CAMS 2023 SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE FACULTY
| President, American Academy of Pediatrics Founder and Medical Director, Virginia Mental Health Access Program CEO, Trusted Doctors Medical Director of Informatics, Pediatric Health Network, Children’s National Hospital Sandy Chung, MD, FAAP, is the 2023 President of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Pediatrician Dr. Sandy Chung has held over 30 state and national leadership positions, including AAP Virginia Chapter President and Founder and Medical Director of the Virginia Mental Health Access Program. She is the CEO of Trusted Doctors, a pediatric practice of over 180 clinicians in Virginia. DC, and Maryland and serves as Medical Director of Informatics at Children’s National Hospital’s Pediatric Health Network. Her passionate advocacy for child health and pediatricians has delivered major advancements in healthcare equity, mental health, EHR burden reduction, appropriate payment, physician well-being, and optimal child health policies. She is the recipient of multiple awards including the March of Dimes Lifetime Heroine Award recognizing a lifetime of community volunteerism, the Clarence A. Holland Award for providing outstanding contributions to the community and demonstrating leadership in the field of political advocacy, and the Virginia Chapter Child Advocate Award for standing up for the rights, values, and recognition of Virginia’s children. As an avid educator of the next generation of pediatricians, her publications include articles on telemedicine, virtual learning, and health information technology. Dr. Chung received her medical degree from the University of Virginia and completed her pediatric residency at the Inova L.J. Murphy Children’s Hospital. She has appeared in numerous media outlets including the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, NPR, Washington Business Journal, Virginia Business Magazine, Contemporary Pediatrics, and AAP News. Dr. Chung is the proud mother of four amazing children who teach her something new every day. |
| Professor, President Emeritus and Honorary Fellow The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine Edison Liu, M.D. is professor and special fellow of The Jackson Laboratory (JAX), an independent research institute focused on complex genetics and functional genomics situated in Maine, Connecticut, and California. Previously, he was president and CEO of The Jackson Laboratory, and Director of its NCI designated Cancer Center (2012-2021). Before that, he was the founding executive director of the Genome Institute of Singapore, the president of the Human Genome Organization (HUGO) (2001-2012), and the scientific director of the National Cancer Institute's Division of Clinical Sciences in Bethesda, Md (1996-2001). Dr. Liu is an international expert in cancer biology, systems genomics, human genetics, molecular epidemiology and translational medicine with a focus on human breast cancer. He has authored over 340 scientific papers and reviews and co-authored two books. He obtained his B.S. in chemistry and psychology, as well as his M.D., at Stanford University; his advanced training in medicine and oncology at Washington University, St. Louis, and Stanford, and post-doctoral training in molecular oncology at the University of California at San Francisco. Dr. Liu has received numerous awards, including the AACR Rosenthal Award and the Brinker International Award, both for breast cancer research; Public Service Medal from the President of Singapore for his work helping resolve the SARS crisis in Singapore; and the Chen Award for Distinguished Academic Achievement in Human Genetics. He is an elected member to the American Society of Clinical Investigation, foreign member of the European Molecular Biology Organization, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He holds honorary degrees from Queen’s University (UK), University of Southern Maine, and Colby College (Maine). |
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Nadine A. Chang, PhD
Senior Psychologist, Psychology Training Director, Gracie Square Hospital Chair, GSH Asian Psychiatry Program Committee Assistant Attending Psychologist, NY-Presbyterian Hospital Assistant Professor of Psychology in Clinical Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine Nadine A. Chang, Ph.D. is Senior Psychologist, Psychology Training Director, and Chair of the Asian Psychiatry Program Committee at Gracie Square Hospital, a freestanding inpatient psychiatric hospital affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Chang also holds faculty appointments as Assistant Attending Psychologist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Assistant Professor of Psychology in Clinical Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Chang earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology at New York University and Ph.D. in Clinical and School Psychology at Hofstra University. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx and postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine with Dr. Aaron Beck, receiving the NIH National Research Service Award for this work. Dr. Chang was recently awarded a grant from the New York Community Trust to fund community outreach efforts with Asian communities in NYC. Dr. Chang’s interests continue to focus on implementing and disseminating cognitive-behavioral interventions for psychosis and other severe and persistent mental illnesses, suicide prevention and Asian American mental health. |
| Professor, Hansjorg Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine Professor, Department of Neurosurgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine Chief Hand Surgery, NYU Langone Health |
