Students Receive Coveted William McCormack Scholarships

By Office of the President | Nov 8, 2022

Congratulations to Noorulain Paracha, Anuradha Shetty, Felix Rozenberg, and Adem Idrizi, four students interested in Infectious Diseases recently awarded William D. McCormack Scholarships.

These scholarships, presented by Michael H. Augenbraun, M.D., FACP, FIDSA, Infectious Diseases Division Chief (IDD), annually award scholarly projects by Downstate medical students interested in the study of Infectious Diseases.

Ms. Paracha shares second place for her research on “Infections in Arteriovenous Fistulas,” conducted under the supervision of Ketan W. Shevde, M.D., Department of Anesthesiology. Her co-recipient, Ms. Shetty, received second place for her essay, “COVID Vaccine Hesitancy.”

The first-place award for this year is also shared. Felix Rozenberg, whose work entitled “Modeling Longitudinal Accumulation of Bacterial Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Sexual Minority Men Living With HIV,” was mentored by Sabina Hirshfield, Ph.D. Infectious Diseases Division. Co-recipient Adem Idrizi was awarded for his research entitled “A New Sanitizing Polymer to Fight the Spread of Infectious Diseases.”

Separately, Ms. Paracha and Mr. Idrizi are also published authors.

Thank you to the Scholarship Committee, Jack A. DeHovitz, M.D., MPH, Distinguished Service Professor, and STAR Program Director; John Quale, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases Division; Kenneth Bromberg, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics & Medicine—all at Downstate—and Jonathan M. Zenilman, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. William McCormack retired as Chief of the IDD and Fellowship Program Director after nearly 30 years of service at Downstate; he was also a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor. The William McCormack, M.D. Scholarship Fund was created as a tribute by the IDD to honor his dedication and legacy.

Dr. McCormack is a graduate of Fordham University and later earned a medical degree from Downstate and completed post-graduate training at Columbia Presbyterian and Massachusetts General Hospitals. He served overseas in the CDC Epidemiology branch, at Boston City Hospital and the Massachusetts Department of Health before returning to Downstate in 1982 to lead the Infectious Diseases Division.

The scholarship, intended to encourage interest in Infectious Diseases among Downstate first- and second-year student medical students, is funded by current and past faculty and fellows in the IDD and other colleagues in affiliated disciplines—all of whom were influenced by Dr. McCormack.

Thank you to the generous supporters of the William McCormack Scholarship Fund, the Infectious Diseases faculty and staff, the Scholarship Committee, Dr. Michael Augenbraun for his leadership, and especially to Dr. McCormack and Joann, his wife, for their continued kindness.

Tags: Scholarships, Awards, Education