Downstate Researchers Find Their Voice
By Office of Communications & Marketing | Aug 14, 2026
Good research matters. Being able to explain why it matters is another skill entirely.
SUNY is expanding its partnership with the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, giving faculty and researchers across the SUNY system more opportunities to strengthen their communication, leadership, and engagement skills. The expansion includes on-campus workshops and another cohort of the SUNY Research Leadership Academy.
Three Downstate faculty members participated in the Academy and shared what they took from the experience:
From Left to Right: Sabina Hirshfield, Ph.D., Roseann E. Peterson, Ph.D Suman Ghosh, M.D., MPA
Suman Ghosh, M.D., Associate Professor of Neurology in the College of Medicine, reflected on communicating complex information to families in pediatric neurology and listening closely to the questions and concerns that underlie them.
Sabina Hirshfield, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Medicine, spoke about the responsibility researchers have to explain why their work matters to the people most affected by it and to bring those audiences into the conversation.
Roseann E. Peterson, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, discussed the challenge of making genetics and precision medicine understandable to patients, families, and colleagues across disciplines.
The year-long Academy, led by the Alan Alda Center at Stony Brook University, helps researchers communicate with audiences beyond their own fields, including patients, the public, policymakers, and philanthropic organizations. For these three Downstate researchers, that means finding clearer ways to connect their work to the people it can affect.
Tags: Research