| CUMC Celebrates - January 14, 2008 |
Philosophers, poets, and prognosticators have waxed far more eloquently than I can on the importance of turning a calendar page to begin a new year. For most of us, a new year is an opportunity to rethink priorities and refocus the vision we have for our personal and professional lives. So much of what 2008 has waiting for us is yet to be unveiled, but our ongoing success in clinical, scientific, and educational endeavors provides a strong indicator for continued success. Congratulations to our faculty and staff who have received honors and appointments that attest to the value their professions place in them, and welcome to the new faculty and staff who have joined us. Here's to a memorable and satisfying 2008
Lee Goldman, M.D.
Executive Vice President, Health and Biomedical Sciences
COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE
James B. Fine, DMD, assistant dean for postdoctoral education and associate professor of clinical dental medicine, was instrumental in the publication of two textbooks last year. He was the author of "Oral Pharmacology for the Dental Hygienist," published by Pearson Education in October 2007, and served as consulting editor on the second edition of "Comprehensive Periodontics for the Dental Hygienist."
John T. Grbic, DMD, MS, MMSc, professor of clinical dental medicine, in 2007 was named a fellow of the American College of Dentists and co-chaired a New York Academy of Sciences symposium on osteonecrosis of the jaw and bisphosphonates.
Last spring, Evanthia Lalla, DDS, MS, associate professor of dental medicine, served on a panel of experts for the "Scottsdale Project," an independent study initiative for collaboration in diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and periodontal disease interventions, in Scottsdale, Ariz. The panel's report was published as a supplement to the September 2007 issue of Grand Rounds in Oral-Systemic Medicine.
Jeremy Mao, DDS, PhD, professor of dental medicine, is the editor of a new textbook titled "Translational Approaches in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine." The book was published by Artech House Publishers in November 2007.
Panos N. Papapanou, DDS, PhD, professor of dental medicine; director, division of periodontics; and chair, section of oral and diagnostic sciences, has received the American Academy of Periodontology's Clinical Research Award and its Educator Award for Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring in Periodontics. Dr. Papapanou was also inducted into the fellowship of the American College of Dentists, served on the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's special emphasis panel, and participated in the NIH Human Microbiome Initiative's planning conference last year.The American Academy of Periodontology Foundation recently awarded an American Academy of Periodontology Teaching Fellowship to Dana Wolf, DMD, MS, assistant professor of clinical dental medicine. The $50,000 fellowship is awarded to outstanding young periodontal educators.
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MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Barbara Barlow, MD, professor of epidemiology and professor of surgery (P&S, Harlem Hospital), has been awarded the Lewis and Jack Rudin New York Prize for Medicine and Health, which is co-sponsored by the New York Academy of Medicine and the Greater New York Hospital Association. She will receive the award and give a lecture about her national program, the Injury Free Coalition for Kids, at the New York Academy of Medicine on Feb. 19.
This past November, Beverly Winikoff, MD, MPH, professor of clinical population and family health, received the Carl S. Schultz Award from the Population, Family Planning and Reproductive Health section, American Public Health Association. The Schultz award recognizes accomplishments and distinguished service in the field of reproductive and maternal health.
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SCHOOL OF NURSING
Mary W. Byrne, PhD, CPNP, MPH, FAAN, Stone-Fish Professor for Clinical Health Care of the Underserved, has been presented with the Audrey Hepburn Award for Contributions to the Health and Welfare of Children by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International. Dr. Byrne was honored for her career-long commitment to improving the lives of vulnerable children, including HIV sero-reverter infants, children raised in prison, children receiving primary care in low-income neighborhoods, and seriously ill children.
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COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS
The American Medical Association has presented Paul Appelbaum, MD, Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine and Law and director, division of psychiatry, law and ethics, with the Isaac Hays, MD, and John Bell, MD, Award for Leadership in Medical Ethics and Professionalism. Dr. Appelbaum received his award at the AMA's semi-annual policymaking meeting in November.
