Promotions, Announcements & Appointments

PICTURED FROM LEFT TO RIGHT ARE EITAN MELAMED, ELI ZARKHIN, KEVIN SWEENEY & FRANK WU.

Melamed, Zarkhin join staff at Elmhurst

NYC Health+Hospitals/Elmhurst has appointed Dr. Eitan Melamed as chief of Hand Surgery and Dr. Eli Zarkhin as director of Obstetric Anesthesia.

Melamed specializes in hand and upper extremity surgery and has extensive experience with taking care of children and adults with special needs, including cerebral palsy, stroke, and brain injury patients, for whom hygiene and personal care are improved through surgery.

He has worked on new and innovative treatments for peripheral nerve disorders, traumatic and non-traumatic elbow conditions, and wrist reconstruction.

Melamed received his medical degree and completed his orthopedic surgery residency in Israel. He completed a research fellowship at NYU Langone Medical Center and hand fellowships at Beth Israel/Albert Einstein School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins Medical Center.

He is a member of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH), and is a reviewer for the Journal of Hand Surgery.

Zarkhin specializes in high-risk obstetric anesthesiology, which includes patients who may present with various preexisting disorders such as those of the heart, lungs, and spinal column, as well as disorders which may appear during pregnancy.

Given the multidisciplinary approach to sometimes complex deliveries, Zarkhin often collaborates with obstetricians, neonatologists, cardiologists, neurosurgeons, and other physicians in order to ensure a safe delivery for his patients.

He has been involved in different research projects as an anesthesiology fellow, including investigating the role of acupressure during cesarean delivery and changes in the blood-clotting cascade during surgery.
Zarkhin graduated summa cum laude from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

Zarkhin finished his medical training with an obstetric anesthesiology fellowship at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he was nominated for “Fellow Physician of the Year” by Labor and Delivery Department nurses.

Sweeney tapped to lead NJ diocese

Pope Francis announced that Queens native Reverend Kevin Sweeney, pastor of St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Sunset Park, is the 8th Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey.

Sweeney will succeed retiring Bishop Arthur Serratelli. Bishop-elect Sweeney, who is 50 years old, is expected to begin his ministry in the Diocese of Paterson later this year.

“I could not think of a better choice,” said Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio. “Bishop-elect Sweeney has served the Diocese of Brooklyn for 22 years and is an outstanding example of a parish priest.”

Sweeney was born on January 10, 1970, to the late James and Agnes Sweeney. He has a sister, Marie Shanahan, a brother-in-law Kevin, a brother, Brendan, a sister-in-law Tara, and five nieces and nephews. He grew up in St. Luke’s parish in Whitestone.

He attended Cathedral Prep from 1984 to 1988 and was a star on the high school seminary’s baseball team. While his dream of playing professional baseball never materialized, he was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2013.

After high school graduation, Sweeney entered the Cathedral Seminary House of Formation in Douglaston and studied at St. John’s University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy in 1992.

He then entered the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington and was awarded a Master of Divinity in Theology. On June 28, 1997, he was ordained a priest by the late Bishop Thomas Daily.

Sweeney’s first assignment as Parochial Vicar was to the parish of St. Nicholas of Tolentine in Jamaica from 1997 to 2003. He was then assigned to Our Lady of Sorrows in Corona from 2003 to 2004.

In 2004, Bishop DiMarzio named Sweeney the Vocations Director for the Diocese of Brooklyn, a position he held until 2010. During this time, he also served as the first director of the Pope John Paul II House of Discernment.

In January 2010, Sweeney was appointed to his current assignment. Sweeney is fluent in Spanish, having studied the language extensively in programs in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica.

Wu named Queens College president

Queens College has a new leader at the helm.

The City University of New York’s Board of Trustees unanimously appointed Frank H. Wu as the 11th president of Queens College. His term begins on July 1.

He will succeed Interim President William Tramontano, who took over last June after Felix V. Matos Rodriguez, was appointed the chancellor of CUNY.

“Queens College is indeed fortunate that Professor Wu has accepted the position of president and will lead the way forward in these very difficult times,” Tramontano said in a statement. “I am happy to extend him a warm virtual welcome to campus, and pledge my full support and cooperation during this transition period as he prepares to assume his new responsibilities at this wonderful institution.”

Wu is currently the William F. Prosser Distinguished Professor at University of California Hastings College of the Law. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in writing from John Hopkins University and a law degree from University of Michigan Law School.

He also completed two seminars at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

Wu will be the first Asian-American to serve as president of Queens College. He was also the first Asian-American to serve on the faculty of the law school at Howard University, a historically black institution.

Prior to joining UC Hastings as chancellor and dean, Wu spent a decade at Gallaudet University, which offers higher education to deaf and hearing-impared students, and Wayne Street University Law School in Detroit, where he was the dean.

He has authored several books, including Yellow: Race in America beyond Black and White and Race, Rights, & Reparations: Law and the Japanese American Internment.

Born to Chinese immigrants who settled in Detroit, Wu received the Asian Pacific Fund Chang-Lin Tien Award for leadership in higher education in 2008. He is also the recipient of the John Hope Franklin Award for commitment to diversity.

“Frank Wu is a trailblazer in legal education who has broken barriers for Asian-Americans,” Matos Rodriguez said at a CUNY board meeting.

In a statement, Wu said Queens College is a campus that represents education as the engine of the American dream.

“I am here because my parents were immigrants who came as students,” he said. “That opportunity must continue to be offered and expanded.

“I look forward to working with the entire Queens College community at a time when it will be vital to be resilient,” Wu added, “to come together and work together to meet the challenges ahead.”

Congresswoman Grace Meng said in a statement that she has known Wu for several years. She wished him the best in his new role.

“Queens College does extraordinary work in preparing students for their futures,” she said. “It continues to be a beacon of higher education, and I am confident that under Frank Wu’s leadership, the institution’s success will soar even higher.”

State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, who chairs the Higher Education Committee, said Wu’s resume speaks for itself.

“I look forward to meeting with Professor Wu in the coming days to discuss ways the state can help ensure Queens College continues to provide accessibility and a top quality education for its student body,” she said.
(BENJAMIN FANG)

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