News

Dr. Elizabeth Wilson-Anstey, the Assistant Dean for Diversity and Student Life; Dr. Susana Morales, Vice Chair for Diversity in the Department of Medicine; Dr. Jessica Pena of the Division of Cardiology; Drs. Dwindally Rosado-Rivera, Jorge Munoz Pineda, and Mariella Ntamatungiro, internal medicine housestaff, medical student, Barbara Sahagun, and MD-PhD students, Nneoma Adaku and Camila Villasante attended the National Hispanic Health Foundation (NHHF) Annual Scholarship Gala at the New York Academy of Medicine as representatives of Weill Cornell Medicine. NHHF honored several esteemed...

On November 20th, our first WCM Breaking Bread Dinner was well attended by students, faculty, and staff and a great success. Everyone was welcomed and encouraged to share their thoughts on diversity in a safe environment. The dinner dialogue was co-facilitated by Dr. Linnie Golightly (Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion) and Dr. Renee Alexander (Dean of Students, Cornell University), who developed and won an award for initiating the Breaking Bread Dinner series on Cornell's Ithaca campus. We appreciate everyone’s willingness to share and candor. 

The Office of Student Diversity hosted Dr. Sherilynn Black's lecture, "Developing A Climate that Supports Diversity in Science and Medicine." Dr. Black elaborated on the history and development of the Office of Biomedical Graduate Diversity since her appointment as Director. As she began her position, she realized that there was a mismatch in what graduate trainees valued and what the biomedical environment offered. With support from Duke, she established an administrative unit and received institutional funding to foster an inclusive and diverse environment for trainees of all backgrounds...

Alexendar Perez, MD/PHD students was recently named as one of the 30 Under 30 Forbes honorees as one of the 30 Under 30 Forbes honorees in Science. Congratulations, Mr. Perez! 

Danae Vachata, co-founder of Dynamic Surgical & Mallium and former Travelers Summer Research Fellow (T-SRF) 2010 participant was recently named as one of 30 Under 30 Forbes honorees in Healthcare. Congratulations, Ms. Vachata! 

Students, faculty, and staff welcomed and met with Dr. Sherilynn Black, Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Development at Duke University. Dr. Black spoke extensively about the challenges minority students encounter, such as finding suitable mentors to help them navigate the basic sciences. She discussed some of the strategies that she has developed and offered at Duke's Office of Biomedical Graduate Diversity to help support minority students and train their mentors as well as feel a part of a community.

The Office of Student Diversity hosts Coffee Hour for the WCM community every other Friday. Students, faculty, and staff have the opportunity to come and connect with fellow students and colleagues about issues affecting the community. Coffee Hour is open to all students, faculty, and staff of WCM. All are welcomed. The next Coffee Hour sessions are on Fridays: November 17th, December 1st, and December 15th. Please feel free to join us! 

Rolake Alabi, MD/PhD student was awarded the National Medical Scholarships, Dr. David McDonogh Scholarship in Opthalmology/ENT. Congratulations Rolake!

On October 26th, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion hosted its first Research Faculty Dinner. The dinner format is designed to provide an informal, collegial setting for those in research careers to meet each other and build community while learning about each other’s research. The Thursday night event featured a presentation by Dr. Erica Phillips-Caesar, WCM Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine from the Division of General Internal Medicine. Dr. Phillips shared her research on the trending obesity epidemic across low-income ethnic minority populations in New York City. Her research...

In addition to the Breakfast Phone Rally, Dana Zappetti, Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Weill Cornell Medical students, Karina Ruiz-Esteves, Amanda Acosta-Ruiz, and Raul Martínez-McFaline organized collection drives in response to the growing needs of Puerto Ricans in desperate need of food, and basic necessities. Generous donations from the campus community resulted in the collection of 2,110 diapers, 1,728 feminine hygiene products, 1,595 first aid supplies, 348 batteries and flashlights, 328 food items, 332 hygiene items, 253 baby food items, 176 school supply items, 45...