Senior Associate Dean for M.D.-Ph.D. Education, ISMMS
Asst. Professor, Medical Education, Infectious Disease, ISMMS
Talia H. Swartz, MD, PhD, ISMMS '06, ’08, MSH ’10, '13, is Assistant Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Her clinical training is in Infectious Diseases with a specific focus on HIV. Her research focuses primarily on the biology underlying chronic HIV infection.
Dr. Swartz chose ISMMS for school because she was struck by the collaborative environment and how the community worked together to improve science and healthcare outcomes. People were genuinely happy and loved their work. After joining ISMMS Dr. Swartz discovered the value of collegiality in the research, clinical and educational realms.
Dr. Swartz has always been fascinated by the interaction between humans and microbes. As a student, she spent time working with Infectious Diseases doctors who embodied what she admired in physicians: holistic, thoughtful, evidence-based approaches requiring complex analysis and patient advocacy. She found a niche as a physician scientist in this field working to with patients and understanding the molecular underpinnings of HIV.
Her research is focused on understanding the mechanisms that underlie inflammation in persons with human immunodeficiency virus. The landscape of this disease has been transformed in our lifetime, what was once a nearly certain death sentence is now a chronic illness. Persons with HIV can live for decades on well-tolerated therapy. The challenge is that the disease is incurable: affected individuals experience long term symptoms associated with chronic inflammation. Her goal is to understand the mechanisms of this inflammation and develop both therapeutic advances to reduce this and, eventually to cure the infection.
Dr. Swartz tells students it is okay if the results of research are not what they anticipated or wanted. Science is filled with hypotheses that don’t pan out, grants that don’t get funded, and papers that get rejected. These experiences improve the quality of the work and make scientists better critical thinkers. Everyone in science has had expectations dashed or unexpected outcomes, it’s important to see past the disappointment and view these instances as learning experiences.
Student scholarships are very important because they allow students who might not otherwise have had an opportunity to be immersed in biomedical sciences. Giving someone the chance to engage in science opens up avenues for developing future physicians and scientists who will find new approaches to diagnose and cure disease. For those who wouldn’t otherwise have such an opportunity, this is the gift of limitless possibility.