CUMC Celebrates - August 1, 2007
In this issue, we are delighted to report on another set of extraordinary honors and awards received by our programs and our faculty. These collective and individual accomplishments are a reflection of the superb people who make our institution so great in research, teaching, clinical care, and public service.
Lee Goldman
EVP & Dean
HONORS & AWARDS
College of Physicians & Surgeons
Mailman School of Public Health
School of Nursing
College of Dental Medicine
APPOINTMENTS
College of Physicians & Surgeons
Mailman School of Public Health
School of Nursing
College of Dental Medicine
Special congratulations to the graduate program faculty of 10 CUMC research specialties that were judged among the best nationally for their scholarly productivity in a recent index issued by the Chronicle of Higher Education. These honored specialties represent a majority of the faculty of the CUMC coordinated doctoral programs. The P&S cell biology & pathobiology faculty accounted for four of the top 10 nationally ranked programs – in anatomy (#1), pathology (#3), molecular biology (#5) and cell biology (#10). Also ranked 1st in its field was the nutrition program led by the multi-disciplinary P&S Institute of Human Nutrition. The P&S pharmacology program was rated 2nd nationally, and our biochemistry program was ranked 6th in the country. Three of our programs were ranked 8th in their fields: P&S developmental biology and physiology, and Mailman’s public administration.
COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS
Qais Al-Awqati, MD, Robert F. Loeb Professor of Medicine-nephrology and of physiology & cellular biophysics, is the sole recipient of the 2007 Homer W. Smith Award, jointly given by American Society of Nephrology and the NY Heart Association Council on Blood Pressure. Awarded annually since 1964, this honor recognizes outstanding contributions to kidney research.
Spencer Amory, MD, clinical professor of surgery, received the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award presented annually by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation to a physician who has demonstrated compassionate patient care and is a humanistic role model for students and young physicians. Leonard Tow is a member of the CUMC Board of Visitors; this award honors his advocacy for students and humanitarian health care.
The Department of Surgery announced recipients of the 2006-2007 Blakemore Awards and Prize, presented annually to acknowledge laboratory research by surgical residents and fellows. Awardees are: Ryan Davies, MD, graduating postdoctoral residency fellow, recognized for his entire body of work (on cardiac transplantation in children and the disease processes of the thoracic aorta) during training and residency; Jason C. Fisher, MD, postdoctoral clinical fellow, for studies of angiogenesis in Wilms’ tumor; Isaac George, MD, postdoctoral residency fellow, for work on effects of surgery on cardiovascular physiology; and Mark J. Russo, MD, postdoctoral residency fellow, for research on heart failure and heart/lung replacement.
Ruth L. Fischbach, PhD, professor of bioethics in psychiatry (P&S) and sociomedical sciences (Mailman), has been elected to a four-year term as a member-at-large of the Section on Societal Impact of Science and Engineering at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The Department of Medicine announced its second annual class of Ewig Award recipients, recognizing clinical educators. One-year grants go to Hasan Garan, MD (cardiology), Kenneth Prager, MD (pulmonology), and Sharon Wardlaw, MD (endocrinology). Two-year grants go to Barron Lerner, MD, PhD, (general medicine), and Brian Scully, MD (infectious diseases), and three-year grants to Paul Lee, MD (general medicine) and Will Turner, MD (general medicine). A $9 million bequest from the late Thelma Ewig, longtime patient of Ralph Blume, MD, clinical professor of medicine-rheumatology, established these awards in 2006.
This spring Arnold Gold, MD, professor of clinical neurology and chairman emeritus of the Arnold Gold Foundation, was named the 2007 Edward J. Ill, MD Physician of the Year for the State of New Jersey by the Edward J. Ill Excellence in Medicine Association. The Association supports NJ healthcare organizations, and these awards are sponsored by MDAdvantage, a liability insurer for medical professionals in the state.
Lee Goldman, MD, executive vice president of Columbia University and dean of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, was awarded the 2007 John Phillips Memorial Award by the American College of Physicians.
The Board of Directors of the American Gastroenterology Association’s Foundation for Digestive Health and Nutrition honored Peter H.R. Green, MD, professor of clinical medicine and director of CUMC’s Celiac Disease Center, on May 20 with its 2007 Mentors Research Scholar Award, honoring both mentoring and fund-raising. That same day, Dr. Green also received the Master Endoscopist Award at the 2007 ASGE Crystal Awards. This award from the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy recognizes clinicians renowned in the practice of gastronintestinal endoscopy.
The Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research at Columbia has announced this year’s class of Irving Scholars. Founded in 1987 by Herbert and Florence Irving, the program rewards individuals based on submission of proposals reflecting independent, well-designed, and well-developed initiatives in clinical investigation. The 2007 Irving Scholars, who receive 3-year career development awards, are: Paolo C. Colombo, MD, Herbert Irving Assistant Professor of Medicine, for studies examining the correlation between endothelial oxidative stress and chronic heart failure; Saadi Ghatan, MD, Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery, for tests of a new, noninvasive technique to examine the area of the brain responsible for epileptic seizures in susceptible children; Julia Glade Bender, MD, Herbert Irving Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, for development of agents targeting vascular endothelial growth factor as treatments for pediatric solid tumors; and Jose A. Luchsinger, MD, Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Medicine (P&S) and Epidemiology (Mailman), for clinical testing of the diabetes drug Metformin as a preventative against cognitive decline.
Jessica Kandel, MD, associate professor of surgery, was elected to membership in the American Surgical Association in April.
Katherine Klink, MD assistant clinical professor of medicine, director of the Center for Family and Community Medicine and chief of service for family medicine at NYPH/CUMC, has been awarded a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellowship. She begins the fellowship working in Washington D.C. in September.
Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, Lieber Professor of Psychiatry, Lawrence C. Kolb Chairman of Psychiatry and director of the New York State Psychiatric Institute, received the American Psychiatric Association’s highest honor, the 2007 Adolf Meyer Award, at the group’s annual meeting in May. The award honors research contributions to psychiatry.
Richard Mayeux, MD, Gertrude H. Sergievsky Professor of Neurology, Psychiatry and Epidemiology, and co-director of the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain, was awarded the 2007 Potamkin Prize by the American Academy of Neurology. He was honored for his work showing that Alzheimer’s likely results from a complex mixture of altered genes and environmental factors.
Maurizio A. Miglietta, DO, assistant professor of clinical surgery, received an award from the Federal Enforcement Homeland Security Foundation for his work with New York law enforcement. The foundation is a nonprofit corporation that assists federal agents and law enforcement officials by supporting their families with emergency funding, financial assistance, and community outreach.
Stephen Nicholas, MD, professor of clinical pediatrics and professor of clinical population & family health (Mailman), served as a Fulbright Scholar for the 2006-2007 academic year in the Dominican Republic providing therapy to infected adults and children and working to reduce maternal-newborn HIV transmission.
Ariel Pablos-Méndez, MD, associate professor of clinical medicine-general medicine (P&S) and epidemiology (Mailman), was named managing director of the Rockefeller Foundation in New York City. This marks Dr. Pablos-Méndez’s return to the foundation, where he worked from 1998 to 2004.
Xavier Pi-Sunyer, MD, MPH, professor of medicine (P&S) and chief of endocrinology, diabetes & nutrition at St. Luke's-Roosevelt was awarded a doctor honoris causa degree from the University of Rome "Tor Vergata" in June. He received an honorary degree from the University of Barcelona in 2005.
Brian Scully, MD, associate professor of clinical medicine-infectious diseases, and Lucien Côté, MD, professor emeritus of neurology and special lecturer in the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center, were chosen by the CUMC Society of Practitioners to receive Distinguished Practitioner Awards for 2007.
Chesed of New Square in Spring Valley, NY, presented Joshua R. Sonett, MD, associate professor of clinical surgery, with its 2007 Chesed Humanitarian Award for excellence in local medical and surgical care. Chesed of New Square is a service organization dedicated to facilitating access to medical care for members of the Rockland community.
David Strauss, MD, associate clinical professor of psychiatry and IRB chairman for NY State Psychiatric Institute, has been appointed to the Human Research Protections National Advisory Committee of the Department of HHS. He was named by HHS secretary Mike Leavitt to this 11-member committee, which makes recommendations regarding the responsible conduct of research involving human subjects.
Nancy S. Wexler, PhD, Higgins Professor of Neuropsychology (in psychiatry, neurology, and the Center for Neurobiology & Behavior), received the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science from Philadelphia’s renowned Franklin Institute in April. The award honored her leadership in research to identify the gene responsible for Huntington’s disease and to investigate the genetic basis of other inherited diseases.
Robert J. Winchester, MD, professor of pediatrics, pathology, and medicine and interim chief of the division of rheumatology, has agreed to serve as a member of the Arthritis, Connective Tissue and Skin Study Section (ACTS) for the NIH Center for Scientific Review. The ACTS Study Section reviews basic and clinical research applications dealing with the biology and diseases of joints, connective tissue, and skin. Dr. Winchester has been appointed to a one-year term beginning July 1 of this year.
