February 24, 2020
Philip O. Ozuah, MD, PhD President and CEO, Montefiore Medicine
Philip O. Ozuah, MD, PhD, President and CEO, Montefiore Medicine, has been recognized once again by Modern Healthcare as one of 2020's Top 25 Minority Leaders in Healthcare. This biennial recognition program honors healthcare executives who are influencing policy and care delivery models across the country.
"Executives honored on this year's list of the Top 25 Minority Leaders are reshaping care delivery. They're leading financial turnarounds, addressing the social determinants of health and adopting new value-based models of care," noted Aurora Aguilar, Editor, Modern Healthcare. www.modernhealthcare.com/top25minorities
Children's Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) received $3 million from the National Institutes of Health to launch a unique newborn screening study called ScreenPlus, which is poised to become the largest consented, multidisorder pilot newborn screening program in the United States. "A person with a very rare disease often goes from doctor to doctor trying to find a diagnosis, and during that time, the disease is progressing," says Melissa Wasserstein, MD, Principal Investigator and Chief, Pediatric Genetic Medicine, CHAM. "If a newborn can be diagnosed at birth, parents can avoid the diagnostic odyssey and get their child into treatment early when it's most likely to help," she says.
Melissa Wasserstein, MD
ScreenPlus, which has a unique cost share model between NIH, rare disease advocacy groups and industry partners, will gather crucial evidence about the accuracy of newborn screening for 13 rare disorders and the impact on clinical outcomes. The study will also explore ethical issues associated with screening for these disorders.
MONTEFIORE-EINSTEIN RESEARCHERS FIND LESS FREQUENT PROSTATE SCREENING MAY BENEFIT NEARLY 85% OF MEN, THUS POTENTIALLY LIMITING OVERDIAGNOSIS AND OVERTREATMENT.
Montefiore-Einstein researchers heading up a collaboration of international cancer experts published a groundbreaking study that could lead to less frequent prostate cancer screening and fewer unnecessary tests and onerous treatments for about 85 percent of men. The study, led by Evan Z. Kovac, MD, Attending Physician and Assistant Professor, Urology, Montefiore and Einstein, is one of the largest of its kind (11,000 men) to examine the value of a one-time screening of PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels to predict future prostate cancer risk, rather than conducting annual screening tests. The study was published in JAMA Network Open, a journal reaching internal medicine physicians who are on the frontline of cancer screening.
Evan Z. Kovac, MD
Since its introduction in the early 1990s, PSA screening has led to a significant reduction in prostate cancer-specific mortality, but has also led to the overdiagnosis and overtreatment of slowgrowing prostate cancers, many of which will never cause death or even clinical symptoms. "While PSA screening saves lives, it also leads to the diagnoses of non-lethal prostate cancers, possibly subjecting men to the harms and side effects associated with prostate biopsy, radical prostatectomy or radiation," says Dr. Kovac. "I wanted to see if doing one baseline test could predict who would get an aggressive cancer later in life, thus applying risk stratification to the PSA screening paradigm and targeting those men at highest risk of developing dangerous prostate cancers in the future, rather than testing all at-risk men every year," he says.
Using data from clinical trials and a baseline PSA screening test in men ages 55 to 60, the researchers found that men with low levels of PSA (under 2 ng/mL) had a low risk of prostate cancer 13 years later (~0.5–5%). (Continued on page 2)
(Continued from page 1) "The results suggest that men with a PSA below 2 can undergo less intensive screening than men with levels higher than 2," says Dr. Kovac. In addition, men with PSA levels less than 1 may not need any further screening.
"The goal is to target men at highest risk for developing aggressive and potentially lethal prostate cancers for continued screening while reducing screening and its associated harms for those men at lower risk based on baseline PSA levels taken in mid-life," says Dr. Kovac.
