Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH) has been named one of the Top 25 Hospitals in the country for its work pursuing environmental excellence. Based on a rigorous scoring system, this award honors success and performance in a range of sustainability programs including leadership, waste, chemicals, greening the operating room, food, sustainable procurement, energy, water, climate, transportation, and green building. As Practice Greenhealth’s highest honor for the Partner for Change application, this award recognizes the best of the best in health care environmental sustainability.
Additionally, SBUH’s multi-disciplinary efforts on reducing its environmental footprint in various impact areas have resulted in earning the recognition of Circles of Excellence in Chemicals, Sustainable Procurement, Energy, and Green Building. The Circles of Excellence Awards honor the 10 highest-performing hospitals in each area of sustainability impact.
“Our sustainability successes come from many passionate employees working to make our hospital a leader in providing world class healthcare, while ensuring our resources are used efficiently to minimize our impact on the environment,” said Carol Gomes, MS, FACHE, CPHQ, Chief Executive Officer, Stony Brook University Hospital. “I’m incredibly proud of the Stony Brook Medicine faculty and staff for their continued dedication and hard work in advancing environmental excellence within healthcare.”
Some of the Hospital’s successes over the last year include:
Significant reductions in our use of the anesthetic desflurane
Significant reductions in regulated medical waste generation
Expansion of our reprocessing and sustainable purchasing programs
Reduction in total waste per patient day
Expansion of the impact of our Food Farmacy program and our Stony Brook Heights micro-farm that distributes food to food-insecure community members
Elimination of the central nitrous oxide system at Ambulatory Surgery Center
Several physical plant and capital projects that reduce our energy use, including the very visible Curtain Wall project and less visible infrastructure projects.
Practice Greenhealth is the leading sustainable health care organization, delivering environmental solutions to more than 1,700 hospitals and health systems in the United States and Canada.
This image captures bioprinted structures created with TRACE. Clockwise from the top left: structures mimicking the heart, intestine, kidney, and a vascular tree. Photos by Michael Mak, Xiangyu Gong, and Zixie Liang
A team of biomedical researchers led by Michael Mak, PhD, in the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, has developed a new method of bioprinting physiological materials. Called TRACE (Tunable Rapid Assembly of Collagenous Elements), the method solves previous problems of bioprinting natural materials of the body. It is also a highly versatile biofabrication technique, will help advance drug development and disease modeling, and potentially impact regenerative medicine.
Details of the method are explained in a paper published in Nature Materials.
Bioprinting positions biochemicals, biological materials, and living cells for the generation of bioengineered structures. The process uses biological inks (bioinks) and biomaterials, along with computer-controlled 3D printing techniques, to construct living tissue models used in medical research. While 3D printing technologies are newer to medicine and biomedical research, their applications are prominent in industries such as automotive manufacturing.
Researchers point out that despite the potential of bioprinting, achieving functionality in bioprinted tissues and organs has been challenging because biological cells in traditional bioprinted tissues are unable to perform their natural activities in the body – thus rendering most bioprinted tissues unusable for clinical purposes and advanced medical applications.
Mak and colleagues hope TRACE will help rectify this problem in future medical research.
“Our method is essentially a novel platform technology that can be used to print wide-ranging tissue and organ types,” says Mak, Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacological Sciences. “With TRACE, we figured out how to fabricate and manufacture complex user-designable tissue and organ structures via 3D patterning and printing using the body’s natural building blocks, particularly collagen, as bioinks in a highly biocompatible manner and with direct incorporation of living cells,” he explains.
Collagen (especially Collagen Type I) is the most prominent and abundant protein in the human body. It is a key building block in tissues including skin, muscle, bone, tendon, and vital organs such as the heart. Collagen acts as the “glue” to many tissues and organs and is crucial as the body’s natural scaffolding material for holding cells and tissues in place. It also helps direct cells to perform their functions.
According to Mak, because of each of these attributes of collagen in physiological processes, it is a top candidate to be used as a bioink material.
In the paper, titled “Instant Assembly of Collagen for Tissue Engineering and Bioprinting,” the authors explain how with TRACE they can bioprint physiological materials by rapidly accelerating the gelation process of collagen. Their method is mediated by macromolecular crowding, a process in which an inert crowding material is used to speed up the assembly reaction of collagen molecules.
