Update on the Office of Communications Leadership

Dear CUIMC Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that Vanita Gowda, MPA, will join the Columbia University Irving Medical Center leadership team as Chief Communications Officer. Vanita, the associate dean and chief communications officer for the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, has served as CUIMC’s interim CCO since February. She will begin her new role on December 2.

As CUIMC’s CCO, Vanita will lead the central CUIMC Communications unit, which is also responsible for Vagelos College of Physician and Surgeons communications; collaborate closely with communications and marketing staff based in our departments, centers, and schools; and partner with the ColumbiaDoctors team to raise awareness of our world-class academic, clinical, and scientific enterprise.

Vanita joins the CUIMC Office of Communications team from Columbia Mailman, where she has led communications and marketing strategies and activities since 2018. With the school's excellent communications team, Vanita oversaw a wide array of critical communications projects, including global dissemination of numerous landmark COVID-19 research studies by faculty, internal communications to promote health and safety during the pandemic, and development of campaign materials for the school's centennial commemoration.

Prior to joining Columbia, Vanita led communications and advocacy initiatives for public and private sector organizations on issues including global health and development, maternal and reproductive health, corporate social impact, infectious disease, vaccine development, and environmental sustainability. Vanita began her career as a reporter on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. before earning her master's in public administration from Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, where she received a merit fellowship.

Please join me in warmly welcoming Vanita to her new role, and in thanking the CUIMC Communications team for their expanded support during this transition period.

Katrina Armstrong, MD
Interim President, Columbia University in the City of New York
Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences
Executive Vice President for Health and Biomedical Sciences