CUMC Celebrates: November – December 2013
CUMC CELEBRATES acknowledges faculty, staff, and students at Columbia University Medical Center who receive major research grants, earn prestigious honors, are elected to honorary societies, or take leadership positions in professional organizations.
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Celebrates also gratefully acknowledges the gifts made by donors and friends of the medical center and highlights faculty who have appeared in the news recently. If you have an award or honor that you would like to have listed in Celebrates, please fill out this online form. Please note: all federal grants are automatically included, based on institutional data provided by Sponsored Projects Administration. For more information, send an e-mail to the Celebrates editor. Click on the image at right to print this issue. Research Grants / Awards & Honors / Philanthropic Gifts / CUMC in the News
RESEARCH GRANTS
MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Alastair Ager, PhD, and Helen de Pinho, MBBCh, Population & Family Health, received $283,169 over 18 months from the ReBUILD Consortium for “Health Systems Resilience: A Complex Adaptive Systems Analysis.”
Yumiko Aratani, PhD, National Center for Children in Poverty, received $500,000 over five years from the Administration for Children and Families of the Department of Health & Human Services for “Examining the Impact of Policy Changes on Child Care Subsidy Receipt and Child Care Stability among Low-Income Families with Young Children in Illinois.”
Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, Epidemiology, received $596,230 over two years from the Department of Health & Human Services for “Community Factors that Promoted Resilience in the Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.”
ICAP, led by Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, has been awarded $11.8 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the first year of a five-year PEPFAR program in Ethiopia, “Technical Assistance for the Transition of Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Programs and Medical Education to Ethiopia under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).”
Matthew Perzanowski, PhD, Environmental Health Sciences, received $869,743 over two years from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for “Fungal Exposure in NYC Homes Damaged by Hurricane Sandy and Respiratory Outcomes in Asthmatic Children.”
Sheila Smith, PhD, National Center for Children in Poverty, received $7,500,000 over five years from the Administration for Children and Families of the Department of Health & Human Services in a competitive renewal for “Child Care and Early Education Research Connections – ACF.”
Deliang Tang, MD, DrPH, Environmental Health Sciences, received $300,000 over two years from the Schmidt Family Foundation in a competitive renewal for “Air Pollution and Environmental Health in Taiyuan, China.”
SCHOOL OF NURSING
Lusine Poghosyan, PhD, RN, received $349,913 over three years from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for “Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Practice Environments and Impact on Quality of Care and NP Outcomes.”
COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS
Linda J. Addonizio, MD, Pediatrics, received $298,814 over four years from the National Institutes of Health for “Alloantibodies in Cardiac Transplantation—Intervention, Outcomes, Mechanism.”
David Evans, PhD, Pediatrics, received $276,143 over two years from the Department of Health & Human Services for “Assessing and Strengthening Post-Storm Resilience in NYC High Rise Public Housing.”
Jean Gautier, PhD, DrSc, Institute for Cancer Genetics, received $1,245,283 over five years from the National Cancer Institute in a competitive renewal for “Regulation for the DNA Damage Response by the ATM-MRN Pathway.”
Christian Habeck, PhD, Taub Institute, received $310,045 over five years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Imaging Stimulant Effects on Emotional Liability in Children with ADHD.”
Balazs Halmos, MD, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, received $300,000 over two years from the LUNGevity Foundation for “Identification of Predictive Biomarkers of Chemoradiotherapy in Lung Cancer.”
Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, Psychiatry, received $316,719 over five years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “A D1 Agonist for Working Memory Enhancement in the Schizophrenia Spectrum.”
Elan Louis, MD, Sergievsky Center, received $3,184,303 over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “In Vivo Quantification of Cerebellar GABA and NAA in Essential Tremor.”
Donna Mancini, MD, Medicine, received $402,769 over five years from the National Institutes of Health for “Revive-It Corelab/Gatekeeper.”
Randolph Marshall, MD, Neurology, received $1,275,213 over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “New York Stroke Trials Network of Columbia and Cornell.”
