CUIMC Celebrates 2019-20, Issue 5

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.  

Starting in August 2020, grants, awards, and honors will be included in a new email newsletter called CUIMC Update. Federal grants will continue to be included based on institutional data provided by Sponsored Projects Administration.

Past issues of CUIMC Celebrates can be found in the archive.

Contents

Research Grants

Awards & Honors

Philanthropic Gifts

RESEARCH GRANTS

New awards of $250,000 and above received through March 2020

VAGELOS COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS

Marwah Abdalla, MD, Medicine, will receive $3,797,501 over five years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Automated Clinic Blood Pressure Assessment and Detection of White Coat and Masked Hypertension Study in African Americans.”

Swarnali Acharyya, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $600,000 over three years from the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance for “Prolonging Cancer Patient Survival by Targeting Both Metastasis and Cachexia.”

Dritan Agalliu, PhD, Neurology, will receive $635,264 over three years from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society for “Endothelial Wnt Signaling in CNS Neo-Angiogenesis and Blood-Brain Barrier in EAE/MS” in a competitive renewal.

Brett Anderson, MD, Pediatrics, will receive $1,661,118 over one year from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Linking State Medicaid and Congenital Heart Surgical Registry Data: Building Capacity to Assess Disparities in Longitudinal Outcomes and Value for Children with Congenital Heart Disease.”

Nicholas Arpaia, PhD, Microbiology & Immunology, will receive $434,300 over two years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for “Role of T Cell-Derived Amphiregulin in Recovery from Influenza Virus Infection.”

Michael Avissar, MD, PhD, Psychiatry, will receive $962,280 over five years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Mechanistic Clinical Trial of Individualized tDCS for Hallucinations in Schizophrenia.”

Luke Benvenuto, MD, Medicine, will receive $436,800 over three years from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for “Improving Lung Transplant for Cystic Fibrosis Patients.”

Bernard Chang, MD, PhD, and Ari Shechter, PhD, Emergency Medicine, will receive $3,908,046 over five years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “The Identification of Modifiable Emergency Department and Sleep Factors Contributing to Psychological and Cardiovascular Risk in Clinicians.”

Alejandro Chavez, MD, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $807,249 over two years from the Army Medical Research and Materiel Command for “Identifying ALS Therapeutics Through Multiplexed Drug Discovery Technologies.”

Lauren Chernick, MD, Medicine, will receive $445,500 over two years from the National Institute of Nursing Research for “A Digital Intervention to Improve the Sexual and Reproductive Health of Male Adolescent Emergency Department Patients.”

Iok In Christine Chio, PhD, Genetics & Development, will receive $1,831,371 over five years from the National Cancer Institute for “NRF2-Dependent Redox Signaling in Pancreatic Cancer.”

Stephanie Cosentino, PhD, and Joseph Lee, MD, Taub Institute, will receive $7,749,270 over five years from the National Institute on Aging for a subaward of “The Long Life Family Study: Columbia University.”

Liz Chuchun Chang, PhD, Pediatrics, will receive $1,853,099 over five years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “Synergistic Effects of Medium-Chain and Omega-3 Triglycerides on Cellular Omega-3 Fatty Acid Enrichment: Characterization, Mechanisms, and Optimization.”

Jianing Fu, PhD, Medicine, will receive $324,000 over two years from the Army Medical Research and Materiel Command for “Single Cell Immune Profiling of Alloreactive T cells Locally and Systemically in Patients Receiving Intestinal Transplantation.”

Joji Fujisaki, MD, PhD, Medicine, will receive $1,702,172 over four years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “Identification of Unique Nitric Oxide-Expressing Hematopoietic Stem Cells and Their Special Vascular Niche.”

Jean Gautier, PhD, Genetics & Development, will receive $8,913,945 over five years from the National Cancer Institute for “DNA Double-Strand Break Repair, Chromosomes Translocations, and Cancer.”

Ragy Girgis, MD, Psychiatry, will receive $276,123 over three years from the National Institute of Mental Health for a subaward of “A Translational and Neurocomputational Evaluation of a D1R Partial Agonist for Schizophrenia.”

Stephen Goff, PhD, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, will receive $2,532,146 over five years from the National Cancer Institute for “Mechanisms of Silencing of Retroviral DNAs in Embryonic Cell Lines” and $445,500 over two years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for “Role of Heme Oxygenase 2 in Trafficking and Regulation of Myristoylated Proteins.”

Robert Goldenberg, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology, will receive $549,864 over three years from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for a subaward of “A-PLUS Trial: Multi-site Efficacy and Safety Trial of Intrapartum Azithromycin in LMICs.”

Eric Greene, PhD, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, will receive $1,943,722 over five years from the National Cancer Institute for “Defining the Contributions of BRCA1, BRCA2, and RAD52 to Genome Stability.”

Yian Gu, MD, PhD, Taub Institute, will receive $3,272,548 over five years from the National Institute on Aging for “Diet and Cognition within a Reserve Framework.”

Rebecca Haeusler, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $345,000 over three years from the American Diabetes Association for “Bile Acids and Intestinal Lipid Sensing.”

Dawn Hershman, MD, Medicine, will receive $600,000 over three years from the Komen (Susan G.) Breast Cancer Foundation for “Medication Reminder Application to Improve Medication Adherence in Women with Breast Cancer.”

David Ho, MD, Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, will receive $2,124,192 over two years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for “Quantifying Effector Functions of Anti-HIV 1gG1 Antibodies in Vivo.” Dr. Ho also will receive $1,797,728 over two years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for “Bispecific and Trispecific Anti-Env Antibodies for Eliminating HIV Reservoir Cells.”

Inbal Israely, PhD, Taub Institute, will receive $1,887,230 over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Understanding How Activity Drives Diverse Spine Structural Interactions.”

Benjamin Izar, MD, PhD, Medicine, will receive $700,000 over five years from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund for “Career Award for Medical Scientist.” Dr. Izar also will receive $545,229 over four years from National Cancer Institute for a subaward of “Systems Pharmacology of Therapeutic and Adverse Responses to Immune Checkpoint and Small Molecule Drugs.”

David Kalfa, MD, PhD, Surgery, will receive $300,000 over three years from the American Heart Association for “In Vitro and in Vivo Mechanical Stability and Growth of a Bio-Hybrid Heart Valve.”

Tuuli Lappalainen, PhD, and Harmen Bussemaker, PhD, Systems Biology, will receive $3,814,202 over five years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Integrative Analysis of Genetic Variation and Transcription Factor Networks to Elucidate Mechanisms of Mental Health Disorders.”

Dana Levin, MD, Emergency Medicine, will receive $595,094 over two years from NASA for “NASA Johnson Space Center- Intergovernmental Personnel Agreement (IPA).”

Guohua Li, DrPH, MD, Anesthesiology, will receive $417,977 over two years from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for “Injuries in Children with Autism.”

Shawn Liu, PhD, Physiology & Cellular Biophysics, will receive $734,735 over one year from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Role of the Rett Syndrome-Causing Gene MeCP2 in 3D Chromosomal Organization and Rescue of Cellular Disease Phenotypes.”

Franklin Lowy, MD, Medicine and Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $419,518 over two years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for “The Molecular Epidemiology of Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremias During the Opioid Epidemic: A New York Region Perspective.”

Rebecca Muhle, MD, Psychiatry, will receive $308,170 over one year from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Mapping Regulatory Networks of Autism Risk at Cellular Resolution During Neurodevelopment.”

Karthik Natarajan, PhD, Biomedical Informatics, will receive $452,702 over one year from the Food & Drug Administration for a subaward of “Conduct Surveillance Activities for Safety and Effectiveness of Biologics.”

Jennifer Oberg, EdD, Pediatrics, will receive $250,000 over one year from the Tristate Precision Medicine Program for Children with High-Risk Cancers for “Tristate Precision Medicine Program for Children with High-Risk Cancers.”

Max O’Donnell, MD, Medicine, will receive $468,057 over two years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for “Targeted Next-Generation Sequencing to Enhance Detection and Genomic Characterization of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis and High-Impact Bacterial Pathogens Among HIV-Infected Adults with Sepsis in Uganda.”

Ruth Ottman, PhD, and Karolynn Siegel, PhD, Sergievsky Center, will receive $14,834,209 over four years from the National Institute on Aging for “Impacts of Receiving Alzheimer's Disease Genetic Risk Information Among Latinos in Northern Manhattan.”

Edward Owusu-Ansah, PhD, Physiology, will receive $392,040 over two years from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases for “Genetic Dissection of OXPHOS Assembly in Skeletal Muscles.”

Livio Pellizzoni, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $2,361,495 over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targeting of Motor Neuron Death in SMA.”

Vincent Racaniello, PhD, Microbiology & Immunology, will receive $445,500 over two years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for “Identifying Quantitative Trait Loci that Regulate Enterovirus D68 Pathogenesis Using the Collaborative Cross.”

Lawrence Schwartz, MD, Radiology, will receive $3,537,882 over five years from the National Cancer Institute for “Clinical Qualification of Imaging and Fluid-Based Tumor Monitoring Biomarkers for Metastatic Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer.”

Alondra Schweizer Burguete, PhD, Neurology, will receive $300,000 over three years from the ALS Association for “Determining the Effects of Hexanucleotide Repeat Expansion on RNA Localization and Local Translation.”

Steven Shea, MD, Medicine, will receive $1,926,738 over seven years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “MESA IV Contract.”

Neil Shneider, MD, PhD, Neurology, will receive $650,000 over one year from the ALS Association for “Expanded Access to the FUS-ASO, Jacifusen for the Treatment of Mutant FUS-Associated ALS.”

Lawrence Stanberry, MD, PhD, Pediatrics, will receive $400,000 over two years from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for “CHAMPS Impact Fund: Hospital Infection Survey/Pan-African Neonatal Care Assessment Survey (PANCAS).”

Megan Sykes, MD, Medicine, will receive $1,363,271 over five years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for “Training in Translational Immunology Research” and $15,000,000 over three years from Xeno Holdings for “NewCo Proposal.”

Helen Turner, PhD, Center for Radiological Research, will receive $2,423,842 over five years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for “Development of FAST-DOSE Assay System for the Rapid Assessment of Acute Radiation Exposure, Individual Radiosensitivity and Injury in Victims for a Large-Scale Radiological Incident.”

Richard Vallee, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $1,429,372 over four years from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences for “Role of RILP in Autophagy”, and, with Wendy Chung, MD, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $3,225,599 over four years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Role of the Kinesin KIF1A in Neurological Disease.”

Badri Vardarajan, PhD, and Richard Mayeux, MD, Sergievsky Center, will receive $299,773 over three years from the National Institute on Aging for a subaward of “Additional Sequencing Cohorts for the Alzheimer’s Disease Sequencing Project.”

Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele, MD, Psychiatry, will receive $2,433,785 over five years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Translational Research Training in Child Psychiatry.”

Elaine Wan, MD, Medicine, will receive $2,025,000 over five years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Understanding the Role of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Cardiac arrhythmias using a novel 3D panoramic optical mapping system.”

Hynek Wichterle, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $1,887,687 over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Transcriptional Control of Motor Neuron Maturation.”

Jennifer Woo Baidal, MD, Pediatrics, will receive $2,944,020 over one year from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities for “LINC: Leveraging IT for Neighborhoods in Childhood.”

Xueling Wu, PhD, Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, will receive $726,717 over one year from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for “Novel HIV-1 Env Trimer Probes for Efficient Isolation of Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies.”

Masahiro Yamashita, PhD, Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, will receive $2,356,097 over four years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for “Single-Cell Analysis of HIV-1 Production and Transmission.”

Xin Zhang, PhD, Ophthalmology, will receive $1,620,000 over four years from the National Eye Institute for “Mechanism of Csk Signaling in Lacrimal Gland Morphogenesis.” Dr. Zhang also will receive $2,025,00 over five years from the National Eye Institute for “Signaling Mechanisms in Lens Development” in a competitive renewal.

MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Simon Anthony, PhD, Center for Infection & Immunity, will receive $2,084,346 over four years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for “Genetic and Ecological Determinants of Coronavirus Recombination.”

Alwyn Cohall, MD, Sociomedical Sciences, will receive $2,350,000 over five years from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for “National Network of Sexually Transmitted Diseases Clinical Prevention Training Centers (NNPTC).”

Lynn Freedman, JD, MPH, Population & Family Health, will receive $299,250 over two years from the United Nations Population Fund for “2019 and 2020 AMDD Work Plan.”

Jessica Justman, MD, ICAP, will receive $335,802 over one year from Gilead Sciences for “Making PrEP Smart.”

Katherine Keyes, PhD, and Jeffrey Shaman, PhD, Epidemiology, will receive $3,213,752 over five years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Suicide as a Contagion: Modeling and Forecasting Emergent Outbreaks.”

Eliza Kinsey, PhD, Epidemiology, will receive $261,396 over two years from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for “Impacts of Early Life Food Insecurity on Child Obesity and Cognitive Development Trajectories.”

Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou, PhD, Environmental Health Sciences, will receive $2,783,359 over four years from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for “Integrating Air Pollution Prediction Models: Uncertainty Quantification and Propagation in Health Studies.”

Faustin Malele Bazola, MD, ICAP, will receive $1,053,571 over one year from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for a subaward of “Enhance Population Access to Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Services in Order to Achieve HIV/AIDS Epidemic Control in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Specifically in Kinshasa Under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).”

Barun Mathema, PhD, Epidemiology, will receive $1,087,086 over five years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for “Differentially Culturable Tubercle Bacteria: The Missing Link in TB Transmission.”

Frederica Perera, DrPH, PhD, Environmental Health Sciences, will receive $394,638 over one year from the Office of the NIH Director for a subaward of “Children's Respiratory Research and Environment Workgroup (CREW),” and, with Julie Herbstman, PhD, Environmental Health Sciences, will receive $1,917,408 over five years from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for “To Maintain and Enrich Resource Infrastructure for Existing Environmental Epidemiology Cohorts.”

Miriam Rabkin, MD, ICAP, will receive $1,030,078 over one year from the U.S. Agency for International Development for a subaward of “One Health Workforce - Next Generation (OHW-NG).”

Diane Re, PhD, Environmental Health Sciences, will receive $3,085,737 over four years from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for “Brain-derived Extracellular Vesicles as a Novel Source of Biomarkers for Disease Progression and Environmental Exposure in ALS.”

Kathleen Sikkema, PhD, Sociomedical Sciences, will receive $2,984,798 over five years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “A Randomized Trial of ImpACT+, a Coping Intervention to Improve Clinical and Mental Health Outcomes Among HIV-infected Women with Sexual Trauma in South Africa.”

Monette Zard, MA, Population & Family Health, will receive $355,112 over one year from UNICEF for “CPC CP AoR Help Desk Partnership.”

Adina Zeki Al Hazzouri, PhD, Epidemiology, will receive $705,777 over one year from the National Institute on Aging for “Statins and Risk of Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementias: A Novel Quasi-Experimental.”

COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE

James Fine, DMD, will receive $300,000 over one year from Zimmer Inc. for “Zimmer Biomet Fellowship Funding Request Process.”

AWARDS & HONORS

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IRVING MEDICAL CENTER

 

President’s Global Innovation Fund

VP&S and Mailman faculty received funding in the Spring 2020 round of awards from the President’s Global Innovation Fund to foster new projects and collaborations for research, teaching, and service within and across the nine sites of the Columbia Global Centers.

  • Yanis Ben Amor, PhD, Pediatrics (with Anindita Dasgupta, Social Work, and Ozge Karadag Caman, Earth Institute), “Youth Health Promotion Via Digital Technologies: Towards Building an International Research Network in Forced Migration Settings”
  • Andrea Howard, MD, Epidemiology, “Implementation Science and Migrant Health: Addressing the Know-Do Gap”
  • Darby Jack, PhD, Environmental Health Sciences (with Daniel Westervelt, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and V. Faye McNeill, Engineering), “Towards Closing the Air Pollution Data Gap in Sub-Saharan Africa through International Collaboration and Capacity Building”
  • Silvia Martins, MD, PhD, Epidemiology, “Overdose Deaths in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and the USA: A Comparison Analysis”
  • Lisa Saiman, MD, and Lawrence Stanberry, MD, PhD, Pediatrics, “The Impact of Extreme Heat on Children’s Health in Africa Project”
  • Monette Zard, MA, and Goleen Samari, PhD, Population & Family Health, “Health and Repatriation: Rebuilding the Health Care System in Post-Conflict Syria”

 

Irving Institute/CTO Pilot Awardees

The Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program hub, announces the recipients of several awards.

 

2019-20 Health Practice Pilot Awards

The Health Practice Research Pilot Awards are awarded through a partnership between the Irving Institute and the Department of Biomedical Informatics. These awards offer clinical researchers the opportunity to do an informatics-based project in an operational clinical setting.

  • Lauren Houghton, PhD, Epidemiology, “Breast EMICS (Early Moments Informing Cancer Screenings)”
  • Ana Tergas, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology, “Gynecological Oncology: Comparative Effectiveness of Opioid and Non-Opioid Therapy After”

 

2019 Imaging Pilot Awards

The Imaging Pilot Award provides funding for junior investigators in the following areas: magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), optical imaging, positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT), and ultrasound.

  • Natalie Bello, MD, Medicine, “Manifestations of Preeclampsia in the Heart and Vasculature”
  • Mikhail Doubrovin, MD, PhD, Radiology, “Quantitative Pet Monitoring of Lymphocytesi in Anti-Cancer Immune Cell Therapy Using 89Zr-Oxine and 68Ga-GranZ Imaging Probes”
  • Adam Gerber, MD, PhD, Anesthesiology, “Development of a PET Tracer for Pulmonary MMP Activity”
  • Emerson Lim, MD, Medicine, “89-Zr-labeled Ipilimumab for CTLA-4 ImmunoPET Imaging”
  • Andrei Molotkov, PhD, Radiology, “18F-FSPG PET Genetic Profiling of Glioblastoma for a Prevalence of Idh1 Mutation”
  • Tony Wong, MD, Radiology, “MRI Biomarker Assessment of Osteoarthritis Prevention in Femoroacetabular Impingement”

 

2019 Integrating Special Populations Pilot Awards

The Integrating Special Populations Pilot Award supports the formation of newly configured investigative teams to study diseases across the lifespan and use rare diseases as tools to study more common ones.

“Effects of Iron Deficiency on Early Life Immune Development”

  • Thomas Connors, MD, Pediatrics (Principal Investigator)
  • Donna Farber, PhD, Surgery and Microbiology & Immunology 
  • Eldad Hod, MD, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology
  • Kalpana Pethe, MD, Pediatrics
  • Gary Brittenham, MD, Pediatrics

“Interaction of OSA and APOE ε4 on Risk of Cognitive Decline”

  • Nancy Kerner, MD, Psychiatry (Principal Investigator)
  • Devangere Devanand, MD, Psychiatry and Neurology
  • Terry Goldberg, PhD, Psychiatry and Anesthesiology
  • Andrew Westwood, MD, Neurology

“Using Discordant Monozygotic Twins to Unlock the Genetic Basis of Aicardi Syndrome”

  • Tristan Sands, MD, PhD, Neurology and Pediatrics (Principal Investigator)
  • David Goldstein, PhD, Genetics & Development

“Psychosocial Stressors and Ambulatory Blood Pressure in Young Adults with Perinatal-Acquired HIV”

  • Michael Yin, MD, Medicine (Principal Investigator)
  • Stephanie Shiau, PhD, Sergievsky Center
  • Stephen Arpadi, MD, Sergievsky Center
  • Jing Shen, PhD, Sergievsky Center
  • Daichi Shimbo, MD, Medicine
  • Jennifer Cruz, PhD, Psychiatry 

 

2019-2020 Intervention-and-Implementation Science Pilot Awards

Funded in collaboration with the Department of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health, the Intervention-and-Implementation Science program provides one-year pilot awards for proof-of-concept projects to be conducted “in miniature,” ultimately leading to larger intervention or implementation science projects and producing new knowledge that directly impacts population health, supported by larger extramural funds.

“Personalized Infographics to Control Teen Asthma”

  • Adriana Arcia, PhD, Nursing, (Principal Investigator)
  • Stephanie Lovinsky-Desir, MD, Pediatrics
  • Maureen George, PhD, Nursing

“Flexible Intervention Strategy for TB Prevention”

  • Yael Hirsch-Moverman, PhD, ICAP (Principal Investigator)
  • Andrea Howard, MD, ICAP
  • Anthony Mutiti, MBChB, ICAP
  • Joanne Mantell, PhD, Psychiatry
  • Sisi Dube, MPH, ICAP

“Designing a Shared-Decision Making Intervention for Opioid Prescribers”

  • Silvia Martins, MD, PhD, Epidemiology (Principal Investigator)
  • Ruth Landau-Cahana, MD, Anesthesiology (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Christine Mauro, PhD, Biostatistics

 

2019-2020 KL2 Mentored Career Development Awards

The KL2 Mentored Career Development Awards combine didactic training, mentoring, exposure to multidisciplinary research, and ongoing evaluation to prepare young investigators for careers in patient-oriented research. The awards serve as a bridge by which young junior faculty can achieve research independence.

