Levy Library Blog

Medical practice is rapidly moving towards a new era of Personalized Medicine. Thanks to advanced genomic technology and analyses, creating customized, personal treatment plans is no longer just a dream—it’s quickly becoming a reality. If you are interested in how the fundamentals of personalized medicine, what is going on in this area at Mount Sinai and what research resources are available to you, please join us for this workshop series presented by the faculty in Genetics and Genomics Science Department of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

>>>Phenotype to Genotype

Date: Tuesday, December 2, 1-2 PM
Location: Levy Library Large Classroom (A11-41)
Instructor: Dr. Amy Yang, Genetics and Genomic Sciences
Registration: Registration is not required.

Your patient has symptoms that you suspect may be related to a genetic disorder. In this workshop, you will practice using the OMIM, UCSC Genome Browser, HGMD, Gene Tests, GTR, and disease-specific mutational databases to identify the genetic variations that may be causing the symptoms, and the tests needed to confirm your diagnosis.

>>>Genotype to Phenotype

Date: Tuesday, December 9, 1-2 PM
Location: Levy Library Large Classroom (A 11-41)
Instructors: Dr. George Diaz, Dr. Michael Linderman, Genetics and Genomic Sciences
Registration: Registration is not required.

The results of the genome sequencing you ordered are in, but how do you analyze and interpret the results? Which variations have known phenotype and disease associations? What are the implications for your patient? We will use the HGMD and dbSNP databases along with the UCSC Genome Browser to identify and analyze variants found in two clinical cases.

>>>Personalized Medicine and Pharmacogenomics: The Future is Now

Date: Tuesday, December 16, 1-2 PM
Location: Levy Library Small Classroom (A 11-40)
Instructors: Dr. Noura Abul-Husn, Genetics and Genomic Sciences
Registration: Registration is not required.

Until now, the routine use of genomic information was beyond most health-care providers’ formal training. But, decision support tools are coming online soon that will make personalized medicine a reality. In this session you will be able to use your own genotype or an anonymous sequence and the PharmGKB database to personalize a medication dosage.

Any questions? Contact Lili K. Wang:

Lili Wang, MS
Health Science Librarian
Information and Education Services
The Levy Library, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Email: lili.k.wang@mssm.edu
Phone: 212-241-6586

Come meet Alice! In partnership with Therapy Dogs International, Levy Library is pleased to present a visit from Alice, a certified therapy dog. Alice will be accompanied by her handlers, Leslie & John. Alice is a four year old Pomeranian and recently helped over 100 students at Columbia University relax.

Alice is an ASPCA rescue and does special events for them with children and families at the “A” and with children at New York Public Library branches, where she shows children what an rescue dog can be. She also delights them with tricks, including her specialty, a “high 4” and a “low 4.”

Alice will be visiting on Tuesday, November 25th from 11am-1pm on the 10th floor of the Library. Alice may also stop by the Annenberg Student Lounge to say hello.

by Ramona Tirado
Mount Sinai Archives intern, Fall 2014

Veteran’s Day is celebrated as an opportunity to reexamine past conflicts and acknowledge the men and women who have risked everything in a fight for their nations, their people and their beliefs. Military leaders recognize the great value of having clinicians available to attend those who have been wounded in battle and many Mount Sinai physicians and nurses have contributed their specialized skills in military service during wartime.

Mount Sinai’s Archives and Records Management division has among its holdings collections of documents detailing service of The Mount Sinai doctors and nurses in World War II. This Veteran’s Day, we would like to highlight one such nurse who represented the United States and The Mount Sinai Hospital in that war, Isabelle Cedar Cook.

Isabelle Cedar had just graduated from The Mount Sinai Hospital School of Nursing in 1940 when the U.S. Surgeon General proposed that Mount Sinai establish a 1000 bed hospital to treat soldiers overseas who had been wounded in the war. When the call was made for nurses to volunteer, Cook felt moved to action and enlisted to do what she felt was her duty to her nation. Cook was accepted into the Army Nurse Corps as part of Mount Sinai’s 3rd General Hospital unit, and in 1942 she reported for basic training at Camp Rucker in Alabama.

In May 1943 Cook traveled from Alabama to Casablanca, Morocco, where she and the rest of the unit awaited orders to report to the 3rd General’s site in Tunisia. Cook arrived in Tunisia as part an advance team that included 10 nurses. Upon their arrival, the nurses took over the French army barracks that the Germans had used as a hospital. The nurses were surprised to find the barracks still occupied by severely wounded Germans and a single doctor, all of whom had been left behind when the fighting ended. The nurses assumed the responsibility of caring for the wounded, and the doctor and all of the German soldiers became prisoners of war.

Over the next three years, the 3rd General Hospital would follow the front into Italy and then France. Cook celebrated the end of the war by marching in the VE (Victory in Europe) Day parade in Aix-en-Provence, France alongside Allied soldiers. The order came to close down the 3rd General in August 1945. She received her formal discharge in December 1945 having earned the rank of First Lieutenant.

In 1999, she published a book describing her experiences in the war. The book is titled In Times of War: Memoirs of a World War II Nurse.

The Academic IT Support Center (ASCIT) will be closing at 7pm tonight due to scheduled network maintenance.

Did you know that the Academic IT Support Center supports Mount Sinai Health System students, faculty and staff in a variety of ways, including assisting with hardware & software issues? You can visit them in person at the Levy Library on the 11th floor of the Annenberg Building, Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm; Saturday from 9:00 am-5:00 pm and Sunday from noon to 8:00 pm. You can also email ASCIT@mssm.edu, or call ASCIT at 212-241-7091.