Celebrating Excellence: 2025 Alumni Awards Honorees

Alumni Awards Luncheon 2025

2025 Alumni Award Reception

At this year’s Einstein Alumni Awards ceremony, we proudly honored eight extraordinary alumni whose work exemplifies Einstein’s mission to advance science and serve humanity. Representing a wide range of fields—from cancer genomics and global health to psychiatry, pediatrics, and medical education—this year’s honorees reflect the impact on humanity, and excellence of the Einstein alumni community. Their collective accomplishments highlight the enduring influence of an Einstein education and the many ways our graduates are shaping the future of medicine, research, and compassionate care around the world.

  • Dominick P. Purpura Lifetime Achievement Award: Lynda Chin, M.D. ’93, co-founder and CEO, Apricity Health
  • Distinguished Ph.D. Alum Award: Roger A. Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D. ’00, the J. Samuel Staub, M.D. Professor, and breast cancer program leader, Abramson Cancer Center, Perelman School of Medicine; director of basic science, Basser Research Center for BRCA; director, Penn Center for Genome Integrity
  • Distinguished Alum Clinical Practitioner Award: Michael Zelefsky, M.D. ’86, professor and vice chair of academic & faculty affairs in the department of radiation oncology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine; director of brachytherapy services, Perlmutter Cancer Center
  • Distinguished Alum Humanitarian/Service Award: Morris Hartstein, M.D. ’90, clinical associate professor of ophthalmology, Tel Aviv University; medical director of ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgery, Shamir Medical Center
  • Distinguished Alum Einstein Service Award: Ira Leviton, M.D. ’84, professor of medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; chair of the Montefiore Einstein Institutional Review Board; continuing medical education course director for infectious diseases grand rounds, Montefiore Einstein
  • Einstein Honorary Alum Award: Amarilys R. Cortijo, M.D., attending physician and former medical director, Mt. Hope Family Practice; adjunct clinical assistant professor of family and social medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
  • Rising Star—Clinical Practitioner Award: Lauren Roth, M.D. ’16, assistant professor of pediatrics and director of service-learning, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; pediatrician, the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore
  • Rising Star—Scientific Investigator Award: Ayana Jordan, M.D., Ph.D. ’11, endowed associate professor of psychiatry and population health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine

The Alumni Association is proud to celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of these alumni and thank them for their continued contributions.