CUIMC Update - July 26, 2021
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
Reminder: Upload your Vaccination Information and Sign Columbia Compact
All faculty, staff, and students must upload their vaccination information into the ReOpenCU app, or use the app to request an exemption, by Aug. 2. Everyone must also use the app to digitally sign the revised Columbia Community Health Compact by Aug. 16, even if you signed it previously. Details about how to upload vaccine documentation can be found in these Vaccine Documentation Upload Instructions and the CUIMC Vaccination Attestation Tutorial.
This Week: Return to Campus Updates
CU and CUIMC Return to Campus Update Forums for faculty, researchers, and staff will be held this week via Zoom. The updates will focus on new information about COVID variants and university vaccination requirements for all faculty and staff. The CU forum will be held Tuesday, July 27, from 4 to 5 p.m. Register here. CUIMC’s forum will be held Wednesday, July 28, from 3 to 4 p.m. Register here.
Tomorrow: CUIMC Employee Appreciation Ice Cream Social on Haven Plaza
CUIMC employees are invited to stop by Haven Plaza tomorrow, July 27, from 12-2 p.m. for a free ice cream or frozen fruit bar and listen to live jazz music. The event is part of an Employee Appreciation program. Learn more.
VP&S Hematologist/Oncologist Addresses COVID Vaccines and the Immunocompromised
Pawel Muranski, MD, assistant professor of medicine, offers insights into what immunocompromised people can do to protect themselves from COVID. Several studies have found that antibody production in immunocompromised patients is worryingly low. Read more.
Among Effective Antihypertensive Drugs, Less Popular Choice is Slightly Safer
A multinational observational study led by George Hripcsak, MD, and other researchers at VP&S have found that two drugs recommended as a first treatment for patients with high blood pressure were equally effective in improving cardiovascular outcomes, but the more popular type causes slightly more side effects. Read more.
GRANTS
VAGELOS COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS
Barry Honig, PhD, Systems Biology, will receive $2,025,000 over four years from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences for “Genome-Wide Structure-Based Analysis of Protein-Protein Interactions and Networks.”
Simon John, PhD, Ophthalmology, will receive $3,521,270 over four years from the National Eye Institute for “Does VECAD at Schlemm’s Canal Cell-Junctions Determine IOP and Glaucoma Risk?”
Tal Nuriel, PhD, Taub Institute, will receive $2,835,411 over four years from the National Institute on Aging for “Elucidating the Temporal, Spatial and Cellular Effects of Differential APOE Isoform Expression.”
Elizabeth Shane, MD, Medicine, will receive $4,745,614 over four years from the National Institute on Aging for “Beta1-Selective Blockade for Prevention of Postmenopausal Bone Loss: A Randomized Controlled Trial.”
Alan Tall, MD, Medicine, will receive $2,122,166 over four years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Clonal Hematopoiesis, Inflammasomes and Atherosclerosis.”
MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Ana Navas-Acien, MD, PhD, and Andrea Baccarelli, MD, PhD, Environmental Health Sciences, will receive $3,148,020 over four years from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for “The Epitranscriptome as a Novel Mechanism of Arsenic-Induced Diabetes.”
AWARDS AND HONORS
VAGELOS COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS
Hetty Cunningham, MD, Pediatrics, has been awarded the Gold Humanism Scholar award from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation for participation in the Harvard Macy Institute Program for Educators.
MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Barbara Barlow, MD, Epidemiology, was recognized with the C. Everett Koop Medal of Distinction at the Safe Kids Worldwide International Childhood Injury Prevention Convention.
Thomas Carpino, MPH, received the Lange/van Tongeren Prize for Young Investigators from the International AIDS Society/Agence Nationale de Recherche sur le SIDA for a top-scoring abstract titled “HIV risk behaviors among those with and without viral load suppression: findings from population surveys from four African countries.”
SCHOOL OF NURSING
Gregory L. Alexander, PhD, and Rebecca Schnall, PhD, were among 20 researchers inducted this year into Sigma Theta Tau International Society of Nursing’s Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame. Read more.
EVENTS
ICAP Grand Rounds Webinar on differentiated HIV service delivery and COVID-19. July 27, 9 - 10 a.m. Register here.
Nurse Anesthesia Virtual Information Session. July 27, 5 - 6 p.m. Register here.
MDE Virtual Information Session. July 28, Noon - 1 p.m. Register here.
Oncology Alumni Panel. July 28, 8 - 9 p.m. Register here.
For more events, visit the CUIMC Events listing.