CUIMC Update - May 28, 2025

May 28, 2025

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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

A Look Back at Commencement Week 2025
The College of Dental Medicine, the Mailman School of Public Health, the School of Nursing, and the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons celebrated their 2025 graduating classes last week. 

Event Honors Exceptional Employees at CUIMC
Employees from across the medical center gathered for the first Luminary Employee Recognition event. Organized by the CUIMC Women ERG, the event was the culmination of the “Spotlight Your Colleagues Campaign,” which invited employees to recognize colleagues for their contributions to education, leadership, and mentorship.

Jeff’s Story: Defying a Family History of ALS through a New Drug Trial
After losing several family members to a rare, inherited form of ALS, Jeff Vierstra remains symptom-free thanks to a groundbreaking clinical trial led by Columbia neurologist Neil Shneider. Read more about Vierstra's story this ALS Awareness Month.

What To Know About Metals in Foods
Arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury, and chromium might sound like something you'd find in a chemistry lab, but these metals have been detected in many everyday foods. Columbia Mailman researcher Kathrin Schilling explains the health risks these metals pose and what you can do about it.

Events

Grants

Mailman School of Public Health

  • W. Ian Lipkin, Center for Infection and Immunity
    $500,000 over three years from the New York State Department of Economic Development for "MicrobeCapSeq, a sensitive tool for rapid differential diagnosis of infectious disease and detection of anti-microbial resistance elements in New York State."

Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

  • Sally Amundson, Center for Radiological Research
    $1,499,943 over three years from the Department of Energy for "Human bone-Marrow model for response network studies of low dose / low dose-rate radiation exposures."
  • Robert Clancy, Medicine
    $559,788 over four years for a subaward from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for "Autoimmune Drivers and Protectors Team Science (ADAPTS)."
  • Alexander Harris, Psychiatry
    $883,383 over five years for a subaward from the National Institute of Mental Health for "Astrocytes As The Integrators Of Neuromodulator Signals."
  • Amy Margolis, Psychiatry
    $3,453,594 over five years from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for "Prenatal Exposure to Air Pollution and Childhood Social Anxiety Symptoms: Novel pathogenic pathways."
  • Pawel Muranski, Medicine
    $500,000 over three years from Agilent Technologies for "Universal Platform for Manufacture of Multi-epitope Specific Cytotoxic CD4+ T cells for Adoptive Immunotherapy of Cancer and Viral Infections."
  • Hemali Phatnani, Neurology
    $788,534 over three years for a subaward from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for "VCID CWOW: Identifying novel targets to treat cerebral amyloid angiopathy."
  • Magdalena Sobieszczyk, Medicine
    $2,027,293 over four years from the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation for "Cohen Center for Infection-Associated Chronic Illnesses."
  • Lena S. Sun, Anesthesiology
    $1,050,310 over three years from the Food & Drug Administration for "Neurodevelopmental and Mental Health Outcomes in Preterm Infants: Effects of Exposures to Opioid Analgesic, Anesthetic and Sedative Agents."
  • Emmanuel Zorn, Medicine
    $3,158,604 over five years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for "Antibody responses to chemical adducts in human kidney allograft rejection."

Honors

School of Nursing

  • At the second annual Nursing Excellence Awards, six nurses received awards honoring their daily commitment to excellence and dedication to furthering CUIMC’s mission of improving lives through exceptional medical care. Raf Aguiar and Maison Amori Nasser received Nurse of the Year awards, Jennie McAllister received the Nurse Practitioner of the Year in Research award, and Elena Abascal Asimow, Patty Finnegan, and Diana McDonnell received Nurse Practitioner of the Year awards.

Social Media Snapshot

Columbia Medicine | A recent study found that 1 in 4 coma patients may be silently conscious. Columbia researchers are tracking this hidden awareness—offering... | Instagram

In the News Highlights

Is There Really a Chronic Disease Epidemic? It’s Complicated.
May 22, 2025
The New York Times
Six in 10 Americans have at least one chronic disease, and four in 10 have two chronic conditions or more, a higher rate than in the European Union, Canada or Australia, said Nour Makarem, an assistant professor of epidemiology and co-leader of the chronic disease unit at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. “We end up spending more on health care as a share of the economy as a result,” Dr. Makarem said. “We have among the highest number of hospitalizations from preventable causes, and a high rate of preventable or avoidable deaths, many from chronic diseases.”

Life Kit: 5 Eating Habits That Can Help You Sleep Better at Night
May 19, 2025
NPR (podcast)
Want better sleep at night? You may need to rethink your eating habits, say sleep specialists. "What you eat, in terms of nutrients, fats, sugar and fiber, can all play a role in sleep quality at night," says Marie-Pierre St-Onge, a nutrition scientist and researcher at Columbia University and the co-author of the cookbook Eat Better, Sleep Better.

One of the best ways to improve sleep health is to eat more fruits and vegetables, says St-Onge. "Add more vegetables to your recipes. Swap more processed, refined food products with a piece of fruit." Many fruits and veggies are "good sources for multiple sleep-supporting nutrients," St-Onge says.

'More Pressure on Families.' Nearly Half of US States Are on the Brink of a Caregiving Emergency
May 21, 2025
USA TODAY
A new study by the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health found nearly half of America's states are on the brink of a caregiving emergency, with the worst conditions being in the South. “We’re just placing more and more pressure on families to take care of their loved ones," said John McHugh, lead researcher and adjunct assistant professor of health policy and management at Columbia. “We’re asking more and more of individuals without providing any sort of support or compensation, or anything along those lines.”