CUIMC Celebrates 2017-2018, Issue 4

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CUIMC CELEBRATES acknowledges faculty, staff, and students at Columbia University Irving Medical Center who receive major research grants, who earn prestigious honors, who are elected to honorary societies, or who take leadership positions in professional organizations. Celebrates also gratefully acknowledges the gifts made by donors and friends of the medical center and highlights faculty who have appeared in the news recently. If you have an award or honor that you would like to have listed in Celebrates, please fill out this online form. Please note: All federal grants are automatically included based on institutional data provided by Sponsored Projects Administration. For more information, send an e-mail to the Celebrates editor.

Looking for an older issue? The CUIMC Celebrates archive can be accessed at http://ps.columbia.edu/celebrates/.

Research Grants / Awards & Honors / Philanthropic Gifts / CUIMC in the News

RESEARCH GRANTS

$250,000 and above

VAGELOS COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS

R. Graham Barr, MD, DrPH, Medicine, will receive $2,179,460 over five years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “SPIROMICS II: Biological Underpinnings of COPD Heterogeneity and Progression.”

Uttiya Basu, PhD, Microbiology & Immunology, will receive $2,397,160 over five years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for “Long Noncoding RNA Expressing Genomic Element That Control Antibody Diversification and Chromosomal Integrity in B Cells.”

David J. Brenner, PhD, Center for Radiological Research, will receive $1,082,677 over two years from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority for “Biodosimetry After Radiologic and Nuclear Events.”

Andrea Califano, PhD, Systems Biology, will receive $573,514 over one year from the Price Family Foundation for “The Cancer Drug Combinations Initiative at the Broad - Phase II.”

Henry Colecraft, PhD, Physiology & Cellular Biophysics, will receive $1,607,868 over four years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Ubiquitin Regulation of K Channels in Health and Disease.”

Philip De Jager, MD, PhD, Neurology, will receive $626,935 over five years from the National Institute on Aging for “Identifying the Molecular Systems, Networks, and Key Molecules That Underlie Cognitive Resilience.”

Suzette Evans, PhD, Psychiatry, will receive $641,282 over four years from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for “Medication Development for Opioid and Alcohol Abuse: Laboratory Studies on Humans.”

William Fifer, PhD, Psychiatry, will receive $787,589 over two years from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for “Non-invasive Assessment of Fetal, Infant, and Toddler Neurodevelopment.”

Barry Fine, MD, PhD, Medicine, will receive $831,060 over five years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “The STK25 Signaling Pathway in Human Cardiac Cells.”

Michael Gershon, MD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $2,193,710 over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Microenvironment in Enteric Neuron Development” in a competitive renewal.

Eric Greene, PhD, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, will receive $738,876 over five years from the Wellcome Trust for “Mechanics and Execution of Homologous Recombination - Biophysics to the Organism.”

Lloyd Greene, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $1,956,935 over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Neuron Death in Parkinson’s Disease: The Role of Trib3” in a competitive renewal.

Rebecca Haeusler, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $345,000 over three years from the American Diabetes Association for “Bile Acid Composition and Glucose Metabolism.”

Arnold Han, MD, PhD, Medicine, will receive $300,000 over two years from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation for “Precision T Cell Receptor-Based Cancer Therapies.”

Dawn Hershman, MD, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, will receive $325,000 over one year from the Avon Foundation for “Breast Cancer Access to Care and Disparities Research Program.”

Eldad Hod, MD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $2,372,019 over four years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Neurocognitive Effects of Iron Deficiency in Blood Donors.”

Thomas Hooven, MD, Pediatrics, will receive $778,786 over four years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for “A Rationally Targeted Approach to Preventing GBS Infection.”

George Hripcsak, MD, Biomedical Informatics, will receive $450,312 over one year from the Food & Drug Administration for “FDA BEST: Develop New, Innovative Methods for Automation of Blood Product Adverse Event Reporting” and $450,312 over one year from the Food & Drug Administration for “FDA BEST: Blood and Blood Product Safety Surveillance.”

Edward Huey, MD, Taub Institute, will receive $620,299 over one year from the National Institute on Aging for “The Four Repeat Tauopathy Neuroimaging Initiative.”

