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EDUCATION GROUP BEGINS IMPROVEMENTS The Educational Infrastructure Task Force, a CUMC-wide committee that focused on studying educational resources across the schools and making recommendations about what is needed to improve our educational endeavor, recently concluded its work. The Task Force was led by Ted Shortliffe and Harvey Colten with participation by the education deans - Sarah Cook from the School of Nursing, Andy Davidson from Mailman, Letty Moss-Salentijn from SDOS, and Ron Drusin from P&S - and several other representatives from all four CUMC schools and the graduate program. As a result of the Task Force's findings, there will be noticeable improvements this fall in eight CUMC classrooms, including significant upgrades in technology. The appointment last month of Pat Molholt as director of the new Office of Education & Scholarly Resources is another important step, delivering on the Task Force recommendations for better coordination and closer management of resources. Other short-term plans include establishment of an Educational Resources Council (which is already meeting and is chaired by Sarah Cook), policies for equitable assignment of classroom space, and detailed plans for either a new building or major renovation of the first several floors of the Hammer building. The executive summary and recommendations from the committee are available on the CUMC web site http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/hs/education/executive_summary.html). Copies of the full report are available to CUMC faculty, staff, and students upon request to Pat Molholt's office (molholt@columbia.edu). REVENUE PROJECT DELIVERING RESULTS Added revenues of about $8 million were generated by our CUMC Departments of Medicine, Neurology, Ob/Gyn, Orthopedic Surgery, Pediatrics, Radiology, and Surgery during the first six months of 2004, a successful result of the P&S Faculty Practice Revenue Improvement Project started in January. The $8 million was an increase of 10 percent compared with the same period the year before. Our largest clinical departments were among the seven participating successfully in Phase I of project, which is designed to upgrade the efficiency and effectiveness of patient billing and collections, to provide staff training and tools, and to improve patient and physician satisfaction. Dr. Louis Bigliani leads the Faculty Oversight Committee, which has become a permanent committee of the Faculty Practice Organization. Planning will begin soon to involve remaining clinical units with the project in the fall. INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY PRESENCE TO GROW AT CUMC A world-renowned interventional cardiology group will join the Division of Cardiology in P&S's Department of Medicine this month to greatly expand CUMC programs in cardiovascular interventional therapy (CIVT). Besides extending our work in clinical research, diagnosis, and treatment of patients, the educational opportunities offered by this group will benefit our students and postgraduate trainees. Drs. Jeffrey Moses, Martin Leon, Gregg Stone and Mr. Victor Yick will lead the team. Dr. Moses will serve as director of the group, Dr. Leon as associate director, and Dr. Stone as director of research and education. Mr. Yick will continue to head the group's important educational arm, the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF). CRF has long sponsored the definitive meeting in interventional cardiology, the annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) symposium, as well as more than 60 other CME and training forums. This fall's TCT meeting, which CUMC will co-sponsor, will comprise 1,500 lectures and more than 100 hours of live cases presented from 24 domestic and international transmission sites in four simultaneous venues. The new strength in ischemic heart disease adds to our existing strengths in molecular and clinical studies of atherosclerosis, congestive heart failure, arrhythmias, congenital heart disease and cardiac surgery in children and adults, to make us one of the strongest programs in cardiovascular biology in the nation. MAILMAN SCHOOL PROMINENT AT INTERNATIONAL AIDS MEETING The Mailman School of Public Health had a significant presence at the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, in July, with more than 30 presentations and posters. Faculty members took part in the dialogue on a wide range of issues, including new findings on antiretroviral therapy; reducing mother-to-child-transmission; care and treatment in resource-poor settings; and HIV risk factors in New York City. In addition, the Mailman School announced the creation of its new International Center for HIV Care and Treatment Programs, which will create synergy among the school's service delivery, research, and training initiatives. We have been playing a role in the stem cell debate that is back on the front pages. In October the United Nations will again consider a resolution that could negatively impact stem cell research worldwide. In June I moderated a panel that sought to educate U.N. delegates in advance of that vote. The panel included Dr. Ian Wilmut, who cloned Dolly the sheep. Other panel members were two Korean scientists, Drs. Shin Yong Moon and Woo Suk Hwang, who successfully isolated human embryonic stem cells from blastulae created by somatic cell nuclear transfer, and several