CUIMC Celebrates 2018-2019

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

Looking for an older issue? The CUIMC Celebrates archive can be accessed at https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/topics/campus-news/cuimc-celebrates/.

RESEARCH GRANTS

New awards $250,000 and above received through September 2018.

VAGELOS COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS

Cory Abate-Shen, PhD, Medicine, will receive $8,641,490 over five years from the National Cancer Institute for “Modeling Bladder Cancer Pathogenesis and Tumor Evolution.”

Domenico Accili, MD, Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center, will receive $8,091,677 over five years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “Columbia Diabetes Research Center” in a competitive renewal.

Jason Adelman, MD, Medicine, will receive $3,444,351 over five years from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for “Effectiveness of Pictographs to Prevent Wrong-Patient Errors in the NICU.”

Dritan Agalliu, PhD, Neurology, will receive $485,371 over four years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “miR Regulation of the Neurovasculature Function in Health and Disease.”

Jennifer Amengual, MD, Medicine, will receive $1,852,875 over five years from the National Cancer Institute for “Development of First-in-Class Histone Acetyltransferase (HAT) Activators for Precision Targeting of Epigenetic Derangements in Lymphoma.”

Tomas Aparicio Casado, PhD, Institute for Cancer Genetics, will receive $811,825 over five years from the National Cancer Institute for “Multiscale Proteomics Studies of DNA Repair and Genomic Stability.”

Paul Appelbaum, MD, Psychiatry, will receive $4,728,017 over four years from the National Human Genome Research Institute for “Center for Research on Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of Psychiatric, Neurologic, and Behavioral Genetics.”

Ottavio Arancio, MD, PhD, and Russell Nicholls, PhD, Taub Institute, will receive $2,025,000 over five years from the National Institute on Aging for “The Role of Methylation-Sensitive PP2A Isoforms in Regulating the Pathological Response to Tau” and $300,000 over three years from the BrightFocus Foundation for “Tau-Induced Damage at Hippocampal Tripartite Synapses.”

Karen Bell, MD, Taub Institute, will receive $905,710 over five years from the National Institute on Aging for “Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials Consortium (ACTC) (U24).”

Jeffrey Birk, PhD, Medicine, will receive $445,500 over two years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Investigating Fear of Recurrence as a Modifiable Mechanism of Behavior Change to Improve Medication Adherence in Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients.”

Adam Brickman, PhD, and Jennifer Manly, PhD, Taub Institute, will receive $3,810,773 over five years from the National Institute on Aging for “Tau PET Imaging in Racially/Ethnically Diverse Middle-Aged Adults.” Dr. Brickman and Stephanie Cosentino, PhD, Sergievsky Center, will receive $1,786,599 over five years from the National Institute on Aging for “Summer of Translational Aging Research for Undergraduates (STARU).”

Gary Brittenham, MD, Pediatrics, will receive $2,612,857 over five years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “Prebiotic GOS and Lactoferrin for Beneficial Gut Microbiota With Iron Supplements.”

Nigel Bunnett, PhD, Surgery, will receive $2,780,206 over four years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “Trafficking-Dependent Signaling of Pain by Protease-Activated Receptors” and $1,432,440 over three years from the Army Medical Research and Materiel Command for “Receptors in Endosomes Mediate Chronic Pain Associated With Trauma and Stress: Non-Opioid Targets for Pain.”

Bernard Chang, MD, PhD, Emergency Medicine, will receive $3,525,415 over five years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Testing a Rapid Outpatient Management Strategy on PTSD, Cardiovascular, and Rehospitalization Risk in TIA and Minor Stroke Survivors Evaluated in the Emergency Department.”

Lauren Chernick, MD, Emergency Medicine, will receive $501,305 over three years from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for “Targeting High-Risk Teens in the Emergency Department: A User-Informed, Theory-Based Intervention Using Text Messaging to Reduce Teen Pregnancy.”

Wendy Chung, MD, PhD, Pediatrics, and Paul Appelbaum, MD, Psychiatry, will receive $2,934,275 over four years from the National Human Genome Research Institute for “Development of Recommendations and Policies for Genetic Variant Reclassification.”

Catherine Clelland, PhD, Taub Institute, will receive $799,905 over three years from the Army Research Office for “Apathy and Negative Symptoms in Alzheimer’s Disease: Investigation of the Proline*COMT Interaction for Symptom Targeting to Positively Impact Quality of Life,” $460,753 over two years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Negative Symptoms in Clinical High-Risk and First-Episode Psychiatric Illness: Investigation of a New Candidate for Targeted Treatment,” and $445,500 over two years from the National Institute on Aging for “Apathy in Alzheimer’s Disease: Investigation of the Interaction Between Proline and COMT for Treatment Targeting to Positively Impact Quality of Life.”

