at NBC 4 New York, will serve as emcee for the sixth year in a row.

NYMC Faculty: Amy Ansehl, D.N.P., FNP- BC, assistant dean, associate professor of public health practice and executive director of the Partnership for a Healthy Population

Erin Cronican has sensitive feet—she tells the medical students this every time they try to test her Babinski reflex to make sure her nerves are working correctly. But without fail, they dig the edge of the reflex hammer into her foot like they’ve been trained, and they hurt her. “They are almost always mortified that they hurt somebody,” Cronican said, laughing. “But it’s the way they’ve been taught.” Cronican, an actor who founded the Actor’s Enterprise, regularly receives tests like the Babinski reflex during one of her side jobs as a standardized patient in various medical schools in New York City. This type of work is not a new concept—it’s been around since the 1960s, but over the past 10 years, it has been adopted as a standard requirement for most medical programs.

Although each program is focused on the communication aspect, they all have their own unique spin on standardized patient work. For instance, Mt. Sinai’s Ichan School of Medicine has the Art and Science of Medicine program. At New York Medical College, they call it human simulation.

Spring promotes thoughts of new beginnings, and that can mean a renewed focus on one's health. Join New Canaan Library and Stamford Hospital for Med Ed Spring 2017, featuring top physicians from Stamford Hospital exploring some common health issues and the prevention of them through healthy living and surgical solutions, if necessary. The five-part series will target a different health issue at each lecture; please register for each online at newcanaanlibrary.org. All lectures will be held in the Adrian Lamb Room. On Tuesday, April 28 at 2 pm Dr. Corrine Van Beekand Dr. Rudolph Taddonio will present an informative discussion on the prevention, management, and care of back and shoulder injuries in the adult population.

NYMC Faculty: Rudolph Taddonio, M.D. ’71, clinical professor of orthopaedic surgery, clinical professor of neurosurgery

Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey (D-Rockland/Westchester), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, today announced an $82,000 National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) grant for New York Medical College to research complications in patients with kidney disease. “By supporting research into the most challenging medical mysteries, we will save lives,” said Lowey. “These federal funds for New York Medical College are a great example of why we should be investing more money in biomedical research, not less. As Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, I will continue fighting to increase funding for the National Institutes of Health to develop new treatments and cures that will improve health outcomes.”

NYMC Faculty: 
Charles B. Hathaway, Ph.D., assistant dean for research administration, director of Office of Research Administration and assistant professor of cell biology and anatomy
Marta Christov, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine

Women should monitor their baby’s movements twice a day, and if they notice movement slowing down, they should contact their provider immediately. Although monitoring and medication are advised, Dr. Jonathan Mays, director of maternal-fetal medicine at Metropolitan Hospital Center/New York Medical College in New York City — who has been tracking data for 10 years and has the largest database of patients with ICP in the country — said “whether it changes the outcome is the question.”

NYMC Faculty: Jonathan K. Mays, M.D., assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology

Merry Mourouzis, who came to the U.S. from Indonesia and has Chinese ancestry, recalled for her White Plains audience an amusing instance of her culture’s language imported to a doctor’s office here. Mourouzis, payroll manager at Hiscox Inc. in White Plains who led the insurance company’s creation of an automated online system for its employee stock purchase program that now is used in 11 countries, was being honored with the Visionary Award at the inaugural Celebrating Diversity in Business event presented by the Westchester and Fairfield County Business Journals.

Lindsay Farrell, winner of the Most Socially Conscious Award, is president and CEO of The Open Door Family Medical Centers headquartered in Ossining. “I got lucky,” she said, when discovering in the early 1980s the nonprofit organization serving low-income residents with improved access to health services. Leading Open Door for 19 years after working 12 years there as operations director and director of development, Farrell said her life and work are in alignment. “It allows you to do your best work and to be a complete person,” she said.

NYMC Faculty: Lindsay C. Farrell, M.B.A., instructor of family and community medicine

If your kids prefer video games to bike rides, you're not alone: Less than half of kids get the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity each day. But you can actually use that love of screens to fit in more fitness, says Michael Gewitz, M.D., professor of pediatrics of the NYMC School of Medicine, chief of pediatric cardiology at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital, Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y., and American Heart Association spokesperson. Try these:

• GoNoodle.com
  The site has more than 250 three- to five minute videos - from hip-hop dance routines to giggle-inducing animated shorts - designed to encourage jumping, stretching, running in place, and more.
  Free; ages 5 and up
  
  
• Sworkit Kids
  This app lets your child choose a category (strength, agility, flexibility and balance, or custom) and how long he wants to work out, then follow along as kids demonstrate exercises.
  Free, Android and iOS; ages 5 and up
  
  
• Cosmickids.com
  Kids are guided on pretend adventures - to the moon, to a fair - all while ingeniously moving through 10- to 30-minute yoga routines. Chill out afterward by watching a five-minute mindfulness or relaxation video.
  Free; ages 3 to 8
  
  
• NFL PLAY 60
  In this app - which was developed by the American Heart Association and the NFL - kids run and jump along with their avatars, racing across the country visiting all 32 NFL cities.
  Free, Android and iOS; ages 7 and up 

NYMC Faculty: Michael H. Gewitz, M.D., professor of pediatrics

Psychiatrist who advocated for mental health services for underserved populations in the USA. Born on Aug 14, 1936, in Detroit, MI, USA, she died from lung cancer on Jan 16, 2017, in New York City, NY, USA, aged 80 years. She received the American Psychiatric Association's Solomon Carter Fuller Award in 2004 for her work to improve mental health for minorities. Harrison-Ross was a trustee of the New York Society for Ethical Culture and, at the time of her death, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Services at the New York Medical College. 

NYMC Faculty: Phyllis Harrison-Ross, M.D., professor emeritus of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, served on the faculty of School of Medicine for more than 25 years.

Dublin born Dr. David Kronn. will speak about his photography collection at 6:30 p.m. in the Ace Ho­tel Ball­room, 120 S. Whit­field St., East Liberty (free and public). He is an amateur photographer and chief of med­i­cal ge­net­ics at Westchester Med­i­cal Center and as­so­ci­ate pro­fes­sor of pa­thol­ogy and pe­di­at­rics at New York Med­i­cal Col­lege, Val­halla, N.Y. His collection is a prom­ised gift to the Ir­ish Mu­seum of Mod­ern Art, Dub­lin. The talk is part of the an­nual Speaker Ser­ies of the PGH Photo Fair, which will be held April 29-30 at Car­ne­gie Mu­seum of Art in Oakland.

NYMC Faculty: David F. Kronn, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics and pathology