Academic Appointments
- John Snow Professor of Epidemiology
- Professor of Neurology
- Professor of Pathology & Cell Biology
Current Administrative Positions
- Director, Center for Infection and Immunity, Mailman School of Public Health

Dr. Lipkin has over 30 years of experience in diagnostics, microbial discovery and outbreak response. He has mentored and trained over 30 students and post-doctoral fellows and leads a workforce of over 65 principal investigators, post-doctoral fellows and research and support staff with expertise in sample and database management, bioinformatics, neurology_biostatistics, diagnostics, molecular biology, experimental pathology, serology, culture, animal models, and staged strategies for efficient pathogen discovery and proof of causation.
In the 1980s, Dr. Lipkin identified AIDS-associated immunological abnormalities and inflammatory neuropathy, which he showed could be treated with plasmapheresis, and demonstrated that early life exposure to viral infections affects neurotransmitter function. Dr. Lipkin was the first to use purely molecular methods to identify infectious agents. In 1999, he identified West Nile virus as the cause of encephalitis in North America. He developed MassTag PCR and Greenechip technology, two multiplex assays that have been used to identify and characterize more than 400 viruses, and was the first to use high throughput sequencing for pathogen discovery. In 2003, Dr. Lipkin established the Norwegian Autism Birth Cohort (ABC), the largest prospective birth cohort devoted to investigating gene-environment-timing interactions and biomarker discovery.
Dr. Lipkin serves as co-chair of the Steering Committee of the National neurology_biosurveillance Advisory Subcommittee and as Director of the Northeast Biodefense Center and the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center on Diagnostics, Surveillance and Immunotherapeutics for Emerging Infectious and Zoonotic Diseases, the only academic WHO Center focused on diagnostics and discovery. He has ongoing collaborations and projects with the Centers for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health, USAID PREDICT, US Department of Agriculture, US Food and Drug Administration, Agilent Technologies, Pfizer, Roche 454 Life Sciences, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Google.org, Institut Pasteur, and OneHealth Alliance.
His honors include the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression Young Investigator Award, Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences, Distinguished Lecturer of the Nation Center for Infectious Diseases, Honorary and Founding Director of the Beijing Center for Infectious Diseases, Fellow of the American Society for Microbiology, Fellow of the Wildlife Conservation Society, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Member of the Association of American Physicians. He has been featured by the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Discover Magazine, Nature Medicine, the History Channel, National Geographic, National Public Radio, Wired, the Huffington Post, This Week in Virology, WNYC, and Steven Soderbergh's upcoming film Contagion.