Michael Compton, MD, Psychiatry, will receive $2,529,683 over four years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “A Trial of a Police-Mental Health Linkage System for Jail Diversion and Reconnection to Care.”

Katherine Crew, MD, and Gary Schwartz, MD, Medicine, will receive $1,432,080 over four years from the National Cancer Institute for “CAPRI: Columbia Cancer Training Program for Resident-Investigators.”

Philip De Jager, MD, PhD, Neurology, will receive $8,203,615 over five years from the National Institute on Aging for “Multi-omic Network-Directed Proteoform Discovery, Dissection, and Functional Validation to Prioritize Novel AD Therapeutic Targets” and $348,379 over one year from the National Institute on Aging for “Exploring the Role of the Brain Epigenome: Cognitive Decline and Life Experiences.”

Joriene De Nooij, PhD, Neurology, will receive $300,000 over two years from Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance for “Modeling Friedreich Ataxia in Human iPSC-Derived Sensory Neuron Subtypes.”

Davangere Devanand, MD, Psychiatry, will receive $1,766,180 over five years from the National Institute on Aging for “Olfactory Impairment in Offspring Study of Racial Disparities in Alzheimer’s Disease.”

Charles Emala, MD, Anesthesiology, and Emily DiMango, MD, Medicine, will receive $643,752 over two years from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health for “Ginger’s Therapeutic Potential in Asthma.”

Qing Fan, PhD, Pharmacology, and Matthias Quick, PhD, Psychiatry, will receive $1,729,748 over four years from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences for “Mechanism of Activation and Modulation in Human GABA(B) Receptor.”

Giovanni Ferrari, PhD, Surgery, will receive $1,272,800 over four years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Oxidation-Mediated Structural Degeneration of Bioprosthetic Heart Valves” and $325,893 over four years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Biomechanical Indicators of Bicuspid Aortic Valve Dysfunction.”

Joji Fujisaki, MD, PhD, Medicine, will receive $600,000 over three years from the Army Medical Research and Materiel Command for “Immune Privilege of the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Niche in the Bone Marrow Shields Metastatic Prostate Cancer From Immunity.”

Sankar Ghosh, PhD, Microbiology & Immunology, and Ottavio Arancio, MD, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $613,653 over one year from the National Institute on Aging for “ECSIT Protects Against Neurodegeneration and Alzheimer’s Disease Through the Regulation of Mitochondrial Function and Oxidative Stress.”

Robert Goldenberg, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology, will receive $3,017,900 over five years from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for “Columbia University/Aga Khan University Global Network Research Unit” in a competitive renewal.

Jose Gutierrez Contreras, MD, Neurology, will receive $3,911,976 over five years from the National Institute on Aging for “Genetic Contribution to Brain Arterial Dilatation and its Role in Cognition and Dementia.”

Rebecca Haeusler, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $2,306,165 over five years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “Bile Acids and Insulin Sensitivity.”

Marla Hamberger, PhD, Neurology, will receive $1,993,492 over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Cortical Localization in Epilepsy” in a competitive renewal.

Wayne Hendrickson, PhD, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, will receive $1,656,781 over five years from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences for “Structure-Based Antagonism of HIV-1 Envelope Function in Cell Entry” in a competitive renewal and $1,602,928 over four years from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences for “Atomic-Level Analysis of Biomolecular Structure” in a competitive renewal.

Ulrich Hengst, PhD, Taub Institute, will receive $1,771,875 over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “A Transcription Factor Complex Specifically Induced in Neurodegeneration” and $602,418 over one year from the National Institute on Aging for “Regulation of Retromer Proteins Through an Alzheimer’s Disease-Specific Transcription Factor Complex.”

Dawn Hershman, MD, Medicine, will receive $250,000 over one year from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation for “Interventions to Reduce Therapy-Related Adverse Effects” in a competitive renewal.

Michio Hirano, MD, Neurology, will receive $300,000 over three years from the Muscular Dystrophy Association for “Open-Label Expanded Access Trial of Deoxynucleoside Therapy for TK2 Deficiency.”

