School of Medicine Continues Tradition of Distinction with 2025 Alpha Omega Alpha Induction
Fifty-five Students, Residents, Faculty, and Alumni Were Recognized During Induction Ceremony
In recognition of their commitment to professionalism, leadership, scholarship, research, and community service, 55 School of Medicine (SOM) students, residents, faculty, and alumni were inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA), the national medical honor society, during a special ceremony in the Skyline Dining Room on March 6. An annual tradition at the College since 1957, this year marked the 69th induction ceremony by the New York Medical College (NYMC) Iota Chapter of AOA. A lifelong honor, membership in the society confers recognition for a physician’s dedication to the profession and art of healing.
Prior to the ceremony, Lynn Cleary, M.D., distinguished teaching professor and vice president of academic affairs at the State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, delivered the annual Visiting Professor’s Lecture, “The Art and Science of How Doctors Think: Past, Present, and Future.”
During her insightful address, Dr. Cleary covered a wide range of topics, including factors that impact thinking, such as knowledge base, experience, empathy, and judgment, and influences contributing to misdiagnosis and diagnostic errors, such as fatigue, cognitive overload, and a distracting environment. “The ER is a lab for the study of human error,” she said. She also interspersed her talk with interactive elements, including posing a series of biostatistics questions to attendees as part of a cognitive reflection test to demonstrate that “sometimes our gut instinct is not the most helpful in solving problems.”
This year’s inductees into AOA included NYMC alumna Ilyssa Henle, M.D. ’09, assistant professor of pediatrics; Rochelle Lodescar, M.D. ’13, assistant professor of surgery; and Fatima Traore, M.D. ’18, assistant professor of neurology. Several members of the NYMC faculty were also inducted, including Lidia Klepacz, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences; Michael Moscowitz, M.D., assistant professor of surgery; Michal Tracz, M.D., clinical assistant professor of medicine; and Rohil Shekher, M.D., assistant professor of radiation medicine.
The AOA Volunteer Clinical Faculty Award was presented to Taj Deen, M.D., adjunct assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral studies; and AOA Resident Teaching Awards were bestowed on Autum Brewer, M.D., obstetrics and gynecology resident; Gular Mammadli, M.D., neurology resident; and Vincent Galea, M.D., surgery resident.
“Those of you here tonight being inducted into AOA have demonstrated a commitment to excellence that I hope you will carry with you for your entire career. The trust that society places in us, that patients place in us, literally putting their lives in our hands, demands that we hold ourselves to the absolute highest standard, not just today, but every day that we're working as physicians. That is what we celebrate tonight,” said Neil Schluger, M.D., SOM dean and professor of medicine, during the induction ceremony. “I salute you for your accomplishments, for the way you've distinguished yourselves in medical school. This is just the first step in what I hope will be a rich and rewarding career for all of you. You’re all off to do wonderful things. Congratulations.”
William Frishman, M.D., chair emeritus of medicine, professor of medicine in the SOM, and faculty councilor for the NYMC AOA Iota Chapter, closed the ceremony with words of admiration for the newest inductees, “You will be the leaders of your medical and scientific communities and will have the continued responsibility of being the examples of excellence for your colleagues and patients. Election to AOA is a wonderful honor. In the future, you will have your AOA certificates framed next to your NYMC diplomas in your offices, and your fellow physicians from all over the world will acknowledge what you have accomplished already and what you will be expected to accomplish in the future.”
2024-2025 New York Iota Chapter Officers
Michelle Klausner, President
Nicholas Barone, Vice President
Lindsey Immers, Academic Coordinator
Kaleb Noruzi, Volunteer Coordinator
Class of 2025 Senior AOA Inductees
Samuel Abecassis
Shawn Afvari
Michael Airo
Alexis Carr
Francesco Ciuffo
Cailan Feingold (Class of 2026)
Christopher Fredricks
Mikaela Glass
Vasiliki Gregory
Matan Grunfeld
Gabriel Harousseau
Alexandra Hebard
Aroubah Iqbal
Mohammed Kallash
Maryia Kazlouskaya
Aleena Khan
Karishma Krishnan
Timothy Klufas (Class of 2026)
Josef Kusayev
Jasmine Levine (Class of 2026)
Jiani Liang
Brian Morrissey
Carrighan Perry
Daneal Portman
Cristina Rabadi
Jonathan Rockoff
Sarah Rubin
Leah Sittenfeld
Adriana Szpynda
Shlomo Ungar
Zachary Valley
Mariana Villalobos-Ortiz
Richard Wang
Gavin Yuan
Class of 2026 Junior AOA Inductees
Ryan Cosgro
Madison Drogy
Eliana Felder
Chase Goldberg
Alexandra Jellinger
Christian Rajkovic
Niloofar Rasoui
Talia Saal
Yael Weitzner
Gagana Yaskhi
