Government & Community Affairs - Columbia University Medical Center

In December, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) hosted a one day workshop at their office in Washington, D.C. on clinical trials. The attendees were primarily representatives from patient organizations and scientific societies who work to advocate health policy. This workshop was the second in a series that BIO is putting on to help educate those who lobby Congress and the Executive branch, many of whom are not scientists or health care professionals, about basic science and some of the issues confronting researchers and research institutions.

Among the presenters at the Clinical Trials 101 Workshop was John Ennever, M.D., Ph.D., who is Medical Director of the Clinical Trials Office at the Columbia University Medical Center and also a member of the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research and Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics. Dr. Ennever gave an overview of the history of clinical trials and discussed the benefits and limitations of clinical trials.

Forty-seven northern Manhattan community based organizations received grants from the Medical Center Neighborhood Fund to develop or enhance programs to benefit the Washington Heights/Inwood community. On Tuesday, October 30th at a cocktail reception at the Riverview Lounge, a total of over $50,000 donated by Columbia University Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, and New York State Psychiatric Institute faculty and staff were distributed. The Medical Center Neighborhood Fund was founded twenty years ago as a joint effort to enhance the quality of life by the raising of funds for local non-profit organizations that offer vital services and opportunities in northern Manhattan. Funds are granted to support services including food pantries, youth and senior services, and little league baseball programs. One hundred percent of every employee-contributed dollar goes to recipients. In addition to disbursing grants to neighborhood organizations, the Medical Center Neighborhood Fund also awards the annual Tapley Award. Named after fund founder and former dean, Dr. Donald F. Tapley, the award is presented to an organization that exceeds the expectations of the granting committee and demonstrates an extreme need for funding to continue its programming. This year’s award recipient is Centro Social La Esperanza. Congratulations to the organization and its Executive Director, Aneris Goris, M.D..

Pictured Right to Left: graant recepient student from Our Lady Queen of Martyrs;
Sandra Harris, Assistant Vice President for Government & Community Affairs (CUMC);
and Helen Morik, Vice President for Government & Community Affairs (NYPH)

Pictured Right to Left: Tapley Award Recipient Joel
Rodriguez, Counselor, Centro Social La Esperanza;
Helen Morik, Vice President for Government &
Community Affairs (NYPH); Sandra Harris, Assistant
Vice President for Government & Community Affairs
(CUMC); and Julio Batista, Coordinator (NYPH)

On October 10th, Columbia University hosted a reception on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The event was an opportunity for Columbia to highlight many of the exciting things occurring on campus, especially in the areas of science and medicine. Guests also had the opportunity to see plans and get the latest news on the University’s proposed campus expansion in Manhattanville.

The reception was held in the Gold Room of the Rayburn House Office Building, extending to a terrace with a beautiful view of the National Mall and the Smithsonian Institutions. Over 100 people attended, including several Members of Congress and New York Representatives Charlie Rangel, Eliot Engel, Joe Crowley, and Tim Bishop.

Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) was well represented at the event. During a short presentation, Executive Vice President and Dean Lee Goldman gave the audience a brief overview of CUMC and the type of educational, patient care, and research activities that go on every day at the Medical Center. He then turned the podium over to two distinguished faculty members, Dr. Wafaa El Sadr, who spoke of her work both domestically and internationally in fighting HIV/AIDS, and Dr. Mehmet Oz, a well known heart surgeon who spoke of the work he has done to improve both cardiac and overall human health. Images of crystal protein structures and modern clinical technology were displayed around the room as a DVD of CUMC faculty media interviews played throughout the evening. Books and papers written by CUMC authors were also on display.

(l to r) Congressman Engel, Dr. Oz, and Dean Goldman
Discuss Health Care During the Reception

For the thirteenth year, Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), through the Office of Government & Community Affairs, partnered with the City of New York and two local organizations, Children’s Arts and Sciences Workshops, Inc. and Alianza Dominicana, Inc. to provide summer employment for 140 young people from the Washington Heights/Inwood community. The Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) at CUMC gives local students an opportunity to spend the summer working in an academic environment and to gain a greater understanding of the various career track opportunities available within healthcare.

Lions Roar as Columbia Wins Medical Center Challenge for the Third Year in a Row

March 12, 2007 - Columbia University Medical Center was victorious again this year in Medical Center Challenge, capturing the contest for the third year in a row. The challenge was run as part of the 9^th Annual Coogan’s Salsa, Blues, and Shamrocks 5K road race.

