Well Said | Zucker School of Medicine

Well Said has invited Sven Gierlinger, Senior Vice President and Chief Experience Officer for Northwell Health to shine some light on how patient experience surveys act as the voice of the patients; helping healthcare providers understand patients’ perceptions about what’s working and what needs improvement.

Well Said has invited Dr. Nisha Parikh, System Director of the Women’s Heart Program for Northwell Health’s Cardiovascular Institute and the Katz Institute for Women’s Health to shine some light on the gender-specific differences in how women experience heart failure and what this means for improving outcomes and ensuring equitable care.

Well Said has invited Dr. Tochi Iroku-Malize, Senior Vice-President of Family Medicine for Northwell Health and the Inaugural Professor and Chair of Family Medicine at the Donald & Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell to talk about the record-setting winter temperatures, unprecedented increases in storms and hurricanes and hotter summer that all encompass Climate Change and what that means for our health.

Well Said has invited Dr. Amar Shah, Chief of the division of Cardiac Imaging in the department of Radiology at Northwell Health, and an Associate Professor of Radiology at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell to discuss how doctors can look at the heart in new ways using CT scanners, making it possible to get a better idea of someone’s risk of having a heart attack or determining optimal treatment plans without the need for invasive tests.

Well Said has invited Dr. David Podwall, a board-certified neurologist, President of the Nassau County Medical Society and an Assistant Professor here at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine to talk about how access to medical care and treatment has become a topic of importance as both patients and health systems encounter financial, logistical, and geographic barriers to receiving or delivering the high-quality medical care.

Well Said has invited Dr. Teresa Amato, Director of Emergency Medicine and Vice President of Resource Management at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills Hospital to talk about the variety and severity animal bites and stings and how to avoid, identify and treat them.

Well Said has invited Dr. Jamie Kane, Chief of Obesity Medicine and Director of the Center for Weight Management at Northwell Health and Associate Professor of Medicine at the Donald & Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell to talk about the recent rise in obesity and in our country and what weight loss drugs mean for people who may be struggling with this disease.

Well Said has invited Dr. Sanjeev Kothare, Director of the Division of Pediatric Neurology at Cohen Children’s Medical Center, where he also serves as a Senior Epileptologist and Co-Director of the Pediatric Sleep Program. Dr. Kothare is also the Director of the Pediatric Neurology Service Line for Northwell Health and a Professor of Pediatrics & Neurology at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. Today, we will be talking about the history, causes, warning signs, symptoms and more of autism spectrum disorder.

Speaking with us on Well Said is Dr. Banu Aygun, a Pediatric Hematologist, Oncologist and Professor of Pediatrics at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. She also serves as the Associate Chief of Hematology at Cohen’s Children’s Hospital and the Section Head of Sickle Cell Disease at Cohen Children’s Medical Center. She will be joined by her patient, Juan Carlos Benitez who was part of a landmark clinical trial that led to the FDA approval of a gene therapy for SSD. They will be discussing the ins and outs of SSD as well as the many new promising treatments including recent clinical trials focusing on gene editing.

Well Said has invited Dr. Karina Davidson, Senior Vice President of Research for Northwell Health and Director of the Institute of Health System Science at The Feinstein Institutes and Professor at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine to assist us in understanding how to digest the reports and headlines discussing epidemiologic trends and related research findings.

Well Said has invited Dr. Avy Ronay, a Pediatric Neurologist who leads Northwell Health’s pediatric concussion program and Lead Clinical Strategist for remote Physiological Monitoring, Communications, Digital Health and Sensors for Northwell to talk about how to use the information from self-tracking to live healthier, better lives.

Well Said has invited Dr. Jamie Ghigiarelli, a Professor in the Department of Allied Health and Kinesiology at Hofstra University, a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and Certified Performance Sports Scientist, to talk about how new research suggests that strength training such as weightlifting may play a crucial and previously neglected role in promoting cardiovascular health.

Joining us on Well Said is Dr. Paul Desan, Director of the Psychiatric Consultation Service for Yale New Haven Hospital, Associate Professor at the Yale University School of Medicine, where he leads the Winter Depression Research Clinic and co-founder of Pursuit of Happiness Project, a nonprofit, data-driven enterprise that provides science-based information on life skills needed to fight depression and experience greater psychological well-being. Dr. Desan will be talking Seasonal Affect Disorder, also known as SAD, a condition that can for periods of the year affect how we feel, think about ourselves, and interact with others.

Joining us on Well Said is Dr. Steven Fishbane, Vice President of Northwell Health’s Network Dialysis Services, Chief of Kidney Disease and Hypertension for Northwell Health and Professor at the Institute of Health System Science at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. Dr. Fishbane will be exploring the nuances of kidney disease, including its causes, risk factors and treatment options.

Well Said has invited Dr. Amgad Makaryus, Chairman of Cardiology at Nassau University Medical Center and Professor at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell to help us better understand how diabetes and cardiovascular disease relate to one another. We will also learn how this understanding is a vital step toward affording healthier lives for those navigating these overlapping diseases.

Joining us on Well Said is Dr. Mark Talamini, Senior Vice President and Executive Director of Northwell Health Physician Partners, Professor at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Editor-in-Chief of the medical journal Surgical Endoscopy and the President of the Foundation for Surgical Fellowships. He will be talking about Natural Orifice Surgery, a kind of surgery based on using the body’s naturally occurring entry points to reach inside.

Joining us on Well Said is Dr. Lyndonna Marrast, an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Science Education at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine, as well as a practicing primary care physician and children’s book author. She will be discussing the ways that our relationships can impact our health and the importance of intergenerational connections and family relationships to our well-being.

Joining us on Well Said is Dr. Eugenia Gianos, Professor of Cardiology at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, System Director for Cardiovascular Prevention with Northwell Health and Director of both the Women’s Heart Program at Lenox Hill Hospital and the Western Region for the Katz Institute Women’s Heart Program. She will be talking about the dangers of high cholesterol and how cholesterol awareness and cholesterol management have become a crucial public health issue.

Joining us on Well Said is Ms. Candice Halinski, a nurse practitioner who specializes in the care of patients with chronic and end-stage kidney disease, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer for Northwell Health Ambulatory Care and an Assistant Professor at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. She will be talking about how traditionally, the only choices that patients with ESRD have been offered are a kidney transplant or chronic dialysis – however today there are different approaches to be considered.

Joining us on Well Said is Dr. Randi Goldman, a gynecologist specializing in reproductive endocrinology and infertility or REI, program director for the Northwell Health fellowship training program in REI and assistant professor at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra Northwell. Today we will be talking about the many advances in recent years in the field of assisted fertility and the current state of the art.