CUMC Celebrates 2015-2016, Issue 5

CUMC CELEBRATES acknowledges faculty, staff, and students at Columbia University Medical Center who receive major research grants, who earn prestigious honors, who are elected to honorary societies, or

Download this issue of CUMC Celebrates

who take leadership positions in professional organizations. Celebrates also gratefully acknowledges the gifts made by donors and friends of the Medical Center and highlights faculty who have appeared in the news recently. If you have an award or honor that you would like to have listed in Celebrates, please fill out this online form. Please note: all federal grants are automatically included based on institutional data provided by Sponsored Projects Administration. For more information, send an e-mail to the Celebrates editor. Click on the image at right to print this issue. Research Grants / Awards & Honors / Philanthropic Gifts / CUMC in the News

RESEARCH GRANTS

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS

Dritan Agalliu, PhD, Neurology, received $649,500 over four years from the Foundation Leducq for “Evoked Neuronal Activity: A New Therapy for Acute Ischemic Stroke?”

Armin Alaedini, PhD, Medicine, received $440,000 over two years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for “Intestinal Immune Response in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.”

William Blaner, PhD, Medicine, received $1,372,833 over four years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “Vitamin A Homeostasis: Retinyl Ester Stores.”

Randy Bruno, PhD, Neuroscience, received $1,750,000 over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “The Role of Dendrites in Thalamocortical Circuitry” in a competitive renewal.

Andrea Califano, PhD, Systems Biology, received $600,000 over one year from the Office of the NIH Director for “Storage System for High Performance Computing.” 

Julie Canman, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, received $1,429,586 over four years from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences for “Cell Polarity and Cytokinesis.”

Henry Colecraft, PhD, Physiology & Cellular Biophysics, received $1,769,096 over four years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Mechanisms of Long QT Syndrome 1 in Heart.” 

Lei Ding, PhD, Rehabilitation & Regenerative Medicine, received $1,980,654 over five years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Regulation of Hematopoietic Stem Cells and Leukemia Stem Cells by Thrombopoietin.”

Dietrich Egli, PhD, Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center, received $593,991 over three years from the American Diabetes Association for “Monogenetic Forms of Diabetes as a Target for Stem Cell Replacement?”

Noemie Elhadad, PhD, Biomedical Informatics, received $3,199,931 over four years from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences for “Extended Methods and Software Development for Health NLP.”

Mitchell Elkind, MD, Neurology, received $1,204,355 over one year from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Risk Factors for Stroke and Cognitive Decline in a Tri-ethnic Region.” 

David Fidock, PhD, Microbiology & Immunology, received $2,308,186 over five years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for “Elucidating the Molecular Basis of Piperaquine Resistance and the Role of Altered Hemoglobin Metabolism in Plasmodium falciparum.”

Ali Gharavi, MD, Medicine, received $2,025,144 over four years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “Genetics of Human Renal Hypodysplasia” in a competitive renewal.

Sankar Ghosh, PhD, Microbiology & Immunology, received $1,923,910 over five years from the National Cancer Institute for “Understanding the Role of kB-Ras Proteins in Tumorigenesis.”

David Goldstein, PhD, Institute for Genomic Medicine, received $760,142 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism for “Next Generation Rare Variant Discovery in Multiplex AD Families.”

Gregg Gundersen, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, received $1,465,847 over four years from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences for “Role of Nucleo-cytoskeleton Interactions in Cell Migration” in a competitive renewal.

Matthew Harms, MD, Neurology, received $3,413,132 over three years from the ALS Association for “Integrated Genomics in Clinical ALS.”

Deborah S. Hasin, PhD, Psychiatry, received $909,038 over five years from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism for “Drinking Levels (Binge, Volume) and Alcohol Consequences: Using National Data to Identify Clinical Trial Endpoints.”

Dawn Hershman, MD, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, received $250,000 over one year from the Avon Foundation for “Breast Cancer Access to Care and Disparities Research Program.”

Dale Hesdorffer, PhD, Sergievsky Center, received $420,241 over three years from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute for “Improving Infrastructure for Conducting Patient-centered Outcomes Research.” She also received $420,241 over three years from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute for “The Rare Epilepsy Network” in a competitive renewal.

Michio Hirano, MD, Neurology, received $600,000 over three years from The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation for “Development of a Complete Pipeline for MELAS Drug Discovery."

Daniel Javitt, MD, PhD, Psychiatry, received $3,422,585 over five years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Temporal Dynamics of Neurophysiological Patterns as Treatment Targets in Schizophrenia (Sz).”

R. Jürgen Kayser, PhD, Psychiatry, received $445,000 over two years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “EEG/ERP Measure of Attention and Cognitive Control During New Auditory WM Tasks.”

William Kreisl, MD, Taub Institute, received $789,210 over five years from the National Institute on Aging for “Imaging Inflammation and Tau in Elders with Different Clinical and Biomarker Profiles of Alzheimer’s Disease.”

