About the Disease Prevention and Public Health Institute

The Disease Prevention and Public Health Institute is an outgrowth of Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s community and preventive medicine program. The Institute occupies 12,000 square feet within the new Center for Advanced Medicine, on the 3rd and 4th floors of the West Tower at 17 E. 102nd Street.

The Disease Prevention and Public Health Institute reflects the School of Medicine’s long-standing commitment to the health of our community. Mount Sinai serves an ethnically diverse New York City population, and opportunities exist for using epidemiology to study, prevent, and treat disease.

Our researchers study the causes of diseases, addressing a combination of genetic, lifestyle, and environmental components with an eye toward:

• Developing preventive measures
  
  
• Examining the natural history of disease
  
  
• Conducting outcomes research to address the impact of therapy on the course of disease
  
  
• Using the tools of clinical epidemiology to evaluate methods for the screening and diagnosis of disease
  
  
• Conducting community-based research to address the effect of health services and public health policy on the health of populations
  
  
• Developing a comprehensive biostatistical support program to enhance other research at Mount Sinai

Mount Sinai researchers have played a pivotal role in numerous areas of epidemiological inquiry. For example, Irving J. Selikoff, MD, conducted pioneering studies that revealed the role of asbestos in lung cancer and mesothelioma. This research led to a profound change in the regulation of asbestos. Most notably, Mount Sinai is a lead investigator in tracking the physical and mental health consequences of exposure to toxic gases.

Targeted opportunities for fighting disease

The Disease Prevention and Public Health Institute has targeted several areas for its translational research efforts. The selected areas of inquiry are:

• Cardiovascular disease
• Obesity and diabetes
• Cancer
• Genetics
• Infectious diseases
• Perinatal research
• Geriatrics
• Psychiatry

The Institute chose cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer because Mount Sinai excels at conducting research and providing clinical care for these conditions, and opportunities to link epidemiological research with established research and clinical programs are abundant.

Collaborative support from both the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and the Charles R. Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine provides an opportunity to develop the genetic epidemiology of a variety of health problems and combine these epidemiological findings with an understanding of normal genetic variation, gene expression patterns in health and disease, and genotype/phenotype correlations.

The Disease Prevention and Public Health Institute works closely with the Center for Investigating Viral Immunity and Antagonism (CIVIA), which operates a robust translational research program for evaluating host-pathogen response. CIVIA will collaborate with the Institute to track and prevent epidemics and pandemics. The Institute recently recruited a leader to direct its infectious disease epidemiology efforts, and plans are under way to concentrate work in this key area.

Perinatal research is also a logical target for the Institute’s work. Besides addressing pregnancy outcomes, epidemiology can shed light on the perinatal origins of a range of childhood and adult health issues, such as obesity, metabolic disorders, and neurobehavioral outcomes. Collaborations with faculty from the Departments of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science as well as Pediatrics and the Metabolism Institute are already underway.

The Institute has identified research opportunities in geriatric and psychiatric epidemiology. We are exploring these two areas in collaboration with Mount Sinai’s internationally recognized Departments of Geriatrics and Adult Development and Psychiatry and with patient bases at both The Mount Sinai Hospital and the Bronx Veterans Administration Hospital.

Training the next generation

In addition to its research program, the Disease Prevention and Public Health Institute will mentor future generations of health researchers in epidemiology and biostatistics and assist junior faculty in launching careers in clinical research. The Institute’s expansion of and focus on translational, cross-disciplinary work provides opportunities for students earning a master’s in public health and a master’s of science, and for students in the recently approved PhD program in clinical research.

We welcome the participation of fellows and junior faculty throughout the school who are seeking involvement in clinical and epidemiologic research. In addition to offering research opportunities, the Disease Prevention and Public Health Institute supplies the administrative and logistical resources needed to foster successful research projects.