CUIMC Update - October 2, 2024

October 2, 2024

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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

ICYMI: Watch the 2024 VP&S State of the School
Watch a recording of the 2024 State of the School, presented by Katrina Armstrong, interim president of Columbia University, and James McKiernan, interim dean of VP&S, and see a list of all honorees from the event.

Cancer Immunotherapy Pioneer Michel Sadelain Joins Columbia University
Michel Sadelain has been named the inaugural director of the Columbia Initiative for Cell Engineering and Therapy and director of the Cancer Cell Therapy Initiative in the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Provost Angela Olinto Speaks at CUIMC Women in Science Series
During her talk, “The Joy of Figuring Things Out,” Angela Olinto told the audience how she overcame challenges as a woman in a male-dominated field to pursue her dream of becoming an astrophysicist.

Ian Lipkin Receives High Honor from Mongolia
W. Ian Lipkin, director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at the Mailman School of Public Health, was honored with the Order of the Polar Star—the highest civilian award Mongolia presents to foreign citizens. The award recognizes Lipkin’s significant contributions to public health and the identification, prevention, and treatment of infectious disease outbreaks.

Nasal Rinsing: The Solution Your Sinuses Have Been Waiting For?
You've seen nasal rinsing on social media, but does it work? And is it safe? Columbia ENT Jonathan Overdevest offers insights into how nasal rinsing can help people with sinus issues.

Events

Grants

Mailman School of Public Health

  • Ana Navas-Acien, Environmental Health Sciences
    $948,125 over four years for a subaward from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for "Environmental Metal Toxicity and Kidney Tubule Measures in Diverse Populations."
  • Ruben Sahabo, ICAP
    $2,466,487 over one year for a subaward from the United Kingdom Department of Health for "Eswatini Phase 2 Country Grant 1, FF 165/572."

School of Nursing

  • Billy Caceres
    $3,166,090 over four years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for "A daily diary examination of the influence of intersectional stigma on blood pressure."

Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

  • Jason Adelman, Carmela Alcantara, Ruth Masterson Creber, and Nathalie Moise, Medicine: $4,979,367 over four years from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for "Columbia-Cornell-Einstein EQUIP+ Center for Learning Health System Science."
  • Clark Hung and Nadeen Chahine, Orthopedic Surgery: $38,948,285 over five years from Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health for "NITRO-P11, Columbia NOVAJoint."
  • Minah Kim, Pathology & Cell Biology: $422,971 over two years from the National Cancer Institute for "Unraveling Vascular Mediated Immune Exclusion in Melanoma."
  • Son McLaren, Emergency Medicine: $826,187 over five years from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for "Identification of Young Infants with Bronchiolitis at Low Risk of Developing Respiratory Progression."
  • Samuel Sternberg, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics: $1,161,341 over four years for a subaward from the National Human Genome Research Institute for "Center for Genomic Editing and Recording: Development and Application of Next-Generation Genome and Epigenome Editing Methods to Advance the Study and Treatment of Human Disease."

Honors

School of Nursing

  • Kelsey Baffour-Addo, Danica Dorlette, and Keisha S. Paul
    Received scholarships from Nurses Educational Funds for 2024-2025.

Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

Social Media Snapshot

Columbia Medicine | As a survivor of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), #ColumbiaMed physician-scientist Aaron Viny’s work in cancer research is more than a... | Instagram

In the News Highlights

  • Medical advocacy tips for families
    Sep 25, 2024
    Good Morning America (video)
    Amid Hispanic and Latin American Heritage Month, "GMA" looks at how to improve disparities in health care in Latino communities.
    This broadcast segment features Edith Bracho Sanchez, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
  • What is 'Ozempic face'? How we refer to weight-loss side effects matters.
    Sep 27, 2024
    USA TODAY
    Dr. Judy Korner is an endocrinologist and Professor of Medicine at Columbia University. She says the derogatory remarks about what one’s face looks like after weight loss are part of a pattern of abuse against obese patients. “What’s been going on (with Ozempic) is the focus on people who are using it inappropriately. And it’s making a mockery out of obesity, which is a disease,” she says. “We now are finally having medications that can effectively target this disease, and the focus is completely on the wrong thing instead of focusing on the people who are taking the medication correctly and whose health has been improved because of that."
  • Iron Deficiency in Adults May Be More Common Than Thought
    Sep 24, 2024
    NBC News Online
    Hematologist Dr. Andrew Eisenberger, an associate professor of medicine at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, said that while iron deficiency “is almost never life-threatening, it’s a tremendous quality of life thing. Tens of millions of people in the U.S. are basically running on fumes either because there isn’t enough fuel in the tank or because the tank isn’t connecting to the engine well.”