EXIT Realty Island Elite Agents on BackPack Stuffing Day
EXOT Realty's backpack fundraiser
EXIT Realty agents and Comsewogue staff on drop off day.
EXIT Realty agents at drop off location.
In gratitude for the support shown to EXIT Realty Island Elite by the local community, agents from the real estate brokerage recently transported and dropped off the backpacks and supplies collected during their annual backpack fundraiser. This is the fourth year this office has organized this supply drive, which provides every incoming kindergarten student in the Comsewogue school community with a free backpack and starter supplies like crayons, markers, rulers and more.
EXIT, located at 4699 Nesconset Hwy, Suite 2, in Port Jefferson Station, has now collected well over a thousand back packs, and donated the extra supplies to local churches and organizations.
“We appreciate being a part of this wonderful community and welcome the opportunity to give back,” said Jason Furnari, Broker/Owner of EXIT Realty Island Elite.
The Port Jefferson School District will hold a special board of education meeting to discuss the proposed capital bond projects slated for a Dec. 12 vote.
The meeting will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 6, at 7 p.m. in the Earl L. Vandermeulen High School auditorium.
This meeting will be an opportunity for community input as it is anticipated that the board of education will approve a resolution for the bond vote at its Tuesday, Sept. 13 meeting.
Community members are encouraged to attend and participate in this open forum. For more information, visit:portjeffschools.org/bond/home
During a public meeting of the Rocky Point school district board of education on Monday, Aug. 29, Sound Beach resident Bea Ruberto confronted the board over its decision to reverse a longstanding practice regarding book donations.
In June, district parent Allison Villafane donated several books related to Pride Month. In mid-July, the board sparked controversy from the public for its decision to no longer accept book donations from parents.
During a special meeting on July 28, members of the board justified their decision on the grounds that they lack expertise in children’s literature. For more on this story, “Rocky Point BOE reverses practice on book donations, causes controversy,” see TBR News Media Aug. 11 print and online editions.
During her remarks, Ruberto contended that the board used shoddy reasoning to arrive at its decision. By reversing its book donation practice, Ruberto suggested that the BOE inadvertently took decision-making authority out of the hands of librarians.
“I remain disappointed with your decision to no longer accept book donations,” Ruberto said. “None of you are experts in deciding which book donations to accept, you said, but there are experts who can do this — the librarians.”
Another point of contention for Ruberto was an argument made on July 28 during the public comments that there are more pressing matters for the board to consider than book donations.
Pushing back against these charges, Ruberto suggested that access to reading materials lies at the core of any institution of learning.
“Yes, there are many important issues related to our children’s education, but the idea that the books made available to them isn’t one of them is ludicrous,” she said, adding, “As long as a book is age appropriate, I can’t imagine any book that young people should not have access to it.”
While Ruberto acknowledged that parents remain the ultimate arbiters for their children’s reading materials, she added that librarians also perform a vital function. According to her, school libraries are ideally inclusive spaces that should reflect the entire community’s values.
“Some parents may be troubled by what they see in the library, and then they may — and certainly should — monitor what their children are reading,” she said. “But school libraries aren’t just for them. They’re for everyone in the community.”
Jessica Ward, president of the board of education, responded to Ruberto’s public comments. The BOE president argued that the decision empowers the district’s librarians, offering these experts the freedom to stock the libraries with books of their choosing and without sway from the board.
“Our decision, as we explained last time, was made in consensus,” Ward said. “As you said, we’re not the experts on books. We want our librarians to pick the books in their libraries.”
Before the meeting adjourned, Ward and Ruberto debated whether the change of practice on book donations constituted a policy change. In attempting to settle this matter, Ward advised that she and the board would consult with their attorney and get back to Ruberto with a more detailed explanation.
The next meeting of the Rocky Point board of education is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 19.
Despite a few job openings, local school districts are ready for the new school year. Stock photo
With schools across the nation facing issues filling positions, including vital teaching jobs, local school districts, for the most part, are looking toward the new academic year in a good position with staffing.
While COVID-19 created severe obstacles for schools in the last couple of years, local districts are moving past them.
Some difficulties
Kevin Scanlon, the new Three Village Central School District superintendent, said the district is among those well staffed regarding teachers. Slight shortages involve jobs such as teaching assistants and monitor positions. Substitutes for teaching and various openings, including custodial, are also hard to find. Scanlon said that with more than 500 teachers in the district, 30 to 50 of them could be out on any given day.
