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Each year, Catholic Health Ser vices (CHS) seeks nomi - nations from its staff for the Patrick J. Scollard Award for Leadership. This year's winner of CHS's highest honor is Karen Allen, RN, BSN, Director of Patient Experience at St. Francis Hospital, The Hear t Center. Chosen from among colleagues across CHS, she was recognized at the system's 15th annual lead - ership conference. A fter 23 years as a nurse at CHS's Mercy Medical Center, Allen transferred to St. Francis, where she has been for almost a de- cade. Star ting in St. Francis's Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU), she led the staff to several positive clinical and patient satisfac- tion outcomes. As a Nurse Manager in the PACU she fostered ef- fective communication between patients, physicians and staff, re- sulting in the Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award in 2015. E arlier this year, the PACU staff earned the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Silver-level Beacon Award for Excellence, a distinction given to only three other PACUs across the countr y. St. Francis promoted Allen to Director of Patient Experience, act - ing as a change agent, encouraging empathetic care and fostering the development of responsive skills. Allen focuses on safety and quality, using patient satisfaction data to drive change, introduc - ing evidence-based improvements and best practices to empower the staff to achieve a positive patient experience. Allen's concern for others carries over into her personal life and is demonstrated by her commitment to volunteerism. Active in her parish, Allen is a Eucharistic minister and par ticipates in a caregiver respite program for special needs children. New York Cancer & Blood Specialists (NYCBS) is pleased to announce that Bartosz A. Walczyszyn, MD, a board-certified hema - tologist-oncologist, has joined its innovative and dedicated network of physicians. Dr. Walczyszyn distinguishes himself with his passion for cancer care. He joined the NYCBS practice on Dec. 1, 2018. He practices at the Central Park location, at 12 E. 86th St., NY. Prior to practicing in the U.S., Dr. Walczyszyn received his medical degree from Poznan University of Medical Sciences and his bachelor's degree in biology from the Salve Regina University Honors program in Poland. In recognition for his teaching exper tise, Dr. Walczyszyn received the Teaching Associate Award given for excellence in the educa - tion of students and residents at Hofstra Nor th Shore LIJ School of Medicine and Lenox Hill Hospital. He completed his fellowship, residency, intern medicine and sub-internship training at Lenox Hill Hospital. Dr. Walczyszyn has numerous publications including, Hyperprolactinemia: An Unfamiliar Acquired Cause of Pulmonar y Embolism and Incidence of Thrombocytopenia in Orthopedic Surger y Patients. Dr. Walczyszyn's academic activity included systematic therapy for malignant melanoma according to stage disease, American College of Physicians board preparation, hematology lecture and pulmonar y manifestations of sickle cell disease. Dr. Walczyszyn is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society of Hematology and the American College of Physicians. Karina W. Davidson, PhD, MASc Nor thwell Health's Feinstein Institute for Medical Research has appointed Karina W. Davidson, PhD, MASc, to lead a new center focused on behavioral and cardiovascular health research. Davidson's research focuses on the relationship between psychosocial risk factors and their role in the course and outcome of cardiovascular disease. The new center will be located in Manhattan and comprised of a team of clinician-scientists and staff focused on disrupting the science of chronic disease management and health behavior change. Davidson will ser ve as dean of Academic Affairs, Senior Vice President of Research, and Professor and Head of the new center at the Feinstein Institute, as well as Professor of Behavioral Medicine at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Nor thwell. Davidson previously ser ved as the Vice-Dean for Organizational Effectiveness and Center Head at Columbia University and as the P E O P L E I N T H E N E W S Bar tosz A. Walcz ysz yn, MD 1 4