>Top
MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Marilyn Aguirre-Molina, EdD, professor of clinical population & family health, received the Columbia University Alumni Association Latino Heritage Award.
Melissa Begg, SciD, professor of clinical biostatistics, was appointed to serve on the Institute of Medicine Committee “Gulf War and Health: Updated Literature Review of Depleted Uranium.”
Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, professor of clinical medicine (P&S) & epidemiology and director of the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs, and Lynn Freedman, JD, MPH, professor of clinical population & family health and director of the Averting Maternal Death and Disability program are among 50 global health experts selected as 2007-2008 Ambassadors for the Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research. Ambassadors serve as liaisons to opinion leaders who influence U.S. investment in global health research, particularly that directed to diseases that affect the world’s poorest nations. This spring Dr. El-Sadr also received a Scroll of Merit award from the National Medical Association.
William T. Friedewald, MD, clinical professor of biostatistics and epidemiology, was recently elected as a first fellow of the Society of Clinical Trials.
Sherry Glied, PhD, professor and chairman of health policy & management, has been named to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office panel of health advisers. Consisting of 18 acknowledged national experts in health care, this panel of health advisers examines frontier research in health policy and advises the agency on analyses of health care issues.
Bruce Link, PhD, professor of epidemiology and sociomedical sciences (in psychiatry), is the recipient of two major awards this year. The first is the American Sociologic Association’s Leo G. Reeder Award, which recognizes distinguished scholarly contributions to the medical sociology discipline; the other is the American Public Health Association’s 2007 Rema Lapouse Award, given for outstanding contributions to the field of psychiatric epidemiology.
Ian W. McKeague, PhD, professor of biostatistics, has been elected as a fellow of the American Statistical Association. Dr. McKeague will be honored at a ceremony on July 31 in Salt Lake City at the association’s 167th annual meeting.
Allan Rosenfield, MD, Mailman School dean, DeLamar Professor of Public Health Practice, and professor of obstetrics & gynecology (P&S), received the 2007 United Nations Population Award at an official ceremony at UN Headquarters on June 7. He was one of four laureates chosen from 29 international nominees. This spring Dr. Rosenfield was elected a 2007 fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and received the Joseph Calloway Prize for the Defense of the Right to Privacy from the NY Civil Liberties Union Reproductive Rights Project. Among awards named in his honor, the Public Health Association of NYC presented its inaugural “Allan Rosenfield award for Pubic Health and Social Justice” to H. Jack Geiger, and the Kaiser Family Foundation announced Shobana Ramachandran, MPH ’07, as the first recipient of the Allan Rosenfield Fellowship in Health Policy.
The Rockefeller Foundation in April announced the appointment of John W. Rowe, MD, professor of health policy and management, to its board of trustees. Dr. Rowe is a member of the CUMC Board of Visitors.
Bhaven Sampat, PhD, assistant professor of health policy & management, has been awarded a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigator Award in Health Policy Research for his contributions in improving health and health policy.
Mervyn Susser, MD, Gertrude Sergievsky Professor Emeritus, epidemiology; special lecturer in the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center, gave the inaugural Gaylord Anderson Lecture at the University of Minnesota this spring. Dr. Susser and Zena Stein, MD, professor emeritus of epidemiology and special lecturer in epidemiology, were also recently honored at the University of KwaZulu-Natal for their significant contributions to the Columbia University-Southern Africa Fogarty AIDS International Training and Research Program, which they helped found in 1994. Since then, 56 South African fellows have received advanced degrees at the Mailman School.
>Top
SCHOOL OF NURSING
The New York Zero-to-Three Network has selected Mary W. Byrne, PhD, PNP, FAAN, Stone Foundation and Elise D Fish Professor in Clinical Health Care for the Underserved, as the first recipient of the annual Emily Fenichel Award for Leadership in the zero-to-three field. Dr. Byrne is recognized for her contributions to the health care of infants and toddlers through practice, research, leadership, and advocacy.
The World Health Organization has appointed Richard M. Garfield, DrPH, RN the Henrik H. Bendixen Clinical Professor of International Nursing, as the director of the first international office for assessing and responding to humanitarian needs in crisis countries. Dr. Garfield will spend the next year in Geneva continuing work he initiated several years ago. He has traveled to Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Sudan, Cuba, Columbia, Liberia, and the former Republic of Yugoslavia working with civilian populations facing crises, either natural disasters or war.
Rebekah Ruppe, CNMW, assistant professor of clinical nursing, has received the 2007 Excellence in Teaching Award from the American College of Nurse Midwives Foundation. The award was given at the foundation’s annual meeting in Chicago in May.