Neil Katz, Smithtown Central School District assistant superintendent for personnel; Jim Polansky, Huntington school district superintendent; and Roberta Gerold, Middle Country Central School District superintendent, all said their districts are in the same position with permanent teaching positions being filled, but there are small issues finding noncertified employees.
Routinely, it can be challenging also to find candidates in the fields of English as a New Language, family and consumer sciences, technology and language classes. Scanlon added that it’s difficult to find certified American Sign Language educators.
“Also, business teachers, which is unusual because 25 years ago you probably had your choice of teachers,” he said. “Some of the local colleges in New York also used to produce 120 candidates a year in tech teachers, now they’re producing maybe 12 to18. So, the numbers are quite short of where they were years ago in those specialized areas.”
Scanlon added finding such teachers is even more difficult than finding math and science teachers.
“We are all competing against each other trying to find them,” he said.
Polansky said, from time to time, there can be last-minute resignations at the end of the summer.
“Those can present issues, but those are few and far between, and sometimes if you have an added aide position that comes up due to class formation, that doesn’t take place until late in the summer,” he said.
Gerold said, “One of the many byproducts of the pandemic has been a smaller pool of applicants, which has impacted the Middle Country school district’s ability — as it has school districts across Long Island and the country — to hire talented educators.”
Like other districts, Middle Country found ways to ensure it was properly staffed.
“While the hiring process has been particularly challenging heading into this school year, our human resources and personnel teams have worked hard to creatively find new solutions to attract the next generation of educators to lead our community into the future,” she said.
There has also been a need to stay proactive regarding teacher retirements. While student enrollment has declined in some local districts, the number of teachers retiring has increased.
Katz said the number of employees currently retiring makes sense as the population was growing in the area 25 to 30 years ago and schools were expanding, which led to the need to hire more teachers at the time. Those employees are now meeting their retirement requirements.
“We’re hitting that point that there’s this balloon of the number of teachers that are eligible for retirement,” Katz said, adding COVID-19 exacerbated the problem in recent years.
Polansky agreed.
“You’re going to see more in the next couple of years because it is kind of generational,” he said. “That’s another thing that we need to take into account.”
According to New York State Teachers’ Retirement System, 33% of active members could potentially retire in the next few years.
Solutions
Some news outlets have reported states such as Florida dropping the requirements for people to secure a teaching position such as having a bachelor’s degree. Polansky said, “There’s a fine line between helping your teacher availability and compromising quality. You don’t want to be in a situation where actions are being taken that actually lessen the quality of the educator that’s in front of your children in the classroom.”
He added that such a move could cause more problems in the long run.
“We have to make teaching a desirable profession,” he said. “There are a couple of ways to do that, and it’s incumbent upon states and local school districts to make that happen.”
Administrators said their districts always start the hiring process early in the calendar year to prepare for the first day of school, attending recruitment events at colleges in New York state, hosting their own career fairs and placing ads in papers.
Scanlon said the Three Village school district will run an ad in The New York Times at the end of January or early February. He added that advertising in the paper is something many high-caliber schools do. Looking toward the future, the superintendent said there are talks about bringing back a Future Teachers of America club to the high school to encourage students to choose teaching as a career.
Gerold said one of the Middle Country school district’s “initiatives has been our successful partnership with Stony Brook University to fortify our roster of substitute teachers. During the pandemic, the district partnered with Stony Brook University to place student-teacher substitutes in schools. Through this, we’ve been able to satisfy the substitute teacher needs throughout the district and identify strong educators who are poised to excel in leading classrooms.”
Katz said the Smithtown Central school district tries to reach out to different associations and offer more competitive salaries. However, even using various hiring methods and starting early, sometimes a new hire will get a better offer right before the academic year begins.
“We’re getting into bidding wars,” he said. “Candidates are pushing one district against the other in bidding wars. Kind of like the housing market.”
Despite a few job openings, local school districts are ready for the new school year. Stock photo
Andrew Harris, above, teacher at Comsewogue High School. Photo courtesy Comsewogue School District
It was a long time coming, but Applebee’s has honored the Comsewogue School District and its former superintendent, the late Dr. Joe Rella.
Visitors of the Miller Place Applebee’s location can now find a multi-booth, impressive display, a testament to the beloved superintendent as well as students and faculty of the district.
“Seeing the display was lovely,” said Jennifer Quinn, the current superintendent of the district. “All of us at Comsewogue have such fond memories of Dr. Rella. It was wonderful to see those beautiful pictures of him with his family and all the students who loved him.” She added, “There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about him. It’s always the spot I choose to sit in when we go to Applebee’s.”
