MDNews - Long Island

People in the NEWS Dianna Ruppel, CPMSM, CPCS, coordinator of the Nassau University Medical Center's medical staff office, was inducted as a member of the Board of Directors of the New York State Association of Medical Staff Services (NYSAMSS) as the Long Island Regional Representative. The Regional Representative serves as a liaison between the regional mem - bers of NYSAMSS and the Board of Directors, serves on the Education Committee, coordinates regional networking meetings and serves on the membership committee for recruitment and retention. Ramin Rak, MD, FAANS, Co-Surgical Director and Director of the Awake Craniotomy and Brain Mapping Program of the Long Island Brain Tumor Center at Neurological Surgery, P.C., as well as Director of the Brain Tumor program at North Shore-LIJ Huntington Hospital, was one of 10 neuroscience experts from across the U.S. who spoke before members of Congress May 20. Dr. Rak discussed the topic "Brain Mapping in Awake Brain Surgery." The program, which focuses on brain mapping and neu - roscience, is sponsored by the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics (SBMT) and the bipartisan Congressional Neuroscience Caucus. The briefing supports President Obama's Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative — a new presidential focus aimed at revolu - tionizing our understanding of the human brain. Mapping the brain is a major focus of this initiative. Dr. Rak is a member of the Executive Board of the SBMT. Albertson, New York, resident Aaron Pinkhasov, MD, has been named Chair of the Department of Behavioral Health at Winthrop-University Hospital. Dr. Pinkhasov comes to Winthrop from Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, where he served as the deputy director of the Department of Psychiatry and Neurology from 2001 until 2009, when he became chair of the Psychiatry Department. He served as the SUNY–Downstate Medical Center director and coordinator for geriatric psychiatry training at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center as well as the director of elec - troconvulsive therapy training for SUNY–Downstate. Dr. Pinkhasov was born in Dushanbe in the former USSR, where he earned his medical degree. He is one of the few graduates of a unique and highly competitive combined Internal Medicine and Psychiatry SUNY–Downstate Medical Center Residency Program. After he com - pleted this dual specialty training, Dr. Pinkhasov was selected to become chief resident in internal medicine, managing nearly 200 residents and closely collaborating with medical leaders from all disciplines at Kings County Medical Center in Brooklyn. Maria Basile, MD, Assistant Vice President of Medical Affairs at John T. Mather Memorial Hospital, was installed as President of the Suffolk County Medical Society (SCMS) at the group's annual meeting on May 30. The SCMS is the professional medical as - sociation for Suffolk County physicians and is concerned with the practice of medicine, public health, advancing medical education, maintaining a high standard of integrity, honor and courtesy in the medical profession, responding to the evolving needs and interests of physician members, preserving the doctor-patient re - lationship and acting as an advocate for patients. Dr. Basile noted that the SCMS developed the model for institutional membership in a medical society, and the Mather-St. Charles medical staff was the first in the state to join the SCMS and Medical Society of the State of New York as an institution. Dr. Basile has served as the SCMS treasurer, secretary, vice president and, for the past year, president-elect. Her instal - lation took place at the Clarion Hotel & Conference Center in Ronkonkoma, New York. In her role at Mather, Dr. Basile supports new clinical quality and patient safety initiatives in conjunction with Joan Faro, MD, Mather's Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Vice President for Medical Affairs. Alan B. Ettinger, MD, MBA, and Deborah M. Weisbrot, MD, are co-editors of the new Cambridge University Press book Neurologic Differential Diagnosis: A Case-Based Approach. The editors seek to help busy clinicians achieve an accurate diagnosis based on patients' neurologic and psychiatric symptoms. Each diagnostic possibility is linked to reminders of key elements to Ramin Rak, MD, FAANS Aaron Pinkhasov, MD (Right) Dianna Ruppel, CPMSM, CPCS 1 4 | Long Island MD NEWS ■ M D N E W S . CO M

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