Tom Maniatis, PhD, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, received $2,000,000 over five years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Role of the Protocadherin Alpha Gene Cluster in Serotonergic Circuitry Formation and its Implications in Depressive Disorders.”

Jeffrey Miller, MD, Psychiatry, received $269,757 over one year from the National Institute of Mental Health for “2/2 Familial Early-onset Suicide Attempt Biomarkers.”

Lori Mosca, MD, PhD, Medicine, received $3,709,200 over four years from the American Heart Association for “Sleep and Cardiovascular Risk Across Women's Life Stages.”

Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, DPhil, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, received $1,000,000 over four years from Stand Up To Cancer for “Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) Inhibition to Treat Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Follicular Lymphoma (FL).” He also received $482,150 over three years from the Gateway for Cancer Research for “A Phase 1 Trial of Personalized/Precision Therapeutics for Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) using Bone Marrow Organoid (BM-O) Screening.”

Elizabeth Olson, PhD, Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery, received $2,203,660 over five years from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders for “Auditory Mechanics and Cochlear Amplification.”

Spiro Pantazatos, PhD, Psychiatry, received $739,468 over four years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Integrative Neuroinformatics to Relate Genomics to Neurocircuitry and Psychopathology.”

Konstantin Petrukhin, PhD, Ophthalmology, received $900,000 over two years from the Foundation Fighting Blindness for “Pharmacological Treatments for Stargardt Disease.”

F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, MD, Medicine, received $2,122,756 over five years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “13/22 Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study (DPPOS) Phase 3 – Research Project” in a competitive renewal.

Serge Przedborski, MD, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, received $500,000 over one year from the Office of the NIH Director for “Enhancing Animal Care in a New High-throughput Rodent Behavior Analysis Core Facility.”

Judith G. Rabkin, PhD, Psychiatry, received $526,805 over four years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Return to Work RCT: Counseling After Fatigue Treatment in HIV/AIDS.”

Meenakshi Rao, MD, PhD, Pediatrics, received $270,000 over three years from the AGA Foundation for “Sexual Dimorphism in the Enteric Nervous System.”

Rosemary Sampogna, MD, Medicine, received $1,440,000 over five years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “Circadian Clock Regulation of Branching Morphogenesis During Kidney Development.” 

Steven J. Shea, MD, Medicine, received $3,233,036 over four years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “HDL-mediated Cholesterol Efflux and Plaque Inflammation in MESA.”

Sameer Sheth, MD, PhD, Neurological Surgery, received $2,012,125 over five years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Cognitive Control Mechanisms in Human Prefrontal Cortex.”

Peter Sims, PhD, Systems Biology, received $948,447 over three years from the National Cancer Institute for “Large-Scale Integration of Single Cell RNA-seq and High-content Imaging for Analyzing Drug Response in Cancer.”

Ira Tabas, MD, PhD, Medicine, received $1,987,548 over four years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “MerTK Cleavage and Signaling in Atherosclerosis.”

Timothy Cragin Wang, MD, Medicine, received $634,500 over two years from the National Cancer Institute for “Chemoprevention of Esophageal Cancer by Targeting Multiple Pathways in a Mouse Model of Barrett’s Esophagus.”

Ronald Wapner, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology, received $1,450,044 over five years from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for “Maternal-fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Network” in a competitive renewal.

Olajide Williams, MD, Neurology, received $3,698,052 over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Statewide Dissemination of a School-based Public Stroke Education Intervention” in a competitive renewal.

Robert Winchester, MD, Medicine, received $1,576,051 over four years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “Significance of Intrarenal T cells in SLE Nephritis.”

Wai Haung Yu, PhD, Taub Institute, received $436,100 over two years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Lysosomal Stress Triggers Exosome Release and Transfer of Proteins.”

MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Ian Lipkin, MD, Center for Infection and Immunity, received $1,949,773 over one year from the Steven & Alexandria Cohen Foundation for “Cohen Lyme Project.”

Jeanine Genkinger, PhD, Epidemiology, received $1,935,837 over five years from the National Cancer Institute for “Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer Through Epigenetic Factors in the WHI.”

Therese McGinn, DrPH, Population and Family Health, received $1,200,000 over two years from an anonymous sponsor for “RAISE Initiative.”

Leslie Roberts, PhD, Population and Family Health, received $424,678 over five years from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for “Enumerating and Monitoring Vulnerable Sub-populations.”

Jeffrey Shaman, PhD, Environmental Health Sciences, received $11,450,025 over three years from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for “The Virome of Manhattan: A Testbed for Radically Advancing Understanding and Forecast of Viral Respiratory Infections.”

Juliana Soares Linn, MD, ICAP, received $3,477,182 over one year from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for “Comprehensive Approaches to Strengthening the Health System and HIV Response in the Republic of Mozambique under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).”

Marni Sommer, DrPH, Sociomedical Sciences, has received $417,830 over two years from R2HC (Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises) for “Building a Cross-sectoral Toolkit and Research Foundation for the Integration of Menstrual Hygiene Management Into Emergency Response.”

