Sarah M. Wood, MD, MS
In September 2024, a new chapter began for the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center with the appointment of Sarah M. Wood, MD, MS, as its Director.
“From the first moment I walked through the doors of the Adolescent Health Center, I knew it was a very special place where I would continue my lifelong mission of providing care to the youth who need it most,” says Dr. Wood.
Dr. Wood succeeds the Center’s longest-serving leader, Dr. Angela Diaz, who spent the last 35 years transforming it into the country’s largest, most comprehensive program of its kind. Dr. Diaz leaves behind an unparalleled legacy of compassion and commitment to the Center, where she was once a patient.
Over her decades as Director, Dr. Diaz developed a groundbreaking national model for adolescent health care that prioritizes the vulnerable and underserved. Today, the Center sees 10,000 young people—ages 10 to 26—who visit each year for every sort of care: primary, sexual and reproductive, mental health, nutrition and fitness, and optical. Most are low-income people of color, with many from our most vulnerable communities, including LGBTQ youth, newly arrived immigrants and refugees, those who are unhoused or in foster care, and individuals living with HIV. This care is provided at no cost—no one is ever charged a fee.
“I love my many years of working here, but I really feel this is the right moment to give the opportunity to a new leader with new ideas and freshness for the Center,” says Dr. Diaz.
Like Dr. Diaz, Dr. Wood’s desire to help struggling adolescents is deeply personal. Raised in Chicago, her parents separated before she was born, and she left home at 16. However, other family members and teachers provided strong support, which empowered her to envision a bright future.
A physician-scientist who has spent her career working to improve the quality of sexual, reproductive, and mental health care for adolescents, Dr. Wood is uniquely positioned to deliver the strong leadership that has become synonymous with the Center. She is eager to build upon the Center’s core mission while introducing innovative ideas to meet the evolving needs of today’s young people. Dr. Wood aims to expand the Center’s clinical services, including new specialized programs for substance use and disordered eating, and strengthen its work in HIV prevention and treatment. She also intends to foster robust, collaborative research endeavors at Mount Sinai focused on adolescent medicine.
With Dr. Wood leading the way, the Center is poised to elevate its impact and pave the way toward happier, healthier lives for those it serves.
“Everyone who works here sees the value of each and every person who comes to us, no matter what their needs are,” she says. “There is simply a different level of trust, caring, and connection that our young patients receive.”
Philanthropic funding is vital to the Center’s success and will help us safeguard this important work under Dr. Wood’s leadership, so we can continue to keep our young people in New York City—and beyond—happy and healthy for many years to come.
“Looking forward, we are confident in the wealth of clinical and research experience that Dr. Wood brings to the Adolescent Health Center, which deeply impacts thousands of young people every year. Her expertise will both honor Dr. Diaz’s accomplishments and start an exciting new chapter at the Center.”
– Lisa Satlin, MD, Chair of the Jack and Lucy Clark Department of Pediatrics and Pediatrician-in-Chief of the Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital
Impact by the Numbers:
patients visit each year
is the average age of young people receiving services
%
of our patients are from low-income families
%
of our patients are people of color
%
of our patients graduate from high school on time (higher than NYC’s 80% graduation rate)
%
of our patients are uninsured or underinsured
%
of our patients receive services from our school-based clinics
%
of our patients use our mental health services
More About Dr. Sarah Wood
In addition to leading the Adolescent Health Center, Dr. Wood serves as Division Chief of Adolescent Medicine in the Jack and Lucy Clark Department of Pediatrics. Prior to Mount Sinai, she was an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, an attending physician and faculty member in PolicyLab at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Co-Director of the Penn Center for AIDS Research Clinical Core. She is also a former youth health educator, doula, and HIV tester who started toward a career in medicine by delivering safety-net services to inner-city youth.
Dr. Wood received her medical degree from Drexel University College of Medicine, followed by a general pediatrics residency and an adolescent medicine fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She earned a Master of Science in Health Policy Research from the University of Pennsylvania during her fellowship and received certification as an HIV Specialist through the American Academy of HIV Medicine. Funded by organizations like the National Institute of Mental Health, her leading-edge studies over the last decade have focused on reducing HIV and sexually transmitted infections among adolescents and young adults.