School of Medicine Faculty Recognized for Excellence During Second Annual Dean’s Faculty Awards
The Ceremony Honored SOM Faculty For Their Research Along With Their Service To The College And The Community
School of Medicine (SOM) faculty came together to shine a light on their accomplishments during the Second Annual Dean’s Faculty Awards Ceremony on March 31, where they were honored for excellence in teaching, mentoring, research and institutional service.
“If truth be told I have goosebumps right now. I am so thrilled to see all of you in person,” said Kathryn Spanknebel, M.D., SOM senior associate dean for faculty affairs, interim vice chancellor for student mental health and wellness and associate professor of surgery, who opened the event, that took place in person for a limited audience and live streamed to allow many more to join in the celebration virtually. “It has been a long, difficult two years and sincere gratitude to each and every one of you for all your contributions to the college, to the students and to each other that has sustained us through these really tough times.”
“It is so important that we take this time to recognize the good things and we do not do that enough. This is just one way for us to say thank you to the faculty who are performing key missions at New York Medical College (NYMC) in such a wonderful way,” said Jerry L. Nadler, M.D., MACP, FAHA, FACE, dean of the SOM and professor of medicine and pharmacology.
In recognition of his sustained and significant achievements in his field and contributions to NYMC, Patric K. Stanton, Ph.D., professor of cell biology and anatomy and of neurology, received the Outstanding Achievement Award.
As a distinguished neuroscientist, Dr. Stanton has brought international recognition to NYMC for his research ranging from the basic mechanisms of neuroplasticity to translational research investigating the effect of brain trauma, both in the military and in athletics, on neuronal structure and function, and has excelled in mentoring, teaching and service to the College. He has published 111 refereed papers and 26 review articles, and many of his papers have been highly cited. Since coming to NYMC in 2004, Dr. Stanton has maintained continuous major funding from numerous sources, oversetting more than 50 percent of his salary from grants. An excellent teacher and mentor, he has the distinction of having mentored the largest number of Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. students in the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy.
“This is an extraordinary and important award because it represents the recognition of one’s peers,” said Dr. Stanton in accepting the award. He also expressed appreciation to Joseph Etlinger, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, for recruiting him to NYMC 18 years ago. “This brought me to an extraordinary community of scholars, colleagues and friends who have made my experience as a researcher grow and prosper and also contributed to my development in education and service to the College in so many ways.”
As the Outstanding Achievement Award winner, Dr. Stanton also had the opportunity to present on his important research into deconstructing and reconstructing memory, which he illustrated by tracing the “long and winding path of getting a drug approach for disease treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders into clinical trials… and how challenging and rewarding it can be to move oneself from the mindset of a basic scientist in graduate school doing research for the full joy and knowledge of discovery, to the growing effort to translate that research into something that can actually help people.”
“What NYMC has taught me more than anything else is the tremendous joy and power of a true academic scholarly pursuit of research, investigation, education and service to the College, and most importantly the joy of growing the next generation of scientists,” said Dr. Stanton.
Award winners:
Outstanding Achievement
Patric K. Stanton, Ph.D.
Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy and Neurology
Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Pamela Ludmer, M.D., M.S.
Department of Medicine
Distinguished Teaching and Mentoring
William H. Frishman, M.D.
Department of Medicine
Excellence in Mentoring
Robin L. Altman, M.D.,
Department of Pediatrics
Mary M. Petzke, Ph.D.
Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
Excellence in Teaching
Wilbert S. Aronow, M.D.
Department of Medicine
Patrick Lento, M.D.
Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
Excellence in Research
Fawaz Al-Mufti, M.D.
Department of Neurology
Cara Grimes, M.D.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Sachin Gupte, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Pharmacology
Rising Star
Victor Garcia, Ph.D.
Department of Pharmacology
Supriya Jain, M.D.
Department of Pediatrics
SOM Dean’s Honorable Recognitions
Sangmi Chung, Ph.D.
Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy
Ercument Dirice, Ph.D.
Department of Pharmacology
Allen J. Dozor, M.D.
Department of Pediatrics
Rosa Martinez-Rosenberg, D.D.S.
Department of Dental Medicine
Abbas Smiley, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Surgery
Garret Weber, M.D.
Department of Anesthesiology
Videos of the Annual Dean's Faculty Awards Ceremonies and other SOM events are available on the NYMC YouTube channel.
