Campaign raises more than $255M to accelerate academic research and clinical innovation

Northwell Health announced recipients of several endowments, including a new deanship and 10 professorships and chairs that represent diverse specialty areas across the health system at its sixth annual Celebration of Excellence. The event, held recently at the New-York Historical Society in New York City, brought together philanthropists, physician-scientists and clinical leaders who are shaping the future of health care through excellence in academic medicine.

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Celebration of Excellence 2024

Endowed gifts provide financial stability in perpetuity, which allows Northwell to make strategic investments to propel new research and advance medicine in areas where it’s needed most. Endowed professorships and chairs carry significant prestige in the scientific, academic and medical fields.

“This partnership among our benefactors, clinicians and scholars allows us to invest in scientific exploration,” said Michael J. Dowling, Northwell’s president and chief executive officer. “It fuels groundbreaking research that will change the future and create a healthier tomorrow.”

Endowment support is an integral part of Northwell’s Outpacing the Impossible campaign, a $1.4 billion comprehensive fundraising effort to fuel innovation to advance health care and support Northwell’s promise to the people it serves. The campaign has raised more than $255 million in endowment funding to accelerate health research and has more than doubled the number of endowed chairs and professorships, propelling Northwell forward as a leading academic health system. In total, 30 positions have been endowed during the campaign.

“We are grateful to all of our donors whose investment in education and research can change the world,” said David L. Battinelli, MD, dean of the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and executive vice president and physician-in-chief of Northwell Health. “I’m proud to say that the Zucker School of Medicine is known as one of the best medical institutions in the country. Endowment allows us to attract some of the most gifted and dedicated physician-educators in the world, who are not only advancing their fields but training a new generation of physicians to provide expert, compassionate care.”

Dr. Battinelli, the recipient of the Zucker School of Medicine’s first endowed deanship, was named the Deborah and Lawrence Smith Dean of the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, made possible through a gift from Broadridge Financial Solutions. The position is named in honor of the medical school’s founding dean and his late wife.

The inaugural recipients of newly endowed professorships are:

• Elizabeth Cohn, RN, NP, PhD, FAAN, has been appointed the Iris and Saul Katz Professor in Women’s Health Research. She is the vice president of health equity research at the Institute of Health System Science, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research.
• Douglas F. Nixon, MD, PhD, is the Karches Family Professor in Translational Research. Dr. Nixon is the director of the newly created Institute of Translational Research, the sixth to join the Feinstein Institutes.
• Lee Richstone, MD, FACS, FRCS has been named the Nussdorf Family Professor in Urology. He is the chair of urology and director of laparoscopic and robotic surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital.
• John Q. Young, MD, MPP, PhD, has been appointed the Frances and Thomas Gambino Professor in Psychiatry. He is the chair and senior vice president of behavioral health at Northwell.

Newly installed recipients of existing endowments include:

• Ahmad Samer Al-Homsi, MD, MBA has been named the Joel Finkelstein Cancer Foundation Professor of Medicine, originally established by Sydney and Sylvia Finkelstein. Dr. Al-Homsi is system chief of blood and marrow transplant and cellular therapy at the Northwell Cancer Institute.
• Stephanie L. Fitzpatrick, PhD, has been appointed the Simons Distinguished Chair in Clinical Research. She is a professor at the Institute of Health System Science at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research
• Stephanie Brickner Jones, MD, has been appointed the Peter F.R. Walker, MD, Chair in Anesthesiology, originally established by the North American Partners in Anesthesiology to honor Dr. Walker as the organization’s co-founder. Dr. Jones is chair of anesthesiology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and North Shore University Hospital.
• Stavros Emmanouil Mountantonakis, MD, MBA, has been named the Nicholas P. DePasquale, MD, Professor in Cardiology, originally established by George and Sophie Coumantaros in honor of the renowned cardiologist who helped establish Lenox Hill Hospital.
• Frank J. Schwab, MD, FAAOS, has been appointed the James A. Nicholas, MD, Chair in Orthopaedic Surgery, which was also established by George and Sophie Coumantaros and named for the founding director of the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma at Lenox Hill Hospital. Dr. Schwab is chair of orthopedic surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital.
• Andrew C. Yacht, MD, MSc, FACP, was appointed the Betsey Cushing Whitney Professor of Medicine, established by Lorinda de Roulet. Dr. Yacht is senior vice president of academic affairs and chief academic officer at Northwell.

In addition, benefactors funded two new endowed positions to attract top talent to Northwell:

Victoria and Lloyd Goldman established the Victoria and Lloyd Goldman Professorship, part of their recent landmark gift — the single largest in Northwell’s history — which named the Victoria and Lloyd Goldman Health Care Pavilion now under construction on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Once filled, the professorship will ensure future advancements in medical education and cancer research for generations to come.

Lisa and Cary Kravet established the Lisa and Cary Kravet Professor in Humanism; once the recipient is named, the endowment funds will help to educate and empower physicians throughout Northwell with the insight and tools to provide exceptional human-centered care for every patient.

“We couldn’t do this without the generosity of our donors,” said Brian T. Lally, president of the Northwell Foundation and chief development officer for Northwell. “Endowments are visionary gifts that bring tremendous value to our health system and to medicine. They are the engine behind the development of cutting-edge discoveries, treatments and cures that will improve and save the lives of patients at Northwell and beyond.”

To learn more about endowment support and Northwell’s Outpacing the Impossible campaign, visit https://give.northwell.edu/endowment.

About Northwell Health

Northwell Health is New York State’s largest health care provider and private employer, with 21 hospitals, about 900 outpatient facilities and more than 12,000 affiliated physicians. We care for over two million people annually in the New York metro area and beyond, thanks to philanthropic support from our communities. Our 87,000 employees – 18,900 nurses and 4,900 employed doctors, including members of Northwell Health Physician Partners – are working to change health care for the better. We’re making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. We're training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra Northwell School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu and follow us @NorthwellHealth on Facebook, X, Instagram and LinkedIn.

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