Lindsay Stark, DrPH, Population and Family Health, and Neil Boothby, EdD, Population and Family Health, have received $1,800,000 over three years from an anonymous sponsor to support the CPC Learning Network.

AWARDS & HONORS

CUMC

Irving Institute Awards

Two faculty members received 2015 Irving Institute/Department of Biomedical Informatics Health Practice Research Pilot Awards, which support operational interventions such as information technology, operations research, and simulation to improve health care practice.

• Jose F. Morales, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, “LabCards”
• Siqin Ye, MD, Medicine, “Implementing Statin Choice Decision Aid at Point of Care”

Two CUMC faculty members received 2015 Irving Institute Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) Training and Pilot Awards. The CBPR program is a capacity building opportunity for Columbia University faculty and administrative staff from non-profits serving Upper Manhattan.

• Manuela Orjuela-Grimm, MD, Epidemiology, “An Evaluation of the Dietary Impact of Comprando Rico y Sano (CRyS) in Mexican immigrants in New York City”
• Clare C. Bassile, EdD, Rehabilitation & Regenerative Medicine, “Identifying the Barriers to Mental Health Intervention in the Homebound Older Adult”

Five faculty members received 2015 Irving Institute Imaging Pilot Awards, which support early career investigators using such imaging modalities as magnetic resonance imaging, optical imaging, PET, single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography, and ultrasound.

• Xiaofu He, PhD, Psychiatry, “A Pilot Multimodal Imaging Study of Youth With Depression”
• Hyun Kim, PhD, Radiology, “Spatial-temporal Constraints Guided Dynamic Fluorescence Molecular Tomographic Model for In-vivo Three Dimensional Simultaneous Imaging of Fluorescent Biomarkers and Anatomical Structure of Major Organs in Mouse”
• Elizabeth Oelsner, MD, Medicine, “Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD) on Pulmonary Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA)”
• Wei Shen, MD, Medicine, “MRI Protocol Characterizing Brown White Fat Dynamic Conversion for Brown Fat Autograft Therapy”
• Tony Wang, MD, Radiation Oncology, “Highly Diffusion-weighted Imaging: A Predictive Marker in Glioblastoma”

Fifteen faculty members received 2015 Irving Institute Clinical Trials Office Pilot Awards, which provide junior faculty with funds to conduct pilot studies needed to attract future independent funding.

• Srilaxmi Bearelly, MD, Ophthalmology, “Novel Ophthalmic Imaging and Genetic Approaches to Preeclampsia”
• Natalie Bello, MD, Medicine, “The Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors in Pregnancy (ALPINE) Study”
• Natalie Cusano, MD, Medicine, “The Effects of Smoking on Skeletal Microarchitecture”
• Changchun Deng, MD, PhD, Medicine, “Novel Strategies for Targeting Myc in Aggressive Lymphoma”
• Arthur Garan, MD, Medicine, “Pilot Study of Natriuretic Versus Standard Doses of Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonists in Heart Failure and Loop Diuretic Resistance”
• Jonathan Ginns, MD, Medicine, “The Role of Cardiac MRI in Prediction of Postoperative Outcomes of Surgery in Isolated Chronic Aortic and Mitral Regurgitation”
• Sylvie Goldman, PhD, Neurology, “Motor Assessments in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders”
• Angela Gomez-Simmonds, MD, Medicine, “The Emergence of Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacter cloacae at CUMC”
• Jing Liu, PhD, Medicine, “Hepatic Insulin Signaling Regulates ApoA-I Gene Expression via Deiodinase Type I”
• Bani Chander Roland, MD, Medicine, “Pathophysiological and Microbial Phenotyping of Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)”
• Ari Shechter, PhD, Medicine, “Effects of Shift Work on Food Intake Regulation and Energy Expenditure”
• Nicholas Steers, PhD, Medicine, “Defining Molecular Mechanisms of IgA1 Hyper-Responsiveness and Diversity in the Pathogenesis of IgA Nephropathy”
• Emily M. Stein, MD, Medicine, “Weight Bearing Exercise for Prevention of Bone Loss Following Bariatric Surgery: A Pilot and Feasibility Study”
• Tony Jau-Cheng Wang, MD, Radiation Oncology, “Phase I Feasibility Trial for the Role of Cannabis in Glioblastoma Treated with Radiation and Temozolomide”
• Bin Xu, PhD, Psychiatry, “Exploring the Functional Impact of a Shared Rare Genetic Mutation Among Autism Patients from an Old-Order Amish Population Using Human iPSC”

Two faculty teams received 2014-2015 Irving Institute Collaborative and Multidisciplinary Pilot Research (CaMPR) Awards. This two-phase program provides planning and start-up funds to investigative teams planning novel, multidisciplinary projects. Collaborators can be viewed here.

