NYMC is going gold for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month this September, a time to honor and remember children and families affected by these rare diseases and help rally support for groundbreaking research. 

"Events like these are extremely important to our cause," says Mitchell Cairo, M.D., professor of pediatrics, medicine, pathology, microbiology and immunology, and cell biology and anatomy, and director of the Children and Adolescent Cancer & Blood Diseases Center at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical Center. Dr. Cairo, a prominent specialist in stem cell biology, molecular oncology and experimental immunology, has dedicated his life and career to improving the outcomes for children diagnosed with cancer. "The more people who understand where we have been, where we are headed, and how they can help, the faster we can progress. I implore our NYMC community to join me and to do anything and everything you can to help raise awareness and support." 

On campus, there are plenty of opportunities to do just this with the campaign, including:

"There has been tremendous progress in the last three decades," says Dr. Cairo, "and if we pool our energy, we will keep heading in the right direction. Every little action makes a difference."

 

As part of the American Student Dental Association's September Wellness Month campaign, designed to encourage dental students to take care of their emotional, physical, intellectual, occupational and environmental health, TCDM students organized Wellness Week - which kicked off on Sunday, September 11. 

"Dental school has been challenging and rewarding thus far!" said Ben Kahan, TCDM '20, "But the workload can become overwhelming at times and this week we've had both educational and interactive activities which has allowed us to explore our physical and mental well being in a new light. Personal wellness is vital to our success in school and in our future; being able to focus on that early on in our dental school career has been a great opportunity!"

TCDM Wellness Week hit the ground running with a run/walk on the North County Trail led by Ronnie Myers, D.D.S., senior associate dean for academic and administrative affairs, and a yoga hike with Gabriella Meiterman, Ed.M., YTT, a Vinyasa yoga instructor from N.J. The weeklong event also included daily workshops ranging from Time and Money Management to Martial Arts, Nutrition and Wellness, hosted by students and administration. And, of course, because no wellness week is complete without an outlet for pure fun and release, the finale of the week was a rollicking round of laser tag.