Dr. Federman earned his medical degree from the State University of New York, Health Sciences Center in Brooklyn, completed his residency in Primary Care Internal Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center, and received clinical research training through the Harvard Medical School Faculty Development and Fellowship Program in General Internal Medicine. He also earned a Masters in public health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Federman is a board-certified internist who practices general internal medicine. His clinical interests include preventive medicine and hypertension management. His research focuses on financial and insurance-related barriers to healthcare for older adults. In addition to research and clinical activities, Dr. Federman teaches medical residents and students at Mount Sinai.

Melissa Martynenko, MPA, MPH
Ms. Martynenko is the Research Manager in the Division of General Internal Medicine. She received a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration from Rutgers University specializing in non-governmental organization management and a Master’s degree in Public Health from New York University with a concentration in global health and epidemiology after serving in the Peace Corps. For over seven years, Ms. Martynenko has worked closely with clinician researchers in the Division to manage the study activities, research staff, budgetary requirements and regulatory compliance of pre- and post-award grants.

Li Chen, MPH – Data Analyst
Ms.Chen graduated from Columbia with a MPH in Epidemiology and a certificate in Applied Biostatistics. She is involved with research projects across the Division that encompass a variety of topics, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, health literacy, multi-morbidity, patient self-management of chronic diseases, and asthma care coordination. Ms. Chen provides statistical support to Dr. Federman, and performs data management, data cleaning, and data analysis for several cohort studies led by Drs. Wisnivesky and Federman.

Jose Diarte, MPH – Project Manager
Mr. Diarte holds a Master’s degree in Public Health from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he specialized in epidemiology. He received his Bachelors of Science degree in Public Health from Colby College. Mr. Diarte manages Dr. Wisnivesky’s joint work with Dr. Alex Federman, which looks at the mechanisms related to worse outcomes in older adults, and it will provide actionable data for new interventions to improve self-management.

 
Emily Goodman, MS – Project Manager
Since receiving her MS in Exercise Science from George Washington University in 2009, Ms. Goodman has worked as a project manager on research studies related to childhood obesity and pediatric and adult pulmonary disease, specifically environmental and occupational asthma. Ms. Goodman has worked with Dr. Wisnivesky and his team since 2013, overseeing his research among World Trade Center Rescue and Recovery Workers, and more recently, his work on the metabolic and behavioral pathways linking asthma and obesity.

Irina Mindlis, MPH – Project Manager
Ms. Mindlis received her Master’s in Public Health from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she specialized in epidemiology. She received her Bsc in Psychology from the University of Palermo in Buenos Aires. She currently oversees both the research and intervention components of Dr. Federman’s randomized controlled trial to improve asthma self-management behaviors in aging adults, and more recently, Dr. Wisnivesky’s pilot work on automated language analysis to screen patients for depression in the primary care setting.

Kim Muellers, MPH – Project Manager
Ms. Muellers received her BA in Psychology and Environmental Science from Wesleyan University in 2012, and her Master’s in Public Health from Columbia University in 2015. She has worked in clinical research for the past 3 years, with experience on projects related to nutrition and childhood obesity, diagnostic tests for eating disorders, and diabetes management among Veterans. She currently oversees Dr. Wisnivesky’s joint work with Dr. Alex Federman which follows adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and comorbid hypertension and/or diabetes to examine illness representation and medication beliefs for these conditions and their impact on self­ management behaviors.

Angela Sanchez, BA – Project Manager
Ms. Sanchez received her BA in Cultural Anthropology and Comparative Literature from Hamilton College in 2012 and she completed a pre-medical studies certificate program at Columbia University in 2015. Ms. Sanchez has been working in clinical research for the past 4 years. She has worked on projects focused on environmental health and pediatric cancers, asthma, sickle cell disease, and geriatric Emergency Department innovations. She currently oversees Dr. Keith Sigel’s research study which aims to determine if Lung Cancer Screening is beneficial in smokers and former smokers with HIV infection. Ms. Sanchez also oversees Dr. Alex Federman’s observational study to improve the after visit summary, and more recently, she started overseeing his project to implement a tool in the Electronic Medical Record to improve diabetes patients’ medication adherence.