In commemoration of World AIDS Day 2007, Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, professor of clinical medicine (P&S) and clinical epidemiology (Mailman), director of the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs, and Arthur Ashe Visiting Professor at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, delivered the annual Arthur Ashe AIDS Endowment Lecture at Weill-Cornell. The title of her lecture was "Scale-up of HIV Treatment: Can It Transform Healthcare Services in Resource-Limited Countries?"
Paul Gordon, MD, assistant professor of neurology, and Roman Robert Snihurowych, MD, postdoctoral fellow in psychiatry, have been awarded Fulbright scholarships for 2007-2008. Dr. Gordon began a six-month longitudinal study at the Salpetriere Hospital in Paris last month, looking at the clinical and imaging features of cognitive impairment in ALS. Dr. Snihurowych will conduct a cross-national comparison of the U.S. and German managed health care systems at the Hanover University of Medicine (Hanover, Germany) beginning in March and concluding in January 2009.
Eric A. Rose, MD, Morris & Rose Milstein/Johnson & Johnson Professor of Surgery (P&S) and professor of health policy & management (Mailman), was named to the Department of Health and Human Services' National Biodefense Science Board in December. The board provides expert advice and guidance to the Secretary of HHS on scientific and technical matters to prevent, prepare for, and respond to public health emergencies resulting from current and future chemical, biological, nuclear, and radiological agents.
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CUMC
Ross Frommer, deputy vice president for government and community affairs and associate dean (P&S), has been re-elected to serve on the board of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR). Comprised of more than 100 nationally recognized patient groups, universities, and scientific societies, CAMR continues to lead the charge for federal funding and oversight of embryonic stem cell research.
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APPOINTMENTS
COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE
Philip Kang, DDS, has joined the division of periodontics as assistant clinical professor of dental medicine. Dr. Kang received his DDS degree from the University of Michigan's dental school in 2001 and successfully completed an advanced education certificate program in general dentistry from Harvard University's School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Kang received his certificate in periodontics from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Dental Medicine in 2005.
Stephen St. James, DDS, has joined CDM as assistant clinical professor of dental medicine (in periodontics). Dr. St. James earned his DDS degree and completed postgraduate training in craniofacial biology and periodontology at the University of Southern California in 1988 and 1991, respectively. His previous professional experience includes serving on the faculty of the University of the Pacific, in the school's division of periodontology.
Sonia Varlamos, DDS, MDS, joined the division of periodontics as assistant clinical professor of dental medicine. Dr. Varlamos received her DDS degree from CDM in 2000; she completed a certificate program in periodontology and a master's of dental science program three years later.
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COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS
Ketan K. Badani, MD, has joined the Department of Urology as assistant professor and director of robotic surgery. Dr. Badani received his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and did both urologic residency and fellowship training in robotic and laparoscopic urologic oncology at the Vattikuti Urology Institute, Henry Ford Hospital (Detroit). Dr. Badani has developed standardized techniques for robotic kidney and adrenal surgery and has helped pioneer novel techniques to preserve potency and optimize cancer control in men undergoing robotic prostatectomy. Dr. Badani's major clinical and research interests include the treatment of malignancies of the genitourinary tract (including prostate, bladder, kidney, and adrenal disorders) and the development of new robotic surgery technologies and techniques.
Jason M. Greenfield, MD, has joined P&S as assistant professor of urology and attending surgeon in urology. Dr. Greenfield received his medical degree from Rush University Medical College, completed his surgical internship and urological residency at Rush University Medical Center, and completed a fellowship in andrology and male infertility at Duke University Medical Center. His major clinical and research interests include erectile dysfunction, Peyronie's disease, ejaculatory problems, and other disorders of sexual function and the male genitalia.
Martha Hooven, associate chair for administration for the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, became vice dean for administration for P&S on Jan. 1. In nine years at UCSF, Ms. Hooven was instrumental in helping the department double in size and recruit more than 50 division chiefs and other key faculty. She oversaw a $350 million budget for more than 20 divisions and more than 2,500 faculty and staff.
