Message from the Chief
While Mount Sinai’s first pulmonologist, Alfred Meyer, MD, was tirelessly making advancements for tuberculosis patients, the third Mount Sinai Hospital was being built. Seth Low, the mayor of New York City at the time, is said to have exclaimed, “If the Hospital had been responsible for nothing else but the development of Dr. Meyer it would have been justified in its existence.” Dr. Meyer established and promoted sanatorium care to tuberculosis patients, introduced oxygen tanks to the inpatient setting, created the tuberculosis division at Mount Sinai, and founded the New York Tuberculosis Association.
Mount Sinai’s Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine has continued in Dr. Meyer’s tradition by providing state-of-the-art care to patients with all forms of lung disease and critical illness.
One of the first sarcoidosis clinics in the nation was started at Mount Sinai in 1948. Today, the Mount Sinai Medical Center is classified as one of only ten Centers of Excellence for research in sarcoidosis and has the largest program of its kind in the world. Faculty who are leaders in the field have expanded programs for sarcoidosis and other interstitial lung diseases, building clinical programs that attract patients from throughout the New York tri-state area and around the world.
According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, more than 22 million people are known to have asthma in the United States. East Harlem, Mount Sinai’s neighboring community, has one of the highest asthma rates in the country. Our physicians reach beyond the walls of the Hospital to educate patients and health care providers about the symptoms and treatments of this disease. Our Asthma Center offers personalized treatment for adults with asthma that incorporates the very latest research into the causes and effective management of the condition. We are also part of the nationwide Asthma Clinical Research Center, a national network of 20 centers committed to asthma research.
Our pulmonologists are also advancing care of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, and utilizing Mount Sinai’s state-of-the-art endoscopy suite to develop new bronchoscopic treatments for a variety of lung diseases.
Our Center for Sleep Medicine, accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, offers the most advanced diagnostic and treatment options available, and our faculty are conducting research to shed new light on sleep-related disorders.
Faculty and trainees benefit from unique learning opportunities in the Critical Care Education Center, which includes a sophisticated, life-sized, computer-driven mannequin that can be programmed to simulate a variety of scenarios involving acutely ill patients under emergent conditions. Graduates of the Division’s fellowship program have become faculty members and division chiefs in pulmonary and critical care medicine throughout the United States and in parts of Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Former Division Chief Michael Iannuzzi, MD, was recruited away from Mount Sinai to become Chairman of Medicine at the University of Syracuse.
Whether you are a current or prospective faculty member, trainee, supporter, or patient, our Division can provide you with amazing opportunities and advantages. I encourage you to explore our Web site and learn about the Division.
Charles A. Powell, MD
Chief, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine