CUIMC Update - April 12, 2023

CUIMC Update is a weekly e-newsletter featuring medical center news and the accomplishments of our faculty, staff, and trainees. Please send your news, honors, and awards to cuimc_update@cumc.columbia.edu. Grants are provided by the Sponsored Projects Administration office.

NEWS

Dental School Debuts New Mobile Health Clinic at Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony
The College of Dental Medicine’s mobile dentistry program is poised to double its capacity to deliver health screenings and low-cost dental care to residents of Northern Manhattan and the Bronx. The new mobile health clinic was introduced yesterday at a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The new van, funded by a $500,000 grant from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, features both a dental chair and a medical examination table and is staffed by dental and VP&S faculty and students. Read more and watch a video.

Columbia Study Finds Mild COVID During Pregnancy Does Not Slow Brain Development in Babies
The study, led by Dani Dumitriu, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at VP&S, found that babies born to moms who had mild or asymptomatic COVID at any point during pregnancy were developing similarly to those whose mothers had never had COVID, based on results from a comprehensive assessment of brain development. Read more.

Pain is Not Normal: Columbia Expert Shares What Everyone Should Know About Endometriosis
Endometriosis is a whole-body inflammatory disorder that affects approximately one in 10 women and people who have a uterus. Despite how common it is, endometriosis is often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Jessica Opoku-Anane, MD, a minimally invasive gynecologic surgeon at VP&S, shares why it's important for all people to understand endometriosis better and how those who have this disorder can get the care they need. Read more and watch a video.

VP&S Students Honored for Research Achievements
At the 2023 Student Research Day, 79 VP&S students presented their research to colleagues, fellow students, faculty, and leadership. Twelve projects won awards in four categories: Summer Research, Scholarly Project, Research Year, and MD/PhD. Read more.

Researcher Seeks to Reduce Barriers to Care for Transgender Community
Jae Sevelius, PhD, professor of medical sociology in the VP&S Department of Psychiatry, seeks to address challenges and inequities that transgender and gender-expansive communities face by encouraging community-based research, peer-led interventions, and mentorship of early-stage investigators whose backgrounds and identities are underrepresented in academic medicine. Read more.

EVENTS

Translating Frailty Assessment & Management into Clinical Practice
April 13, 11:30 a.m., online
Register here.

ACE Master Clinician Mentorship Series: Delivering Care to Patients with Disabilities
April 14, 8 a.m., online
Register here

Disrupting the Culture of Online Sexual Violence
April 14, 12 p.m., online
Register here.

The 2023 Dr. Lorna M. Breen Annual Lecture
April 19, 11 a.m., online
Register here.

The Biology of Aging Seminar Series Presents: Malene Hansen, PhD
April 19, 12 p.m., Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, 1130 St. Nicholas Ave., 1st Floor Auditorium
Register here.

Tissue Talks: Clive Svendsen, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
April 19, 3 p.m., online
Register here.

U.S. Settler Colonialism, Genocide, & the Right to Health: A Conversation with the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission
April 19, 4 p.m., Allan Rosenfield Building, 722 W. 168 St., 8th Floor Auditorium
Register here.

CUIMC Grand Rounds: Integrating Mental and Oral Health
April 20, 4 p.m., Faculty Club, 630 W. 168 St., 4th Floor
Register here.

COMBO (COVID-19 Mother Baby Outcomes) Second Annual Playdate: Outdoor Activities for the Whole Family
April 23, 2 p.m., Haven Plaza, Haven Avenue between Fort Washington Avenue and 169th Street
Register here.

Sun Smarts: How to Keep Kids Healthy and Safe this Spring and Summer
April 26, 6 p.m., online
Register here.

The John Lindenbaum Memorial Lecture Series: Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation in STEM and Medicine
April 27, 4 p.m., Black Building, 650 W. 168 St., Alumni Auditorium
Register here.

Why Is There Confusion About Whether Masks Prevent COVID-19?
April 27, 6:15 p.m., online
Register here.

Ride Your Bike to Campus Day
April 28, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Hammer Health Sciences Center, 701 W. 168th St.
Learn more.

GRANTS

COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE

Biana Roykh, DDS: $246,385 over one year from the Health Resources and Services Administration for "Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part F Dental Reimbursement Program."

VAGELOS COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS

Wendy Chung, MD, PhD, Pediatrics, and Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele, MD, Psychiatry: $11,734,748 over five years from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for "Prospective Genetic Risk Evaluation and Assessment (PROGRESS) in Autism."

David Fidock, PhD, Microbiology & Immunology: $2,467,702 over five years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for "Elucidating the molecular basis of piperaquine resistance in Plasmodium falciparum."

Mathew Maurer, MD, Medicine: $1,043,565 over five years for a subaward from the National Institute on Aging for "Physical Rehabilitation for Older Patients with Acute HFpEF-The REHAB-HFpEF Trial."

Maya Sabatello, PhD, Psychiatry: $1,972,469 over five years for a subaward from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for "Including Adults with Intellectual Disability in Precision Medicine Research – Project ENGAGE."

Joanna Smeeton, PhD, Genetics & Development: $1,480,500 over three years from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research for "Deciphering multi-scale differentiation and patterning cues driving whole craniofacial joint regeneration."

S. Zev Williams, MD, PhD, Obstetrics & Gynecology: $3,849,551 over one year from Wellcome Leap for "Nanopore-based sequencing of extracellular RNA in plasma for real-time assessment of human placenta development and function."

HONORS

VAGELOS COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS

Larisa Geskin, MD, Dermatology, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the United States Cutaneous Lymphoma Consortium and delivered the Herschel Zackheim Lecture at the annual American Academy of Dermatology meeting in New Orleans.

SOCIAL MEDIA SNAPSHOT

IN THE NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

CNN Online
Eating Too Much ‘Free Sugar’ Has 45 Negative Health Effects, Study Finds
Apr 5, 2023 - “Added sugar intake can promote inflammation in the body, and this can cause stress on the heart and blood vessels, which can lead to increased blood pressure,” behavioral scientist Brooke Aggarwal told CNN in February. Aggarwal, an assistant professor of medical sciences in the cardiology division at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, wasn’t involved in the study.

Huffington Post
Are There Health Benefits to Donating Blood? Here's What Experts Say.
Mar 31, 2023 - “There’s certainly what’s called a ‘healthy donor effect,’” according to Dr. Eldad Hod, the director of the Center for Advanced Laboratory Medicine and an associate professor of pathology and cell biology at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York.

CBS News Online
4 Food Groups to Focus on for Gut Health
Apr 5, 2023 - You can increase your fermented food options with simple swaps too, suggests Dr. Shilpa Ravella, transplant gastroenterologist and assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University, pointing to sourdough as a good option compared to white breads, for example. "These are technically both wheat, but they are two very different foods," she explains.