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CUMC
Amador Centeno, formerly chief of administration for health services on Columbia's Morningside campus, became associate vice president for facilities at CUMC. In his new position, he will lead the growth and improvement of the more than 20 acres that comprise the medical center campus. At the Morningside campus, Mr. Centeno oversaw finance, information technology, facilities, communications, human resources, insurance and immunization for Health Services. Before joining Columbia, he was vice president for administration at Beth Israel Medical Center from 2003 to 2006, where he supervised more than 500 people. He assumed his new position at CUMC on Jan. 1.
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GRANTS
COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE
In conjunction with the Isabella Geriatric Center, Kavita Ahluwalia, DDS, MPH, assistant professor of clinical dental medicine, has been awarded $415,000 over three years by the New York State Department of Health for a project on Alzheimer's disease and oral health. Overall goal is to improve quality of life for Alzheimer's patients and individuals with other forms of dementia.
SCHOOL OF NURSING
Elaine Larson, PhD, professor of pharmaceutical and therapeutic research (Nursing) and epidemiology (Mailman), has been awarded a one-year, $45,000 grant by the 3M Corporation to investigate and evaluate the effectiveness of a new rapid detection influenza test. This prospective clinical study is part of the CDC’s ongoing STUFFY (Stopping Upper Respiratory Infections and Flu in the Family) trial.
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COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS
Antonio Iavarone, MD, associate professor of neurology and pathology (in the Institute for Cancer Genetics), is the recipient of $1.5 million over five years from the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Iavarone's funded work will involve the identification and characterization of the post-translational machinery that regulates Id proteins in normal cells. Id proteins are typically present in normal stem cells before birth but disappear in healthy mature cells, only to be reactivated in tumor growth. It is expected that eliminating these proteins will serve as a potential new treatment for the most aggressive forms of pediatric and adult tumors.
Maria Karayiorgou, MD, professor of psychiatry (in genetics and physiology), will receive a five-year, $3 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health beginning in February 2008. Dr. Karayiorgou will use gene targeting and chromosomal engineering approaches to clarify, via three mouse models, the biological basis of the markedly increased schizophrenia risk associated with missing a small section of chromosome 22 known as the 22q11 region. She is also the recipient of one of six 2008 Neuroscience of Brain Disorders Awards from the McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience Foundation. This three-year, $300,000 award, also commencing in February, will allow Dr. Karayiorgou to examine how a previously discovered alteration in the production of brain microRNAs contributes to the cognitive and psychiatric symptoms associated with the 22q11 microdeletion.
Daniel Kass, MD, instructor in clinical medicine-pulmonary, allergy, and critical care medicine, has received a five-year, $649,000 mentored clinical scientist research career development award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Funds will be used to clarify the role of the novel therapeutic target methionine aminopeptidase-2 in pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic illness leading to progressive scarring of the lung. This disease has no effective therapies, except possibly lung transplantation, and median survival time is just under three years from the onset of symptoms.
Krzysztof Kiryluk, MD, instructor in clinical medicine-nephrology, is one of only two recipients of the 2007 Daland Fellowship in Clinical Investigation. The American Philosophical Society awards a limited number of Daland Fellowships for patient-oriented research in several branches of clinical medicine, including internal medicine, neurology, pediatrics, psychiatry, and surgery. Fellowships are designed for qualified persons who have held an MD or MD/PhD degree for fewer than eight years. Fellows receive $100,000 in funds over two years to facilitate investigation. Dr. Kiryluk's funded research project aims to identify genes responsible for vesicoureteral reflux in children.
Jan K. Kitajewski, PhD, associate professor of clinical pathology, has been awarded $2 million over five years by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to probe the hypothesis that the cellular receptors permitting anthrax infection are involved in the growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis). Understanding the angiogenic function of these receptors may be critical in designing effective, non-toxic strategies to interfere with anthrax toxin action.
