The core mentoring faculty is multidisciplinary, including experts in cancer prevention and screening, health disparities, comparative effectiveness, behavioral psychology, genetics, molecular epidemiology, and palliative care. Two groups of mentors from the Core Faculty will be identified. Primary Mentors will comprise senior faculty who will have direct responsibility for mentoring trainees and will be expected to meet with trainees weekly. Secondary Mentors will complement the expertise of primary mentors and will meet with trainees at least monthly to provide additional research guidance in areas not directly related to trainees’ work with their primary mentors. Secondary mentors will also be available to supplement trainees’ career development and guidance. The assigned program director, primary mentor and at least one of the secondary mentors will comprise the Mentorship Committee and will meet together with the trainee on a biannual basis to review trainees’ progress.
Research Mentors
Mentors include, but are not limited to the following faculty:
Juan P. Wisnivesky, MD, DrPH (Wisnivesky Laboratory) is a Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine for the MSHS. He is a health services researcher with a focus on the epidemiology and outcomes of lung and other cancers. Dr. Wisnivesky is an internationally recognized expert in disparities in lung cancer care and outcomes in the elderly and minorities and has statistical expertise on comparative effectiveness methods.
Guy H. Montgomery, PhD is a Professor in the Departments of Population Health Science and Policy and Psychiatry. He is Director of the Center for Behavioral Oncology, Director of the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, and Director of Psychological Services at the Dubin Breast Center. Dr. Montgomery’s research is focused on understanding patients’ experiences of cancer treatment, investigating the contribution of cognitive and affective factors to side effects of cancer and its treatment, and using that combined understanding to develop interventions to improve patients’ quality of life during and after cancer treatment.
Nina Bickell, MD, MPH (https://plu.mx/mtsinai/u/nbickell) is a Professor in the Departments of Population Health Science and Policy and Medicine and Associate Director for Community Engagement at the TCI. Her research focuses on cancer care disparities, as well as the influence of physicians' attitudes, beliefs, and organizational characteristics on the quality of oncologic care.
Alex Federman, MD, MPH (Federman Laboratory) is Professor and Director of Research, Division of General Internal Medicine. He is a clinical scientist with a focus on health disparities, health literacy, cognition, and cultural factors affecting the health of priority populations.
James Ferrara, MD (Ferrara Laboratory) is Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine and Director of the Bone Marrow Transplant Translational Research Center. His work is focused on the basic and translational immunology of marrow transplantation.
Claudia Henschke, MD, PhD is a Professor in the Department of Radiology and Director of Early Lung Cancer Action Program. She is a pioneer in the study of the role of low-dose CT screening for lung cancer, a test that has now been adopted as the standard of care in the US.
Fred Hirsch, MD, PhD is the Executive Director at the Center for Thoracic Oncology and a Professor of Medicine. For over 25 years, he has engaged in lung cancer research that has focused in targeted therapies and early detection of lung cancer.
Lina Jandorf, MA (Jandorf Laboratory) is a Research Professor and Director of Cancer Community Outreach for the TCI. In this role, she is responsible for bringing cancer education and screening programs to medically underserved communities. Her work has focused on reducing health disparities in cancer incidence and mortality via increased screening and early detection.
Chung Yin (Joey) Kong, PhD is a Senior Faculty member in the Division of General Internal Medicine. He is a health outcomes researcher. His research focuses on decision analysis and disease modeling, and the application of these methodologies to the screening and treatment of cancers. His work had been used to inform health policy such as the lung cancer screening guidelines recommended by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF).
Derek LeRoith, MD, PhD is Professor and Director of Research in the Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes and former Division Chief. His research has focused on the association between cancer risk and mortality, obesity, and diabetes using preclinical mouse models of insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia and hypercholesterolemia.
Jenny J. Lin, MD, MPH is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine whose research lies at the intersection of chronic disease management and cancer survivorship. Her research focuses on the interrelationship of disease beliefs about multiple illnesses and its impact on chronic disease self-management and health outcomes in cancer survivors.
Madhu Mazumdar, PhD is Professor of Biostatistics in the Department of Population Health Science and Policy and Director of the Institute of Healthcare Delivery Science at the ISMMS. She is Director of the Biostatistics Core for TCI and has a long track record of collaborations with clinical and laboratory researchers in the fields of oncology and surgery. Her research interests include methodology development in the fields of meta-analysis and clinical trial design.
R. Sean Morrison, MD is Professor and Chair of the Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Director of the Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute, a practicing palliative medicine physician, and an internationally recognized health services researcher. He has grown the Hertzberg Institute into the largest academic palliative care program in the country.
William H. Redd, PhD is a Professor and former Vice Chair of the Department of Oncological Sciences and former Director of CPC at Mount Sinai. For >30 years, he has been engaged in research in psycho-oncology and CPC and is credited for introducing behavioral psychology to research and clinical practice in cancer supportive care.
Keith Sigel, MD, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine whose research is focused on unique translational and epidemiological factors related to cancer risk and outcomes in HIV-infected persons.
Cardinale B Smith, MD, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine and the Director of the Supportive Oncology Program. Dr. Smith is an active health services researcher at the intersection of oncology and palliative care with a special emphasis on minority populations. Her research focuses on doctor-patient communication, evaluating treatment disparities, determinants of cancer patients’ quality of care and developing approaches to eliminate barriers that affect optimal cancer and palliative care.
Emanuela Taioli, MD, PhD is a Professor in Population Health Science and Policy, Director of the Institute for Translational Epidemiology and Associate Director for Population Science at the TCI. Her research interest is in cancer epidemiology and she has published widely on environmental carcinogens, cancer and nutrition, and genetic susceptibility to cancer.
Gary Winkel, PhD is a Research Professor in Oncological Sciences and a biostatistician. His expertise is in research design and statistical analysis with emphases on longitudinal data analysis and structural equation modeling. He is a member of the Training Faculty on other Postdoctoral Training Grants and has considerable experience working with trainees on research design, statistical and power analysis, and grant preparation.
Minal Kale, MD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine whose research is focused on lung cancer screening in high-risk patients and patients with chronic diseases
Julie Schnur, PhD is an Associate Professor in Oncological Sciences and Co-Director of the Integrative Behavioral Medicine Program. Her research is focused on understanding patients’ experiences of cancer treatment and developing psychological interventions to improve their management.
Weiva Sieh, MD, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Population Health Science and Policy and of Genetics and Genomics Sciences. Her research focuses on identifying genetic and lifestyle factors underlying cancer susceptibility and outcomes, especially of hormone-related cancers.
Jeffrey J. Weiss, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and has worked for >25 years as a clinical psychologist providing care and conducting research on how behavioral interventions can improve access to care and outcomes of patients with Hepatitis C infection in order to prevent long-term complications, including liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.