  • Scott Barbuto, MD, PhD, Rehabilitation & Regenerative Medicine
  • Syed Ali Husain, MD, Medicine
  • Caleb Hilliard Miles, PhD, Biostatistics

 

2019-2020 TL1 Training Program

The TL1 Program provides doctoral students with one to two years of research training, which run simultaneously with students’ ongoing doctoral training. The program allows doctoral students to gain knowledge and skill sets that may be outside of their primary academic or clinical discipline. The interdisciplinary education gained as a TL1 trainee will serve as an invaluable asset in conducting future research and collaborating with scientists and investigators from other clinical and academic fields of knowledge. 

  • Danielle Baum, Nutritional & Metabolic Biology
  • Ramsey Bekdash, Pharmacology & Molecular Signaling
  • Lia Anna Marina Boyle, Cellular, Molecular & Biophysical Studies
  • Rachel Field, Biomedical Engineering
  • Sara Gibeley, Nutritional & Metabolic Biology

The TL1 program provides postdoctoral fellows with one to two years of support to participate in an integrated didactic and mentored training program. Postdoctoral candidates dedicate full time to research and training related to precision medicine. 

  • Andrew Beenken, MD, PhD, Medicine
  • Jennifer Ferris, PhD, Epidemiology
  • Joshua Ethan Motelow, MD, PhD, Pediatrics
  • Stacia Nicholson, PhD, Environmental Health Sciences

 

2019-2020 Irving Institute Community-Based Participatory Research Training and Pilot Awards

  • Jean-Marie Alves-Bradford, MD, Psychiatry
  • Jennifer Woo Baidal, MD, Pediatrics

VAGELOS COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS

 

2019 Kenneth A. Forde Diversity Alliance Awards

  • Alyson Fox, MD, Medicine, Faculty Diversity Award
  • Jennifer Kuo, MD, Surgery, Junior Faculty Research Award

 

2020-2021 Provost's Senior Faculty Teaching Scholars

  • Sharon Akabas, PhD, Institute of Human Nutrition
  • Janis Cutler, MD, Psychiatry

 

2020 Marjorie and Lewis Katz Scholars

  • Robert Bauer, PhD, Medicine
  • Daichi Shimbo, MD, Medicine

 

Academy of Clinical Excellence

In 2020, 37 VP&S faculty were inducted into the Academy of Clinical Excellence, which honors the accomplishments of faculty members who contribute to the VP&S academic mission by providing high quality, evidence-based, and humanistic patient care.

  • Arnold Advincula, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology
  • Erika Berman Rosenzweig, MD, Pediatrics
  • Monica Bhatia, MD, Pediatrics
  • Angelo Biviano, MD, Medicine
  • Ana Cepin, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology
  • George Christolias, MD, Rehabilitation & Regeneration Medicine
  • Yesim Demirdag, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology
  • Elise Desperito, MD, Radiology
  • Katarina Eisinger, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology
  • Erin Engle, PsyD, Psychiatry
  • Neil Feldstein, MD, Neurological Surgery
  • Hasan Garan, MD, Medicine
  • Justin Greisberg, MD, Orthopedic Surgery
  • Jennifer Haythe, MD, Medicine
  • Jason Horowitz, MD, Ophthalmology
  • Sameera Husain, MD, Dermatology
  • Margaret Krause, MD, Pediatrics
  • Anil Lalwani, MD, Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery
  • Jay Lefkowitch, MD, Pathology & Cell Biology
  • Leonardo Liberman, MD, Pediatrics
  • Arthur Mandel, MD, PhD, Neurology
  • Karen Marder, MD, Neurology and Psychiatry
  • David Markowitz, MD, Medicine
  • Leena Mathew, MD, MBBS, Anesthesiology
  • Laurel Mayer, MD, Psychiatry
  • Teresa McCann, MD, Pediatrics
  • Amy Mesa-Jonassen, MD, Anesthesiology
  • Nicholas Morrissey, MD, Surgery
  • Warren Ng, MD, Psychiatry
  • Sharon Sheng-Yueh Pan, MD, PhD, Medicine
  • Anthony Puliafico, PhD, Psychiatry
  • Claire Riley, MD, Neurology
  • Peter Stahl, MD, Urology
  • Brie Stotler, MD, Pathology & Cell Biology
  • Edward Suh, MD, Medicine
  • Hiroo Takayama, MD, PhD, Surgery
  • Tony Wang, MD, Radiation Oncology

 

Academy of Community and Public Service

The new Academy of Community and Public Service recognizes VP&S faculty who have made substantial contributions to promote and improve community health, particularly among residents of Washington Heights and Inwood, Upper Manhattan, and parts of the Bronx.

