CUIMC Update - November 29, 2023

November 29, 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

The Microbiologist’s Guide to Safe Leftovers
Enjoying leftovers is a major part of Thanksgiving for many, but the tradition is not without risk of foodborne illness. Columbia microbiologist Anne Moscona, MD, discusses how to store, freeze, and reheat leftovers to prevent getting sick. 

School of Nursing Partnership with HHC Mutually Beneficial
A partnership with the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation allows Columbia Nursing students in the MDE program to complete their clinical integrations within the country's largest municipal health system, serving primarily low-income and under-insured patients. 

Join Columbia ICAP for a Webinar: "Is the End of AIDS in Sight?"
To commemorate World AIDS Day, ICAP will host a webinar on Dec. 1 that explores progress made in the HIV response and the challenge of ending AIDS as a public health threat.

Patients Living with a Heart Pump Benefit from Aspirin-Free Regimen
A new study co-authored by Nir Uriel, MD, professor of medicine at VP&S, shows that omitting aspirin from an anti-clotting regimen can improve outcomes for people living with a heart pump by reducing hospitalizations without increasing the risk of blood clots. 

New Employee Liaison is Available to Support Survivors of Robert Hadden and Answer Questions from CUIMC Community
Maura Abbott, PhD, NP, is serving as employee liaison and able to provide information and resources to faculty and staff, including employees who are former patients of Robert Hadden. You can reach Maura at HaddenSupport@cumc.columbia.edu and learn more about the initiatives announced on Nov. 13 at Rebuilding Trust.

Events

Grants

Mailman School of Public Health

  • Jennifer Hirsch, PhD, Sociomedical Sciences
    $344,158 over two years for a subaward from the New York Community Trust for "Marriage, Orthodoxy, and a Vision of Empowerment (MOVE)."

Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

  • Robert Bauer, PhD, Medicine
    $2,427,155 over four years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for "Molecular Mechanisms of TRIB1 Regulation of Hepatic Metabolism."
  • Iok In Christine Chio, PhD, Institute for Cancer Genetics
    $2,297,253 over five years from the National Cancer Institute for "Characterizing the role of MSRA in pancreatic tumorigenesis."
  • Henry Colecraft, PhD, Physiology & Cellular Biophysics
    $12,000,650 over five years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for "Structure-Function of Calcium Channel Complexes in Cardiac Physiology and Disease."
  • Sarah Rossetti, PhD, Biomedical Informatics
    $3,242,503 over four years from the National Institute of Nursing Research for "Communicating narrative Concerns entered by RNs (CONCERN)."
  • Ardesheer Talati, PhD, Psychiatry
    $345,091 over three years for a subaward from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for "A Prospective Study Examining the Role of Gestational SSRI Exposure in the Development of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders."
  • Xueling Wu, MD, PhD, Zizhang Sheng, PhD, Masahiro Yamashita, PhD, and Michael Yin, MD, Medicine
    $2,999,059 over three years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for "Quick and Accurate Measurements of HIV Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Susceptibility."

Honors

College of Dental Medicine

Social Media Snapshot

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging at CUIMC

Being able to see results such as these keeps us up at night. We are grateful to everyone who has been involved in Project PossAbility ShaQuanna Williams, SHRM-CP, Keith Diaz, Tyla Yurgel Ashley Boyce and look forward to bringing more diverse talent to CUIMC in the future.

Consortium for Customized EmploymentConsortium for Customized Employment

We’re proud to highlight our work with Columbia University Irving Medical Center’s Project PossAbility, which began in 2020 and is going strong. Just this fall, the 7th employee from a Consortium agency was hired by the Heilbrunn Center for Population & Family Health.

In November, Consortium Associate Director Wendy Banner was invited to take part in the annual Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging at CUIMC summit.

“CUIMC is one of the most recognized and well-respected organizations in the medical field, and Columbia is one of New York City’s largest employers,” she says. “It’s so important and inspiring to see them include developmental disabilities in their hiring and DEIB priorities.”

Keith Diaz, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Behavioral Medicine, and the employee leader of CUIMC’s Disability Employee Resource Group, called CCE “the perfect collaborator in our inclusive hiring efforts.”

In the News Highlights

  • What Role Does the Nervous System Play in Cancer? Finding Out May Mean Beating the Disease.
    Nov 19, 2023
    USA TODAY
    Nerves are also an integral part of most cancers' early development and progression, said Dr. Timothy Wang, a gastroenterologist and cancer specialist at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University. For cancers to grow, they need signals from nerves, he said. "We don't know about what the tumor is saying to the nerves and where that message goes," Wang said.
  • Warmer Winters Mean Ticks Crawling and Biting All Year
    Nov 18, 2023
    NBC News Online
    Winters used to be more consistently cold, said Rafal Tokarz, an epidemiologist at the Center for Infection and Immunity at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. “Now we have stretches of abnormally warm weather and [ticks] come out more frequently,” he said.
  • Do Pets Make You Healthier and Happier? Here's What Research Shows.
    Nov 24, 2023
    Yahoo! Life
    “We’ve seen evidence of the impact of animals in creating therapeutic experiences for people for decades,” Dr. Warren Ng, director of clinical services in child and adolescent psychiatry at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, tells Yahoo Life. “The role of animal-assisted therapy has often included dogs, cats, birds, horses, and other animals within therapeutic treatment plans.”