1960s

Melvin Schapiro, M.D. ’60, and his wife, Barbara, recently reunited with Helen and Ron Ross; Marne and Jerry Ruskin; and Annette and Aaron Satloff—graduates of Einstein’s class of 1960 and their wives—on Catalina Island. This trip served as their first gathering since their graduation.

Howard Schwartz, M.D. ’60, was selected as “Man of the Year” by the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona at the annual Jewish Community Awards Celebration.

Edward M. Stim, M.D. ’60, celebrated his 85th birthday this year. He writes two personal blogs: “Physician’s Notebooks” and “Adventures of Kimi, Woman of Japan.”

Henry H. Wortis, M.D. ’60, is still active in research and teaching at Tufts University School of Medicine. His current interest is developing vaccines that protect against chronic inflammatory diseases. He directs an immunology training program and a postbaccalaureate biomedical diversity training program at Tufts. Dr. Wortis and his wife, Sheli, are involved in politics and spend time with their grandchildren in western Massachusetts.

Steven L. Jaffe, M.D. ’65, is the author of a recently released book, Sacred Connections: Studies of Spirituality in Recovering Adolescent and Young Adult Substance Abusers.

Robert S. Hoffman, M.D. ’69, F.A.C.P.S., delivered two lectures at the annual Southern Headache Society meeting in Asheville, NC, last September. His eldest grandson, a junior in Carnegie Mellon University’s acting program, has a brother who hopes to join him in the same program this fall. Dr. Hoffman’s twin granddaughters study at Washington University and Brandeis University. The rest of his grandchildren range in age from 8 months to 17 years. He is expecting his 12th grandchild.

1970s

Sterling J. Jaidt, M.D. ’70, retired in 2015 and now resides in California, focusing on digital art and design.

Jacob Ackerman, M.D. ’71, just welcomed a second great-grandson. This past summer, Dr. Ackerman won first place in a pingpong fundraising tournament, which raised money to help battered wives. Since there were 40 entrants under the age of 45, it was a thrilling win. He believes his practice in Einstein dorms from 1967 to 1971 set him up for success.

Norman Luban, M.D. ’71, has retired from his neurology private practice. He now evaluates neurologically disabled members of the military and teaches science at a local high school. He and his family spend their summers on Cape Cod.

Toby Tucker Hecht, Ph.D. ’73, is excited to be a part of the National Cancer Institute’s Canine Immunotherapy Trials Network, composed of scientists and veterinary oncologists who study dogs with spontaneous tumors. Their findings could help researchers better use and combine immunotherapy agents in humans.

Arthur Pickoff, M.D. ’75, retired as chair of pediatrics and of community health and as assistant dean for clinical research at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. Today, he is happily continuing a different kind of education at the Cincinnati School of Bartending.

Samuel M. Salamon, M.D. ’77, and his wife, Ruthie, have lived in Cleveland since 1985, where he has built his ophthalmology private practice. Their proudest “achievements” are their dozen grandchildren, half of whom live two blocks away from them; the other half live in Israel.

Steven Wolinksy, M.D. ’79, has treated patients at Orange Dermatology Associates PC in New York since 1984. He and his wife, Vita, have five children and 11 grandchildren. He has kept active by running nine marathons in the United States and seven in Israel.

1980s

Barbara Bartlik, M.D. ’81, has published a new book, Integrative Sexual Health, a volume in the Dr. Andrew Weil Integrative Medicine Library. The book is a comprehensive, evidence-based academic text on healing sexual dysfunction; it combines recent ideas and practices from conventional and alternative medicine.

Pesach Lichtenberg, M.D. ’84, has established a nongovernmental organization. It has built two homes in Jerusalem that serve as humane alternatives to psychiatric inpatient units for people in acute emotional distress, including severe psychotic and affective states. More homes are planned.

Marjorie Merod, M.D. ’84, has welcomed her first grandchild, Emily Louisa Stevens.

Max Shapiro, M.D. ’84, lives in Beverly Hills, CA, and has three children currently enrolled in medical school.

Sharon Jaffe, M.D. ’85, was named Orlando Style magazine’s 2018 “Woman of the Year” in recognition of her community involvement and her compassion, knowledge, and expertise in helping couples conceive.

Harry J. Sacks, M.D. ’86, F.A.A.P., is now vice president of medical affairs and corporate medical officer at OptiNose, Inc., a pharmaceutical company focused on developing new products for patients with diseases treated by otolaryngologists and allergists.

Joan Bregstein, M.D. ’87, has been an attending physician in the NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital pediatric emergency department for the past 23 years. She is also an associate professor of pediatrics at Columbia University. She is happy to report that her daughter, Shana Burstein, is currently enrolled as a medical student at Einstein in the Class of 2021.

Ellen J. Brand, M.D. ’88, practices at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut as director of obstetric anesthesia. In December 2017, she spoke at the New York State Society of Anesthesiologists’ Postgraduate Assembly meeting. Her older son, Jordan, graduated from Florida State University.

