News and Events

“It’s in our interest to have a uniform identification of [COVID-19] cases. This is about more than just personal healthcare, it’s about public health,” said Dr. Robert Amler, dean of the School of Health Sciences and Practice at New York Medical College and a former chief medical officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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

PECONIC, NY — Suffolk County's first case of the new coronavirus is an employee at a popular Long Island brewery. The man, who is in his 40s and was reportedly treated at Eastern Long Island Hospital and then taken to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital works at Greenport Harbor Brewing Company in Peconic, the business confirmed to Patch on Monday.

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

Cuomo said the number of cases of what's known officially as COVID-19 had risen as expected from 89 Saturday evening. The geographic breakdown as of 11:30 a.m. Sunday was Westchester - 82; New York City - 12; Nassau County - 5; Rockland County - 2 Saratoga County - 2; Suffolk County - 1; Ulster County - 1.

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

NEW YORK, NY — The number of new coronavirus cases in New York climbed from 33 to 44 on Friday afternoon, with new cases confirmed on Long Island and the Hudson Valley. Eight more cases were confirmed in Westchester County, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday, and the number of cases on Long Island increased from one to four, all in Nassau County. Cuomo said officials believe each of the eleven are linked to existing cases.

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

“The outbreak is entering a new phase, from mostly travel-related cases to domestic transmission,” Dr. Robert Amler, dean of the School of Health Sciences and Practice at New York Medical College and former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) chief medical officer, told Fox News. “This puts our preventative measures to the test – how good a job can every one of us do to minimize the spread of the virus?”

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

Dr. Oz breaks down two different types of face masks: a surgical mask and a N95 mask. Dr. Robert Almer and professor George Contreras from New York Medical College walk us through the process of a face mask fitting and sensitivity test.

New York Medical College Leadership Mentions:
Robert W. Amler, M.D., M.B.A., vice president for government affairs and dean of the School of Health Sciences and Practice
George W. Contreras, M.P.H., M.S., M.E.P., CEM, FAcEM, assistant director of the Center for Disaster Medicine, assistant professor in the Institute of Public Health, and assistant director of the advanced certificate in emergency management

In a time when medicine and research were predominantly white and male, Jane and her family had challenged the preconceptions of what a scientist should be. Jane and her sister, Barbara, represented the third generation of Wright family medics; the tradition began with their grandfather, who, after being born into slavery, later graduated from Meharry Medical College as valedictorian of his class. Their father, Dr Louis Tompkins Wright, was one of the first African-American graduates of Harvard Medical School and founded the Harlem Hospital Cancer Research Foundation (HHCRF).

NYMC Alumni News: Jane Cooke Wright, M.D. ’45, served as associate dean at NYMC from 1967 to 1975.

Friday, a Long Island man who lives in Uniondale tested positive for the virus and is in the hospital. The Uniondale School District said it had been in contact with Nassau County and state health officials and decided there was no reason to take any additional measures beyond what are already in place.

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

At a press conference on Sunday morning, Cuomo announced that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in New York had jumped from 89 to 105 overnight after new test results came in. The governor said that officials are working hard to identify new cases but have been greatly hindered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), saying it is ‘outrageous and ludicrous’ that the agency has not authorized private labs to conduct automated tests.

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

With Women’s History Month underway and International Women’s Day approaching on March 8, classrooms and museums across the United States will be focusing on famous women who shaped the world we live in. But not everyone who did so has gotten the recognition she deserved. This week, TIME is telling the stories of women who might have earned the title Person of the Year — a century’s worth of the women who most shaped each year, for good or for ill.

NYMC Alumni News: Jane Cooke Wright, M.D. ’45, served as associate dean at NYMC from 1967 to 1975.

In case the world hasn’t thrown you enough curveballs of late (say, in the form of intensifying political tensions, or the escalating coronavirus crisis), here’s another: the time is changing. On Sunday, we’ll lose an hour as we “spring forward” for daylight saving time (DST).

