2013 Awardee
DOMINICK P. PURPURA DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS AWARD
Gerald Dorros, M.D. ‘68
Dr. Gerald Dorros is medical director of the Dorros-Feuer Interventional Cardiovascular Disease Foundation, Ltd. A pioneer in the field of interventional cardiology, in 1978, Dr. Dorros became the third person in the United States to perform coronary angioplasty, a procedure whereby blood flow is restored in plaque-blocked arteries via inflation of a balloon attached to a catheter. His areas of interest have focused on vascular disease throughout the entire body and, in 1979, he initiated the use of angioplasty to treat the obstruction of blood vessels outside of the heart and brain. During his 44 years in medical practice, Dr. Dorros has held multiple faculty appointments, including clinical professorships in medicine at the University of Wisconsin, Columbia University, State University of New York and University of Illinois. He has co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and continues to write editorials on topics involving physicians and healthcare issues. He is a member of editorial boards for a number of peer-reviewed journals, as well as a fellow of numerous medical societies and colleges. He is sought worldwide as an invited lecturer and live-case demonstrator. And, he has served as a medical advisor to and as a director of numerous medical device companies. Dr. Dorros received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College in 1964, and earned his medical degree from the College of Medicine in 1968. He has received honorary Doctor of Science degrees from Yeshiva University and Colby College, and is a Colby trustee emeritus. He and his wife Myra established the Dr. Gerald and Myra Dorros Chair in Cardiovascular Disease at Einstein, held by Dr. Richard Kitsis, and he is a member of Einstein’s Board of Overseers. Married 46 years, he and Myra have four children: Ari (an Einstein graduate), Eben, Isa, and Noam; and four grandchildren.
DISTINGUISHED PH.D. ALUMNUS/A AWARD
Nita J. Maihle, Ph.D. ‘83
Dr. Nita J. Maihle is professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences, of pathology and of pharmacology at Yale University School of Medicine, where she is a member of the Yale Cancer Center and director of the Biology of Reproductive Tract Cancers Program. Dr. Maihle’s research focuses on identification of the signals that cause cancer’s characteristic uncontrolled growth and how they can be used to diagnose and treat cancer. Ongoing research in her lab involves understanding the functional mechanisms of such signals, including members of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) family whose dysregulation is associated with aggressive forms of breast cancer. Her goals are to use this information to guide understanding of why some individuals are 2013 Awardee Biographies 2 resistant to therapies, targeting these pathways in order to determine the best course of treatment based on an individual’s personal data. Dr. Maihle’s cancer research expertise is widely sought by educational and research organizations nationwide, and she currently serves as a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Cancer Institute. After earning her undergraduate degree from Miami University, Dr. Maihle received her Ph.D. from the College of Medicine in 1983. Prior to serving on the faculty at Mayo Clinic, and now Yale University School of Medicine, she completed postdoctoral fellowships at Cold Spring Harbor
Laboratory and at the National Cancer Institute in tumor virology and biology, respectively.
DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS/CLINICAL PRACTITIONER AWARD
Steven Mandel, M.D. ‘75
Dr. Steven Mandel is in private practice at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. He is Professor of neurology and of anesthesiology at Jefferson Medical College in philadelphia. He combines his medical practice with teaching, clinical research, guideline development and writing. Dr. Mandel began his career in the department of neurology at Temple University, and then spent 31 years at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He is an adjunct professor at Widener University, New York College of Podiatric Medicine and Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine. A neurologist specializing in mild brain injury, Dr. Mandel is co-author of the 2013 American Academy of
Neurology Sports Concussion Guidelines, and editor of the textbook, Minor Head Trauma. He has served on the expert physician panel for the Federal Highway Motor Carrier Safety Division, and is on the guideline panel for laryngeal EMGs/voice disorders of the American Association of Neuromuscular and Electro-diagnostic Medicine. A co-editor of the textbook, Laryngeal EMG, and the Handbook of Neurology of the Lower Extremities, he also has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles, chapters and expert opinions. As a member of the American Academy of Disability Evaluating physicians, Dr. Mandel received the Presidential Award. Dr. Mandel serves on the Opioid Guideline Panel of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and published the ACOEM Guidelines on Chronic Pain Syndrome and Foot and Ankle Disorders. He is also a guideline panel member for Sjogren’s syndrome. Dr. Mandel graduated with a B.S. from the City College of New York with honors. He received his M.D. from Einstein in 1975. Following a clinical neurology clerkship at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases in London and an internship at Pennsylvania Hospital, he returned to Einstein for his residency in neurology. Following residency, he was the Jerry Lewis Neuromuscular Fellow at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Mandel is on the board of Governors of the Alumni Association. He is a member of Einstein’s Century Award Society and established the Drs. Steven and Heidi Mandel Research Fellowship in Neuroscience. He is married to Heidi Mandel, PhD. They have three children, Jesse, Elisabeth and David.