  • Spencer Amory, MD, Surgery
  • R. Graham Barr, MD, DrPH, Medicine
  • Maria De Miguel, MD, Medicine
  • Jordan Foster, MD, Emergency Medicine
  • Scott Hammer, MD, Medicine
  • Hilda Hutcherson, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology
  • Rafael Lantigua, MD, Medicine
  • Allison Lee, MD, Anesthesiology
  • Roberto Lewis-Fernández, MD, Psychiatry
  • Jose Luchsinger, MD, Medicine
  • Jennifer Manly, PhD, Neurology
  • Andrew Marks, MD, Physiology & Cellular Biophysics
  • Richard Mayeux, MD, Neurology
  • Dodi Meyer, MD, Pediatrics
  • Lisa Park, MD, Ophthalmology
  • Steven Shea, MD, Medicine
  • Magdalena Sobieszczyk, MD, Medicine
  • Melissa Stockwell, MD, Pediatrics
  • Carolyn Westhoff, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology
  • Olajide Williams, MD, Neurology
  • Richard Younge, MD, Medicine

 

Virginia Apgar Academy of Medical Educators

The Apgar Academy, which promotes, rewards, and supports outstanding education for medical students, residents, fellows, and faculty, inducted the following new members:

  • Marina Catallozzi, MD, Pediatrics
  • Urmi Desai, MD, Medicine
  • Suzanne Friedman, MD, Pediatrics
  • R. Ariel Igal, MD, PhD, Pediatrics
  • Stacy Kinirons, PhD, Rehabilitation & Regenerative Medicine
  • Teresa Anita Mulaikal, MD, Anesthesiology
  • Dawn Nilsen, EdD, Rehabilitation & Regenerative Medicine
  • Prantik Saha, MD, Pediatrics
  • Julia Sobol, MD, Anesthesiology
  • Oliver Stroeh, MD, Psychiatry

Devon Rupley, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology, received the Apgar Academy’s 2020-21 Vanneck-Bailey Award to support development of educational programs that help medical students improve their knowledge and skills in the practice of medicine so they can model compassionate, humanistic care to all patients.

 

Faculty Commencement Awards

Lamport Research Award, Basic Sciences

  • Dritan Agalliu, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology

Distinguished Service

  • Penelope Boyden, PhD, Pharmacology

Distinguished Teacher Award, Class of 2020

  • Marina Catallozzi, MD, Pediatrics

Lamport Research Award, Clinical Sciences

  • Bernard Chang, MD, PhD, Emergency Medicine

Tow Humanism in Medicine Award

  • Elise Desperito, MD, Radiology

Bohmfalk Clinical Years Award

  • Julia Iyasere, MD, Medicine

Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching

  • Stacy Kinirons, PhD, Rehabilitation & Regenerative Medicine

Distinguished Service

  • Xavier Pi-Sunyer, MD, Medicine

Bohmfalk Pre-Clinical Years Award

  • Arthur Palmer, PhD, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics

 

​Louis V. Gerstner Jr. Scholars

Four physician-scientists have been named 2020 Louis V. Gerstner Jr. Scholars, and a fifth physician-scientist has been named a 2020 Louis V. Gerstner Jr. Merit Awardee. The Gerstner Scholars Program supports tenure-track physicians who conduct research that has the promise to bring new treatments to patients. The program also presents the Gerstner Merit Award to a third-year Louis V. Gerstner Jr. Scholar who has made great strides in research.

  • Rebecca Hough, MD, PhD, Pediatrics, “Mitochondrial Mechanisms of Vaping-induced Acute Lung Injury.”
  • Benjamin Izar, MD, PhD, Medicine, “Immune Fitness Testing in Patient-Derived Models Using Multimodal Single-Cell Profiling.”
  • Jared Kushner, MD, Medicine, “Regulators and Interactomes of CaV1.2 in Health and Disease.”
  • Stuart Weisberg, MD, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, “Mechanisms of Pancreatic Inflammation.”

Gerstner Merit Award

  • Kelley Yan, MD, PhD, Genetics & Development

 

Schaefer Research Scholars

  • Etienne Jacotot, PhD, Visiting Professor, Pathology & Cell Biology and Neurology
  • Emily Mace, PhD, Pediatrics
  • David Roper, PhD, Visiting Professor, Physiology & Cellular Biophysics and Microbiology & Immunology
  • Markus Siegelin, MD, Pathology & Cell Biology

 

VP&S Grant Program for Junior Faculty Who Contribute to the Diversity Goals of the University

The Provost’s Grant Program for Junior Faculty Who Contribute to the Diversity Goals of the University supports new or ongoing research and scholarship, seed funding for innovative research for which external funding would be difficult to obtain, and curricular development projects. Recipients are:

  • Marwah Abdalla, MD, Medicine
  • Whitney Booker, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology
  • Angela Gomez-Simmonds, MD, Medicine
  • Rebecca Haeusler, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology
  • Inbal Israely, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology
  • Maya Mikami, MD, PhD, Anesthesiology
  • Katharina Schultebraucks, PhD, Emergency Medicine
  • Vidhu Thaker, MD, Pediatrics

 

Other Honors

Graham Barr, MD, DrPH, and Magdalena Sobieszczyk, MD, Medicine, were awarded 2020 Irene and Arthur Fishberg Prizes.

John Bilezikian, MD, Medicine, was awarded the 2020 William F. Neuman Esteemed Award from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Andrea Califano, PhD, Systems Biology, was awarded the Ruth Leff Siegel Award for Excellence in Pancreatic Cancer Research from the Pancreas Center.