Claude Ann Mellins, PhD, Psychiatry, received $3,423,788 over five years from the National Institute of Mental Health in a competitive renewal for “Risk and Resilience Trajectories to Young Adulthood: The Role of Perinatal HIV.”
Scott Small, MD, Taub Institute, received $400,000 over two years from Fidelity Biosciences Research Initiative for “Validating a Retromer Stabilizing Compound for Alzheimer’s Disease Therapeutics.”
COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE
Panos N. Papapanou, DDS, PhD, and James Noble, MD, Taub Institute, received $1,587,122 over two years from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research for “Periodontitis Exposure and Risk of Incident Dementia.”
AWARDS & HONORS
COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE
Anthony Randi, DDS, Dental Medicine, and postdoc Joseph Jarman, DMD, Prosthodontics, received first place in the table clinic competition at the fall meeting of the American College of Prosthodontics, New York Section.
COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS
Larry Abbott, PhD, Neuroscience and Physiology & Cellular Biophysics, has been awarded one of the first Mathematical Neuroscience Prizes by Israel Brain Technologies. The prize, to be awarded annually, honors researchers worldwide who have significantly advanced our understanding of the neural mechanisms of perception, behavior, and thought through the application of mathematical analysis and theoretical modeling.
The Endocrine Society selected two CUMC endocrinologists as winners of the organization’s prestigious 2014 Laureate Awards. At the next meeting of the society, Domenico Accili, MD, Medicine, will receive the Edwin B. Astwood Award, in recognition of his new landmark findings in beta-cell differentiation. John P. Bilezikian, MD, Medicine and Pharmacology, will receive the Distinguished Educator Award, which recognizes exceptional achievement as an educator in endocrinology and metabolism.
The Society for Neuroscience presented the 2013 Young Investigator Award to Randy M. Bruno, PhD, Neuroscience. The award recognizes the outstanding achievements and contributions of a young neuroscientist who has recently received his or her advanced professional degree.
Karina W. Davidson, PhD, Medicine and Psychiatry, and Ali Gharavi, MD, Medicine, are leading two projects at NYP/Columbia that were awarded funding through New York State’s Empire Clinical Research Investigator Program, which provides funding to teaching hospitals to train physicians in clinical research. Dr. Davidson’s project is “Improving Quality, Outcomes and Patient Satisfaction: Innovation Center for Improving 30-day Readmission and Patient Satisfaction: HPR iSCRIPT Center.” Dr. Gharavi’s project is “Developing and Testing Innovations in Healthcare Delivery: A Personalized Genomic Medicine Program for Kidney Diseases.”
The Franklin Institute announced that Joachim Frank, PhD, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, will receive the 2014 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science at a ceremony in April. The award recognizes Dr. Frank for the development of cryo-electron microscopy, for using this technology to investigate the structure of large organic molecules at high resolution, and for discoveries regarding the mechanism of protein synthesis in cells.
Isaac George, MD, Surgery, was inducted into the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. The society represents more than 6,800 surgeons, researchers, and allied health-care professionals worldwide.
The seventh annual $10,000 Kenneth A. Forde Surgical Research Award was awarded to Adam Griesemer, MD, Surgery, for his research directed at expanding the donor pool through xenotransplantation.
P&S student Gregory Joice placed first overall in the medical student podium presentation competition at the 11th Annual AMA Research Symposium. He also placed first in the Clinical Outcomes and Health Care Improvement category.
Herbert Kleber, MD, Psychiatry, was honored by D.A.R.E. America at a reception in November for his work in preventing substance abuse among children.
Sheng-Han Kuo, MD, Neurology, was elected to the Tremor Research Group, a consortium of scientific investigators from centers that are committed to cooperative planning, implementation, analysis, and reporting of controlled clinical trials and other research for tremor disorders.
Rudolph Leibel, MD, Pediatrics, will receive the Wertheimer Award from the International Association for the Study of Obesity at the society’s annual meeting in March 2014. The award recognizes outstanding basic research contributions to the field of obesity.
Carol Mason, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, Neuroscience, and Ophthalmology, became president of the Society for Neuroscience during the society’s annual meeting in November.
