Feinstein Institutes’ Advancing Women in Science and Medicine Annual Event Raises $1.3M

The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research’s Advancing Women in Science and Medicine (AWSM – pronounced “awesome”) 14^th awards luncheon raised a record-breaking $1.3 million in funding to support medical research conducted by women scientists. Since AWSM’s 2010 inception, more than $5 million has been raised to support women scientists.

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Northwell leaders and researchers including (left to right) Jill Kalman, MD, Tara Narula, MD, Kristina Deligiannidis, MD, Shih-Shih Chen, PhD, Sunny Tang, MD, and Jennifer Mieres, MD, gathered to celebrate women scientists at Northwell Health’s annual AWSM awards luncheon. (Credit: Feinstein Institutes)

This year’s event was held on May 6 at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater in New York City, where women scientists at the Feinstein Institutes and across Northwell Health received 71 awards. Donors fully fund the gifts; this year, six $50,000 Emerging Science Awards and 15 $25,000 Career Development Awards were bestowed.

“Women scientists across Northwell Health and the Feinstein Institutes are working towards clinical and scientific breakthroughs every day,” said Sunny Tang, MD, assistant professor at the Institute of Behavioral Science, and co-president of AWSM. “We are grateful to all the donors and supporters who believe in our endeavors and help make them possible.”

During the event, Dr. Tang was awarded the JP Morgan Emerging Science Award — a gift, totaling $50,000, that will help further her research in machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to measure and understand brain functioning. Other top awards included the Samantha and Adam Gordon Scientific Achievement Award for $125,000 given to Betsy Barnes, PhD, for breast cancer research and the Barbara Dooley Scientific Achievement Award for $100,000 given to Andrea Vambutas, MD, for novel therapy to recover hearing loss.

Overall, the AWSM awards luncheon highlights the commitment of supporters to the Feinstein Institutes and Northwell’s mission to promote equality, diversity and inclusion by creating more opportunities for women in science and medicine and investing in women early in their careers. Funding supports research programs across the health system, which address some of healthcare’s most pressing diseases and issues, such as cancer, autoimmune disorders, maternal health and Alzheimer’s disease.

The luncheon featured remarks from Northwell leaders, including Jill Kalman, MD, executive vice president, chief medical officer and deputy physician-in-chief, and Jennifer H. Mieres, MD, senior vice president at the Center for Equity of Care and chief diversity and inclusion officer, as well as a discussion about breakthrough discoveries in women’s behavioral health with Kristina Deligiannidis, MD, professor in the Institute of Behavioral Science at the Feinstein Institutes and director of women’s behavioral health at Northwell’s Zucker Hillside Hospital, and Tara Narula, MD, associate director of the Lenox Hill Women’s Heart Program.

In 2010, Betty Diamond, MD, director and professor at the Institute of Molecular Medicine and the Maureen and Ralph Nappi Professor of Autoimmune Diseases, established AWSM to advance women scientists’ career development and opportunities at the Feinstein Institutes. The program is comprised of women faculty members who lead biomedical research programs in basic, translational and clinical studies in a wide variety of diseases. Its core initiatives include recognition, career development, advocacy and education, networking and mentoring.

“Despite the importance of women in science, their research is often underfunded,” said Kevin J. Tracey, MD, president and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes and the Karches Family Distinguished Chair in Medical Research. “It is with sincere gratitude that we celebrate the enthusiastic and generous donors behind AWSM so that we can harness the power of women in science to advance the future of health care.”

Donors to AWSM are supporting 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, which was publicly launched in 2018, supports capital projects, improves hospitals and clinical programs, advances research and funds endowments for teaching and research initiatives.

For more information about AWSM, visit give.northwell.edu.

About the Feinstein Institutes

The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research is the home of the research institutes of Northwell Health, the largest healthcare provider and private employer in New York State. Encompassing 50 research labs, 3,000 clinical research studies and 5,000 researchers and staff, the Feinstein Institutes raises the standard of medical innovation through its five institutes of behavioral science, bioelectronic medicine, cancer, health system science, and molecular medicine. We make breakthroughs in genetics, oncology, brain research, mental health, autoimmunity, and are the global scientific leader in bioelectronic medicine – a new field of science that has the potential to revolutionize medicine. For more information about how we produce knowledge to cure disease, visit http://feinstein.northwell.edu and follow us on LinkedIn

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