By doing this, they can create tissues composed of the same basic elements as those found inside the body. Then they apply TRACE to generate functional tissues and “mini organs” such as heart chambers.
On the overall results of the work, Mak and his co-authors summarize: “TRACE offers a versatile biofabrication platform, enabling direct 3D printing of physiological materials and living tissues, achieving both structural complexity and biofunctionality. This work broadens the scope of controllable multiscale biofabrication for tissues across various organ systems, using collagen as a key component.”
Children had fun during the 2nd annual David Wolmetz Family Fun fundraiser at Urban Air Lake Grove on June 8. Photo from Urban Air Lake Grove
Day of high flying fun for kids supports blood cancer research at Stony Brook Cancer Center
Long Island kids and their parents turned out for the second annual David Wolmetz Family Fun Day Fundraiser at Urban Air Lake Grove on June 8, honoring the late co-founder of Long Island’s tallest indoor adventure park and raising more than $10,000 to support research and treatment at Stony Brook Cancer Center.
Admission to the park for kids of all ages included access to the most popular attractions including the 30-foot-tall Sky Rider zipline, Mini Go-Karts, Climbing Walls, Bumper Cars, and more. Local vendors were also on hand for face painting, balloon animals, temporary tattoos and hourly raffles of everything from TVs to luxury vacations.
Proceeds from the event will go to support blood cancer research at the Stony Brook Cancer Center, where Wolmetz received treatment from 2019 to 2023.
“We grew up together, we went into this business together,” said Keith Handler, Co-Founder of Urban Air Lake Grove. “Dave loved to see kids happy and off their screens. This fundraiser is in honor of him to support the people who took care of him when he was sick.”
In October of 2018, Wolmetz was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He was admitted to Stony Brook Hospital’s 19th floor, where his treatment started immediately. The staff at the Cancer Center and hospital treated him throughout his cancer journey, which spanned the COVID pandemic, and subsequently several hospitalizations over the years due to his compromised immune system. Dave lost his battle with cancer on June 9, 2023.
“Stony Brook Cancer Center was a very special place for him, and he loved the medical professionals who took such good care of him,” said Carrie Wolmetz, wife of Dave Wolmetz. “He always had hope; he always stayed positive. And he was always ready to try whatever new treatments were available, for himself and for other people.”
Donations to Stony Brook Cancer Center can be made here.
About Urban Air Lake Grove
With 50,000 sq. ft. of active play space, Urban Air Lake Grove is home to a variety of indoor activities, including the Sky Rider, a zip-line style attraction with a winding track that carries young thrill-seekers flying along 30 feet in the air, the tallest on Long Island. Urban Air Lake Grove also offers a High Ropes obstacle course, Spin Zone bumper cars, and a full set of rock-climbing walls, wall-to-wall trampoline adventures, and Urban Air’s exclusive Urban Warrior Course™ and Battle Beam, mini Go Karts and Flash Pads, an interactive dance floor attraction. Urban Air Lake Grove is located at 3147 Middle Country Road, Lake Grove, NY 11755. Phone: (631) 861-4125.
Legislator Steve Englebright, left, congratulates Corey Fischer, center, along with Suffolk County Legislator and Minority Leader Jason Richberg. Photo from Legislator Englebright’s office
Corey Fischer knows what it’s like to be bullied by peers and to lose a close friend. However, these experiences haven’t overshadowed his ability to help others.
Fischer, along with other impressive teenagers from Suffolk County, was recognized by County Executive Ed Romaine (R) and all 18 County Legislators at an event at the H. Lee Dennison Building on Monday, May 12. Legislator Steven Englebright (D-Setauket) chose the Ward Melville High School senior to be recognized at the special event.
“We get a chance to see the future at an event like this, and the future looks pretty good,” Englebright said.
When the now 18-year-old was bullied in elementary school, he met Jackson, a boy from Port Jefferson Station, while playing the video game Fortnite online. Soon, they exchanged phone numbers and talked on the phone every day. Jackson battled acute myelogenous leukemia, but despite his diagnosis, he was a strong individual who gave Fischer wise advice and tips whenever the subject of bullying came up.
Jackson beat cancer, but a year later, he relapsed. After a bone marrow transplant, he suffered from Grafts vs. Host Disease. Tragically, Jackson succumbed to the disease at the age of 12.
To remember Jackson, Fischer has honored him by assembling and donating comfort baskets to oncology ward patients at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, where Jackson was treated. Fischer used grant money and his own to create the packages brimming with special items for patients, such as comfort socks, fidget spinners, coloring books, cards and more. He also founded the Jackson Initiative, which inspired his classmates to join him in creating cards and assembling the baskets.
Currently, Fischer is working with two doctors on a project that he conceptualized, focusing on patients’ mental health. When implemented, children can choose from an assortment of Emotion Cards to place on a whiteboard in their room to make it easier to communicate their feelings to healthcare practitioners.
Fischer will head to college later this year and is planning to enter the field of psychiatry.
“With his extraordinary compassion for his fellow human beings, career success will certainly be part of his future,” Englebright said at the May 12th event. “For being an inspiration to all ages, Corey Fischer is Legislative District 5’s Youth Award recipient for 2025.”
Dr. Andrew Handel. Photo by Jeanne Neville/Stony Brook Medicine
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Tick Bite Data Tracker shows that emergency department visits for tick bites have increased in May.
Children have the highest incidence of Lyme disease in the United States. Specifically, the age group most at risk is children aged 5 to 9 years old. Children are particularly vulnerable to tick bites because they often play in areas where ticks are prevalent.
According to the CSC, early signs and symptoms for most tick-related illnesses include a rash, fever and chills general ill feeling, hacheade, joint pain, muscle pain and stiff neck. If left untreated, Lyme disease can lead to serious long-term complications, including heart problems, neurological issues, and chronic arthritis.
The CDC estimates that nearly 500,000 people will contract Lyme disease this year, from just a single tick bite. A newly published study in the Journal of Medical Entomology provides critical insights into the emergence of babesiosis in the Mid-Atlantic region. Babesiosis can be more severe than Lyme disease, and can become a life-threatening disease for the elderly.
“Ticks can spread disease. Not all ticks can cause disease and not all bites will make you sick. The vast majority of tick bites do not result in any infection or other disease,” said Dr. Andrew Handel, a pediatric infectious diseases expert at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital and physician at the Stony Brook Regional Tick-Borne Disease Center in Hampton Bays, the first and only dedicated tick clinic in the Northeast.
“However, as tick bites and tickborne diseases become more common, it’s important to learn how to prevent a tick bite, how to remove a tick and stay safe year-round. Increased tick activity as the weather warms also means increased risk of tickborne diseases such as Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Powassan virus and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Also, an odd phenomenon known as an ‘alpha-gal allergy’ may develop after a lone star tick bite, leading to an allergy to red meat,” he said.
Dr. Handel shares a multi-pronged strategy to stay tick-free:
■ Wear light-colored, long-sleeve shirts and pants to make ticks more identifiable.
■ Tuck your pants into your socks so the ticks don’t have access to your skin.
■ Use 20-30% DEET insect repellent.
■ Perform routine tick checks when coming from the outdoors or nightly tick checks.
■ Check unexpected and common places on your body for ticks. Ticks love to hide in the beltline, behind the ears, hairline, and in skin folds.
■ If outdoors for an extensive time, consider treating clothes with permethrin, which kills ticks on contact.
■ Put your clothes in the dryer for 10 minutes on high heat to kill any ticks.
Handel adds that anyone bitten by a tick should save the tick for identification.
“Do remove a tick if it is attached. The only safe method is to use a tweezer and firmly grasp the tick right at the base of the skin, where its head is burrowed. Then pull directly away from the skin, without twisting. Once off, place the tick in a sealed bag. Then you can bring it to your clinician to examine and see if they can identify it and know what symptoms may develop into possible infections. We often hear of people using petroleum jelly or matches to kill the tick while it is attached to the skin. This is not effective and may cause much more harm to the skin,” he said.
A tick typically needs to be attached for at least 36 hours before Lyme disease becomes a concern. In those cases, a medical provider may prescribe a single dose of doxycycline to prevent infection.
“If you are bitten by a tick, don’t panic,” Handel said. “The majority of tick bites do not lead to an infection and we have effective antibiotics for preventing or treating these infections.”
This article originally appeared in TBR News Media’s Focus on Health supplement on May 22, 2025.
Long Island native and RSOM graduate Kevin Langbart, center, is among the new MDs who will stay at Stony Brook Medicine for their residencies. Photo by Kristy Leibowitz
A group of new MDs from the RSOM celebrate with each other during the school’s 51st Convocation. Photo by Kristy Leibowitz
A total of 133 graduates of the Renaissance School of Medicine (RSOM) recite the Physicians’ Oath for the first time as newly minted MDs. Photo by Kristy Leibowitz
The RSOM Class of 2025 pose and wave during the Convocation on May 19 at Stony Brook University. Photo by Kristy Leibowitz
133 RSOM graduates celebrate during the school’s 51st Convocation; residency training begins in July
The Renaissance School of Medicine (RSOM) at Stony Brook University celebrated its 51st Convocation on May 19 when 133 graduates received their Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree. The newly minted physicians will start their residency training in early July.
A talented and diverse group set to practice medicine in more than 20 specialties – such as residencies related to primary care, anesthesiology, emergency medicine, neurology, radiology, surgery and psychiatry – the RSOM graduates, collectively, will practice at leading hospitals and academic medical centers in New York State and 17 other states. A majority (55 percent) will remain in New York, with nearly 15 percent staying at Stony Brook Medicine.
The need for more physicians in the United States and globally remains high, particularly because of aging populations and the need for physician specialists. With ever increasing new technologies to diagnose and treat diseases, and the emergence of AI and telemedicine, opportunities to further advance Medicine in this 21st Century will expand. New MDs entering the workforce will be a major part of that advancement.
Peter Igarashi, MD, the Knapp Dean of the RSOM and Presider over the Convocation, congratulated the 133 graduates and cited their dedication, perseverance, and achievements during this celebration of their journeys that brought them all to this moment as new physicians.
“Over the last four plus years at the Renaissance School of Medicine, you have received the best medical education that New York State has to offer,” said Dr. Igarashi. “The combination of training in the science and art of medicine and the social determinants of health has prepared you to be doctors, well-equipped for whoever walks in the door.”
Susan M. Wolf, JD, a nationally recognized leader in medicine, law, and ethics, Chair of the Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences, Regents Professor, and Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota, delivered the Convocation Address.
Professor Wolf has devoted her academic career to solving ethical and legal challenges in patient care and biomedical research. Her pioneering work has influenced how medicine approaches end-of-life care, the return of research results and incidental findings, and the ethical integration of technologies like genomics and AI.
She encouraged the students to practice medicine with the highest ethics and to be patient advocates during the caregiving process, helping to empower patients and their decisions in an age when medicine is advancing at a rapid pace even as quality of life and death issues remain paramount.
The 133 new MDs celebrated with each other, RSOM faculty, friends and family members throughout the day. This included a special shout out and a rousing applause from them during the ceremony directed to their parents and loved ones, who sacrificed much time and means throughout the graduates’ medical school journey.
The RSOM Class of 2025 join a long history of the school’s graduates. Since the first graduating class of 1974, the RSOM has issued more than 5,000 MD degrees, more than 600 PhD degrees, and nearly 750 master’s degrees to more than 6,200 graduates.
Nursing students use mannequins and hospital equipment to train for various health care challenges for future patients. Photo by Jeanne Neville/Stony Brook Medicine
Using immersive virtual reality that simulate real-world healthcare settings in a simulated hospital room, emergency room, intensive care unit or patient homes, nursing students use technology to train in a low-stress setting. Photo from Stony Brook Medicine
Nursing students use mannequins and hospital equipment to train for various health care challenges for future patients. Photo by Jeanne Neville/Stony Brook Medicine
By Daniel Dunaief
Dr. Patricia Bruckenthal Photo from Stony Brook School of Nursing
People put their lives in the hands of unseen airline pilots who have enhanced and sharpened their skills using simulators. These simulators can prepare them for a wide range of conditions and unexpected challenges that enhance their confidence on the fly.
The same approach holds true for nurses, who seek to help patients whose symptoms may change even as the nurse is working with several people at the same time.
In an initiative designed to provide in depth training to nurses throughout the state, while filling a shortage of these vital professionals, New York State recently announced a $62 million contribution to three nursing simulation centers: SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Canton and Stony Brook University. With $10 million of state funds that the university will match with $10.5 million of its own money, SBU will increase the number of nurses it trains.
“We are very fortunate here at Stony Brook that we get many, many qualified applicants for our nursing program [for whom] we have not, to date, been able to offer seats,” said Dr. Patricia Bruckenthal, Dean of the School of Nursing at Stony Brook. This will enable the school, as well as the other programs, to train more students.
Effective training
While Stony Brook offers nursing simulation training, the additional funds will greatly expand the size and scope of that effort.
The NEXUS-Innovation Center, which stands for Nursing EXcellence Using Simulation, will take about two years to build and will have a phased in enrollment approach. In the third year, the school will add 56 baccalaureate nursing students. In the fifth year, Stony Brook will have space for 80 more students.
The current simulation center is about 1,850 square feet, which includes a nursing skills lab, exam room and debrief/ flex room.
The new center will add 15,000 square feet.
The simulation center will have 16 hospital style beds, with all the equipment nurses would normally see in a hospital room, including suction, air, oxygen, otoscope, ophthalmoscope, monitoring, and a call bell system. The center will also have eight examination rooms.
The proposal also includes the design of an apartment with a laundry, kitchen, bathroom and shower, helping train nurses who will help people in residential settings.
Among other features, the center will have a control room where instructors and operators manipulate the AV equipment and patient simulations, observe and document performance, collect data and prepare for debriefing.
Bruckenthal is planning to hire a faculty member in the next few months to become simulation coordinator who will work with the Director of the Learning Resource Center.
Within the next two years, Stony Brook anticipates hiring one more nursing faculty Clinical Simulation Educator and one Simulation Operations Specialist, who will ensure that all technical aspects of the center are functioning correctly. This new hire will also troubleshoot equipment, while performing emergency repairs on equipment and arranging for vendor repairs.
All of this equipment and expertise provides opportunities to create scenarios that build expertise. The conditions can change, as a patient goes from an expected outcome to one in which the conditions rapidly deteriorate.
In addition to expanding capacity and giving nurses an opportunity to understand and react to patients who have a wide range of conditions they might not see during routine clinical training, the center will also enable these students to build their competence and confidence in a low-stakes environment.
“It provides for a safe learning environment,” said Bruckenthal. “Students can make mistakes without risking patient safety. It’s much less stressful.”
Future nurses can also continue to work in the simulation lab on a particular skill until they feel confident in their abilities.
Several studies have validated the effectiveness of educating and preparing nurses in a simulated setting.
A landmark study in 2014 conducted by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing compared the clinical competence of nurses in training across three groups: one that had no simulation training, a group with 25 percent of their clinical training replaced by simulation, and a third group with 50 percent clinical training through simulation.
The nursing certification pass rate scores were the same for all three groups. Simulation trained nurses performed as well or better in areas like critical thinking and clinical judgment.
Additionally, follow up studies showed that employers found that nurses trained using high fidelity simulation were just as effective as those who were trained in the clinic in areas including patient safety, communication and evidence-based practices..
The center can also pivot to provide nurses with training for expanding local health threats, such as a simulated version of a measles outbreak, Lyme disease or a spike in other conditions that might cause a surge in hospital visits.
“We can build and design cases that meet those needs,” said Bruckenthal.
The center can build in disaster training, giving nurses a chance to interact with colleagues in other health professions during any of a host of other scenarios. When interacting with other healthcare professionals, nurses can practices the SBAR technique, in which they describe the Situation, provide Background, give an Assessment, and offer a Recommendation.
The expanded simulation center will incorporate design elements such as soundproofing, lighting and ventilation and will align with the university’s goals towards sustainability and green-oriented design.
Long term commitment
Bruckenthal has been contributing to Stony Brook for 44 years, ever since she graduated from the nursing school in 1981.
Her first job as a nurse was at the newly opened hospital. She and Carolyn Santora, Stony Brook Medicine Chief Nursing Officer, have worked together since 1981 and went through the Stony Brook master’s program together. They have established the Stony Brook Nursing Alliance.
Bruckenthal is energized by the opportunities ahead.
“Nursing is one of those careers where you can always keep yourself new and find new and exciting opportunities,” she said.
In the early days of her nursing career, she recalled that nurses weren’t exposed to all the types of conditions they might face in various settings.
“Having the opportunity to have nurses practice in this low risk environment and build that confidence and skills is a better way to prepare nurses to be ready for the work force,” she said
With nurses involved in so many aspects of patient care, Bruckenthal dreams of creating a nursing innovation incubator.
Nurses can offer insights into developing innovative ways to improve health care, whether working with biomedical engineers or biomedical informatics and can help design human-centered technology. Such a center could allow nurses to learn more about technology and business while enabling them to become leaders and entrepreneurs.
“Nurses have a problem-solving mindset,” Bruckenthal explained. “Sustainable and scalable solutions are really going to take a joint effort between educators, clinicians and industry partners.”
Anissa Abi-Dargham, MD. Photo by Jeanne Neville, Stony Brook Medicine
Anissa Abi-Dargham, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Radiology, and the Lourie Endowed Chair of the Department Psychiatry and Behavioral Health in the Renaissance School of Medicine (RSOM) at Stony Brook University, will receive the 2025 Award for Research in Psychiatry from the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
According to the APA, the Award for Research in Psychiatry recognizes a single distinguished contribution, a body of work, or a lifetime contribution that has had a major impact on the field and/or altered the practice of psychiatry.
Dr. Abi-Dargham is being recognized by the APA with the Award for Research in Psychiatry for her distinguished contributions over her career to schizophrenia research, which has had a major impact on the field. She will receive the award at the APA’s annual meeting on May 19 in Los Angeles.
“I am very honored and grateful to receive this award and be able to present the work of many trainees and collaborators I have had the privilege to work with over the course of my career,” says Dr. Abi-Dargham, also Associate Dean and Associate Vice President for Clinical and Translational Science at the RSOM.
“It is a pleasure to work with such talented and dedicated scientists and to contribute to the discovery process,” she adds. “This award is very meaningful, particularly at a time when research is facing many challenges.”
At Stony Brook since 2016, Dr. Abi-Dargham’s clinical and research expertise is in molecular imaging, pharmacology, schizophrenia, and addiction. The broad focus of her research within the RSOM is to advance the understanding of the neurobiology of severe mental illness, with one approach being investigation of molecular markers and their functional significance as measured with multi-modal imaging approaches.
The Setauket resident also oversees a multidisciplinary team with expertise in several types of neuroimaging techniques used in tandem to address important questions about brain mechanisms and schizophrenia.
During the APA annual meeting, Dr. Abi-Dargham will deliver a lecture to the nation’s APA members titled “Misfiring signals: Dopamine Dysfunction in Schizophrenia – From Neural Pathways to Behavioral Manifestations.”
Susan Lee, MD, FACP. Photo by Jeanne Neville, Stony Brook Medicine
Susan Lee, MD, FACP, Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, Medical Director of Stony Brook Primary Care and Deputy Chief of the Medical Information Office (CMIO) at Stony Brook Medicine, has been elected to the Board of Regents of the American College of Physicians (ACP). The Board of Regents is the main policy-making body for the ACP.
The ACP is a national organization of internal medicine physicians, related subspecialists, and medical students who specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of adults.
A resident of Dix Hills, Dr. Lee’s involvement in ACP leadership has included numerous positions. In 2011, she was named a Fellow of the ACP (FACP), an honorary designation that recognizes ongoing individual service and contributions to the practice of internal medicine. She has also been a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors and a member of the Immunization Committee for the 2021-22 term. Locally, Dr. Lee was elected Governor of the New York Long Island Chapter of the ACP in 2021. She has also contributed to the ACP’s immunization initiatives through introducing practices to “I Raise the Rates New York.”
