Treatment Areas

Overview

The Albert Einstein College of Medicine is one of the nation’s premier institutions for medical education, basic research, and clinical investigations. In September 2015, Montefiore Health System assumed full operational control of Einstein. Together, Einstein-Montefiore advances clinical and translational research to accelerate the pace at which new discoveries become the treatments and therapies that benefit patients. Combining nationally recognized clinical excellence with a population health perspective that focuses on the comprehensive needs of the communities it serves, Einstein-Montefiore delivers coordinated, compassionate, science-driven care where, when and how patients need it most. Montefiore Health System is comprised of over 2,400 providers and spans 11 hospitals, including the Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Burke Rehabilitation Hospital, and more than 200 outpatient ambulatory care sites. Montefiore’s partnership with Einstein advances clinical and translational research to accelerate the pace at which new discoveries become the treatments and therapies that benefit patients. The health system derives its inspiration for excellence from its patients and community, and continues to be on the front lines of developing innovative approaches to care.

While education is at the heart of Einstein’s mission, it is biomedical research that drives the College of Medicine’s growth. Einstein’s relationship with Montefiore supports a longstanding focus on bench-to-bedside research, through which discoveries in Einstein’s laboratories lead to therapies and treatments for patients on an accelerated timetable.

Long a national leader in biomedical research support from the Federal government, Einstein received $178 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health during 2019. This includes the funding for major research centers at Einstein in aging, intellectual development disorders, diabetes, cancer, clinical and translational research, liver disease and AIDS. Other areas of focus include developmental brain research, neuroscience, cardiac disease, and initiatives to reduce and eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities.

Einstein also was the only New York City institution selected to participate in the Federal government’s landmark Women’s Health Initiative, and it is currently one of just four sites nationwide taking part in a large-scale study of the health status of the Hispanic/Latino community in the Bronx, supported by the NIH. The following are NIH Designated Centers:

• Albert Einstein Cancer Center
• Center for Aids Research
• Diabetes Research Center
• Harold and Muriel Block Institute for Clinical and Translational Research at Einstein and Montefiore
• Institute for Aging Research
• Marion Bessin Liver Research Center
• New York Regional Center for Diabetes Translation Research
• Rose F. Kennedy Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center

The Einstein-Montefiore collaboration includes four jointly run Centers of Excellence and is further strengthened by the dual appointments of faculty and physicians across both institutions – enhancing synergies in research, teaching and patient care. The Montefiore-Einstein Centers of Excellence are:

• Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM)
• Montefiore-Einstein Center for Cancer Care
• Montefiore-Einstein Center for Heart and Vascular Care
• Montefiore-Einstein Center for Transplantation

Experience

Einstein-Montefiore Research & Treatment Milestones:

• Montefiore was among the first hospitals to establish departments of social services (1914), home health care (1947) and social medicine (1950).
• In 1994 becomes the only New York City medical school selected by the NIH to participate in the Women's Health Initiative, the largest research study of women's health ever.
• The state-of-the-art Children's Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM), opened in 2001 and has quickly earned a world-class reputation for pediatric care with our successful separation of twins conjoined at the head, in 2004.
• In 2006, the only medical institution in the northeast to serve as a research site for the Hispanic Community Health Study, the largest research study of Hispanic health ever.
• Leader of the Bronx Regional Health Information Organization (Bronx RHIO), a Bronx-wide consortium intended to facilitate clinical information exchange.  The purpose is to build a secure, interoperable health information exchange that will promote patient-centered, rational, cost-effective treatments throughout the system.
• In 2019, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in partnership with NYU School of Medicine, received a grant from the NIH to establish the Early Phase Pain Investigation Clinical Network (EPICC-Net): Greater New York Clinical Center. EPICC-Net seeks to enhance the treatment of acute and chronic pain and reduce reliance on opioids by accelerating early-phase clinical trials of non-addictive treatments for pain.
• Demonstrated the association between reduced levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) or "good" cholesterol, and heart disease.
• Helped to develop ground-breaking new protocols for the treatment of diabetes based on more sophisticated methods of monitoring glucose levels.
• Developed pioneering techniques, including three types of regional chemotherapy treatments, for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer based on the genetics of both the tumor and the patient.
• Montefiore developed treatments and technology that revolutionized medical care, such as the cardiac pacemaker and cardiac catherization, now used worldwide.

Institutional Distinctions:

Founded on the partnership between Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, the ICTR has helped cement collaboration in clinical and translation research since 2007. The ICTR is a member of the nationwide Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) consortium, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The CTSA is designed to break down barriers that inhibit cross-disciplinary, bidirectional research from the laboratory to the clinic and back again. The mission of the Einstein-Montefiore ICTR is to:

• Improve the transfer of information from "bench-to-bedside” to better serve the community,
• Enhance community participation in research activities
• Enhance the discipline of clinical and translational research by promoting multidisciplinary collaboration
• Address critical barriers in research to accelerate the transition of beneficial research
• Provide infrastructure and collaborative support
• Enhance training, education, and career development as part of the CTSA consortium in order to improve opportunities for the development of a diverse investigator and research community

In 2011, Montefiore was recognized by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services as a Pioneer Accountable Care Organization for the formation of highly integrated teams of health professionals managing care around the patient- focusing on communication, coordination, engagement, and prevention to provide higher quality care while reducing costs.

Montefiore Medical Center is ranked #6 in New York, and Nationally Ranked in 9 adult specialties and 6 children’s specialties, according to U.S. News & World Report 2019.  The hospital is rated high performing in 1 adult specialty (orthopedics) and 4 adult procedures/conditions, including Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), colon cancer surgery, heart failure, and knee replacement.

Clinical Research Center

The Clinical Research Center (CRC) is equipped to provide study researchers with an infrastructure for studies of normal and abnormal body function and for investigation of the cause, progression, prevention, control, and cure of human disease. The Clinical Research Center units are dedicated to state-of-the-art investigator-initiated research on both Einstein and Moses campuses. The units provide staff and dedicated space for adult and pediatric studies. Facilities are available for physical exams, procedures, private interviews, and most types of data collection.

Investigators

Albert Einstein College of Medicine is comprised of 2,153 faculty members with international recognition and known as prominent leaders in their respective fields. These outstanding physicians and scientists are responsible for unparalleled scientific innovation and first-class application of medicine, having published 3,292 papers in peer-reviewed journals in 2018.

Staff

The research staff has extensive experience in conducting clinical research projects, including, but not limited to, study coordination, data management, human subject protection, study monitoring, contract negotiation, budget development, regulatory oversight, clinical project management, database development, data and safety monitoring community engagement, and regulatory affairs.