Fordham And Yeshiva Boost Science/Medical Offerings Through Agreement

October 29, 2008 — (Bronx, NY) — Fordham University and Yeshiva University's Albert Einstein College of Medicine have agreed to a collaborative relationship that will strengthen the science and medical offerings at both institutions.

A signing ceremony took place Thursday, October 30th at 9:30AM in the Price Center/Block Research Pavilion, located on Morris Park Avenue.

(From left): Richard M. Joel, of Yeshiva
University; Drs. Edward Burns and
Allen M. Spiegel, of Einstein;
and Dr. Stephen Freedman and
Rev. Joseph McShane, S.J., of Fordham. "Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Fordham University have a natural affinity," said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham University. "We are both New York research institutions with deep commitments to our religious traditions. The agreement is a tie that binds us closer, serving our respective student bodies, New York City and the advance of science and medicine."

The agreement will create and augment interaction on the undergraduate, graduate and faculty levels. Fordham will gain access to Einstein's vast array of clinical medical resources, while the medical college will benefit from Fordham's high-caliber student body and the scientific expertise of its faculty.

"This is a wonderful example of two Bronx institutions with international reputations sharing resources to the further benefit of both student bodies and faculties," said Stephen Freedman, Ph.D., senior vice president/chief academic officer, and professor of natural science at Fordham. "The agreement builds on the strengths of Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Fordham University, the resulting partnership being greater than the sum of its parts."

Much of the collaboration focuses on Fordham undergraduates, who will participate in a hospital mentorship, lab-based coursework and summer program at Einstein. The mentorship will occur each semester at Weiler Hospital of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, a division of Montefiore Medical Center, and be open to two Fordham students, who will shadow an attending physician.

"Yeshiva University welcomes collaboration with its sister institutions," said Richard M. Joel, president of Yeshiva. "It is clear that the welfare of the community mandates that we look for ways to share increasingly scarce physical and human resources for the benefit of society. Universities should show the way to such collaboration."

"Einstein has a deep commitment to fostering a love of biomedical science in young college students," said Edward R. Burns, M.D., executive dean of Albert Einstein College of Medicine. "Fordham University's undergraduates have sterling reputations and their Rose Hill Campus is less than ten minutes away from us. What better way to nurture a budding investigator than to put him or her in the laboratory of an established world class scientist who can serve as a mentor."

In addition, the University's science and pre-med students may take two-semester, lab-based electives at the medical college. Likewise, Einstein students may take a research elective or other graduate course at Fordham.

Finally, Fordham will recommend two students who will work together with outstanding Yeshiva undergraduate students at Einstein's prestigious nine-week Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP). The applicants must have a strong background in science and be pursuing a research career.

Similar opportunities will be explored for Fordham graduate students in psychology and social work as the partnership between the two institutions progresses. Areas of mutual interest such as ethics research and education, health law and religion, bioinformatics and neuropsychology will be considered for further collaboration.

On the graduate and faculty levels, professors from Fordham and Einstein will be encouraged to pursue joint research opportunities and co-sponsor colloquia and conferences. Faculty from Fordham and Einstein will have the opportunity to sit on the partner institution's thesis and dissertation committees. Faculty and students from both institutions will have access to the other's libraries.

Founded in 1841, Fordham is the Jesuit University of New York, offering exceptional education distinguished by the Jesuit tradition to approximately 14,700 students in its four undergraduate colleges and its six graduate and professional schools. It has residential campuses in the Bronx, Manhattan, a campus in Westchester, and the Louis Calder Center Biological Field Station in Armonk, NY.

Founded in 1886, Yeshiva University brings together the heritage of Western civilization and the ancient traditions of Jewish law and life. More than 7,000 undergraduate and graduate students study at YU's four New York City campuses. YU is ranked among the nation's leading academic research institutions. Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University is one of the nation's premier institutions for medical education, basic research and clinical investigation. It is home to some 2,000 faculty members, 750 M.D. students, 350 Ph.D. students, including 125 in the combined M.D./Ph.D. programs and 380 postdoctoral investigators training at the Belfer Institute for Advanced Biomedical Studies. More than 7,000 Einstein alumni are among the nation's foremost clinicians, biomedical scientists, and medical educators.