VP&S Academy of Clinical Excellence Welcomes Fourth Class of Inductees

VP&S Academy of Clinical Excellence logo

In a virtual ceremony on May 13, the Academy of Clinical Excellence (ACE) of the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons inducted 34 clinical faculty members recognized for outstanding patient care. 

ACE launched in 2016 to honor outstanding clinical faculty members who spend more than 50% of their time on patient care and training the next generation of physicians. The first class was inducted in 2017. ACE members must be full-time faculty who have been at Columbia for five or more years and exhibit exemplary patient care marked by evidence-based clinical science coupled with deeply compassionate humanism. The new inductees were nominated and elected by their peers in 2020, however, the ACE ceremony was postponed because of the pandemic. 

The event included the Bill Campbell Clinical Champions Symposium featuring guest speaker Lee Goldman, MD, professor of medicine and epidemiology and dean emeritus of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. 

“With each year’s class of outstanding clinicians, momentum is undeniable in both the role and recognition of our top clinicians and indelibly reinforced,” said Goldman, who commended the accomplishments of the inductees. He also reflected on the impact of the pandemic. “We’ve seen many heroes and lives lost—patients staff, physicians—including our own Dr Lorna Breen. We’ve gotten this far because of our steadfast commitment as an academic medical center and a unified set of health professionals.” 

ACE inductees serve on steering committees that support faculty and trainee mentorship, special lectures and events, and communications. This year, the ACE Consult Service launched as a mentorship resource for practitioners who have questions about their careers or life at Columbia. More than 100 ACE members have volunteered to conduct these confidential problem-specific mentoring sessions. 

The names of the inductees were read aloud by James McKiernan, MD, chair of the ACE Executive Committee, the John K. Lattimer Professor of Urology, and chair of the Department of Urology at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. The new members are the fourth class of inductees to join ACE since its inception. 

2020 ACE Inductees

Erika Berman Rosenzweig, MD
Department of Pediatrics

Monica Bhatia, MD
Department of Pediatrics

Angelo Biviano, MD, MPH
Department of Medicine

Ana Cepin, MD
Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology

George Christolias, MD
Department of Rehabilitation & Regenerative Medicine

Elise Desperito, MD
Department of Radiology

Katarina Eisinger, MD
Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology

Erin Engle, PsyD
Department of Psychiatry

Neil Feldstein, MD
Department of Neurological Surgery

Hasan Garan, MD, MS
Department of Medicine

Justin Greisberg, MD
Department of Orthopedic Surgery

Jennifer Haythe, MD
Department of Medicine

Jason Horowitz, MD
Department of Ophthalmology

Sameera Husain, MD
Department of Dermatology

Margaret Christine Krause, MD
Department of Pediatrics

Anil Lalwani, MD
Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery

Jay Lefkowitch, MD
Department of Pathology & Cell Biology

Leonardo Liberman, MD
Department of Pediatrics

Arthur Mandel, MD, PhD
Department of Neurology

Karen Marder, MD, MPH
Department of Neurology

David Markowitz, MD
Department of Medicine

Leena Mathew, MD
Department of Anesthesiology

Laurel Mayer, MD
Department of Psychiatry

Teresa McCann, MD
Department of Pediatrics

Amy Mesa-Jonassen, MD
Department of Anesthesiology

Nicholas Morrissey, MD
Department of Surgery

Warren Ng, MD, MPH
Department of Psychiatry

Sharon Sheng-Yueh Pan, MD, PhD
Department of Emergency Medicine

Anthony Puliafico, PhD
Department of Psychiatry

Claire Riley, MD
Department of Neurology

Brie Stotler, MD, MPH
Department of Pathology & Cell Biology

Edward Suh, MD
Department of Emergency Medicine

Hiroo Takayama, MD, PhD
Department of Surgery

Tony Wang, MD
Department of Radiation Oncology