Email: wil2001@cumc.columbia.edu
Departments and Divisions
- Department of Epidemiology
- Department of Pathology & Cell Biology
- Department of Neurology
Links
Research Interests
- Immunopathogenesis and infectious diseases
NIH Grants
METABOLOMICS IN GULF WAR ILLNESS: A SYSTEMS BIOLOGY APPROACH TO DISSECTING MECHANISMS OF DISEASE (Federal Gov)
Sep 15 2019 - Sep 14 2022
CENTER FOR SOLUTIONS FOR ME/CFS (Federal Gov)
Sep 22 2017 - Aug 31 2022
SYSTEMS BIOLOGY OF INNATE IMMUNITY AND VACCINATION (Federal Gov)
Jun 1 2016 - Mar 31 2021
ASENSITIVE, SPECIFIC, READILY DEPLOYABLE TEST FOR SARS-COV-2 (Private)
Mar 16 2020 - Feb 28 2021
DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A MULTIPLEX SEROLOGIC ASSAY FOR TICKBORNE DISEASES (Private)
Jan 1 2019 - Dec 31 2020
POST EXERTION MALAISE IN GWI BRAIN AUTONOMIC AND BEHAVIORAL INTERACTIONS (Federal Gov)
Sep 30 2019 - Sep 29 2020
DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A MULTIPLEX SEROLOGIC ASSAY FOR TICKBORNE DISEASES (Private)
Apr 1 2019 - Mar 31 2020
CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN DIAGNOSTICS AND DISCOVERY - ADMINISTRATIVE CORE (Federal Gov)
Mar 1 2014 - Feb 29 2020
DEVELOPMENT OF SURVEILLANCE AND VACCINATION MEANS TO COMBAT TILV- A NOVEL RNA VIRUS LETHAL TO TILAP (Private)
Oct 1 2016 - Sep 30 2019
DETERMINATION AND UNDERSTANDING OF QUANTITATIVE INFECTIOUS DOSE FOR EBOLA VIRUS (Federal Gov)
Feb 2 2017 - Mar 30 2019
BERONI SRA# 51897 (Private)
Mar 8 2018 - Mar 7 2019
CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN DIAGNOSTICS AND DISCOVERY - ADMINISTRATIVE CORE (Federal Gov)
Mar 1 2014 - Feb 28 2019
CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN DIAGNOSTICS AND DISCOVERY - ADMINISTRATIVE CORE (Federal Gov)
Mar 1 2014 - Feb 28 2019
THUNDER: TOLERANT HOSTS USING NOVEL DRUG-ENHANCED RESILIENCE (Federal Gov)
Nov 16 2016 - Nov 15 2018
OPTIMIZATION OF SEQUENCE-BASED MICROBIAL SURVEILLANCE (Private)
Nov 22 2016 - Dec 31 2017
COHEN LYME PROJECT (Private)
Jan 31 2016 - Dec 31 2017
FEE FOR SERVICE VIRCAPSEQ-VERT ANALYSIS (Federal Gov)
Nov 16 2016 - Nov 15 2017
CII AUTISM PROGRAM: MATERNAL AND CHILD INFECTION AND IMMUNITY IN ASD (LIPKIN/HORNIG) (Private)
Sep 1 2014 - Aug 31 2017
TRUCULTURE IMMUNE PROFILING IN CFS/ME (Private)
Aug 1 2016 - Jul 31 2017
EPIGENETIC ANALYSIS OF CFI PBMC DNA (Private)
Aug 1 2016 - Jul 31 2017
CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR EMERGING AND ZOONOTIC ANIMAL DISEASE (CEEZAD) (Federal Gov)
Jul 1 2010 - Jun 30 2017
