NYU LI School of Medicine welcomes new dean

NYU Long Island School of Medicine has a new dean whose mission includes making sure future doctors are prepared to serve a wide range of communities.

Dr. Gladys M. Ayala became dean of the medical school on Tuesday, taking over from its founding dean, Dr. Steven P. Shelov, who has retired. She previously served as vice dean and professor of medicine.

Ayala joined what was then a newly established medical school in 2018, overseeing its curriculum development, admissions and diversity initiatives. She also has led the school’s strategic planning process, focused on advancing medical education, developing a diverse workforce and addressing disparities in access to high-quality health care.

“She is an educator, really, at heart,” said Dr. Joseph J. Greco, senior vice president and chief of hospital operations at NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island in Mineola. Ayala, he said, is “one of these individuals that is all about, ‘how do we educate the future physicians?’”

The school charges no tuition. It offers a three-year program that trains students in the primary care areas of family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, OB-GYN and general surgery.

The opportunity to help launch a new medical school was a rare and exciting one, said Ayala, 62, who grew up in Brooklyn as the youngest of three children. Her parents came to New York City from Puerto Rico; her father worked as a foreman at a steel factory, and her mother also worked in a factory, she said.

The medical school’s program, she said, “is not just accelerated, but it really does cultivate our students to be the types of physicians we all want to be taking care of our families and ourselves…. developing students that are compassionate, that are empathetic, that understand the needs of patients and the needs of communities.”

Ayala said she always knew she wanted to be a doctor working in underserved communities, inspired by her love of science and desire to help people.

The Westbury resident has spent more than 25 years working in medical education, teaching primary care principles and clinical skills.

Before coming to NYU Long Island School of Medicine in Mineola, Ayala was the vice chancellor for university student affairs and interim vice dean at New York Medical College’s School of Medicine in Valhalla. She is graduate of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and received a master’s degree in public health from Columbia University in 2007.

By Maura McDermott

maura.mcdermott@newsday.commauramcdermott

Maura McDermott is a reporter on the investigations desk. Since starting at Newsday in 2012, she has also covered real estate and the business of health care.