Edward Huey, MD, Taub Institute, will receive $2,538,709 over five years from the National Institute on Aging for “Neuroanatomical Associations With the Factor Structure Underlying Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Alzheimer’s Disease.”

Caleb Ing, MD, Anesthesiology, will receive $1,622,011 over five years from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for “Prenatal Exposure to Anesthesia and Subsequent Neurodevelopmental Disorders.”

Ivaylo Ivanov, PhD, Microbiology & Immunology, will receive $2,914,600 over five years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “Mechanisms of Mucosal Th17 Cell Induction by Segmented Filamentous Bacteria” in a competitive renewal.

Un Kang, MD, Neurology, will receive $1,771,875 over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Pathological Striatopallidal Neuronal Ensembles in Learned Motor Impairment in PD” and $445,500 over two years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Regulation of L-DOPA-Induced Dyskinesia by the Substantia Nigra Pars Reticulata.”

Gerard Karsenty, MD, PhD, Genetics & Development, will receive $1,902,210 over five years from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research for “A Neuronal Basis for the Osteocalcin Regulation of Bone Mass” and $285,000 over three years from the March of Dimes for “Regulation of Adrenal Steroidogenesis by the Skeleton.”

Tae-Wan Kim, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $445,500 over two years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Chemical Biology of Tau Missorting in Alzheimer’s Disease.”

Louise Kuhn, PhD, Sergievsky Center, will receive $3,285,730 over five years from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research for “Oral Microbial Signatures in Perinatal HIV Infection.”

Sheng-Han Kuo, MD, Neurology, will receive $2,020,603 over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Cerebellar Circuitry in the Pathophysiology of Tremor.”

Laura Landweber, PhD, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, will receive $570,318 over three years from the National Science Foundation for “Collaborative Research: Discrete and Topological Models for Template-Guided Genome Rearrangements.”

Joseph H. Lee, DrPH, Sergievsky Center, will receive $3,907,327 over five years from the National Institute on Aging for “Protective Genetic Factors of Alzheimer Disease in PSEN1 Mutation Carriers in Puerto Rico.” Dr. Lee and Sharon Krinsky-McHale, PhD, Sergievsky Center, will receive $1,182,026 over one year from the National Institute on Aging for “Identification of Protective Factors for Cognitive Resilience in Adults With Down Syndrome: A Multi-omic Study.”

Jennifer Manly, PhD, Taub Institute, and Jose Luchsinger, MD, Medicine, will receive $3,447,966 over five years from the National Institute on Aging for “Columbia Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Alzheimer’s Disease Disparities (CIRAD).”

Randolph Marshall, MD, Neurology, and E. Sander Connolly, MD, Neurological Surgery, will receive $1,602,060 over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Stroke Trials Network of Columbia and Cornell.”

Mathew Maurer, MD, Medicine, will receive $455,553 over two years from the National Institute on Aging for “Analysis of Lumbar Spine Stenosis Specimens for Early Identification of TTR Cardiac Amyloidosis.”

George Mentis, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $3,141,145 over five years from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism for “Mechanisms of Synaptic Loss by the Classical Complement Pathway in Motor Circuit Development and Disease.”

Thomas Nickolas, MD, Medicine, will receive $3,470,816 over five years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “The Impact of Glomerular Disorders on Bone Quality and Strength.”

Owen O’Connor, MD, PhD, Medicine, will receive $400,000 over five years from the American Cancer Society for “American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professor Award.”

David Owens, PhD, Dermatology, will receive $1,072,475 over three years from the New York State Department of Health for “Role of Epithelial Stem Cells in Age-Related Loss of Tactile Acuity.”

Serge Przedborski, MD, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $2,694,167 over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Mechanisms of Axon Pathology in ALS.”

Simone Sanna-Cherchi, MD, Medicine, and Peter Sims, PhD, Systems Biology, will receive $644,210 over two years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “Novel Genomic and Transcriptomic Tools to Study Human Congenital Anomalies of the Kidney and Urinary Tract.”

Catherine Schevon, MD, PhD, Neurology, will receive $3,139,758 over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Dynamics of Long-Range Network Interactions in Focal Epilepsy” in a competitive renewal.

Pejman Sehatpour, MD, PhD, Psychiatry, will receive $254,693 over three years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Temporal Dynamics of Neurophysiological Patterns as Treatment Targets in Scz.”

Neil Shneider, MD, PhD, Neurology, and Diane Re, PhD, Environmental Health Sciences, will receive $500,000 over two years from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for “Novel Extracellular Vesicle and Molecular Biomarkers of Environmental Exposure and Disease Progression in ALS.”