| Medical Director of Cancer Rehabilitation Weill Cornell Medical Center Assistant Professor of Clinical Rehabilitation Medicine Weill Cornell Medicine Dr. Nasim A. Chowdhury, FAAPMR, is the inaugural Chief of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at NewYork Presbyterian Queens. Prior to his role in Queens, he served as the Medical Director of Cancer Rehabilitation and one of two attending physicians of the Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medicine. His practice encompasses a wide array of patients with neuromuscular and musculoskeletal issues with a particular focus on cancer and stroke patients. He has presented at many conferences globally, lectured throughout the world, and serves as a peer reviewer for multiple academic journals. Dr. Chowdhury has also done pro bono medical work, serves as a research mentor for residents at Columbia and Cornell, and helped start a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment clinic in Tanzania. |
| Assistant Attending Physician NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Assistant Professor of Medicine Weill Cornell Medicine Christine A. Garcia, M.D., M.P.H. is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM) and Assistant Attending Physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Garcia specializes in thoracic oncology and classical hematologic conditions. She is the Director of the Hematology and Oncology Fellowship Training Program, overseeing the training of 15 clinical fellows. She also is the Director of Quality and Patient Safety for the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, serving as the chair of the Oncology Quality and Patient Safety Committees. She also serves as the Cancer Liaison Physician representing Weill Cornell Medicine for the American College of Surgeons, Commission on Cancer. Dr. Garcia’s research is focused on quality improvement initiatives in cancer care. She manages multidisciplinary teams on QI projects to improve efficiency and safe delivery of cancer treatments. She is the recipient of two American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Merit Awards in Palliative Care and Quality Care for her research related to quality improvement initiatives. She is a Faculty Scholar in Health Equity in the Cornell Center for Health Equity (CCHEq) and the Diversity Center of Excellence. She also co-founded of the Hematology and Oncology Women Physicians’ Group at Weill Cornell Medicine. She recently became chair of social media and outreach for the New York Lung Cancer Foundation, a NYC-based non-profit (501c3) serving oncology healthcare professionals as the designer and facilitator of organized collaboration models in support of oncology institutions and organizations. Dr. Garcia serves on several national committees including the ASCO Health Equity and Outcomes Committee, Older Adult Taskforce, and Joint Certifications Committee. She is a member of the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM), and on the planning committee for the Alliance Women Leadership Empowerment Advancement and Development (L.E.A.D.) program. She was also selected to participate in the American Association of Medical Colleges Early Career Women Faculty Leadership Development Program. |
| Chief, Thoracic Surgery Associate Professor of Clinical Cardiothoracic Surgery Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery NewYork-Presbyterian/Queens Benjamin E. Lee, M.D., is a board-certified thoracic surgeon, who specializes in the diagnosis and surgical treatment of disorders and diseases of the chest, including benign and malignant tumors of the lungs, esophagus, and the mediastinum. Dr. Lee received his Bachelor of Arts degree in biology and religious studies from Duke University in 1995. He completed his medical degree in 2001 at New York Medical College and his general surgery residency in 2007 at the University of California at Davis Medical Center. From 2004 to 2005, he completed a thoracic surgical research fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and was awarded a Society of University Surgeons Traveling Fellowship Award in 2006. Following his general surgery residency, he returned to the east coast to complete a cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at New York Presbyterian/Cornell Medical Center in 2009. He joined The Valley Hospital Medical Staff in 2009 prior to joining NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Weil Cornell Medical College. |
| Mary Lee-Wong, MD, MS, FAAAI, FACAAI Professor Emeritus of Medicine Division of Clinical Immunology Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Chief, Division of Adult Allergy and Immunology Medical Director of Asian Outreach Maimonides Medical Center Dr. Mary Lee-Wong graduated from SUNY Downstate College of Medicine, then completed a fellowship in allergy and immunology at New York Columbia Presbyterian Hospital followed by a master's in clinical research at Albert Einstein School of Medicine. Subsequently, she became the first female professor at Mount Sinai Beth Israel's Department of Medicine and is currently Professor Emeritus at Icahn School of Medicine as well as Chief of Division of Adult Allergy and Immunology at Maimonides Medical Center. She has written numerous articles for journals and newspapers on allergies, asthma, health and fitness. Currently, as Medical Director of Asian Outreach for the Department of Medicine at Maimonides Medical Center, she continues to volunteer her time working and collaborating with other providers, as well as with many other medical societies and community organizations to address healthcare disparity. She dedicates her time at health fairs, community events and programs that assist disadvantaged populations with the mission to improve healthcare for every individual in our community. Her passion is mentoring and enlisting our younger generation to be mindful of community needs and she encourages them to volunteer to make a difference. |
