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NORTH AMERICAN Newsline OCTOBER 18, 2024 | The Indian Eye 30

M. MADAN BABU Risk Syndrome, a pre-dementia syn-
drome that provides an easy and clin-
ically assessable way to identify older
Biologist appointed as First Chief adults at high risk for dementia.
“By harnessing the expertise of
Data Scientist at hospital our exceptional Neurology team at
Stony Brook, I believe we can deep-
en our understanding of neurological
disorders, train the next generation
of neurologists, and significantly
enhance treatment outcomes for
our patients on Long Island and be-
yond,” said Dr. Verghese. His appointment begins on October 14.
Dr. Verghese has spent more than two decades at the Albert Einstein
College of Medicine in New York. Most recently, he served as Professor of
Neurology & Medicine and was Einstein’s inaugural Chief of the Division of
Cognitive & Motor Aging in the Department of Neurology.
“Our aging society has a great need for medical experts who will advance
preventive and treatment strategies for age-related illnesses, and the selec-
tion of Dr. Verghese as our new Neurology Chair ensures that this area of
medicine will thrive within the Renaissance School of Medicine,” said Peter
Igarashi, MD, Knapp Dean of the RSOM.
Dr. Verghese is a graduate of St. John’s Medical College in Bangalore, In-
dia, and completed postgraduate training in Internal Medicine and Neurology
t. Jude Children’s Research Hospital recently announced the name of M. in the United Kingdom. He completed a Neurology residency at Einstein in
Madan Babu, PhD, FRS, as the institution’s first Chief Data Scientist,
SSenior Vice President for Data Science, and leader of the newly formed 1998, followed by a fellowship training there in Neurophysiology and in Aging
& Dementia.
Office of Data Science. This $195 million research enterprise will have 115 new Joe has written more than 300 peer-reviewed articles, reviews, and chap-
positions. ters, Dr. Verghese has secured more than $200 million in research funding
In his new role, Babu will bring new, advanced computing technologies
and data science approaches to biomedical research. He will lead and facil- from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Verghese is a member and
Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, the American Geriatrics So-
itate the integration of biological and biomedical data, foster a data science ciety, the Gerontological Neurological Association, and the American Neu-
research culture, and build international collaborations. rological Association.
“St. Jude is a unique place and I am honored to lead this initiative,” Babu
said. “With our intellectual ecosystem of talented clinical, experimental and
data scientists united under the same mission, there’s no better place than St. PADMINI PILLAI & NALINI TATA
Jude to build a data science enterprise of this magnitude.”
Babu joined St. Jude in the Structural Biology department in 2020, fol- President’s Commission
lowing a 14-year tenure as a program leader at the MRC Laboratory of Mo-
lecular Biology in Cambridge, England. He is a recipient of the Gold Medal Appoints White House Fellows
from the European Molecular Biology Organization and a recent inductee of
the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal Society of London.
Babu earned his PhD in computational genomics from Cambridge Uni-
versity and his undergraduate degree from Anna University, Chennai, In-
dia. Babu completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of
Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
James R. Downing, MD, president and CEO of St. Jude, said “Under the
leadership of Dr. Babu, a globally recognized expert in this field, our Office
of Data Science will strengthen data-sharing between the lab and the clinic,
accelerating our progress in finding cures and developing treatments for chil-
dren with catastrophic diseases.”
“Dr. Babu is a pioneer in developing and applying data science-based ap-
proaches to reveal fundamental principles of biological systems,” said J. Paul
Taylor, MD, PhD, executive vice president and scientific director.

JOE VERGHESE

Stony Brook University appoints
he President’s Commission on White House Fellows is pleased to an-
Chair of Neurology TThis announcement includes 2 proud recipients of Indian origin namely
nounce the appointment of the 2024-2025 class of White House Fellows.
Padmini Pillai from Newton and Nalini Tata from New York City.
tony Brook University has recently appointed Joe Verghese, MBBS, MD, Founded in 1964, the White House Fellows program offers exceptional
MS, as the Chair of the Department of Neurology at the Renaissance young leaders first-hand experience working at the highest levels of the Feder-
SSchool of Medicine (RSOM). Dr. Verghese is a famous national expert al government. Fellows spend a year working with senior White House Staff,
in the areas of gait and cognition in aging. Cabinet Secretaries, and other top-ranking Administration officials and leave
Dr. Verghese’s work has helped characterize non-cognitive features in the Administration equipped to serve as better leaders in their communities.
prodromal stages of dementia, such as gait, and define Motoric Cognitive Continued on next page... >>

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