CUIMC Update - September 17, 2025

September 17, 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

CUIMC Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Rudin Scholars Program
Students, faculty, and staff joined members of the Rudin family to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Rudin Scholars Program at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and this year's new scholars.

A Rising Sports Medicine Specialist
The Rising Star Award is an initiative of the Academy of Clinical Excellence (ACE), established to recognize outstanding residents and fellows in clinical departments at VP&S. 2025 Rising Star awardee, Ella D’Amico, now assistant professor of rehabilitation and regenerative medicine, discusses her training, her collaborative approach, and why listening to her patients always comes first. Watch a video and read more.

Helping Adolescents with Sickle Cell Disease
Support from community health workers shows promise in helping adolescents with sickle cell disease maintain their treatment plans and improve quality of life.

Nosebleeds: When to Get Medical Attention
David A. Gudis, chief of the Division of Rhinology and Anterior Skull Base Surgery in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, explains what causes nosebleeds, whether home remedies help, and when to call a doctor.

Air Pollution Linked to Lewy Body Dementia
A team of Mailman and Johns Hopkins researchers has found a possible molecular connection between air pollution and an increased risk of developing Lewy body dementia. The findings add to a growing body of evidence indicating how environmental factors may trigger harmful protein changes in the brain that lead to neurodegeneration. 

Events

Grants

Mailman School of Public Health

  • Ana Navas-Acien, Environmental Health Sciences
    $867,240 over five years for a subaward from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for “Exposure to Metal-Mixtures and Coronary Heart Disease Across Diverse Populations.” 

Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

  • Adam Brickman, Taub Institute
    $1,524,762 over three years from the National Institute on Aging for “Enhancing Alzheimer’s-related research in rural South Africa with portable MRI.” 
  • Remi Creusot, Medicine
    $256,285 over three years from Breakthrough T1D for “Achieving persistent presentation of self-antigens to reestablish tolerance and prevent autoimmune diabetes.” 
  • Annemieke de Jong, Dermatology
    $419,973 over one year from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for “Activation of human CD1a-restricted T cells by bacterial and mitochondrial lipids.” 
  • Kiyohito Iigaya, Psychiatry
    $3,872,287 over five years from the National Institute on Mental Health for “Computational Dissection of Neural Circuit Mechanisms Underlying Anticipatory Anhedonia in Schizophrenia.” 
  • Anna Penn and Claire-Marie Vacher, Pediatrics
    $901,348 over two years from the Simons Foundation for “Placental Neurosteroids in Autism.”  
  • Guomei Tang, Neurology
    $822,501 over three years from the Department of the Army, Army Medical Research and Materiel Command for “Restoring GABAergic inhibition as a potential therapy for TSC-associated neurocognitive impairment.” 

Honors

School of Nursing

Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

Social Media Snapshot

A LinkedIn post about how algorithms are used to train immune cells to fight cancer

View LinkedIn post here. 

In the News Highlights

  • AI Spots Hidden Signs of Consciousness in Comatose Patients Before Doctors Do
    Aug. 31, 2025
    Scientific American
    This ability to detect consciousness earlier is clinically meaningful, says Jan Claassen, a neurologist at Columbia University, who wasn’t involved in the new research. Signs of consciousness can provide another layer of information for doctors and family members choosing between a range of treatments, from palliative care to more aggressive therapies. “Every day is potentially important” for those difficult decisions, Claassen says. 
  • Among High-Income Countries, US Shows Slowest Progress in Reducing Risk of Chronic Disease Deaths, New Study Finds
    Sept. 10, 2025
    CNN Online
    Elena Ladas, a professor of global integrative medicine at Columbia University and an expert on noncommunicable diseases in young people, said she is optimistic the United States is heading toward embracing wellness as a prevention tool to reduce chronic disease deaths, but she wants to see a clear implementation plan. “They’re talking about the right things: Ultraprocessed foods need to really be minimized, and exposures to pesticides and environmental contaminants,” Ladas said of the MAHA report. “They’re talking about what I think a lot of epidemiologists and clinicians have been saying for a very long time. But how they’re going to implement that remains to be seen.” 
  • Doctor Talks Latest COVID Vaccine Recommendations
    Sept. 8, 2025
    Spectrum News NY1 (video)
    Shifting COVID-19 recommendations from Washington, D.C. have prompted state leaders to take action making it easier to access the vaccine. Dr. Susannah Hills, pediatric ENT surgeon and assistant professor at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, joined NY1 anchor Shannan Ferry on "News All Day" to discuss who is currently able to get a COVID-19 vaccine in New York. 
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