• Sameer Sheth, MD, PhD, Neurological Surgery, “Noninvasive Neuromodulatory Treatment for Refractory Obsessive-compulsive Disorder”
• Hiroo Takayama, MD, PhD, Surgery, “Aortic Valve Structural, Compositional, and Mechanical Changes with Left Ventricle Assist Device (LVAD) Support”

One faculty team received the 2015 Irving Institute CaMPR-BASIC Pilot Award. This one-year award is given to a new collaborative and multidisciplinary team co-led by investigators in basic science and clinical departments.

• Kang Liu, PhD, Microbiology & Immunology, and Andrew Bomback, MD, Medicine, “The Role of Antigen Presenting Cells in Membranous Nephropathy”

Six faculty members received inaugural Irving Institute Precision Medicine Pilot Awards, which provide funds to projects focused on tailoring medical care (prevention, diagnosis, and/or treatment) to the individual patient.

• Ying Kuen K. Cheung, PhD, Biostatistics, “Model Enrichment in Reinforcement Learning for Optimal Personalized and Patient Centered Cancer Treatments”
• Thomas Diacovo, MD, Pediatrics, “Personalized Pharmacology for Neonatal Cardiac Patients at Risk for Arterial Thrombotic Events”
• Krzysztof Kiryluk, MD, Medicine, “Donor-recipient Genomic Incompatibilities in Solid Organ Transplant”
• Heather Morris, MD, Medicine, “A New Biomarker of Kidney Transplant Outcomes: Tracking the Fate of Donor-reactive T Cells in the Blood and Urine”
• Ruth Ottman, PhD, Epidemiology, “Clinical and Psychosocial Utility of Whole Exome Sequencing in Pediatric Epilepsy”
• Tilla Worgall, MD, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, “Personalized Aptamers for MRD in Multiple Myeloma”

Two 2015 Irving Institute Precision Medicine Fellowships were awarded to train the next generation of leaders in the development and application of precision medicine science and methods to improve public health.

• Yao Li, MD, Ophthalmology, “Comparative Effectiveness of Dietary Supplement Versus Gene Editing in Personalized Medicine”
• Jiguang Wang, PhD, Biomedical Informatics, “Clonal Evolution of Glioblastoma Under Therapy”

 

Other Honors

Sandra Harris, MSW, Government & Community Affairs, was selected for a 2016 Latino Trendsetters Award by the media brand LatinTRENDS.

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS

Research Initiatives in Science & Engineering (RISE) Competition

The RISE initiative seeds very early stage, high-risk, high-impact, and interdisciplinary research at Columbia University. Six teams were awarded funding in the 2016 competition, with two P&S faculty members among the winners:

• Christine Denny, PhD, Psychiatry, “Nanophotonics Platform for Enabling Memory Trace Visualization In Vivo Over a Lifetime”
• Stefano Fusi, PhD, Neuroscience, “Designing a New Generation of Low-power Neuromorphic Memory for Pervasive Sensing Devices Having Online Learning Ability”

 

Virginia Apgar Academy of Medical Educators Awards

• Hetty Cunningham, MD, Pediatrics, was named the first Vanneck-Bailey Scholar. This award supports a faculty member in creating and developing new educational programs for P&S students.
• Marcus Pereira, MD, Medicine, was named the first Apgar Scholar. This award supports junior faculty research on UME- or GME-level education to enhance scholarship.

 

P&S Student Research Day

On P&S Student Research Day, eight students were recognized for research excellence.

Scholarly Projects

• Anna Kress’16, first prize, “The Role of Bile Acids on Colonization With Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae after Liver Transplantation”
• Emily Woodbury’16, second prize, “From the Ground Up: Thoughtfully Renovating the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clerkship at Columbia Based on Student Performance and Feedback”
• Sarah Schechter’16, third prize, “Missed Opportunities for Syphilis Testing and Sexual History Documentation at an Urban Urgent Care Center”

Research-Year Projects

• Kerry Morrison’17, first prize, “Utilizing a Novel Cell Sourcing Strategy to Fabricate the First Full-scale Tissue Engineered Human Ear Scaffold”
• Joseph Bayne’16, second prize, “Nav1.5 Channel Mutation in a Novel Transgenic Mouse Model Causes Atrial and Ventricular Hypertrophy and Decreased Cardiac Function”

MD/PhD Projects

• Abigail Clark, MD/PhD candidate, first prize (tie), “The Midline Thalamic Dopaminergic System Modulates Contextual Fear Expression in Mice”
• Stan Gabryszewski, MD/PhD candidate, first prize (tie), “Beyond PfCRT K76T: New Insights Into Mutational Determinants of Plasmodium falciparum Antimalarial Drug Resistance and Fitness”

Summer Research

• Amit Saha’18, first prize, “Dysregulation of the Neutral Amino Acid Carrier SLC1A5 Decreases Glutamine Levels and May Promote Autophagy in the Failing Myocardium”

 

Other Honors

Jeffrey A. Ascherman, MD, Surgery, was elected vice president of the Northeastern Society of Plastic Surgeons, the largest regional society of plastic surgeons in the country.

James Auran, MD, Ophthalmology, was named chief of ophthalmology at Harlem Hospital Center.

