Announcement regarding Michael Shelanski, MD, PhD

Dear Colleagues,

We write to let you know that Michael Shelanski, MD, PhD, has informed us he will be stepping down from his role as Senior Vice Dean for Research for the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Mike has been an invaluable member of the VP&S leadership team, and we are grateful for his many contributions. We are pleased to share that, effective March 1, Mike will serve in a new role as a senior advisor to Katrina Armstrong, MD, interim president of Columbia University and CEO of Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and will remain as the Co-Director, Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain and as the Henry Taub Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology.

Mike pioneered the understanding of the proteins of micro tubules and neurofilaments, the major structural elements of the nerve cell. He has devoted almost 60 years to research on the alterations in nerve cell structure and function in health and disease. He is the author of more than 200 publications related to nerve cell biology and cytoskeletal function. He served as Chairman of the Department of Pathology and Cell Biology at Columbia and Director of the Pathology Service of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital from 1987-2015, during which time the department achieved major national and international recognition with numerous faculty members being elected to the National Academies. He also served as Director of Medical Scientist Training Programs at both Columbia and New York University. A dedicated mentor, Mike’s trainees and junior faculty have made major contributions to neuroscience and to pathology.

Mike is a member of the American Association of Physicians and of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. He is past President of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Paris Brain Institute.

In 2015, Mike was asked by Dean Lee Goldman to form the Office for Research to facilitate the funding and execution of research in the College. The outstanding staff of this office have succeeded in this mission and will continue to support research efforts under new leadership.  

We are deeply appreciative that Stavros Lomvardas, PhD, Roy and Diana Vagelos Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and Herbert and Florence Irving Professor at the Zuckerman Institute, has agreed to be our interim Vice Dean for Basic Science Research. He will serve in this role until we complete the ongoing search for the Vagelos Institute's inaugural Scientific Director, who will also assume the Vice Dean role. We will provide an update soon about leadership planning for our exciting basic science portfolio.

Mike has shaped our research work in profound ways that have primed us for future growth and success. Please join us in thanking him for his vision and leadership.

Sincerely,

Katrina Armstrong, MD
Interim President, Columbia University in the City of New York
CEO, Columbia University Irving Medical Center

James McKiernan, MD
Interim Dean, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
CEO, ColumbiaDoctors