Kevin Gardner Appointed Chair of the Department of Pathology & Cell Biology

Kevin Gardner, MD, PhD, has been appointed chair of the Department of Pathology & Cell Biology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and pathologist in chief of NewYork-Presbyterian/CUIMC. Gardner has served as interim chair of the department since July 1, 2023; his appointments are effective immediately. 

Gardner joined the VP&S community in 2017 as senior vice chair of the department, where he also served as director of the Digital and Computational Pathology Laboratory and the Physician-Scientist Research Pathway in Pathology. In these capacities, he oversaw basic, translational, and clinical research within the department and led career development and mentoring for aspiring physician-scientists.

Before joining Columbia, Gardner served as a senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute and scientific director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, where he led health disparities research conducted by tenure-track investigators, staff scientists, and staff physicians. While at the National Cancer Institute, he received two NIH Director’s Awards for his work defining the mechanisms of gene regulation and their role in the evolution of cancer and for conducting the first research to define a molecular mechanism linking metabolic imbalance with increased risk of breast cancer.

Gardner is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. He received his PhD in cellular biology and anatomy from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where he also earned his MD. He completed a residency at the NIH and a fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

The Department of Pathology & Cell Biology dates back to 1767, with faculty appointments in the departments of anatomy and physiology & pathology at what was then King’s College. Today, the department ranks first nationally in the discipline of pathology for the number of NIH grants and consistently in the top programs for total NIH funding. Its faculty have led the way nationally in advancing cancer-related and constitutional genetic and genomic clinical testing, and its precision medicine initiative has now expanded to include novel test development, genetic counseling, and other cutting-edge research and educational programs.