Arthur Eidelman, M.D. ’63, is the recipient of the 2023 Pioneer Award, given by the Section on Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He is currently a visiting professor of pediatrics (neonatology) at Einstein. He served as the president of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) from 2011 to 2013, and in 2015 he was appointed editor in chief of Breastfeeding Medicine, the official journal of the ABM. Dr. Eidelman currently serves as the scientific coordinator and advisor to the Dream Doctors Project, a nonprofit organization that integrates professional medical clowns into Israeli hospitals to improve patient care.
Gary Rosenberg, M.D. ’63, stepped down as chair of neurology at the University of New Mexico (UNM) after 30 years and founded the UNM Center for Memory and Aging. The National Institutes of Health recently named it the 35th Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center in the United States, with Dr. Rosenberg as its principal investigator. The center will study the role of vascular disease and neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s disease and will expand dementia care to members of rural, medically underrepresented communities, including Hispanics and Native Americans, in New Mexico.
Stewart Aledort, M.D. ’64, retired after more than 60 years of practicing group psychotherapy in Washington, D.C. He has been an expert presenter at the American Group Psychotherapy Association and just published a book, Advances in Group Psychotherapy: Living in the Passionate Bad Fit. Dr. Aledort lost his beloved wife, Sheila, in 2020. He says he would love to keep in touch with his classmates.
Simon Sobo, M.D. ’68, wrote “What Happens When You Have to Win a War,” which was published in Commentary magazine in May.
Noah Lightman, M.D. ’69, retired from his active hospital-based radiology practice in 2014. He celebrated his 75th birthday in South Africa and his 80th in Israel. He is now in Germany with two grandchildren, visiting small towns where his in-laws lived until 1938. His granddaughter-in-law, Michelle Herman Lightman, is part of the Class of 2027 at Einstein. He says, “Stay well!”
Miriam Levitt-Flisser, M.D. ’71, is still in practice as a pediatrician in Bronxville, N.Y., and serves as the medical director of its school district. During COVID-19 Bronxville was able to keep its schools open, including its summer school, which serves students with disabilities, and the village received a district award from the federal government for preserving academic excellence. Dr. Levitt-Flisser is a class ambassador and is a voluntary faculty member at Einstein and Montefiore. She and her husband, Harvey Flisser, are happy to report that they have seven grandchildren.
Gerald “Jerry” Appel, M.D. ’72, is still working full-time, seeing nephrology patients, doing research studies, and traveling to give lectures as a professor of medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He has been married to Alice Appel, Ph.D. ’75, for 54 years. His first grandson went off to college this fall.
Gary Lotner, M.D. ’73, successfully rekindled old friendships of half a century ago through a series of class Zooms (still ongoing) and through his 50th class reunion last year. He is happy to report that four couples (David Siegel, M.D. ’73, and Nancy Lazarus, M.D. ’76; Donald Kotler, M.D. ’73, and Barbara Kotler; Martin Pildis, M.D. ’73, and Ellen Pildis, and he and his wife, Sandra Cuttler) have all traveled to France together to tour Paris and Provence. The members of the Class of 1973 are now in the process of extending their friendships by establishing a class book club focusing on medical topics. Dr. Lotner also reports that he and his wife are very proud of their two oldest grandchildren, who had their b’nai mitzvah together in June, with more than 90 people visiting from out of town.
Steven Mandel, M.D. ’75, is a clinical professor of neurology at Hofstra Northwell. He and his wife, Heidi Mandel, Ph.D., L.M.S.W., celebrated the birth of their second granddaughter, Madeline Mary Jean, on May 26, 2024.
Chaim Brickman, M.D. ’77, says he can cross one item off his bucket list: He has co-founded a pharmaceutical company. In 2021, he and a colleague helped raise $200 million to launch Upstream Bio, based in Waltham, Mass., which develops drugs for the treatment of inflammatory and allergic diseases. Their flagship drug, UPB-101, is currently in development for treatment of severe asthma and chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps. Dr. Brickman is looking to retire this year to invest more time in his family, learn Jewish texts, and garden. He credits the discoveries he made as a teenager in his mother’s garden with leading him to biology, medicine, and eventually pharma.
Sten Vermund, M.D. ’77, Ph.D., has been appointed the new dean of the University of South Florida (USF) College of Public Health. Dr. Vermund, known for his extensive expertise in infectious-disease epidemiology and prevention, will begin his role in January 2025. Prior to joining USF, Dr. Vermund served as the Anna M. R. Lauder Professor of Public Health and dean at the Yale School of Public Health from 2017 to 2022, and as a professor of pediatrics and a clinical professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences at the Yale School of Medicine. He is also the current president of the Global Virus Network, which recently moved its international headquarters to USF. Dr. Vermund is a member of the Einstein Alumni Association’s board of governors.
Sten Vermund, M.D. '77, Ph.D.
Steven K. Mishkin, M.D. ’81, retired in June after practicing ophthalmology for 36 years in New Jersey. For 25 years, he was the managing partner of Millennium Eye Care and Freehold Surgical Center in Freehold, N.J. He lives in Marlboro, N.J., with his wife, Daphne, and enjoys hiking, traveling, and tai chi. He looks forward to expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctica and someday climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. His greatest joy comes from spending time with his 3-year-old granddaughter, Raelyn Patel.
