Seton Hall-Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine Names Founding Chairs

On Apr 12, 2017

The Founding Chairs of the clinical departments of the new Seton Hall-Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine have been named. Chosen by a search committee comprised of eight physician leaders, the candidates were selected from an applicant pool notable for its breadth and depth of clinical experience and scholarship, keen interest in education, and a commitment to the School’s mission.

In all, 19 chairs were named, each charged with heading a different aspect of medical education within the School of Medicine, such as emergency medicine, pediatrics, family medicine, surgery, cardiology, oncology, psychiatry and behavioral health, radiology and anesthesiology.

As the founding chairs of their respective departments, those chosen will have a significant role in the development of the School of Medicine, its curriculum and in the educational experience ultimately delivered to students.

“As we move toward our first class of students, I see before me a team of consummate experts, assembled, poised and ready to fundamentally change the way healthcare is both taught and delivered in the United States,” said Dr. Bonita Stanton, founding dean of the Seton Hall – Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. “I am thrilled by their medical expertise and moved by their demonstrated commitment to healing. But most of all, I look forward to building a new paradigm in medical education with our founding chairs.”

The first formal meeting of the founding chairs was held April 7, 2017. The newly appointed chairs are:

• Brian Eric Benson, M.D. – Chair, Department of Otolaryngology
• Stephen R. Colen, M.D. DDS – Chair, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Joseph Feldman, M.D., FACEP – Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine
• Andre Goy, M.D. – Chair, Department of Oncology
• Laurie Jacobs, M.D., FACP, AGSF – Chair, Internal Medicine
• Steven W. Kairys, M.D. – Chair, Department of Pediatrics
• Martin S. Karpeh Jr., M.D. – Chair, Department of Surgery
• Michael Aloysius Kelly, M.D. – Chair, Department of Orthopedic Surgery
• Ciaran M. Mannion, M.D. – Chair, Department of Pathology
• Mark Gorden Martens, MD, FACOG – Chair, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
• Joseph Parrillo, M.D. – Chair, Department of Cardiology
• Sean Donovan Pierce, MD – Chair, Department of Radiology
• Patrick Roth, M.D. – Chair, Department of Neurosurgery
• Michael Eric Rosenberg, M.D. – Chair, Department of Ophthalmology
• Mark Dennis Schlesinger, M.D. – Chair, Department of Anesthesiology
• Roman Solhkhah, M.D. – Chair, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health
• Michael D. Stifelman, M.D. – Chair, Department of Urology
• Florian P Thomas, M.D., MA, Ph.D., MS – Chair, Department of Neurology
• Robin O. Winter, M.D., MMM – Chair, Department of Family Medicine

The Seton Hall – Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine is dedicated to building a forward-thinking medical education program that will train physicians who are humanistic, socially responsible and collaborative members of the health care system, and who will provide the highest quality patient-centered care to all people. The school’s unique curriculum is designed to graduate doctors who are highly skilled in biomedical, behavioral, social and population sciences.

The only private school of medicine in the state, the school is expected to provide a significant economic boost to the region and help curb the critical physician shortage that New Jersey and the nation currently face.

In 2016, Seton Hall and Hackensack Meridian Health signed a long-term lease agreement for a new health and medical sciences campus consisting of 16 acres and two state-of-the-art buildings on the former Hoffmann-La Roche biomedical campus in Nutley and Clifton. The move has widely been hailed as a first and important step to revitalization in the area.

The New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners has granted conditional approval to the new School of Medicine, subject to the approval from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). The LCME is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the authority for the accreditation of medical education programs leading to the M.D. degree.

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