Hilda Hutcherson, MD, VP&S Education, will receive $3,414,279 over five years from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for “CDC Undergraduate Public Health Scholars Program.”

David Lederer, MD, Medicine, will receive $3,240,595 over four years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Subclinical Lung Injury in Health and Disease.”

Rudolph Leibel, MD, Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center, will receive $1,271,810 over three years from Forkhead Biotherapeutics for “Forkhead Biotherapeutics SRA.”

Rogerio Lobo, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology, will receive $1,788,812 over five years from the National Institute on Aging for “Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease in Women: Risks and Benefits of Hormone Therapy.”

Chao Lu, PhD, Genetics & Development, will receive $747,000 over three years from the National Cancer Institute for “NSD1 Inactivation in Head and Neck Cancer.”

Jose Luchsinger, MD, Medicine, will receive $320,887 over five years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “Continuation of the Glycemia Reduction Approaches in Diabetes: A Comparative Effectiveness (GRADE) Study” in a competitive renewal.

Steven Marx, MD, and Andrew R. Marks, MD, Medicine, will receive $2,887,256 over four years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Exploring the Molecular Physiology of Atrial Fibrillation.”

Umrao Monani, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $532,700 over one year from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Spinal Muscular Atrophy: Mechanisms and Treatment Strategies.”

Andrew Moran, MD, Medicine, will receive $3,238,557 over four years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Patient Level Prediction of Clinical Outcomes and Cost-Effectiveness in SPRINT (Optimize-SPRINT).”

John Morrow, MD, Medicine, will receive $2,000,000 over five years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Molecular Mechanisms of Arrhythmia Caused by High-Fat Diet.”

Karthik Natarajan, PhD, Biomedical Informatics, will receive $1,322,688 over five years from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences for “Open Health Natural Language Processing Collaboratory.”

Konstantin Petrukhin, PhD, Ophthalmology, will receive $1,452,045 over three years from the National Eye Institute for “Pharmacological Treatment for Atrophic Age-Related Macular Degeneration Compounded by Common Forms of Age-Related Amyloid Disease.”

Anna Podolanczuk, MD, Medicine, will receive $858,060 over five years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Role of High-Density Lipoproteins in Interstitial Lung Disease.”

Li Qiang, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $2,000,000 over five years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “PPARgamma Deacetylation in the Restoration of Metabolic Homeostasis.”

Mishaela Rubin, MD, Medicine, will receive $453,472 over two years from the National Institute on Aging for “Skeletal Disease in Type 2 Diabetes: A Novel Therapeutic Approach for the Elderly.”

C. Daniel Salzman, MD, PhD, Neuroscience, will receive $3,562,391 over five years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Neurophysiology Underlying Neural Representations of Value” in a competitive renewal.

Michael Shen, PhD, Medicine, will receive $680,000 over five years from the National Cancer Institute for “Towards Understanding Prostate Cancer Heterogeneity.”

Ira Tabas, MD, PhD, and Robert Schwabe, MD, Medicine, will receive $2,656,552 over four years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “TAZ and YAP in Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis and its Complications.”

Nicholas Tatonetti, PhD, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, will receive $370,824 over five years from the National Cancer Institute for “Advanced Development and Dissemination of EMERSE for Cancer Phenotyping from Medical Records.”

Jennifer Woo Baidal, MD, Pediatrics, will receive $768,292 over four years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “Improving Diagnosis and Prevention of Pediatric Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.”

Ai Yamamoto, PhD, Neurology, will receive $630,000 over two years from the National Institute of  Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Identification of the Initial Cellular Site of Action of α-Synuclein in the Pathogenesis of Parkinson’s Disease in vivo.”

Gene Yocum, MD, Anesthesiology, will receive $831,060 over five years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “GABAA Receptor-Mediated Modulation of Lung Inflammation.”

Chaolin Zhang, PhD, Systems Biology, will receive $1,783,243 over four years from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences for “Single-Nucleotide-Resolution Mapping of Allelic Protein-RNA Interactions and Splicing Regulatory Variants.”

MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Andrea Baccarelli, MD, PhD, Environmental Health Sciences, will receive $1,802,297 over five years from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for “Air Particulate, Metals, and Cognitive Performance in an Aging Cohort—Roles of Circulating Extracellular Vesicles and Non-coding RNAs.”