other scientists. We have also been working at the federal level, through the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR), the leading stem cell research advocacy group. Ross A. Frommer, DVP of government and community affairs, represents Columbia on the board of that group. We were one of 142 nationwide cosigners of a CAMR-sponsored letter to the President asking him to expand his stem cell policy. At the New York State level, we are working with a coalition that is attempting to get State Senate approval for a bill that has already passed in the NY State Assembly. It would position New York, just as New Jersey and California, as an advocate of stem cell research. UNIVERSITY APPROVES NEW NURSING DEGREE The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DrNP) degree, advocated by a strong team of faculty within the School of Nursing and by Dean Mary Mundinger, was recently approved by President Bollinger and the Board of Trustees. The DrNP program will be the first clinical nursing doctorate in the nation designed to train and credential nurses for the highest level of primary care practice. Focus will be on chronically ill patients. DrNPs will diagnose, manage and coordinate care among specialists; collaborate with patients and their families to detect early-stage disease; and incorporate patients' goals and priorities in care. Dr. Mundinger marshaled support for this program thoughout the nursing and medical primary care communities. DrNPs will help fill a large and growing gap in our health care delivery system. Eight other leading schools of nursing are in the process of adopting some form of the Columbia School of Nursing's DrNP model. DONOR SUPPORT IS ROBUST AND ONGOING The CUMC Capital Campaign has achieved one quarter of its lofty goal of a billion dollars, more than $250 million. So many of our faculty have teamed successfully with CUMC's Office of Development and have helped propel our fundraising to its goals. Donor support remains consistent and strong. Preliminary numbers show that cash gifts for fiscal year 2004 are up about 12 percent over last year. Major gifts have been strong, and the range is interesting. A recent sample:
MACY GRANT TO EXPLORE DENTAL EDUCATION MODELS The Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation has awarded a three-year, $460,000 grant to the Center for Community Health Partnerships at SDOS to study the feasibility of changing the current system for educating dental students. The project will determine support among dental educators, practitioners, and the larger community for new models of dental education and assess financial viability of these models. Howard Bailit and Allan Formicola, both faculty members in the Center for Community Health Partnerships, will direct the project. Dental education faces serious financial and educational challenges resulting from declining public support and the need to incorporate new scientific and technical knowledge into the curriculum. This grant will provide the resources to assemble leaders in American dentistry to address these issues. MINORITY STUDENTS GUIDED TO MEDICAL CAREERS An innovative program that partners CUMC with Hunter College to attract minority undergraduate students to medicine and scientific research is starting to show impressive results. At least six former participants have applied to our graduate programs and medical school: two were accepted - one is currently enrolled at Columbia; the other at Harvard. Several of the students in the summer 2004 program also plan to apply to Columbia. Dr. Andrew Marks, chairman of the Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, began the program as a way to increase diversity at CUMC in medicine and the health sciences. The program, now in its third year, has nine students enrolled this summer in 10-week internships with leading Columbia physicians and researchers and has trained 33 students to date. MORE BIOSTATISTICIANS TO SUPPORT CUMC RESEARCH The Mailman School's Department of Biostatistics, under the leadership of Dr. Bruce Levin, has recruited six new faculty members, enabling the department to keep pace with the demand for collaborative research support within the school and throughout CUMC. These recruitments include: senior faculty member Dr. Ian McKeague and assistant professors Drs. Bin Cheng, Shuang Wang, and Ying Wei. Assistant Professors Dr. Linxu Liu and Martina Pavlicová (Ph.D. expected in September), whose work focuses on mental health research, have interdisciplinary appointments in the Mailman School and the Department of Psychiatry. SAVE DATE FOR THOMAS Q. MORRIS SYMPOSIUM "The Academy Movement: Restructuring of Medical Schools to Advance the Mission of Education" is the topic for our annual Dr. Thomas Q. Morris Symposium on Sept. 28 at 4:30 in the Alumni Auditorium, 630 W. 168 St., on the 1st floor. Two highly respected physicians will be speaking - Dr. Haile Debas, a professor in the department of surgery and the director of Global Health Sciences at the University of California at San Francisco, and Dr. Daniel Lowenstein, a neurology professor at the same university. Tom Morris has been affiliated with P&S for more than 50 years, starting as a medical student in 1954. He was president of Presbyterian Hospital in the 1980s and held an array of other leadership positions here over the years. TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH CONFERENCE IN OCTOBER