New Roles for Pathology Department Faculty Position Montefiore Einstein for a More Unified Approach to Infectious Diseases Diagnostics and Research
Amy Fox, MD, MS
Michael B. Prystowsky, MD, PhD, professor university chair of Pathology at Montefiore Einstein, has announced changes in the Department of Pathology that signal a new era of unified Infectious Diseases diagnostic testing and research for the institution. This development will further enhance Montefiore Einstein’s already strong ability to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and future public and global health threats.
D. Yitzchak "Yitz" Goldstein, MD
Virology and Molecular Genetics
Over the past 20 years, Amy S. Fox, MD, MS, director of Montefiore Einstein’s Clinical Virology Laboratories and Chief, Point-of-Care Testing and Outreach, has taken the Department of Pathology’s longstanding Clinical Virology Laboratory from a classic viral culture facility to a state-of-the-art diagnostic molecular facility. Thanks to Dr. Fox’s commitment to clinical research and new test development, the Clinical Virology laboratory has been home to multiple clinical trials, laboratory-developed tests and most recently, testing for Covid-19.
Rizwan C. Naeem, MBBS
For the past several years, Dr. Fox, a professor of Pathology and of Pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, has had a major interest in training residents and faculty in clinical research and in guiding junior faculty development. To that end, she has groomed D. Yitzchak "Yitz" Goldstein, MD (Einstein Class of 2011; Montefiore Pathology Residency Class of 2015), assistant director of the Clinical Virology Laboratory, to assume the role of director. That goal will be realized effective September 8. Dr. Goldstein will retain his current post as director, Molecular Genetics Laboratory, with the assistance of Rizwan Naeem, MBBS, director of Molecular Pathology at Montefiore and a professor of Pathology at Einstein, and Abul Kalam Azad, MD, MSc, PhD, who completed a fellowship in Medical Genetics and Genomics at Montefiore in July and was recently named assistant director of the Molecular Genetics Laboratory.
Abul Kalam Azad, MD, MSc, PhD
Molecular Infectious Disease Diagnostics
Together with Dr. Goldstein, Wendy Szymczak, PhD, the newly appointed director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory at Montefiore, and her new associate director, Rebecca Marrero Rolon, MD, will lead the charge to integrate our clinical laboratories into a unified molecular infectious disease diagnostic program. Dr. Fox, and Louis M. Weiss, MD, MPH, a professor of Pathology and of Medicine at Einstein, who are both trained in Infectious Diseases, will function as special advisors to Drs. Goldstein and Szymczak as they build for the future.
Wendy A. Szymczak, PhD
Translational Research
Dr. Fox, who is also director of Clinical Research and Clinical Trials for the Pathology Department, will expand her current role to include faculty development. Given this new responsibility, Dr. Fox will work with both trainees and faculty to formulate research projects and will advise and guide them in their career development. Together with Dr. Weiss, director of research for the Department of Pathology at Einstein, Dr. Fox will work toward expanding the Department’s collaborations both within and outside the Montefiore Einstein community.
Rebecca Marrero Rolon, MD
Most recently, Drs. Fox and Weiss worked with a team of Einstein investigators to translate the Chandran-Lai diagnostic test for anti-Sars Cov-2 antibodies to the clinical laboratory. They already have successful careers as clinical and basic science investigators, respectively. As special advisors to Dr. Prystowsky, they will guide the next generation of Pathology researchers. Dr. Fox will continue in her role as Chief of Point of Care, a program she built, which remains one of the largest and most comprehensive of its kind in the United States.
Louis M. Weiss, MD, MPH
“Our clinical colleagues and their patients will be better served with a unified approach to infectious diseases, in the areas of both diagnostic testing and research,” says Dr. Prystowsky. “We’re extremely proud of our dedicated and talented faculty members, and wish all involved great success in their new and expanded roles.”