TRANSCRIPTIONAL ANALYSIS OF BURKHOLDERIA PSEUDOMALLEI INFECTED NONHUMAN PRIMATES (Federal Gov)
Jun 10 2016 - Feb 28 2017
TECHNICAL COOPERATION IN DIAGNOSIS AND SURVEILLANCE OF ZOONOTIC DISEASES - TRAINING (Private)
Feb 10 2015 - Feb 9 2017
CONTROL OF THE NEONATAL SEPTISOME AND HYDROCEPHALUS IN SUB SAHARAN AFRICA (Federal Gov)
Feb 1 2016 - Jan 31 2017
VIROME CAPTURE SEQUENCING (Private)
Jun 7 2016 - Oct 6 2016
INFECTION,FEVER AND IMMUNE SIGNATURES IN AN AUTISM BIRTH COHORT (HORNIG/LIPKIN) (Federal Gov)
Sep 30 2014 - Aug 31 2016
IMCD VIRAL DISCOVERY PROJECT (Private)
Aug 11 2015 - Aug 10 2016
MICROBIAL DISCOVERY AND IMMUNITY IN ME/CFS (Federal Gov)
Aug 14 2015 - Jul 31 2016
PREDICTING RESPONSE TO STANDARD PEDIATRIC COLITIS THERAPY: THE PROTECT STUDY (Federal Gov)
May 1 2015 - Apr 30 2016
PATHOGEN SURVEILLANCE IN NYC RODENTS (Private)
Apr 1 2014 - Apr 1 2016
CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR EMERGING AND ZOONOTIC ANIMAL DISEASE (CEEZAD) (Federal Gov)
Jul 1 2010 - Mar 31 2016
GENE-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS IN AN AUTISM BIRTH COHORT (Federal Gov)
Sep 30 2003 - Feb 29 2016
DEVELOPMENT OF LOW-COST MULTIPLEX DIAGONOSTIC KIT WITH PCR ASSAYS FOR DIAGNOSING BOTH EBOLA AND AGENTS THAT CONFOUND DIAGNOSIS (Private)
Feb 10 2015 - Feb 9 2016
CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR EMERGING AND ZOONOTIC ANIMAL DISEASE (CEEZAD) (Federal Gov)
Jul 1 2010 - Dec 31 2015
MICROBIOTA IN THE CPG ISLAND METHYLATOR PHENOTYPE OF COLORECTAL CANCER (FELLOW: LORENZO UCCELLINI) (Private)
Aug 1 2013 - Jul 31 2015
NORTHEAST BIODEFENSE CENTER - ADMIN CORE & SUBS (Federal Gov)
Sep 4 2003 - Feb 28 2015
NYC RODENT COLLECTION (Private)
Feb 1 2014 - Jan 31 2015
PFIZER ANIMAL HEALTH MASTER VETERINARY RESEARCH FOR NOVEL PATHOGENS (Private)
Dec 21 2009 - Dec 26 2014
IDENTIFICATION OF THE ETIOLOGICAL AGENT OF TILAPIA DISEASE IN THE LAKE OF GALILEE (Private)
Oct 1 2013 - Sep 30 2014
EVALUATION OF THE GUT MICROBIOME AND VIROME OF EARLY STAGES OF COLORECTAL CANCER IN HIGH-RISK PSC-IBD PATIENTS (FELLOW: LORENZO UCCELLINI) (Private)
Aug 1 2013 - Jul 31 2014
PATHOGENESIS AND PATHOGEN DISCOVERY IN CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME (Private)
Aug 2 2011 - Feb 28 2014
NORTHEAST BIODEFENSE CENTER - ADMIN CORE & SUBS (Federal Gov)
Sep 4 2003 - Feb 28 2014
PREDICT PATHOGEN DISCOVERY (Federal Gov)
Oct 1 2009 - Dec 31 2013
RAPID BROAD-SPECTRUM ANTI-MICROBIAL IMMUNITY BY PHAGE ANTIBODY DELIVERY AND SELECTIVE VH GERMLINE STIMULATION (Federal Gov)
Jul 15 2010 - Sep 30 2013
CCM NIH NON-BD BAT PROJECT (Federal Gov)
Jan 1 2009 - Aug 31 2013
RAPID IDENTIFICATION OF UNKNOWN PATHOGENS (Federal Gov)
Aug 22 2011 - Aug 21 2013
CCM NIH NON-BD BAT PROJECT (Federal Gov)
Jan 1 2009 - Jun 30 2013
CCM NIH NON-BD BAT PROJECT (Federal Gov)
Jan 1 2009 - Jun 30 2013
STAGED PATHOGEN DISCOVERY FOR STILLBIRTH STUDY (Federal Gov)
