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Sean Morrison, MD, Appointed System Chair of the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Newswise — (NEW YORK — October 26, 2017) R. Sean Morrison, MD, has been appointed the Ellen and Howard C. Katz Chair of the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS).

An ISMMS faculty member since 1995, Dr. Morrison is internationally recognized for his innovative clinical and health services research focused on improving quality of life for seriously ill older adults. He succeeds Albert L. Siu, MD, who has been Chair of the Department for the past 15 years. Dr. Siu will remain at Mount Sinai as Director of the Geriatrics Research, Education, and Clinical Center at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center, an affiliate of ISMMS.

Dr. Morrison has served as Director of The Lilian and Benjamin Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute, the largest and most comprehensive academic palliative care program in the United States, and Vice Chair for Research in the Brookdale Department for six years, expanding its research profile and nurturing new investigators. He was also founding Director of the extramurally funded National Palliative Care Research Center, whose mission is to stimulate palliative care research and strengthen the evidence-based foundation for palliative care medicine policy and clinical practice.  

“We are deeply grateful for the visionary leadership by Dr. Siu, and very excited about the opportunities to build on the Department’s accomplishments under the direction of Dr. Morrison,” said Dennis Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and President for Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System. “Dr. Morrison will be a tremendous mentor for the next generation of geriatrics and palliative medicine researchers and health policymakers with the goal of providing innovative care to patients.” 

Dr. Morrison earned his MD at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. He completed residency training at NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center and fellowship training at ISMMS. Among his many honors, Dr. Morrison has been granted the Excellence in Scientific Research Award (2013) and the Project on Death in America National Leadership Award (2010) from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, the Outstanding Achievement for Clinical Investigation Award from the American Geriatrics Society, and the Distinguished Achievement in Cancer Award from the American Cancer Society, and a Brookdale National Fellowship.  Dr. Morrison served as President of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine from 2009-2010.  Internally, he is the recipient of the ISMMS Faculty Council and Distinguished Educator Awards and the Jacobi Medallion.

The Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine was established in 1982 as the first department of geriatrics at an American medical school. Mount Sinai has one of the largest academic geriatrics programs in the United States, which includes robust clinical and education programs that span inpatient and outpatient geriatrics, palliative care, long-term care, and home-based care. Many of these programs, such as the Martha Stewart Center for Living, The Lilian and Benjamin Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute, The Patty and Jay Baker National Palliative Care Center, and the Hospital at Home Plus Program are nationally and internationally recognized models for improving care, quality of life, and the training of the next generation of physicians and researchers.

About the Mount Sinai Health System
The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City’s largest integrated delivery system encompassing seven hospital campuses, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai’s vision is to provide the safest care, the highest quality, the highest satisfaction, the best access and the best value of any health system in the nation. The System includes approximately 7,100 primary and specialty care physicians; 10 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 140 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. Physicians are affiliated with the renowned Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked among the highest in the nation in National Institutes of Health funding per investigator. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 18 on U.S. News & World Report’s “Honor Roll” of top U.S. hospitals; it is one of the nation’s top 20 hospitals in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Geriatrics, Nephrology, and Neurology/Neurosurgery, and in the top 50 in four other specialties in the 2017-2018 “Best Hospitals” issue. Mount Sinai’s Kravis Children’s Hospital also is ranked in six out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked 12th nationally for Ophthalmology and 50th for Ear, Nose, and Throat, while Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai West are ranked regionally. For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org, or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.