Shout-Outs

By Office of the President | Apr 17, 2023

Clean Air NY

In New York State, 33 percent of carbon emissions are caused by vehicle travel (NYSDEC). Poor air quality can affect our health and can be especially harmful to children, seniors, and people with asthma, lung damage, and other respiratory conditions.

In Downstate’s latest collaboration effort to reduce our carbon footprint, we have partnered with Clean Air NY to enhance our commitment to environmental sustainability and improved air quality in New York State by demonstrating our sustainability leadership efforts to reduce congestion in our area.

With this partnership, resources include:

• Providing commuter programs, like incentivized challenges or preferred parking, to students and employees.
• Encouraging students and employees to assess the impact of their travel choices.
• Encouraging and facilitating students and staff to carpool, take transit, bike, or walk to work or school.
• Quantifying the impact of our travel choices to help bolster campus sustainability efforts, and
• Helping to create a healthy living and learning environment for our faculty, staff, and students.

Clean Air NY believes organizations like ours at Downstate have the power to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. They have built a network of partner organizations to help spread the word on air quality.

I encourage everyone to do their part to ensure we are helping to reduce our collective and individual carbon footprints.

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Information Services’ CISO Joins Security Scorecard Advisory Board

Igor Gorelik, MPH, Chief Information Security Officer, has joined the Security Scorecard Advisory Board, a global leader in cybersecurity ratings. Mr. Gorelik was the first speaker in the company’s new Customer Lunch and Learn seminars. 

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Harvard Global Health Symposium Welcomes Chief of Neurosurgery

Ernest J. Barthélemy, M.D., MPH, MA, Division Chief of Neurosurgery, participated in the Harvard Global Health Institute’s inaugural Global Health Symposium on April 12. Dr. Barthélemy’s panel on “Decolonial Praxis and Health” explored challenges confronting the anticolonial movement for health justice.

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COM Student Co-Authors Feature in Academic Medicine

COM student Karen Izquierdo contributed to “Development of a Tool to Assess Medical Oral Language Proficiency,” a multi-institution study featured in the April AAMC journal Academic Medicine issue. The analysis examines the Physician Oral Language Observation Matrix (POLOM), which assesses six language-skill categories used in clinical interactions. Read the complete study here.

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Third Annual SOHP Virtual Student Career Alumni and Networking (SCAN) Event 

The School of Health Professions held its third annual virtual Student Career Alumni and Networking (SCAN) event on March 21, 2023. Students and alums from Diagnostic Medical Imaging, Health Informatics, Midwifery, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Physician Assistant, and Medical Billing & Coding interacted and networked with 30 clinical organizations and practices in these fields. 

The annual SCAN event facilitates meaningful connections between students and potential employers. It is also a community engagement event that offers networking opportunities with community-based healthcare institutions. Students, alums, and vendors agreed that the event was worthwhile and said they look forward to next year’s event.  

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Contributions to Cardiac Electrophysiology

PGY1 Medicine resident Sahil Zaveri, M.D., is the first author of “Pathophysiology of Cav1.3 L-type Calcium Channels in the Heart,” a review article published in the March 21 issue of Frontiers in Physiology: Cardiac Electrophysiology, 2023. The final author of the paper is Dr. Zaveri’s mentor, Mohamed Boutjdir, Ph.D., Professor of Medicine, Cell Biology, and Pharmacology & Physiology. 

Dr. Zaveri’s research sheds new light on the critical role of this little-known calcium channel in cardiac diseases such as sinoatrial and atrioventricular node dysfunction, atrial fibrillation, and heart failure. It also has the potential to contribute to developing targeted therapeutic interventions. To read the complete study, click here.  

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Accelerated BS in Nursing Student Wins FNSNA Johnson & Johnson Scholarship

Tasfia Shawlin, a student in the College of Nursing, was awarded a $1,000 Johnson & Johnson scholarship through the Foundation of the National Student Nurses Association (FNSNA). The scholarship is part of Johnson & Johnson’s “Our Race to Health Equity” initiative, which seeks to ensure access to high-quality and culturally competent health care for all.

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Pathology on Canvas

Eight years ago, the journal Pathologist asked the pathology and laboratory community to contribute artwork on a single, uniting subject—Pathology. Several acrylic paintings by PGY4 Pathology Resident Shabnam Seydafken, M.D. this year made the cut.

Pathology’s full gallery of this year’s entries

Blood Cells: Acrylic Painting

 

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Upcoming Events

Event with BQLI Health Education Center

April 18, 2023

The Brooklyn-Queens-Long Island Area Health Education Center is hosting “Healthcare Career Conversations” with SUNY Downstate and the Arthur Ashe Institute of Urban Health on April 18. Email Gholcomb@bqliahec.org if interested.

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Annual Research Day

April 19, 2023

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Third Annual SOHP Dean’s Lecture Series: “Using Data-driven Decision Making to Improve a Clinical Practice or Program” 

April 26, 2023 

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6th Annual Transport Symposium

April 28, 2023

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New York Academy of Medicine Event

April 24, 2023

Otolaryngology resident James Alrassi, M.D., will present  “The Nasogenital Reflex: Imprudence of the Past as a Lesson for a Wiser Future” at the New York Academy of Medicine’s 14th Annual History of Medicine and Public Health Night-Part II on Monday, April 24, from 5 to 6:30 pm. The virtual event is free, but advanced registration is required.