Message From the Chief

The Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease had a welcome return to more normal operations in 2021. Our superb faculty continue to be at the forefront of developing innovative approaches to provide optimal clinical care for patients living with diabetes and other endocrine disorders. The Division is recognized nationally for excellence across numerous Mount Sinai Health System campuses, and in addition, The Mount Sinai Hospital was ranked 10th in Diabetes and Endocrinology by US News and World Report.

The Mount Sinai Diabetes Center, directed by Carol Levy, MD, has been the leading center in the New York area for the artificial pancreas, making progress in 2021 in bringing this valuable technology to pregnant women with type 1 diabetes.

The Division's robust research initiatives have continued to expand. My research group leads an NIH­-supported international research program with collaborators in England, the Netherlands, and South Korea to map genes associated with the novel subtypes of polycystic ovary syndrome we recently discovered. Andrew F. Stewart, MD, Director of the Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism Institute (DOMI), and his team are starting a phase 1 trial of harmine, a drug that shows great promise for regenerating human pancreatic beta cells, a novel approach to diabetes therapy. Researchers in DOMI have conducted other influential research: finding that SARS-CoV-2 is unlikely to lead to new-onset diabetes; gaining in-depth knowledge of pancreatic innervation; and investigating the function of a wide spectrum of fat cells.

The Clinical Endocrine Fellowship programs at our main academic sites, The Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, and Mount Sinai Beth Israel, will merge starting July 1, 2022. The merged program will be the largest Endocrine fellowship program in the United States, with seven fellows per year for the two-year Master Clinician track. We have already accepted our first group of fellows, who all come from outstanding internal medicine residency programs.

In clinical care, Alice Levine, MD, developed an approach to remotely manage adrenal tumors during the COVID-19 pandemic. We launched Medicine Multispecialty at Mount Sinai Morningside, where endocrinologists team with other specialties to care for patients living with complex chronic diseases. Our surgeons excel at Transoral Thyroidectomy, which involves the removal of the thyroid gland through the lower lip, resulting in minimal scarring. Joshua Safer, MD, found that the risk of blood clots was minimal if transgender women remained on estrogen treatment before gender-affirming surgery, which may lead to a change in practice.

I encourage you to take a look at our 2022 Specialty Report to learn more about the extraordinary work we are doing here in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease.