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The free event will be held on Oct. 30 at 4 p.m. at Stony Brook University’s Staller Center for the Arts, Theater Two, 100 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook.

By Daniel Dunaief

Want to hear characters from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein discussing artificial intelligence? Or, perhaps, get an inside look at an interaction between a scientist studying penguins and a potential donor? Maybe you’d like something more abstract, like a thought piece on aspects of memory?

You can get all three at an upcoming Science on Stage performance of three one-act plays written by award-winning playwrights that feature the themes of cutting edge research from Stony Brook University.

Ken Weitzman Photo courtesy of SBU

On October 30th at 4 p.m. at Staller Center for the Arts’ Theater Two, which holds up to 130 people, professional actors will read three 10-minute scripts. Directed by Jackson Gay, topics will include research about artificial intelligence, climate change in Antarctica and collective memory. Audience members can then listen to a discussion hosted by Program Founder and Associate Professor of Theater Ken Weitzman that includes the scientists and the playwrights. The event is free and open to the public.

Funded by a grant from the Office of the Provost at Stony Brook University and supported by the College of Arts and Sciences and the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, the performances are an “amuse-bouche,” or an appetizer, about some of the diverse and compelling science that occurs at Stony Brook University, said Weitzman. 

“The hope is that [the plays] generate interest and get people to want to ask the next question or that [the plays] stick with audience members emotionally or intellectually and makes them want to discover more.”

The upcoming performance features the writing of two-time Tony Award winning playwright Greg Kotis, who wrote Urinetown; Michele Lowe, whose first play made it to Broadway and around the world; and Rogelio Martinez, whose plays have been produced around the U.S. and internationally.

The short plays will feature the scientific work of Nilanjan Chakraborty, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Heather Lynch, Professor of Ecology and Evolution, and Suparna Rajaram, Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science in the Psychology Department.

“It’s a good example of what we are doing and the opportunities for us as we continue to put funding in the arts and the humanities and also in the intersection of that from an interdisciplinary perspective,” said Carl Lejuez, Stony Brook Provost, in an interview. This kind of collaborative effort works best “when it’s truly bi-directional. Both sides benefit.”

Lejuez credits President Maurie McInnis with setting the tone about the importance of learning the humanities and the sciences. Lejuez said McInnis talks during her convocation speech about how she had intended to become a physician when she attended college, but took an art history course that was part of a general education curriculum that changed her life. The sixth president of Stony Brook, McInnis earned her PhD in the History of Art from Yale University.

Lejuez highlighted a number of interdisciplinary efforts at Stony Brook University. Stephanie Dinkins, Professor in the Department of Art, bridges visual art and Artificial Intelligence. She has focused her work on addressing the shortcomings of AI in understanding and depicting black women.

The Simons Center for Geometry and Physics has an arts and culture program, while the Collaborative for the Earth has faculty from numerous disciplines. They are starting a new Tiger Teams to develop key areas of study and will offer seed funding for interdisciplinary work to tackle climate change.

Lejuez plans to attend Science on Stage on October 30th.

“I feel an almost desperation to learn as much as I can about all the aspects of the university,” he said. Not only is he there to “show respect for the work and give it gravitas, but it’s the only way [he and others] can do [their job] of representing and supporting faculty and staff” in science and the humanities.

An enjoyable experience

The participants in Science on Stage appreciate the opportunity to collaborate outside their typical working world.

Heather Lynch, who conducts research on penguins in Antarctica and worked with Lowe, described the experience as “immensely enjoyable” and suggested that the “arts can help scientists step out of their own comfort zone to think about where their own work fits into society at large.”

Lynch explained that while the specific conversation in the play is fictionalized, the story reflects “my aggregate angst about our Antarctic field work and, in that sense, is probably more literally true than any conversation or interaction with any real life traveling guest.”

Lynch believes the play on her work is thought provoking. “Science is a tool, what matters is what you do” with that science, she said.

Lynch was thrilled to work with someone new and believes Lowe probably learned about Antarctica and the challenges it faces.

Bringing talent together

The first iteration of Science on Stage occurred in 2020 and was available remotely in the midst of the pandemic. Weitzman had reached out to scientists at Stony Brook to see who might be willing to partner up with playwrights.

He  is eager to share the diverse combination of topics in a live setting from this year’s trio of scientists. “I did some nudging to make sure there were a variety” of grand challenge topics, he said.

Weitzman explained that bringing the humanities and arts together in such an effort generated considerable enthusiasm. “There’s such incredible research being done here,” he said. “I want to engage for this community.”

He hopes such a performance can intrigue people at Stony Brook or in the broader community about science, theater writing or science communication.

While the plays are each 10 minutes long and include actors reading scripts, Weitzman said the experience would feel like it’s being performed and not read, particularly because professional actors are participating. 

He also hopes one or more of the playwrights sees this interaction as an opportunity to create a longer piece.

“I would love it if [this experience] encourages a playwright to think it justifies a full length” script, Weitzman said.

Lynch wrote a pilot screenplay herself called “Forecast Horizon” that she describes as an intellectual exercise. If Netflix calls, however, she’s “definitely interested in having it live on,” she said. Writing the screenplay gave her a “better appreciation for how much more similar science is to the arts than I would have thought. Both involve solving puzzles.”

As for future funding, Lejuez suggested that the University was still figuring out how to allocate available funds for next year and in future years.

He would like to see how this first time in person goes. Depending on the interest and enthusiasm, he could envision a regular source of funds to support such future similar collaborations.

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Some of the ways SBU combines arts and humanities with science

By Daniel Dunaief

The southern flagship State University of New York facility, Stony Brook University seeks ways to bring the best from the arts and humanities together with science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Provost Carl Lejuez. Photo from SBU

Indeed, the school provides a home for the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, where researchers tap into famed actor Alda’s improvisational acting skills, among other techniques, to connect with their audiences and share their cutting-edge work and discoveries.

In addition to the October 30th Science on Stage production at Staller Theater 2, Provost Carl Lejuez recently highlighted numerous additional interdisciplinary efforts.

This past spring, the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics presented artwork by Professor of Mathematics Moira Chas. Chas created artwork that combines yarn and wire, clot and zippers to illustrate mathematical objects, questions or theorems.

The Office of the Provost has also provided several grants to support interdisciplinary work. This includes two $25,000 grants that promote the development of new research teams to explore interdisciplinary areas of scholarly work and address challenges such as Digital Futures/ Ethical Artificial Intelligence, Sustainability, Critical health Studies/ Health Disparities, Global Migration, and other areas.

Additionally, the Collaborative for the Earth brings together faculty from the arts, humanities and social sciences with behavioral science and STEM faculty. The university is starting a new Tiger Teams that will develop key areas of study and offer seed funding to tackle climate change. The funding will explore ways to create solutions that policy makers and the public can adopt, as well as ways to address disparities in the impact of climate change and ways to support people who are disproportionately affected by this threat.

SBU added interdisciplinary faculty. Susannah Glickman, Assistant Professor in the Department of History, has interests such as computing, political economy, 20th century US and world history and the history of science.

Matthew Salzano, IDEA Fellow in Ethical AI, Information Systems and Data Science and Literacy, meanwhile, has a joint appointment with the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Communication. He studies rhetoric and digital culture, emphasizing how digital technology, including artificial intelligence, impacts and interacts with social justice.

Through course work, members of the university community can also address interdisciplinary questions. Associate Professor in the Department of Art Karen Lloyd teaches an Art and Medicine course, while  Adjunct Lecturer Patricia Maudies, also in the Art Department, teaches Art + The Brain. Both of these courses bring in guest lecturers from STEM and medicine.

Stony Brook also hosts centers aimed at interdisciplinary research, such as the Institute for Advanced Computational Science (IACS).

One of the current goals and objectives of the IACS strategic plan is to advance the intellectual foundations of computation and data, with high-impact applications in engineering, in the physical, environmental, life, health and social sciences, and in the arts and humanities.

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Derek Teaney. Photo by Sebastian Grieninger/SBU

The American Physical Society (APS) has announced that Derek Teaney, Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Stony Brook University, is among the organization’s 2023 Fellows. This distinction recognizes Professor Teaney as a leading physicist whose research and service as an educator have helped advance the frontiers of science and technology.

Professor Teaney’s research involves Quantum Chromodynamics, which describes the nearly massless particles called quarks and gluons that exist within the nucleus of every atom. When nuclei are crashed into each other at high speeds, these particles form an extremely hot and dense state of matter known as quark-gluon plasma, which existed a microsecond after the big bang. ProfessorTeaney’s work has helped elucidate these collisions, painting a more complete picture of the quark-gluon plasma in the very early universe.

“I am exceptionally delighted that Professor Teaney has been recognized with this distinct honor by the American Physical Society, which is made to no more than one-half of one percent of the Society’s membership each year,” said Chang Kee Jung, Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. “Besides his outstanding contributions to nuclear physics, Professor Teaney is a dedicated and caring educator. He is also a reliable member of the department who is always willing to serve the university. We are fortunate to have him.”

With a BS from Yale University and a PhD from Stony Brook, Professor Teaney joined the Department of Physics and Astronomy in 2007 as a RIKEN Fellow. Since then, he has received multiple accolades including an Outstanding Junior Investigator award and a Sloan Fellowship.

The APS has named an annual cohort of fellows since 1921, and Professor Teaney joins a long list of Stony Brook professors who have earned the title. He also joins his father, Dale Teaney, who became an APS Fellow in 1964. To see the full list of past and present honorees, visit the APS Fellows archive page.

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Stony Brook University President Maurie McInnis, right, enjoys a string performance during the CommUniversity Day event held Saturday, Oct. 14. Photo by John Griffin/Stony Brook University
By Samantha Rutt

Stony Brook University showcased the many facets of its campus community during the CommUniversity Day event Saturday, Oct. 14.

Starting at noon, the event highlighted the campus through hands-on interactive activities, entertainment and thought-provoking mini-talks, as stated in the campus newsletter. The free event welcomed all members of the community, faculty and staff, friends and families.

Although rescheduled from its original date, the community response to the event was extolled by CommUniversity Day executive director Joan Dickinson.

“Despite weather delays and changing plans, CommUniversity Day 2023 was a wonderful event for visitors of all ages,” Dickinson said. “The response was amazing.”

Held in the uniquely designed university staple, the Charles B. Wang Center, CommUniversity Day featured “neighborhoods,” or stations, for community visitors to explore. Some attractions included Tech & Discovery Zone, The Arts and Kazoo-university, Find Out in 15, Rubber Duck Race, Health, Safety and Traditions.

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Photo by John Griffin/Stony Brook University
Photo by John Griffin/Stony Brook University
Photo by John Griffin/Stony Brook University
Photo by John Griffin/Stony Brook University
Photo by John Griffin/Stony Brook University
Photo by John Griffin/Stony Brook University
Photo by John Griffin/Stony Brook University
Photo by John Griffin/Stony Brook University
Photo by John Griffin/Stony Brook University
Photo by John Griffin/Stony Brook University
Photo by John Griffin/Stony Brook University
Photo by John Griffin/Stony Brook University

“We had a couple of past favorites, such as the Teddy Bear Clinic and the Instrument Petting Zoo, as well as some new activities, such as the Tooth Fairy Story Time and the Appliance Autopsy,” Dickinson added. “CommUniversity Day is a great way to give the community an inside look into Stony Brook through hands-on learning.”

Several students displayed research projects on topics ranging from the arts to health care and medicine. Karen Kernan, director of programs for research and creative activity at SBU, expressed her excitement for the event.

“I have always enjoyed CommUniversity — it’s great to see families connecting with all the wonderful activities showcased, from the arts to the environment to health care and medicine,” she said. “The picture would not be complete without our wonderful student researchers. We’re so proud of the work they are doing.”

Also present at the event was Stony Brook’s Island Harvest Food Drive, encouraging all eventgoers to bring nonperishable food items to contribute to the cause and for a free cooler bag.

CommUniversity Day was introduced to the Stony Brook community in 2017, created to connect the campus cultures and the surrounding area, cultivating stronger ties. SBU plans to continue holding this event for years to come.

“It was an incredible day,” Dickinson said.

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Photo from Stony Brook Athletics

Stony Brook tennis finished up its fall season at the Hofstra Invite from Oct. 13 to 15, highlighting its weekend by winning 6-of-8 singles matches on the final day to complete its weekend at the Hofstra University Tennis Courts.

The Seawolves finished 10-5 overall in singles play while also winning three doubles matches during the weekend. Freshman Mia Palladino and sophomore Debby Mastrodima each won both of their singles matches, while the duo of Chandrika Joshi and Darian Perfiliev combined to win both of its doubles matches for the weekend. 

All nine players that competed this past weekend picked up at least one win, with seven doing so in singles. Palladino finished with seven singles wins for the fall season for SBU, winning at least one in each competition. 

“We fought hard, but missed some opportunities in both doubles and singles on day one. However, on the second day of the event, we stepped up and were able to collect some good wins in doubles and carry on the momentum into singles,” said head coach Thiago Dualiby.

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Jon Heusel Photo by Henry David

By Daniel Dunaief

Growing up in Hooper, a small town in the central part of Nebraska, Jon Heusel considered following in his parents’ footsteps.

His father William took him on house calls where he provided for a wide range of medical needs.

Jon Heusel with his father William.

Along the way, however, Heusel, whose mother Mona was also an intensive care unit nurse towards the end of her career, discovered genetics and immunology as he earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Nebraska and then his MD, PhD at the University of Washington in St. Louis.

Enamored with these sciences and inspired to pursue a path of patient care from a different perspective, Heusel blazed his own trail, albeit one in which health care remained a professional focus.

Indeed, the second-generation doctor, who became Vice Chair for Clinical Pathology at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University on October 2nd, has devoted his career to the translation of new technologies into healthcare solutions.

For the past decade, this involved next generation sequencing, but also other new technologies and computerized systems for analyzing the data.

Heusel is inspired by a drive to improve the healthcare at academic medical centers like Stony Brook and Washington University, where new discoveries can affect positive change.

“The more I learned about Stony Brook, which is an up-and-coming university, the more I thought it was a magnificent opportunity for me,” said Heusel, who admired the recent jump Stony Brook University has made in the U.S. News and World Report rankings.

Mandate

Pathology Chair Kenneth Shroyer described Heusel as a “wonderful recruitment” and believes his background makes him especially well suited to his role.

“We want to develop in-house capacity to do advanced molecular testing to find actionable mutations that could inform therapeutic decision making,” said Shroyer. “He’s extremely experienced in that area.”

John Heusel’s medical school graduation with his parents William and Mona Heusel.

Shroyer suggested Stony Brook wants to develop opportunities for advanced sequencing technology within the molecular pathology lab, with a focus on molecular oncology.

Heusel described the development of a comprehensive diagnostic service in cancer as a high priority.

The cost of building new services with new technologies will require significant investment. The Pathology Department will work in partnership with the Cancer Center to build services.

“Ideally, the clinical services we build will also be attractive in supporting research and contract testing from companies in the pharmaceutical and biotech spaces,” Heusel explained.

By using informatics and digital pathology, Stony Brook can become a place where medical students and professionals in related areas including computational biology, genetic counseling and oncology increasingly want to come.

Heusel particularly appreciates the opportunity to translate technology and science into healthcare solutions.

“If you do this correctly, the tests, systems, programs and people you have recruited to run them will extend far into the future,” he said. “When this happens, you leave behind a legacy of excellence.”

Heusel will replace Eric Spitzer, who will retain his role of medical director of labs until Heusel takes over that role in January.

Shroyer described Spitzer’s contributions to the department and hospital as “tremendous,” adding that he has “been outstanding in his position as leader of the hospital laboratory. While we know [Heusel] is going to be extremely successful in part due to [Spitzer’s] help in the transition phase, we’re still going to miss” Spitzer.

Spitzer has been a valuable counselor to Shroyer and a mentor to many and is an “outstanding educator” who has been a “very impactful educator for our residents and medical students,” Shroyer said.

Educational opportunities

Heusel not only has ambitions for the university, but also for himself in his new job.

The new pathology vice chair is looking for opportunities to put his knowledge and instincts to work to make Stony Brook better — even if only in the slightest of ways, he said.

“The tumblers of fate must align themselves to become opportunities for transformational leadership; those are relatively rare,” he explained. “It’s my hope that I am well prepared and can recognize them when they cross my path.”

As for the public, Heusel recognizes that primary school teachers have a tough job in educating the public in general and in sharing the intricacies of science such as genetics. He admires them for their work.

He suggested that primary education could be reimagined amid the exponential growth in knowledge.

“I am hopeful that biology and genetics will be taught in a way that empowers people to understand their bodies and their health or disease better, but I think it is more important to teach our children to think critically,” he explained.

Part of Heusel’s job is to make the results of complex testing accessible to patients and, in many cases, their doctors.

“The growing importance of genetics in our understanding of health and disease means people will, over time, gain new insights simply because they are reading and hearing about these concepts much more often,” he explained. “It also highlights the critical role that well trained genetic counselors have in the healthcare of today and the foreseeable future.”

Jon Heusel with his wife Jean at a Gallery North art show.

Heusel and his wife Jean enjoy living in the Stony Brook area, where they have found the people welcoming. In the past, they have gone scuba diving and sky diving and have also done canoeing, hiking, kayaking and skiing.

As they have gotten older, they have tended towards quieter experiences. They have found the West Meadow Beach sunsets “amazing” and have enjoyed their introduction to shows at the Staller Center for the Arts.

Heusel also appreciates a life outside work that includes working with wood, painting, doing pottery, cooking and making up poems, songs on the ukulele and bad puns.

His parents generated a sense of compassion in Heusel and his sisters, with a “wonder of the human body, and with the ability to find humor in almost anything.”

As for his work, Heusel is thrilled that Shroyer recruited him to join the university. He admits, though, that he has had to adjust to local driving styles.

“I am surprised by the aggressive manner in which people drive inside their cars which is so very opposite from the friendliness they exude outside of them,” he said.

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Wendy Pearson Photo by Michael Anthony Wells

Stony Brook University has named Wendy Pearson as Vice President for Strategic Initiatives, effective Nov. 1. Most recently, Pearson served as the Senior Advisor to the Provost at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. 

Pearson will report to Stony Brook President Maurie McInnis and work in close partnership with campus leaders and partners to identify and advance Stony Brook’s institutional priorities. Important goals include ensuring implementation and assessment of the recently completed strategic plan, taking the lead in developing an overall plan for our Southampton campus, and assisting in supporting SBU’s work as anchor institution for The New York Climate Exchange on Governors Island in New York City.

“Wendy has a proven track record of both convening key stakeholders on and beyond campus while connecting them to accomplish the wider strategic vision that moves priorities forward,” said President McInnis. “We’re so pleased to have her leadership involvement with the New York Climate Exchange, and her extensive experience in higher education will help us focus and align our planning on the pillars that the university needs to best commit resources to benefit our community.”

Pearson’s previous roles at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa include academic affairs program officer in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, where she managed program review and the development and modification of academic programs, and special projects manager for the School of Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Studies. She also served as program coordinator in the Center for Peace & Conflict Studies/Detroit Council for World Affairs at Wayne State University, coordinating curriculum development and Japan study tours for public school teachers.

“I am honored to join this dynamic community of scholars and innovators,” said Pearson. “Leaving Hawai‘i for New York represents an exciting new chapter, and I am eager to contribute to the remarkable progress and bold initiatives of Stony Brook University. I look forward to working closely with all stakeholders to turn shared vision into reality, to drive positive change, and to make a lasting impact.” 

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SBU President Maurie McInnis delivered her State of the University address on Oct. 11. Photo by John Griffin/Stony Brook University
SBU President Maurie McInnis delivered her State of the University address on Oct. 11. Photo by John Griffin/Stony Brook University
Making a Difference: What’s Next for Stony Brook?

“A lot can happen in just a year at Stony Brook University…welcome to what’s next,” identified President Maurie McInnis, who delivered her second State of the University address to students, faculty, staff, elected representatives and local community members on Oct. 11. In addition to discussing the university’s numerous achievements since last year’s State of the University, President McInnis shared her and her team’s vision on how the flagship university is looking to continue its mission to “take on the big challenges, make a difference and change the world.”

According to the President, through the “close collaboration with faculty, staff and administrator across the institution, as well as welcomed support from government and institutions from across New York,” she reminded her audience of some of the university’s achievements since the last State of the University including:

  • Welcoming the first cohort of Simons STEM Scholar students;

  • The University being selected as the anchor institution for The New York Climate Exchange on Governors Island;

  • Achieving our highest ranking from the US News & World Report (#1 New York’s public college and #58 nationally)

  • Stony Brook University Hospital was named one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals in 2023 by Healthgrades,  putting it in the top one percent of the country;

  • Stony Brook garnered its highest state funding in a decade; and

  • The university received a $500 million endowment gift from the Simons Foundation which is the largest unrestricted endowment donation in the history of US higher education. It also serves to more than double the entire endowment previously held by the university.

Also, the President shared her strategy for success by implementing “the three Rs” which serve as guideposts to enable success: “Recognition,” “Revenue” and “Reputation.”

  • Stony Brook provides recognition by “celebrating the amazing faculty and staff [as well as students] who are building a culture of ambition and excellence.”

  • Regarding revenue, the university looks to raise the matching funds that will build our endowment and will look for ways to secure the ongoing support needed to grow and to maintain operations.

  • Stony Brook will continue to build our reputation by letting the world know that it is New York’s number one public university, a flagship institution, a top health care system hospital, and an innovative research university focused on addressing the world’s most important challenges.

President McInnis stressed the university’s efforts to develop more multidisciplinary collaborations to address important questions and tackle some of the greatest challenges of our time.  As the university moves forward, one of the priorities includes supporting faculty who are working at the spaces between disciplines and forming partnerships supporting climate science, clean energy, healthcare and quantum information science.

The President also addressed how the university community will use its past successes to pave the way to the future with programs like the new Collaborative for the Earth faculty-driven initiative that looks to leverage Stony Brook’s role as a climate solutions leader. It will bring together members from almost every school and college in the  university, representing a united effort to work across disciplines and perspectives to develop  equitable solutions.

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Dr. Harold Paz. File photo by Stony Brook Medicine/Jeanne Neville

Two years after he joined Stony Brook University as executive vice president for health sciences, Dr. Harold “Hal” Paz is no longer one of the most senior members of New York State’s southern flagship university staff.

An internal SBU announcement that went out Friday, Oct. 6, from the office of President Maurie McInnis indicated that Paz, whose page on the Renaissance School of Medicine website no longer links to information about him, will be replaced on an interim basis by Dr. William Wertheim.

Wertheim joined Stony Brook in 1996 and had been serving as the vice dean for graduate academic affairs at the Renaissance School of Medicine, where he had previously been interim dean.

Wertheim is also an Endowed Chair in Graduate Medical Education at the School of Medicine and is president of the Stony Brook Medicine Community Medical Group.

While Stony Brook didn’t offer a reason for Paz’s departure, officials indicated it is “not our practice to discuss personnel matters.”

Paz had come to SBU from The Ohio State University, where he was executive vice president and chancellor for health affairs and chief executive officer of the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center.

Paz, who was Chief Executive Officer of Stony Brook University Medicine, reported to McInnis and was a member of her senior leadership team.

When Stony Brook announced that executive vice president and provost Carl Lejuez joined the university in May 2022, the university signaled that Lejuez would work collaboratively with Paz.

Paz had also been working with academic, hospital and clinical leadership and with community partners in his role.

The announcement of Paz’s departure from SBU, which came two years and two days after his official start date, did not include a list of any of Paz’s achievements, initiatives or contributions to the university.

Before joining The Ohio State University, Paz was the executive vice president and chief medical officer for CVS Health/Aetna, serving as a leader in the company’s domestic and global businesses. He also served as dean of the College of Medicine at Pennsylvania State University and CEO of the Penn State Hershey Medical Center and Health System.

Paz had succeeded Dr. Kenneth Kaushansky, who retired as senior vice president of health sciences, in June 2021.

Paz serves on the National Academy of Medicine Leadership Consortium, the board of directors of Research America and the Curai Health advisory board.

In April, Paz was appointed to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Accelerating Treatments and Improving Quality of Life committee.

Wertheim’s tenure

Wertheim started his Stony Brook career by leading the Medical Consult Services. He later served as associate program director and director of the primary care track of the Internal Medicine residency, then Internal Medicine residency program director, and then executive vice chair of the Department of Medicine and associate dean for clinical outreach.

Wertheim has also served as the president of the medical staff at Stony Brook University Hospital.

Wertheim graduated from Harvard University and New York University School of Medicine. He completed his residency at the University of Michigan Hospitals, where he served as chief resident.

Wertheim worked as a clinical faculty member at the University of Michigan’s Veterans Administration Hospital. In New York, he worked at The Brooklyn Hospital Center.

The letter from the president’s office announcing the changes urged the community to “join us in congratulating Dr. Wertheim on his appointment and welcoming him to his new role.”

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Dr. Susan Hedayati, right, and Dr. Peter Igarashi attend the ASCI/AAP meeting in Chicago Spring 2023. Photo courtesy Hedayati

She is bringing two important parts of an effective team back together.

Dr. Susan Hedayati — pronounced heh-DYE-it-tee — recently joined the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University as vice dean for research. Hedayati was most recently a professor of medicine and associate vice chair for research at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Hedayati plans to help improve Stony Brook Medical School’s national and international reputation by coupling frontline research with translational and patient-oriented care and studies.

The combination of a research and clinical care focus will provide for the “betterment of the health of Long Island population of patients,” Hedayati said.

In addition to enhancing clinical care, such an approach would “facilitate funding of investigator-initiated [National Institute of Health] grants and aid in the recruitment and retention of excellent M.D.-investigators,” she explained in an email.

She said she is eager to build an institutional clinical trials infrastructure that would involve a dedicated research support team.

Adding Hedayati to the medical school faculty at Stony Brook University, where she will also serve as the Lina Obeid chair in biomedical sciences, also brings two prominent kidney specialists who have different approaches to their work back together again.

Dr. Peter Igarashi, dean of the Renaissance School of Medicine and a nationally recognized nephrologist, had recruited and collaborated with Hedayati when she joined the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center after winning first place in a clinical research award at the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation Young Investigator Forum.

When Igarashi first met Hedayati as a judge of the fellowship competition, he suggested that her expertise stood out clearly.

“She has enormous content expertise in the field of nephrology and internal medicine more broadly,” he said.

He was also impressed with her “passion” for research and her “devotion to patients and research,” which has also made her a “perfect fit” for her current position at Stony Brook University.

Combining research and clinical care will enable SBU to provide one-stop shopping at facilities like the specialty practices in Commack and the one recently opened in Lake Grove in the former Sears building at the Smith Haven Mall, he said.

Patients can receive clinical care at the same time that they can enroll in clinical trials for potential treatments of some conditions.

Hedayati “set that up at the University of Texas at Southwestern, and I’m hoping she’ll be able to grow that capability here,” Igarashi said.

Igarashi also described Hedayati, who was offered the job after a committee conducted the search, as “personable and likable.”

Complementary strengths

Igarashi described the different research approaches he and Hedayati take as “complementary” strengths.

Igarashi’s research is basic, wet lab science, while Hedayati has focused on translational and clinical research.

Their backgrounds will “be very helpful for elevating the entire research enterprise, not only in basic science but also in clinical and translational research,” Igarashi noted.

For her part, Hedayati suggested that her short-term goal is to build the physical infrastructure for clinical research and clinical trials.

Such efforts will require a clinical research staff infrastructure composed of research coordinators, research managers, regulatory personnel and biostatisticians.

“I’m hoping that, within a year, we’re going to be making some big strides in those directions,” Hedayati said.

She also hopes to build upon the existing medical scientist training program for M.D./Ph.D. students to establish a physician training program for residents to retain M.D. investigators in academic and biomedical research careers. That, she suggested, is a pool that is dwindling nationally.

Ongoing research

Hedayati, who is transferring most of her grants to Stony Brook, plans to continue conducting her own research.

She has been studying the link between chronic kidney disease, which affects about one in seven people, and other conditions, such as premature cardiovascular disease, susceptibility to depression and the role of inflammation.

“This is an area that’s prevalent, but understudied,” said Igarashi. 

She is searching for nontraditional biomarkers associated with kidney function decline, especially in patients with heart failure.

Patients with heart failure are at increased risk of acute and chronic kidney failure.

Igarashi is confident that Stony Brook’s new vice dean for research will serve patients on Long Island and beyond.

“She would not have taken this job unless we assured her that she would be able to continue to see patients in the clinic as well as in the hospital,” said Igarashi. “That is a core value for her.”

Echoing those sentiments, Hedayati suggested she has a “patient-centered approach in everything I do.”

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Wei Yang at a poster session for a conference. Photo by Dr. Bo Zhou

By Daniel Dunaief

When cancer spreads, it becomes especially dangerous. Indeed, metastatic cancer accounts for 90 percent of deaths from this disease.

Stony Brook University Associate Professor Wei Yang, who joined the Pathology Department on August 1st, hopes to reduce metastatic mortality.

Yang is looking both upstream for the kind of molecular biological signals that might make cancer more likely to spread and downstream, for processes that overcome the body’s natural defenses and that lead to increased morbidity and mortality.

As he described, the goal is to prevent micrometastases, which are metastatic tumors that are too small for a radiographic scan, from growing into clinically relevant macrometastases that can be detected through imaging such as X-ray scans.

Micrometasases can form at an early stage, sometimes even before the detection of primary tumors. They are typically asymptomatic and are rarely lethal, as many cancer survivors die with, but not of, these micrometastases.

In work he conducted in California at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Yang focused on the protein kinase RIPK2, which is over expressed in prostate cancer.

By inhibiting RIPK2 kinase in cell culture and animal models, Yang reduced prostate cancer metastasis by over 90 percent after four weeks of treatment. Inhibiting this protein made cancer progression over 10 times slower.

Innate immune cells and epithelial cells express RIPK2 at various levels. RIPK2 is over expressed in about 18 cancer types and the high expression is generally associated with worse patient outcomes.

RIPK2 is localized in the cytoplasm, which is inside the cell, rather than on the cell surface, which makes it difficult to train the immune system to destroy it. Small molecule compounds, however, can penetrate into the cytoplasm of tumor cells.

Developing oral drugs to shut off RIPK2 is a promising approach to disrupting this protein.

Repurposing an existing drug

The Food and Drug Administration has already approved a multi-kinase inhibitor called Ponatinib, which can inhibit the pro-metastatic RIPK2 signaling pathway in prostate cancer.

Yang believes it is “very promising” to repurpose this drug to treat prostate cancer patients who don’t respond to hormone therapies.

His animal experiments showed that RIPK2-higher tumor cells can grow into macromestases in multiple organs, such as bones, liver and adrenal glands. RIPK2 was also detected in cancers such as kidney and breast. Its expression levels are typically higher than in normal tissues.

Yang is the first to demonstrate that targeting RIPK2 reduces cancer metastasis.

He has been working on prostate cancer since he conducted his postdoctoral research at Harvard University/ Boston Children’s Hospital in 2006.

He started by analyzing three comprehensive and publicly available clinical databases. Using stringent criteria, he identified seven promising drug targets in prostate cancer metastasis. Among the seven, RIPK2 was the most significantly overexpressed and its expression increased along with prostate cancer progression from benign to lethal cancer.

Most patients diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer die within two to three years. About 31 percent live five years or longer. 

For Yang, who earned his PhD from Peking University, the goal is to understand and prevent the lethal process of metastatic progression. He aims to develop clinically actionable drug targets and biomarkers.

Upstream and downstream

Yang is searching for genes and proteins that regulate the expression of this protein kinase, to find out what increases the expression of RIPK2 in tumor cells.

He has identified three transcription factors that are important for the expression of RIPK2 mRNA in prostate cancer cells. Previous studies showed that these factors are key drivers of prostate cancer aggressiveness.

He explained that it’s promising that patients with the overexpression of these transcription factors may benefit from targeting RIPK2 to reduce cancer aggressiveness. He is also identifying a gene signature associated with RIPK2 signaling activity. This will allow him to identify additional patients who may benefit from inhibiting this protein.

Seeking collaborators

Yang said he came to Stony Brook University for a host of reasons, including to have more lab space where he can employ two post doctoral researchers, two or three graduate students, one research support specialist and two undergraduates.

He is in the second year of a five year National Cancer Institute grant and is also in the second year of a three-year Department of Defense grant.

Yang would like to find collaborators at Stony Brook who can bring specific levels of expertise in areas such as lipid signaling.

In addition to RIPK2, Yang also focuses on palmitoylation signaling in cancer metastasis. Palmitoylation is a type of lipid modification on proteins and is a reversible post-translational modification whose deregulation contributes to diseases including cancer.

Stony Brook has a “world class lipid signaling research center,” he explained in an email, and he would like to find collaborators in this arena.

Hobbies

Married with a 14-year old son, Yang enjoys traveling with his family to cities and national parks and reading history and science fiction books. One of his favorite authors is Yuval Noah Harari.

As a child, Yang was particularly interested in science. Cancer affected his family, as his grandfather had liver cancer that was diagnosed early enough to receive treatment and his aunt is living with lung cancer.

While he has a sense of urgency to study metastatic cancer, Yang said the field does not receive as much funding and attention as other areas of cancer research. He estimates that about 10 percent of the cancer budget supports investigations into metastatic cancer.

His approach, he said, will remain focused on actionable plans and on efforts that have “high translational potential,” he explained.

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