Monday, November 2, 2026 | 9 am – 3:30 pm
Goldwurm Auditorium, 1425 Madison Avenue
9:00 AM – 9:10 AM
Welcome
Perry Sheffield, MD, MPH, Professor of Environmental Medicine, and Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS)
9:10 AM – 9:20 AM
Environment is Medicine
Robert O. Wright, MD, MPH, Ethel H. Wise Chair of the Department of Environmental Medicine and Co-Director, Institute for Exposomic Research, ISMMS
Session I: Caring for Older Adults Living with Serious Illness
9:20 AM – 9:50 AM
Keynote Address
R. Sean Morrison, MD, Ellen and Howard C. Katz Professor and Chair of the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, ISMMS
9:50 AM – 10:10 AM
Weathering the storm: The challenges and clinical considerations of caregiving for older adults during adverse weather events
Leah E. Walsh, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, ISMMS
10:10 AM – 10:30 AM | Moderated Q&A with Dr. Morrison and Dr. Walsh
Moderator: Erik S. Carlson, MD, MPH, Clinical Fellow in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at The Mount Sinai Hospital
10:30 AM – 11:10 AM | Poster Session and Coffee Break
Session II: Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Lessons Learned
This panel will explore vital, cross-disciplinary insights gained across environmental medicine, emergency medicine, and geriatrics. We aim to bring together diverse clinical perspectives to discuss the operational realities of disaster preparedness and response—including medical device dependencies during power outages and acute treatment disruptions—while examining the long-term health consequences of environmental exposures to build a proactive framework for protecting vulnerable older adults.
11:10 AM – 12:10 PM | Moderated Panel Discussion
- Sarah McCuskee, MD, MPhil, Assistant Professor, Departments of Emergency Medicine and Global Health & Health Systems Design, ISMMS
- Hannah Thompson, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Medicine, ISMMS
- Alexis Merdjanoff, PhD, Director of the Environmental Public Health Program and Assistant Professor in Social and Behavioral Sciences at New York University’s School of Global Public Health
- Moderator: Ismail Nabeel, MD, MPH, Professor of Environmental Medicine, and Artificial Intelligence and Human Health, ISMMS
12:10 PM – 1:15 PM | Lunch and Poster Session
Session III: Wildfires and Solutions to Protect Elderly Populations
This panel aims to discuss how wildfire smoke and poor air quality directly impact the health of older adults. This session will focus on practical, proactive steps clinicians can take to help protect their elderly patients before a wildfire occurs.
1:15 PM – 2:15 PM | Moderated Panel Discussion
- Deepak Bhatt, MD, MPH, MBA, FACC, FAHA, FESC, MSCAI, Director of the Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital, Dean for Clinical Research–Industry Partnerships, and the Dr. Valentin Fuster Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mount Sinai Health System
- Monica Kraft, MD, Murray M. Rosenberg Professor of Medicine and System Chair for the Department of Medicine, Mount Sinai Health System and ISSMS
- Moderator: Rosalind J. Wright, MD, MPH, Dean for Public Health, Chair of the Department of Public Health, and Co-Director of the Institute for Exposomic Research, ISMMS
Session IV: Communications Learning Systems
This panel aims to bring together diverse perspectives to discuss the operational realities of real-time crisis communication. This includes leveraging the NYC Health Alert Network to inform clinicians, optimizing overarching health system messaging, and seamlessly integrating heat-risk reduction strategies directly into clinical care. Ultimately, this session will provide a practical roadmap for utilizing proactive, systemic communication to protect vulnerable older adults.
2:15 – 3:15 PM Moderated Panel Discussion
- Toni Eyssallenne, MD, PhD, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
- Muoi Trinh, MD, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Pain Medicine, ISMMS, and Medical Director of Environmental Sustainability for the Mount Sinai Health System
- Cavin Ward-Caviness, PhD, Director of Environmental Sciences, Price Lab at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging
- Moderator: Perry Sheffield, MD, MPH, Professor of Environmental Medicine, and Pediatrics, ISMMS
3:15 PM | Poster Awards
3:30 PM | Symposium ends