>Top
COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE
Jed Best, DDS, associate clinical professor of pediatric dentistry, is president-elect of the College of Diplomates of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry, the certification board for the specialty.
Steven Chussid, DDS, associate professor of clinical pediatric dentistry and division director of pediatric dentistry, was selected by the American Academy of Pediatrics to serve as a pediatric oral health preceptor for 2007. The program trains pediatricians in oral health risk assessment techniques.
Louis Mandel, DDS, clinical professor of dental medicine, has been invited to speak at both the American Thyroid Association meeting on October 6 and the 2nd International Congress on Salivary Gland Disease, October 19-21.
Jeremy Mao, DDS, PhD, associate professor of orthodontics, received the 2007 Iwao Yasuda Award from the Society for Physical Regulation in Biology and Medicine for his outstanding research contributions to the fields of stem cell research and regenerative medicine. The Yasuda Award represents the society’s highest honor.
Eduardo Moioli, PhD, postdoctoral research scientist, was one of 20 outstanding early-career scientists from the USA selected for a collaborative workshop held in the UK in January. The meeting, funded by the British Council USA and British Council Seminars, fostered sharing of work among prominent American and British stem cell researchers.
Panos Papapanou, DDS, PhD., professor and chair, section of oral and diagnostic sciences, will be awarded the American Academy of Periodontics’ Clinical Research Award in October. Dr. Papapanou, who also directs the periodontics division at CDM, was selected for his contributions to periodontal research. He has also been elected to a five-year term as councilor to the International Association of Dental Research’s Periodontal Research Group, which works to improve oral health globally.
Burton Wasserman, DDS, clinical professor of community health and chairman of the NYPH Healthcare System for Dental Services, NY Hospital-Queens and Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, has been appointed to the American Dental Association’s Commission on Dental Accreditation, which accredits dental colleges.
Xuejun Xin, PhD, associate research scientist, was one of only three to win the 2007 Web Jee Young Investigator Award, presented in February at the Orthopedic Research Society annual meeting. Dr. Xin is funded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research to investigate tissue engineering of the temporomandibular joint.
>Top
APPOINTMENTS
COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS
Gary Brittenham, MD, professor of pediatrics and medicine and director of the pediatric hematology research training program, has been appointed the James A. Wolff Professor of Pediatrics. The Wolff professorship honors the co-author of the first study to demonstrate that leukemia could be treated by chemotherapy.
George Hripcsak, MD, MS, has been named chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics and director of medical informatics services at NYPH. George has been at Columbia for his entire professional career and even earlier, earning his medical and biostatistics masters degrees here, at P&S and Mailman, respectively. He led Columbia’s design of WebCIS, which stores data collected since 1989.
Alessandra Pernis-Lowell, MD, associate professor of medicine, was appointed a P&S advisory dean in February, replacing Gwen Nichols, MD. Dr. Pernis, who has taught students in every year of the P&S curriculum, currently instructs second-year students in the immunology section of the pathophysiology course and is a preceptor for the third-year medicine clerkship.
>Top
MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Andrew Davidson, PhD, MBA, professor in the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, has been named executive vice dean of the Mailman School of Public Health. A faculty member since 1984, Dr. Davidson has been a strong advocate for both academics and research over the years, garnering significant support from both private and public sources.
David Rosner, PhD, professor of sociomedical sciences, founding director and current co-director of the Center for the History and Ethics in Public Health, has been appointed the first holder of the Ronald H. Lauterstein Professorship of Sociomedical Sciences.
>Top
SCHOOL OF NURSING
Mary W. Byrne, PhD, PNP, FAAN, has been named to the Stone Foundation and Elise D. Fish Professorship in Clinical Health Care for the Underserved, funded by the Stone Foundation, through the advocacy of alumna and Board of Visitors member Sally Stone, and through a gift from Elise Fish, also an alumna.
>Top
COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE
Christos Angelopoulos, DDS, has been named associate professor of clinical dentistry and director of the oral and maxillofacial radiology program. He joins us from the University of Missouri- Kansas City.
Jennifer P. Bassiur, DDS, newly appointed assistant professor of clinical dentistry, has also been appointed director of the Center for Oral, Facial and Head Pain, a clinical care facility offering interdisciplinary diagnosis, management and treatment.
>Top
Produced by CUMC Communications & External Relations
212-305-3900
Masthead photos: (from left to right) David Strauss, Panos Papapanou, Mary Byrne, Bruce Link
Previous issues
View newsletter on the web
http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/celebrates/