Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Announces First Lab Coat Ceremony for Incoming PhD Students in Biomedical Sciences, Neuroscience, and the Medical Scientist Training Program
Noted virologist and Icahn alumnus Vincent Racaniello, PhD, to give keynote
Credit: Mount Sinai Health System
The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai will hold its first Lab Coat ceremony for incoming students enrolled in PhD programs in Biomedical Sciences, Neuroscience, and the Medical Scientist Training Program on September 17th. The Icahn School of Medicine, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, will be the first institution in New York City to welcome its PhD students with a Lab Coat ceremony. The ceremony serves as a counterpart to the school’s white coat ceremony for incoming medical students, marking their official entry into professional training.
“We value innovation and creativity behind transformative scientific discoveries at Mount Sinai but we also love the symbolism of the white lab coat, which embodies scientific rigor, objectivity, and professionalism. I’m thrilled to be starting this new, welcoming ritual for our incoming PhD students,” says Marta Filizola, PhD, Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
The ceremony, which will take place at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s campus on Manhattan’s Upper East Side at 4 pm on Monday, September 17, will mark the culmination of orientation activities for the entering PhD classes. Each student will be identified with his/her program and multidisciplinary training area, and will be given a lab coat as a symbol of the start of graduate studies. In addition, the ceremony will recognize the graduate students who have officially joined a lab and confirmed PhD candidature by passing their thesis proposal exams.
The keynote speaker will be Vincent Racaniello, PhD, Higgins Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Racaniello earned his doctorate from Mount Sinai in 1980, and was the first PhD candidate mentored by Peter Palese, PhD, Chair of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s Department of Microbiology and Professor of Microbiology and Medicine (Infectious Diseases).
Dr. Racaniello is a noted virologist who focuses on the molecular biology of picornavirus replication and pathogenesis, and is also a leader in science communication. He co-created BioCrowd, a social network for scientists, in addition to blogging and podcasting on topics related to virology.
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.