Faculty Receive Diversity Grant Awards
Eight P&S faculty members received funding in 2014-15 through the Columbia Provost’s Grants Program for Junior Faculty Who Contribute to the Diversity Goals of the University. The program is a component of Columbia’s ongoing commitment to faculty diversity.
Columbia announced the commitment of an additional $33 million this year to continue the expansion of faculty diversity efforts to recruit faculty from underrepresented groups to more closely reflect the composition of the national pool of qualified candidates.
The junior faculty grants program is designed to contribute to the career success of junior faculty who contribute to Columbia’s diversity goals. The program has supported 53 projects throughout Columbia since 2013. Applications are reviewed by a committee of faculty from the Morningside and medical center campuses.
“This program provides pilot grants to help junior faculty on their pathway to tenure and/or promotion,” says Dennis Mitchell, DDS, MPH, the University’s vice provost for faculty diversity and inclusion. “P&S faculty did spectacularly this year in the competition for these grants, and we are confident that the work being done will benefit the faculty members, our patients, and our diversity goals.”
The 25 projects funded during the two 2014- 15 funding cycles included eight projects by P&S junior faculty, two of whom joined the Department of Pediatrics this year: Stephanie Lovinsky-Desir, MD, and Jenny K. Rodriguez Francis, MD.
The full list of P&S research projects supported by 2014-15 grants:
Probing Human Islet Alpha Cell Biology With Single-Cell Gene Expression Xiaojuan Chen, MD, PhD assistant professor of surgical sciences (in surgery)
Hispanic Adolescent and Parent Discordance about Reproductive Health Trials Jenny K. Rodriguez Francis, MD, MPH assistant professor of pediatrics at CUMC
Breast Cancer Among Thyroid Cancer Survivors Jennifer H. Kuo, MD assistant professor of surgery
The Impact of Physical Activity Level on Environmental and Epigenetic Mechanisms in Asthma Stephanie Lovinsky-Desir, MD assistant professor of pediatrics
The Effects of Inhaled Glucocorticoids on Central Skeleton Structure and Strength in Postmenopausal Latina Women Emily Stein, MD, MS assistant professor of medicine
The Role of Ubiquitination in Neurotransmitter Release Clarissa Waites, PhD assistant professor of pathology & cell biology and of neuroscience (in the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain)
Understanding Gender Differences in Atrial Fibrillation Using a Novel Transgenic Mouse Model Elaine Wan, MD Esther Aboodi Assistant Professor of Cardiology (in Medicine)
The Role of Selective Macroautophagy in Neurodegeneration Ai Yamamoto, PhD assistant professor of neurology and of pathology & cell biology