PROFILES
DR . GINA SAM
PETER ANTON
THE CELEBRITIES’ GASTROENTEROLOGIST
“CANDY WARHOL”
By Bennett Marcus
By Bennett Marcus
INSTITUTE OF WELLNESS Dr. Gina Sam is one of the country’s leading gastroenterologists. Dr. Sam has appeared on CBS News with Dr. Max Gomez and has also been featured in Cosmopolitan, InStyle, Refinery29, and Men’s Health. She is an expert in the specialized niche of gastrointestinal motility, which involves dysfunctions of the intestinal muscles.
MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL With more than ten years’ experience, Dr. Sam was the director of the Gastrointestinal Motility Center at Mount Sinai Hospital. In June she opened her own practice, The Institute of Gastrointestinal Motility Disorders and Integrative Health, at 800 Second Avenue. Dr. Sam says, “In this niche in motility, much of the brain and gut is related. Your GI tract is actually all lined with neurotransmitters like serotonin receptors. So if you just had a death in the family, your stomach is going to feel it. I tell my patients: ‘I’m not treating your GI tract; I’m treating you as a person.’ My practice. is an institute of wellness.”
GASTROENTEROLOGY EXPLAINED In laymen’s terms, Dr. Sam offers the analogy of an auto mechanic who can see that there are no scratches on the Ferrari, no dents on the bumper, but knows there’s a problem within. “What I do is more like the mechanic gastroenterologist in that I open up the car and test the engine, to assess the function of the GI tract.” According to Dr. Sam, few physicians have the skills for this niche, because it requires specialized technology and it also requires a knowledge of diseases that are unusual and rare. She also treats more common conditions: acid reflux and IBS, and screens patients for colon cancer. In addition to receiving her medical degree from Tufts University, Dr. Sam also earned a master’s in public health with a concentration in community health. Dr. Gina Sam 800 Second Avenue drginasam.com 646.776.2667 SocialLifeMagazine.com
Peter Anton creates large-scale decadent food sculptures of things like pizza, donuts, and chocolate that have been featured in museums in the Netherlands; Greece; Portland, Oregon; and Kansas City, Missouri. He also participates in major art fairs like Art Basel Miami and TEFAF Maastricht. Known as “Candy Warhol,” Anton’s work is in the collections of Keith Richards, Bill Clinton, Dennis Hopper, Lord Norman Foster, the Jordanian royal family, and the former Sony chairman Sir Howard Stringer.
MONUMENTAL INSTALLATIONS Last year, Anton presented Sugartarium, a monumental installation of hyper-realistic sculptures, including a giant ice cream sundae, macarons, and a cherry pie smashed and splattered all around the walls at Unix Gallery in New York, which Anton had transformed into an insane asylum. Another was Sugar & Gomorrah, which gave viewers a truly immersive experience at Art Basel Miami: it was a real roller coaster ride, with food sculptures displayed inside, along with live models.
WHY FOOD? Growing up, Anton’s mother always had friends over for meals, and he loved the way it brought people together. “When anything’s going on in life, people gather around food and talk or celebrate,” he says. “It’s a comfort zone. I noticed that very early, that it was a focal point of life.” He liked the different colors and shapes of foods, and as a child he played with food and began making sculptures from food packaging, egg cartons, macaroni boxes, and the like.
UP NEXT: MOVIE CONCESSION ART FOR TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL
Anton is creating sculptures of the food sold at movie concession stands — think Gummy Bears, Sno-Caps and popcorn — that will be exhibited during the Toronto Film Festival, in September. Peter Anton peteranton.com