Research Mission & Leadership | NYU Langone Health

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Office of Science & Research Research Mission & Leadership

Research Mission & Leadership

The Office of Science and Research is led by Dafna Bar-Sagi, PhD, Executive Vice President and Vice Dean for Science, Chief Scientific Officer. She is advised by an accomplished team of researchers and other professionals with diverse expertise.

Dafna Bar-Sagi, PhD, Executive Vice President and Vice Dean for Science, Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Bar-Sagi serves as the principal strategist to advance our research enterprise. She is also the Saul J. Farber Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology and a full professor in the Department of Medicine. Prior to joining NYU Langone in 2006, Dr. Bar-Sagi was chair of the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at SUNY Stony Brook. She received her PhD from Bar-Ilan University in Israel and conducted her postdoctoral fellowship at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Dr. Bar-Sagi is a world-renowned cancer biologist whose research has had a major impact on the understanding of mechanisms that control tumor initiation and progression. The focus of her work is the Ras oncogene and its role in the regulation of cell proliferation and survival, tumor immunity, cellular metabolism, and cell-to-cell signaling. Her laboratory is credited with identifying key molecular events that mediate Ras activation by extracellular signals and regulate its intracellular activity. She was also the first to show that oncogenic KRas is directly involved in conferring immune suppression, a discovery that establishes a new mechanistic paradigm for therapeutic interventions.

A current focus of her laboratory is to elucidate the contribution of oncogenic Ras to the metabolic adaptation of tumor cells. Her efforts in this area have established a new paradigm for nutrient delivery into tumor cells involving the scavenging of extracellular protein by macropinocytosis. This nutrient delivery mechanism, previously unobserved in mammalian cells, has broad implications for understanding the metabolic vulnerabilities of Ras-driven tumors. The Bar-Sagi Lab is exploring the potential to exploit such vulnerabilities as a strategy for targeting these aggressive tumors.

Dr. Bar-Sagi is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Outstanding Investigator Award and an NCI Merit Award. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, in recognition of her continued excellence in scientific research. She was elected to the Board of Directors of the American Association for Cancer Research, and serves on the NCI Board of Scientific Advisors. She has served as the chair of the scientific advisory board of Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and is on the review board for Stand Up to Cancer, Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, and the Starr Foundation.

Imad Alsayed, MD, MS, Senior Vice President for Clinical Research Operations and Regulatory Affairs

Dr. Alsayed, research associate professor, oversees the development and implementation of clinical research operations across NYU Langone Health. Through the management of the Clinical Research Support Unit and Human Research Regulatory Affairs, which encompasses Human Research Regulatory Services and IRB operations, he oversees the processes and systems that ensure responsible conduct of human subjects research. Additionally, Dr. Alsayed leads strategic relationships with affiliates and other external clinical research partners to develop innovative approaches to clinical trial execution, subject recruitment, trial monitoring, and data analysis.

Prior to joining NYU Langone, Dr. Alsayed gained extensive experience in clinical research through leadership appointments at GlaxoSmithKline, Abbott, Bayer, Covance, and Parexel International. He ran large global and multifunctional clinical development organizations, tasked with conducting phase I through IV clinical trials. He was instrumental in steering strategic transformation initiatives focused on eClinical technology and organizational/process reengineering to improve compliance, quality, and efficiency of human clinical research. In addition, he led new product introduction and real-world evidence generation for several new HIV, cardiovascular, and oncology drugs.

Laura E. Boughton, Senior Vice President for Research Enterprise

Ms. Boughton leads the conceptualization, development, and implementation of NYU Langone’s research growth strategy. She and her team are responsible for mission target setting, coordination of research faculty recruiting and onboarding, and cross-disciplinary research program development. She also leads the team responsible for research metrics and dashboards, which is currently focused on developing the data and analytics infrastructure for the Office of Science and Research.

Prior to joining NYU Langone in July of 2010, Ms. Boughton spent five years at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Health System, where she was the senior executive director of research planning and management. She led Penn Medicine's research strategic planning process and represented the needs of the faculty in planning for a new 400,000 square foot translational research building. Previously, Ms. Boughton had a 20-year career as a consultant working with academic medical centers and health systems nationally. She began as an analyst and rose to the level of partner with APM/CSC Global Health Solutions, where her primary interest was in strategic and business planning.