Montefiore-Einstein received a $5.9 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to enroll minority and underserved patients in cancer clinical trials. The grant, part of the NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP), is a continuation of funding first awarded in 2014. "The most innovative cancer treatments are evaluated in clinical trials—often years before they are broadly available in clinical practices—but minorities are underrepresented in these trials," says Joseph A. Sparano, MD, Associate Chairman, Clinical Research, Medical Oncology and Hematology, Montefiore, and Associate Director, Clinical Research, Albert Einstein Cancer Center.
NCORP helped fund Montefiore-Einstein's landmark TAILORx trial, which found that 70 percent of women with the most common type of breast cancer did not require chemotherapy. Researchers are currently studying cancer care delivery to better understand racial/ethnic, socioeconomic and regional disparities in care.
Love Your Melon began with a simple idea of putting a hat on every child battling cancer in America. Founders Brian Keller and Zachary Quinn launched their brand by dressing up as superheroes and hand-delivering beanies to hospital patients. Patients at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) got to pick their favorite superhero beanie when Love Your Melon visited on January 30.
Sadaf Mumtaz, MD, Family Medicine, MMG Cross County
Katherine Murphy, DO, Family Medicine, MMG Eastchester
Verta Smith, MD, Internal Medicine, MMG Mount Vernon
Shauna Walters, MD, Pediatrics, MMG Family Care Center
The Autism and Obsessive Compulsive Spectrum Program at Albert Einstein College of Medicine is conducting an FDA-funded research study examining the effects of OXYTOCIN on hyperphagia and repetitive/rigid behaviors in children with PWS. Please call Bonnie Taylor, PhD, at 718-839-7530 or email botaylor@montefiore.org to learn more.
Ash Wednesday services will be celebrated on February 26, 2020 with a special Catholic Mass at these locations:
Moses Campus, Cherkasy Auditorium |
12:00 PM Mass
Ashes will be distributed during and after Mass. For more information call Fran O'Neill at 718-920-4729 or Father Roberto Perez at 718-920-2408.
Einstein Campus, Weiler Auditorium | 12:00 PM Mass
Ashes will be distributed during and after Mass. For more information call Reverend Father Paul Nwobi at 718-904-2977 or Carmela Gogliormella at 718-904-2985.
Wakefield Campus, Chapel 6th Floor | 8:00 AM Mass
Ashes will be distributed during and after Mass. Liturgical service and ashes distribution at 8:30 AM, 12:30 PM and 3:00 PM. For more information call Toni Hayes at 718-920-9817 or Monsignor Frederick Becker and Sister Catherine McVicar at 718-920-9086.
We are Stronger Together: Join us for the annual all-day workshop presented by The Rose F. Kennedy Children's Evaluation & Rehabilitation Center at Montefiore- Einstein, covering topics that include autism updates, transportation advocacy and Transition and After School programs.
Wednesday, May 13, 2020 | 8:00 AM–2:00 PM
1225 Morris Park Avenue
Van Etten, 2nd Floor, Building #5, Bronx, New York 10461
The Workshop aims to empower parents to serve as advocates for their children alongside educators, therapists, physicians and attorneys to better understand their child's diagnosis, their rights within the educational system, steps to take when concerns arise and how to care for their own well-being while caring for a child with special needs.
Registration is required at CERCparentworkshop@montefiore.org or call 718-430-2934.
Space is limited and reserved for parents, caregivers and professionals from other agencies. (No children please.)
Presented by Montefiore-Einstein Department of Family & Social Medicine
Tuesday, March 31, 2020 | 12:00–8:00 PM
Moses Campus, Cherkasky Auditorium and Grand Hall
111 East 210th Street, Bronx, New York 10467
Information about abstract submission and event registration can be found here.
Schedule of Events
Lunch | 12:00–1:00 PM
Poverty Simulation Seminar | 1:00–4:30 PM
Hosted by Bronxworks and Montefiore Hudson Valley Collaborative
Speaker: Martine Hackett, PhD, MPH
Key Note Address | 5:00–6:00 PM
M. Diane McKee, MD, NYC Ring Founding Director (Emeritus)
Chair, Department of Family and Community Health, University of Massachusetts
Poster Presentation | 6:00–8:00 PM
Continuing education credits available.
