From left, Robert Harrington, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine; Jonathan Teyan, president and CEO of the Associated Medical Schools of New York; Gary Butts, dean emeritus of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Senator Schumer; Sandra Ryeom; Lawrence Chin, dean of the Norton College of Medicine at SUNY Upstate Medical Hospital; and Allison Brashear, dean of Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Science at SUNY Buffalo. Photo courtesy of Senator Schumer's office.
On July 14, Sandra Ryeom, associate professor of surgery and associate dean for postdoctoral affairs, joined deans and associate deans from medical schools across New York State for the annual Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY) Washington, DC advocacy day.
Ryeom and her colleagues met with members of the New York congressional delegation, from both sides of the aisle, to lobby on behalf of strong funding for the National Institutes of Health and to express opposition to the proposed Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance, which would change the way federal grants are awarded, administered and overseen.
The group had meetings with Senator Charles Schumer, Representatives John Mannion (NY-22), Claudia Tenney (NY-24), and Ritchie Torres (NY-15), and more than a dozen health policy staff, where the group also described how changes in financial aid and immigration are damaging New York state's biomedical research and healthcare capacities.
"We are grateful to our legislators and their staff for taking the time to meet and listen to our concerns," Ryeom says. "We share a commitment to improving lives, and these conversations help ensure that policy decisions are informed by the expertise of scientists and medical professionals and ultimately benefit patients, families, and communities."