Richard Sloan, PhD, and Scott Small, MD, Psychiatry, will receive $3,854,203 over five years from the National Institute on Aging for “Dietary Modulation of Neuroinflammation in Age-Related Memory Disorders.”

Marisa Spann, PhD, Rachel Marsh, PhD, and Catherine Monk, PhD, Psychiatry, will receive $3,655,372 over five years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Intergenerational Transmission of Deficits in Self-Regulatory Control.”

Marie-Pierre St-Onge, PhD, Medicine, will receive $3,820,960 over five years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Impact of Circadian Misalignment on Energy Balance Regulation.”

Joanna Steinglass, MD, Psychiatry, will receive $613,943 over five years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Training and Mentoring in Neurocognitive Mechanisms of Eating Disorders.”

Yaakov Stern, PhD, Taub Institute, will receive $2,484,891 over three years from the National Institute on Aging for “Collaboratory on Research Definitions for Cognitive Reserve and Resilience.”

David Sulzer, PhD, Psychiatry, will receive $3,246,113 over five years from the National Institute on Aging for “Autoimmune Features of Neurodegenerative Disorders.”

Ira Tabas, MD, PhD, Medicine, will receive $10,505,370 over five years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Mechanisms of Atherogenesis in Insulin Resistance” in a competitive renewal.

Guomei Tang, PhD, Neurology, will receive $1,771,875 over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for “Cellular and Molecular Basis for Cognitive Impairment Associated With Glucocerebrosidase (GBA1) Mutation.”

Andrew Teich, MD, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $2,448,214 over five years from the National Institute on Aging for “A Translational Bioinformatics Approach to Rescuing Synaptic and Neurophysiologic Dysfunction in Alzheimer’s Disease.”

Stavros Thomopoulos, PhD, Orthopedic Surgery, will receive $2,826,867 over five years from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases for “Enhanced Tendon Healing Through Growth Factor and Cell Therapies.”

Giuseppe Tosto, MD, PhD, Sandra Barral Rodriguez, PhD, and Richard Mayeux, MD,  Sergievsky Center, will receive $4,996,163 over two years from the National Institute on Aging for “Genetics of Alzheimer’s Disease in Mexico.”

Stephen Tsang, MD, PhD, Ophthalmology, will receive $1,080,000 over three years from the New York State Department of Health for “Comparative Effectiveness of CRISPRn, CRISPRd, and CRISPRi in Patient-Specific Stem Cells” and $250,000 over three years from the Alcon Research Institute for “CRISPR Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) Editing for Autosomal Dominant Disorders.”

Dennis Vitkup, PhD, and Harris Wang, PhD, Systems Biology, will receive $3,445,452 over five years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “Ecological Dynamics and Metabolic Interactions in the Gut Microbiome Across Space and Time.”

Clarissa Waites, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $399,259 over one year from the National Institute on Aging for “Investigating Rab35’s Role in Modulating Stress-Induced Alzheimer’s Neuropathology.”

Ronald Wapner, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Wendy Chung, MD, PhD, Pediatrics,  will receive $5,547,370 over five years from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for “Prenatal Genetic Diagnosis by Genomic Sequencing: A Prospective Evaluation” in a competitive renewal.

Chunhua Weng, PhD, Biomedical Informatics, will receive $3,199,844 over four years from the National Library of Medicine for “Deep Phenotyping in Electronic Health Records for Genomic Medicine.”

Hynek Wichterle, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, will receive $330,000 over two years from the New York State Department of Health for “CRISPR-Based System for Genetic Screening of Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation.”

Olajide Williams, MD, Neurology, will receive $3,210,714 over five years from the National Institute of Nursing Research for “Effect of an Integrated Nutrition-Math Curriculum to Improve Food-Purchasing Behavior of Children.”

Hanrui Zhang, PhD, Medicine, will receive $732,942 over three years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Macrophage-Specific Function of GWAS CAD-Associated LIPA Alleles in Atherosclerosis.”

MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Elaine Abrams, MD, ICAP, will receive $2,217,336 over two years from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for “CombinADO: A Combination Intervention Strategy to Improve Health Outcomes for Adolescents Living With HIV.”

Leslie Davidson, MD, Epidemiology, will receive $1,861,665 over four years from the Fogarty International Center for “Health and Psychosocial Need: The Asenze Study of Risk and Protection in Adolescence.”

