News Briefs

Cutting Edge

Dr. Samara Reck-Peterson, a nationally renowned mechanistic cell biologist, has been recruited to lead the new Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics beginning Aug. 1. Reflecting the ongoing evolution of science toward interdisciplinary collaboration, the department marshals biochemists, biophysicists and experts in protein engineering and imaging to drive discoveries in the basic mechanisms of cell function. Dr. Reck-Peterson, a leader in using cutting-edge technologies such as advanced light microscopy and cryo-electron microscopy to visualize protein dynamics and transport in cells down to the atomic level, is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and a professor in the Departments of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of California, San Diego.

Leading the Office of Medical Education

Dr. Joseph E. Safdieh, an esteemed and long-standing Weill Cornell Medicine medical educator and neurologist, has been appointed senior associate dean for education, effective May 19.

Dr. Safdieh leads the institution’s Office of Medical Education and oversees the overall living and learning experience of Weill Cornell Medical College’s students. He will develop academic programs for medical and physician assistant students, administer educational policies, and foster a vibrant, talented and diverse student body. He will also work toward elevating the work of the teaching faculty into scholarly pursuits. Dr. Safdieh succeeds Dr. Yoon Kang, who departed the institution last summer.

The Envelope, Please…

In an annual rite of passage, Weill Cornell Medicine’s Class of 2025 gathered on March 21 to learn where they matched to do their internship and residency training.

Of the 98 students who entered the match: 

86 percent

matched to top postgraduate residency specialty programs

50 students

will remain in metropolitan New York

30 matched

to NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and other NewYork-Presbyterian campuses

31 will pursue

primary care residencies in internal and family medicine, pediatrics, or obstetrics and gynecology

Guiding A World-Class Team of Colorectal Surgeons

Dr. Alessandro Fichera, a prominent colorectal surgeon, has been named chief of the Division of Colorectal Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medicine. In this role, Dr. Fichera leads a world-class team of colorectal surgeons that uses state-of-the-art technologies and innovative surgical techniques to provide patients with the very best in comprehensive colorectal care, including for colorectal and anal cancer, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and other benign conditions affecting the colon, rectum and anus.

A Focus on Health Policy

Weill Cornell Medicine and the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy have established the Cornell Health Policy Center to serve as the locus for health policy impact, research and training across Cornell. The center will focus on policies aimed at improving health care access, quality and affordability; addressing the social drivers of poor health and health disparities; and communicating strategies to effectively disseminate health policy information to decision-makers and the public. Dr. Beth McGinty, chief of the Division of Health Policy and Economics in the Department of Population Health Sciences and the Livingston Farrand Professor of Population Health Sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine, and Dr. Colleen Barry, founding dean of the Brooks School, will co-lead the center.

Illustrations: Rohan McDonald