|
Inside General Internal Medicine
November & December 2025
News & insights from across the Division of General Internal Medicine - send your latest research and faculty/staff updates to Saie Kim.
| | | Dr. Rebecca Berger: Advancing Data-Driven Approach to Hospital Medicine | | |
Dr. Rebecca Berger brings a clear, grounded approach to her dual roles as a practicing hospitalist and assistant chief of the section of Hospital Medicine. When she is on service, she devotes her full attention to patient care, while also observing real‑time challenges and opportunities to improve care in the hospital. In her leadership role, she transforms those frontline observations into operational improvements.
Under the leadership of current Hospital Medicine chief Dr. Maya Hogg and former chief Dr. Molly McNairy, and in collaboration with hospitalists Drs. Elijah Douglass and Aliza Cook and Division research analysts Mangala Rajan and Musarrat Nahid, Dr. Berger has helped build a new Hospital Medicine data infrastructure and supported the launch of both a Medicine Triage Attending role and an evening admitting shift to improve patient care.
Her work is guided by the belief that clinical operations should be as data‑driven as evidence‑based medicine. Just as clinicians rely on high‑quality clinical information to make sound decisions, she emphasized the need for strong operational data to guide staffing, anticipate patient volumes and identify system‑level vulnerabilities.
This approach proved especially valuable after last winter’s surge in medicine admissions. With improved access to data, the hospital medicine team was to anticipate this year’s seasonal increase and proactively adjust staffing. As a result, the inpatient medicine service can better align with demand to deliver more timely, appropriate care during one of its busiest periods.
| | Training Helps Home Health Aides Provide Better Patient Care | | |
Here's What We Know:
- Better training and tech-based communication tools for home health aides can improve patient care.
- Better care means healthier patients at home, fewer hospital readmissions, and lower costs for the health care system.
As our population ages, the demand for home health care workers is increasing, and they lack the support they need. According to Dr. Madeline Sterling’s recent study, in New York City alone, about 65% of home health aides report receiving little to no training in monitoring patients with heart failure, and nearly half say they can't reach a nurse or doctor when they need help managing patients at home.
Read more
| Driving Discovery: Celebrating Research Excellence | | |
At the 10th Annual Department of Medicine Research Retreat, Dr. Puja Chebroluv kicked off the retreat presenting on strategies for preventing and treating diabetes in pregnant and postpartum women in India, with a focus on identifying key risk factors.
Zainab Motiwala also highlighted efforts to expand access to diabetes screening and led initiatives to train community health workers in maternal and reproductive health.
This year’s event featured 80 poster presentations and emerging research presented by junior and senior faculty on topics including diabetes, systemic treatment optimization in breast cancer, the biologic underpinnings of kidney transplant rejection and more.
During the poster sessions, Cheyenne Acker, Drs. Alia Komsany and Lily Yan, showcased their latest research, reflecting their commitment to advancing clinical knowledge and community impact.
Read more
| | |
Pictured left to right (top): Drs. Alia Komsany and Pejua Chebroluv
Pictured left to right (bottom): Cheyenne Acker and Dr. Lily Yan
| | Celebrating Milestones of Excellence: Employee Service Awards | | Congratulations to Cassidie Li, Christina Ramasami, Faudia Pasha, Vanessa Dudley, Stasi Lubansky, Drs. Asia Gobourne, Brett Fischer, Dina Gad, Elijah Douglass, Ezra Gabbay, Fangfei Zheng, Monika Safford, Tanping Wong, Trenton Collier, Molly McNairy, Marisol Nardi, Parag Goyal, Sandra Hall-Ross, Sean Pickering and Stephanie Tang for their years of service and dedication at Weill Cornell Medicine. | |
Advocating for Change: Diversity and Equity in Medicine
Dr. Iris Navarro-Millan participated as a panelist in the human rights discussion, “Voices of Courage – Women Advocating for Change”, organized by the Employee Resource Group Women in Search of Excellence. Dr. Millan shared her commitment to advancing human rights and ensuring accessible care for all, underscoring the critical role of health equity in medicine. She highlighted that building a diverse healthcare workforce is essential to achieving equity, as it enables care to be tailored to patients from varied backgrounds. Dr. Millan also emphasized the importance of amplifying diversity and mentoring medical students and fellows, inspiring them to champion health equity and implement actionable strategies that drive meaningful change.
| | | Invited Talks and Presentations | |
Addressing Health Disparities in Hispanic and Latino Communities
Dr. Elizabeth Baquero recently spoke at Books & Books in Miami to discuss her chapter in the third edition of Achieving Health Equity: Context, Controversies, and Remedies. In Chapter 6, “The Hispanic/Latino Population and Health Disparities,” she examines systemic health challenges and solutions for Latino communities, including an interview with Dr. Christopher Gonzalez on diabetes prevention. The event highlighted the need for culturally responsive care and sparked valuable dialogue on reducing health disparities.
| | Dr. Elizabeth Baquero and Fellow Authors | | |
Call for Abstracts: the Annual Weill Cornell Medicine-Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Poster Symposium is now accepting submissions. This is a great opportunity to share your Quality Improvement projects with our community.
Click here to submit your abstract
Submission Deadline: March 29, 2026
To learn more about QIA and our initiatives, please visit the website.
| | |
Straight Arrow News: Emerging Menopause Treatment or 'Wild West' Medicine?
Dr. Sharon Parish discussed the potential benefits of testosterone for women in midlife, as well as the associated risks. While women may initially “feel great” on high-dose testosterone, she warned against raising levels beyond those typical levels for women in their 20s. She emphasized that more safety data is needed to guide testosterone's use.
Read more
| | |
The New York Times: Solving the Home Care Quandary
Dr. Madeline Sterling emphasized that paid home care is in crisis, representing one of the most strained areas of the long-term care system, as the labor shortage worsens just as the aging population drives unprecedented demand.
Read more
| | | |
-
Dr. Alice Tang received a $10,000 Sketchy DDx Coaching Catalyst Grant to develop an AI-powered virtual Objective Structured Teaching Exercise (OSTE) platform to train faculty in clinical coaching skills.
| |
-
Mark your calendars for the CCHEq Health Equity Seminar on February 6 at 12:30 p.m. J. Craig Phillips, L.L.M, Ph.D., R.N., A.C.R.N., F.A.A.N., F.C.A.N., Vice-Dean Governance and Secretary and Associate Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences School of Nursing, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and International Nursing Network for HIV Research will be presenting on Health Practitioners' Actions for Global Health at Home and Abroad. Join us via Zoom!
-
Join us for a discussion with Dr. Madeline Sterling exploring the basics of caregiving, including helping families to understand how the trajectory of disease can change caregiving needs over time on February 27 at 11a.m. at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library. Click here for details.
| |
| How did you like this email? | | | | | | |
