Residents of the Department of Neurosurgery honored by the NY State Neurosurgical Society at their Annual Meeting

Emanuela Binello, MD, PhD, ScD and Yakov Gologorsky, MD were among 8 Residents in the state to receive the New York State Neurosurgical Resident Award

Two residents of the Department of Neurosurgery of The Mount Sinai Medical Center were honored by the New York State Neurosurgical Society at their Annual Meeting, held on June 3rd. Emanuela Binello, MD, PhD, ScD and Yakov Gologorsky, MD were among eight residents in the state to receive the New York State Neurosurgical Resident Award.

Emanuela Binello, MD, PhD, ScD, a fifth year resident, presented her work, “Effect of Fenofibrate on Human High Grade Glioma Proliferation and Apoptosis in Vitro.” This is Dr. Binello’s second year in a row receiving this award. Collaborating with research mentor, Isabelle Germano, MD, Professor of Neurosurgery, Neurology and Oncological Sciences and Director of the Stereotactic and Brain Tumor Program, they are investigating new strategies for adjuvant treatment of malignant brain tumors.

Yakov Gologorsky, MD, a fourth year resident, presented, “Deep Brain Stimulation of the Internal Globus Pallidus for Dystonic Cerebral Palsy: A Consecutive Series and Review of the Literature.” Dr. Gologorsky spent this past academic year with his mentor, Dr. Ron Alterman, Director of Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery, developing specialized expertise in deep brain stimulation surgery; a groundbreaking technology that is improving the lives of patients with dystonia, Parkinson's disease, tremor, and obsessive compulsive disorder. Mount Sinai is the busiest DBS surgery center in the New York region and Dr. Gologorsky's presentation furthers our understanding of which dystonia patients are likely to respond to this surgery.

The meeting was held on June 3, 2011 in Rye Brook, New York at the Doral Arrowwood. Research presentations were given by residents from various neurosurgery programs around the state, including some from the most competitive medical centers in the nation, such as Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. Mount Sinai School of Medicine ranks among the top twenty medical schools in the nation. Drs. Binello Gologorsky were judged by a panel of neurosurgeons of the New York State Neurosurgical Society.

The Neurosurgery Residency Program of The Mount Sinai Medical Center is a seven-year program, which includes five years of clinical surgery, dedicated time for research, and an opportunity for residents to be exposed to subspecialties early in their careers. It is this unique experience, which allows residents like Dr. Gologorsky to pioneer procedures early in their careers that make complex surgeries safer and more effective for patients and like Dr. Binello to conduct cutting edge research to find novel therapies to improve the survival of patients with malignant brain tumors.