I am delighted to share a few words of welcome with all of you. It is hard to believe how far we have all come. Two years ago, in April 2022, I received permission from the ACGME to begin recruiting residents for our new neurology program at OBH. It was all just a dream at that time; we hadn’t even recruited many of our current faculty, such as Dr. Lerner, Dr. Khaneja, and Dr. Mizrahi. And now, just two years later, we’ve already recruited our third cohort of residents and are interviewing the fourth group, our rising seniors have been applying for fellowships, and more additions to the faculty are anticipated in the upcoming months. Rotations have been developed in neurocritical care, headache, OPD, behavioral neurology, and clinical neurophysiology, and pediatric neurology has been expanded to include Maimonides. Our first chief resident has been appointed, and the educational program has been tightened up, making it less dependent on Downstate Zoom sessions (although those sessions still exist and enhance our program tremendously, especially Grand Rounds). The success of the program is a tribute to each and every one of you – every attending, every resident, every staff member, and especially Dorina. You all play a critical role in the overall warmth that exudes from our growing family, and I feel truly blessed to have the opportunity to lead and build this program into the nationally recognized entity it is destined to become. Thank you all for your contributions to making this program a success, and for the camaraderie that you show to one another. I look forward to coming to work each day; I hope you do as well.

 Dr. Lisa R. Merlin