Andrea Howard, MD, ICAP, will receive $252,016 over two years from the World Bank for “Southern Africa Tuberculosis and Health Systems Support (SATBHSS) Project.”

Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou, ScD, Environmental Health Sciences, will receive $1,819,818 over four years from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for “Principal Component Pursuit to Assess Exposure to Environmental Mixtures in Epidemiologic Studies.”

AWARDS & HONORS

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IRVING MEDICAL CENTER

Roy and Diana Vagelos Precision Medicine Pilot Awards

CUIMC faculty members on three projects won 2018 Roy and Diana Vagelos Precision Medicine Pilot Awards.

• Nicholas Arpaia, PhD, Microbiology & Immunology, “Programmable Probiotics for Personalized Cancer Immunotherapy”
• Tuuli Lappalainen, PhD, and Harmen Bussemaker, PhD, Systems Biology, “Elucidating the Tissue-Specific Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Disease Associations Through Integrative Analysis of Genetic Variation and Molecular Network Data”
• Utpal Pajvani, MD, PhD, Medicine, Dieter Egli, PhD, Pediatrics, and Domenico Accili, MD, Medicine, “Notch2 Polymorphisms as Predictors of Low β-Cell Mass and Increased Type 2-Diabetes Risk”

Presidential Scholars in Society and Neuroscience Seed Grants

CUIMC faculty members on two projects were awarded 2017 seed grants for interdisciplinary projects from the Presidential Scholars in Society and Neuroscience program.

• Sylvie Goldman, PhD, Neurology, and Michael Myers, PhD, Psychiatry, “Role of Music in Electrocortical and Autonomic Functions in Boys and Girls with Autism Spectrum Disorder”
• Virginia Rauh, ScD, Population & Family Health, “Establishing a Leading Role for Columbia University in the Development of Trauma-Informed Policy and Programs for New York City”

Center Stimulus Grant Competition

CUIMC faculty members on two projects won the 2018 Center Stimulus Grant competition administered by the Office of the Executive Vice President for Research.

• Gerard Karsenty, PhD, Genetics & Development, and Andrew R. Marks, MD, Physiology & Cellular Biophysics, “Center for MechanoMedicine”
• Thomas Vaughan, PhD, Radiology, Rui Costa, DVM, PhD, Neuroscience, Rachel Marsh, PhD, Psychiatry, Elizabeth Hecht, MD, Radiology, and Christoph Juchem, PhD, Radiology, “Columbia Magnetic Resonance Research Center”

Columbia Biomedical Technology Accelerator

CUIMC members on eight projects were awarded 2017 funding from the Columbia Biomedical Technology Accelerator.

• Swarnali Acharyya, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, “Microchip With Tumor-Organoid-and-Blood-Vessel to Screen Drug Efficacy and Toxicity”
• Christine Denny, PhD, Michael Grunebaum, MD, and Rebecca Brachman, PhD, Psychiatry, “Aision: Prophylactic Drugs to Prevent the Development of Stress-Induced Mood and Anxiety Disorders”
• Kevin Kalinsky, MD, Medicine, “OncoShell: A Rapid Functional Test of Breast Cancer Drug Sensitivity”
• Alexander Kushnir, MD, PhD, Medicine, “inSensor: Novel Device for Reducing Pulmonary Complications by Improving Compliance with Incentive Spirometer Use”
• Elisa Konofagou, PhD, Radiology, and Elaine Wan, MD, Medicine, “VISIBLATE: Real-Time Assessment of Ablation Lesions During Catheter Ablation of Cardiac Arrhythmias”
• Laura Levin, MD, Dermatology, “Conform-a-Care: Elasticated, Contouring Wound Dressing for Optimal Wound Care”
• Elizabeth Shane, MD, Medicine, “MicrOA: A MicroCT-Based Structural Analysis System to Monitor and Assess Osteoarthritis”
• Holly Wobma, MD/PhD candidate, Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, PhD, Medicine, and Markus Mapara, MD, Medicine, “IMMPLACATE: Stem Cell Therapy to Reduce Morbidity and Mortality From Graft-vs-Host-Disease in Bone Marrow Transplant Patients”

VAGELOS COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS

Schaefer Research Scholars

Four research scientists were selected as 2018 Schaefer Research Scholars. The program supports research scientists whose work focuses on human physiology.