‘Suffolk Transportation and Applebee’s have always given great support to our community and students.’
— Jennifer Quinn
In addition to this new display, the district will be teaming up with Suffolk County Transportation for a “Stuff-the-Bus” event at the end of the month.
Discussing the connections between the district and its various partners throughout the community, Quinn said, “Suffolk Transportation and Applebee’s have always given great support to our community and students and we are always happy to partner up with them to help our students and families.”
The Miller Place Applebee’s ‘Stuff-the-Bus’ fundraiser runs from Aug. 22-28. Applebee’s will donate all profits from the pancake breakfast on Sunday, Aug. 28 from 8-10 a.m. For those who can’t make the breakfast, then they can still enjoy lunch or dinner — just mention Comsewogue.
10% of all proceeds will support students in need throughout the district.
Andy Sperling. Photo from Harbor Country Day School
Harbor Country Day Schoolin St. James has announced Andy Sperling as the new Head of School. Sperling was selected from an impressive list of candidates through an extensive national search process. Sperling, who succeeds former Head of School, John R. Cissel, began his term on July 1.
With over thirty years of experience as an educator, Sperling began his teaching career in a suburban public school after receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics (K-12) from Illinois State University in 1990. While teaching math and providing professional development, support and curriculum coordination for K-8 within his district, he earned his Masters of Educational Administration certificate in 1997.
Two years later, he joined the faculty of Lake Forest Country Day School (LFCDS) where he continued his career as a middle school math teacher and was promoted to Head of Upper School in 2012. In this role, Sperling led the effort for diversity and inclusion training, developed relationships through parent education and presentations, assisted in the planning and design of several campus renovation projects, facilitated and developed the schoolwide social and emotional learning program, developed the middle school STEAM program and prepared the students for FLL Robotics competitions.
“It is a distinct honor to be named the twelfth Head of School at Harbor Country Day School. From the moment I stepped through the majestic front door at Tulip Knoll, I sensed that indescribable vibe that can only be felt when you have experienced it firsthand. It’s far more than just the charm — it’s the way in which the children carried themselves and how they exuded confidence that drew me in. Harbor epitomizes what it means to embrace and live its mission. It will be a privilege to lead the faculty and staff on their continued journey of excellence,” said Sperling.
Tensions swelled inside the Rocky Point High School auditorium during a special meeting of the Rocky Point school district board of education on Thursday, July 28.
In early July, the board reversed its longstanding practice regarding book donations, deciding to no longer accept books from the public. The controversy centers around a June donation made by district parent Allison Villafane, who donated several books exploring themes dealing with sexuality, gender identity and race during Pride Month.
“This past June, in keeping with my past practice, I have donated books to promote diversity, equity and inclusion,” she told the board. “These books were best sellers, approved by the library here.”
In an interview, Villafane shared the list of the seven titles that were included in the donation, saying these books were intended to be spread out across different schools throughout the district depending upon age appropriateness. The titles are:
“Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race” by Margot Lee Shetterly
“All Different and Beautiful: A Children’s Book about Diversity, Kindness, and Friendships” by Belle Belrose
“Our Diversity Makes Us Stronger: Social Emotional Book for Kids about Diversity and Kindness” by Elizabeth Cole
“Stamped (For Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You” by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
“The 1619 Project: Born on the Water” by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson
“Pink Is for Boys” by Robb Pearlman
“The List of Things That Will Not Change” by Rebecca Stead
Jessica Ward, president of the board of education, defended the decision. She said the board did not take its decision lightly and that all five members of the board had arrived at its determination together.
Ward told the public that the decision was motivated by a basic lack of expertise on how to evaluate children’s literature.
“None of us — the five of us on the board — are experts in children’s literature,” Ward said. “None of us has a master’s degree in library science … so we thought it would be best for all of our schools to allow our librarians, who are the experts in children’s literature, to populate their libraries and their catalogs with books of their choosing.”
Villafane detailed her past practice of donating materials, saying she has made several rounds of donations over the years as each of her four children has moved through the school district. In the past, Villafane has donated materials regarding food allergies. In other years, they would focus on promoting diversity or compassion.
She said this most recent donation is not a significant departure from her past practice. Because the books were already in circulation in various school libraries throughout the district, Villafane believed she was performing a service to the school by making the approved books more accessible.
Villafane suggested the board was applying an arbitrary standard to her donation, asking if the board would apply this same standard to the donations of gifts such as piano keyboards and trumpets.