Marie Bragg, PhD, Director of Diversity Initiatives

Dr. Bragg partners closely with NYU Langone’s Office of Diversity Affairs, Institute for Excellence in Health Equity, and Workplace Culture and Inclusion teams to plan, implement, and sustain programs and policies that promote a diverse and inclusive research community throughout our institution. She also works closely with members of NYU Langone’s Vilcek Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, postdoctoral program, and various departments and research institutes to align and coordinate their diversity-related goals, monitor their fulfillment, and refine them as needed. Her efforts focus on the recruitment and retention of underrepresented faculty and trainees across the research community. She also works to strengthen the faculty mentoring program and conduct diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings for our research community.

Dr. Bragg joined NYU Langone in 2014 after earning her PhD in clinical psychology from Yale University. Her research examines the influence of social media and food marketing on adolescent health behaviors. She received the National Institutes of Health’s Early Independence Award and an R01 from the National Cancer Institute to study how exposure to unhealthy food and beverage advertisements affects food choices among Black and Latinx youth. In 2020, she received the Mentor of the Year Award from her department, the Outstanding Postdoctoral Mentor of the Year Award from the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, and the Best in Medical Education Collaboration Award from the Office of Medical Education. Learn more about Dr. Bragg.

Miriam A. Bredella, MD, MBA, Associate Dean and Director of NYU Langone’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute

As director of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute, Dr. Bredella leads the strategic growth of NYU Langone’s clinical and translational research program, directs the development of external partnerships and relationships that involve clinical and translational research, improves clinical trial participant recruitment through technological and informatics advances, and provides mentorship and guidance to clinical and translational research leaders. Dr. Bredella also serves as the vice chair for strategy in NYU Langone’s Department of Radiology, where she leads the integration of FDA-approved artificial intelligence algorithms into clinical practice.

Prior to joining NYU Langone, Dr. Bredella served as vice chair for faculty affairs and operations and professor in the Department of Radiology, director of the Center for Faculty Development, director of Musculoskeletal Imaging Research, and director of the Harvard KL2/Catalyst Medical Research Investigator Training Program at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She has received multiple awards for her leading roles in promoting faculty development and mentoring, and increasing recruitment and retention of underrepresented faculty. She was elected as a Scholar of Diagnostic Excellence by the National Academy of Medicine. Learn more about Dr. Bredella.

Bruce Cronstein, MD, Director of NYU Langone’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute

Dr. Cronstein is the Dr. Paul R. Esserman Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine; and professor, Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology and Pathology. He is the founding director of the Masters in Clinical Investigation Training Program at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Board certified in internal medicine and rheumatology, he previously served as the director of rheumatology and director of the Arthritis Clinic at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue.

Dr. Cronstein has served on numerous committees at NYU Langone and the American College of Rheumatology. He was a member of the New York chapter of the Arthritis Foundation Grant Review Committee, where he later served as chair. He is also a past president of the New York Rheumatism Association. He is currently a member of the boards of directors of the New York chapter of the Arthritis Foundation and the American College of Rheumatology.

Dr. Cronstein has been a recipient of the Clinical Investigator Award from the National Institutes of Health and the Irene Duggan Arthritis Investigator Award. He also received the Whitehead Presidential Fellowship from NYU. Dr. Cronstein is also the recipient of the Howley Award of the Arthritis Foundation for Research and was named a Master of the American College of Rheumatology.

Dr. Cronstein’s research interests focus on the role of adenosine and its receptors as an endogenous inhibitor of inflammation, promoter of fibrosis and wound healing, and endogenous regulator of bone and cartilage homeostasis. Learn more about Dr. Cronstein.