Alan S. Brown, MD, Psychiatry, received a NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Award from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. He also was named chair of the A.E. Bennett Research Award Committee of the Society of Biological Psychiatry.

Paulette Bernd, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, was inducted into the College of Dental Medicine’s Chapter of OKU (Omicron Kappa Upsilon), a national dental honor society, in recognition of contributions to the advancement of dentistry.

Deborah Cabaniss, MD, Psychiatry, received the 2016 Assembly Resident-Fellow Member (RFM) Mentor Award from the American Psychiatric Association for her outstanding work as a mentor and advocate for RFMs.

The Microbicide Trials Network (MTN) awarded a team of HIV Center investigators the MTN Innovation Award based on work for a phase II international study that evaluated whether a reduced glycerin formulation of tenofovir gel is safe and acceptable as a rectal microbicide. Alex Carballo-Diéguez, PhD, Psychiatry, headed the behavioral team in implementing a comprehensive adherence support and measurement program, which included an adherence counseling training component led by Ivan Balán, PhD, Psychiatry.

Lisa Dixon, MD, Psychiatry, was appointed editor of the journal Psychiatric Services, the highly ranked, peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal of the American Psychiatric Association.

David Doobin, MD/PhD candidate, and Yossef Goffer, MD/PhD candidate, received Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to support their research training.

Ellen Ezratty, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive the Dr. Ines Mandl Research Fellowship for her work in mechanotransduction in tissue stem cells of the skin. This award supports early career scientists conducting promising work in the field of connective tissue research.

Stanley Fahn, MD, Neurology, will receive the 2016 Jay Van Andel Award for Outstanding Parkinson’s Research in recognition of his contributions to the study and treatment of movement disorders. This award will be presented by the Van Andel Research Institute in September at the annual Grand Challenges in Parkinson’s Disease symposium, where Dr. Fahn will give the opening lecture.

Sheldon M. Feldman, MD, Surgery, was elected president of the American Society of Breast Surgeons, the primary leadership organization for general surgeons who treat patients with breast disease.

Mark A. Hardy, MD, Surgery, delivered the inaugural Keith Reemtsma Lecture in Xenotransplantation at the 2015 IPITA-IXA-CTS Joint Conference in Melbourne, Australia. This lecture is awarded to an eminent scientist, recognizing her or his contribution to the field of xenotransplantation.

Dawn Hershman, MD, Medicine, joined the Komen Scholars, an advisory group to Susan G. Komen, the world’s leading breast cancer organization.

Nicholas Hutchings’18 was awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant for his proposed project investigating iodine nutrition in Armenia.

David Kalfa, MD, PhD, Surgery, received the Young Investigator Award for his presentation to the Association for European Paediatric Cardiology. He also was invited to join the editorial board of the journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy.

Theodora Karagounis was selected for the 2016 HHMI Medical Fellows Program, an initiative designed to develop the next generation of physician-scientists in the United States by allowing students to choose their own mentor; develop a basic, translational, or applied research project; and conduct full-time research for one year.

Rafael A. Lantigua, MD, Medicine, received the 2016 National President’s Award from the Hispanic Dental Association in recognition of his advocacy for Hispanic health and overall commitment to the Hispanic community.

Anil K. Lalwani, MD, Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery, was elected president of the American Auditory Society for 2017-18.

Francis Y. Lee, MD, PhD, Orthopedic Surgery, received the 2016 Kappa Delta Ann Doner Vaughn Award for outstanding clinical research related directly to musculoskeletal disease or injury with the goal of advancing patient treatment and care.

James A. Lee, MD, Surgery, was appointed to the executive council of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons.

Owen Lewis, MD, Psychiatry, was awarded the Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine in the Open International category for his poem “At Tribeca’s Edge.”

Lan Luo, MD, Neurology, Shabbir Merchant, MD, Neurology, and Miriam Sklerov, MD, Neurology, were awarded two-year movement disorder fellowships by the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation.

Lawrence R. Lustig, MD, Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery, was elected 2016-17 president of the American Neurotology Society. He is also the elected past president of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology for 2016-17.

Marie-Louise Meng, MD, Anesthesiology, received the Young Investigator Award 2016 from the Society of Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology.

Andrew R. Marks, MD, Physiology & Cellular Biophysics, received the 2016 Glorney-Raisbeck Award from the New York Academy of Medicine in recognition of outstanding contributions to the understanding and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

Mark Nathanson, MD, Psychiatry, received the Humanism in Medicine Award by Columbia Student Medical Outreach (CoSMO) in recognition of his service to the Washington Heights community, dedication to the CoSMO clinic, and emphasis on the humanity of patients.

Dawn Nilsen, EdD, Rehabilitation & Regenerative Medicine, was inducted into the American Occupational Therapy Association’s Roster of Fellows in recognition of her contributions to the occupational therapy profession. Less than 1 percent of all occupational therapists have been granted this honor.

Elizabeth S. Olson, PhD, Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery, was elected secretary and treasurer of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology.

