CUIMC Update - April 30, 2025

April 30, 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

Cory Abate-Shen Elected to National Academy of Sciences
Columbia cancer researcher Cory Abate-Shen has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of science’s highest honors.

Meet the 2025 CUIMC Commencement and Class Day Speakers
Graduation season at the medical center kicks off next month. Here's who will be speaking at each school's graduation ceremony.

Columbia Psychologist Helps Parents and Teachers Work Together for Kids with Autism
Columbia Mailman expert and child psychologist Gazi Azad helped develop Partners in School, an implementation package designed to increase the use of evidence-based practices for children with autism at home and in school.

Get Relief from Spring Allergies
For those with seasonal allergies, spring can be a time of itchy eyes, runny noses, and sneezing. Columbia allergist Mervat Nassef explains what causes spring allergies, how to reduce your exposure, and the most effective treatments.

Join the Celebration: Volunteer for Commencement Week
Today is the last day to sign up to volunteer at CUIMC Commencement Week 2025. Volunteers welcome guests, assist grads, share event info, and keep the energy high. Opportunities are available May 20–22 across multiple ceremonies. It’s a fun, meaningful way to be part of the magic and celebrate our graduates.

Events

Grants

Mailman School of Public Health

  • Wafaa El-Sadr, ICAP
    $1,476,005 over five years from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for "Regional Centers for Public Health Preparedness and Response, Region 2."
  • Rupak Shivakoti, Epidemiology
    $260,000 over two years for a subaward from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for "Appetite regulation with DTG based ART in postpartum women living with HIV and their infants (Ar-DART)."

Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

  • Domenico Accili, Medicine
    $2,250,000 over three years from the JPB Foundation for "Causes and treatment of β-cell failure in diabetes."
  • Hannah Harris, Psychiatry
    $901,800 over five years from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for "Effects of repeated CBD administration on cannabis abuse-liability and analgesia: A human laboratory study."
  • Uma Reddy, Obstetrics & Gynecology
    $796,777 over five years for a subaward from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for "A Dose Escalation Study of Low Dose Aspirin for the Prevention of Recurrent Preterm Birth."
  • Milan Stojanovic, Medicine
    $986,376 over four years for a subaward from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for "Comprehensive, Real Time Monitoring of the Accumulation and Clearance of Small Molecules in Kidney Disease."
  • Robert Wechsler-Reya, HICCC
    $800,000 over four years from the V Foundation for Cancer Research for "Precision Medicine and Precision Delivery for Diffuse Midline Glioma."

Honors

Mailman School of Public Health

Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

Social Media Snapshot

Columbia Medicine | Research means healthier babies. Even minor mistakes in the neonatal ICU (#nicu) can have enormous consequences. A Columbia researcher... | Instagram

In the News Highlights

  • AI Uses What Nurses See and Death Risk Plunges 36% – but Grant Pulled
    Apr 18, 2025
    Forbes
    “Our vision is that this system is put into every hospital in this country and beyond,” said Sarah Rossetti, co-principal investigator of the study, in an interview. Rossetti is both a veteran critical care nurse and an associate professor of biomedical informatics and nursing at Columbia University. It was Rossetti’s academic affiliation that triggered a sudden cancellation of the study’s National Institute of Nursing Research grant meant to enable continued research and expansion to pediatric patients. The grant was a casualty of the Trump administration withdrawing $400 million in funding from Columbia over its alleged weak response to antisemitic campus demonstrations.
  • What's at Stake When Clinical Trials Research Gets Cut
    Apr 24, 2025
    AAMC News
    “There’s a lot of thought that the canceled grants are just punishing these rich elite institutions,” such as Ivy League universities, says Paula Castaño, MD, MPH, associate professor of reproductive science and principal investigator of two contraceptive trials that were halted at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. “This impacts people” who might benefit from the research. “Real humans are being affected.”
    In March, the federal administration canceled funding for a 30-year, nationwide study — the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study — that was tracking 1,700 people with prediabetes and diabetes. “People with diabetes have a higher risk of dementia,” says José Luchsinger, MD, MPH, director of the Center for Research on Aging and Quality of Life at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. “We were notified to stop all data collection,” he says. “There’s no funding to continue the interaction” with patients.
  • Signs of Dementia, Alzheimer's Can Appear Prior to Middle Age
    Apr 25, 2025
    HealthDay News
    “Previously, research on Alzheimer’s disease risk factors has focused on individuals aged 50 and older,” lead researcher Allison Aiello, a professor of epidemiology at the Columbia University Aging Center, said in a news release. These new results show that well-established risk factors and blood biomarkers for dementia appear to start affecting cognitive function even before middle age, Aiello said.