Brian Elbel, PhD, MPH, Associate Dean for Research Mission Strategy and Administration

Dr. Elbel oversees the financial and administrative function for NYU Langone’s research mission. He also leads strategy and direction for the Office of Science and Research. Additionally, he engages in key scientific programmatic development and other cross-enterprise functions. He is also a professor in NYU Langone’s Department of Population Health, where he heads the Section on Health Choice, Policy, and Evaluation, and at NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Dr. Elbel serves as the founding director of the NYU Langone Comprehensive Program on Obesity, a novel, institution-wide initiative designed to determine unique causal pathways and strategies for treating and preventing obesity.

Dr. Elbel’s research focuses on how individuals make decisions that influence their health, with a particular emphasis on evaluation, obesity, and food choice. His work uses behavioral economics to understand health decision-making among vulnerable groups and the role and influence of public policy on these decisions. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Science Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the New York State Health Foundation, and the Aetna Foundation.

Dr. Elbel earned his BA from the University of Texas at Austin and his MPH and PhD in health policy/health economics from Yale University. Learn more about Dr. Elbel.

Adriana Heguy, PhD, Associate Dean for Division of Advanced Research Technologies

Dr. Heguy is the associate dean for advanced research technologies, with scientific and operational oversight for the Division of Advanced Research Technologies (DART). DART is dedicated to facilitating basic, clinical, and translational research at NYU Langone through the collaborative utilization of technologically demanding scientific resources. Dr. Heguy joined NYU Langone in 2013 as the director of the Genome Technology Center. During her tenure in that position, she built a highly successful, state-of-the-art genomics laboratory that offers a diverse array of solutions for defining the genome, epigenome, transcriptome, single-cell heterogeneity, and the microbiome.

Dr. Heguy has over 110 publications in the fields of genomics, genetics, and molecular biology, and has worked for a decade in the biotechnology field. Before joining NYU Langone, Dr. Heguy directed the Beene Translational Oncology Core at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She was also an assistant professor of genetic medicine at Weill Cornell School of Medicine. Dr. Heguy received her PhD from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, under the direction of Michael Karin, PhD, and she carried out her postdoctoral training at Rockefeller University. Learn more about Dr. Heguy.

Judith Hochman, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Sciences

Dr. Hochman is co-director of NYU Langone’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute, the Harold Snyder Family Professor and associate director of the Leon H. Charney Division of Cardiology, and director of the Cardiovascular Clinical Research Center at NYU Langone. She is an internationally recognized clinical trialist and expert in ischemic heart disease, having served as study chair for National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)-funded international clinical trials testing the role of revascularization for patients with ischemic heart disease.

Dr. Hochman has also served on the NHLBI Board of External Experts, the American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association(AHA) Task Force on Practice Guidelines, the AHA Strategic Advisory Coordinating Committee, and the FDA Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee. She is study chair of the NHLBI-funded international ISCHEMIA comparative effectiveness trial testing two initial management strategies for patients with ischemia.

Dr. Hochman has served as a mentor for numerous trainees who have gone on to have successful independent careers. She is the recipient of the 2008 AHA Women in Cardiology Mentoring Award, the 2014 Clinical Research Prize of the AHA, and the 2016 Distinguished Scientist Award (Clinical Domain) of the ACC. She was selected to direct the AHA-funded Sarah Ross Soter Center for Women’s Cardiovascular Research at NYU Langone. Learn more about Dr. Hochman.

Keith Micoli, PhD, Assistant Dean for Postdoctoral Affairs

Dr. Micoli’s passion is encouraging postdocs and graduate students to take responsibility for their own success and providing the resources they need to develop their own careers. He has developed numerous formal programs to foster postdoctoral training, including courses in ethics, grant writing, lab management, and communication skills. He has also expanded his role to include career development programs for graduate students. Dr. Micoli has organized the popular career discussion series, bringing in professionals with PhDs who have pursued a wide variety of careers to discuss their transition into the field and tips on being competitive when new job opportunities come along. In addition, Dr. Micoli organizes a biannual, two-day career symposium entitled “What Can You Be with a PhD?” featuring 100 speakers and attended by more than 1,300 graduate students and postdocs.