Responding to these charges, Ward said that the board’s decision “wasn’t necessarily in response to the books that you donated. It was in response to all books.”
She added, “Our current policy says … that we may accept gifts, grants … as well as other merchandise. If there was something else [such as] a musical instrument or some other educational or instructional item that you or someone wanted to donate, then we would take that on a case-by-case basis, but we are not taking any donations of books.”
Along with Villafane, other members of the public joined in their criticism of the board’s decision. Ernestine Franco, a resident of Sound Beach, said the board did not apply reason to its decision and that it failed to properly consider the consequences.
“If it was just a change of practice, then they did it very badly,” she said in an interview. “That’s what makes me think it was a political move.” She added, “Even if they wanted to do what they did, there had to be some logic to it and there wasn’t.”
Bea Ruberto, also a Sound Beach resident, concurred with this assessment, arguing the decision was a product of hasty decision-making and primarily motivated by the board members’ political preferences.
“I am convinced that it is political,” Ruberto said in an interview. “I am also convinced that for them to do that, they didn’t look at the practice they had in the past on how to deal with and accept book donations.”
Despite criticism from the public, there were others who responded favorably. One such individual, identified as “Ms. Sarlo” in the meeting’s minutes, defended the decision. According to her, it is best for the board not to consider these materials as there is no universal agreement on their content.
“I think that the decision was the correct one because … not everybody agrees with all of the books,” she said. “There are so many more important things that we need to be talking about that the board could be spending time on instead of book donations.”
Franco disagreed with this assessment, suggesting that it minimizes the issues at stake and offers a convenient excuse for the board to rid itself of accountability.
“I think [Sarlo] was trying to validate what happened by saying it wasn’t important,” Franco said, adding, “But what’s important, at least to me, is not the book but what the book stands for, which is education. … Instead of opening up to a very diverse atmosphere, they’re trying to close up the atmosphere to what kids are going to be exposed to.”
Villafane suggested that the board’s new practice on book donations violates common sense. She believes the board can correct course by adopting a new policy allowing the acceptance of books for titles that are already in circulation.
“It’s not rocket science,” she said. “There is a database of books that have been approved for distribution at various grade levels, so as long as the book you want to donate is within that system, you should feel free to donate it.”
The Rocky Point board of education will reconvene on Monday, Aug. 29, at 7 p.m., where deliberations on book donations are likely to continue.
A nearly $1.5 million grant awarded to Suffolk County Community College will help the college increase the number of low-income, academically talented Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) students who graduate, transfer to a four-year STEM program, or directly enter the STEM workforce.
The Improved Support for Undergraduates in Community College Engaged in STEM Studies (I-SUCCESS) Grant will allow the College to scale up and boost existing resources, developing new student support and cohort-building opportunities, and help students financially.
“Creating a new generation of talented STEM professionals is not just an economic need, it is also a social need. By eliminating barriers facing students who wish to be exposed to STEM, we can broaden the students’ economic opportunities and empower them as agents of change in our communities,” said Suffolk County Community College President Dr. Edward Bonahue.
“Suffolk County Community College has a well-known and respected STEM program,” said Professor Sean Tvelia, the project’s director. “The additional academic resources, proactive mentoring, and student-centered approach provided through this program will increase success amongst our STEM students,” he said. Tvelia said that students who actively participate in I-SUCCESS will, in many cases, be better prepared for professional careers than students at four-year universities. For those students seeking transfer to four-year colleges and universities, the program also provides networking opportunities, transfer panels, and the ability to meet and work with university faculty.
Tvelia, Professors Richa Rawat Prakash and Joseph Napolitano say the program will support 18 new and 16 continuing students each year with financial support averaging about $10,000 from program entry to graduation.
The $1,499,296 I-SUCCESS grant will provide scholarships; introduce a mentoring program, with faculty positioned strategically across campuses and within STEM disciplines to serve as role models and advisors; increase opportunities for engagement and through remote and in-person activities; make more accessible, discipline-specific faculty tutoring to augment existing support, and provide internship and job coaching to supplement existing career services for STEM careers in the regional workforce and high-impact practices proven effective at promoting retention and transfer, including authentic research experiences and publication and presentation opportunities, will be augmented with opportunities for workforce internships.
Since the 2016-17 academic year, unmet financial need among undergraduates pursuing STEM degrees at Suffolk has increased by approximately 38%. The I-SUCCESS project includes scholarships totaling $900,900 over 6 years plus $13,800 to support student summer research travel expenses to help address this unmet need.
