The Department of Internal Medicine is pleased to announce that the following professorial appointments and promotions from the FY2020 review cycle have been approved to date:
Joseph Brennan, MD (Cardiovascular Medicine)
Firm Chief: Coronary Intensive Care Unit (CICU)
Medical Director: Coronary Intensive Care Unit, Yale New Haven Hospital and Yale Medicine
MD: Medical College of Virginia
Residency: Yale New Haven Hospital
Chief Resident: Yale New Haven Hospital
Fellowship: Yale New Haven Hospital
Brennan began his medical career at Yale New Haven Hospital as an intern in 1983, completed his internal medicine residency in 1986, and was chief resident the subsequent year. He served as the director of the Interventional Cardiology Fellowship Program for 20 years, and has received innumerable teaching awards both within the Yale School of Medicine and the Department of Internal Medicine Section of Cardiovascular Medicine. So, it should come as no surprise that the part of his medical career that he enjoys the most is his interactions with trainees. Brennan says he is proudest of the “medicine, cardiology, and interventional cardiology trainees who I have had the pleasure of being involved with during their training.”
He is also grateful to the physicians who mentored him. “I personally owe a debt of gratitude to those physicians who have been instrumental in my training: Lawrence Cohen, MD, professor emeritus of medicine (cardiology); Barry, Zaret, MD, professor emeritus of medicine (cardiology); Henry Cabin, MD, professor of medicine (cardiology); Michael Cleman, MD, professor of medicine (cardiology); and Michael Remetz, MD, FACC, associate professor of medicine (cardiology), to mention only a small number.”
Andrea Lynn Maria Silber, MD (Medical Oncology)
Associate Clinical Director at the Center for Community Engagement and Health Equity: Yale Cancer Center
MD: New York University
Residency: Yale New Haven Hospital
Chief Resident: Yale New Haven Hospital
Fellowship: Yale New Haven Hospital
“I’m very proud of this promotion,” Silber said. “I'm so fortunate to be associated with this department over the years. I feel that my promotion reflects how much Yale values community engagement and clinical care.” She credits her mentors with encouraging and facilitating her work in community care over the years, namely Gary V. Desir, MD; Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD; and Lajos L. Puztai, MD.
Her medical interest, she said, “is to look at ways to level the playing field and to make sure that everyone has equal access to care so that they can have equal outcomes.”
She thinks of breast cancer as two diseases. “There’s the disease in those who have access, and the disease in those that find barriers,” Silber said. The patients who have insurance are more likely to have good baseline health and the wherewithal to navigate the health care system, she said. “but the others may not have health literacy, may not have support, may not have health insurance, may not have good health when diagnosed, and it really changes everything.”
She added, “So many jobs are incredibly important, but they’re not well compensated nor provide insurance. As a nation, we have to work harder to make sure there really is equal care.”
The first thing she did when she heard the news about her promotion was tell her two adult children and husband, because they have seen her “in all her moments” as a working mother. Her favorite part of academia is working with a team, from her colleagues, trainees, nurses and support staff who work together to deliver care to patients.
Fun Fact: She is known for her vintage jewelry and clothing. “I think it’s important when you’re an oncologist to bring your personality into your world. I always justify my vintage clothing by saying it makes my patients happy, but it really makes me happy.”