BioInc@NYMC News: Samant Virk, M.D., founder and chief executive officer of MediSprout, a BioInc client

Jewish values and public health protocol could come into conflict if hospitals run out of ventilators, as many are projected to do. “As New York City hospitals have not yet reached capacity, this clash of values has stayed in the realm of the theoretical,” writes Ira Bedzow, who directs the biomedical ethics program at New York Medical College, in a piece for JTA.

NYMC Faculty News: Ira J. Bedzow, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine and director of the Biomedical Ethics and Humanities Program

When it comes to the new coronavirus going around (aka COVID-19), good hygiene seems to be our best line of defence. Because the virus has only been on our radar for a couple of months, we don’t have a preventive vaccine yet, nor do we have an effective way to treat the respiratory illness the virus causes. And though researchers are getting close to putting potential vaccines to the test, it’ll likely be about a year before they’re ready for us.

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

County Executive George Latimer recently facilitated a meeting and tour of the Biotechnology Incubator at New York Medical College with key members of New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and the NYC Department of Regional Planning. Bridget Gibbons, Director of Economic Development, and the rest of the Westchester County attendees presented on the County’s biosciences ecosystem including new lab space coming on line, research institutions focused on the biosciences, hospitals, institutions of higher education with relevant degree programs, the BioInc@NYMC and the Westchester County biosciences accelerator. Westchester County George Latimer also met with the group. The goal of the meeting was to update the NYC participants about the robust biosciences sector in Westchester County, to facilitate a strong partnership and promote regional growth.

BioInc@NYMC News:

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY — With 22 cases of the new coronavirus now confirmed in New York — 18 of them in Westchester — Patch interviewed a local expert to talk about the realities and the facts, to ask about the balance between alertness and panic.

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

The push for population-based genetic screening for BRCA (breast cancer susceptibility gene) mutations in Ashkenazi communities continues to gain strength in both the medical and religious communities, which have advocated for wider testing. For example, researchers in the UK have suggested moving toward BRCA testing for the entire Ashkenazi community, not just for people with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, claiming the wider reach could identify 150% more people who carry a mutation.

NYMC Faculty News: Ira J. Bedzow, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine and director of the Biomedical Ethics and Humanities Program

During his State of the Union address in February, President Donald Trump reiterated a promise he had made a year earlier: By 2030, the United States would bring an end to the HIV/AIDS epidemic that first took root nearly 40 years ago. It’s the sort of sweeping assurance that seems too good to be true, given Trump’s track record of broken pledges and his administration’s attempts to slash HIV-related programs and public health priorities.

NYMC Faculty News: Keosha T. Bond, Ed.D., M.P.H., CHES, assistant professor of public health

On Tuesday morning, March 3, Governor Andrew Cuomo confirmed that a male New Rochelle resident in his 50s with an underlying respiratory illness tested positive after seeking treatment at Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville. He has since been moved to the City for further treatment. Though the man, a lawyer, has not recently traveled internationally to at-risk locations, his work in Manhattan and commute suggest person-to-person contact.

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

The coronavirus is here to stay, at least for a little while—“here” meaning at the top of our minds, and an increasing number of physical locations too. It’s shutting quite a few things down, from Tokyo Disney to the Louvre Museum to many, many conferences. Given that we are heading into spring break season and planning-trips-for-summer season, you might be wondering when it will be OK to leave your home. That’s hard to say because we cannot predict what will happen with this almost-global-pandemic in the next week, and certainly not in the next few months. It might be fine! It might get worse still. It’s very difficult to say anything definitive. But we’re here to try to help as best we can.

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

From influenza to the coronavirus (COVID-19), televisits are an increasingly valuable tool in the fight against the spread of infection. Sick patients get the care they need from the comfort of home and physicians can treat more patients, helping to mitigate the spread of disease without sacrificing quality of care.

NYMC Faculty News: Samant Virk, M.D., founder and chief executive officer of MediSprout, a BioInc client