Nov 4, 2008 -- Yeshiva University's Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Fordham University, which both have campuses in the Bronx, have agreed to a collaborative relationship that will strengthen the science and medical offerings at both institutions. A signing ceremony took place on Oct. 30 in the Michael F. Price Center for Genetic and Translational Medicine/Harold and Muriel Block Research Pavilion at Einstein. “Yeshiva University welcomes collaboration with its sister institutions,” said President Richard M. Joel. “It is clear that the welfare of the community mandates that we look for ways to share increasingly scarce physical and human resources for the benefit of society. Universities should show the way to such collaboration.” The agreement will create and augment interaction on the undergraduate, graduate and faculty levels. Fordham will gain access to Einstein’s vast array of clinical medical resources, with undergraduates participating in a hospital mentorship, lab-based coursework and summer program at the medical college. The mentorship will occur each semester at Weiler Hospital of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, a division of Montefiore Medical Center, and be open to two Fordham students, who will shadow an attending physician. Fordham will also recommend two students who will work together with outstanding Yeshiva undergraduate students at Albert Einstein’s prestigious nine-week Summer Undergraduate Research Program. “Einstein has a deep commitment to fostering a love of biomedical science in young college students,” said Edward R. Burns, MD, executive dean of Einstein. “Fordham University’s Rosehill Campus is less than ten minutes away from us. What better way to nurture a budding investigator than to put him or her in the laboratory of an established world-class scientist who can serve as a mentor.” In addition, Fordham’s science and pre-med students may take two-semester, lab-based electives at the medical college. Likewise, Albert Einstein students may take a research elective or other graduate course at Fordham. “Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Fordham University have a natural affinity,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham. “We are both New York research institutions with deep commitments to our religious traditions. The agreement is a tie that binds us closer, serving our respective student bodies, New York City and the advance of science and medicine.” Similar opportunities will be explored for Fordham graduate students in psychology and social work as the partnership between the two institutions progresses, and areas of mutual interest, such as ethics research and education, health law and religion, bioinformatics and neuropsychology, will be considered for further collaboration. On the graduate and faculty level, professors from Fordham and Einstein will be encouraged to pursue joint research opportunities and co-sponsor colloquia and conferences. Faculty from Fordham and Einstein will have the opportunity to sit on the partner institution’s thesis and dissertation committees. Faculty and students from both institutions will also have access to the other’s libraries.