P&S student Huy Nguyen received a medical student fellowship from the Research to Prevent Blindness to support his ophthalmology research. The fellowship is funded for one year with a $30,000 grant.
David P. Roye Jr., MD, Orthopedic Surgery, was included in a list compiled by Becker’s Spine Review honoring 26 spine surgeons involved in humanitarian efforts.
Vincent Santana, MBA, EMPH, Neurology, received a 2013 Latino Trendsetter Award in December in recognition of the leadership and dedication he has exhibited—both personally and professionally —in the Latino community.
In November, Yvonne Schmitz, PhD, Neurology, was a featured researcher of the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation.
Alan Tall, MD, Medicine and Physiology & Cellular Biophysics, was named a 2013 Distinguished Scientist by the American Heart Association. The designation is bestowed on a select group of prominent scientists whose contributions to research have advanced our understanding of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.
The American Thoracic Society awarded Byron M. Thomashow, MD, Medicine, the 2013 Public Advisory Roundtable Excellence Award. Presented by persons affected by pulmonary disease, the award honors an individual who has improved the lives of patients. A decade ago, Dr. Thomashow helped found—and now chairs—the COPD Foundation, a nonprofit organization that undertakes initiatives to expand services for individuals with COPD and enable them to have a greater quality of life.
Jeffrey L. Zitsman, MD, Surgery, has been appointed vice chairman of the Committee on Childhood Obesity of the American Pediatric Surgical Society.
MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Mary Bassett, MD, Epidemiology, received the Haven Emerson Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honor awarded by the Public Health Association of New York City. The award is given to those who have played a major role in contributing to the public health of the City of New York.
Wendy Chavkin, MD, Population and Family Health, received the inaugural Jean Pakter Award from the Public Health Association of New York City. The award is given in memory of Dr. Patkin’s tireless dedication to the expansion of services to the underserved.
Alwyn Cohall, MD, Sociomedical Sciences, received an award from New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Farley on behalf of the Harlem Health Promotion Center, for doing exceptional work in HIV/AIDS in New York City.
Ian Lipkin, MD, Epidemiology, was selected to give this year’s University of Oxford Charles Simonyi Lecture. Established in 1999, this honorary lecture promotes the public understanding of science.
John Rowe, MD, Health Policy and Management, was given the University of New England 2013–14 Humanism in Aging Leadership Award.
SCHOOL OF NURSING
Bobbie Berkowitz, PhD, RN, has become the American Academy of Nursing’s president-elect; her two-year term runs through 2015. The Academy serves the public and the nursing profession by advancing health policy and practice through the generation, synthesis, and dissemination of nursing knowledge.
PHILANTHROPIC GIFTS
(October 15–November 22)
COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS
A bequest of $1,171,794 was realized to provide scholarship support to the College of Physicians and Surgeons.
An anonymous donor made a $1,000,000 contribution toward a $5,000,000 commitment to the Center for Translational Immunology.
A couple made a $1,000,000 commitment to support construction of the new Medical and Graduate Education Building.
An anonymous donor made a gift of $1,000,000 toward the new Medical and Graduate Education Building.
A $1,000,000 commitment was made to the Department of Psychiatry to advance research and clinical care in nonverbal learning disabilities in the Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
A donor made a contribution of $693,589 toward a $2,500,000 commitment to the Department of Pediatrics to establish a professorship in the Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation.
A donor made a $400,000 contribution in support of the College of Physicians and Surgeons’ fourth annual Crown Awards Gala.
A donor has made a three-year commitment of $300,000 to support an annual clinical retina fellowship in the Department of Ophthalmology.
A contribution of $200,480 was made to the Department of Psychiatry to advance care and rehabilitation services at the Lieber Recovery and Rehabilitation Clinic.
A donor made a $125,000 commitment to the Department of Neurology to advance research at the Columbia Comprehensive Epilepsy Center.
A foundation made a contribution of $110,000 toward a $550,000 commitment to support the training of a junior pediatric ophthalmologist in the Department of Ophthalmology.
