NEWSLETTER
October 2025
October Is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!
Welcome to the Maina Foundation Newsletter!
Dear friends
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and we’re hoping you’ll join us in taking early detection steps for yourself and your families and supporting breast health for all.
In this month’s newsletter we have exciting updates with regard to Maina Foundation.
First, we have an inspiring interview with Dr. Anitha Srinivasan , a valued member of our scientific board and advisor to Maina Foundation since its inception more than fifteen years ago.
In May 2025, Dr. Anitha Srinivasan was appointed as the first woman Chief Medical Officer at Metropolitan Hospital in New York City, and is currently one of only two female CMOs across the 11 NYC Health + Hospitals facilities, and the only woman of color in that role.
Next, we are thrilled to bring you our Fourth Annual Online Art Exhibition from a talented group of artists. This year, 20% of the proceeds from the Art sale will be donated to NYC Health + Hospitals Metropolitan Breast Care Center , of which Dr. Srinivasan was the founding director. The center provides comprehensive breast cancer care to under-served and vulnerable populations in New York City regardless of their ability to pay.
Please consider supporting our mission by purchasing this beautiful artwork, created by our featured artists.
Thank you to everyone for your dedication and hard work to help raise awareness about, and treat patients with, breast cancer.
An Inspiring Interview with Dr. Anitha Srinivasan
Congratulations Dr. Srinivasan, and thank you for so kindly taking time out
of your busy schedule to talk to us.
Let’s start with who is Dr. Anitha Srinivasan, as a doctor, a mom, a wife, a
daughter, a sibling.
Thank you. I suppose I should begin with daughter. One of my biggest
influences was my mother, who sadly passed away fifteen years ago.
Amongst the first few women who went to medical school in India, she became
a gifted obstetrics and gynecology surgeon, and the dean of Madras Medical
College. She treasured her career not only because she loved being a doctor,
but because she was also a role model for so many women who came after her.
Even now, I’m in awe of her work ethic. She worked incredibly long hours and
for many years she would commute four hours each way, leaving early in the
morning and returning late at night. She did this daily because she always
wanted to come back home to see us.
I am the middle of three sisters, and we were all inspired by her
dedication, her boundless energy, and her excitement by her career, and her
enjoyment in being our mom.
We were encouraged to study further and have our own careers. My older
sister became a dentist and the younger is an artificial intelligence expert
who works for Amazon.
Whenever I think my life is hard, I think of my mother and my troubles
diminish.
My dad is an anesthesiologist. He’s 90 years old, retired now, and very
proud of his daughters, also of my accomplishment in becoming the CMO of NYC
Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan.
How did you meet your husband?
I moved from Chennai to Boston and then to New York City.
We met in New York through common friends. I was doing my residency rotation,
and the hospital couldn’t find accommodation for me. My husband-to-be was
living with three other bankers in a large apartment. I asked if I could
sleep on their couch and they agreed on one condition, that I cook for them
once a week.
My husband and I connected over our mutual love for old independent movies.
But then I moved to Philly to work and I thought I wouldn’t see much of him.
But he was there every weekend with his Amtrak pass.
We decided to settle in New York City because we’re both very passionate
about it. I fell in love with its diversity and the people were so
welcoming, I felt like I really belonged.
We have two children, both at college.
What was your path to becoming a surgeon?
In India, many women medical graduates were expected to go into obstetrics or gynecology like my mom. But I was drawn to surgery because I enjoyed anatomy and dissection.
In those days it was very much a man’s field in a patriarchal system, partly because it was grueling work with long hours, and was competitive especially because it was high paying. It was also rare for an immigrant woman to want to do surgery, and quite a few people tried to redirect me away from surgery.
But all these obstacles just made me more determined.
Before I moved to Boston, the TV show ER with George Clooney began streaming in India. I was impressed by how action-oriented it made the ER seem. So, when I got to Boston, I worked in ER and found it was very unlike the show itself. The real-life ER situation was more about seeing my fourth patient with a urinary tract infection after a long night.