Held on March 4^th, more than 4,000 runners of all ages, including world class competitors and local celebrities, celebrated the strong community ties and rich cultural diversity of northern Manhattan, by taking to the streets of Washington Heights. The race starts and finishes across from the Medical Center at the Armory National Track and Field Hall of Fame, heading up and back on Fort Washington Avenue with a loop through historic and beautiful Fort Tryon Park. A collage of musical groups including gospel, bagpipes, merengue, jazz, and salsa bands serenaded the runners along the route. This year, for the first time, members of the Columbia University Cheerleading Squad and Dance Team were on hand to route the runners on, as was Roar-ee the Lion, Columbia’s mascot. Roar-ee was a big hit with all the runners, both young and old. After the race, runners and spectators adjourned to Coogan’s for good food and good fun.

(l to r) Dr. Lieberman, Congressman Ramstad, Congressmen
Rangel, Dean Goldman, and Congressman Kennedy gather
before the hearing.

March 28, 2006 - Congressmen Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN) continued their Nationwide Campaign for Mental Heath and Addiction Equity with a stop on March 16^th at the New York State Psychiatric Institute (PI). Joined by Congressman Charles B. Rangel, the panel heard testimony on “The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act,” a bill to guarantee mental health and substance abuse coverage parity. Dean Lee Goldman and Drs. Jeffrey Lieberman, Chairman and Director of the Department of Psychiatry at CUMC and PI, and Herbert Kleber, Director of the Division on Substance Abuse at CUMC and PI, were the lead witnesses. Other witnesses included advocates, researchers, consumers, and family members who shared their heart-wrenching stories of loved ones whose health and safety were compromised due to inadequate insurance coverage.

March 28, 2007 - On March 21^st, Dr, Jeanne Stellman, Professor of Clinical Health Policy Management at the Mailman School of Public Health, testified at a Senate Hearing on World Trade Center Health affects. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was the lead witness and Dr. Stellman was part of a panel of distinguished physicians and scientists who have treated and monitored the health of emergency service, recovery, and construction workers who spent time at ground zero. Dr. Stellman also appeared at a press conference with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) who is a member of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, which held the hearing.

March 15, 2007 - Norman J. Kleiman, Ph.D., Director of the Eye Radiation & Environmental Research Laboratory in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health recently arranged to donate forty reclaimed computers through the National Christina Foundation. The foundation provides computer technology and solutions to give people with disabilities, students at risk and economically disadvantaged persons the opportunity, through training, to lead more independent and productive lives. It works with organizations around the world to ensure that used computer technology resources that no longer meet the needs of an organization or individual are given a second productive life. Representatives from the National Christina Foundation came to the campus in January to pick up the used machines. Many older university computers are simply discarded for their scrap value while they still have a useful life simply because individuals don’t know there are other options. “ In our current environmentally and socially conscious society, it is important to give back to the community and to those less able to afford current computing machinery,” says Dr. Kleiman, who is deeply committed to the recycling and reuse of equipment and has been collecting and stowing these machines for some time. “In the near future, we hope to expand this program to ensure that most working university computers are rescued prior to disposal and made available for reuse.”

In the photo, Dr. Kleiman (center, in lab jacket), helps load
computers with Chris Pettinato (left) and Steven Berman,
from Columbia’s Office of Environmental Health and Safety,
who helped facilitate this donation.

March 15, 2007 - Jeffrey Lieberman, Director of the New State Psychiatric Institute (PI), and David Shaffer, a Professor of Child Psychiatry, also at the PI, testified before a joint hearing of the New York State Assembly and Senate Committees on Mental Health. Chaired by Assemblyman Peter Rivera (D-Bronx) and Senator Thomas Morahan (R-Rockland), the joint hearing examined the high rates of autism among children in New York State, the possible causes of autism, and its impact on families. The hearing also reviewed the present services provided and explored what steps the mental health community needed to take in order to adequately provide care for the increasing number of New Yorkers diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder has become a new health epidemic. Previous studies showed one in 166 children being diagnosed with Autism. Earlier this month, a Centers for Disease Control study identified autism as a bigger problem than previously documented. According to the CDC study, one in 150 U.S. children now has autism.

Archives - 2007