Fall 2018 e-News About and for Alumni

November 29, 2018

VP&S NEWS

Colorado Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne, DrPH, a graduate of Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health, has been named senior vice president and chief operating officer at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. She also will be CEO of the medical school’s faculty practice, ColumbiaDoctors. Read more.

Diabetes researcher Rudolph L. Leibel took the lead in getting a World War I statue in Washington Heights restored. Read more.

Two VP&S faculty members were elected to the National Academy of Medicine. Read more.

VP&S and Weill-Cornell faculty published a paper about art’s positive effects on medical students. Read more.

Two Columbia physical therapy students have developed an exercise program for cancer patients. Read more.

Rita Charon, MD, PhD, chair of the new Department of Medical Humanities & Ethics at VP&S, received the federal government’s highest honor for achievement in the humanities. Read more.

An MD degree was given at graduation this year 170 years after it was earned. Read more.

A plaque that commemorates the location of the home plate of the New York Highlanders, the team that became the New York Yankees, has been returned to the medical center garden after seven years. Read more.

Medical student Mattie Renn is featured in a CNN story about gun violence. Read more.

Read more school and medical center news in the CUIMC Newsroom.

Visit new VP&S and CUIMC websites.

A SELECTION OF CLASS NOTES

Read Columbia Magazine’s article about P. Roy Vagelos’54.

Sylvia R. Cruess’55 and Richard L. Cruess’55 were selected as the 2018 recipients of the Abraham Flexner Award for Distinguished Service to Medical Education, given by the Association of American Medical Colleges. Read more.

The Telegraph newspaper of India wrote about Harold Varmus’66 ahead of two November speeches he gave there. Read more.

Patrick H. Griffin’80 joined Innovate Biopharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing novel medicines for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, as acting head of clinical development. Read more.

NBC News featured Angela Diaz’81, who runs the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center in New York City, the same center that helped her as a young immigrant from the Dominican Republic. Read more.

Expansion Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on advancing transformative medicines to patients with RNA-mediated diseases, announced the appointment of Elliot Ehrich’86 as chief medical officer. Read more.

Susana Morales’86 received a 2018 Hispanic Health Leadership Award from the National Hispanic Health Foundation. Read more.

George D. Yancopoulos’86 PhD/’87 MD was the first recipient of the ArtsWestchester Innovator Award. Read more.

Jared Gollob’89 was appointed chief medical officer of Kymera Therapeutics, a biotechnology company pioneering targeted protein degradation as a new approach to creating medicines. Read more.

William Macaulay’92 has been appointed chief of the Division of Adult Reconstructive Surgery in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at NYU Langone Health. Read more.

Steven Artandi’95 MD/PhD has been appointed director of the Stanford Cancer Institute. Read more.

Hubert Chen’95 was appointed chief medical officer of Metacrine, a biotechnology company developing therapies to benefit patients with liver and gastrointestinal diseases. Read more.

Andrew Cheng’95 was appointed president and CEO of Akero Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing treatments for serious metabolic diseases. Read more.

Jennifer Ashton’00 was guest speaker at a November Fox Trail Senior Living Alzheimer benefit in Ramsey, N.J. Read more.

Hani Sbitany’05 was featured in a New York Times article about a surgical technique for breast reconstruction. Read more.

Jacob Kaufman’10 joined Concord Hospital Medical Group’s neurology associates. Read more.

Rosemary Ku’10 was appointed chief medical officer of Lark Health, which uses A.I. counseling to promote chronic disease prevention and management. Read more.

Charlene Ong’12, assistant professor of neurology at Boston University, was one of eight faculty members who received three-year Peter Paul Career Development Professorships. Read more.

William “Jeff” Grantham’13 is one of 10 surgeons selected to the fellowship program at the Steadman Clinic and Steadman Philippon Research Institute in Vail, Colo. Read more.

Suneel Kamath’13, who is completing his final year of a hematology/oncology fellowship at Northwestern, recently had two commentaries published in the Chicago Tribune. One was about organic foods, the other about the war on cancer.

Janet Li’13 has joined U.S. Dermatology Partners, one of the largest physician-owned dermatology practices in the country. Read more.

Alexis Hill’14 PhD has joined the tenure-track of the College of the Holy Cross as assistant professor of biology. Read more.

Miriam Callahan, medical student, was quoted in an article about a conference organized by medical students to discuss ways to combine their careers as doctors with societal and political activism. Abdul El-Sayed’14, who mounted an unsuccessful progressive campaign for governor of Michigan, participated in a panel discussion at the conference. Read more.

Wyoming native Jonathan Updike’18 is working with others in his home state to imagine the state’s future. Read more.

IN MEMORIAM

Girard Craft’43

James Kieran’44

Gray C. Buck’45

Philip Duffy’47

Henry Ward’50

Donald Kasprzak’51

Leslie DeGroot’52

Lawrence M. Bugbee’54

Putnam Brodsky’56

Kenneth Joseph Ganem’56

Kenneth Faust’59

Barry Beller’60

William Temple’60

Ann Webb’64

Frederick Dietz’77

James Joy’90

 

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