Jul 15 2011 - May 31 2013
ETIOLOGIES OF CHILDHOOD PNEUMONIA IN THE GAMBIA AND SOUTH AFRICA (Private)
Nov 1 2008 - Dec 31 2012
PFIZER ANIMAL HEALTH MASTER VETERINARY RESEARCH FOR NOVEL PATHOGENS (Private)
Dec 21 2009 - Dec 21 2012
GLOBAL PATHOGEN SURVEILLANCE AND DISCOVERY (Private)
Oct 1 2008 - Sep 30 2012
PREDICT PATHOGEN DISCOVERY (Federal Gov)
Oct 1 2009 - Sep 30 2012
PREDICT PATHOGEN DISCOVERY (Federal Gov)
Oct 1 2009 - Sep 30 2012
EVALUATION OF PATHOGENS AND PESTICIDES AFFECTING HONEY BEE HEALTH (Federal Gov)
Sep 28 2007 - Sep 3 2012
A SCALABLE TECHNOLOGY FOR MONITORING HEALTH STATUS AND SURVE YING INFECTIONS (Federal Gov)
Mar 1 2011 - Aug 31 2012
CONFIRMATION OF HARMFUL AGENTS BY MASSTAG PCR-RAPID SCREENING PROGRAM (Federal Gov)
Oct 4 2010 - Jun 20 2012
STANFORD RESEARCH PROGRAM - STV (Private)
Jul 15 2007 - Jun 15 2012
GENETICALLY DEFINED HERPES/RETROVIRUS SPF MACAQUES (Federal Gov)
Sep 17 2009 - Sep 16 2011
VIRAL ARRAYS FOR BIODEFENSE (Federal Gov)
Sep 1 2006 - Aug 31 2011
VIRAL ARRAYS FOR BIODEFENSE (Federal Gov)
Sep 1 2006 - Aug 31 2011
DEVELOPMENT OF COMPLEMENT MODULATING THERAPEUTICS FOR AGE-RE LATED MACULAR DEGENERATION (AMD) (Federal Gov)
Aug 1 2006 - Jul 31 2011
DEVELOPMENT OF COMPLEMENT MODULATING THERAPEUTICS FOR ACUTE MACULAR DEGENERATION (AMD) (Federal Gov)
Apr 1 2006 - Jul 31 2011
DEVELOPMENT OF COMPLEMENT MODULATING THERAPEUTICS FOR AGE-RE LATED MACULAR DEGENERATION (AMD) (Federal Gov)
Aug 1 2006 - Jul 31 2011
RAPID IDENTIFICATION OF UNKNOWN PATHOGENS (Federal Gov)
May 1 2010 - Feb 23 2011
PATHOGEN DISCOVERY IN CHRONIC LUNG DISEASE BY MASS TAG PCR A ND MICROARRAY (Federal Gov)
May 8 2006 - Apr 30 2010
RAPID IDENTIFICATION OF UNKNOWN PATHOGENS (Federal Gov)
Jun 26 2009 - Apr 30 2010
BIOINFORMATICS RESOURCE CENTERS FOR BIODEFENSE AND EMERGENCE /RE-EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES (Federal Gov)
Jun 30 2006 - Dec 31 2009
MASS TAG PCR DETECTION OF RESPIRATORY PATHOGENS (Federal Gov)
Sep 1 2004 - Aug 31 2009
NORTHEAST BIODEFENSE CENTER (Federal Gov)
Dec 31 2006 - Aug 16 2009
ADMINISTRATIVE CORE 2 - COLUMBIA (Federal Gov)
Mar 1 2007 - Feb 28 2009
COLUMBIA-AGILENT EVALUATION AGREEMENT FOR PATHOGEN DETECTION MICROARRAY APPLICATIONS (Private)
Feb 15 2008 - Aug 14 2008
STUDY OF PROGRESSIVE INFLAMMATORY NEUROPATHY (PIN) AMONG SWI NE SLAUGHTERHOUSE WORKERS (Federal Gov)
Apr 24 2008 - Jul 31 2008
PASSIVE IMMUNOTHERAPEUTICS IN WEST NILE VIRUS DISEASE (Federal Gov)
Sep 4 2003 - Feb 28 2008
HISTOLOGIC,MICROBIOLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR ANALYSES OF BOWEL DISEASE (Private)
Feb 10 2006 - Feb 9 2008
ADMINISTRATIVE CORE 2 - COLUMBIA (Federal Gov)
Mar 1 2006 - Feb 28 2007
DEVELOPMENTAND EVALUATION OF DNA MICROARRAYS FOR VIRAL DETECTION, SPECIATION AND DISCOVERY (Private)
Jun 1 2005 - May 31 2006
VIRAL TRIGGERS OF TYPE 1 DIABETES (Federal Gov)
Sep 30 2002 - Aug 31 2004