Jose A. Luchsinger, MD, Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Medicine (P&S) and Epidemiology (Mailman), has received a one-year, $100,000 research grant from the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation for pilot testing of the diabetes drug Metformin as a preventive measure against cognitive decline. The foundation was established to expand programs initiated by the Institute for the Study of Aging, a foundation started by the family of cosmetics entrepreneur Estee Lauder.
Andrew Moran, MD, MPH, instructor in clinical medicine, has received a one-year, $50,000 research award from the Matheson Foundation to create a predictive computer model of the future cardiovascular disease epidemic in China. The Matheson Foundation is a charitable and educational trust established in honor of the Long Island industrialist and financier William J. Matheson (1856-1930).
Joseph Parker, PhD, postdoctoral research fellow in genetics & development, was awarded a four-year, $500,000 (£250,000) fellowship by the Wellcome Trust, an independent, UK-based charity focused on funding innovative research into human and animal health. Dr. Parker will use funds to initiate allometry studies--the ability of organs to scale appropriately with body size--looking specifically at how organ size is simultaneously controlled by both intrinsic patterning molecules and external nutrient-dependent signals in the fruit fly Drosophila.
Boris Reizis, PhD, assistant professor of microbiology, has received a five-year, $1.6 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to study and clarify the molecular mechanisms underlying the development and functioning of plasmacytoid dendritic cells, which have been found to play critical roles in immune response and viral infection control.
Lawrence Shapiro, PhD, associate professor of ophthalmic science (in ophthalmology) and biochemistry & molecular biophysics, has been awarded a four-year, $1.2 million renewal of funding by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, allowing further investigation of the molecular basis of cadherin-mediated cell adhesion. It is expected that this research will facilitate a comprehensive, atomic-level understanding of cadherins, a family of membrane receptors that play key roles in the regulation of organ and tissue development during embryogenesis and the maintenance of normal tissue structure in adults, and their related genetic disorders (including some forms of cancer).
Steven A. Siegelbaum, PhD, professor of neuroscience and pharmacology, has received a five-year, $1.6 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, to study the role of an ion channel known as HCN1 in learning and memory. Mice in which the HCN1 gene is deleted show a surprising enhancement in spatial learning and memory that depends on a region of the brain termed the hippocampus. An understanding of how HCN1 regulates neuronal function to constrain learning and memory may provide insight into novel therapies for treating neurologic and psychiatric diseases that involve the hippocampus, including Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, depression, and epilepsy.
Milan Stojanovic, PhD, assistant professor of medical sciences, division of clinical pharmacology and experimental therapeutics (nephrology), has received a three-year, $300,000 award from the National Science Foundation to study enzymatic networks for biological pattern recognition, focusing on basic principles and applications. End goal of this research is to construct autonomous therapeutic molecular devices that recognize and correct changes in metabolic states.
Timothy C. Wang, MD, Dorothy L. and Daniel H. Silberberg Professor of Medicine, is the recipient of a one-year, $100,000 research grant from the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research. Funds will be used to develop an inflammation-based pancreatic cancer model and explore pancreatic cancer origins.
Ronald Wapner, MD, professor of obstetrics & gynecology, has been awarded a $73,000 supplement to a mentored training grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Funds will support young minority investigators with the institute's network of maternal-fetal medicine units, which Dr. Wapner spearheads.
Sharon L. Wardlaw, MD, Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Professor of Obesity Research in Medicine, has received a five-year, $1.7 million award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for her research into the central melanocortin system and regulation of energy balance. The long-term objective of this investigation is to understand how the brain senses levels of peripheral energy stores and integrates these signals to maintain energy balance. Findings may have implications for the treatment and alleviation of obesity and related conditions.
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Masthead photos: (from L.: John Grbic, Jose Luchsinger, Elaine Larson, Antonio Iavarone)
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