The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research’s Advancing Women
in Science and Medicine (AWSM – pronounced “awesome”) 14th awards
luncheon raised a record-breaking $1.3 million in funding to
support medical research conducted by women scientists. Since
AWSM’s 2010 inception, more than $5 million has been raised to
support women scientists.
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Northwell leaders and researchers
including (left to right) Jill Kalman, MD, Tara Narula, MD,
Kristina Deligiannidis, MD, Shih-Shih Chen, PhD, Sunny Tang, MD,
and Jennifer Mieres, MD, gathered to celebrate women scientists at
Northwell Health’s annual AWSM awards luncheon. (Credit: Feinstein
Institutes)
This year’s event was held on May 6 at Lincoln Center’s David H.
Koch Theater in New York City, where women scientists at the
Feinstein Institutes and across Northwell Health received 71
awards. Donors fully fund the gifts; this year, six $50,000
Emerging Science Awards and 15 $25,000 Career Development Awards
were bestowed.
“Women scientists across Northwell Health and the Feinstein
Institutes are working towards clinical and scientific
breakthroughs every day,” said Sunny Tang, MD, assistant professor
at the Institute of Behavioral Science, and co-president of AWSM.
“We are grateful to all the donors and supporters who believe in
our endeavors and help make them possible.”
During the event, Dr. Tang was awarded the JP Morgan Emerging
Science Award — a gift, totaling $50,000, that will help further
her research in machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI)
to measure and understand brain functioning. Other top awards
included the Samantha and Adam Gordon Scientific Achievement Award
for $125,000 given to Betsy Barnes, PhD, for breast cancer research
and the Barbara Dooley Scientific Achievement Award for $100,000
given to Andrea Vambutas, MD, for novel therapy to recover hearing
loss.
Overall, the AWSM awards luncheon highlights the commitment of
supporters to the Feinstein Institutes and Northwell’s mission to
promote equality, diversity and inclusion by creating more
opportunities for women in science and medicine and investing in
women early in their careers. Funding supports research programs
across the health system, which address some of healthcare’s most
pressing diseases and issues, such as cancer, autoimmune disorders,
maternal health and Alzheimer’s disease.
The luncheon featured remarks from Northwell leaders, including
Jill Kalman, MD, executive vice president, chief medical officer
and deputy physician-in-chief, and Jennifer H. Mieres, MD, senior
vice president at the Center for Equity of Care and chief diversity
and inclusion officer, as well as a discussion about breakthrough
discoveries in women’s behavioral health with Kristina
Deligiannidis, MD, professor in the Institute of Behavioral Science
at the Feinstein Institutes and director of women’s behavioral
health at Northwell’s Zucker Hillside Hospital, and Tara Narula,
MD, associate director of the Lenox Hill Women’s Heart Program.
In 2010, Betty Diamond, MD, director and professor at the
Institute of Molecular Medicine and the Maureen and Ralph Nappi
Professor of Autoimmune Diseases, established AWSM to advance women
scientists’ career development and opportunities at the Feinstein
Institutes. The program is comprised of women faculty members who
lead biomedical research programs in basic, translational and
clinical studies in a wide variety of diseases. Its core
initiatives include recognition, career development, advocacy and
education, networking and mentoring.
“Despite the importance of women in science, their research is
often underfunded,” said Kevin J. Tracey, MD, president and CEO of
the Feinstein Institutes and the Karches Family Distinguished Chair
in Medical Research. “It is with sincere gratitude that we
celebrate the enthusiastic and generous donors behind AWSM so that
we can harness the power of women in science to advance the future
of health care.”
Donors to AWSM are supporting Northwell’s Outpacing the
Impossible campaign, a $1.4 billion comprehensive fundraising
effort to fuel innovation to advance health care and support
Northwell’s promise to the people it serves. The campaign, which
was publicly launched in 2018, supports capital projects, improves
hospitals and clinical programs, advances research and funds
endowments for teaching and research initiatives.
For more information about AWSM, visit give.northwell.edu.
About the Feinstein Institutes The Feinstein Institutes
for Medical Research is the home of the research institutes of
Northwell Health, the largest healthcare provider and private
employer in New York State. Encompassing 50 research labs, 3,000
clinical research studies and 5,000 researchers and staff, the
Feinstein Institutes raises the standard of medical innovation
through its five institutes of behavioral science, bioelectronic
medicine, cancer, health system science, and molecular medicine. We
make breakthroughs in genetics, oncology, brain research, mental
health, autoimmunity, and are the global scientific leader in
bioelectronic medicine – a new field of science that has the
potential to revolutionize medicine. For more information about how
we produce knowledge to cure disease, visit
http://feinstein.northwell.edu and follow us on LinkedIn
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Julianne Mosher Allen 516-880-4824
jmosherallen@northwell.edu