Aaron Tokayer, M.D. ’86, is a professor of clinical medicine at Einstein and also at the State University of New York–Downstate. He is currently the chief of the division of gastroenterology as well as the director of the Neurogastroenterology and Gastrointestinal Motility Center at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Leslie Fuchs, M.D. ’88, has worked in community psychiatry since leaving the Bronx, first in Boston, then in the San Francisco Bay area, and eventually up and down the California coast. Believing that psychiatrists are born, not made, Dr. Fuchs reports that she has fondness and deep respect for colleagues who joined tech companies, climbed the academic ladder, stayed married, or retired early. What she retains from a lifelong affection for Einstein: situational awareness, a sense of humor, and a willingness to break into song.
Paul Gross, M.D. ’88, retired this year from clinical practice after many years on the faculty of family medicine residency programs: 15 years at Montefiore’s residency program in social medicine and 14 years at New York Medical College at Saint Joseph’s in Yonkers. He continues to edit the online publication Pulse, which carries personal accounts of giving and receiving healthcare. He is also still writing, performing, and recording music with Avalanche at Dawn (available on Spotify and Apple Music). He says his wife, Diane, is still his sweetheart; she teaches piano and does vocal coaching at Manhattanville College, edits Pulse stories, and plays keyboard in his band.
Norman Saffra, M.D. ’88, just published a book, The Eyes of Isaac: Ophthalmic Care through the Prism of Judaism.
Jane M. Gold, M.D. ’92, says she is thrilled to share that her daughter, Samantha G. Kanter, M.D. ’24, graduated this May from Einstein and entered her pediatrics residency at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell in June. Dr. Gold reports that she had the immense pleasure of hooding her daughter at the Einstein graduation ceremony at Lincoln Center. Dr. Gold is actively involved in the Einstein Alumni Association and recently hosted a Westchester alumni gathering at her home.
Robert Brenner, M.D. ’94, has been appointed chief medical officer by Vera Therapeutics. Dr. Brenner previously served in executive roles at several clinical-stage biotech companies, such as chief medical officer at Orionis Biosciences and senior vice president of medical affairs at AMAG Pharmaceuticals.
David Markenson, M.D. ’94, has been appointed the senior associate dean for research at the New York Medical College School of Health Sciences and Practice in Valhalla, N.Y.
Joan Sisto, M.D. ’95, is leading the new Optima Dermatology location in York, Maine. Dr. Sisto has been serving patients in southern Maine and on the New Hampshire coast since 1999. After receiving her degree from Einstein, she completed her residency in dermatology at Montefiore Hospital and was named chief resident during her final year.
Hanah Polotsky, M.D. ’99, recently co-authored Physician Leader: How Exam Room Experience Drives Leadership Excellence.
Sarah C. Nosal, M.D. ’04, M.B.A., was chosen in September 2024 as the president-elect of the American Academy of Family Physicians, which represents 130,000 physicians, residents, and medical students nationwide. Dr. Nosal is the vice president for innovation and optimization and the chief medical information officer at the Institute for Family Health, a federally qualified health-center network with 27-plus Mid-Hudson, Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn locations. Dr. Nosal, who has more than two decades of family medicine experience in the South Bronx, focuses on the care of marginalized communities and the uninsured.
Sarah C. Nosal, M.D. '04, M.B.A.
Robyn Gartner Roth, M.D. ’06, is a breast radiologist at Cooper University Hospital in southern New Jersey. She runs a popular social media account, @theboobiedocs, where she discusses breast cancer in a fun, educational way. She is a frequent media contributor and hosts a podcast, The Boobie Docs: The Girlfriend’s Guide to Breast Cancer, Breast Health, and Beyond. She is married to a fellow radiologist, and they have three children.
John Paul Sánchez, M.D. ’06, M.P.H., has been appointed the new dean of the School of Medicine of the Central University of the Caribbean in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, where he seeks to expand opportunities for Puerto Rican doctors. Formerly the acting vice president of the office for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Dr. Sánchez has spearheaded initiatives to promote DEI throughout the academic system.
John Paul Sánchez, M.D. '06, M.P.H.
Gary Lelonek, M.D. ’10, co-wrote a research article, “Ramban’s Anatomic Description of the Visual Pathway for the Placement of Tefillin of the Head,” which was published in volume 35 of Hakirah, an academic journal of Jewish law and thought.
Jeremy Fagan, Ph.D. ’15, graduated with his M.D. from Tulane University School of Medicine in May 2024. He will be heading to the Midwest for his residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Cincinnati, where he plans to marry his passions for community-focused research and holistic medicine.
Susmit Tripathi, M.D., M.S. ’19, has started a position as assistant professor of neurology at the University of Maryland Medical Center, where he is joining the divisions of intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) and epilepsy.
Breckin Horton, M.D. ’24, a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, received the 2023 Student of the Year Award from the Native Forward Scholars Fund for her success in higher education and her contributions to the communities around her. The Native Forward Scholars Fund, the largest direct provider of scholarships to Native students, announced the award at its Empowering Scholars Summit, held in Albuquerque, N.M., in July 2024.
