Spring 2019 e-News About and for Alumni

June 13, 2019

STUDENT NEWS

The VP&S graduation ceremony on May 22 awarded 172 MD degrees and 60 PhD degrees. Read moreRead profiles of a few members of the Class of 2019. 

Two programs this spring gave students a chance to explain their research projects. At VP&S Student Research Day, 76 students shared their work on topics ranging from epilepsy to electronic health records to Alzheimer’s disease. At the MD-PhD Student Research Symposium, 32 MD-PhD students presented research posters on topics that included Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and stem cells.

Classes across the entire Columbia University Irving Medical Center were cancelled April 2 so students could attend workshops and lectures at the second annual Interprofessional Day of Action. Read more.

VP&S AND CUIMC NEWS 

The Department of Medicine’s cardiology division has been renamed the Seymour, Paul and Gloria Milstein Division of Cardiology in recognition of a $32.5 million gift from the Louis and Gloria Flanzer Philanthropic Trust. Read more.

Haven Avenue from 169th Street to 168th Street is being transformed into Haven Plaza, 60,000 square feet of green space to be shared with the community. Read more.

A new Office of Community Service Programs, led by Rafael Lantigua, MD, longtime faculty member, will oversee community engagement and health promotion activities. Read more

Paulette Bernd, PhD, director of the VP&S course on clinical gross anatomy and the anatomical donor program, was one of the sources for an article about the importance of whole body donations to medical education and the occasional shortage of bodies. Read more.

NOhep, the global movement to eliminate viral hepatitis, has launched a campaign to recognize Barry Blumberg’51 with a Google Doodle on World Hepatitis Day. Read more.

OF HISTORIC INTEREST 

A Virginia Historical Highway Marker honoring Rosalie Slaughter Morton, the first woman faculty member at VP&S, was unveiled and dedicated May 2 in her native Lynchburg, Virginia. Read more.

Virginia Apgar’33 is profiled in a blog dedicated to raising smart, confident, and courageous girls. Read more.

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

Visit VP&S and CUIMC websites.

A SELECTION OF CLASS NOTES

Roy Vagelos’54 and his wife, Diana, have given $50 million to the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Arts and Sciences for a new science center that will focus on energy science research. Read moreInside Philanthropy also covered the donation.

Read a Richmond magazine article about the 30-year term of Leon Dunn’56 as chair of obstetrics & gynecology at the Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University. 

Sherman Bull’62 is a new member of the board of directors of Staying Put in New Canaan, a Connecticut nonprofit that helps seniors live safely in their homes while actively engaged in the community as they age. Read more

Story Musgrave’64 was featured speaker at a Kentucky library’s summer reading celebration. Read more.

Read a newspaper column about an art exhibition by sculptor George Thaddeus Saj’66.

Thomas Sculco’69 and his wife, Cynthia, made a donation to their high school alma mater in Rhode Island to purchase laptop computers for students in need. Read more

Michael Parry’70, the Thomas J. Bradsell Chair of Infectious Diseases at Stamford Health, received a United Hospital Fund’s 2019 Excellence in Health Care Award for Quality Improvement Champions. Read more

Kenneth J. Tomecki’72 is president-elect of the American Academy of Dermatology. Read more

Read about a new book by William C. Meyers’75

Mary T. Bassett’79, who left the position of NYC health commissioner last year to join Harvard University, was the keynote speaker this year at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Ounce of Prevention Conference. Read more.

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education gave this year’s John C. Gienapp Distinguished Service Award in recognition of dedication to graduate medical education to Carol Ann Bernstein’80Read more

Brenda Aiken’81 was a speaker at a session, titled “Women of Color R Physicians,” at this year’s S.T.E.A.M. Women’s Empowerment Conference at Rutgers University in March. Read more.

Read an article from Wilmington University about Velma Scantlebury’81.

Read about the work by Valerie Collymore’82, a French Impressionist oil painter.

Edward Paul’82 has been featured as an addiction expert on CUTVNews Radio. Read more.

Read about Brian Fallon’85 and his work fighting Lyme disease.

Richard L. White’86 is the inaugural Richard L. White Jr., MD, Distinguished Chair in Surgical Oncology at Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina. Read more

Laura Forese’87, Ben Roye’97, and Babacar Cisse’10 MD/09 PhD were among a group of doctors who were asked by NewYork-Presbyterian to explain what motivated them to dedicate their careers to medicine. Read more

Richard Braunstein’89 has been appointed senior vice president and executive director of Northwell Health’s ophthalmology service line. Read more.

Read a Washington Post perspective titled “The precautions you should take before consulting ‘Dr. Google’” written by Marc Eisenberg’91 and Christopher Kelly’11.

The U.S. Ski Team awarded James Watkins’91 its prestigious J. Leland Sosman Award for his support of the team. Read more.

Joshua Dunaief’94 PhD/’96 MD has joined the clinical advisory board of Mperia Therapeutics Inc. Read more

Kathleen van Leeuwen’96 founded the Phoenix Children’s Hospital’s Fetal Care Center, Arizona’s only program offering advanced fetal diagnosis and newborn medical and surgical intervention. Read more.

Carlos Rodriguez’96 has joined Montefiore Health System and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine as vice chair for academic affairs, director of cardiovascular research, and director of cardiovascular epidemiology. Read more.

Matt Iseman’98, cohost of NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior” and stand-up comic, was a co-grand marshal of the Indianapolis 500 race on May 26. Read more.

Orthopedic surgeon Mark Hanna’99 has been named the medical honoree of the Arthritis Foundation’s 2019 Walk to Cure Arthritis in Atlanta. Read more.

Read about Michael Boothby’00, an orthopedic surgeon in Fort Worth, Texas.

Spartan Micro appointed William J. Mack’01 to its medical advisory board. Read more.

The Regenstrief Institute, a research organization devoted to improving global health care, named Eneida Mendonca’02 PhD as the institute’s first vice president for research development. Read more

Alison Sullivan’02 is now affiliated with Catskill Regional Medical Center and Orange Regional Medical Center. Read more.

Read a newspaper article about surgeon Evan Ransom’06.

Read a New York Times essay by Daniela Lamas’08 about a two-month assignment as a writer for a medical television drama.

Read about the work of James Conniff’11, who has a family practice in Duluth, Minnesota.

IN MEMORIAM 

Arthur Aufses’48

William (Bill) Charles Fisher’49

Marvin Zimmerman’53

Stanley Bergen’55

Christopher Hodgman’56

Robert First’59

Kenneth A. Forde’59

Jean Miller’59

Richard “Dick” Prothero’59

Alfonso Janoski'61

Myles Behrens’62

Despine Coulis’62

Karl William Waterson Jr.’62

Richard Mackler’67

Richard Carlson’70

Robert M. Schmidt’70

Randolph Woodward’72

Eric Michelson’73

 

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Note: External links are current at the time of this communication. The Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons is not responsible for the content of external websites.