To empower patients and engage our physicians and nurses, we held an all-day Women’s Health Forum in November 2024. Very promising women’s health initiatives are in the works at Mount Sinai. But in the last year we have already made significant advances in expanding our understanding and optimizing care.
I’m pleased to announce that Anna Barbieri, MD, has been named the Clinical Strategy Leader for the new Carolyn Rowan Center for Women's Health and Wellness. This is a state-of-the-art health center—set to open in early 2026—that will offer integrative health care services for women at all life stages.
In 2024, Mount Sinai launched the Center of Excellence for Gynecologic Cancer, dedicated to providing a multidisciplinary approach to diagnosing and treating gynecologic cancers, integrating leading-edge medical science and clinical trials with compassionate patient care. The Center, led by Co-Directors Stephanie V. Blank, MD, and Dmitriy Zamarin, MD, PhD, also prioritizes cancer prevention with a focus on genetic predisposition to cancers, as well as preinvasive conditions that affect women's health.
A team approach at Mount Sinai enables cancer patients of reproductive age to make vital, timely decisions about preserving their fertility. Alan B. Copperman, MD, ensures that these patients can see a reproductive specialist within days of diagnosis. And together, a team that includes geneticists, oncologists, surgeons, and immunologists enables patients to make an informed decision about their future fertility without worrying that it would compromise their survival.
In the realm of research, a truly multidisciplinary study led by Leslee Shaw, PhD, Director of the Blavatnik Family Women’s Health Research Institute, showed for the first time the potential of long-term effects of severe preeclampsia on the mother’s risk of cardiovascular disease. The study—also led by renowned specialists such as Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, Director of Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital—suggests that the longer the mother’s exposure to elevated blood pressure, the greater the risk of cardiovascular complications for her, and even for her child.
A study led by Katharine McCarthy, PhD, MPH, showed a link between prediabetes among young people and adverse pregnancy outcomes later in life. Her team’s findings could alter how doctors routinely screen or counsel youth on blood glucose levels to minimize potential maternal and neonatal risks. A large cohort study led by Veerle Bergink, MD, PhD, Director of the Women’s Mental Health Center at Mount Sinai, provided evidence for the first time on familial risk of postpartum psychosis. The findings pave the way for preventive work to be done for women at increased risk.
In a sign of our leadership in obstetrics and in health equity, a team from Mount Sinai was invited by the Joint Commission to present a webinar that outlined the development of our data-driven infrastructure to support the quality and equity of our care. In the presentation, Toni A. Stern, MD, MS, MBA; Desmond Sutton, MD; and Alana Noble, focused on our success in identifying and addressing disparities among our patients in the Nulliparous Term Singleton Vertex C-birth rate and the vaginal birth after Cesarean rate.
The holistic well-being of our patients is always in our thoughts. Mount Sinai’s Rainbow Clinic, the first of its kind in the nation, offers enhanced clinical care and psychological support to women and their families who have experienced a perinatal loss. In 2024, this included a patient who delivered a baby girl one year after the loss of her first daughter. Profoundly grateful to her physician, Samsiya Ona, MD, and the Clinic, the patient has helped develop a mentoring program for mothers facing the same challenges. As Founding Director of the Rainbow Clinic and Chair of our Department, outcomes such as this fill me with pride and gratitude.
We invite you to explore our 2025 Specialty Report to learn more about Mount Sinai and our commitment to understanding and elevating the distinctive health care needs of women, serving as a health care partner with women for their entire lives.
Joanne L. Stone, MD, MS, Ellen and Howard C. Katz Chair of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science