Albert Einstein College of Medicine honored the Class of 2026 at its graduation ceremony on Wednesday, May 20 in David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. Einstein conferred 172 M.D. degrees and 24 Ph.D. degrees. Seventeen graduates of Einstein’s Medical Scientist Training Program received both M.D. and Ph.D. degrees, and 12 individuals received M.S. diplomas in either bioethics or clinical research methods. Three graduates completed a five-year program leading to an M.D. degree from Einstein and an M.P.H. degree from the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy.

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Martha E. Pollack, Ph.D., president emerita of Cornell University and a renowned computer scientist specializing in artificial intelligence (AI), delivered the commencement address. Dr. Pollack served as president of Cornell University from 2017 to 2024. Her research spans a range of topics, including natural-language processing, automated planning, and the design of technologies that assist people with cognitive impairment.

“The physicians who will serve their patients best are not the ones who ignore AI, nor the ones who trust it completely and just ‘add compassion,’” said Dr. Pollack. “The best physicians will be the ones who have a rich enough understanding of medicine, coupled with an appreciation for AI technology itself, to know when to follow the recommendations it provides, when to question it, and when to override it. This is a clinical skill. A deep one. It is going to require you to keep learning—both about medicine, and about the tools you use to practice it.”

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Other speakers included Philip O. Ozuah, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO of Montefiore Einstein, and Yaron Tomer, M.D., the Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz Dean at Einstein and chief academic officer at Montefiore Einstein. Amanda Raff, M.D. ‘98, professor of medicine and senior associate dean for medical education at Einstein, served as grand marshal.

“As Einstein graduates, you carry forward values that matter now more than ever: integrity, humility, curiosity, compassion, and a commitment to serving others with dignity and respect,” said Dr. Tomer. “You will lead during a time of extraordinary change. I encourage you to embrace innovation enthusiastically, but never lose sight of the people behind the data, the diagnosis, or the discovery. The most important advances in medicine are not only technical. They are human.”

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The Einstein Alumni Association honored several alumni with awards:

• Dominick P. Purpura Lifetime Achievement Award: Lindsey R. Baden, M.D. '92, Nabel Family Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and vice president of clinical research at Mass General Brigham
• Distinguished Ph.D. Alum Award: Alexis M. Kalergis, Ph.D. '00, professor, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile’s Schools of Biological Sciences and Medicine and director, Millennium Institute on Immunology and Immunotherapy, Chile
• Distinguished Alum Clinical Practitioner Award: George Y. Wu, M.D., Ph.D. ’76, professor emeritus of medicine, former chief of the hepatology section, and the Herman Lopata Chair in Hepatitis Research at the University of Connecticut Health Center
• Distinguished Alum Humanitarian/Service Award: Gloria Fung Chaw, M.D. '08, associate professor of medicine and faculty member, Global Health Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and an internist and primary care physician at Montefiore
• Distinguished Alum Einstein Service Award: Priya Nori, M.D. '07, professor of medicine and of orthopedic surgery, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and medical director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program and the Outpatient Parenteral Antibiotic Therapy program and co-chair of the Systems Antimicrobial Council at Montefiore
• Einstein Honorary Alum Award: Racheline G. Habousha, M.S.L.S., principal educator and librarian emerita of The D. Samuel Gottesman Library, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
• Rising Star—Clinical Practitioner Award: Boris Paskhover, M.D. ’11, chief of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
• Rising Star—Scientific Investigator Award: Mario A. Penzo, Ph.D. '12, senior investigator of the section on neural circuits of emotion and motivation, National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health

The ceremony also honored several Einstein faculty members for teaching excellence:

• Samuel M. Rosen Award for Outstanding Teaching (Pre-Clerkship): Staci E. Pollack, M.D., professor and director of undergraduate education obstetrics & gynecology and women's health and a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist at Montefiore
• Samuel M. Rosen Award for Outstanding Teaching (Clinical): Robert L. Plummer, M.D., assistant professor of surgery and surgeon and site director of the surgery clerkship at Montefiore’s Wakefield Campus
• Harry Eagle Award for Outstanding Pre-Clerkship Teaching: Shilpa Vasishta, M.D., assistant professor of medicine and infectious diseases course director and site director, medicine clerkship sub-specialty rotation, Montefiore’s Weiler Hospital
• Harry H. Gordon Award for Outstanding Clinical Teaching: Hnin Khine, M.B., B.S., associate professor of pediatrics and a pediatric emergency medicine physician, Children’s Hospital at Montefiore
• Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Teaching: Felise B. Milan, M.D. ‘88, professor of medicine and assistant dean for learner assessment and simulation education and an internist at Montefiore
• LaDonne H. Schulman Award for Excellence in Teaching: Peri Kurshan, Ph.D., associate professor in the Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience and of genetics, and the Carol and Roger Einiger Research Scholar

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