Stony Brook Medicine Leaders Contribute Close to $1 Million to Support Students and Research

For more than 50 years, Stony Brook Medicine has created healthier communities near and far, saving lives and conducting cutting-edge research that reaches real people. The foundation of Stony Brook Medicine’s achievements today is its talented and devoted faculty and staff, who have seen philanthropy’s impact on the hospital and its residents over the years. Many feel compelled to direct their philanthropy to Stony Brook Medicine through scholarships, fellowships and professorships to support current students and future generations.

Berhane Ghebrehiwet, DVM, DSc, and John J. Ricotta, MD, have contributed close to $1 million combined to various areas of Stony Brook Medicine — from vascular surgery to hematology. Collectively, they have dedicated 66 years of their lives to Stony Brook Medicine, and they are now linking their legacy with their philanthropy to make an even greater impact.

Honoring His Wife and Partner

Berhane Ghebrehiwet was expecting to be at Stony Brook University Hospital for only two to three years when he accepted an assistant professor position in the Department of Medicine in 1979. “I had a job offer with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Switzerland that was put on hold, so I took a job at Stony Brook during the interim,” explained Ghebrehiwet. “Two years later, however, all that changed when I met the love of my life.” Ellinor Peerschke, MD, was recruited to the pathology department to run the hematology laboratory in 1980 by Barry Coller, MD. “She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen,” said Ghebrehiwet. “After we had been dating for about a year, I told her that I would be leaving soon to work with the WHO, and she was devastated. So, I stayed at Stony Brook.” 

Ghebrehiwet never regretted the decision to continue his 46-year career at Stony Brook. He explained that Peerschke was not only his partner in life but also his most brilliant scientific collaborator. “Those were the best years of my life,” said Ghebrehiwet. Peerschke was a lifelong scientist and educator who served as the division head of the clinical hematology laboratories at Stony Brook for 16 years and later held leadership roles at several other medical institutions. 

During his time at Stony Brook Medicine, Ghebrehiwet enjoyed mentoring students in his lab. He’s most proud of helping to establish a university-to-university linkage program between the University of Asmara in Eritrea, his native country, and three U.S. universities — Stony Brook, Johns Hopkins University and UC Berkeley. “The program was designed to assist the newly independent country of Eritrea by taking in students for graduate studies in the fields of nursing and social welfare,” explained Ghebrehiwet. “Because of the program’s success, Stony Brook also helped 12 students pursue their graduate degrees in marine sciences, mathematics, physics, microbiology and computer science.”

In the past 46 years, Ghebrehiwet has seen Stony Brook Medicine grow by leaps and bounds, “not just physically but also through its academic reputation.” He is proud to call Stony Brook home and has established the Dr. Ellinor Peerschke Memorial Endowed Fund for Excellence in his late wife’s honor. The fund will support activities that will enhance education and research within the Renaissance School of Medicine.

“We are grateful for the time, mentorship and support that Dr. Ghebrehiwet and his late wife have provided at Stony Brook Medicine,” said William Wertheim, MD, executive vice president of Stony Brook Medicine. “By supporting research and the education of our students, Dr. Ghebrehiwet is helping the thousands of patients they treat over the course of their careers.”

In addition to the fund, the hematology laboratory was recently named the Dr. Ellinor I. Peerschke Hematology Lab in her honor. “Stony Brook Medicine brought us together,” said Ghebrehiwet. “Together we did great things there, and now her legacy will be remembered forever.”

Establishing a Force Multiplier

There are three things that John Ricotta is most proud of during his 11-year tenure as chair of surgery at Stony Brook. The first lies within the surgery training program. “It was important for me to improve the quality of our residency, as well as increase the number of residents who went on to excellent fellowship training,” said Ricotta. By establishing new leadership in the surgery program, he said the number of American medical graduates in the program increased. “In addition, the number of Stony Brook students who elected to train with the department increased,” said Ricotta.

Ricotta is also proud of enhancing the profile of Stony Brook’s surgery educators and faculty. He recalled that when he arrived in 1997, the surgery program was small. He helped to recruit a broader scope of faculty members in each surgical division, including plastic surgery, vascular surgery, pediatric surgery and surgical oncology, who now carry forward his legacy of innovation and compassion.

The third accomplishment that Ricotta is most proud of is the expansion of the vascular training program. The integrated five-year training program allows residents to choose training in vascular surgery right out of medical school. “The first 18 months, they get general surgery training,” Ricotta explained. “The remaining years, they train in vascular surgery with some time allotted for focused research.” According to Ricotta, establishing the comprehensive five-year training program in vascular surgery was one of the country’s first of 40 similar programs and has become a national model for excellence.

“The impact of Dr. Ricotta in the Department of Surgery has been — and will be — felt for generations to come,” said Renaissance School of Medicine Knapp Dean Peter Igarashi, MD. “His support through this professorship will continue to elevate the vascular surgery division and ensure that future surgeons have exceptional guidance to care for patients with vascular diseases.”

One of the things Ricotta loved about being an educator was motivating medical students and residents to unlock their full potential. “It’s been a great stimulus to me as an educator,” said Ricotta. “And it was my motivation to continue to support Stony Brook.” He established the Dr. John J. Ricotta Endowed Professorship in Vascular Surgery. “Having exceptional faculty elevates the overall academic culture of an institution,” explained Ricotta. “By supporting a faculty member, it’s a sort of force multiplier — as I know that faculty members will, in turn, impact the future of possibly generations of medical students and residents.”

Supporting Future Generations

Ghebrehiwet and Ricotta, along with many other Stony Brook Medicine faculty and staff members, are proud to support future generations of researchers, scientists, physicians and healthcare professionals through their generosity. 

“I was always aware of Stony Brook’s untapped potential, which was a major factor in my decision to join the faculty as chair,” said Ricotta. “It has been a great source of satisfaction to see that potential unlocked and watch the department grow. I hope the professorship will continue to help the programs in the Department of Surgery, especially those of the vascular division, flourish in the future.”

For Ghebrehiwet, he hopes his support will help medical students conduct basic scientific research. “Research and testing hypotheses in a lab are how discoveries are made,” said Ghebrehiwet. “My hope is that my support has the potential to change the future of medicine, just as my wife Ellinor did.”

Funding for the Dr. Ellinor Peerschke Memorial Endowed Fund for Excellence is amplified by the New York state endowment match program and the Simons Infinity Investment Match Challenge, which will triple the impact this endowment gift will have on Stony Brook. For more information, visit stonybrook.edu/endowments. For any Stony Brook Medicine faculty or staff members interested in giving back or establishing an endowment, please contact Associate Vice President of Medicine Advancement Danielle Holton.

-Christine McGrath