Mount Sinai Launches Institute for Airway Sciences
On the heels of the world’s first human trachea transplant, Mount Sinai develops multidisciplinary institute focused on airway diseases
Mount Sinai Health System, where the world’s first human trachea transplant was performed one year ago, has launched the Institute for Airway Sciences (IAS), established to advance new therapies for patients with sinus, laryngotracheal airway, and lung diseases.
Under the direction of Eric Genden, MD, MHA, Dr. Isidore Friesner Professor and Chair of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Charles Powell, MD, MBA, Janice and Coleman Rabin Professor of Medicine and Chief of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at Icahn Mount Sinai, and Marek Mlodzik, PhD, Lillian and Henry M. Stratton Professor and Chair of Cell, Developmental and Regenerative Biology at Icahn Mount Sinai, the Institute for Airway Sciences brings together a multidisciplinary group of researchers and clinicians throughout Mount Sinai Health System with deep scientific and clinical expertise in the diseases that impact the airway.
“This is not about the science of tomorrow; this is about taking the science of today and pioneering new, innovative solutions that will positively impact the lives of our patients,” said Dr. Genden. “The Institute for Airway Sciences will become the cornerstone for airway disease treatments and research. Key players from across multiple departments and institutes within the Mount Sinai Health System will come together as one source of education, community work and collaboration with the shared goal of eviscerating diseases that have disabled our patients.”
The IAS will further promote research and innovation through four resource cores: (1) the Black Family Stem Cell Institute; (2) the Department of Cell, Developmental and Regenerative Biology; (3) the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine; and (4) the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery.
With the goal of building a pipeline of physician-scientists, the IAS will award pilot grants and user scholarships to encourage innovative projects with an emphasis on medical students and residents in training. The IAS will also include seminars and research-in-progress talks focused on airway science and the diseases that impact the airway.
“Mount Sinai has a proven track record of moving the needle on patient care, and when Dr. Genden led the world’s first human trachea transplant earlier this year, we knew it could serve as a launch pad for something bigger,” said Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of Icahn Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs of the Mount Sinai Health System. “We wanted to develop a clinical and research hub solely dedicated to the airway—from the sinuses all the way down to the lungs. The researchers and clinicians involved in this collaboration bring profound expertise and talent in their respective areas and we look forward to bringing the Institute’s mission and vision to life.”
For more information, please visit: icahn.mssm.edu/airwayinstitute
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint-venture outpatient surgery centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. We are consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals, receiving high "Honor Roll" status, and are highly ranked: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Urology. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 12 in Ophthalmology. U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital among the country’s best in several pediatric specialties.
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