Graduate Profile: Tamar Weinberger, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
A common spirit runs throughout Yeshiva University: the mandate to matter.
Students of all ages and backgrounds come here to pursue a range of professional and personal dreams, from scientific research and medicine to law, Jewish education or public policy. Our students seek to harness their unique talents and YU education to make a lasting impact on the world around them. This spring, when they graduate from YU, these new alumni will hit the ground running.
In the weeks leading up to Commencement, YU Newswill feature one remarkable graduate from each school, reflecting, in their own words, on their time here, their passions and their dreams for the future.
Meet the Class of 2013.
With the help of YU’s Anne Scheiber Scholarship, Einstein’s Tamar Weinberger is pursuing a career in pediatric medicine.
I chose medicine because I saw it as an opportunity to combine my love for science with my desire to contribute to patient care. I also enjoy the academic challenge medicine presents: being confronted with myriad signs and symptoms, deducing a differential diagnosis and effectively diagnosing and treating a disease is a challenging and rewarding endeavor. Read the rest of this entry…
“I am constantly reminded that people go into the field of psychology because they want to build civilization, they want to explore ideas and they’re wise enough to know that they don’t want to live in an enclosed bubble,” said YU President Richard M. Joel in his opening remarks to students. “They want to break down silos, bring their disciplines to play with other disciplines and inspire young people to explore their dreams and make those dreams come true.”
Four-Year $720,000 Grant will Enable Stern College’s Marina Holz to Investigate Breast Cancer Cell Growth
The American Cancer Society, the largest non-government, not-for-profit funding source of cancer research in the United States, has awarded Dr. Marina Holz, assistant professor of biology at Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women, a $720,000 Research Scholar Grant. The four-year grant will be used to continue her work researching how the mTOR pathway affects the growth of estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer.
Over $400 Million Raised to Date, Including Largest Gift in the College of Medicine’s History
Addressing an enthusiastic gathering of more than 400 supporters, alumni and faculty on Monday, April 15, Allen M. Spiegel, M.D., the Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz Dean of Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, publicly announced the College of Medicine’s largest fundraising effort—a capital campaign to raise at least $500 million, known as “The Campaign to Transform Einstein.”
Einstein Fellowship Integrates Legal, Clinical Expertise
Some of the most innovative clinical training at Einstein–and in the country–doesn’t involve white coats.
The Leadership in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) program, administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau (HRSA) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, funds fellowship positions in an array of allied health professions at YU’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Children’s Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC). For more than 40 years, LEND has provided graduate-level, interdisciplinary leadership training to improve the health of children with or at risk of neurodevelopmental and related disabilities at 43 sites in the 37 states. This hands-on training is typically undertaken by psychologists, physical therapists, social workers and other clinicians who work with children and adults with disabilities.
Einstein’s LEND legal fellowship is believed to be the first ongoing fellowship for law students in the country and permits those from Einstein’s sister school, the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University, to learn from the LEND program’s diverse range of clinicians, and vice versa. Read the rest of this entry…
As We Celebrate Tu B’Shevat, A Call for Rabbis and Educators to Stay Informed About Jewish Genetic Diseases
“Thus was he [the cedar tree] beautiful in his greatness, in the length of his branches; for his roots were upon abundant waters.”– Ezekiel 31:7
Tu B’Shevat, the New Year of the Trees, is quickly approaching. Now is when the earliest-blooming trees in the Land of Israel wake up from their winter slumber and begin a new cycle of bearing fruit. The roots are prepared to do their job, to anchor the tree in place and to extract nutrients from the soil so that the tree can be strong and healthy.
Estie Rose is a genetic counselor with YU’s Program for Jewish Genetic Health.
As a genetic counselor who advocates for pre-conception genetic testing, I take the roots-to-tree metaphor very seriously. I believe that in order to sustain a healthy community, the roots of the community have the responsibility of relaying just how important genetic testing is.
Carrier screening for autosomal recessive diseases that are common in the Ashkenazi Jewish population is widely available and has been recommended by professional organizations to be completed prior to conception or in early pregnancy. While the tests for these diseases are generally accessible, the uptake has been found to be disproportionately low in comparison to the number of Ashkenazi Jews who are of childbearing age.
One suggestion for increasing awareness of the availability and importance of pre-conception genetic screening has been to train rabbis. Read the rest of this entry…
Translating the Genetic Language of Autism into Treatment
Translational research aims to accelerate the pace at which basic research yields effective clinical treatments for human diseases by taking discoveries between “bench” and “bedside.” For instance, translational researchers have identified alterations in a growing number of genes linked to autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with the goal of enabling earlier diagnosis—when intervention can do the most good—and improved treatment.