• Alberto Ciccia, PhD, Genetics & Development, “Analysis of Clinically Relevant Gene Variants Using CRISPR-Mediated Base Editing”
• Harris Wang, PhD, Systems Biology, “Systematic Dissection of Xenobiotic Metabolism by the Gut Microbiome”
• Baojie Li, PhD, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics visiting scholar, “The Identity and Function of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Subgroups”
• Maria Concetta Miniaci, MD, Psychiatry visiting scholar, “Imaging Noradrenergic Synaptic Function at Cerebellar Synapses During Behavior” 

Virginia Apgar Academy of Medical Educators

Eight faculty members were inducted into the Apgar Academy, a community of educators at VP&S dedicated to promoting, rewarding, and supporting outstanding education for medical students, residents, fellows, and faculty.

• Subani Chandra, MD, Medicine
• Vivette D’Agati, MD, Pathology & Cell Biology
• Alyson Fox, MD, Medicine
• Usha Krishnan, MD, Pediatrics
• Owen Lewis, MD, Psychiatry
• Mary Marron-Corwin, MD, Pediatrics
• Cindy Roskind, MD, Pediatrics
• Helen Towers, MD, Pediatrics

Other Honors

Christopher Ahmad, MD, Orthopedic Surgery, received the James R. Andrews Award for Excellence from the American Sports Medicine Institute for his contributions to baseball sports medicine.

Nadeen Chahine, PhD, Orthopedic Surgery, received a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation for “Effect of Inflammation on Biomechanical Properties of Intervertebral Disc Cells.” The CAREER program offers the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.

Hilda Fernandez, MD, Medicine, received the M. Irené Ferrer Scholar Award from the VP&S Department of Medicine and the Foundation for Gender-Specific Medicine, which supports research into medical differences between males and females.

Jianing Fu, PhD, Medicine, received a 2018 International Transplantation Science Mentee-Mentor Award from the Transplantation Society for “Clonal and Functional Analysis Reveals the Capacity of Allograft T-Cells to Join the Circulating Pool After Human Intestinal Transplantation.”

Joshua Hyman, MD, Orthopedic Surgery, will receive the Arthur Huene Award from the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America for “Evaluating the Role of Patellar Realignment in Patients with Cerebral Palsy.”

Alison Lenet, MD, Psychiatry, was named a 2017-18 National Neuroscience Curriculum Initiative Scholar.

Chao Lu, PhD, Genetics & Development, is one of six recipients of the Damon Runyon-Dale F. Frey Award for Breakthrough Scientists.

Marlon Lowe, Institute of Comparative Medicine, received the Manager of the Year Award from the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science, New York Metro Branch.

Claudia Lugo-Candelas, PhD, Psychiatry, was awarded the Columbia University-University of Glasgow Research Exchange Award.

Eliza C. Miller, MD, Neurology, received the Robert G. Siekert New Investigator Award in Stroke from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for her ongoing work to uncover stroke risk factors for pregnant women with preeclampsia.

Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, DPhil, Medicine, delivered a keynote address at the Yale Law School conference “The Policy, Politics, and Law of Cancer.” Dr. Mukherjee also was named the 2018 commencement speaker for the University of Southern California.

Robert H. Remien, PhD, Psychiatry, delivered the mental health plenary talk “Addressing Mental Health: A Crucial Component to Ending the HIV Epidemic” at the 2018 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.

Benjamin Roye, MD, Orthopedic Surgery, will receive the Arthur Huene Award from the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America for “Bracing for AIS: What Makes the Difference? Examining the Reciprocity of Quality and Duration.”

David S. Seres, MD, Medicine, was named section editor for nutrition of the medical resource UpToDate.

Poonam Velagapudi, MD, Medicine, was selected for the two-year Leadership Academy of the American College of Cardiology.

Brett Youngerman, MD, Neurological Surgery, was appointed to the Joint Washington Committee for Neurological Surgery.

MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

The paper “Ambient Fine Particulate Matter, Outdoor Temperature, and Risk of Metabolic Syndrome” by Andrea Baccarelli, MD, PhD, Environmental Health Sciences, was selected as a 2017 Article of the Year by the American Journal of Epidemiology and the Society for Epidemiologic Research.

