CUIMC Update - October 6, 2022
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
ICYMI: Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons 2022 State of the School
Last week, Katrina Armstrong, MD, Dean of Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, reviewed recent accomplishments and offered a vision for the future of VP&S. Watch the presentation and view the full list of recognitions here.
Columbia Scientists Receive Prestigious New Innovator Awards from NIH
Four Columbia researchers received NIH awards that enable exceptionally creative scientists to push the boundaries of biomedical science and pursue ideas that, due to their inherent risk, may struggle to receive traditional funding despite their transformative potential. Read more.
VP&S Department of Medicine Launches Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Community Series
The Department of Medicine’s Office of Faculty Development, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has launched a new series to showcase and celebrate diversity in local communities. The inaugural event began with a panel discussion on food insecurity in Black and Latino communities and solutions. Read more.
Lead and Children: No Amount of Lead is Safe
With Dakota’s Law in New York, children will be screened more often for lead poisoning. Vicki Iannotti, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics at Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, explains what parents should know about lead poisoning and how to protect their children. Read more.
Ways to Support Recently Arrived Migrants
CUIMC is part of a local coalition formed to respond to the growing humanitarian needs of asylum seekers who have arrived in New York City. Learn how to donate clothing items, toiletries, and food. Read more.
Brian Donley, MD, to join NewYork-Presbyterian
Brian Donley, MD, has been named executive vice president and chief operating officer at NewYork-Presbyterian. Read more.
EVENTS
Public Health Equity Week
Oct. 10, all week, Mailman School of Public Health
Read more.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Oct. 10, 1 p.m., School of Nursing 7th floor
Read more.
Person Place Thing Podcast Taping with Randy Cohen and Ashwin Vasan
Oct. 11, 3 p.m., Allen Rosenfield Building
Read more.
CUIMC EnERGize: Inaugural Staff DEIB Summit
Oct. 13, 9 a.m., all day, School of Nursing 7th floor
Read more.
Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Day
Nov. 5, 1 p.m., Vivian and Seymour Milstein Family Heart Center
Register here.
Archives & Special Collections Exhibit: "New Old Things: Recent Accessions, Archives & Special Collections, 2012-2022"
Through Dec. 16, 2022
Hammer Health Sciences Center, Lower Level 2
For more events, visit the CUIMC Events listing.
GRANTS
MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Virginia Rauh, ScD, Population & Family Health: $2,040,000 over three years from the JPB Foundation for “Ecological Study of the Comparative Health Effects of Housing-based Interventions.”
VAGELOS COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS
Anca Askanase, MD, Medicine: $1,224,254 over three years from the Department of Health and Human Services for “New York City Lupus Outreach and Clinical Trial Education Program.”
Elizabeth Bradshaw, PhD, Neurology: $250,000 over one year from the Infectious Diseases Society of America for “Pathogen driven epigenetic changes in microglia.”
Adam Brickman, PhD, Taub Institute: $1,219,269 over five years from the National Institute on Aging for a subaward of “Resistance to Alzheimer's Disease in Centenarians and their Offspring (RADCO).”
Jason Carmel, MD, PhD, Orthopedic Surgery: $2,564,808 over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Spinal cord associative plasticity.”
Dani Dumitriu, MD, PhD, Pediatrics: $400,000 over two years from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for “COVID-19 Mother Baby Outcomes (COMBO) Initiative.”
George Hasko, MD, PhD, Anesthesiology: $2,145,182 over four years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Neutrophil A2A receptors in sepsis.”
Victoria Leavitt, PhD, Sergievsky Center: $489,489 over five years from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society for “Cognitive Rehabilitation in MS: Translating Neuroscience from Laboratory to Life.”
Charles Schroeder, PhD, Psychiatry: $519,375 over one year from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for a subaward of “Dynamic Neural Mechanisms of Audiovisual Speech Perception.”
Alexander Sobolevsky, PhD, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics: $2,942,344 over five years from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases for “Structural and functional principles of activation and regulation of the transient receptor potential channel TRPV3.”
Gloria Su, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology: $425,776 over two years from the National Cancer Institute for “Repurposing Bazedoxifene for chemoprevention in pre-invasive pancreatic cancer IPMN.”
Vijay Yadav, PhD, Genetics & Development: $1,741,500 over five years from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for “Regulation of adrenal development and function by the mother's skeleton.”
Chaolin Zhang, PhD, Systems Biology: $1,200,000 over three years from the Simons Foundation for “Targeted restoration of chromatin regulators for treatment of ASDs and developmental delays.”
HONORS
VAGELOS COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS AND COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE
Yiping Han, PhD, is president-elect of Anaerobe Society of the Americas. She will become president in 2024.
VAGELOS COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS
Olajide Williams, MD, Neurology, received the Distinguished Community Service Award, underwritten by TIAA, from the United Hospital Fund for his work improving health literacy through the transformative power of music, art, and science.
SCHOOL OF NURSING
Leon Chen, DNP, was named a Fellow of the American College of Critical Care Medicine.
Suzanne E. Courtwright, PhD, postdoctoral fellow, was awarded the “Best Postdoctoral Research Fellow Poster” Award at the first PhD & Postdoctoral Fellows Scholars Day, sponsored by the School of Nursing. Her research was titled “Do Positive Health Assets Influence Engagement with Children’s Mental Health Systems in Adolescents with Chronic Conditions.”
Maxim Topaz, PhD, was appointed as a standing member of the Clinical Informatics and Digital Health Study Section by the NIH Center for Scientific Review.
SOCIAL MEDIA SNAPSHOT
IN THE NEWS
The New York Times
It’s Never Too Early to Think About Bone Health
Sep 29, 2022 - Jeri Nieves, a clinical epidemiologist and nutrition researcher at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, recommended not consuming more than 2,000 milligrams of calcium a day, either through diet or supplements.
TODAY Online
Regular Weightlifting May Extend Your Life, a New Study Suggests
Sep 27, 2022 - While there are national recommendations for aerobic exercise, there aren’t any for weightlifting, said Dr. Christopher Visco, a sports medicine specialist and an associate professor of rehabilitation medicine at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York.
The Washington Post
FDA Approves First ALS Drug in 5 Years After Pleas From Patients
Sep 29, 2022 - Jinsy A. Andrews, an associate professor of neurology and director of neuromuscular clinical trials at Columbia University, who is also an investigator in the large trial underway for the drug, applauded the approval and said she plans to start prescribing the drug as soon as it is available. “I see patients living with this disease, and I diagnose them every day,” Andrews said. “So to have another therapy for the tool kit is helpful.”