The project is slated to begin on October 1, 2022.
BEST OF THE BEST
The seven students who received top honors are (top row, from left) kindergartener Rebecca Tyler, first grader Violet Radonis, second grader Taran Sathish Kumar, (lower row, from left) third grader Adam Dvorkin, fourth grader Liam Savage, fifth grader Michaela Bruno, and sixth grader Rebecca Bartha. Photos from BNL
Annual contest offers Long Island, NYC students an opportunity to showcase their science projects
Should you sanitize your television remote? How can we keep apple slices looking fresh? Do dogs have a favorite color? Long Island and New York City students tackled questions of all kinds using the scientific method in the 2022 Elementary School Science Fair hosted virtually by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory.
The goal of the annual competition organized by the Office of Educational Programs (OEP) at Brookhaven Lab is to generate an interest in and excitement about science and engineering for all ages.
“It’s an honor and inspiration for us to look at all of the posters by students who are joining Brookhaven in a passion for discovery,” said Scott Bronson OEP manager of K-12 programs. “Just like the scientists here at Brookhaven Lab, Science Fair participants study questions of ‘how?’ and ‘why?’ to meet science challenges.”
This year’s competition invited projects by students from Suffolk County, Nassau County and New York City schools in kindergarten through sixth grade.
From left, Northport Middle School, sixth grader Grace Rozell received an Honorable Mention and fifth grader Michaela Bruno captured First Place in her grade at the BNL Science Fair on July 10. The students are pictured with Assistant Principal Dr. Chelsea Brown and Principal Timothy Hoss. Photo from BNL
Participants qualified for the Brookhaven Lab contest by winning science fairs held by their schools. Volunteer judging teams consisting of elementary school teachers and Brookhaven Lab scientific and engineering staff evaluated a total of 189 projects.
“We were so excited to expand the Science Fair and welcome projects from students across all of Long Island and New York City,” said Amanda Horn, a Brookhaven Lab educator who coordinated the virtual science fair. “We loved seeing the projects from other areas and we hope to see even more projects in the future.”
The following students earned first place in their grade level and received medals and ribbons, along with banners to hang at their school to recognize the achievement:
◆ Kindergartener Rebecca Tyler of Miller Avenue Elementary School, Shoreham-Wading River School District, for her project, “How to get Permanent Marker Out of Clothes?”
◆ First grader Violet Radonis of Pines Avenue Elementary School, Hauppauge School District, for “Bad Hair Days…No More! Let’s Learn about the Land of the Rapunzals”
◆ Second grader Taran Sathish Kumar of Bretton Woods Elementary School, Hauppauge School District, for “Cleaning Up Oil Spills Using Natural Organic Sorbents”
◆ Third grader Adam Dvorkin of Pulaski Road Elementary School, Northport-East Northport School District, for “Sardine Pop in a Bathtub”
◆ Fourth grader Liam Savage of Ruth C. Kinney Elementary School, East Islip School District, for “Weight is Tow-Tally Helpful”
◆ Fifth grader Michaela Bruno of Northport Middle School, Northport-East Northport School District, for “Here Comes The Sun”
◆ Sixth grader Rebecca Bartha of Raynor Country Day School in Speonk for “Super Sea Shells Save the Seas”
Young scientists share their results
OEP staff announced the winners and honorable mentions during an online awards ceremony on June 10. Students with top-notch projects shared how they conducted their experiments.
First-grader Violet Radonis asked whether rice water can make hair grow faster and stronger. After four weeks of testing a mixture of basmati rice and water—plus orange peels for a nice scent—on eight test subjects, she found: “It does help make it a little bit better than it was before.”
Orange peels also played a part in second grader Taran Sathish Kumar’s experiment. In his search for an environmentally safe sorbent to protect marine life from oil spills, his hypothesis that orange peels would remove the most oil from water was correct. He also tested a corn cob, banana peel, and a pomegranate husk.
“Around the world when boats go in the water, oil spills from the boat and it’s harmful to the animals,” he said.
Third grader Adam Dvorkin wanted to find out what sort of pop pop (or putt putt) boat design is the fastest. He built and observed three boats, each with a different sized boiler made from a soda can bottom. The biggest boiler was the best, confirming his hypothesis.
“My favorite part was when me and my dad had to check how fast each pop pop boat was to see which one was the fastest,” he said.
