Around WCM

Neurology tends to be a tough specialty. I remember our first day of residency at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, Dr. [Jerome] Posner and Dr. [Fred] Plum [MD ’47] said, ‘For neurological patients, you are their last line of defense. Most people don’t understand neurological disease. They are afraid of it. It’s hard to deal with, and this is your job.’

Dr. Anjali Rajadhyaksha knows the effects of drug addiction, having lost a neighbor to the disease. Now a neuroscientist, she and her team hope to develop therapies to help those most vulnerable to dependence.

While studying abroad in India, Dr. Jyoti Mathad met a pregnant woman whose lack of access to maternal healthcare had devastating consequences.

Dr. Jonathan Avery knows the power of storytelling. As a psychiatrist specializing in addiction medicine, he empowers his patients to share their recollections of recovery through online testimonials.

Dr. Elizabeth Ross has an enduring passion for improving patients’ lives by studying how genes affect the brain’s function.

For Dr. Ernie Esquivel, director of Weill Cornell Medical College’s internal medicine clerkship, there are few things more gratifying than watching medical students succeed in their training.

In college, I wasn’t certain that I wanted to become a physician. But as a Peace Corps volunteer, I worked as a community health promoter in a small village in Nicaragua and realized that I could have a real impact on people’s lives.

Dr. Babacar Cisse immigrated to the United States from Senegal with just $26 in his pocket and a lesson from his parents to always give back. Now a neurosurgeon, Dr. Cisse heeds those words in every interaction with his patients.

In Spain, philosophy is a required subject in high school; the idea is that training people to be good citizens involves the ability to question our basic beliefs and assumptions. I am the daughter of a coal miner, and my siblings and I were the first in our family to go to university.

As a Cuban immigrant, Dr. Fernando Martinez seized opportunities the United States afforded him. Now a pulmonologist and parent, he’s dedicated his career to helping others, and has inspired his children to do the same.

Dr. Jaclyn Bonder brings a special insight to her work treating women with musculoskeletal problems related to pregnancy: she, too, had a difficult pregnancy.

Endocrinologist Jason Baker can uniquely relate to his patients: Like them, he lives with type 1 diabetes. Now, he’s doing all that he can to make a difference in the lives of his patients in New York and the developing world.

Geriatrician Dr. Karin Ouchida loves hearing people’s stories. She listens to her patients and is often amazed by their resilience—just as she felt learning the stories of her family, Japanese Americans sent to internment camps during WWII.

Dr. Carl Crawford’s passion for medicine has deeply personal roots. Watching his father — an Olympic boxer from Guyana who seemed invincible — battle colon cancer inspired Dr. Crawford to treat his patients with the same thoughtful care he would have given his dad. 

“When I took parasitology in my second year of medical school, I was surprised to learn that there were so many diseases that were major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide that weren’t major problems in the U.S. I ended up going to Brazil to study mucocutaneous leishmaniasis.

A third-generation physician with family roots in Barbados, Dr. Phillips, an assistant professor of medicine, focuses her research and clinical practice on a deadly blood cancer that disproportionally strikes Caribbean natives.

As a child, Dr. Praveen Raju and his family raised coconuts in a small village in India. He soon learned that his calling was in the United States, helping children with brain tumors. 

Practicing medicine is for Dr. Lia Logio as much an art as it is a form of love.

Dr. Judy Tung is committed to providing the best patient care, knowing the value of having someone who’s “got your back” when fighting illness.

Dr. Christopher Barbieri was the type of kid who would press every button in the house, much to his parents’ chagrin. Ultimately he learned to put that inquisitiveness to good use as a doctor and scientist, and discovered a new form of prostate cancer.