ALUMNI LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Samuel S. Kessel, M.D. ‘74, M.P.H.
Dr. Samuel S. Kessel is the senior child health scholar at the Koop Instituteat Dartmouth College and Medical School. He also is professor of the practice of Public Health in Family Science at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. As a pediatrician, Dr. Kessel has been involved in setting policy for several national programs. For example, he helped develop the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which provides health coverage to children in families that cannot afford private coverage; the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Bright Futures, which provides guidelines for health supervision of children and adolescents and serves as the standard of care for children in The Affordable Care Act; and the National Children’s Study. He also has served as Assistant Surgeon General for the United States Public Health Service (USPHS), executive director of the President’s Task Force on Environmental Health and Safety Risks to Children, and health advisor to the Sesame Workshop and PBS Kids programming. Renowned for his advocacy of maternal and child health, his work has involved prevention of childhood obesitys, improving pregnancy outcomes and reducing infant mortality, improving the well-being of children in military families, and breaking the cycle of violence and trauma among children witnessing domestic violence and terrorism. Among his numerous honors, he has received the USPHS Distinguished Service Medal, the highest recognition award given by USPHS; the Drexel 100 Distinguished Alumni Award; and the American Academy of Pediatrics Excellence in Public Service Award. He also received the C Everett Koop Fellowship Award from Dartmouth. Dr. Kessel earned his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Drexel University and his medical degree from Einstein, in the class of 1974. As an Einstein student, he experienced the untoward consequences of the social determinants of health which greatly influenced his career trajectory. Following graduation from Einstein, he completed his internship and residency training in pediatrics at Boston City Hospital, followed by three fellowships, in primary care, ambulatory pediatrics and as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar. He also earned a master’s degree in public health from John Hopkins University.
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION LIFETIME SERVICE AWARD
Farshad J. Nosratian , M.D. ’83
A member of Einstein’s class of 1983, Dr. Farshad J. Nosratian has served in a variety of roles over the past decade at Memorial Hospital of Gardena, in California, including chief of staff, vice chief of staff and chief of medicine. Currently, he is medical director of the Hawthorn Heart Center, which he established in 1991 to provide non-invasive, comprehensive, diagnostic cardiac testing in a single location, with the goal of offering more thorough and accessible diagnostics to cardiac patients, as well as better treatment of cardiac disease. In addition to the center, Dr. Nosratian also has cardiac
privileges at Centrinela Hospital, Little Company of Mary Hospital, and Memorial Hospital of Gardena. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Tehran, in Iran. Upon graduation from the College of Medicine, he was elected to the medical honor society Alpha Omega Alpha and received Einstein’s Zelig M. Rosen Award for Excellence in Cardiology. Following his residency training in internal medicine at Harbor- UCLA Medical Center and a fellowship in cardiology at the University of California, Irvine, he was elected as a fellow of the American College of Cardiology. A proud Einstein alumnus, he has been a member of the Alumni Association’s Board of Governors since 2011, and has helped plan his Einstein class reunions. Through their exceptional warmth, graciousness and hospitality, Dr. Nosratian and his wife, Faranak Nosratian, D.D.S, play a special role in strengthening Einstein’s West Coast community for alumni and future Einstein students.