EINSTEIN SENATE MEETING
October 13, 2010
Minutes
The September minutes were approved.

Dean’s Report
Einstein has experienced a striking increase in NIH funding this year, due to the recruitment of new well-funded faculty as well as the success of existing faculty.  Based in part on the Research Retreat held on April 26th of this year, the Strategic Research Plan has been updated and several priority areas have been identified.  These include “platform” technologies such as shRNA, metabolomics, and multi-modal imaging.  Another priority is to strengthen the Einstein-Montefiore interface.  A document describing all of the priority areas can be found here:
http://www.einstein.yu.edu/home/downloads/strategic-research-plan-update-2010.pdf

Highlights of the Dean’s remarks can be viewed here:
http://www.einstein.yu.edu/video/?VID=254&ts=einsteinon&tsa=tabs-3#top

Speaker’s Report
At the last Senate Council meeting, the retirement of Stephen Lazar was noted, as was the stepping down of Richard Stanley as Chair of Developmental and Molecular Biology and the appointment of Liang Zhu as interim Chair.  There was also a discussion about the need for Einstein faculty to apply for national awards as well as membership in prestigious societies.  Faculty are urged to be mindful of these opportunities and to suggest, encourage, and support suitable candidates.  A proposal to modify Einstein’s academic tracks is currently being considered by the Chairs, and faculty are encouraged to provide feedback to their Chairs regarding the proposal. 

Committee on Committees
There was nothing to report.

Election of Senate Officers
The election of officers was presided over by Todd Olson.  The current Speaker (Jeff Segall), Vice-Speaker (Elyse Sussman), and Treasurer (Amos Orlofsky) ran unopposed and were re-elected.  For Secretary, Teresa DiLorenzo ran unopposed and was elected, replacing Jon Warner.