Nadeen O. Chahine, PhD, Orthopedic Surgery, was invited to serve as a four-year member of the Skeletal Biology Structure and Regeneration Study Section at the NIH Center for Scientific Review.

Mitchell Elkind, MD, Neurology, was elected president of the American Heart Association.

Lindsay Freud, MD, Pediatrics, was awarded the 2020 Allan J. Hordof, MD, Teacher of the Year Award from the Division of Pediatric Cardiology.

William Fuller, MD, Medicine, was awarded the 2020 Outstanding Attending Award from COSMO (Columbia Student Medical Outreach).

Jacqueline Gottlieb, PhD, Neuroscience, received a Research Initiatives in Science and Engineering (RISE) award for “High-resolution Measurements of Cortical Traveling Waves for Reinforcement Learning and Decision-Making.”

Dawn Hershman, MD, Medicine, received the 2020 Hologic Inc. mentorship award from Conquer Cancer’s Women Who Conquer Cancer program. The mentorship award signals the commitment by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and its foundation to women oncology professionals.

Cecile Karsenty, MD, Medicine, was named Attending of the Year by pediatrics residents.

Benjamin Lebwohl, MD, Medicine, was named chair of the Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee by the Food and Drug Administration.

Nathalie Moise, MD, Medicine, was awarded the M. Irené Ferrer Scholar Award from the Foundation for Gender-Specific Medicine.

Heather Paladine, MD, Medicine, was awarded the 2020 Humanism in Medicine Award from COSMO (Columbia Student Medical Outreach).

Molly Przeworski, PhD, Systems Biology, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Donald Quest, MD, Neurological Surgery, was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the Society of Neurological Surgeons.

Michael Saulle, DO, Rehabilitation & Regenerative Medicine, was awarded the 2019 Teacher of the Year Award from the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency Programs.

Daichi Shimbo, MD, Medicine, was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation.

Hanrui Zhang, PhD, Medicine, was awarded the Irvine H. Page Junior Faculty Research Award from the American Heart Association.

Warren Zuckerman, MD, Pediatrics, was awarded the 2020 Thomas J. Starc, MD, Humanism in Medicine Award from the Division of Pediatric Cardiology.

MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Mark Bittman, Health Policy & Management, had his book, “How to Eat: All Your Food and Diet Questions Answered,” named by the New York Times Book Review as new and noteworthy.

Pam Factor-Litvak, PhD, Jeanine Genkinger, PhD, and Rupak Shivakoti, PhD, Epidemiology, have been named 2020 Yusuf Hamied Fellows.

Diana Hernandez, PhD, Sociomedical Sciences, was appointed as a visiting scholar at the Russel Sage foundation. Dr. Hernández will write a book exploring families’ struggles to afford household energy focusing on energy insecurity.

Jennifer Hirsch, PhD, Sociomedical Sciences, appeared fourth on Esquire Magazine’s list of 15 of “The Best Books Coming Out This Winter to Solve Your New Year’s Resolution to Read More,” for her book, “Sexual Citizens: A Landmark Study of Sex, Power, and Assault on Campus.”

Frederica Perera, DrPH, PhD, Environmental Health Sciences, received the 19th Annual Spirit Lecture Award from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for her contributions to science and community engagement.

Renata Schiavo, PhD, Sociomedical Sciences, was named to national steering committee of the RWJF 2020 annual conference, “Sharing Knowledge to Build a Culture of Health.”

Lesley A. Sharp, PhD, Sociomedical Sciences, received the Royal Anthropological Institute Wellcome Medal for Anthropology as Applied to Medical Problems. The award recognizes Dr. Sharp’s longstanding contributions to anthropological studies of bioethics.

Gina Wingood, ScD, Public Health Promotion, was named guest editor for a special issue of the journal Vaccines, “Vaccination and Public Health: Optimizing Vaccine Uptake Through the Application of Social and Behavioral Science Theory, Principles, and Strategies.”

COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE

Fatemeh “Flora” Momen-Heravi, DDS, PhD, received the American Association for Dental Research Anne D. Haffajee Fellowship, which is given to early-career women researchers in the field of oral biology.

SCHOOL OF NURSING

Mara Berta, DNP, was accepted into the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties’ Faculty Leadership Mentoring Program.

Jennifer Dohrn, DNP, was selected to sit on a panel titled “Women in the World Today” at the Second Annual She Opened the Door Conference at Columbia.

Jacquelyn Taylor, PhD, was elected this year to the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.

PHILANTHROPIC GIFTS

Gifts received January 3, 2020 - April 21, 2020

VAGELOS COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS

A donor made a $5,000,000 commitment to the Center for Translational Immunology to advance research in immune tolerance and liver transplantation.

A bequest of $2,500,000 was realized to support the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain. 

A foundation made contributions totaling $2,034,060 to the Department of Pediatrics to advance cancer research and care.  

A foundation made a $2,000,000 contribution to advance coronavirus research within the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

A donor made a $1,500,000 commitment to establish a professorship in the Seymour, Paul and Gloria Milstein Division of Cardiology.

A donor made a $1,500,000 commitment to the Department of Psychiatry to establish a professorship in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

An anonymous donor made a $1,250,000 commitment to the Department of Medicine’s Program in Medical Ethics.

An organization made a $1,000,000 commitment to advance research and clinical care in non-verbal learning disabilities in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

A foundation made a $1,000,000 contribution to advance coronavirus research within the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

A bequest of $975,000 was realized to provide professorship support to the Department of Pediatrics.

