CUIMC Update - November 1, 2023

November 1, 2023

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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

CUIMC Welcomes Community Leaders, Local Residents, Policymakers, and Others to Campus for Project Medical Education
Last month, local residents, community leaders, policymakers, and others spent time on campus to learn about the day-to-day activities at CUIMC. Columbia’s Project Medical Education is part of a national effort led by the Association of American Medical Colleges to educate elected officials and others about academic medicine.  Read more.

The Power of Connectedness
By sharing the story of her breast cancer journey, Lorraine Frazier, PhD, dean of the School of Nursing, hopes to support other women with breast cancer, encourage them to partner with their health care team, and enlighten nurses and other providers about the importance of being present for patients. Read about her experience and watch her video testimonial.

Columbia Receives $6.5 Million Gift to Expand the Weinberg Family Cerebral Palsy Center
With a transformational gift of $6.5 million, the Weinberg Family Cerebral Palsy Center at Columbia University will expand its team of clinicians, create new laboratory spaces for translational science, and establish new opportunities for physicians specializing in the practice of CP care. Read more.

The Best Exercise to Lower Your Blood Pressure? It's Not What You Think It Is
Aerobics are not the only way to beat high blood pressure. Columbia cardiologist Arun Manmadhan, MD, discusses a new study that found almost all forms of exercise training led to lower blood pressure, but the most effective form of exercise was isometric exercise training, such as squats, bridges, and planks. Read more.

You’re Invited: CUIMC Fall Festival for Employees
Join your CUIMC colleagues on Haven Plaza on Nov. 14 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for live music, soup, and the Great Pumpkin Giveaway. Food drive donations will be accepted. Read more.

Events

Grants

School of Nursing

  • Allison Norful, PhD
    $960,458 over four years from the National Institute of Mental Health for "Physiologic stress and epigenetic mechanisms that precipitate risk for suicidal behavior in nurses." 

Mailman School of Public Health

  • Diana Hernandez, PhD, Sociomedical Science
    $400,000 over two years from the JPB Foundation for "Energy Insecurity Research Acceleration, Dissemination and Network Building." 
  • Peter Muennig, MD, Health Policy & Management
    $370,125 over two years from the National Institute on Aging for "The Project STAR Healthy Aging Experiment." 

Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

  • Samuel Sternberg, PhD, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics
    $968,659 over five years from the National Science Foundation for "CAREER: Functional and evolutionary analysis of transposon-encoded, RNA-guided nucleases across the three domains of life." 
  • Pamela Freda, MD, Medicine
    $3,039,963 over five years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for "Central Mediation of Growth Hormone Effects in Humans." 
  • Jeffrey Bruce, MD, Peter Canoll, MD, PhD, and Peter Sims, PhD, Neurosurgery
    $3,242,725 over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for "Single cell analysis of the infiltrative margins of glioblastoma and post treatment recurrence." 
  • Justine Kahn, MD, Pediatrics
    $625,000 over five years from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for "Leveraging cancer registries, clinical trials, and community partnerships to address disparities in pediatric, adolescent, and young adult leukemia and lymphoma." 
  • Masayuki Yazawa, PhD, Rehabilitation & Regenerative Medicine
    $1,944,703 over three years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for "Novel Therapeutics for Timothy Syndrome and Related Cardiac Channelopathy." 
  • Ottavio Arancio, MD, PhD, Taub Institute
    $750,000 over three years from the Department of the Army, Army Medical Research and Materiel Command for "Role of SUMO Conjugation in Alzheimer's Disease-Related." 

Honors

College of Dental Medicine

  • Christian S. Stohler, DMD, DrMedDent, Dean
    Received the Shils-Meskin Award at the 2023 Shils Entrepreneurial Fund Annual Awards held Oct. 17.

Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

  • William Turner, MD, Medicine
    Awarded the Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award Trust from Wells Fargo Bank for inspiring students to make a significant contribution to society.

Social Media Snapshot

 

Columbia Surgery Pumpkin Carving Contest

Columbia Medicine (@ColumbiaMed)

Can surgeons carve better pumpkins than the rest of us? Columbia Surgery put their residents⁩ to the challenge. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the News Highlights

  • Columbia Gets $6.5M to Expand Family Cerebral Palsy Center
    Nov. 1, 2023
    Crain's New York Business
    The center currently provides lifelong care for adults and children with cerebral palsy, said Dr. Jason Carmel, the institution’s executive director, including neurology and rehabilitation medicine, as well as clinical and basic science research and education for medical professionals and patients. Co-founders Deborah and Peter Weinberg provided the gift which will allow the center to expand across all three areas. Carmel added that the new lab and rehabilitation engineer will apply spinal cord electrical stimulation–which Weinberg Center researchers have been studying in animals–to patients and test its efficacy in children with seizures.
  • 'Desperate and Panicked': When Will the Nationwide Adderall Shortage End?
    Oct 25, 2023
    TODAY Online
    Unmedicated children may struggle to learn and regulate their behavior in class, Dr. Warren Ng, a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, tells TODAY.com. Grades and self-esteem suffer as a result. "In the end, the kids internalize it," he adds.
  • Around 20 Minutes of Exercise a Day May Balance Out the Harms of Sitting, Study Finds
    Oct 24, 2023
    NBC News Online
    Prolonged sitting is becoming a bigger and bigger problem, said Benjamin Boudreaux, a research scientist in the Division of Behavioral Cardiology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, who was not involved with the new research. “I always tell people if they are pressed for time, when you go grocery shopping or running errands, park your car far away in the lot. If you have a meeting with co-workers, do a walking meeting.”