I’m the kind of person who has to have something hold my attention within the first five minutes or so and ER wasn’t it. Another problem with ER was there was no follow up. Patients moved on to be taken care of by a different set of doctors and I would lose the continuity.
I looked at other specialties like neurology and internal medicine and they were cerebral but still not holding my attention. Through a process of elimination, I realized I wanted to be mentally challenged but also to use my hands and to think on my feet.
Breast surgery was perfect. It had a more predictable schedule than general surgery, but it was also more research intensive and academic. Even though the surgery itself was not as technically challenging, I could shape the care of the patient from the start and work closely with a multidisciplinary care team to problem-solve and serve the patient with more individualized care. Working with other specialties such as medical and radiation oncologists forced me to learn so much more than my role.
How do you juggle a demanding career with being a wife and mom?
I was a practicing surgeon when my son was born, but I had a lot of support from my mom, my mother-in-law, cousins, and caregivers. With my daughter I took a longer maternity leave.
Like so many moms, I often wonder if I could’ve done something differently, better, like be a stay-at-home mum. But I loved what I did, and I would have been unhappy, and an unhappy mom would have made my children unhappy.
The men in my life have been very supportive, my dad and my husband have always been there for me. In my career I’ve had role models who have been incredibly helpful.
While at Weil Cornell, I was the only woman of color, an immigrant, with no Ivy League background. But I had an incredible mentor, John M. Daly, who wrote an amazing reference letter for me, which I saw much later. He said he would trust his own family in my hands.
When I moved to the South Bronx, we were eight doctors fighting for two spots, it was constantly competitive with 36-hour shifts. But there was a lot of camaraderie amongst us, and in fact, one of my colleagues was like a sister to me, and another would make me a cappuccino when I was stressed.
In my administrative job, I’ve had tremendous support from the CEOs I’ve worked under. Alina Moran was the first CEOs who inspired me to move partially into administration in 2016. She suggested I could continue with surgery but also become the deputy chief medical officer. Our current CEO Julian John is very supportive as well.
What careers other than medicine would you have chosen?
I think I would have become an architect. I enjoy drawing and making models, and it has a similar intellectual stimulation medicine has.
What does working at the NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan mean to you?
What I like about working in a city hospital is that it has an innate sense of equity. In New York City and the nation, the HHC is one of the few places that comes closest to equal care for everyone. This inclusivity and service resonates deeply with me.
What are your outreach efforts regarding breast cancer screening in NYC?
We do a lot of outreach as a hospital system. We have a dedicated team and a breast cancer navigator who speaks multiple languages.
For example, recently our team reached out to moms by holding education sessions about mammograms during back-to-school events. They also have similar sessions with seniors, and at churches and through a mosque. We partner with MetroPlus health plan to do outreach.
In a City like New York a mobile mammogram clinic is superfluous because we have so many options that are readily accessible. At the hospital there are better machines and instrumentation to do mammograms and follow up. Mammograms can be scheduled quickly and easily before the patient is sent back into the community and possibly lost to the hospital system.
In terms of subsidizing and cost financial management we have an entire department that works out how to pay for care, with some patients having health insurance of their own, or patients being counselled on financial terms to pay at least a portion of their care, all to help with those who are totally uninsured and unable to pay. There’s more of a push to do preventive care because acute care in to an ER setting is the most expensive option.
Have the recent Medicaid cuts affected the hospital?
The hospital is under stress and we may have to look into how to truncate and look for inefficiencies in the system, but our patients and staff are strong and resilient.
Were you here when 9/11 happened?
When 9/11 happened, I was newly married. My husband actually worked in the World Financial Center, which was across from the World Trade Center. And on that particular morning, he forgot to take his cell phone to work. I spent a few very stressful hours worrying about him, but then he managed to call around midday to say that he was safe. I offered my help as a volunteer to Lincoln Hospital but sadly there were very few survivors, even the hospitals were not that busy.
Do you still consult with patients and do surgery, or does your administrative role keep you too busy?
