Mount Sinai Physician Pays It Forward: $5 Million Bequest Promised to Support the Kimberly and Eric J. Waldman Department of Dermatology
The Kimberly and Eric J. Waldman Department of Dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is delighted to announce a $5 million bequest promised by Kenneth L. Edelson, MD, Clinical Professor of Dermatology. This gift represents Dr. Edelson’s commitment to advancing dermatologic medicine and giving back to the Department and Mount Sinai, where he has served as a physician for the past 14 years.
Bequests and estate gifts, which fall under the umbrella of planned giving, have a lasting impact and help to sustain the mission of Mount Sinai and the Department. “Dr. Edelson’s gift will be extremely beneficial to the Waldman Department of Dermatology and its groundbreaking skin cancer research and treatments,” according to Emma Guttman-Yassky, MD, PhD, Waldman Professor and System Chair of Dermatology.
Dr. Edelson has long been associated with Mount Sinai. He received his medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine as a member of the first four-year graduating class, in 1972. Dr. Edelson credits his transformative medical school experience to the faculty, who “were just phenomenal, giants in their fields.” Fenton Shaffner, MD, Hans Popper, MD, Henry Janowitz, MD, Burrill Crohn, MD, Leon Ginzburg, MD, and Rosalyn Yalow, PhD, among others, inspired him to pursue a career in dermatology. This experience was the motivation to pay it forward to the next generation since his education had a huge impact on his life and career.
Dr. Edelson has taught monthly workshops for Mount Sinai’s dermatology resident physicians for which he has won numerous awards including Teacher of the Year. He is internationally recognized as one of the first to use the bolus technique of injecting calcium hydroxylapatite for hand rejuvenation and has published journal articles and textbook chapters on the subject.
Dr. Edelson’s legacy gift to the Waldman Department of Dermatology will fund an endowed professorship; a need-based medical student scholarship; a research fund for skin cancer research; annual lectureships in two specialties: cosmetic dermatologic surgery and psoriasis; and a dermatology exam room and a patient room at The Mount Sinai Hospital. “It's a way of giving back to what Mount Sinai has done for me, which is everything, and I hope others will follow my lead,” says Dr. Edelson.
Dr. Edelson has worn many hats throughout his career. In 2015, Dr. Edelson was sworn in as an Honorary Police Surgeon by the New York City Police Commissioner. This is the highest rank a civilian physician can achieve within the NYPD. Additionally, Dr. Edelson has enjoyed a second career as a comedic actor, and he has appeared in more than 20 films.
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.
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