Ruby Fayorsey, MD, ICAP, will receive $387,434 over one year from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for “Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance in Sierra Leone.”

Markus Hilpert, PhD, and Norman Kleiman, PhD, Environmental Health Sciences, will receive $435,517 over two years from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for “Tracking Metals From E-cigarettes: From the Coil Into Lung Tissue.”

Cassie Landers, EdD, Population & Family Health, will receive $600,000 over one year from the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund for “Planning for Transformation: CPC Learning Network Evolving in an Uncertain World.”

Gen Li, PhD, Biostatistics, and Ryan Demmer, PhD, Epidemiology, will receive $328,875 over two years from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research for “Multivariate Analysis of Microbial Absolute Abundance in Population-Based Studies.”

Barun Mathema, PhD, Epidemiology, will receive $328,850 over two years from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for “Mtb Correlates of Risk Molecular Epidemiology.”

Christopher Morrison, PhD, Epidemiology, will receive $903,260 over five years from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism for “Influences of In-Person Social Networks, Digital Social Networks, and Neighborhoods on Adolescent Alcohol Consumption.”

Ana Navas-Acien, MD, PhD, Environmental Health Sciences, will receive $3,052,059 over five years from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for “Low-Level Arsenic Exposure and Cardiovascular Disease in Multi-Ethnic Adults (MESA As).”

Frederica Perera, PhD, DrPH, and Julie Herbstman, PhD, Environmental Health Sciences, will receive $8,194,944 over five years from the Office of the NIH Director for “Identifying Newborns at Risk of Adverse Neurodevelopmental Outcomes and Obesity From Air Pollution.”

Virginia Rauh, ScD, Population & Family Health, will receive $2,186,788 over five years from the Office of the NIH Director for “Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes in the Northern Plains Safe Passage Study Cohort” in a competitive renewal.

Rupak Shivakoti, PhD, Epidemiology, will receive $731,230 over three years from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for “Maternal Inflammation, Diet, and Gut Microbiome in HIV: Impact on Infant Outcomes.”

Mary Beth Terry, PhD, Epidemiology, David J. Brenner, PhD, Radiation Oncology, and Hui-Chen Wu, DrPH, Environmental Health Sciences, will receive $3,156,839 over five years from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for “DNA Repair Phenotype: The Missing Link in Breast Cancer Risk Assessment.”

Yuanjia Wang, PhD, Biostatistics, will receive $445,500 over two years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Integrative Learning to Combine Evidence for Personalized Treatment Strategies.”

Zenebe Melaku Yirsaw, MD, ICAP, will receive $7,654,264 over five years from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - PEPFAR for “Technical Assistance to Ethiopia’s Federal Ministry of Health and Regional Health Bureaus in Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Programming and Direct Site-Level Support in the Four Emerging Regions Under PEPFAR.”

SCHOOL OF NURSING

Rebecca Schnall, PhD, Scholarship & Research, will receive $4,090,639 over five years from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities for “mLab App for Improving Uptake of Rapid HIV Self-Testing and Linking Youth to Care.”

Patricia Stone, PhD, and Jingjing Shang, PhD, Scholarship & Research, will receive $1,973,361 over five years from the National Institute of Nursing Research for “Center for Improving Palliative Care for Vulnerable Adults with MCC (CIPC).”

COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE

Burton Edelstein, DDS, Population Oral Health, will receive $3,826,884 over five years from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research for “Randomized Efficacy Trial of MySmileBuddy, a Family-Centered Behavioral Intervention to Reduce Early Childhood Caries.”

AWARDS & HONORS

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IRVING MEDICAL CENTER

2018 Baton Awards

Three CUIMC staff members were recognized as exceptional team players:

• Bonita Enochs, Office of Communications
• Katy Hardy, Biostatistics
• Brian Karolewski, VMD, PhD, Institute of Comparative Medicine

Other Honors

Christopher Aston, PhD, Environmental Health & Safety, and his EH&S colleagues received a 2018 Innovation Award of Merit from the Campus Safety, Health, and Environmental Management Association for developing a series of “Print & Go” sheets providing guidance on occupational exposure to a hazardous biological or chemical material.

VAGELOS COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS

Irving Scholars

Six 2018-2021 Irving Scholars were selected. This program supports young assistant professors beginning a career in clinical research.