Fourth grader Liam Savage tested whether adding weights to the top of a remote-control truck would increase its towing ability. He found that a specific amount of weight increased the truck’s tower power by giving it extra traction. But with too much weight, the truck would stall. With too little weight, the truck didn’t have enough grip. “My favorite part was driving my car and seeing how much weight it could pull,” he said.
Aspiring astronaut and fifth grader Michaela Bruno searched for the best material to block ultraviolet rays for protection.”I want to be an astronaut when I grow up and I want to know how the UV lights in space affect them,” she said.
By shining a UV flashlight on UV beads covered by different materials she learned that aluminon foil and dark cotton fabric offered the best protection. With those results in mind, Bruno went on to engineer a model space suit and visor.
Honorable mentions
Kindergarten: Kacey Stidd, Riverhead; Lucas Luna, Hampton Bays; John O’Donnell, Kings Park
First Grade: Hudson Costales, East Northport; Jaxon Romano, Middle Island; Marilla Pendelton, Aquebogue
Second Grade: Jude Roseto, Cutchogue; Ashleigh Bruno,Northport; Kayleigh Moore, East Northport
Third Grade: Matthew McHugh, Hauppauge; Riona Mittal, Hauppauge; Maxin Vetoshkin, Hauppauge
Fourth Grade: Evan Pereyra, Westhampton Beach; Agnes Van Winckel, Kings Park; Emma Lochner, Sayville
Sixth Grade: Grace Rozell, Northport; Elle Redlinger, Montau
Brookhaven National Laboratory is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit www.science.energy.gov
Dr. Peter Igarashi is the incoming dean of the Renaissance School of Medicine. Photo from University of Minnesota
Stony Brook University’s Renaissance School of Medicine has named Dr. Peter Igarashi, a nephrologist and physician scientist, as its new dean, effective Sept. 12.
Igarashi comes to Stony Brook from the University of Minnesota Medical School, where he is the Nesbitt Chair, professor and head of the Department of Medicine.
At the University of Minnesota, the new dean oversaw 600 full-time and affiliate faculty, 100 adjunct faculty, and over 240 residents and fellows, all while increasing National Institutes of Health funding by 60%.
At UMN, he also helped to cut gender pay disparities, appointed women to leadership positions, developed new multidisciplinary programs, and created an Office of Faculty Affairs and Diversity.
“Dr. Igarashi is a superb, academically accomplished physician leader with a highly successful track record of clinical program growth and research advancement,” Dr. Hal Paz, executive vice president of Health Sciences at SBU and chief executive officer of Stony Brook University Medicine, said in a statement.
Igarashi has received over $25 million in funding from the NIH during a career in which he has studied polycystic kidney disease, transcriptional regulation, epigenetics and kidney development.
Polycystic kidney disease, or PKD, is an inherited disorder that involves the development of clusters of cysts, primarily in the kidney. Symptoms of the disease can include high blood pressure, loss of kidney function, chronic pain and the growth of cysts in the liver, among others.
His lab developed unique lines of transgenic mice that he has used to study kidney-specific transgene expression and gene targeting.
In addition to writing nine chapters in textbooks, Dr. Igarashi has also authored more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles.
Before his seven-year stint at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Igarashi had been Chief of the Division of Nephrology and founding director of the O’Brien Kidney Research Core Center at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
At the University of Texas, Dr. Igarashi created services to provide regular kidney dialysis to undocumented and other often marginalized patients. He also led an effort to use artificial intelligence to identify and optimize co-management of patients with hypertension, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease in primary care practices.
A recipient of the NIH Merit Award, Dr. Igarashi also won the 2015 Lillian Jean Kaplan International Prize in polycystic kidney disease. The award honored his contribution to the goal of developing treatments and a cure for polycystic kidney disease.
Dr. Igarashi earned his medical degree from the UCLA School of Medicine and completed an internal medicine residency at the University of California Davis Medical Center. He did a nephrology fellowship at Yale University and also taught at the Yale University School of Medicine.
Dr. Igarashi is board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. He is a member of the American Heart Association Kidney Council, the American Physiological Society, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the American Society of Nephrology and the Association of American Physicians.
Dr. William Wertheim had been the interim dean of the Renaissance School of Medicine since February 2021, following Dr. Kenneth Kaushansky’s retirement after serving as dean and senior vice president of health sciences for 11 years.
Dr. Wertheim will return to his role as vice dean for graduate medical education. He will also have a leadership role at the Stony Brook Medicine Community Medical Group, which is an arm of Stony Brook Medicine and includes over 35 community practices with over 50 locations across Long Island.
Prev