CUMC, NYPH, and the Italian Embassy's Science Office are cosponsoring a symposium, "New Advances in Translational Research," on Oct. 12 at Casa Italiana on the Morningside campus. Leading American and European experts will cover the latest developments in cardiology and oncology and discuss links between translational research and economic development. Codirectors of the conference are Eric Rose, P&S chair of surgery and CUMC associate dean for translational research, and Dr. Vittorio Daniore, science attaché at the Italian Embassy in Washington, D.C. Casa Italiana is the home of the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America, founded at Columbia in partnership with the Italian government to bring together writers, journalists, scientists, artists, poets, economists and others from around the world for broad-based intellectual exchange on major international issues. C250 COMMUNITY FESTIVAL ON SEPTEMBER 18 The University's 250th anniversary will wind down with a Community Festival on Saturday, Sept. 18, on Morningside and Barnard campuses, at 116th Street, and in Morningside Park. Departments interested in providing free screenings or educational materials should contact the CUMC Government & Community Affairs Office at 305-8060. Already on board for a health fair are a healthy cooking demonstration, a CPR demonstration, our SDOS dental hygiene van, screenings for cholesterol, blood pressure, obesity and vision problems, and information on medical issues such as asthma, diabetes, cancer, substance abuse and smoking cessation. The all-day event will also feature a jazz and blues concert with greats Dee Dee Bridgewater, the Taj Mahal Trio, Eddie Palmieri y La Perfecta II, and the McCoy Tyner Trio. Other highlights: a simulated New York City council hearing with local high-schoolers and city council members; a children's fair; art exhibitions; dance and drama performances; performance artists; sports clinics; a health fair; community vendors; and interactive exhibits. For more information, call 1-877-250-8428 or visit www.c250.columbia.edu. Melody Ahdoot, SDOS'05, was selected to represent SDOS at the American Medical Student Association Foundation's 2004 Primary Care Leadership Training Program in August in Seattle. The theme of this year's program: "Health Disparities and the Health Workforce." Gina Badalato, P&S'07, is the recipient of the prestigious 2004 J. Edgar Hoover Foundation Scientific Scholarship, awarded annually to only one student from an exclusive pool of applicants nationwide. Ms. Badalato will use the $25,000 award to defray expenses associated with her medical school education. Ralph Blume, clinical professor of medicine, and K. Craig Smith, the Calvin F. Barber Professor of Surgery and chief of cardiothoracic surgery, have been named Practitioners of the Year by the CUMC Society of Practitioners. Mary Beth Giacona, SDOS'04, currently a resident in pediatric dentistry, was selected by the American Association of Women Dentists as the 2004 recipient of the Colgate-Palmolive Award. This award is presented to junior and senior dental students who have shown academic distinction and demonstrated excellence in research. Michael Goldberg, David Mahoney Professor of Brain and Behavior in Neurology, Psychiatry and the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, has been elected treasurer of the Society for Neuroscience. Jane Knitzer, clinical professor of population and family health, has been named the new director of the Mailman School of Public Health's National Center for Children in Poverty. Dr. Knitzer, known for her policy research on low-income and vulnerable children, has been acting director of the Center since August 2003. Barron H. Lerner, Angelica Berrie-Arnold P. Gold Foundation Associate Professor of Medicine and Sociomedical Science, Sheila Rothman, professor of sociomedical science at the Mailman School of Public Health, and David Rothman, Bernard Schoenberg Professor of Social Medicine, will receive investigator awards in health policy research from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Only 11 individuals were chosen for these prestigious awards out of a national pool of applicants. Robert M. Lewy, has been appointed senior associate dean for health affairs. He will oversee the health and safety programs of the medical center to minimize risk of exposure or injury, prioritize risk control procedures, proactively seek opportunities to improve health and safety programs, and seek ways to improve efficiency and monitor performance. Dennis Mitchell is now assistant dean for diversity and multicultural affairs and director of community-based education at the School of Dental and Oral Surgery. He will be responsible for identifying funding opportunities to support SDOS programs in diversity and multicultural affairs, as well as for coordinating and managing the SDOS Underrepresented in Dentistry Program and the Minority Faculty Development Program. Magnon Ivan Reyes, SDOS'05, is participating in an otolaryngology head and neck surgery clinical elective at the National Institutes of Health this summer. Mr. Reyes is the first dental student accepted as a participant in this clinical elective. James E. Rothman, newly arrived from Memorial Sloan-Kettering, will receive the 2005 Stephen C. Beering Award for Advancement of Biomedical Science, awarded annually by Indiana University School of Medicine. | TOP | |