Charles Sanky, MD, MPH, is an emergency medicine physician, population health researcher, and former public health policy analyst. He serves as founder and co-director of the HealthiER Institute.

A native New Yorker, Charles Sanky’s early experiences taught him that the greatest challenges in healthcare come not from the limitations of medical knowledge, but from how systems of healthcare impact patients and their loved ones. He committed himself to a premedical path and research from a young age. He worked as a senior client care coordinator, advocating for over 1,700 elderly and disabled people by designing safe home care plans.

At Columbia University, Dr. Sanky studied psychology, business management, and public health. He researched collaboration among community health agencies and continuums of care. He worked as an IT administrator, an immigration consultant, and a campus leader who tackled racial injustice and sexual violence.

Prior to medical school, Dr. Sanky worked as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) in New York City, learning the importance of the prehospital setting and systems of care. He advanced health policy at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in the Division of Policy, Planning, and Strategic Data Use. His work specialized in analyzing community health, financial, and epidemiological data to evaluate and implement public health interventions. He advised NYC officials on strategic methods and policies for improving population health. His work at the Office of United States Senator Charles Schumer centered around community health, veterans’ affairs, the launch of the Affordable Care Act, and disaster response with FEMA during Hurricane Sandy.

He earned his MD and MPH degrees at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he graduated with Distinction in Medical Education, Global Health, and Research. He was inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society and Delta Omega Honorary Society. He served as Commencement Class Speaker and Director of the Leaders in Health Policy Program. He taught numerous courses in the medical and public health schools, as well as created and taught a course on immigration and human rights at Columbia University School of Social Work. He completed an NIH-funded Clinician Scientist Research Fellowship, examining the capacity of the emergency department in intervening in patients’ social determinants of health.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Sanky developed creative solutions for pandemic response. He was responsible for innovation in personnel redeployment, validation of predictive data modeling techniques, and telemedicine expansion. Dr. Sanky provided operational and research support of multicenter clinical trials for potential treatments for COVID-19. Following this, he worked on strategy for the Department of Emergency Medicine, building regional coalitions advocating for system change, conducting health services research, managing grants and special initiatives, and helping found Mount Sinai’s Center for Healthcare Readiness.

Dr. Sanky has continued his training at the Mount Sinai Emergency Medicine Residency Program, working at the Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center, and Elmhurst Hospital Center. He has continued his research, population health innovation efforts, and teaching in the medical and public health school. He serves as a New York State Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner and on health system committees on quality, diversity, workforce, safety, and public health. He achieved numerous awards for his teaching, research, and clinical care. In 2023, Dr. Sanky was awarded “Physician of the Year” by the Mount Sinai Department of Nursing for his collaborative, humanistic, and compassionate approach to patient care.

Dr. Sanky has held a number of national leadership positions, including Chair of the Research Committee for the Emergency Medicine Residents Association, Board Member on the Implementation Community Collaborative Board, and Resident Ambassador to the American Board of Emergency Medicine. As an active clinician, researcher, advocate, and educator, Dr. Sanky strives to implement improved, creative, equitable systems of health service delivery.