Announcement Regarding Urology Leadership

Dear Colleagues,

As we shared previously, James McKiernan, MD, has been asked to serve as interim dean of the Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, in light of the appointment of Columbia University Irving Medical Center CEO Katrina Armstrong, MD, as interim president of Columbia University. We deeply appreciate Dr. McKiernan’s willingness to take on this role, which demonstrates his profound dedication to the VP&S and CUIMC mission and community. Prior to his appointment as interim dean, Dr. McKiernan had planned to step down as chair of the Department of Urology and Urologist in Chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia, one of the oldest and most highly regarded urology departments in the United States. While we will miss Dr. McKiernan’s many gifts as chair, this transition will enable him to focus more fully on his roles as CEO of ColumbiaDoctors and senior vice dean for clinical affairs, to which he was appointed in December 2022.

Dr. McKiernan has been an exemplary and transformative leader of the Department of Urology since his appointment in 2014. A few highlights of Dr. McKiernan’s tenure as chair include his oversight of major capital renovation projects in Herbert Irving Pavilion and in Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital’s pediatric outpatient space; the opening of four new practice locations in Cortland Manor, Hawthorne, Bronxville, and Eastchester; the establishment of the Keller Clinical Research Center; and expansion of the department’s collaboration with Miami’s Mount Sinai Medical Center.

Dr. McKiernan led the department to new heights in urology research, with NIH funding that has ranked as high as fourth, driven by innovative research programs in the NIH-funded laboratories of Cathy Lee Mendelsohn, PhD, and Cory Abate-Shen, PhD. The department is home to one of only three U54 O'Brien Center NIH research programs, led by Dr. Mendelsohn. Dr. McKiernan, a renowned clinical expert in urologic oncology, also leads clinical trials in collaboration with Dr. Abate-Shen and Joel DeCastro, MD, on bladder preservation for patients with high-risk urothelial cancer of the bladder, including the first human studies of a novel chemotherapy regimen.

We are thrilled to announce that Ojas Shah, MD, who has served as vice chair of the department since 2023, has agreed to serve as interim chair. As the George F. Cahill Professor of Urology, Dr. Shah is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in the medical and surgical management of patients with urinary stone disease. A member of the Academy of Clinical Excellence at Columbia since 2022, he serves as director of the Division of Endourology and Stone Disease and as director of the endourology fellowship. Dr. Shah is the principal investigator of numerous clinical trials and author of more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. He also recently served as a member of the American Urological Association's Surgical Management of Stones Guidelines Committee.

The search committee for a new chair of urology will be led by Lawrence R. Lustig, MD, chair of the Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery. We are grateful to both Dr. Shah and Dr. Lustig for their commitment to ensuring continued strong leadership of the department.

Please join us in expressing our deep gratitude to Dr. McKiernan for his significant and lasting contributions, service, and dedication to the Department of Urology.

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

Steven J. Corwin, MD
President and Chief Executive Officer
NewYork-Presbyterian