Dean's Rounds, Issue #4
Dear VP&S Community,
Not long ago, I had the chance to attend on the general medicine service, paired with Danielle Carter, assistant professor of medicine and faculty in the Center for Patient Safety Science, who has graciously served as my co-attending more than once—a testament to either her generosity or to her short-straw luck. Time on service has a way of cutting through the noise to remind me what matters most to VP&S’s future: delivering outstanding care to patients at their most vulnerable moments, training future generations of leaders, and relentlessly asking how we can do better for all the communities we serve. It was also a vivid reminder that none of this happens without teamwork. Our work depends on partnership—with our colleagues, our trainees, our patients, and our institutions. Academic medicine is a collaborative enterprise and the right alliances, built on genuine alignment and mutual trust, allow us to accomplish things none of us could do alone.
Our partnership with NewYork-Presbyterian (NYP) is one of the most enduring examples of such alliances. Dating to 1928—when NYP was still known as Presbyterian Hospital—this partnership reflects a shared commitment to combine the excellence of a quaternary academic medical center with the values of a community-based institution that is embedded in one of the most diverse, dynamic neighborhoods in the country. That combination of advanced subspecialty capability and deep local roots is rare. It creates an environment defined by a high ceiling for innovation and a meaningful set of challenges, which is exactly the kind of environment where important work gets done.
Over the past several years, our growing partnership with NYP has produced a shared clinical strategy, including the recent expansion into Westchester with the opening of The One. We are now preparing to collaborate on a system-wide strategic planning effort over the coming year. In parallel, we are revising our funds flow arrangement—the financial mechanism that moves revenue between our clinical enterprise and our academic institution—to better align our funding models with our shared priorities and to enable sustainable investment in clinical growth. This work is complex, unglamorous, and fundamental to our long-term success. I am grateful to everyone across Columbia and NYP who has contributed to these efforts, and especially to Steve Corwin and Brian Donley, the former and current CEOs of NewYork-Presbyterian, for their steady and constructive leadership throughout.
Partnership with NYP also drives meaningful growth in our clinical research enterprise. Led by Frances Brogan, director of clinical research operations at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, eight oncology clinical trials are now actively open at The One, with six additional trials in the pipeline. And the program is expanding beyond oncology: trials for Parkinson’s disease and for cardiomyopathy are currently under consideration, reflecting growing cross‑departmental momentum.
Another important step to support clinical research at VP&S is the Optimizing Patient ENgagement in Research Initiative (OPEN), which will improve our partnership with our patient communities. Led by Andrew Lassman, vice dean of clinical trials, and Muredach Reilly, vice dean for clinical and translational research, OPEN will expand patient access to research through Epic and equip investigators with new tools for direct-to-patient recruitment. Research partnerships are only as powerful as community engagement efforts, and OPEN represents a serious commitment to broadening that circle.
Over the last weeks, I have spoken with many groups about the external and internal challenges that VP&S and our peer institutions across academic medicine face, including declining federal funding for research and clinical care and growing barriers to recruiting global talent. Even as we face these headwinds, I believe that we must pursue new opportunities for impact and partnership and redouble our commitment to the fundamental missions and longstanding partnerships that have represented the best of VP&S for more than 100 years.
As we look forward, we are also strengthening our campus community through environmental improvements that create stronger collaborations with our local community. Local small business Buunni Coffee recently opened locations in the William Black Building and the Hammer Health Sciences Center, the latter with an indoor gathering space for dining, meetings, and informal connection. CUIMC Facilities Management and Campus Services and the Office of Academic and Community Partnerships continue to work alongside NYP colleagues to support local enterprises and bring more dining options to our shared campus.
As we move into the final, busy weeks of the academic year, I hope to see some of you at Buunni, taking a moment to pause and, as the season demands, caffeinate.
With gratitude for all that you do,
Katrina Armstrong, MD
Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Executive Vice President for Health and Biomedical Sciences, Columbia University