• Press Release

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Receives Award from Burroughs Wellcome Fund

  • New York, NY
  • (April 22, 2016)

In recognition of its innovative efforts to prepare the next generation of physicians and scientists, the Postdoc Executive Committee at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai was recently awarded a grant by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, a private foundation dedicated to advancing biomedical sciences, to enhance the Postdoctoral Training program.  The grant will fund Mount Sinai’s Future Leaders in Science Education and Communication Training Program, which will be one of just seven programs across the United States to receive this prestigious award.

“Effective science communication and education is a gateway to diverse careers in academia, teaching, and science, but practical, hands-on training in these areas can often be difficult to achieve – an obstacle that we look to address through our Future Leaders program,” said Alison P. Sanders, PhD, postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who leads the program along with postdocs Eric S. Sweet, PhD, and Ryan J. Cummings, PhD.  “We’re thankful to the Burroughs Wellcome Fund for recognizing and supporting our work.”

The Future Leaders in Science Education and Communication Training Program, which began last year, is designed to enhance teaching and science communication skills for postdoctoral fellows.  It includes courses that give trainees practical skills in active teaching methods; classroom-based science literacy and enrichment in the Boys & Girls Harbor after-school program for fifth graders; and the opportunity to guest lecture in classes under the guidance of a faculty member from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Fifteen outstanding postdoctoral fellows from more than eight academic departments completed the short-course component of the program in November 2015, and are currently teaching in both fifth grade and graduate-level courses. A second cohort will be selected for training starting in May 2016. Applications are due April 25, 2016. Drs. Sanders, Sweet and Cummings hope to continue the successful training program in future years. “This program fills a gap in the postdoctoral training program here at Mount Sinai, since there are few teaching opportunities available to postdocs,” said Dr. Sanders. “We are truly impressed with the wide breadth of scientific expertise represented in this cohort and their passion for sharing science with others.”

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.

For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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