Meet our New Associate Directors

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We are very excited to welcome two new members to the program leadership: Dr. Helen Hsieh MD, PhD and Dr. Carine Maurer MD, PhD.

Dr. Carine Maurer, MD, PhD.

I’m proud to have grown up in Queens, NY, the most diverse borough in New York City. I obtained my bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, majoring in molecular and cell biology. I began my training at Weill Cornell’s Tri-Institutional MD-PhD program 1999, earning my PhD in developmental genetics at the Rockefeller University. I completed my neurology residency at UCLA, and subsequently completed a combined research and clinical fellowship in movement disorders at the NIH. I joined the Stony Brook faculty as assistant professor of neurology in 2017, and maintain a busy movement disorders clinic while continuing clinical research on the pathophysiology and management of motor control disorders. I greatly enjoy being in a setting where I can experience the “MD-PhD trifecta” of research, patient care, and teaching, and enjoy performing research that directly relates to my clinical interests. Having lived in cities my whole life, I’m adjusting to life in suburbia, having recently purchased my first car (at the age of 40!)
I am excited to join Stony Brook’s MSTP program as Associate Director, and am looking forward to playing an active role in mentoring students on the many transitions that an MD-PhD student faces, both during the program and beyond.

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Dr. Helen Hsieh, MD, PhD

As a native Long Islander and Stony Brook MSTP graduate, things came full  circle  when I received the job offer to work as a physician scientist and pediatric surgeon at Stony Brook School of Medicine.

Armed with a neuroscience undergraduate degree, I started medical school with the intent of becoming a neurologist, thus I studied beta amyloid, an Alzheimer’s disease associated protein, for my PhD under the supervision of Dr Roberto Malinow at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Graduate school was an amazing experience filled with great science, interactions with brilliant people, and hard work. Between the long hours at the rig, I also learned how to sail, quilt, and gut a fish.

Continuing on the neuroscience path…I started my third-year surgery rotation with a reflex hammer in my pocket. I threw it away by the end of the three months and have never looked back. Surgery is an all-encompassing discipline, but for those who practice it, there is no other specialty to pursue.  As pediatric surgeon, I have the privilege of working with children and their families – it has been a true gift for me as a clinician to watch my patients grow and develop and watch how my work has improved their lives.

Although my life has circled back to Long Island, its trajectory was never predictable nor fixed. It is a lesson and a principle I hope to share in my capacity as an associate director of the program. MD-PhD students are an accomplished, driven and unique cohort of students, my goal is to help our students find their niche and fulfill their potential.