Class Notes: December 16, 2016
Donna Younger, MD ’55 Dr. Younger, an internal medicine physician and Harvard Medical School professor, retired in 2016.
Allen Silberstein, MD ’62 Dr. Silberstein writes that he has been retired for 10 years now, and spends his time sculpting, playing tennis and traveling with his wife, Irene.
Allan Naarden, MD ’64 Dr. Naarden’s son, Gregory, and daughter-in-law, Ann, had a child, Dr. Naarden’s fourth grandchild.
Andy Schwartz, MD ‘65 Dr. Schwartz writes, “We have evolved from Internal Medicine to professor (Infectious Diseases, Internal Medicine, Microbiology) to practicing IM and ID, and now primarily Geriatrics/senior care at institutions ALs, ILs, rehabs and long-term care facilities. Working for VIRTUA Medical Group in Camden and Burlington Counties in New Jersey.Three grown children with diverse professions — law, therapy, and options trading) and six grandchildren from ages 3 to 23. Of course, they’re all the greatest folks! One older one has migrated back to NYC, and is in graduate school at Columbia. Two are in New Orleans at Tulane. Where has the time gone? We only graduated a couple yesterdays ago.”
Ralph Snyderman, MD ’65 Argos Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: ARGS) has announced the appointment of Ralph Snyderman, M.D., and Irackly Mtibelishvily, LL.M., to the company’s board of directors. “It is a privilege to welcome a pair of profoundly accomplished professionals to the Argos board of directors who offer renowned expertise in each of their respective fields,” said Jeff Abbey, president and CEO of Argos. Dr. Snyderman is chancellor emeritus at Duke University, James B. Duke professor of medicine, and director of the Center for Research on Personalized Health Care. He served as chancellor for health affairs and dean of the Duke University School of Medicine from 1989 to 2004. During this time, he oversaw the development of the Duke University Health System and served as its first president and chief executive officer. Dr. Snyderman has played a leading role in the conception and development of Personalized Health Care, an evolving model of national health care delivery. Previously, Dr. Snyderman served as senior vice president for medical research and development at Genentech, Inc., the pioneering biomedical technology firm. He has played a leadership role in important national organizations such as the Association of American Physicians, the National Academy of Medicine, and Association of American Medical Colleges. Dr. Snyderman earned a doctor of medicine degree from SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Read the full Argos press release, here.
Michael Stillman, MD ‘67 Dr. Stillman had a solo Dermatology practice in Westchester County for 30 years, and then joined a 500-doctor multi-specialty group where he worked until mandatory retirement at age 70, three years ago. “Since then, I babysit three grandchildren, play golf, and drive my wife crazy,” he writes. “She works in real estate and runs marathons. She says she will keep on working and running as long as I’m retired.” Dr. Stillman’s 36-year-old son Jeremy is an Orthopedic PA at George Washington University Hospital, and enjoys Ironmen Triathlons and helicopter skiing. His 40-year-old daughter Julie was an executive at Columbia/Sony Music and now is a stay at home mom who plays competitive tennis and runs. Her husband is a urologist in Connecticut. “I have been blessed with good health thanks to good genes and modern medicine,” Dr. Stillman writes, “and no thanks to poor eating habits.”
SUNY Downstate Alumni In Memoriam
Watch a 2010 interview with Dr. Charles M. Plotz by the American College of Rheumatology
Martin I. Gold, MD ’54 Dr. Gold, ’54 died on Dec 12, 2016, of Alzheimer’s. His post graduate training was at the Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia. He was an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland and subsequently worked at the VA Hospital in Miami, Florida, as a Full Professor. He was Board Certified in Anesthesiology, and contributed 33 medical journal articles and abstracts. He is survived by his wife, Betty, and 3 children, Barbara, Cindy and Michael.
Catherine Kane, MD ’59 Kane, Catherine S. MD of Stony Brook, NY on December 20, 2015 in her 82nd year. Dr. Kane spent most of her life in Brooklyn, where she was Medical Director of the Angel Guardian Home, providing services to young people in need, including children in need of adoption, foster kids, unwed teen mothers and babies born addicted to drugs.
John A Crocco, MD ’61 John A. Crocco, MD Prominent member of the academic medical community who left an indelible mark John A. Crocco, M.D., died Sunday Dec. 4, 2016, after a long illness. Dr. Crocco was a prominent member, both regionally and nationally, of the academic medical community where he left an indelible mark. A Memorial Mass will be held on Friday, Dec. 9 at 11:30 a.m. at St. Bartholomew’s Church, 470 Ryders Lane, East Brunswick, N.J. 08816. Internment will take place at 2:30 p.m. on Friday at Moravian Cemetery, 2205 Richmond Rd., Staten Island, N.Y. 10306. Dr. Crocco earned his bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and his MD from the State University of New York-Downstate Medical Center. He went on to complete his residency in internal medicine at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York, and pulmonary diseases at Kings County Hospital, SUNY-Downstate Medical Center. His education propelled him into a distinguished medical career. Dr. Crocco rose through the academic ranks, first at SUNY-Downstate and then at New York Medical College. A stint with the military, where he achieved the rank of major in the U.S. Army Reserves, punctuated his career, and he served as chief of professional services for the 1208th U.S. Army Hospital for four years. Throughout his career, he published numerous articles on pulmonary diseases, including the landmark studies on massive hemoptysis in 1968 and on tuberculous pericarditis in 1970. He held extensive leadership positions in the New York Trudeau Society, the President’s Commission on Smoking and Health, the New York Lung Association, and the American College of Physicians. In 1977, he was invited to write the introduction for the classic collector’s edition of the iconic medical text, Gray’s Anatomy. He served as editor for several prestigious journals and was elected to the American College of Physicians, the American College of Chest Physicians, and the New York Academy of Medicine. In 1983, Cardinal Terrence Cooke installed him as a Knight of the Sovereign & Military Order of Malta of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as chief of the Pulmonary Division and associate director of Medicine at St. Vincent’s Hospital for 15 years. He then served as the chairman of the Department of Medicine at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, N.J. During his tenure and under his leadership, the department made tremendous strides in resident education as well as medical student development, and fostered a superior academic environment. He laid the foundation for the transition to University Hospital status in affiliation with Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. After his retirement in 2000 until shortly before his death, he remained exceedingly active as a clinical professor of medicine at Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where he earned a Certificate of Excellence in teaching every year since 2003. In 2005, he received The Gold Humanism Honor Society Award in recognition of his exemplary service to others, his integrity, clinical excellence, and compassionate and respectful relationships with patients, families, and colleagues. Jersey Shore Medical Center presented him with the Department of Medicine 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award. In early 2016, he received the Alumni Achievement Award in Pulmonology from SUNY-Downstate Medical Center in recognition of significant contributions to the welfare of mankind. Dr. Crocco is survived by his wife, Mary Arlene; five children and their spouses: Robert and Cyndie, Mary Grace, Elizabeth and Stephen, Kathleen and Derrick, and John and Maria, and seven grandchildren, Aidan, Colette, Barry, Collin, Shaun, Dorian, and Kieran. Published in Star-Ledger on Dec. 6, 2016.
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