A donor made a contribution of $110,000 to the Department of Psychiatry to provide care and services to children affected by mental illness in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
A donor made a contribution of $100,000 toward a $300,000 commitment to the Department of Neurology to support junior faculty at the Columbia Comprehensive Epilepsy Center.
An anonymous donor made a gift of $100,000 to support lung transplantation care.
A donor made a contribution of $100,000 to the Department of Urology to advance research on urologic diseases.
A donor made a contribution of $100,000 to the Department of Pediatrics to support medical education in the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology.
COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE
An alumnus of the College of Dental Medicine and his wife, also a Columbia alum, made a bequest of $1,000,000 to provide scholarship support to the College of Dental Medicine.
SCHOOL OF NURSING
A friend of the School of Nursing made a gift of $300,000 to support the Mary Dickey Lindsay’45 DNP Scholarship Fund.
MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
The Mailman School of Public Health raised $1,049,304 at its October 29 Gala Evening that honored the City of New York for 12 years of visionary public health leadership.
The Hess Foundation made a pledge payment of $500,000 for the Leon Hess Endowed Professorship in Environmental Health Sciences.
A donor made a gift of $100,000 to support research programs in the Department of Health Policy and Management.
CUMC IN THE NEWS: November 2013
The New Yorker Do Our Bones Influence Our Minds? – November 4 In the mid-1990s, a young French geneticist and physician named Gerard Karsenty became curious about a mysterious protein, called osteocalcin, that is found at high concentrations in the skeleton. He worked with mice that had been engineered to lack the substance, expecting to find problems with their bones. But their skeletons appeared essentially normal, he says, a result that left him “deeply depressed.” The mice did have issues, though. Their abdomens were fatty, they had trouble breeding, and they were “stupid,” meaning “they never rebelled or tried to bite or escape,” said Karsenty, now 59 years old and chair of the department of genetics & development at Columbia University Medical Center.
Huffington Post Gum Disease Linked with Atherosclerosis Progression – November 4 The health of your mouth could influence the health of your heart, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Researchers from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health found an association between gum disease and progression of atherosclerosis, which is the hardening of arteries and a big risk factor for heart attack. "This is the most direct evidence yet that modifying the periodontal bacterial profile could play a role in preventing or slowing both diseases," study researcher Moïse Desvarieux, MD, PhD, an associate professor of epidemiology at the university.
Time Magazine The Philippines’ Next Challenge: Rebuilding Its Public Health – November 11 More worrisome for public health are the disruptions in water, sanitation and sewage services, since these can contribute to contaminated water and environments that promote the spread of diarrheal diseases. “It sounds trivial, but the most annoying and disturbing thing for a lot of people is that their water supplies will have had salt water seep down into them and won’t be drinkable in the time when they need it the most,” says Les Roberts, acting director of the program on forced migration and health at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Flushing out the salt water could take weeks, if not months of rains.
Chicago Tribune News Stories May Exaggerate Hope for Vision Treatments – November 14 News reports often overhype the potential benefits of novel treatments for disabling eye diseases, a new study suggests. The results are encouraging but honestly fairly limited at this point," Dr. Jack Cioffi said. He is the head of ophthalmology at Columbia University Medical Center in New York and wasn't involved in the new research.
MedPage Today Diabetes: Mouse Studies Point to Kinase as Treatment Target – November 24 Targeting a pathway that plays a major role in both hepatic glucose production and insulin sensitivity may eventually help treat type 2 diabetes, researchers reported. In a series of experiments in mice, researchers found that inhibition of the kinase CaMKII – or even some of its downstream components – lowered blood glucose and insulin levels, Ira Tabas, MD, PhD, of Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, and colleagues reported online in Cell Metabolism.
New York Times Rise in Unprotected Sex by Gay Men Spurs HIV Fears – November 27 Federal health officials are reporting a sharp increase in unprotected sex among gay American men, a development that makes it harder to fight the AIDS epidemic. “Young guys are less worried,” said Alex Carballo-Diéguez, a researcher at the H.I.V. Center of the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University who has studied gay men’s behavior since the 1980s.
See more headlines in the CUMC Newsroom.
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