A donor made a $900,000 commitment to advance coronavirus research within the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

A donor made an $800,000 gift to support the VP&S COVID-19 Patient Care Response Fund, including related activities at Lawrence Hospital. 

A donor made a $500,000 contribution to support coronavirus research and care in the Department of Emergency Medicine. 

A donor made a $500,000 contribution to support rehabilitation care for stroke and neuromuscular disorders in the Department of Rehabilitation & Regenerative Medicine. 

A foundation made a $500,000 commitment to advance research at the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain. 

A foundation made a $400,000 commitment to support pre-translational diabetes research at the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center.

An organization made a $300,000 commitment to advance alopecia areata research in the Department of Dermatology.

A foundation made a contribution of $300,000 to provide coronavirus pediatric emergency support to the Department of Pediatrics.

A donor made a $250,000 gift to the Department of Rehabilitation & Regenerative Medicine to support scholarships for students in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program.

A donor made a $250,000 contribution to support coronavirus clinical care in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

A donor made a $250,000 contribution to advance research and patient care at Columbia’s Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.

A donor made a $250,000 commitment to provide fellowship support to the Department of Medicine.

A donor made a $250,000 contribution to the Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases to advance clinical research in Barrett’s esophagus and dysplasia. 

An organization made a $250,000 contribution to advance research in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics. 

A foundation made a $245,000 contribution to support pediatric cancer research in the Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, & Stem Cell Transplantation.  

A foundation made a contribution of $228,892 to the Department of Pediatrics to advance research, education, and care in the Clinical Genetics Program.

A donor made a $200,000 contribution to support Columbia’s Precision Medicine Initiative.

A donor made a $200,000 gift to advance coronavirus research within the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

A donor made a $175,000 contribution to the Department of Ophthalmology to advance research in retinal diseases and disorders.  

A donor made a $150,000 contribution to the Department of Orthopedic Surgery to support patient care at the Weinberg Family Cerebral Palsy Center.

A donor made a $150,000 contribution to support a lectureship in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery.  

An anonymous donor made a $150,000 contribution to advance cancer research in the Department of Surgery.

A foundation made a $140,000 contribution to support the Chairman’s Frontier Fund in the Department of Psychiatry.

A donor made a $112,000 contribution to support research and clinical care in the Department of Medicine.

A donor made a $102,384 contribution to advance research at the Celiac Disease Center. 

A foundation made a $100,000 contribution to the Department of Ophthalmology to advance research in the Retinal Imaging Lab and to support the Residency Wellness Program.

A donor made a $100,000 commitment to the Department of Psychiatry to support research investigating brain synapses in normal development and disease.

A corporation made a $100,000 contribution to advance coronavirus research within the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

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

A donor made a $100,000 gift to advance coronavirus research within the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

A donor made a $100,000 commitment to advance research in the Seymour, Paul and Gloria Milstein Division of Cardiology. 

A donor made a $100,000 commitment to provide professorship support for the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

A donor made a $100,000 commitment to support research in computational cancer biology at the Herbert and Florence Irving Institute for Cancer Dynamics.

A donor made a $100,000 pledge to support a lectureship in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery.

A donor made a $100,000 gift to the Department of Ophthalmology to advance glaucoma research.      

A donor made a $100,000 contribution to advance type 1 diabetes research and clinical care at the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center.

A donor made a $100,000 commitment to provide professorship support to the Columbia University Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders Legacy Fund within the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

A donor made a $100,000 contribution to the Division of Mental Health Services and Policy Research to support the Global Mental Health Program. 

A foundation made a $100,000 gift to the Department of Medicine to provide professorship support for the Division of Endocrinology.

A donor made a $100,000 contribution to support clinical care at the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center.

A donor made a $100,000 gift to the Department of Radiation Oncology to advance lung cancer research.

A donor made a $100,000 contribution to the Division of Cardiology to advance heart failure research at the Center for Advanced Cardiac Care. 

A donor made a $100,000 commitment to the Division of Colorectal Surgery to support colorectal disease research and clinical care. 

A donor made a $100,000 commitment to advance research and patient care at Columbia’s Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.

COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE

A donor made a $100,000 commitment to advance research, training, and clinical care at the College of Dental Medicine.

MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

A corporation made a gift of $2,500,000 toward COVID-19 research at the Center for Infection and Immunity. 

A foundation made a pledge of $2,500,000 to support student scholarships and summer practicums in the area of public service.

A foundation made a $1,500,000 gift toward COVID-19 clinical trials at the Center for Infection and Immunity. 

A foundation made a pledge of $1,500,000 toward coronavirus research at the Center for Infection and Immunity.  

A corporation made a pledge of $500,000 toward the development and validation of a diagnostic test for the novel coronavirus at the Center for Infection and Immunity.  

A group of individuals contributed to a gift of $355,925 in support of the Center for Infection and Immunity’s development of a COVID-19 diagnostic.

An individual made a gift of $350,000 toward ICAP to support public health outreach in Africa around the coronavirus pandemic. 

A foundation made a gift of $100,000 toward COVID-19 research at the Center for Infection and Immunity.  

A foundation made a contribution of $100,000 toward ICAP to support COVID-19 response and public health outreach in Eswatini, Tanzania, and Ethiopia.