Subha Perni’17 was awarded a 2016 fellowship for an international program in medical ethics by FASPE: Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics.

Meghan Prin, MD, Anesthesiology, has been selected for a 2016-17 Fogarty Global Health Research Fellowship, an 11-month mentored clinical research training program sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. This is the first time that the Fogarty fellowship has been awarded to an anesthesiologist, and she will be the first Fogarty fellow to conduct critical care research.

Emily Raphael-Greenfield, EdD, Rehabilitation & Regenerative Medicine, was inducted into the American Occupational Therapy Association’s Roster of Fellows in recognition of her contributions to the occupational therapy profession. Less than 1 percent of all occupational therapists have been granted this honor.

Sharon Rikin, MD, Medicine, received a 2016 Fellows’ Clinical Research Award from the Society for Pediatric Research.

Margaret Spinelli, MD, Psychiatry, received a Distinguished Life Fellowship, the American Psychiatric Association’s highest honor.

Henry M. Spotnitz, MD, was inducted as 2016-18 president of the John Jones Surgical Society, an alumni organization for surgical trainees from CUMC dedicated to preserving the history of the Department of Surgery and maintaining the excellence of its residency programs.

Steven Stylianos, MD, Surgery, was selected to receive the 2016 Champion Award from the American Pediatric Surgical Nurses Association (APSNA) in recognition of his contribution to the advancement of APSNA.

Emily Tsai, MD, Medicine, received the M. Irené Ferrer Scholar Award from the P&S Department of Medicine and the Foundation for Gender-Specific Medicine, which supports research into medical differences between males and females. She also was elected a fellow of the American Heart Association.

Stephen H. Tsang, MD, PhD, Ophthalmology, was inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the American Ophthalmological Society.

Clyde Turner, MD, Medicine, was named a Foundations of Clinical Medicine Tutorials Educator of the Year 2015. This award is given annually to two of the 80 faculty teaching the Foundations of Clinical Medicine Tutorials course at P&S, with selections made by course directors based on student nominations.

Elaine Wan, MD, Medicine, was awarded first place in the American College of Cardiology’s Young Investigator Awards competition. She also received a Young Physician-Scientist Award from the American Society for Clinical Investigation.

Robert Whittington, MD, Anesthesiology, was appointed executive senior editor for the geriatric anesthesia section of the journal Anesthesia and Analgesia.

Kazuhiko Yamada, MD, PhD, Surgery, was invited to serve as visiting professor in the Department of Pathology in Nippon Medical School, Japan.

COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE

The school’s William Jarvie Research Society was recognized as student chapter of the year by the American Association of Dental Research at its annual meeting.

David Albert, DDS, Population Oral Health, was honored on April 14 at the annual gala of the Riverstone Life Services Group, a Washington Heights-based organization that provides support and services to older adults.

Jennifer Bassiur, DDS, Hospital Dentistry, was inducted into the College of Dental Medicine’s Chapter of OKU (Omicron Kappa Upsilon), a national dental honor society, in recognition of contributions to the advancement of dentistry.

Evan Chang’16 received the Student Leadership Award from the American College of Dentists.

Lewis Chen’16 won first place in the poster competition at the American Dental Education Association annual convention for “Interprofessional Education: Collaboration Between Nursing Practitioner Students and Dental Students in Dental Emergency Clinic.”

Shaun Darrah’17 was awarded first place in the National Student Research Group DENTSPLY/Caulk competition in the basic science division at the American Association of Dental Research annual meeting.

Jaffer A. Shariff, DDS, Population Oral Health, was awarded second place for the Leverett Graduate Student Merit Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dental Public Health by the American Association of Public Health Dentistry.

SCHOOL OF NURSING 

Eastern Nursing Research Society Conference

Columbia Nursing faculty, students, and staff presented research at the annual Eastern Nursing Research Society Conference, with several receiving awards.

• Irene Bick, Lucette Jefferson, and Bethanie Berson received first place in the “peer-reviewed PhD student posters” category for “End-of-Life Care Guidelines for Dementia Patients: A Systematic Review.”
• Donte Flanagan, Clarissa Vogel, and Jessica Szydlowski received second place in the “DNP School Selected Student Posters” category for “The Efficacy of Intranasal Fentanyl Versus Intravenous Morphine in the Pediatric Setting: A Systematic Review.”
• Krista Schroeder, with faculty co-authors Haomiao Jia, PhD, and Arlene Smaldone, PhD, received first place in the “PhD papers” category for “Reducing Bias When Using Observational Data to Examine Intervention Effects: A Comparison of Three Propensity Score Methods.”

 

Other Honors

Donna Cill, DNP, was honored at the Black Nurses Day Celebration at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center for service to the nursing profession and the community at large. She was also the keynote speaker at the Organization for International Development’s annual luncheon.

Catherine Cohen, PhD, won best student poster for “Predictors of Multidrug-resistant Organism Infection in a National Sample of Nursing Home Residents” at the Western Institute of Nursing Annual Conference.

MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Quarraisha Abdool Karim, PhD, Epidemiology, received the 2016 L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Award in recognition of her contributions to the prevention and treatment of HIV and associated infections, greatly improving the quality of life of women in Africa.

A. Mushtaque Chowdhury, PhD, Clinical Population and Family Health, received the Outstanding Leadership Award from the Dhaka University Statistics Department Alumni Association in recognition of his professional, academic, and research achievements as well as his inspiration and influence in the field.

Linda P. Fried, MD, dean, was inducted as the 2016-17 president of the Association of American Physicians (AAP), the elected society of the leading physician scientists in the United States. She is the first dean of a school of public health to be president of AAP.

Mindy Fullilove, MD, Sociomedical Sciences, was awarded honorary membership in the American Institute of Architects (AIA) for her service to the profession of architecture. This is one of the highest honors the AIA gives to an individual outside the field and is granted to those whose accomplishments are outstanding and of national significance.

Diana Hernandez, PhD, Sociomedical Sciences, received a Career Development Award from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Lisa Metsch, PhD, Sociomedical Sciences, was invited to serve on an external review team for the Department of Medical Social Sciences in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.

Jeffrey Sachs, PhD, Health Policy and Management, was appointed University Professor, the highest rank Columbia bestows on its faculty.

Rachel Shelton, ScD, Sociomedical Sciences, was selected to be program chair for the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 2017-19, and she will be program chair for the 2018 national conference. In addition, she will serve on the board of the Society of Behavioral Medicine for the next three years.

Yuanjia Wang, PhD, Biostatistics, was elected a fellow of the American Statistical Association, the field’s highest honor, which recognizes recipients for contributions to, and leadership in, the statistical science field.

PHILANTHROPIC GIFTS

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS

A family foundation made a $3,500,000 commitment to support the new Medical and Graduate Education Building.

A family foundation made a $2,500,000 gift to provide professorship support to the Department of Neurology.

A donor made a $2,150,000 contribution toward a $20,000,000 pledge to support the new Medical and Graduate Education Building.

A donor made a $2,000,000 contribution toward a $9,000,000 commitment to the Cryo-Electron Microscopy Imaging Program to help our scientists conduct research on the precise mechanisms of cells.

A donor made a $1,000,000 commitment to support the new Medical and Graduate Education Building.

A donor made a $1,000,000 pledge to the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry to support cognitive behavioral therapies for children, adolescents, and young adults suffering from anxiety or anxiety-related disorders at the Columbia University Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders.

A family foundation made a $875,000 contribution toward a $10,500,000 commitment to advance research into the mechanisms of brain and gut function and the ways they are affected by nurture.

An anonymous donor made a $750,000 contribution toward a $1,500,000 commitment to provide professorship support to the Division of Nephrology.

An anonymous donor made a $636,350 gift to support research and care at the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

A family foundation made a $606,925 gift to the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior to award an annual prize for research in neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases.

A donor made a $600,000 contribution toward a $3,000,000 commitment to the Department of Psychiatry to advance research on the treatment and prevention of eating disorders.

A donor made a $500,000 contribution toward a $2,500,000 pledge to the Columbia University Health Sciences Communication Project.

A family made a $500,000 contribution toward a $2,500,000 pledge to establish a professorship in the Division of Cardiology.

An organization made a $500,000 contribution to complete a $1,500,000 commitment to advance alopecia areata research in the Department of Dermatology.

A donor made a $500,000 pledge to establish a fund supporting the Division of Pediatric Dermatology’s fellowship training program as well as the Division’s other educational and research activities.

A donor’s $500,000 bequest will advance pancreatic disease research at Columbia’s Pancreas Center.

A foundation made a $460,000 contribution toward a $2,730,000 commitment to the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center in support of the Berrie Center’s annual Frontiers in Diabetes Research Symposium and the Naomi Berrie Awards for Achievement in Diabetes Research, which provide funding for researchers who are making significant contributions toward understanding the pathophysiology of diabetes.

A foundation made a $400,000 commitment to the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology to advance research on lipedema.

A donor made a $383,066 pledge to advance research at the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain.

A foundation made a $375,000 contribution toward a $7,500,000 pledge to the Division of Clinical Genetics to advance clinical research into the genetic basis of autism spectrum disorders.

A donor made a $350,000 bequest to the Department of Neurology to support epilepsy research and research in neuro-oncology.

A family foundation made a $300,000 contribution toward a $1,500,000 pledge to the Department of Medicine to support junior faculty in the Division of Cardiology.

A family foundation made a $400,000 contribution in support of the Division on Substance Abuse in the Department of Psychiatry.

A family foundation made a $250,000 contribution toward a $1,250,000 commitment to establish a fellowship fund in the Division of Cardiology.

A foundation made a contribution of $250,000 toward a $1,000,000 commitment to the Celiac Disease Center to advance research and clinical care programs.

An anonymous donor made a $250,000 gift to support the Department of Medicine’s research and education priorities.