Dr. Micoli developed his interest in postdoctoral training at a national level by volunteering with the National Postdoctoral Association. He served four terms on its board of directors, including four years as board chairman. Prior to joining NYU Langone, Dr. Micoli taught as an adjunct assistant professor of biology at Samford University and was an instructor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Alabama. Learn more about Dr. Micoli.

Iman Osman, MD, Associate Dean for Clinical Research Strategy

Dr. Osman is a medical oncologist; the director of NYU Langone Health's Interdisciplinary Melanoma Cooperative Group since 2002; and professor in the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology, the Department of Medicine, and the Department of Urology. She also served as the associate director of NYU Langone’s cancer center, now known as Perlmutter Cancer Center, from 2011 to 2015. In 2015 Dr. Osman launched the Center for Biospecimen Research and Development as a partnership between the Office of Science and Research and the Department of Pathology to support the increased demand across the research enterprise for standardized, high-quality human biospecimens. In this role, Dr. Osman focuses on increasing clinical trial support for investigator-initiated trials, improving the accessibility of existing biospecimen resources to investigators, increasing institution-wide banking efforts and capacity, and implementing a campus-wide universal consent and policy for human biospecimen collection and storage to ensure regulatory compliance. She also spearheads research and development projects to further enhance the processing, informatics, and analysis of human specimens. Dr. Osman is currently leading a critical effort to integrate research data generated from human specimens with HIPAA-protected clinical data to increase both the value of NYU Langone’s biospecimen resources and the competitiveness of our investigators seeking both federal and nonfederal funding.

Dr. Osman’s research interests focus on biomarkers development and identification of new targets of treatment for melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer. She has published more than 150 publications and is funded by both federal and nonfederal grants for her work. Learn more about Dr. Osman.

Jeremy Paul, PhD, Associate Dean for Basic Science Research Operations and Regulatory Affairs

Dr. Paul, research associate professor of the Department of Cell Biology, has responsibility for institutional research laboratory operations and resource planning, as well as the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, Institutional Biosafety Committee, Division of Comparative Medicine, and research emergency resilience.

Dr. Paul has been at NYU Langone since 2008, initially serving as executive director of the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine and then concurrently as senior executive director of the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine and department administrator for the Department of Cell Biology from 2013 to 2016. In addition to these roles, he has been involved with numerous institutional committees and initiatives at NYU Langone. He joined the Office of Science and Research team in May 2016.

Prior to joining NYU Langone, Dr. Paul was the director of the Frontiers of Science program at the New York Academy of Sciences from 2003 to 2008. He also worked in the biotechnology sector in the New York City area for more than a decade—first at Progenics Pharmaceuticals, then Cadus Pharmaceuticals, which he helped found—and subsequently, OSI Pharmaceuticals and Aton Pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Paul received his AB in biology from the University of Chicago and his PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He conducted his postdoctoral research at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Chicago in the laboratories of Donald F. Steiner, MD, and Michael Garavito, PhD. Learn more about Dr. Paul.

Susanne Tranguch, PhD, MBA, Associate Dean for Research Training and Communications

Dr. Tranguch oversees communications on behalf of NYU Langone’s research mission, developing and implementing strategies to enhance the research reputation of the medical center. Facilitating development of content that highlights key messages, Dr. Tranguch identifies opportunities to raise awareness of our research mission and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Office of Science and Research’s efforts to communicate with NYU Langone faculty and other internal stakeholders. In her role with the Vilcek Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, Dr. Tranguch works closely with the associate dean for biomedical sciences, playing a key role in the organization, operation, and growth of the PhD, MD/PhD, MS in biomedical informatics, and Summer Undergraduate Research Program at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Together with the associate dean, she oversees recruitment, admissions, student tracking, and program evaluation for these programs to ensure that recruits receive outstanding training.

Prior to joining NYU Langone in 2011, Dr. Tranguch was the senior editor of Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, a reviews journal of Cell Press. She received her BS in biology from Davidson College, her PhD in cell biology from Vanderbilt University studying early pregnancy, and her MBA from NYU Stern School of Business, specializing in leadership and change management, and economics. Learn more about Dr. Tranguch.