CUIMC Update - December 11, 2024

December 11, 2024

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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

2024 Baton Awards Recognize Five CUIMC Administrators
Meet this year's Baton Award recipients, honored for their teamwork and outstanding contributions to the overall success of the medical center.

Navigating the Cold and Flu Aisle
When struggling with cold or flu symptoms, over-the-counter medications can offer relief. Columbia internal medicine doctor Maria de Miguel explains the various types of cold and flu medicines and how they can help you feel better.

Study Finds Uneven Gains in Psychotherapy Use Among Adults
Psychotherapy use has risen substantially among U.S. adults with mild to moderate distress, but increases are uneven across socioeconomic groups.

Dental Student Designs Course to Help Obstetricians Improve Oral Health of Pregnant Patients
In an effort to improve oral health during pregnancy, College of Dental Medicine student Bree Zhang is designing a course to help obstetricians incorporate dental care into routine prenatal care.

Events

Grants

Mailman School of Public Health

  • W. Ian Lipkin, Center for Infection and Immunity: $1,500,000 over two years from the Skoll Foundation for "Global Alliance for Preventing Pandemics (GAPP)."
  • Gary Miller, Environmental Health Sciences: $422,413 over one year from the National Cancer Institute for "SAMBAI-Columbia."
  • Eugenie Poirot, ICAP: $1,709,756 over one year from the United Nations Development Program for "Projet d'Appul au renforcement de la riposte nationale au VIH et a la Tuberculose HIV Differentiated Service Delivery (DSD) Strategic Initiative Congo Phase III."

Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

  • Brooke Aggarwal, Medicine: $3,930,743 over five years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for "Sleep Variability and Cardiometabolic Health Among Women."
  • David Jonathan Brenner, Center for Radiological Research: $300,000 over one year for a subaward from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research for "Next-Gen Far UV-C Irradiation Technology: Mitigating Surgical Site and Wound Infection Risk."
  • Ryan Gaudet, Microbiology & Immunology: $300,000 over three years from the Searle Scholars Program for "Innate Immune Determinants of Pathogen Tropism and Persistence."
  • Gustavo Maegawa, Pediatrics: $451,494 over one year from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for "Characterization of Small Molecule Therapeutic Agents for a Lysosomal Leukodystrophy."
  • Emmanuelle Passegué, Columbia Stem Cell Initiative: $713,643 over one year from the Office of The NIH Director for "BD FACSDiscover S8 Image-Enabled Spectral Cell Sorter."
  • Nikhil Sharma, Molecular Pharmacology & Therapeutics: $972,000 over two years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for "The cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying nociception and pain."
  • Markus Siegelin, Pathology & Cell Biology: $452,375 over two years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for "Targeting OGDH for Glioblastoma Therapy."
  • David Sulzer, Psychiatry: $2,250,000 over three years from the JPB Foundation for "Cellular and Physiological Mechanisms of Parkinson's Disease Pathogenesis."
  • Anne-Catrin Uhlemann, Medicine: $1,010,465 over five years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for "Mentoring program in patient-oriented research in microbial genomics."
  • Da Zhang, Medicine: $830,125 over five years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for "Multi-omics profiling of IPF endotypes."

Honors

Columbia University Irving Medical Center

  • W. Ian Lipkin, Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, and Konstantin Petrukhin, Ophthalmology, VP&S, will be inducted into the National Academy of Inventors' 2024 Class of Fellows.

Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

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In the News Highlights

  • America’s Hidden Racial Divide: A Mysterious Gap in Psychosis Rates
    Dec 3, 2024
    The New York Times Magazine
    Despite the mounting data, in the United States, until recently, the issue was relegated to the edges of mainstream psychiatry — or perhaps beyond the edges. “A voice in the wilderness,” Roberto Lewis-Fernández, a professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University, says, describing the feeling that work on the issue was long marginalized.
  • What Is Gender-Affirming Care? Your Questions, Answered
    Dec 4, 2024
    CNN Online
    The process typically starts with a conversation between a clinician and the individual. If the patient is a child, the conversation will also include the family when possible. “It’s to really get a better sense of what’s bringing them into the clinic,” said licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Melina Wald, co-founder and former clinical director of the Columbia Gender Identity Program at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. “We are also looking to understand the child’s understanding of their own gender, gender expression, and a history related to that.”
  • How a News Report Led This Mom to Move 9,000 Miles Seeking Medical Treatment for Her Son
    Nov 16, 2024
    CBS News Online
    In 2019, Villena saw a CNN story about a teen whose extreme scoliosis had been treated by New York City surgeon Dr. Lawrence Lenke, co-director of the Och Spine Hospital at NewYork-Presbyterian. Frustrated by her now 10-year-old son's struggle to receive care, Villena resolved to move to the United States and seek treatment with Lenke. Chinno and Villena traveled to New York City to meet Lenke about six months later. Lenke, who has been treating patients with spinal deformities for over 30 years, developed a three-stage treatment approach.
    Lawrence Lenke is a professor of orthopedic surgery at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.