• Swarnali Acharyya, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology, “Diagnosing and Targeting Cachexia to Prolong Patient Survival”
• Guillermo Horga, MD, PhD, Psychiatry, “Investigating the Use of Neuromelanin-Sensitive MRI for Risk Staging of Psychosis”
• Kevin Kalinsky, MD, Medicine, “Clinical Trial of Systems Biology-Directed Therapy in Patients With Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer”
• Max O’Donnell, MD, Medicine, “A Precision Medicine Approach to Enhanced Detection and Genomic Characterization of Emerging Respiratory Pathogens in Uganda”
• Elizabeth Oelsner, MD, Medicine, “E-cigarette Effects on Sputum Biology: Identifying Extent and Susceptibility in Healthy Adults”
• Yvonne Saenger, MD, Medicine, “Establishing a Prognostic Immune Signature in Early Stage Melanoma by Measuring mRNA Transcripts Using the NanoString Assay and Quantitative Multiplexed Immunofluorescence”

Other Honors

Cory Abate-Shen, PhD, Medicine, was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Richard Axel, MD, University Professor, was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Ansgar Brambrink, MD, PhD, Anesthesiology, delivered the 2018 Aitken Memorial Lecture at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario.

Joan Bathon, MD, Medicine, was designated a master of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) in recognition of contributions to the ACR and the field of rheumatology through scholarly achievement and/or service to patients, students, and the profession.

Janis L. Cutler, MD, Psychiatry, received the 2018 Fred Sierles, MD, Leadership and Excellence in Psychiatric Education Award from the Association of Directors of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry.

Jeanine D’Armiento, MD, PhD, Medicine, was appointed chair of the board of directors at the Alpha-1 Foundation.

Kenneth A. Forde, MD, Surgery, was named one of four 2018 Icons in Surgery by the American College of Surgeons (ACS). A presentation honoring his life and accomplishments was delivered at the 2018 ACS clinical congress in October.

Bruce Forman, MD, Biomedical Informatics, received the 2018 Partner of the Year Award on behalf of NewYork-Presbyterian from the New York City Department of Education, Career and Technical Education programs, for NYP’s partnership with a local high school.

Oliver Hobert, PhD, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, delivered a special lecture titled “Genetic Specification of Neuronal Identity” at the 2018 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting.

Guillermo Horga, MD, PhD, Psychiatry, received a 2018 Maltz Prize for Innovation & Promising Schizophrenia Research from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.

Liam Paninsky, PhD, Neuroscience, delivered a special lecture titled “Neural Data Science: Accelerating the Experiment-Analysis-Theory Cycle in Large-Scale Neuroscience” at the 2018 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting.

Michael Rosenbaum, MD, Pediatrics, received the 2018 Take off Pounds Sensibly Scientific Achievement Award from the Obesity Society for excellence in an obesity-related research career.

David Vawdrey, PhD, Biomedical Informatics, was elected a fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics.

Timothy C. Wang, MD, will receive the 2019 William Beaumont Prize from the American Gastroenterological Association for advancing the care of patients with digestive diseases through clinical or translational research.

Paul Weinstein, MD, Medicine, was recognized as a 2018 community hero by the Israel Cancer Fund, Connecticut chapter.

Olajide Williams, MD, Neurology, received the American Stroke Association Community Conscience Award in recognition of his unique research focused on community-based behavioral interventions with an emphasis on stroke disparities.

MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Quarraisha Abdool Karim, PhD, Epidemiology, delivered the 2018 Sheldon J. Segal Lecture at the Population Council.

Salim Abdool Karim, PhD, Epidemiology, received the 2018 Al-Sumait Prize for African Development from Kuwait for contributions to science in HIV treatment and prevention over the past three decades.

Andrea Baccarelli, MD, PhD, Environmental Health Sciences, received the Baiocco D’oro Award from the city of Perugia, Italy, to honor his achievements in the epigenetics field.

Barbara Barlow, MD, Epidemiology, received the 2018 Domestic Surgical Volunteerism Award from the American College of Surgeons and Pfizer for dedication to preventing injuries to the children of Harlem and across the United States.

Irwin Redlener, MD, Health Policy & Management, was named co-chair of the 9/20 Committee by Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló to assist the government in the management of information regarding fatalities caused by natural and man-made disasters.

Jeffrey Shaman, PhD, Sen Pei, PhD, and Sasikiran Kandula, Environmental Health Sciences, and Wan Yang, PhD, Epidemiology, will receive first prize for the 2019 Outstanding Research Article, scientific achievement category, from the International Society for Disease Surveillance for “Forecasting the Spatial Transmission of Influenza in the United States.”

