Summer 2022 E-News About and for Alumni

The Summer 2022 e-newsletter has news about Columbia's medical center, its medical school, and alumni throughout the United States.

Student News

• Members of the incoming Class of 2026 received their white coats at the annual Arnold P. Gold White Coat Ceremony. The class is the most diverse class in the school’s history: 31% belong to groups underrepresented in medicine. Read more about the class and this year’s ceremony.
• Incoming medical and dental students participated in the Dígame Bienvenidos program before the start of the school year. The four-day orientation program introduces new students to the history, culture, and contemporary issues of the Washington Heights community. Read more.
• The VP&S Class of 2022 had an in-person graduation in May. Read about his year’s ceremony, profiles of a few members of the graduating class, and a story about a random act of kindness by a medical center employee volunteering at graduation.

VP&S and CUIMC News

• The corner of 169th Street and Broadway has been co-named Coogan’s Way in recognition of the beloved Washington Heights bar and restaurant, Coogan’s, which closed permanently in March 2020 during the pandemic. Read more.
• Scientists at Columbia have joined the regional consortium of academic and industry partners to accelerate the development of new drugs that target SARS-CoV-2, other coronaviruses, and viruses that could lead to future pandemics. Read more.
• Rosa Lee, MD, has been named senior associate dean for curricular affairs at VP&S. Read more.
• The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion office and Community Outreach and Engagement office offered a new summer program that provided middle and high school students in nearby neighborhoods with hands-on lab experiments to study cancer. Read more.
• Nearly three dozen students from historically Black colleges and universities joined Columbia biomedical research laboratories for a summer of science as part of the medical center’s newest summer program, the Ernest E. Just Biomedical Research Scholars @ Columbia program. Read more.

Read more news in the CUIMC Newsroom.

Of Historic Interest

• During the demolition of a building in Delaware, a time capsule from 1953 was discovered in the date stone of the old Drew Educational Support Center. When it was opened, multiple shrines to Charles Richard Drew’40 Med ScD were found. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
• The Archives & Special Collections blog, Primary Sources, published a guest blog written by Jingwen Zhang’23 about the medical school’s first female Asian American graduate, Megumi Yamaguchi Shinoda’33.  Learn more about this pioneering woman who had a long, fruitful career in the Japanese American community of Los Angeles.

A Selection of Class Notes

• Read about Karen Antman’74, former director of Columbia’s Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, in a profile published in celebration of the 50-year anniversary of the cancer center.  
• The David Roye, MD, Pride Visiting Medical Student Scholarship has been established with a seed gift from David Roye’75. Read more.  
• Elle.com published an op-ed by New York State Health Commissioner Mary T. Bassett’79 about her personal abortion story. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)  
• Steven Orland’81 is president of the Medical Society of New Jersey. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window) 
• Read(link is external and opens in a new window) about why Seth Lederman’83 moved from academia to biotech.
• Gary Frishman’85 has joined Boston IVF. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window) 
• Dineo Khabele’94 is the first Black department chair at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Read more(link is external and opens in a new window).
• Chapters Health System has named Tara Friedman’97 chief medical officer. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Robert Ross’99 has been appointed to the board of directors of Xilio Therapeutics. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Simos Simeonidis’00 PhD has joined the Ally Bridge Group as co-CEO and co-chief investment officer. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window) 
• Englewood Health in New Jersey has named Peter Shin’05 chief of medicine. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Michael L. Loftus’07 has been appointed senior vice president and chief medical and quality officer for Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Berkshire Health Systems in Massachusetts appointed Clayton Peterson’07 to the medical staff of Berkshire Medical Center and the physician staff of Berkshire Surgical Services of BMC. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window) 
• Read two guest essays that Daniela Lamas’08 wrote for the New York Times: an essay about hospitals in transition(link is external and opens in a new window) and an essay about decisions in the ICU(link is external and opens in a new window). 
• Taison Bell’09 was a keynote speaker at the University of Virginia’s Finals Weekend. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window) 
• Norrisa Haynes’13 has joined Yale’s section of cardiovascular medicine. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Lucy Bailey’15 is an ophthalmologist affiliated with Houston Eye Associates in Texas. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window) 
• Zachary L. Gitlin’15 has joined Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Kara Marshall’16 PhD has been named a McNair Scholar at Baylor University. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window) 
• Publishers Weekly has included Anna DeForest’17 among its list of Writers to Watch Fall 2022. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window) 

In Memoriam

• James Grant’49(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Elizabeth Crandall’50(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Muriel Kowlessar’51(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Barbara O’Connell’51(link is external and opens in a new window)
• William C. Walsh’51(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Gustave Prinsell’52(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Peter Scaglione’52(link is external and opens in a new window) 
• Leland Cowen’53(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Roscoe Vernon Stuber’53(link is external and opens in a new window)
• David Berman’55(link is external and opens in a new window)
• George Burnell’57(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Robert Bruce Wallace’57(link is external and opens in a new window) 
• Paul Harris’58(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Mortimer Civan’59(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Joost Oppenheim’60(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Heber Becker’61(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Peter Dans’61(link is external and opens in a new window)
• William Dantzler’61(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Arnold Bank’66(link is external and opens in a new window)
• John Davis’68(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Guillermo Sanchez’70 PhD/’76 MD(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Anne Flagler Collins’74(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Robert Lauer, PhD’74, MD’78(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Mary Ellen Skalina’76(link is external and opens in a new window)
• Craig Coonley’77(link is external and opens in a new window)

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Send your news to columbiamedicine@columbia.edu(link sends e-mail)

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.