I have a clinic once a week and do any surgery that comes from there on my surgical days, which are Tuesdays. I believe it’s really important to stay grounded in the clinic, and in my dual role I can be a voice for patients.
What do you do to relax?
I love a good cup of coffee, which surprisingly makes me sleepy rather than keep me awake.
I music bomb my kids’ Spotify list with interesting Indian classical music, usually vocal Carnatic music.
Sometimes I watch TV that is a bit less intellectually taxing such as HGTV, often falling asleep on the couch. My husband and I are still big fans of independent movies and one of my favorite directors is Pedro Alvarez. I also enjoy British detective shows, Slow Horses on Apple TV and Chernobyl on HBO are recent favorites.
And I like to run and swim to relieve stress, but when I can’t get outdoors, I use the Peloton.
We at Maina Foundation truly appreciate your support of us. What drew you to Maina Foundation?
I founded the Metropolitan Breast Cancer Center and has served as its director since 2017 because preventing and fighting breast cancer is a cause close to my heart.
I’ve lost close friends and family to breast cancer, including a good friend in my early days as a breast surgeon, my sister-in-law at the age of thirty-eight, and our patient care assistant who passed away at the age of thirty-five.
It’s these losses that make me realize there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done.
I was introduced to Maina Foundation through Alka Shrikande, the founder. I’ve always known it to be a wonderful cause that helps to run prevention programs both in India and at the Metropolitan.
Congratulations Dr. Srinivasan, and thank you for your dedication and contributions to Maina Foundation, and the patients you serve.
About NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan
The NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan Hospital is a 338-bed facility that delivers high-quality, compassionate care to over 350,000 clinic patients and more than 50,000 emergency room visitors annually.
With a legacy spanning 150 years, Metropolitan maintains the nation’s oldest hospital-medical school affiliation through its longstanding partnership with New York Medical College. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org/metropolitan .
MEDIA CONTACT: Domonique Chaplin (chaplind@nychhc.org), 212 423-7782.
ART SALE!
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Maina Foundation board member and artist, Natalie Sambamurty, has gathered a talented and generous group of artists to bring to you our Fourth Annual Online Art Exhibition.
On our art page you’ll find beautiful original holiday greeting cards, colorful candle holders and trays with intricately painted henna designs, and gorgeous watercolor, oils and acrylic artwork for your home and to gift.
This year, 20% of the proceeds from the Art sale will be donated to NYC Health and Hospitals Metropolitan Breast Care Center, which provides comprehensive breast cancer care to under-served and vulnerable populations regardless of their ability to pay.
The model for cancer care focuses on helping patients identify their risk level by promoting health education and screenings in order to increase access to early intervention and treatment. Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI plays a significant role in the care of patients who have already received their diagnosis and the imaging will allow physicians to provide timely care to their patients, and therefore avoid any delay in treatment due to staging work up.
Under-served and vulnerable populations often miss or are denied screenings and treatment because of out-of-pocket costs. Funding from our art sales will directly contribute to paying for procedures and imaging tests that are not available on-site.
Please consider supporting our mission by purchasing these beautiful artworks created by our featured artists.
BROWSE ALL ART
To our Maina Foundation newsletter readers, thank you for reading and your valuable support! Please consider forwarding this newsletter to anyone who may benefit from this information.
Manju Soni, pen name MJ Soni (she/her), is the author of DEFYING APARTHEID , her part-memoir about being a doctor activist in apartheid South Africa.
Her debut mystery, to be released in July 2026, is
THE MASALA CHAI MYSTERY CLUB
, and is perfect for fans of Only Murders in the Building and Richard
Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club.
Set in coastal New England, it features a retired librarian and her
chai-loving friends who involve themselves in solving the murder of their
much-despised HOA president when his death has an uncanny similarity to
their most recent book club.
https://manjusoni.com
We thank you for your continued support!
For more information on Maina Foundation, and to help its mission, go to https://mainafoundation.org or contact us at 860-434-3985 or info@mainafoundation.org
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Donations can also be mailed to:
8 Peppermint Ridge, Old Lyme, CT 06371, USA