Mount Sinai Announces Appointment of Allison J. Applebaum, PhD, a Leader in Caregiver Research
Will establish the Center for Caregiving at Mount Sinai
New York, NY (November 20, 2024) – Mount Sinai today announced the appointment of Allison J. Applebaum, PhD, an expert in the psychological needs of caregivers, as a Professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine. Dr. Applebaum will lead the new Center for Caregiving at Mount Sinai.
She joined Mount Sinai in early September from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), where she was the founding director of the Caregiving Clinic, an innovative program providing targeted psychosocial care to family caregivers of patients with cancer, from diagnosis through bereavement.
Dr. Applebaum’s work in the field of psycho-oncology has focused on the development of new approaches to address the psychological needs of caregivers at different points along the illness and caregiving continuum. At Mount Sinai, Dr. Applebaum will expand her work beyond oncology to address the needs of caregivers of patients with all illnesses and disabilities. Today, there are an estimated 53 million caregivers in the United States, and that number is expected to grow quickly.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Applebaum to the Mount Sinai community,” said R. Sean Morrison, MD, the Ellen and Howard C. Katz Professor and Chair of the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Mount Sinai. The Mount Sinai Hospital has been ranked No.1 in the country for Geriatrics by U.S. News & World Report for five consecutive years. “She has distinguished herself as a leader in caregiving research, developing unique caregiving models for patients and families battling complex conditions. Her work is widely acknowledged as the gold standard of care. At Mount Sinai, she will continue to bring innovative approaches to help families in the caregiving trenches and establish training programs for pre- and postdoctoral fellows in caregiving science across a wide range of disciplines.”
In addition to providing training to staff across Mount Sinai in caregiver support, Dr. Applebaum hopes the new Center for Caregiving at Mount Sinai will provide solutions and tools for health care systems nationally to develop sustainable support programs for family caregivers.
“When I started my training at MSK 15 years ago, there were limited resources for family caregivers despite the fact that care relied heavily on their support. Importantly, research suggests these family caregivers experience significant distress and lack avenues for psychosocial support,” says Dr. Applebaum.
While progress has been made in caregiving science over the past two decades, little is yet known about the experiences of caregivers from minority populations, says Dr. Applebaum. “There is a real need for more data on the unmet psychosocial needs of minority family caregivers and I am excited by the opportunity to help and serve the extremely diverse population that Mount Sinai cares for.”
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with 48,000 employees working across eight hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, more than 600 research and clinical labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time—discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 9,000 primary and specialty care physicians and 11 free-standing joint-venture centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida. Hospitals within the System are consistently ranked by Newsweek’s® “The World’s Best Smart Hospitals, Best in State Hospitals, World Best Hospitals and Best Specialty Hospitals” and by U.S. News & World Report's® “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals.” The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report® “Best Hospitals” Honor Roll for 2024-2025.
For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
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