As we all carried on another busy year in medicine—facing the demands of patient care amid continuing waves of COVID-19—Mount Sinai’s Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science has been changing and growing.
The Department in 2021 received a multimillion-dollar, transformative gift from Raquel and Jaime Gilinski. Their support will allow us to build upon Mount Sinai’s legacy of providing comprehensive care, research, and advocacy for women.
In January 2022, I had the great honor of succeeding my friend and colleague Michael Brodman, MD, as Chair of the Raquel and Jaime Gilinski Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science. I am very proud to have spent most of my professional career at Mount Sinai, completing my residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology and a fellowship in Maternal Fetal Medicine—a program that is close to my heart and that I went on to direct.
Dr. Brodman—who is starting in a new direction as Senior Vice President for Professional Excellence for the Mount Sinai Health System—has devoted his entire medical career to Mount Sinai. He is a nationally renowned pelvic surgeon whose advocacy for urogynecology positioned Mount Sinai as one of the first centers in the country to offer an accredited fellowship in this field. As Chair, he has overseen enormous growth of both clinical and educational programs in our Department. And we are all profoundly grateful to him.
In 2021, we also welcomed Leslee Shaw, PhD, as Director of the Blavatnik Family Women’s Health Research Institute. Toni Stern, MD, MS, MBA, has taken on the additional role of Vice Chair for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion of the OB/GYN Department; Siobhan Dolan, MD, MPH, is the new Vice Chair for Genetics and Genomics for the Department; and Angela Bianco, MD, is now Director of Maternal Fetal Medicine and the Fellowship program.
This annual report features many highlights of our research and clinical care: The OB/GYN Department partnered with PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy, using their multidisciplinary "Rainbow Clinic" model to support women and their families who have experienced stillbirth by providing enhanced clinical services and psychological support during subsequent pregnancies. The program will also conduct research to learn more about the risk factors that contribute to stillbirth.
Meanwhile, our physicians and scientists are continuing innovative research projects such as the Generation C Study, which is evaluating pregnancy outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic and most recently found that a SARS-CoV-2 infection in early pregnancy that has resolved by the time of delivery does not appear to adversely affect maternal or fetal outcomes. In further high-impact research, investigators found that vaccination against COVID-19 did not affect fertility outcomes in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization.
In a testament to our outstanding clinical care, a multidisciplinary team safely delivered a baby to a patient on life support for COVID-19 pneumonia, and we helped launch a program to treat and support people with mutations in the BRCA 1 or 2 genes. Heath equity and anti-racism continue to be important priorities for us, including a grassroots effort developed by our residents.
In this time of great change, our legacy remains constant. Research creates a path to the future, so we are investing heavily in cutting-edge research by recruiting faculty who are leaders in their fields and by building a research infrastructure that will lead to advances in the health of women at all stages of their lives.
We invite you to explore our Department to learn more about Mount Sinai and our commitment to research innovation, physician training, and the advanced, compassionate, and equitable care of our patients.
Joanne Stone, MD, MS, Chair and Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai