Meet The Mount Sinai Mentors
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Lina Jandorf, MA
Lina is a Professor and the Director of the Office of Cancer Community Engagement in the Center for Behavioral Oncology in the Department of Population Health Science and Policy, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She serves as the Project Director of the NCI-initiated East Harlem Partnership of Cancer Awareness (EHPCA), the Witness Project of Harlem and Esperanza y Vida (EyV). Ms. Jandorf works with the Tisch Cancer Institute and is responsible for cancer outreach efforts across the Mount Sinai Health Care System. More recently, Lina has received funding from NYS to operate a mobile mammography van. She serves as the Outreach Director for this project and has successful recruited over 50 new community sites to host the van. She is an active member of New York State’s Cancer Consortium and a member of the steering committee for New York City’s Citywide Colon Cancer Control Coalition. Prior to joining Mount Sinai, Lina boasted more than 20 years of experience in coordinating longitudinal research projects at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Department of Psychiatry. Since joining the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai 20 years ago, she has developed a deep commitment to minority/underserved communities.
BCPC Area: Cancer Prevention, Early Detection, and Treatment/Symptom Management
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Jenny J. Lin, MD, MPH
Dr. Lin is a Professor of Medicine and the Director for Mentoring for the Department of Medicine at the Mount Sinai Health System in the Division of General Internal Medicine. She is also Associate Fellowship Director for the two T32 postdoctoral training programs that the Division holds. In addition, Dr. Lin is the Associate Director of the Medical Student Research Office for the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Associate Director of the Institutional Career Development Award (KL2 Program) for the Mount Sinai CTSA. Her research has focused on cancer survivorship, specifically regarding chronic disease management in cancer survivors. Professor Lin is currently PI on two projects assessing comorbidity management in cancer survivors: an NCI R01 assessing the impact of health beliefs and cognitive dysfunction on diabetes self-management behaviors in breast cancer survivors and an American Cancer Society study investigating the role of caregivers’ health beliefs on hypertension management in prostate cancer survivors. Dr. Lin has also recently begun another NCI R01 using simulation modeling to identify optimal lung cancer screening strategies for breast, prostate and colorectal cancer survivors.
BCPC Area: Cancer Prevention and Survivorship
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Guy Montgomery, PhD
Dr. Montgomery is a clinical psychologist whose research, training, and clinical efforts are focused on improving patients’ quality of life associated with cancer and its treatment. In particular, he is focused on developing and testing mind-body interventions to reduce the symptoms and side- effects associated with cancer and its treatment, such as including pain, nausea, and fatigue. His work recognizes that how people think (e.g., evaluation of situations, expectations about how one reacts to medical treatment), and how people feel emotionally (e.g., anxiety, distress) can have profound effects on how they feel physically. Dr. Montgomery has extensive experience in studying the contribution of cognitive factors (especially expectancies) to individuals’ experiences. His goal is to provide all cancer patients with the tools and skills they need to enhance their quality of life during the rigors of cancer treatment. From predictive studies of response expectancy effects, to intervention studies looking to exploit expectancy effects to improve patient quality of life, the role and impact of cognitions is a common theme throughout Dr. Montgomery's research.
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
William Redd, PhD
For more than 30 years Dr. Redd has been engaged in pioneering research in psycho-oncology as well as cancer prevention and control. Dr. Redd is credited for introducing behavioral psychology and behavioral medicine to research and clinical practice in cancer supportive care. His research currently focuses on bio behavioral interventions to manage side effects associated with cancer treatment. In 2012, he received the Holland Distinguished Leadership Award from the American Psycho-Oncology Society and in 2015 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Psycho-Oncology Society.
BCPC Area: Treatment/Symptom Management and Survivorship
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Sarah Miller, PsyD
Dr. Miller is a licensed clinical psychologist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health Science and Policy in the Center for Behavioral Oncology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is also an Associate Member of the Tisch Cancer Institute. Dr. Miller's research interests lie in identifying physician and patient factors that contribute to low cancer screening rates and designing interventions to improve cancer prevention and treatment efforts, particularly among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. Her most recent research has been focused on developing digital health interventions to reduce the burden of cancer among racial/ethnic minorities.
BCPC Area: Early Detection and Treatment/Symptom Management
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Julie Schnur, PhD
Dr. Schnur is a licensed clinical psychologist, an Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health Science & Policy, a Member of Mount Sinai’s Center for Behavioral Oncology (CBO), and the Co-Director of the Integrative Behavioral Medicine Program within CBO. Her research activities focus on developing and testing psychosocial intervention to improve women’s quality of life during breast cancer care, conducting qualitative research to better understand individuals’ emotional and physical reactions to cancer and its treatment, and developing and implementing programs to train cancer care providers in evidence-based cancer care strategies. Dr. Schnur's current research focuses on training cancer care providers to work sensitively with individuals with a history of sexual violence.
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Jamilia Sly, PhD
Dr. Sly is a community psychologist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health Science and Policy in the Center for Behavioral Oncology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is also an Associate Member of the Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai and served as the Chair of the Health Equity Special Interest Group for the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Dr. Sly's research is focused on developing clinical and community-based interventions to reduce and ultimately eliminate cancer disparities. She has nearly 10 years of experience collaborating with community-based organizations in New York City on research and educational outreach efforts. Dr. Sly has experience conducting quantitative and qualitative studies and has received NIH and ACS funding to examine: (1) the cultural adaptation of an evidence-based intervention to increase Latinos’ participation in colorectal cancer screening; (2) the capacity and variations among community and faith-based organizations for recruiting research participants for colorectal cancer prevention and health-related interventions; (3) the influence of social networks and social capital on cancer screening and health outcomes among minorities in public housing; and (4) the feasibility and acceptability of a community based breastfeeding educational program for black women.
BCPC Area: Early Detection
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Cardinale Smith, MD, PhD
Cardinale B. Smith, MD, PhD is a Professor with tenure in the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology and the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Chief Medical Officer at the Tisch Cancer Hospital, Vice President, Cancer Clinical Services and Chief Quality Officer for Tisch Cancer Center, Mount Sinai Health System. She is a medical oncologist and palliative care physician whose clinical practice is focused on lung cancer and palliative care. Her research interests focus on doctor-patient communication, evaluating treatment disparities in cancer care, determinants of cancer patients’ quality of care, characterizing barriers to optimal cancer and palliative care, and developing approaches to eliminating those barriers among racial and ethnic minorities. Dr. Smith was a 2013 recipient of a mentored research scholar grant from the American Cancer Society to evaluate determinants of disparities in the utilization of palliative care among patients with lung cancer. In addition, she was a co-investigator on a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute grant to teach and enable goals of care conversations and advance care planning among oncologists. Additionally, she was a 2018 recipient of a Sojourn’s Scholar Leadership Grant to identify the role of implicit bias among oncologists on minority patient outcomes. She is currently the PI on R01 from the National Cancer Institute to evaluate the role of implicit bias among oncologists on minority cancer patient outcomes. She is also an MPI on an R01 from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities to investigate the role of patient beliefs, stigma, medical mistrust, and physicians’ implicit bias on racial disparities in lung cancer screening. Dr. Smith has had numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals, and in 2015 was named one of the Top 40 Inspirational Leaders under 40 by the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
BCPC Area: Cancer Treatment and Survivorship
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Heiðdís B Valdimarsdóttir, PhD
Dr. Valdimarsdóttir has extensive experience in the psychological and biological evaluation of individuals at familial/genetic risk for cancer, and has participated in numerous R01 awards, including studies focused on: 1) biological correlates of distress and psychobiological reactivity to acute stressors and among individuals at risk for cancer; 2) developing and testing culturally targeted genetic counseling interventions for minority women to help them with their BRCA testing decisions; 3) developing and testing interactive computer-based decision tasks to help BRCA mutation carriers with the preventive and surveillance decisions; 4) examining the impact of expressive writing intervention in reducing psychological and biological indices of stress among cancer patients and 5) investigating the impact of bright white light therapy on fatigue, depression and circadian rhythms among cancer patients.
BCPC Area: Early Detection and Treatment/Symptom Management
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Juan Wisnivesky, MD, DrPH
Dr. Wisnivesky is a health services researcher with a focus on lung cancer epidemiology and comparative effectiveness research. His prior work has been related to lung cancer treatment in the elderly and disparities in care. Dr. Wisnivesky has been involved in several projects involving SEER-Medicare data and other large cancer registries. He has served as the PI of three R01s to evaluate the staging and treatment of lung cancer using the SEER-Medicare registry and an ongoing R01 assessing the impact of lung cancer screening in HIV-infected individuals. He is also the PI of an R01 using a simulation model to optimize the management of lung cancer patients with comorbidities, and a second NCI-funded R01 evaluating the comparative effectiveness of SBRT vs. limited resection for early stage lung cancer. Additionally, Dr. Wisnivesky was the PI of a 4-site cohort study funded by the American Cancer Society to study disparities in lung cancer care. These experiences provided a strong foundation in the design, implementation, analyses of observational studies, and mathematical modeling.