1990s

Barry Kraushaar, M.D. ’90, stays busy practicing at Northeast Orthopedics and Sports Medicine in Nanuet, NY. His twins have enrolled in college and one is already studying organic chemistry. He and his wife, Helene, are plotting their course for the next stage of life. They hope all their classmates are well and enjoying the fruits of their hard work.

Hugh Bases, M.D. ’94, was promoted to clinical associate professor of pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine and is also the program director of the Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics Fellowship. His daughter is a sophomore in college and his son is a junior in high school.

David Markenson, M.D. ’94, currently serves as treasurer and board member of the Colorado Medical Society, president of the Arapahoe-Douglas-Elbert Medical Society, and division vice president for graduate medical education for the continental, mid-American and mountain divisions of the Hospital Corporation of America’s Physician Service Group. He oversees undergraduate and graduate medical education for more than 30 hospitals across the country and serves as the national chair of the scientific advisory council for the American Red Cross.

David Elfenbein, M.D. ’95, and his wife, Leslie Moskowitz-Elfenbein, M.D. ’95, moved in July 2016 to Crested Butte, CO, where Dr. Elfenbein opened his own practice—Pinnacle Orthopedics and Sports Medicine. Dr. Moskowitz-Elfenbein started an ophthalmology practice with the local hospital.

Efrat Meier, M.D. ’95, works as a private-practice ob-gyn in Bergenfield, NJ. He recently remarried—his new spouse is Zvi Goldfischer of West Hartford, CT—and he now has four stepchildren in addition to his four children.

Brian Blaufeux, M.D. ’96, was promoted to regional chief medical informatics officer for the Westchester County, NY, region of Northwell Health.

2000s

Roger Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D. ’00, was elected to the American Academy of Physicians and received the V Foundation Team Science Award for research on BRCA mutated cancers in 2018.

Sandra Torres, M.D. ’04, was promoted to regional chief of Urgent Care ProHEALTH Medical Management, LLC, in Roslyn, NY.

Satra Gradiska, M.D. ’06, and her husband, Daniel, have welcomed their second child, Makeda.

2010s

Caitlin McMullen, M.D. ’10, completed her otolaryngology residency at Montefiore, followed by a fellowship at the University of Toronto. She currently lives in Tampa, FL, and practices at the Moffitt Cancer Center as a head and neck surgical oncologist/reconstructive surgeon.   

Rachel Shakked, M.D. ’10, and her husband, Michael Birns, M.D. ’10, moved to the Philadelphia area after completing their orthopedic surgery residencies and fellowships. Dr. Birns practices at Premier Orthopedics in Broomall, PA, and focuses on operative treatment of sports medicine conditions and athletes. Dr. Shakked works for the Rothman Institute with a focus on surgical care of foot and ankle conditions. They are happy to announce the birth of their first son, Ryan Archer, in July 2017. He is on his way to Einstein, Class of 2040!

Samuel Kallus, M.D. ’11, completed his chief fellow year in gastroenterology at Georgetown University Hospital. He recently accepted a faculty position at George Washington University Hospital to work with medical students, residents, and fellows.

Shira Koss, M.D. ’12, completed her residency in otolaryngology—head and neck surgery at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai. She is currently training as a fellow in laryngology at Emory University Hospital, specializing in vocal cord and trachea surgery and airway reconstruction. Next year she will head to Stanford University for a fellowship in the Stanford Biodesign Innovation Center, where she will work on medtech and healthtech innovations.

Stephen T. Constantine, M.D. ’13, completed his residency in emergency medicine at the University of Chicago in 2016. In 2017, he moved to Charlotte, NC, to complete his fellowship in emergency medical services at Carolinas Medical Center, where he will stay on as a member of the faculty in the department of emergency medicine. He is now board certified in emergency medicine and subspecialty board certified in emergency medical services.

Nadira Ramkellawan, M.D. ’13, and Udit Rawat, M.D. ’13, married in August 2017. Dr. Rawat is currently finishing his radiology residency at the University of Virginia, and Dr. Ramkellawan completed her pediatric residency at Montefiore. She is in the second year of her pediatric emergency medicine fellowship at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Virginia.

Michael Szmyga, Ph.D. ’13, has worked in the medical communications field since graduating from Einstein. He is currently a senior medical director with HealthLogix, a medical education company based in New Jersey. He lives in Astoria, Queens.

Dionna Williams, Ph.D. ’14, accepted a position as an assistant professor in the department of molecular and comparative pathobiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Michael Cooper, M.D. ’15, married his wife, Beth, in November 2017, and honeymooned in Paris and the South of France. Beth currently works as an editorial recruiter at Hearst and Dr. Cooper has started the final year of his psychiatry residency at New York University, where he is a chief resident. They live in Brooklyn.

Evan Kyo Tamura, M.D. ’16, is engaged to Christopher Allen, whom she met during her final year at Einstein. They live in Torrance, CA, where Dr. Tamura is finishing the final year in her family medicine residency at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

Aaron Weiss, M.D. ’16, welcomed a daughter, Layla Elizabeth, this year.