Partner Spotlight on NYU Langone’s Healthy Monday Projects

The 2025 Lerner Health Promotion Innovation Awards at NYU Langone Health showcase impactful projects from the Healthy Monday for Hospitals initiative. These one-year projects are designed to promote sustainable physical and/or mental well-being among patients, caregivers, and healthcare workers. Each initiative leverages the motivational “Monday” cue to spark healthy habits and cultural change across diverse clinical environments. Award recipients are working closely with Dr. Shari Esquenazi-Karonika (Senior Program Director, Healthy Monday for Hospitals) to develop, implement, and evaluate their programs.

Let’s Sleep Monday

Promoting healthy sleep habits for caregivers of pediatric patients.

Led by a nurse principal investigator, Gabrielle Davis, this project supports healthy sleep habits among caregivers of pediatric patients—a critically underserved population. The proposal offers translatable potential to other clinical settings.

The Monday Mindset

Mental and physical health promotion for first-year medical students.

Targeting first-year medical students at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, this project, led by psychiatrist Dr. Alan Schlechter, aims to foster foundational mental and physical health practices early in training. The programming is expected to yield both short- and long-term benefits for future clinicians as well as their future patients.

Mondays for Me

Mental and physical health strategies for emergency department staff.

Recognizing the unique stressors of emergency medicine, this initiative, led by nurse principal investigator Yahaida Moreno, brings Monday-based wellness strategies to the Emergency Department at Tisch Hospital in New York City. The project offers a practical approach to supporting staff resilience and well-being.

Mindful Mondays

Three departments at NYU Langone Health will implement and evaluate programming centered on mindfulness. Led by nurses from distinct departments in the hospital (Jennifer Panzo – Cardiac Electrophysiology Lab; Maryellen Rooney & Hope Castellani – KP13 at Tisch Hospital) and two social workers (Cara Macari & Michelle Romani Shami – Rusk Acute Rehab & Medicine, these teams are piloting hybrid, “Monday”-based mindfulness programming across three unique care settings.