Madeleine Thomson, PhD, Environmental Health Sciences, was a guest editor of PLOS Medicine’s Climate Change and Health special issue.

Gina Wingood, ScD, Sociomedical Sciences, received the 2018 Ryan White Distinguished Leadership Award for achievements in HIV/AIDS prevention.

SCHOOL OF NURSING

Suzanne Bakken, PhD, Scholarship & Research, received the Nursing Informatics Award from the Friends of the National Library of Medicine.

Sarah Collins, PhD, Scholarship & Research, was elected a fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics. Collins also received a Leadership Award from the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) and was named to the inaugural class of fellows of AMIA’s Applied Informatics Recognition Program.

Maureen George, PhD, Scholarship & Research, received the Sheldon L. Spector, MD FAAAAI Memorial Lectureship from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology Foundation.

Elaine L. Larson, PhD, Scholarship & Research, received the Walsh McDermott Medal from the National Academy of Medicine in recognition of her distinguished service to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine over an extended period. Dr. Larson is one of only two nurses to receive the honor.

Wanda Montalvo, PhD, Scholarship & Research, was named a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine.

Allison Norful, PhD, Scholarship & Research, was recognized by the Nurse Practitioner Association New York State for having one of the “Top Poster Presentations.”

Rebecca Schnall, PhD, Scholarship & Research, was inducted as a 2018 fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

Cindy Veldhuis, PhD, Scholarship & Research, became a consulting editor for the journal Psychology of Sexual Orientation & Gender Diversity.

COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE

George Ross Blum, CDM’21, placed second in the Oral Healthcare Innovators Competition at the Greater New York Dental Meeting.

Gary Greenstein, DDS, Periodontics, received the 2018 Gold Medal Award from the American Academy of Periodontology in recognition of service to the academy and contributions to the understanding of the field of periodontology and the diagnosis and treatment of periodontal diseases. It is the highest honor bestowed by the academy.

Liza Horbar, DDS, Prosthodontics, placed first in the local table clinic competition at the American College of Prosthodontics, New York Section, with the poster titled “Conical Implant Abutment Repositioning of Narrow and Extra Narrow Platform Implants After Dynamic Cyclic Loading and Relation to Screw Torque Reduction: A Pilot Study. Part II: How Narrow Can We Get?”

Alia Koch, DDS, MD, Hospital Dentistry, received an Oral Abstract Scientific Presentation Award from the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and the Committee on Continuing Education and Professional Development for “TMJ Disc Regeneration by Harnessing Endogenous Stem/Progenitor Cells.”

Farhad Hadavi, DDS, Operative Dentistry, received the Melvin L. Moss, DDS, PhD, Senior Faculty Award from the Association of Dental Alumni of the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine for outstanding commitment to teaching for 25 years or more.

Shan Lal, DDS, Pediatric Dentistry, received the 2018 Dr. Stanislaw H. Brzustowicz’43 Faculty Award from the Association of Dental Alumni of the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine for dedicated and compassionate teaching of dental students.

Hayleen Moran, DDS, Prosthodontics, placed second in the table clinic competition at the North East Gnathological Society meeting.

Christina Nunez received a scholarship from the National Hispanic Health Foundation for contributions toward improving the health of Hispanic communities.

Panos N. Papapanou, DDS, PhD, Periodontics, received a special citation from the American Academy of Periodontology for work as co-chair of 2017 World Workshop for the Classification of Peri-implant Diseases and Conditions.

Penny Planzos, DMD, Prosthodontics, placed first in table clinic competition at the National American College of Prosthodontics meeting, first in the table clinic competition at the North East Gnathological Society meeting, and second in the local table clinic competition at the American College of Prosthodontics, New York Section, with the poster titled “Conical Implant Abutment Repositioning After Dynamic Cyclic Loading and Relation to Screw Torque Reduction: A Pilot Study. Part I: Are All Conical Abutment Connections Equal?”

PHILANTHROPIC GIFTS

VAGELOS COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS

A donor made a $2,000,000 gift to the Division of Nephrology to advance research in the Glomerular Kidney Disease Center.

A donor made a $2,000,000 commitment to the Department of Psychiatry to advance research in the treatment and prevention of eating disorders.

An organization made a $1,700,000 commitment to the Department of Psychiatry to advance research, education, and clinical care at the Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. 

A foundation made a $1,288,965 commitment to the Department of Psychiatry to provide support for a fellowship in developmental neuropsychiatry. 