Linda P. Fried, MD, MPH, dean, received the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award of the International Congress of Frailty and Sarcopenia and delivered a keynote address at the annual conference.

Sharon K. Greene, PhD, Epidemiology, received first prize in the 2018 Outstanding Research Articles in Biosurveillance Awards, scientific achievement category, from the International Society for Disease Surveillance for “Daily Reportable Disease Spatiotemporal Cluster Detection, New York City, New York, USA, 2014-2015.”

Research by Nicole Schupf, PhD, DrPH, Epidemiology, about older mothers and healthy cellular aging was the topic of 2017’s most popular article in the Member Research and Reports section of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health’s “Friday Letter” newsletter.

Rachel Shelton, ScD, Sociomedical Sciences, will receive the C. Tracy Orleans Distinguished Service Award from the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) in recognition of her dedication and contributions to SBM as a board member. Dr. Shelton also was named an editorial board member for the journal Health Education & Behavior for a three-year term beginning March 2018.

COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE

The College of Dental Medicine was awarded the ADEA/ADEAGies Foundation Dental Research Scholarship, given every two years by the American Dental Education Association to an academic institution with an exceptional commitment to promoting student dental research. The award will support research in the areas of data science and bioinformatics in oral health.

Ling He, DDS, PhD, Center for Craniofacial Regeneration, received the Young Investigator Award from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons at the Optimizing Clinical Use of Biologics in Orthopaedic Surgery 2018 Research Symposium.

Dennis Mitchell, DDS, Population Oral Health, was elected to the board of directors of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, the most pre-eminent voice for diversity in higher education in the United States.

Fatemeh Momen-Heravi, DDS, PhD, Oral, Diagnostic, & Rehabilitation Sciences, received the 2017 American Academy of Periodontology Educator Scholarship, which is awarded to periodontics postdoctoral students on the basis of academic accomplishments and dedication to a future academic career.

Dana L. Wolf, DMD, Oral, Diagnostic, & Rehabilitation Sciences, was selected to be a 2018-19 American Dental Education Association Leadership Institute Fellow. This prestigious year-long program is designed to develop the nation’s most promising individuals at academic dental institutions to become future leaders in dental and higher education.

SCHOOL OF NURSING 

Suzanne Bakken, PhD, Scholarship & Research, will be inducted into the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame at the 29th International Nursing Research Congress in July.

PHILANTHROPIC GIFTS

VAGELOS COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS

A family made a pledge of $7,000,000 to establish a center to support collaboration in medical research and education among VP&S and major medical institutions in China.

A family foundation made a pledge of $1,201,062 to advance research in the Department of Neurology.

A donor made a $1,009,220 contribution to the MDS-Leukemia Stem Cell Research Center at Columbia University Irving Medical Center to advance clinical and basic research in myelodysplastic syndrome and leukemia.

A donor made a bequest of $1,000,000 to provide scholarship support to the Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons.

A donor made a bequest of $1,000,000 to support scholarships at the Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons.

A foundation made a $659,456 contribution to the Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation to advance research to help children and adolescents with cancer and hematologic disorders.

A family foundation made a gift of $558,906 to advance research and care in the Department of Pediatrics.

A donor made a $500,000 contribution to support the research of postdoctoral students at the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior.

A family foundation made a $450,000 pledge to the Division of Mental Health Services and Policy Research and a $100,000 contribution to the Global Mental Health Program.

A donor made a pledge of $300,000 to the Department of Neurology to support the training of residents specializing in pediatric epilepsy.

A family made a contribution of $300,000 to provide scholarship support to the Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons.

A foundation made a $250,000 contribution to the Department of Ophthalmology to advance vitreoretinal research in the retinal imaging lab and enrich professional development through the Residency Wellness Program.

A family foundation made a $250,000 gift to the Department of Ophthalmology to advance research on retinal diseases and disorders.

A donor made a $250,000 pledge to the Pulmonary Hypertension Comprehensive Care Center to advance research and care for advanced lung failure and cardiopulmonary vascular disease.

A bequest of $250,000 was realized to provide professorship support to the Department of Dermatology.

A foundation made a $250,000 pledge to the 250th Anniversary Scholarship Campaign to provide scholarship support to the Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons.

