Susannah Kurtz, MD, CHSE
Medical Director – Center for Advanced Medical Simulation 
Associate Professor; Medicine, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine 

Dr. Kurtz is an attending physician in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West and became Medical Director of the Center for Advanced Medical Simulation in the summer of 2020. She is a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator through the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH). As a simulation educator and as a co-chair of the Curriculum Committee, Dr. Kurtz participates in designing and debriefing simulation-based critical care training scenarios for house staff and nursing staff. 

In 2015, she helped navigate the accreditation process so that CAMS was recognized by SSH as one of the first Accredited Centers in New York City. In 2016, Dr. Kurtz became the Program Director of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Simulation Intensive and the Internal Medicine Hospitalist Simulation Fellowship. 

Dr. Kurtz’s goal is to prepare and mentor future educators, medical directors of simulation centers, and leaders within healthcare simulation. Dr. Kurtz was honored to be a recipient of the Master in Teaching Excellence Award by the Internal Medicine Residency Program at MSM and MSW in 2017. Dr. Kurtz is also actively involved in several research projects at CAMS and serves as Principal Investigator for many of them. In her role as Medical Director, Dr. Kurtz is looking forward to leading and working with a high performing and energetic team that share her keen enthusiasm for advancing the mission, vision, and strategic goals of CAMS.  

Priscilla Loanzon, EdD, RN, CHSE
Director, Simulation Education – Center for Advanced Medical Simulation

Dr. Loanzon is the Director of Simulation Education at CAMS. She earned her Doctor of Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. While at Columbia University’s School of Nursing Priscilla was an Assistant Professor of Nursing, a Rudin Research Fellow, a Chairperson of the Curriculum Committee, and a Director of Continuing Education. 

As Director of Simulation Education, Priscilla pioneered the Tristate Regional Simulation Symposium in 2016, an all-day annual gathering of the community of simulation leaders, researchers, scholars, educators, innovators, learners, and enthusiasts locally and visiting international colleagues in the tristate region. She works closely with the simulation center’s leadership team, faculty, fellows, and staff to design, develop, implement, and evaluate new educational initiatives and course curriculum in the several departments and services that utilize CAMS. She organizes CAMS faculty development, works in partnership with research projects in simulation education. She supports CAMS fellowship and co-chairs the Simulation Center Curriculum Committee. She collaborates with regional and national simulation centers to promote simulation healthcare education and to enhance the productivity and the reputation of CAMS. She has served the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) through Call for Service as a content reviewer of the International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare (IMSH), Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator (CHSE) Review Blueprint, and a member of many SSH Affinity Groups. 

Joshua McHugh, MD
Co-Director, Simulation Fellowship – Center for Advanced Medical Simulation
Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine

Dr. McHugh is from New York City. He graduated from Haverford College. He completed medical school, and an Emergency Medicine residency, at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. After residency, he completed a Medical Simulation Fellowship at Mount Sinai West/Morningside. His interests are in simulation, education, and healthcare disparities. In his spare time, Dr. McHugh has fundraisers to acquire educational supplies to benefit homeless and socio-economically disadvantaged children, and he has ongoing clothing drives for homeless patients in the emergency department. 

 

James Salonia, MD
Co-Director, Simulation Fellowship – Center for Advanced Medical Simulation 
Assistant Professor, Medicine, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine

Dr. Salonia is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the program director for the Pulmonary Critical Care and Hospitalist Medicine Simulation Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Medical Simulation. 

Dr. Salonia completed his medical education at St. George’s University where he graduated magna cum laude. He went on to complete his internal medical residency and pulmonary and critical care fellowship at Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West Hospitals. During his PCCM fellowship, Dr. Salonia completed a focused Simulation Fellowship at CAMS. Dr. Salonia has special expertise in the management of patients with complex critical illness and has numerous research interests including septic shock, acute respiratory distress syndrome, pulmonary embolism, point of care ultrasonography, and simulation education. 

Harrindra Seepersaud, PhD, MS 
Simulation Specialist / Research Assistant  

Originally from Long Island, New York, Harrindra is our newest Simulation Specialist - Research Assistant, joining our team in November 2021. He has a considerable interest in Public Health, specifically in the disparities of health and healthcare, and recently earned his PhD in Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology. Harrindra also has an extensive background in emergency medical services and works as an emergency room technician. 

Harrindra is deeply interested in medical simulation because it enables him to identify ways to improve patient care and to improve existing and future clinical practices. Moving forward as a simulation specialist, he would like to take on more opportunities in teaching our learners.  

Amit Pradhan, MPH
Simulation Operations Manager

Amit worked for several years as a Simulation Manager for Brookdale Hospital Medical Center. He opened the hospital’s first dedicated simulation center. He is currently serves as a Medical Service Corps Officer in the United States Navy Reserve. He has supervised medical simulation-based training for various military units.  Amit obtained his Master of Public Health (MPH) in Healthcare Policy and Administration from the City University of New York (CUNY). He graduated from the University of Rochester with a BA degree in Public Health/Health and Society.

Janet Shapiro, MD, FCCP
Professor, Medicine, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine 

Dr. Shapiro is the Director of Quality Initiatives for the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. She has a special interest in developing ICU protocols to improve patient care in the ICU.  Dr. Shapiro is a member of the Patient Safety Committee, and a liaison for safety issues for the division. Dr. Shapiro leads the QI curriculum for the fellows so that they are able to take the lead in a quality project. Dr. Shapiro is the Chair of the CPR/Rapid Response Committee. Dr. Shapiro is co-chair of the Ethics committee and is involved in ethics consultations and end-of-life care in all units and hospital. Dr. Shapiro is working with the Department of Emergency Medicine on a palliative care program to address clinician education and patient care. 

Dr. Shapiro is a devoted teacher, having been awarded multiple teaching awards. She works closely with the fellows on a daily basis in the ICU, at weekly conferences, during the QI elective, Humanism program. She teaches the medicine house staff and students of the Icahn School of Medicine. Dr. Shapiro finds great joy in being a part of the education of the trainees. 

Dr. Shapiro has published articles and book chapters in the areas of critical care including cardiac care, end-of-life care, quality improvement, and simulation education. She works with fellows each year to publish and present abstracts at international meetings. Her team received the Innovations in Fellowship Education Award, at the American Thoracic Society 2017, for promoting humanism in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. She has received numerous teaching awards and received the 2018 President’s Award. Dr. Shapiro is proud to be on the faculty of CAMS. 

Adam Rothman, MD
Assistant Professor, Medicine, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine

Dr. Rothman is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West Hospitals and the Associate Program Director for POCUS for the Internal Medicine Residency Program in the Department of Medicine at Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West. He received his medical degree from the University of Miami - Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Rothman completed his Internal Medicine Residency at Mount Sinai Beth Israel, and went on to complete his Pulmonary and Critical Care fellowship training at Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West.

During his fellowship training, Dr. Rothman developed a passion for medical education. While participating in the program’s medical education track, he was involved in several simulation-based projects with an emphasis on bedside ultrasound, assisting with central line and medical code training, and devising new programs for mastering ultrasound-guided peripheral IV insertions. As a senior fellow and now as an attending, he continues to serve as faculty for point-of-care ultrasound training in local, regional, and national conferences. These experiences helped to shape his current practices a simulation faculty member. Dr. Rothman firmly believes that continued simulation-based medical education has become an invaluable and necessary component of continuing medical education, and he is excited to continue working alongside his colleagues at CAMS.

Alexander Davidovich, DO, MSc
Assistant Professor, Medicine, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine

 

 

 

 

 

Sonali Mantoo, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor, Medicine, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine 

 

 

 

 

 

Natia Pantsulaia, MD
Assistant Professor, Medicine, Hospital Medicine 
Mount Sinai West Hospitalist Director for POCUS

 

 

 

 

 

Daniel Satnick, MD
Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine

Dr. Satnick completed his emergency medicine residency at Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West, where he also served as Chief Resident. Subsequently he completed the Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West Emergency Medicine Simulation Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Medical Simulation He currently serves as core faculty in the residency program at Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West and is a member of the Emergency Medicine simulation division. 

Dr. Satnick's academic interests include medical education and quality improvement through faculty development and improving system processes. 

Elizabeth Yetter, MD
Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine 

Dr. Elizabeth Yetter attended The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, graduating in 2015.  She completed an Emergency Medicine Residency at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY and is board certified in Emergency Medicine. She continued her training with an Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship at New York University combined with a Masters in Health Professions Education from Maastricht University in the Netherlands.  Dr. Yetter is currently an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and serves as the Director of Ultrasound Education and Innovation at Mount Sinai's Morningside & West hospitals where her current interests include ultrasound education and skill retention for both residents and attendings. 

Bryan Mahoney, MD 
Associate Professor,  Anesthesiology, Perioperative & Pain Medicine 
Associate Professor, Medical Education 

Dr. Mahoney is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Medical Education at Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West hospitals. During his residency training in anesthesiology, at The Mount Sinai Hospital, he acquired expertise in simulation education through the clinical education residency track in the Human Emulation, Education, and Evaluation Lab for Patient Safety and Professional Study (HELPS) Center. 

Dr. Mahoney currently serves as the Residency Program Director at Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West hospitals’ Department of Anesthesiology. He is also a faculty member in the Division of Obstetric Anesthesiology and the HELPS Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Mahoney has many accomplishments in the field of simulation education including co-editing the largest simulation textbook for anesthesiology, the recently published Comprehensive Healthcare Simulation: Anesthesiology Edition. He serves on multiple committees in regional, national, international, and subspecialty societies, and his research focuses on obstetric anesthesiology, physician wellbeing, and graduate medical education. 

Djovannie Petit-Frere MSN, RN, NPD-BC
Nurse Educator Manager

Djovannie joined the Mount Sinai Health System in 2016 as a telemetry float nurse and joined the Department of Nursing Education and Research in 2018. Since becoming a Nurse Educator Manager, Djovannie collaborates with the Center for Advanced Medical Simulation (CAMS) at Mount Sinai West to provide educational experiences where the learner has an opportunity to practice their clinical and decision-making skills. She has facilitated several sessions of mock code simulation, basic head to toe physical assessment, and mechanical ventilation with the RNs. Through various simulation sessions, RNs gain the skills, knowledge, and self-confidence to practice safely at the bedside.

Dayna Dixon, PhD, RN 
Nurse Educator, Nursing Education, Mount Sinai West Hospital 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lisa Eiland. MD 
Associate Professor, Pediatrics 

Dr. Eiland, MD, is an Associate Professor in the Division of Newborn Medicine in the Jack and Lucy Clark Department of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Mount Sinai West. She received her medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine and completed residency and fellowship training at the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of Columbia University. Dr. Eiland currently serves as Site Director for the Division of Neonatology at Mount Sinai West and has a clinical interest in the neurodevelopment of preterm infants.

David Cole, MD
Assistant Professor, Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science 

David Cole, MD, is a maternal-fetal medicine specialist in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai West. His clinical expertise spans the full range of high-risk obstetrics, Dr. Cole has special interests in prematurity prevention for women with a history of preterm delivery, management of multiple pregnancies, and performance of multiple and difficult cesarean deliveries. He joined the obstetrics and maternal-fetal medicine faculty at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai West in 2007. In 2008, he received the National Faculty Award from ACOG and was selected best teacher by the resident physicians at St. Luke’s and West.

Dr. Cole is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and a member of the American Medical Association and the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine. He has published and presented research abstracts at national meetings of the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine and of ACOG on a range of obstetric topics, including placenta accreta, induction, and most recently, trauma in pregnancy. In the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai West, Dr. Cole has served for many years as a resident class advisor, and with residents and attendings, practices simulation of difficult obstetric cases with a computerized mannequin. He directs the department’s Resident Research Day program, and is on the Quality Improvement Committee. 

Susan Khalil, MD
Assistant Professor, Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science 

Certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. Susan Khalil is a dedicated and passionate gynecologist. She takes cares of the needs of the women in New York, NY and is an integral part of Mount Sinai Doctors. Dr. Khalil is eager to be able to serve women at all stages of life. She offers complete gynecological care for women of all ages, from adolescence to menopause and every stage in between. Dr. Khalil attended medical school at the Ain Shams University Faculty of Medicine.

She then went on to pursue an internship and a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Staten Island University Hospital. She is also fellowship-trained Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery, an AAGL accredited fellowship, which she completed at Mount Sinai West and St. Luke’s (formerly Saint Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center) in 2013. A caring and skilled professional, she attempts to help women understand their bodily functions and get them to be actively involved in the upkeep of their well-being.  Dr. Khalil has an interest in quality improvement and patient safety, and is committed to helping patients with their wellness. 

Lois Brustman, MD
Professor, Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science 

Dr. Brustman is the Vice Chair for Education and the Director of the Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Mount Sinai West and Mount Sinai Morningside. In addition, she is professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and is the Director for the Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship Program at Mount Sinai West and Mount Sinai Morningside. An expert in all areas of high-risk obstetrics, Dr. Brustman has special clinical interests in diabetes in pregnancy, preterm labor, fetal evaluation, and preconception counseling. Additionally, she has been very active in research into diabetes during pregnancy, including diagnosis, glucose control, treatment, and the effect of hypoglycemic medications on mother and fetus.

She joined the faculty at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai West (then St. Luke’s-Roosevelt) in 2000, and was director of the Residency Program from 2002 until 2019. Dr. Brustman has focused on care for her patients, clinical research, and on the teaching and training of young physicians. She has been a research mentor to dozens of residents and fellows across a range of obstetric topics. In 2005, and again in 2014, the obstetrics and gynecology residents at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai West chose her as their best teacher, and recipient of the National Faculty Award of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. In 2015, she was inducted as a Fellow with Advanced Membership into the Institute of Medical Education at the Icahn School of Medicine. She is a member of the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, an elected member of the New York Obstetrical Society, and a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. 

Desmond Sutton, MD
Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science 

Desmond Sutton, MD, is a board certified obstetrician-gynecologist and maternal-fetal medicine specialist and is the Director of Labor and Delivery in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Mount Sinai West. As Director, Dr. Sutton oversees the Labor and Delivery team and the development and implementation of protocols and programs that enhance quality of care, patient safety and the overall patient experience. 

 

 

Umut Sarpel, MD, MSc
Professor, Surgery
Professor, Medical Education

Dr. Sarpel is a board-certified surgeon who specializes in Surgical Oncology and Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery. She received her bachelor of science degree with distinction in research from the University of Rochester and then earned her medical degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Dr. Sarpel completed her residency in general surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and then pursued an additional two years of fellowship training in the field of surgical oncology, while attaining a Master of Science in Clinical Research. She is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. 

Dr. Sarpel is strongly committed to medical education and has been honored with multiple teaching awards. She is a section editor of "Chassin's Operative Strategy" and is the author of “Surgery; An Introductory Guide,” a textbook for medical students on their surgical clerkship, now in its second edition. Dr. Sarpel is the Program Director of the General Surgery residency program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai West Hospital.