Compassion, Discovery, and Care: Celebrating the VP&S Class of 2026
Surrounded by family, mentors, and classmates, nearly 200 graduates of Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons crossed the stage on May 20 to receive their MD or PhD degree, marking the culmination of years of rigorous training.
The ceremony in The Armory honored 134 students who received MD degrees from VP&S and 61 students who received PhD degrees in biomedical sciences from Columbia’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
VP&S Dean Katrina Armstrong began the ceremony by addressing the new graduates: “You have earned your place in a profession defined not only by extraordinary knowledge and skills but most importantly by three critical values… compassion, courage, and integrity… values that reach back centuries.”
Integrity, to always act in the best interest of patients, of medicine, of science, Armstrong said, can be hard.
VP&S Dean Katrina Armstrong: “You have earned your place in a profession defined not only by extraordinary knowledge and skills but most importantly by three critical values… compassion, courage, and integrity… values that reach back centuries.”
“Standing up for what is right is too often lonely, risky, and unpopular. And yet it is that inner moral compass that you will need at the hard times, that will guide you when the path is unclear, and that will show you what it really means to be a doctor and a scientist. Please take care of that compass. It matters.”
Physician and educator Joia Mukherjee, associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and associate professor of global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School, was selected by the class to deliver the graduation address. From 2000 to 2025, Mukherjee was chief medical officer of Partners In Health, which provides high-quality medical care in resource-poor settings while working hand-in-hand with local governments to strengthen health systems.
Graduation speaker Joia Mukherjee told the graduates: "Use your compassion to feel the suffering and the joy of your patients."
“Commencements embody hope, the radical act of beginning, of starting a new phase of one’s life,” Mukherjee began. “I am deeply honored that you chose me to speak to you this day."
The graduates, Mukerjee said, have a vital role to play in restoring trust that is broken in our society and upholding compassion. “Use your knowledge to fight the cloak of darkness and cynicism. With enlightened knowledge, use your compassion to feel the suffering and the joy of your patients.
“Medicine, in the end, is about healing, and I believe as we heal our patients, I do believe that we can heal a broken world. As you take your solemn oath today, I know that each of you will, as Howard Zinn said, “act in defiance of all that is bad around us to be part of the marvelous victory that is human enlightenment and compassion.”
The ceremony ended with a 2,000-year old tradition, the recitation by the new physicians of a Hippocratic Oath drafted by the class during their first week of medical school.
Graduation and Commencement Awards
This year’s VP&S graduation ceremony included the presentation of the Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons Distinguished Service Awards, the highest honor the medical school bestows. This year's honorees are Rafael Lantigua, MD, professor emeritus of medicine, and Anne Taylor, MD, professor emerita of medicine.
During the ceremony, Anne Taylor (left) and Rafael Lantigua received the medical school's highest honor, the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons Distinguished Service Award.
Since his arrival at VP&S in 1980, Lantigua has been integral to the foundation of many organizations devoted to championing the quality of life of minority patients and was consistently recognized for his teaching and clinical excellence. During her time at Columbia, Taylor led a transformation of the institution's approach to faculty engagement, inclusion, and belonging through the creation of the Office of Academic Affairs and the Virginia Kneeland Frantz Society.
Several other VP&S faculty members received awards at the VP&S ceremony for teaching, research, or humanism:
- Carlos Pagan, associate professor of pathology and cell biology: Charles W. Bohmfalk Award, for teaching in the pre-clinical years
- Comana Cioroiu, assistant professor of neurology: Charles W. Bohmfalk Award, for teaching in the clinical years
- Lorna Dove, professor of medicine (in surgery): Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation
- Eunhee Choi, assistant professor of pathology and cell biology: Doctor Harold and Golden Lamport Research Award (Basic Sciences)
- Jason Zucker, assistant professor of medicin: Doctor Harold and Golden Lamport Research Award (Clinical Sciences)
- Trudi S. Cloyd, associate professor of emergency medicine: Distinguished Teacher Award from the Class of 2026
Columbia University also recognized several VP&S students, faculty members, and alumni for their contributions to the medical school and the university:
- Sidney Saint-Hilaire, Class of 2026, received a Campbell Award, presented annually to a graduating student at each school who shows exceptional leadership and Columbia spirit as exemplified by the late Bill Campbell, University Trustee Chair Emeritus and co-founder of the Columbia Alumni Association.
- Paula Bernd, professor of pathology and cell biology, received a Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching, given to faculty and graduate student instructors who have influenced the intellectual development of Columbia students.
- Neil Freeman, VP&S Class of 1985, received an Alumni Medalist Award from the Columbia Alumni Association, in recognition of his distinguished service to the university. Freeman is chair of radiology at St. Mary’s General Hospital and St. Michael’s Medical Center New Jersey and is the Class of 1985’s co-chair.