A donor made a $250,000 pledge to the Department of Surgery to support clinical care at the Adrenal Center.

A donor made a $250,000 contribution to the Department of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery to advance research on the acoustics and mechanics of the ear.

A donor made a $250,000 gift to support the Global Mental Health Program at Columbia University Medical Center.

A consortium of researchers made a $249,999 gift to support research into treatments and cures for ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases.

An organization made a $225,000 contribution toward a commitment of $1,500,000 to the Department of Psychiatry to advance research and clinical care in non-verbal learning disabilities in the Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

A foundation made a $225,000 contribution in support of pediatric oncology at Columbia.

A family foundation made a $200,000 contribution toward a $2,000,000 pledge to provide professorship support to the Department of Ophthalmology.

A donor made a $200,000 contribution toward a $500,000 pledge to support the new Medical and Graduate Education Building.

A donor made a $200,000 contribution to provide fellowship support to the Division of Cardiology.

A donor made a $200,000 gift to establish a scholarship fund at the College of Physicians & Surgeons.

A family foundation made a $150,000 contribution to advance lung cancer research at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.

A bequest of $131,199 was realized to provide scholarship support to the College of Physicians & Surgeons.

A family foundation made a $100,319 gift to the Department of Ophthalmology to advance research on latent retina dystrophies.

A family foundation made a $100,000 contribution toward a $500,000 pledge to the Department of Ophthalmology to support research as part of its Scholar Program.

A family foundation made a $100,000 gift to the Department of Ophthalmology toward the Clinical Trials Unit to conduct specialized clinical research.

A foundation made a $100,000 contribution to the Division of Endocrinology toward a professorship in obesity research.

A foundation made a $100,000 contribution to the Department of Urology to advance urologic cancer research.

A donor made a $100,000 contribution to the Department of Neurology to advance research in Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders.

A donor made a $100,000 gift to support research in the Division of Digestive & Liver Diseases.

A family foundation made a $100,000 contribution to the Department of Ophthalmology to advance research on retinal diseases and disorders.

A family made a $100,000 gift to support the Adult Palliative Care Program at Columbia University Medical Center.

A donor made a $100,000 gift to advance immunotherapy research at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.

A donor made a $100,000 gift to advance research at the Division of Cardiology.

COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE

An international corporation made a $500,000 pledge to support strategic initiatives in the Center for Craniofacial Regeneration.

A company made a $100,000 commitment to establish a fund supporting oral health externships to China.

A donor made a $100,000 contribution to provide merit-based scholarship support to first-year incoming students enrolled at the College of Dental Medicine.

SCHOOL OF NURSING 

A corporation made a $1,000,000 pledge to name the Atrium Lobby in Columbia Nursing’s new building.

An alumna of the School of Nursing documented her bequest intention of $500,000 to support student scholarships.

An alumna of the School of Nursing documented her bequest intention of $125,000 to support student scholarships.

MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

A foundation completed a $1,200,000 pledge.

A foundation made a $1,050,000 pledge that will fund scholarships.

A family foundation made a $1,000,000 pledge to support scholarships.

A foundation gave a $237,453 gift that will benefit the Allan Rosenfield Scholars.

A family foundation made a $200,000 contribution that will benefit Children’s Environmental Health.

An individual donor made a $100,000 gift toward Health Policy Management research.

CUMC IN THE NEWS

Cocoa Could Help Reverse Memory Loss by Decades

CBS New York | May 2, 2016

Small is a professor of neurology of Columbia University Medical Center and said there may actually be a simple and effective cure for this cognitive aging. “Cocoa flavanols,” he said.

 

New Neurodevelopmental Syndrome Identified

Science Daily | April 21, 2016

“Now that we've determined that a small subset of patients with neurodevelopmental disabilities share the same mutations, we can begin to learn about the prognosis of these individuals, how these mutations lead to this syndrome, and how to develop targeted therapies,” said study leader David B. Goldstein, PhD.

 

The Scary Thing About a Virus That Kills Farmed Fish

The Atlantic | April 5, 2016

“It's a matter of food security,” says Ian Lipkin from Columbia University, one of the world's foremost virus-hunters.

 

Scientists Develop New Human Stem Cells With Half a Genome

Reuters | March 16, 2016

“What is fundamentally new is we have cells that can divide and renew with a single genome ...” said Dieter Egli of Columbia University Medical Center.

 

Newborn Neurons Keep Memories Crisp and Fresh

Science | March 10, 2016

A study in mice now provides the first glimpse at how these newborn neurons behave in animals as they learn, and hints at the purpose of the new arrivals: to keep closely related but separate memories distinct.

 

Gun control: What works, What Doesn't and What Remains Open for Debate

Washington Post | March 7, 2016

Columbia University’s Julian Santaella-Tenorio and a team of researchers pored over the results of 130 studies on gun control legislation passed in 10 different countries to find out which policy interventions worked, which ones didn’t and on what issues the jury was still out.

See more media headlines here.

Past issues of CUMC CELEBRATES: http://ps.columbia.edu/celebrates/