Andrew B. Lassman, MD Appointed Vice Dean of Clinical Trials at VP&S

Dear Colleagues, 

I am very pleased to share that Andrew B. Lassman, MD, MS, has taken on a newly formed role as vice dean of clinical trials at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Dr. Lassman, professor of neurology, will continue in his current roles as vice chair for clinical research in the Department of Neurology, chief of the Division of Neuro-Oncology, and associate director for clinical trials at the NCI-designated Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC). In his new role as vice dean, Dr. Lassman will further develop and support VP&S’s infrastructure for clinical trials, both at HICCC and across new areas, expanding the responsibilities of his former role as associate dean of clinical research compliance. With Dr. Lassman’s leadership, we aim to expand and optimize VP&S’s clinical trial footprint to position Columbia as a premier site globally for scientifically impactful and medically meaningful clinical trials.

Dr. Lassman has internationally renowned expertise as a translational clinical trialist for brain tumors, focused on experimental therapeutics. He has served as principal investigator for more than 50 brain cancer clinical trials, including multicenter prospective trials conducted through the National Cancer Institute (NCI) sponsored National Clinical Trials Networks, with partnerships across both NCI and industry. He has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed publications, including 14 widely adopted clinical guidelines. He is recognized as a fellow of both the American Academy of Neurology (FAAN) and American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO), and has received clinical research awards from the Society for Neuro-Oncology and the European Association of Neuro-Oncology.

In addition to his grounding as a clinical trialist, Dr. Lassman has in-depth experience with clinical trial oversight and infrastructure. He is the Columbia University Irving Medical Center institutional signatory official on the Federal Wide Assurance for the protection of human subjects. With partners across CUIMC, Dr. Lassman oversaw the creation and expansion of a successful trial hub, the Clinical Protocol and Data Management Office (CPDM) in the HICCC, a central unit of 125 full-time research employees who support the execution of oncology clinical trials from pilots through phase III, and cancer prevention and control studies across the full spectrum of human tumors. His team has developed over 100 standard operating procedures at HICCC to increase efficiencies and shorten activation times for trials. 

Building on the success of the CPDM, Dr. Lassman will partner closely with investigators and research teams across VP&S clinical departments, and within our research centers and institutes, to review how trials are launched, supported, and managed. Working with our robust ecosystem of researchers and clinical research staff, he will identify opportunities to streamline processes, strengthen shared infrastructure and services, and ensure teams have the resources and operational support needed to run high-quality, efficient clinical trials. His new role will be essential in advancing the vision of the Columbia Initiative for Cell Engineering and Therapy as well as other areas of innovation in the development of diagnostics and therapeutics at VP&S.

After earning his medical degree from Columbia, Dr. Lassman completed his internal medicine internship at Mount Sinai in New York, his neurology residency at NewYork-Presbyterian/CUIMC, and his neuro-oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he subsequently joined the faculty and directed the fellowship program, mentoring trainees who now hold prominent faculty appointments globally.

With today’s evolving federal funding landscape for research, our goal is to broaden and strengthen funding through different avenues, including new partnerships with philanthropy, state funding, and industry. Expanding VP&S’s capacity for clinical trials, including industry-supported clinical trials—both industry-sponsored and investigator-sponsored with industry support—will advance work towards this goal, while also creating exciting opportunities for cutting-edge scientific discovery to advance human health.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Lassman on his new role. 

All my best,

Katrina Armstrong, MD 

Dean, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Executive Vice President for Health and Biomedical Sciences