CUIMC Update - Dec. 20, 2021
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
New Study Adds More Evidence for Omicron Immune Evasion
A new study from COVID researchers in the lab of David Ho, MD, director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center and the Clyde’56 and Helen Wu Professor of Medicine at VP&S, in collaboration with the University of Hong Kong, adds more evidence that the omicron variant can evade the immune protection conferred by vaccines and natural infection. Read more.
College of Dental Medicine Graduate Named Acting Director of the NIH
CDM alumnus Lawrence A. Tabak, DDS, PhD, today takes on the role of acting director of the National Institutes of Health, succeeding Francis Collins. Read more.
In Case You Missed It: Year-End Town Hall
Last week, the deans of VP&S, Mailman, Nursing, and CDM celebrated 2021 accomplishments and shared a look ahead to 2022 at a year-end town hall. View recording.
VP&S Study Questions Widely Used Race-Based Formula to Define Lung Disease
New results from a long-term epidemiologic study led by VP&S researchers reveal that one of the oldest racially based diagnostic formulas in medicine is no better than a race-neutral equation. Read more.
Evans Foundation Grant Establishes New Center at Columbia for Myelodysplastic Syndromes
The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center will establish the Edward P. Evans Center for MDS dedicated to the study and treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes. The new center will build upon Columbia's longstanding national leadership in MDS research. Read more.
Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center Annual Report: Pathways to a Cure
In its 2021 annual report, the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center features stories on the new role of artificial intelligence in radiotherapy; the work of engineers and biologists to miniaturize “cancer on a chip;” and how virtual reality technology can be applied to research and education. View annual report.
When Type 1 Diabetes Strikes Older Adults
After a patient in her 60s was misdiagnosed with type 2 diabetes, she contacted the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at CUIMC. Robin Goland, MD, co-director of the center, accurately diagnosed the patient with type 1 diabetes, which is often misdiagnosed in older adults. Read more.
GRANTS
VAGELOS COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS
Phyllis Faust, MD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $258,040 over one year from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for a subaward of “Pathologomics - Essential Tremor in the Broader Context of Neurodegeneration” and $4,817,641 over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Deep Dive: Mapping the Neuropathology of Essential Tremor and Exploring the Molecular Underpinnings of Neurodegeneration.”
Steven Marx, MD, Medicine, will receive $2,349,812 over four years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Investigating Cardiac Ion Channels by Novel Methods.”
MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Dustin Duncan, ScD, Epidemiology, will receive $3,624,329 over five years from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for “Cannabis use, PrEP and HIV transmission risk Among Black MSM in Chicago.”
SCHOOL OF NURSING
Jean-Marie Bruzzese, PhD, Division of Scholarship & Research, will receive $819,279 over five years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “The Efficacy of CAMP Air, a Web-based Asthma Intervention, Among Urban Adolescents with Uncontrolled Asthma.”
AWARDS AND HONORS
VAGELOS COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS
Geoffrey Reed, PhD, Psychiatry, has received the American Psychological Association Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contributions to Psychology. Read more.
EVENTS
CUIMC Employee Resource Groups Present: Stress Management and Self Care, Jan. 11, noon, register here.
Columbia Commons IPE Day: Call for Abstracts, by Feb. 11, view guidelines.
For more events, visit the CUIMC Events listing.