Shout Outs
By Office of the President | Sep 8, 2026
UUP Brings Downstate Pride to Eastern Parkway
A big #DownstateProud shout-out to United University Professions (UUP) and members of Downstate’s union community who celebrated Labor Day aboard UUP’s annual float at the West Indian American Day Carnival!
With Caribbean flags flying, music playing, and Downstate pride on full display, employees, families, and friends celebrated Brooklyn’s culture and the vibrant community we’re proud to serve.
Thank you to our union members for the work they do every day to support our patients, students, colleagues, and neighbors.
One union. One family. One community.
#KeepCareClose #LaborDay #WestIndianDayCarnival
A Double Dose of Nursing Excellence
From Left to Right: Marie-Claire Rosenberg Roberts, Ph.D.; Jeanine O’Hagan-Murphy, Ph.D.
Congratulations to Marie-Claire Rosenberg Roberts, Ph.D., on her promotion to Professor, and Jeanine O’Hagan-Murphy, Ph.D., on her promotion to Associate Professor. These well-deserved promotions recognize their commitment to nursing education, scholarship, leadership, and service.
Tracking Outbreaks From Genome to Field
Congratulations to Julia Mullins-Manetas, DrPH, who successfully defended her dissertation examining the use of whole-genome sequencing
to characterize Salmonella outbreaks associated with contaminated food crops. The
project was completed under the guidance of committee chair Laura Geer, Ph.D., MHS, and committee members Lori Hoepner, DrPH, MPH, and Daniel Ehlke, Ph.D., MA.
A Well-Earned Shot of Recognition
Congratulations to Kenneth Bromberg, M.D., FAAP, Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine (Infectious Diseases), who received a Special Achievement Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics, New York Chapter 2. As the Chapter’s Immunization Representative, Dr. Bromberg was recognized for his distinguished service and work supporting immunization efforts across Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island.
Rethinking Race in Breast Cancer Risk Prediction
Congratulations to Sasinya Scott, DrPH, on successfully defending her dissertation, which examines whether breast cancer
risk-prediction models can assess risk without using race and ethnicity as proxies.
Using electronic health records and survey data collected through the national All of Us Research Program from 2017 to 2023, Dr. Scott tested whether neighborhood-based structural measures could be used without reducing a model’s accuracy. She found that indicators such as neighborhood wealth and social cohesion yielded results comparable to those from models that included race and ethnicity.
Her findings support a more equitable approach to risk assessment by focusing on the social and structural conditions that contribute to health disparities instead of treating racial categories as biological risk factors.
Congratulations to Dr. Scott on this accomplishment! Thank you to the dissertation committee, chaired by Elizabeth P. Helzner, Ph.D., MS, DipACLM, Associate Professor and Interim Chair of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, along with Mary Beth Terry, Ph.D., Professor of Epidemiology in Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University, and Peter Barr, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Downstate, for their guidance and mentorship.
New Semester, New Skills, New Nurses
The College of Nursing welcomed 130 new and 115 returning Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing students for the Fall 2026 semester. The Nursing Student Council brought both cohorts together for a mixer with food, conversation, and time to connect before classes began.
For the newest ABSN students, the semester also marked the start of their simulation and clinical training. During the first seven weeks of their Foundations and Health Assessment courses, they will build the skills needed to enter clinical settings with greater knowledge and confidence.
Training began with hand hygiene, personal protective equipment, and vital signs. Students will progress to patient and wound care, cardiac care, medication administration, and other clinical responsibilities. The Simulation Lab gives them a controlled setting to practice, make mistakes, receive feedback, and improve before caring for patients.
Simulation faculty also completed specialized training with Lucina, Elevate Healthcare’s advanced birthing simulator. Faculty learned to maintain and configure the simulator for several birth scenarios, including routine delivery, shoulder dystocia, and breech delivery. The training will support realistic maternal and newborn care exercises that strengthen clinical judgment, communication, teamwork, and hands-on skills.
Thank you to the Nursing Student Council for welcoming both cohorts and to Jessica Wojcik of Elevate Healthcare for supporting the College’s expanding simulation program. Best wishes to our new and returning nursing students for a productive semester.