Faculty Interviews

Jeffrey Pessin, Ph.D., director of Einstein’s Diabetes Research Center, discusses the progressive and competitive training provided by Einstein; how Einstein is 1 of only 6 NIH-funded Diabetes Research Centers in the U.S.; insulin regulation and obesity studies; and the recently constructed, cutting-edge research facility, the Michael F. Price Center for Genetic and Translational Medicine.

Laurie J. Bauman, Ph.D., director of Einstein’s Preventive Intervention Research Center, shares her background in HIV research; the willingness of Einstein faculty to partner on many projects and initiatives; The Teen Program, which was originally created to help teens with chronic health conditions and progressed into helping Bronx teens with HIV during the 1980s; and why she chose to work at Einstein.

Jonathan M. Backer, M.D., director of Einstein’s Belfer Institute for Advanced Biomedical Studies, discusses his role; outlines the responsibilities of both the advisory committee and the Einstein Postdoctoral Association; and details how being an effective mentor means addressing the very different needs of individual postdoc fellows.

Aviv Bergman, Ph.D., founding professor and chair of systems & computational biology at Einstein, discusses the clinical applications of his work on head and neck cancers; the characteristics of his ideal recruit; the importance of collaboration; and shares why he chose to work at Einstein.

Vinayaka R. Prasad, Ph.D., director of Einstein’s AIDS International Training and Research Program, talks about the unique mentoring program that enables young faculty to learn the process of writing science grants; the future of HIV gene therapy projects involving stem cells and their potential applications to humans; and why he chooses to work at Einstein.

Leonard H. Augenlicht, Ph.D., associate director of translational research at Einstein's Cancer Center, details his work experience prior to joining the division of oncology; the unique affiliation between Einstein and Montefiore Medical Center; the highly collaborative environment at Einstein; and the cutting edge technology and research into the causes and treatments of colon cancer.