The visionary philanthropy of our friends has helped Columbia's College of Physicians & Surgeons embark on innovative models of medical research, creating new avenues of investigation to benefit many areas of medicine at the University. Columbia has announced an ambitious capital campaign that will help achieve the synthesis of disciplines needed to take medicine into the future.

In this past fiscal year, Columbia Health Sciences development and alumni offices have been instrumental in raising $87,233,760 in gifts to the College of Physicians & Surgeons. Highlighted below are some of the P&S benefactors and the extraordinary research, education, and clinical care endeavors that earned their generosity during 2001-2002.

Oded Aboodi established the Esther Aboodi Assistant Professorship at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center to honor his late wife, a member of the Columbia-Presbyterian Health Sciences Advisory Council and a volunteer at the medical center, who died in 2002. The assistant professorship will concentrate efforts on research in lymphoma and help preserve the legacy of Columbia’s dear friend.

Michele and Michael Ackerman raised funds from business associates and friends to support pediatric cardiology research fellowships through the Marissa Ackerman Fund. The gift honored Drs. Jan Quaegebeur and William Hellenbrand, who successfully treated their daughter Marissa’s congenital heart defect.

An anonymous donor helped launch the first patient education and counseling program at the Celiac Disease Center. Because of the broad range of symptoms associated with celiac disease, education is critical in preventing serious complications that may lead to gastrointestinal malignancies.

An anonymous donor funded a multidisciplinary effort for an immunological cell therapy program for lymphoma. The effort brought together the Institute of Cancer Genetics, the Department of Medicine, and the Department of Pathology in an extraordinary collaboration to advance research and treatment for this devastating cancer.

Russ and Angelica Berrie, inspiring leaders in Columbia’s philanthropic community, continued to sponsor programs in the acclaimed Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center, which they created in 1997. This year, their generosity provided renewed support for research, education, and care that is helping to improve prospects for patients with diabetes. They also continued to fund programs to prevent and treat diabetes-related vision loss and sponsor the annual Naomi Berrie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Diabetes Research and Frontiers in Diabetes Research symposium. These innovative programs foster collaboration with other medical institutions while honoring significant accomplishment in diabetes research and encouraging young investigators to pursue careers in the field.

The Jean I. and Charles H. Brunie Foundation joined Columbia’s dedicated benefactors with a major gift that formed the cornerstone of Columbia’s new stem cell program. The gift will support stem cell research focusing on restoring neural function with an emphasis on stroke and will be used to recruit an accomplished scientist to lead research efforts.

The Elizabeth K. Dollard Charitable Trust continued to help keep the Department of Psychiatry at the forefront of research into the biological underpinnings of mental illness with support for the Elizabeth K. Dollard Imaging Center, an advanced MRI-equipped facility for tracking irregularities in the brain. The Trust also completed its commitment to the Dollard Professorship of Clinical Psychiatry, Medicine and Law.

Mark and Dorothy Doyle endowed the Caitlin Tynan Doyle Professorship in Neurology. The professorship will be dedicated to health issues affecting women with epilepsy who are seen at Columbia’s Comprehensive Epilepsy Center.

Albert B. and Judith L. Glickman established a clinical neurology professorship dedicated to research of Parkinson’s disease. The professorship is held by Dr. Cheryl Waters, a pioneer in Parkinson’s disease drug research and genetic studies.

Gilbert Kerlin endowed the Sally Kerlin Professorship in Neurology to support clinical research in age-related neurodegenerative diseases. A joint chair of the Department of Neurology and the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain, the professorship is held by Dr. Karen Marder, an accomplished investigator in the field.

Judith Levi of the I.W. Foundation continues to endow the Seiden/Levi Scholarship Fund, which her family established in 2000. The scholarship provides support to exceptional and high-need students at P&S.

Hirschell Levine has sponsored research focused on hypertension, autism, and celiac disease. Mr. Levine, a co-trustee of the Seaver Foundation, has funded these efforts through the foundation, which helped establish the Beatrice and Samuel A. Seaver Comprehensive Hypertension Center. The center was founded to support the late Dr. Leslie Baer, an alumnus of P&S and a world-renowned expert in hypertension.

Stephen and Constance E. Lieber, stalwart supporters of the Department of Psychiatry, continued to fund the Lieber Center for Schizophrenia Research, created in 1999. Their unflagging support for the department has included gifts for general mental health research and schizophrenia research in particular.

The G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Charitable Foundation increased its commitment to groundbreaking research at Columbia as it continued to support Dr. Dolores Malaspina’s investigation of the genetic origins of schizophrenia and the research of professors Thomas M. Jessell, Richard Axel, and Nobel laureate Eric R. Kandel, which focuses on the molecular mechanisms of cognition.

The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) gave a generous gift earmarked for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research at Columbia’s Eleanor and Lou Gehrig MDA/ALS Research Center. It raised these funds at its “Wings of Hope” gala. In addition, the MDA continued its loyal support of Columbia clinical and research activities in neuromuscular disease.

JoAnn and Joe Murphy, longtime friends of Columbia and co-chairs of the Columbia- Presbyterian Health Sciences Advisory Council’s Diabetes Committee, mobilized the participation of school children through a fund-raiser in Westchester County that made “math count” for the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center. The event was held in memory of their son, Chris, whose tragic death earlier in the year strengthened their commitment to diabetes research.

Charles Royce joined Columbia’s philanthropic community through his funding of a fellowship in the Department of Urology. The fellowship will support research for urologic cancer and is dedicated to investigating the medicinal benefits of natural therapies in hopes of identifying effective treatments.

The generosity of Joy and William J. Ruane has stimulated many clinical, research, and public health initiatives in child and adolescent psychiatry at the Columbia Health Sciences. The Ruanes have now established a third professorship in the Department of Psychiatry dedicated to psychopharmacological treatment of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents.

The Sackler Foundation continues to help Columbia stay in the vanguard of psychiatric science with its generous support for the Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology in the Department of Psychiatry. Opened in April 2001 under the direction of Dr. Myron A. Hofer, the multidisciplinary institute studies human brain development from the molecular to the psychological level to enhance understanding of the genetic and environmental factors implicated in psychiatric illnesses.

Zo’s Fund for Life provided generous support to the Center for Glomerular Diseases in the Department of Medicine. The Center for Glomerular Diseases, which the fund helped establish through an earlier gift, is committed to advancing knowledge in understanding kidney disorders and developing new treatments for these diseases.