March 15, 2021—(BRONX, NY)—Postdoctoral trainees are the cornerstone of the research enterprise at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. To better reflect their significant role and to support and advance their interests, Einstein has created a new senior leadership position—associate dean for postdoctoral affairs. Anne Bresnick, Ph.D., who has directed the Belfer Institute for Advanced Biomedical Studies, the administrative home for postdocs, since 2015, has been promoted to serve in this critical role.
“Anne’s appointment recognizes the excellence, vision, and professionalism with which she has served as director of the Belfer Institute, as well as the dedication she has shown as a mentor to the graduate students and postdocs in her lab over the past 25 years,” said Gordon F. Tomaselli, M.D., the Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz Dean at Einstein and vice president and chief academic officer at Montefiore Medicine. “This promotion underscores her superb qualifications and is a recognition of her demonstrated commitment to supporting and guiding early career scientists at Einstein.”
Since the inception of Einstein’s Belfer Institute in 1979, it has served approximately 2,500 postdocs, and currently supports 270 young investigators. Its chief goal is to provide the best possible scientific training and social environment for postdoctoral researchers. In addition to providing the required and supplemental training in research, the division has long sponsored the annual Dennis Shields Postdoctoral Research Prizes to recognize research excellence among the fellows.
Under Dr. Bresnick’s leadership, the Belfer Institute has enhanced Einstein’s position as a preeminent training ground in biomedical science. Over the past six years, she has developed numerous programs and administrative initiatives designed to enrich the postdoc experience at Einstein. These range from establishing an enhanced career and professional development program with the graduate division, securing additional postdoctoral housing on campus, and working with HR to provide additional health benefits, free gym membership, and an expanded childcare program.
Anne’s appointment recognizes the excellence, vision, and professionalism with which she has served as director of the Belfer Institute, as well as the dedication she has shown as a mentor to the graduate students and postdocs in her lab over the past 25 years.
Dean Gordon F. Tomaselli
“I am honored to be the first to hold this new associate dean position at Einstein” said Dr. Bresnick. “I truly believe that our postdocs are the finest in the country and deserve tremendous recognition and support for their outstanding research and leadership in our labs across campus. I look forward to working with our postdoc community to continuously improve Einstein and their position here.”
Also a professor of biochemistry, Dr. Bresnick is a cancer researcher whose work focuses on understanding the mechanisms mediating tumor cell migration, invasion, and metastasis. Her lab seeks to develop novel treatments that improve the cancer survival rate of patients by preventing the disease from spreading throughout the body.
Dr. Bresnick has served on the Sue Golding Graduate admissions committee, the committee for the office of grant support, the faculty senate, and the faculty mentoring committee. She has chaired Einstein's committee on appointments and promotions for associate professors and has served on and chaired department of biochemistry faculty search committees. She currently serves as chair of Einstein’s patent committee and is associate director for cancer education and training in the Albert Einstein Cancer Center. She is also a member of the American Society for Cell Biology and has served on multiple study sections and review panels for the NIH, as well as study sections for the Department of Defense and the American Heart Association.
Dr. Bresnick joined Einstein in 1985 as a graduate student in the department of anatomy and structural biology, after graduating from the University of Maryland the same year with a B.S. in biochemistry. She received her Ph.D. from Einstein in 1991 and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1996. Anne returned to Einstein in 1996, as an assistant professor of biochemistry and was appointed professor in 2008.