Dr. Lee, practicing at Stony Brook Medicine since 1997, earned her medical degree from the New York University School of Medicine in 1991 and completed her residency in Internal Medicine at New York Hospital at Cornell University in 1994.
Nursing students engage in trauma simulation, guided by an instructor, to build essential emergency care skills in a realistic learning environment. Photo by Amy Prokop
Initiative will enhance and broaden nursing education with funds totaling $20.5 million
The Stony Brook University School of Nursing has been selected as a State University of New York (SUNY) Regional Nursing Simulation Center, one of only three in New York State. Governor Kathy Hochul announced the news this month about the selected centers, which will involve an overall $62 million investment to bolster nursing training at many levels throughout the state.
Stony Brook will receive $10 million from SUNY, with matching funds of $10.5 million from Stony Brook University. The total of $20.5 million will be used to create a new simulation center at Stony Brook that includes the latest simulation technologies to help train more nursing students and enhance the overall experience of nursing education.
The selected campuses include the University of Buffalo, named the SUNY System-Wide Nursing Simulation Center of Excellence, and SUNY Canton and Stony Brook as the regional centers. Each center will provide high-quality, hands-on training for some of the most needed clinical practice areas in health care, such as labor and delivery, high acuity cases, and community health.
According to the Governor’s office, with their investments, each campus has committed to significant prelicensure nursing program enrollment growth, leveraging the legislation Governor Hochul signed in May of 2023 permitting nursing students to complete up to one-third of their clinical training through high-quality simulation experiences.
“By investing in nurses of the future, we’re investing in the talent of aspiring professionals across our state and in the health care workforce we all rely on,” says Governor Hochul.
“As Suffolk County’s only academic medical center, Stony Brook University is proud to be at the forefront of healthcare education and workforce development,” says Dr. William A. Wertheim, Executive Vice President for Stony Brook Medicine. “This designation as a SUNY Regional Nursing Simulation Center reflects our long-standing commitment to preparing the next generation of nurses. Through this important partnership with SUNY, we will expand access to high-quality, hands-on clinical training – helping to address the critical nursing shortage, grow the healthcare workforce and ensure our communities have skilled professionals they need to thrive.”
The new regional nursing simulation center at Stony Brook will support a 19 percent increase in prelicensure (baccalaureate) nursing enrollment in the first-year post-project completion. There is a projected 27 percent increase over the next five years.
“We are grateful to Governor Hochul, SUNY, and Stony Brook University for this opportunity to expand and enhance nursing education through simulation-based learning,” says Dr. Patricia Bruckenthal, Dean of the Stony Brook School of Nursing. “Our NEXUS Innovation Center epitomizes our commitment to advancing nursing education through innovation and collaboration. By integrating cutting-edge simulation technologies, we are not only enhancing the clinical competencies of our students and students across the region but also fostering an environment where interdisciplinary teams can engage in transformative learning experiences. This center stands as a testament to our dedication to preparing nurse leaders who will shape the future of healthcare delivery.”
According to the plan as a regional center, Stony Brook will significantly expand its simulation space footprint to enhance in-person nursing education. Additionally, the center will leverage advanced simulcast software technology to provide remote learning opportunities across Long Island.
Currently, simulation baccalaureate nursing curriculum is integrated into every clinical course in the School of Nursing. Due to space constraints, students are rotated through the Learning Resource Center in small groups, which enables hands-on experiences in the simulation lab under the supervision of the lab director and clinical faculty. The expansion of simulation training and a new dedicated center will streamline this workflow.
The announcement of the three nursing simulation centers across the state also builds on previous efforts by SUNY to expand and enhance nursing education through simulation-based learning. Last October, SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. announced the inaugural class of the SUNY Nursing Simulation Fellowship, which includes Dr. Debra Giugliano from Stony Brook Nursing; and SUNY has invested $3.7 million through its High Needs Nursing Fund to further advance simulation-based education across 40 of SUNY’s nursing programs.
