CUIMC Update - April 23, 2025

April 23, 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

Admitted Students Visit Campus for “Life at VP&S” Day
Around 150 accepted medical school applicants visited campus in mid-April for “Life at VP&S,” an event offering applicants a look into what they can expect if they choose VP&S for medical school.

Hashim M. Al-Hashimi Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Hashim M. Al-Hashimi, Roy and Diana Vagelos Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences along with two other Columbia University faculty members.

Celebrating Pediatric Transplant Milestones
Columbia’s four decades of success in pediatric heart transplants means that many former patients now have families of their own. Today our surgical teams perform about 25 pediatric heart transplants per year—typically more than any other hospital in the U.S. Watch a video and read the Department of Pediatrics 2024 Annual Report.

Community Science Graduates Empower New York City to Fight Cancer
The Community Scientist Institute, a program supported by the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, honored 14 program graduates in March. The program teaches members of the community how to use clinical and translational research tools and ways to advocate for better cancer outcomes.

Join the Celebration: Volunteer for Commencement Week
Sign up by April 30 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

  • W. Ian Lipkin, Center for Infection and Immunity
    $500,000 over one year from the Bacon Foundation for "Global Alliance for Preventing Pandemics (GAPP) Surveillance & Monitoring Capacity to Mitigate Risk of Disease Outbreak in Kenya and Zambia."
  • Marni Sommer, Sociomedical Sciences
    $1,000,000 over one year from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for "Menstrual Health Indicator Framework."

Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

  • Randy Auerbach, Psychiatry
    $1,699,522 over five years for a subaward from the National Institute of Mental Health for "Interpersonal Stress, Social Media, and Risk for Adolescent Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors."
  • Monica Lypson, P&S Vice Dean For Education
    $810,000 over two years from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for "RWJF Summer Health Professions Education Program."
  • Laura Mufson, Psychiatry
    $1,137,780 over six years for a subaward from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute for "Preventing Suicidal Behavior with Diverse High-Risk Youth in Acute Care Settings."
  • Guang Yang, Anesthesiology
    $452,375 over two years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for "Targeting the mesocortical glutamatergic pathway for chronic pain treatment."

Honors

Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

Columbia University Fertility Center was named the No. 1 fertility clinic in the United States by Newsweek.

Conor Rork, VP&S medical student, is one of 14 fellows chosen for the 2025 Medical Program of the Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics.

Nathaniel Kratz, Medicine, has been named the 2025-2026 Vanneck-Bailey Scholar by the Virginia Apgar Academy of Medical Educators. The Apgar Academy also inaugurated 11 new members:

Social Media Snapshot

Columbia Medicine | Until a few years ago, most men who needed radiation therapy for prostate cancer received 35-40 days of #radiation, spread over 6-8 weeks.... | Instagram

In the News Highlights

  • The Firefighter With O.C.D. and the Vaccine He Believed Would Kill Him
    Apr 17, 2025
    The New York Times
    Dr. Helen Blair Simpson, a psychiatry professor and O.C.D. researcher at Columbia University, recalled one patient who came to feel that an entire city in another state was contaminated. Mail originating in that city would contaminate the patient’s home if brought inside. “For some people, the anxiety stays specific, but in others it can generalize,” Dr. Simpson said. And it can keep spreading until it takes over a person’s life.
  • Elon Musk Wants to Raise the Birth Rate. He’s Cutting Medical Care for Mothers and Babies.
    Apr 14, 2025
    Forbes
    DOGE has billed itself as a way to cut fat from the federal government, saving taxpayers valuable cash. But Dr. Uma Reddy, who led NY-CHAMP’s work, said that the interventions carried out by her team probably saved taxpayers money. Helping women avoid mental and cardiovascular health crises avoids expensive care down the road, and saves women and their children from needless suffering.
    Uma Reddy is a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and a professor of population and family health at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
  • Climate Change Is Supercharging Pollen and Making Allergies Worse
    Apr 12, 2025
    BBC News Online
    "The winter warms, the springs are starting earlier, and the falls are being delayed, and so the time that you spend outdoors in contact with allergic pollen is definitely going up," says Lewis Ziska, associate professor of environmental health science at Columbia University, in New York, US, and one of the scientists who researched the ragweed pollen season.