A donor made a $238,970 contribution to support the 2017 Crown Awards Gala.

A donor made a gift of $211,000 to the Department of Psychiatry’s Center of Prevention and Evaluation.

An organization made a $200,000 pledge to the Department of Pediatrics to advance research in pediatric cardiomyopathy.

A donor made a $150,000 pledge to provide professorship support to the Department of Neurology.

A donor made a $105,442 gift to the Department of Medicine to advance research in multiple myeloma and amyloidosis research.

A donor made a pledge of $102,500 to the Department of Medicine to advance research in multiple myeloma and amyloidosis research.

A donor made a $100,000 contribution toward the establishment of a professorship in the Department of Neurology.

A donor made a gift of $100,000 toward the establishment of a professorship in the Division of Pediatric Cardiology.

A donor made a pledge of $100,000 to provide scholarship support to the Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons.

A family foundation made a gift of $100,000 to support research at the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain.

A foundation made a pledge of $100,000 to the Division of Neonatology and Perinatology to support the Neonatal Comfort Care Program.

A donor made a gift of $100,000 to the Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases to advance clinical research in Barrett’s esophagus and dysplasia.

An organization made a $100,000 pledge to advance research and care in the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.

An anonymous donor made a $100,000 contribution to advance research at the Department of Rehabilitation & Regenerative Medicine.

A donor made a pledge of $100,000 to the Department of Psychiatry to establish a lectureship fund in the Division of Behavioral Health Sciences and Policy Research.

MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

An individual made a pledge of $375,000 to create a knowledge and faculty exchange program in public health with Columbia’s Mailman School and Mumbai Global Center.

An organization made a gift of $100,000 to support research in the Department of Epidemiology.

SCHOOL OF NURSING

A friend of the School of Nursing made a gift of $100,000 to support student scholarships.

CUIMC IN THE NEWS

AHA: Lesbian and Gay Adults Should Take Heed of Their Heart Health

The Philadelphia Inquirer | March 21, 2018

Dr. Billy A. Caceres, a practicing nurse and postdoctoral research fellow at Columbia University School of Nursing in New York City, said the results of the new study confirm previous findings that LGB young adults are more susceptible to heart disease and stroke than their straight peers. Caceres is the lead author of a 2017 review article of studies that looked at cardiovascular disease risk among sexual minority adults.

Gun Violence Can be Reduced by Clearing Vacant Lots, Study Finds

The Philadelphia Inquirer | Feb. 26, 2018

Study authors said greening vacant lots would not prevent mass shootings such as the Parkland, Fla., slaying of 17 teens and adults on Feb. 14. But it could reduce the day-to-day urban gun violence that accounts for the bulk of U.S. homicides, said lead author Charles C. Branas, chair of the epidemiology department at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

How Ultraviolet Light Could Be Used to Fight the Flu

CBS News | Feb. 12, 2018

Dr. David Brenner, the director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University, and a team are testing whether a certain type of ultraviolet light can kill the flu virus in the air. UV light is already used as a germ killer, but conventional UV light can penetrate and damage ­the skin and also cause cataracts. A certain type of UV light called far-UVC, however, can't get past the top layer of the skin or the tear layer of the eyes.

A Perfect Storm for Broken Bones

The New York Times | Feb. 12, 2018

A number of factors may have contributed to the downward trend in hip fractures that ended in 2012, according to Dr. Ethel Siris, a co-author of the new study and director of the Toni Stabile Osteoporosis Center of the Columbia University Medical Center in New York. “The population may be getting healthier, people are doing more exercise and may be more careful about falling,” she suggested in an interview. But most likely a leading factor, she and her co-authors believe, was the introduction in 1995 of the drug Fosamax, a bisphosphonate that slows or prevents the loss of bone density, resulting in stronger bones.

Columbia Launches New Epic-Enabled Center for Precision Dental Medicine

Healthcare IT News | Feb. 8, 2018

Christian Stohler, dean of the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, said the new center will deploy “digital technology and information science to stretch the boundaries of dental research, relating oral care to overall health care, and putting the ‘mouth back into the body.’

Visit http://newsroom.cumc.columbia.edu/headlines/ to see more top-tier media headlines or subscribe to the CUIMC Weekly Media Report to receive a broader compilation of media appearances via email each week.

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