| Clinical Pharmacy Manager - Lead NewYork-Presbyterian Queens Wing Fun Leo-To received her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from St John’s University and her Doctor of Pharmacy Degree from University of Florida. She began her career at NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia University Irving Medical Center and later joined NewYork-Presbyterian Queens. Wing Fun is currently a Lead Clinical Pharmacy Manager at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens overseeing clinical pharmacy services. She also practices in a multidisciplinary team with the Geriatric and Palliative Care service with physicians, nurse practitioners, social worker, and chaplaincy, and works with patients to optimize medication therapies associated with pain and symptom assessment, monitoring, transitions of care and education to patients, caregivers, and families. She is Board Certified in Pharmacotherapy and serves as a preceptor for Advanced Pharmacy Experience (APPE) students from St John's University. |
| Chief, Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Care Medicine Program Director, Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship NewYork-Presbyterian Queens Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine Weill Cornell Medicine Dr. Pan is a national and international leader in geriatrics and palliative care. She received her BA in Biology from Harvard/Radcliffe and her MD degree from Stony Brook University School of Medicine. She completed her Primary Care Internal Medicine residency at the University of Rochester and Geriatrics Fellowship training at Harvard Medical School’s Division on Aging. She was a faculty member of the Departments of Geriatrics and Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine from 1997 to 2006. Dr. Pan served as Director of Education at the Lilian and Benjamin Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute at Mount Sinai from 1999 to 2006. She created innovative medical school curricula for Y2K, injecting geriatrics and palliative care principles into all four years of undergraduate medical education. Dr. Pan was Medical Director for Queens for Hospice Care Network from 2006 to 2010. During this time, Dr. Pan obtained a grant from The Fan Fox and Samuels Foundation to improve hospice awareness and community outreach to the Asian and Latino population in Queens. She serves now on the Board of Directors for the Chinese American Medical Society (CAMS). Dr. Pan joined NewYork-Presbyterian Queens (NYPQ) in 2010, as the founding director of its Palliative Care Program. This program has helped thousands of seriously ill patients and families. In 2012, Dr. Pan was appointed as Division Chief of Geriatrics and Palliative Care Medicine, and Program Director for the Geriatrics Fellowship. In 2015, Dr. Pan and her team started a new Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellowship at NYPQ, and she serves as its current Program Director. Under her leadership, the NYPQ Palliative Care team is fully interdisciplinary, with physicians, nurse practitioners, social worker, pharmacist, chaplain and volunteers. Dr. Pan strongly believes in medical and interdisciplinary education, and has a grant to deliver “GOComm” across NYP campuses; GOComm provides small group communication training focusing on serious illness communication, using standardized patient actors. She has championed multiple quality improvement projects, including the routine use of MOLST forms at NYPQ, implementing an EMR Goals of Care/Advance Directives note, improving appropriate use of NIPPV, reducing avoidable falls among hospitalized patients, optimizing appropriate use of feeding tubes, promoting early palliative care consultations and hospice screening, and promoting Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP) for vulnerable hospitalized elderly patients. Since Dec 2018, Dr. Pan has as DIO and Director of GME at NYPQ. Her goal is to turn residency training into the #MostMeaningfulYears of their lives! Since then, she and the GME Office have strengthened the infrastructure of the GME Committee, improved housestaff engagement, empowered faculty development, and integrated GME more into hospital and NYP Enterprise operations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Pan disseminated basic palliative care tools to frontline clinicians to help their care of seriously ill patients. She educated the medical and public communities by sharing her personal experiences, being ill with COVID-19, lessons learned, and post-traumatic growth. Dr. Pan works collaboratively with hospital leadership, interdisciplinary team members, and community agencies to optimize palliative care and transitional care for patients with serious illnesses. She has presented in both geriatrics and palliative care national societies, and works to bring awareness of these topics at the international level. Dr. Pan speaks English, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish. She enjoys traveling with her family, college tours with her sons, napping, Zumba, writing, and spending meaningful time with families and friends. |
RESEARCH PRESENTERS
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