Students, Faculty and Alumni Illuminate Yeshiva University Hanukkah Dinner
Students, faculty and alumni who embody the mission of Yeshiva University were recognized as “Points of Light” during the dinner portion of Yeshiva University’s 88th Annual Hanukkah Dinner and Convocation, held at New York City’s Waldorf=Astoria on December 16.
Points of Light Dr. Marina Holz and Helen Unger.
“There are so many lights that shine brightly at Yeshiva University. Tonight, we focus on individuals who serve as exemplars of the past, present and future of Yeshiva University,” said President Richard M. Joel, who invited each Point of Light on stage to light a symbolic candle on a menorah.
The Points of Light included Helen Unger, a senior at Stern College for Women, and Dr. Marina Holz, assistant professor of biology. Unger grew up in Cleveland, Ohio where she attended public school before enrolling in Stern College’s S. Daniel Abraham Honor’s Program.Under Holz’s tutelage, Unger’s research in the breast cancer field has won numerous awards, including the Toby Eagle Memorial Scholarship in Cancer Biology and a position in the highly selective Sloan-Kettering Undergraduate Research Program. Unger is also the first YU student to receive the Thomas Bardos Science Education Award for Undergraduate Students.
“I wanted an environment where being an Orthodox Jew wouldn’t be at odds with my secular education,” Unger said of her decision to attend Yeshiva University. “Moreover I value a small learning environment, and the direct mentorship I received at YU more than speaks to why I chose to come here.” Read the rest of this entry…
Student Medical Ethics Society Examines Controversial Health Care Bill from Practical, Ethical and Halakhic Perspectives
American health care is facing its most comprehensive overhaul since 1965, and everyone from doctors to patients to employers will be affected. Often referred to as “Obamacare,” the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) became one of the most contested topics in this year’s presidential election, and its political, financial and ethical implications are still widely debated. On November 26, Yeshiva University’s Student Medical Ethics Society sought to debunk the myths and misconceptions about the controversial health care bill at an event that provided students with a practical walkthrough of the complex bill and analyzed it through the lens of ethics and halakha.
From left, Dr. Kevin O’Halloran, Dr. Herb Leventer and Rabbi Yosef Blau address students at “Obamacare: The Enigma Unveiled.”
Titled “Obamacare: The Enigma Unveiled,” the event began with a crash course in American medical history by Dr. Kevin O’Halloran, a senior resident at the Montefiore / Albert Einstein College of Medicine Department of Orthopedic Surgery who recently published a review article on Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), a facet of PPACA. O’Halloran highlighted the factors that set the stage for health care reform in 2010, noting that more than 16 percent of the population was uninsured that year, private and public health care expenditures in the United States had totaled more than 15 percent of the country’s GDP, and America ranked seven out of seven developed countries for “quality, efficiency, access, equity and healthy lives” according to the Commonwealth Fund. Read the rest of this entry…
RIETS and Calvary Hospital Form Collaboration to Serve Orthodox Community
Yeshiva University’s affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) and Calvary Hospital today announced a collaboration to serve the needs of observant Jews in the metropolitan area in need of information and access to the best end-of-life care.
Jewish families seeking halachically appropriate, highest quality end-of-life medical care often lack familiarity with the intricate religious laws that govern such care.
To address this important need, Yeshiva University has formed the YU/RIETS End-of-Life Halachic Advisory Program to provide rabbinic consultation for families and community rabbis. It includes:
A rabbinic panel comprised of four roshei yeshiva who have extensive experience with end-of-life halachic issues. Rabbi Herschel Schachter, Rabbi Yaakov Neuberger, Rabbi Mordechai Willig and Rabbi Moshe Tendler will serve on a rotating basis as pre-hospice advisors, answering questions from patients’ families and community rabbis after a physician has recommended that an individual receive hospice care.
A panel of physicians associated with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and its affiliates will be available to advise community rabbis on the clinical issues surrounding the terminally ill. The medical panel includes Dr. Edward Burns, Dr. Seymour Huberfeld, Dr. Beth Popp, Dr. Edward Reichman and Dr. Robert Sidlow.
“There is a pressing need in the Orthodox community for accurate and thorough information on the conditions under which end-of-life care should be provided,” said Burns Read the rest of this entry…
