Einstein Senate

Senate Meeting: Wednesday, October 9, 2024

  • Dr. Tomer gave the Dean's Report. He announced the appointment of Dr. Teresa Bowman as the new Chair of the Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology and updated the Senate on the leadership searches that are still ongoing. Dr. Tomer discussed as well the $72 million grant awarded to Dr. Kartik Chandran for development of a plug-and-play vaccine to combat the next pandemic and the recent Presidential Lecture, at which Dr. Chandran also spoke, along with Dr. Liise-anne Pirofski. Finally, he indicated that the changes to the Clinician Educator track approved by the Senate at the last meeting will go into effect for the current promotion cycle and encouraged faculty to attend the ECHO clinic gala on November 14th.
  • Dr. Arnsten provided the Speaker's Report. She indicated that the Senate Council had convened twice since the last Senate meeting and had primarily discussed establishing the correct number of Senators per department and updating the committees under the jurisdiction of the Senate. In addition, she made announcements about the Reach for the First RO1 workshop and the upcoming Seeds for Collaboration session.
  • Dr. Sofiya Millmann spoke about the Stimulus for Partnerships in Research Collaboration (SPARC) program. The program has two components. First, it offers seed funding to facilitate interdisciplinary translational research collaborations between clinicians and basic science investigators. Second, it holds a seminar series in which one clinician and one basic scientist speak on a similar topic, with the talks designed to be accessible across fields. The next seminar will be in November and focus on plasma cells.
  • Drs. Holden and Correa gave a report on the activities of the DEI office. Dr. Holden introduced the newest member of their team, Marcia Jackson, and updated the Senate on the progress and goals of the office's work to create a pathway program consortium. Dr. Correa talked about the newly opened interfaith space in Forchheimer and how it can be booked and used by both individuals and groups.
  • There was no additional old or new business at this meeting.