Press Release

Eric and Stacey Mindich Provide Transformational Gift to Advance Science for Children

Newly-Named ‘Mindich Child Health and Development Institute’ is located within the Norma and Leon Hess Center for Science and Medicine.

New York
(March 19, 2013)

Eric M. Mindich, a trustee of The Mount Sinai Medical Center, and his wife, Stacey Mindich, have provided a leadership gift to support translational research that will advance groundbreaking science and medicine for infants, children, and adolescents. In recognition of the gift, Mount Sinai's Child Health and Development Institute will be renamed The Mindich Child Health and Development Institute (MCHDI).

"Eric and Stacey's extraordinarily generous gift represents a critical step toward Mount Sinai's goal of transforming children's health," said Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and CEO of The Mount Sinai Medical Center. "Their philanthropic leadership will help us ensure that future generations will not be confronted with the health problems children face now."

The gift will further the collaborative research at the institute, which is led by Bruce D. Gelb, MD. Among other breakthroughs, Dr. Gelb worked closely with Ihor Lemischka, PhD, Director of the Black Family Stem Cell Institute, to develop the first-ever cardiovascular disease model using human-induced pluripotent stem cells.

"The most serious childhood diseases of our time demand a cross-disciplinary approach which requires the kinds of resources that only visionary, committed philanthropists can provide," said Dr. Gelb, the Gogel Family Professor of Child Health and Development. "This gift from Eric and Stacey will play a crucial role in helping us to identify new treatments for pediatric cardiovascular disease, allergy and asthma, diabetes and obesity, and neurodevelopment. I am profoundly grateful for their support."

The MCHDI is located in the newly-opened Leon and Norma Hess Center for Science and Medicine, which houses Mount Sinai's other groundbreaking disease and technology-focused institutes. Proximity helps to promote innovation and bench-to-bedside results, said Dennis S. Charney, MD, the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

"Groundbreaking discoveries come from a culture of innovation and creativity, and the Mindich Child Health and Development Institute will play an important part in spreading that culture," said Dr. Charney. "The impact of Eric and Stacey's gift will be felt across Mount Sinai and beyond."

"Stacey and I are inspired by Mount Sinai's vision for children's health and by the remarkable leadership of Dr. Davis, Dean Charney and Dr. Gelb," said Mr. Mindich, a trustee since 1998, whose own three sons were born at Mount Sinai. "We feel privileged to be able to help them accomplish their goals of providing a better, healthier life for children everywhere." The Mindiches have contributed $15 million since they became involved with Mount Sinai.

Established in 2009 as the Child Health and Development Institute, the MCHDI is the centerpiece of Mount Sinai's exceptional investment in children's health, which also includes expanding and renovating the pediatric and neonatal intensive care units and the children's cancer and blood disorders center. The MCHDI has grown quickly since its launch, recruiting several world-renowned experts in neurodevelopmental disorders, genomics, environmental health, and other specialties in the past year.

"Mount Sinai had the courage to launch this ambitious endeavor because we were confident that we had the best philanthropic partners in the world, and Eric and Stacey have certainly justified our confidence," said Peter W. May, chairman of the Boards of Trustees.

About The Mount Sinai Medical Center

The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Established in 1968, the Icahn School of Medicine is one of the leading medical schools in the United States, and is noted for innovation in education, biomedical research, clinical care delivery, and local and global community service. It has more than 3,400 faculty in 32 departments and 14 research institutes, and ranks among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and by U.S. News & World Report.

The Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is a 1,171-bed tertiary- and quaternary-care teaching facility and one of the nation's oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. In 2012, U.S. News & World Report ranked The Mount Sinai Hospital 14th on its elite Honor Roll of the nation's top hospitals based on reputation, safety, and other patient-care factors. Mount Sinai is one of 12 integrated academic medical centers whose medical school ranks among the top 20 in NIH funding and by U.S. News & World Report and whose hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Nearly 60,000 people were treated at Mount Sinai as inpatients last year, and approximately 560,000 outpatient visits took place.

For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org.
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Tags: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Health System, The Mindich Child Health and Development Institute

About the Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai Health System is one of the nation’s leading integrated academic health systems and one of the largest in the New York metropolitan area. Its comprehensive system includes seven hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, over 600 research and clinical laboratories, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and the Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing. Together, the Health System comprises approximately 48,000 employees, more than 9,000 physicians, and 8,600 nurses.

As a leading learning health system, Mount Sinai combines clinical expertise with scientific discovery to improve patient care while training the next generation of health care and biomedical leaders. The Health System provides care across every stage of life, from prenatal care through geriatrics, while advancing personalized medicine through artificial intelligence, data science, and biomedical research.

Mount Sinai is consistently recognized among the nation’s leading academic health systems for patient care, research, and education. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 1 in New York by Newsweek and No. 5 on the magazine’s World’s Best Hospitals list. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai ranks No. 11 among U.S. medical schools and No. 1 among freestanding medical schools for National Institutes of Health funding, reflecting the strength of its scientific enterprise and leadership in biomedical research.