Dean’s Desk From the Steve Hockstein Dr. Strom Interviewed on Sodium Intake for Runner’s World n article in the May issue of Runner's World includes comments from an interview between health writer Jessica Migala and Brian Strom, MD, MPH, chancellor, RBHS. The article reviews recent research on the effects of dietary sodium on clinical outcomes and suggests ways in which healthy, active people may incorporate sodium into their diet. In 2012, Dr. Strom chaired an Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee that studied the relationship between dietary sodium intake and health outcomes with the goal of setting evidenceBrian Strom,MD,MPH based sodium intake guidelines. “There has been continuous interest in the committee report, in part because new data keep coming out proving we were right,” he says. “In addition, we are currently undergoing the every-10-year process of deciding the dietary guidelines for Americans, and our report was important to the salt part of these guidelines.” In his conclusion to the 2012 IOM report, Dr. Strom said: “These new studies support previous findings that reducing sodium from very high intake levels to moderate levels improves health; but they also suggest that lowering sodium intake too much may actually increase a person’s risk of some health problems. These studies make clear that looking at sodium’s effects on blood pressure is not enough to determine dietary sodium’s ultimate impact on health. Changes in diet are more complex than simply changing a single mineral. More research is needed to understand these pathways.” A Match Day Opens the Next Chapter for the Class of 2015 Of the 129 medical students who partici- Weill Cornell. An unexpected match concluded the ceremony when Brian Kempf, of Falls Church, Virginia, stepped forward to propose to Ashnoo Nanavati ’15, of Piscataway. Steve Hockstein pated in the 2015 Residency Match, 96 percent matched to a program of their choice, exceeding the national average of 94 percent. The medical school has exceeded the national match rate each year for more than 10 years. More than 37 percent of the students matched with primary care programs, while 13 percent will specialize in surgery. Among the programs with which the class matched are residencies at Brown University, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Columbia University, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Yale University, and A surprised Ashnoo, who had just learned that she had matched with the Medical University of South Carolina to train in psychiatry, promptly accepted Brian’s proposal. John Emerson Global Health Seminar Focuses on Mental Health Issues he annual Global Health Seminar, held April 1, addressed ways to improve mental health in South Asian immigrant communities by interfacing global and local approaches. The South Asian Total Health Initiative (SATHI) presented the seminar, which featured cross-cultural psychologist Alison Karasz, PhD, associate professor, Department of Family and Social Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, founder and executive director, Sapna, NYC. Seen here are medical school hosts and special guests (left to right) Vicente H. Gracias, MD, dean (interim); Sunanda Gaur, MD, professor of pediatrics and director, SATHI; Mary E. O’Dowd, MPH, N.J. Commissioner of Health; M. Carolyn Daniels, DHSc, executive director, Office of Minority and Multicultural Health, N.J. Department of Health; and Robert Like, MD, professor of family medicine and community health and director, Center for Healthy Families and Cultural Diversity. T 2