A donor made a $1,000,000 commitment to the Department of Medicine to support an annual award for clinical educators in the Division of Cardiology.

A donor made a $1,000,000 pledge to advance research at the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. 

A donor contributed $1,000,000 to the glaucoma division of the Department of Ophthalmology to advance work toward developing new and improved medical and surgical treatments for glaucoma. 

An organization made a $1,000,000 commitment to the Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry to support the recruitment of a leader in the field of learning disabilities.

A donor made a $500,000 commitment to advance specialized care at the Weinberg Family Cerebral Palsy Center at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. 

A donor made a $250,000 contribution to the Department of Psychiatry to advance research to help evaluate, diagnose, and treat depression and anxiety. 

A donor made a $250,000 gift to the Department of Urology to support research in genitourinary oncology.

A donor made a commitment of $150,000 to support the Chairman’s Frontier Fund in the Department of Psychiatry. 

A family foundation made a $150,000 gift to the Department of Ophthalmology to advance research in retinal diseases and disorders.

A donor made a pledge of $150,000 to the Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases to advance clinical research in Barrett’s esophagus and dysplasia. 

A family foundation made a $132,000 contribution to the Department of Psychiatry to provide support for a fellowship in women’s mental health. 

A donor made a commitment of $114,595 to the Division of Endocrinology to advance research in bone disease in women.

A foundation made a contribution of $114,446 to the Department of Pediatrics to advance research, education, and care in the Clinical Genetics Program.

A donor made a commitment of $100,000 to support the Chairman’s Frontier Fund in the Department of Psychiatry. 

A donor made a $100,000 gift to provide scholarship support at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

A foundation made a $100,000 commitment to the Department of Psychiatry’s Division of Behavioral Medicine to advance research into the impact of trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, and major depressive disorder on child psychopathology. 

A donor made a $100,000 gift to support scholarships at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. 

A donor made a $100,000 contribution to the Department of Rehabilitation and Regenerative Medicine to enhance rehabilitative care for individuals with stroke and neuromuscular disorders. 

A donor made a gift of $100,000 to provide scholarship support at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. 

A donor made a gift of $100,000 to support research at the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain.

A foundation made a $100,000 contribution to provide scholarship support at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

A donor made a $100,000 gift to the Division of Endocrinology to advance research in bone disease in women.

A donor made a $100,000 contribution to support the Department of Ophthalmology’s Retina Research Fund. 

A donor made a $100,000 gift to the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center to support  Velocity, Columbia’s Ride to End Cancer. 

A donor made a gift of $96,100 to advance research at the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

A bequest intention from a family trust was realized for $537,500 to support the Department of Biostatistics.

An individual donor made a gift of $100,000 to support the work of ICAP.

CUIMC IN THE NEWS

Human Migration Is a Pressing Public Health Issue, Report Says

CNN | Dec. 5, 2018

“I think it’s really important for us to get evidence-based work out there, especially right now,” said Terry McGovern, an author of the reports and chair of population and family health at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. “Immigrants don’t have more diseases. They aren’t more violent than the general population. This shows these are myths.”

20 Americans Die Each Day Waiting For Organs. Can Pigs Save Them?

The New York Times Magazine | Nov. 14, 2018

This is what’s known as a designated pathogen-free pig facility, and it’s where David Sachs, the Columbia University immunologist who created the GalT-KO pig back in the late ’90s, maintains a herd of about 100 pigs specially inbred to be optimized for tolerance-induction research.

NOVA: It's Fall, Which Means It's Time for Gonorrhea

PBS | Nov. 8, 2018

Study author Micaela Martinez, an infectious disease ecologist at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, presents a compendium of 69 infectious diseases that run the gamut from rare to common, neglected to notorious, innocuous to deadly. Despite their differences, all the syndromes have one thing in common: They rise and fall with changing seasons.

TODAY: New Robot Helps Nursing Students Better Understand Kids’ Symptoms

NBC News | Oct. 27, 2018

A new teaching tool at the Columbia University’s School of Nursing helps students better understand what a pediatric patient’s symptoms really mean.

American Experience: The Eugenics Crusade

PBS | Oct. 16, 2018

“The Eugenics Crusade,” produced by American Experience, Retro Report, and The Atlantic, featured interviews with Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons faculty members Wendy Chung and Ronald Wapner.

 

Visit the CUIMC Newsroom to see more top-tier media headlines or subscribe to the CUIMC Weekly Media Report to receive a broader compilation of media appearances via email each week.