WOM N WOM N - Mount Sinai Hospital

interview with
JAMAL RAHAMAN, MD
The Division is a major training center for Fellows in
the field of gynecologic oncology and Dr. Rahaman has
been Director of the Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship
Program since 2006.
“In New York, with eleven gynecologic oncologists,
we have the biggest complement of faculty and the largest
volume of patients treated for benign and gynecologic
cancer surgeries,” he explained.
When Dr. Rahaman gave me a demonstration of
the dynamic and interactive electronic platform he
developed for the Division, it became clear that he is
the Division’s “techie” extraordinaire. He explained how
the platform allows anyone in the Division to prescribe
or track a patient’s treatment, onsite or offsite, allowing
for efficiency and continuity of care. Appointments and
schedules can be accessed as well.
“This past year, there has been an increase from
900 cycles of chemotherapy to 1,300-1,500 cycles, an
increase in volume as well as access to clinical trials,”
he said. A system such as this is designed to make it
all run smoothly. Dr. Rahaman is the Director of the
Chemotherapy Infusion Service.
All Attending Physicians are co-investigators of
trials, so any doctor can enroll patients. Supervisory
responsibility for each trial is divided among the
Attendings. Since 2006, when the Division joined the
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Dr. Jamal Rahaman, who is an Associate Professor, Mount
Sinai School of Medicine, and an Attending Physician in the
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive
Science since 1998, has been instrumental in helping to expand the
Division of Gynecologic Oncology. In his own words, “The Division has
moved from its reputation for top-notch surgeons to a comprehensive
Division that is also a major research center with investigator-initiated
clinical trials [those initiated at Mount Sinai], national trials through
the Gynecologic Oncology Group [the collaborative national research
organization], and basic science and translational research [scientific
research with possible clinical applications].”
GOG, 15 national clinical trials have opened up at
Mount Sinai. There are clinical trials for ovarian,
endometrial, and cervical cancers. Studies comparing
different chemotherapy agents in various stages of
disease are being conducted in endometrial and ovarian
cancer. There is a study of pre-operative imaging for
cervical cancer. There is a prospective (before disease)
study of women at increased genetic risk for ovarian
cancer, and another study of the effect of zoledronic acid
to build up bone mineral density for the lumbar spine
in women who have elected risk-reducing surgery to
remove both ovaries. In addition, a tissue biorepository
has been developed to freeze and store human
gynecologic tissue to use in studying causes, diagnosis,
prevention, and treatment of cancer—some to go into
a national bank and some into our own. Dr. Rahaman
is very excited to be the principal investigator of two
GOG trials currently open, which allow women with
ovarian cancer free access to Avastin (Bevacizumab)
in combination with standard chemotherapy for firstline
(GOG 218) and second-line therapy (GOG 213).
Mount Sinai participated in international clinical
trials that led to development of the HPV vaccine
Gardasil by Merck, which was approved two years ago.
At this time, Mount Sinai has two investigational studies
about vaccines. Dr. Rahaman, who is co-investigator
of these trials with Dr. Rhoda Sperling—Professor
and Vice Chair of Research for the Department of
Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science, and
Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases—explained:
“We are working with both Merck and Glaxo-Smith
Kline. Glaxo-Smith Kline has another vaccine that’s not
approved in the US yet, but will be, hopefully, within the
next two years. Merck is now looking at a new vaccine
with nine strains versus the current four strains. That
trial is open right now.”
There is a tremendous breadth of clinical trials
taking place now, because of the Division’s membership
in the Gynecologic Oncology Group, established
by the efforts of Drs. Dottino and Segna in 2006.
The Division holds a monthly translational research
meeting with scientists and doctors from different
departments, including Breast and
Oncological Sciences, to brainstorm
new projects. The Fellows work in
different labs within Oncological
Sciences. Dr. Rahaman expects that
this exciting research will translate
into cutting-edge trials offered
only here at Mount Sinai, resulting
in the development of improved
treatments and potential cures.
Many may not know that
Dr. Rahaman had completed a
fellowship in Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery at
the Texas Heart Institute in Houston, Texas, with Dr.
Denton Cooley as his mentor, before completing his
Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency and Gynecologic
Oncology Fellowship at Mount Sinai. Following his
training, Dr. Rahaman left Mount Sinai to be an
Attending Physician at Williamson ARH Hospital
in South Williamston, Kentucky, where he became
Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and
Gynecology. Three years after leaving Mount Sinai,
he returned to become Director of the Gynecologic
Oncology Service at Mount Sinai affiliate Elmhurst
There is a tremendous
breadth of clinical trials
taking place now, because
of the Division’s membership
in the Gynecologic Oncology
Group, established by the
efforts of Drs. Dottino and
Segna in 2006.
Medical Center, where he reorganized and developed
an expanded comprehensive department. In 2005, the
service was transferred to one of the Junior Faculty who
was trained in the Division’s fellowship program.
In his many years of service at Mount Sinai, Dr.
Rahaman has filled leadership, training, and research
roles. However, he has always engaged in a vast amount
of direct clinical work, making him one of the most
experienced gynecologic oncology surgeons in the
country. Dr. Rahaman has also been a member of many
administrative committees within the hospital and
medical school.
He has written numerous publications in national
and international journals, several book chapters in
the field of gynecologic oncology with Dr. Carmel
Cohen, and most recently, a chapter with Dr. William
Bradley, “Pediatric Gynecologic
Cancers,” in Pediatric, Adolescent
and Young Adult Gynecology.
His lectures and oral conference
presentations include many on the
use of laparoscopy. Recently, he
has been credentialed to teach and
perform da Vinci Robotic Surgery
for gynecologic cancers.
In the last six to eight months,
the Division has started to do more
robotic surgery. All surgeons in the
Division are now trained to perform it. Laparoscopic
robotic surgeries are done with endometrial, cervical,
and selected cases of ovarian cancers.
Dr. Rahaman received awards in college, the
University of Cambridge, and medical school,
University of the West Indies, as well as teaching and
peer recognition awards throughout his career.
With all that Dr. Rahaman does, I hope he has
enough time to enjoy his beautiful family: his wife,
Kathleen—a pharmacist—and two children, a daughter
age 11, and a son, age 8. They live in Bergen County
with their two Bichon Frises. —VIVIAN PORT
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