News in Brief

Four P&S faculty members were named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an honor bestowed upon association members by their peers to recognize scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. The four: Robert Burke, MD, the Alfred and Minnie Bressler Professor of Neurology (in Pathology & Cell Biology); Andrea Califano, PhD, the Clyde and Helen Wu Professor of Chemical Systems Biology in Systems Biology, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, and Biomedical Informatics and chair of systems biology; Steven Siegelbaum, PhD, the Gerald D. Fischbach, MD, Professor of Neuroscience, professor of pharmacology, and chair of neuroscience; and Michael Shadlen, MD, PhD, professor of neuroscience.

Karina W. Davidson, PhD, has been named vice dean for organizational effectiveness at P&S. Dr. Davidson is professor of behavioral medicine (in medicine and psychiatry) and director of the Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health in the Division of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine. In her new role, Dr. Davidson will oversee the ongoing P&S faculty engagement focus group task force process and implementation of task force recommendations. She also will work with Ronald Drusin, MD, vice dean for education, and his team on assessing and optimizing the learning environment for P&S students. She will work with department chairs, faculty, and staff on other ways to assure the overall effectiveness of P&S in fulfilling its missions.

Muredach P. Reilly, MBBCh, has joined P&S as director-designate of the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. After a year of transition, Dr. Reilly will succeed Henry N. Ginsberg, MD, as director of the Irving Institute, effective Jan. 1, 2017. Dr. Reilly, who was recruited from the University of Pennsylvania, is internationally known for multidisciplinary translational, genomic, and biomarker research on heart and metabolic diseases. He has led an NIH-funded research group focused on large-scale collaborations to identify and understand the function of new genes for heart disease.

During Dr. Ginsberg’s 20-year tenure, he oversaw a center that evolved from the Irving Center for Clinical Research into the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research in 2006 when Columbia successfully competed for one of the first NIH CTSA—Clinical and Translational Science Awards—grants. The grant was renewed in 2011 for another five years, a recognition of success during the first five years of the program. After the leadership transition on Jan. 1, 2017, Dr. Ginsberg will remain on the faculty as a researcher and co-director of the Irving Institute.