Mount Sinai experts explore how cutting-edge technology — from brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) to AI-powered imaging — is transforming neurosurgery and patient care.

Discover how BCIs turn thought into movement, how AI can spot strokes in minutes, and how neuro-navigation helps surgeons operate with unprecedented precision.

Featuring:

• Dr. Joshua Bederson — Chair of Neurosurgery, Mount Sinai Health System
• Dr. Ignacio Saez — Neuroscientist and BCI Researcher, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai 
• Dr. Amish Doshi, Professor of Radiology and Neurosurgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
• Leslie Schlachter, PA-C — Chief Physician Assistant, Neurosurgery, Mount Sinai Hospital

In this podcast, guest host Raja Flores, MD, interviews Rosalind J. Wright, MD, MPH, and Robert O. Wright, MD, MPH about the field of exposomics. Exposomics studies the impact of environmental factors on health, going beyond genetics to understand how exposures from conception to the present day affect well-being. They discuss how data like air quality, diet, and stress levels, combined with advanced computational analysis, can provide insights into disease development and prevention. The discussion highlights the importance of mapping environmental exposures and leveraging technology to improve health outcomes. 

Loneliness is more than just a feeling—it’s a growing public health crisis with serious mental and physical consequences. In this episode of The Vitals, host Leslie Schachter, PA-C, sits down with Mount Sinai experts to explore the science of loneliness, its effects across age groups, and what can be done about it.

Featuring: Dr. Fernando Carnavali, Associate Professor of Medicine and Internal Medicine Physician;
Dr. Lea Marin, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry;
Dr. Shawn Rhoads, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience

Together, they discuss how loneliness affects the brain, the body, and society—and what clinicians and communities can do to help. From technology’s double-edged role to practical interventions for patients, this wide-ranging conversation is essential viewing for anyone invested in health and connection.

In this episode of The Vitals podcast, Leslie Schlachter, PA, Chief Physician Assistant in the Department of Neurosurgery, hosts a discussion regarding the role of resilience in both professional and personal struggles. She is joined by Dennis S. Charney, MD, the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs for the Mount Sinai Health System.  Dr. Charney explains how resilience helped guide him following an unsuccessful attempt on his life, and through the rigors of scientific discovery. 

In this episode of The Vitals podcast, Leslie Schlachter, PA, Chief Physician Assistant in the Department of Neurosurgery, hosts an expert panel discussion regarding the recent advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General about the link between drinking alcohol and cancer. She is joined by Benjamin Laitman, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery in the Mount Sinai Health System, and Sue Hahn, MD, Assistant Professor of Colon and Rectal Surgery at The Mount Sinai Hospital.

The recent advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General and medical experts have underscored the significant health risks surrounding alcohol, emphasizing its classification as a toxin and a carcinogen, specifically increasing the risk of mouth, throat, and pharynx, esophageal, voice box or larynx, breast, colorectal, and liver cancer.

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this show are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect those of the Mount Sinai Health System at large. 

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Leslie Schlachter, PA, continues the conversation with Zevy Joshua Hamburger, MD, and Erik Blutinger, MD, MSc about their experiences during the pandemic.

On our first episode, host Leslie Schlachter, PA, Chief Physician Assistant in the Department of Neurosurgery, interviews two Mount Sinai physicians who worked on the front lines in the early days of the pandemic. 

Zevy Joshua Hamburger, MD, Associate Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative & Pain Medicine and Erik Blutinger, MD, MSc, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Public Health Specialist talk about what it was like as the pandemic spread across the world and the response in New York City.  

Together, they discuss the challenge of treating patients despite a of lack of knowledge about the virus and the need to improvise treatments. They describe how they struggled to maintain their morale amid the long hours, lack of resources, and catastrophic losses. They also share perspectives on what health care institutions might have done differently.