Summer 2024 E-News About and for Alumni
Student News
The White Coat Ceremony on Aug. 9 welcomed 139 members of the VP&S Class of 2028. Read more.
Read a recap of 2024 graduation here and a selection of stories about 2024 graduates here.
Student research was celebrated at an event in April. Read more.
More than 150 applicants accepted to VP&S visited campus in April to get a look at what they can expect if they enroll. Read more.
VP&S News
VP&S Dean Katrina Armstrong is now interim president of Columbia University, and Jim McKiernan’93 is now interim VP&S dean. Read more.
Diana and Roy Vagelos’54 have given $400 million to VP&S to support biomedical science research and education. Read more.
Ground was broken in May for a new research building. Read more.
Ali Gharavi was named chair of the Department of Medicine. Read more.
Herb Pardes, who served as dean of VP&S for 10 years in the 1990s, died in April. Read the dean’s announcement and the New York Times story(link is external and opens in a new window).
Read more news in the CUIMC Newsroom: https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news
Of Historic Interest
Virginia Apgar’33 died 50 years ago, but her legacy is still going strong. Read more.
A Selection of Class Notes
The COPD Foundation honored Gerard Turino’48 on his 100th birthday. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
Read a Miami newspaper story(link is external and opens in a new window) about brothers Lewis Elias’49 and Richard Elias’55.
Roy Vagelos’54 received an honorary degree in June from Dartmouth College. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
Karen Antman’74 has decided to step down as dean of Boston University’s medical school. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
Alan Benvenisty’78 received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mount Sinai Faculty Council. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
John Markowitz’82 is co-editor of a new section, “Focus on Psychotherapy,” in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
Frederick (Fritz) Ehlert’86 has been named associate dean for admissions at VP&S. Read more.
Terri Laufer’87 has been appointed to the scientific advisory board of Caribou Biosciences. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
The contract research organization Rho has appointed Andrew Feigin’88 as chief medical officer. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
EyePoint Pharmaceuticals appointed Allen Ho’88 to its scientific advisory board. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
Eric Lazar’89 directs a new general surgery residency program at Valley Health System in New Jersey. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
Todd Wider’90 has been appointed to the board of directors of Genenta Science. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
Donald M. Lloyd-Jones’91 has been named director of the Framingham Center for Population and Prevention Science, principal investigator of the Framingham Heart Study, and chief of preventive medicine at Boston University’s medical school. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
Read about the work being done by James McKiernan’93 to transform the clinical mission of VP&S.
Read an interview(link is external and opens in a new window) students at the University of Virginia conducted with Laura Boylan’94 as part of a course titled “Hidden Figures: Brain Science through Diversity.”
Navarra Rodriguez’97 was profiled as part of the Long Island Business News list of influencers in health care. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
Marc Melcher’99 has been appointed chief of abdominal transplantation at Stanford Medicine. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
Tiffany Svahn’00 is the Susan Desmond-Hellmann Medical Director of Oncology at John Muir Health. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
Lauren H. Chung’01 PhD has been appointed to the board of directors of Genenta Science. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
Szilárd Kiss’02 has been appointed to the Board of Directors of Adverum Biotechnologies. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
Michelle Au’03 delivered the commencement address at Wellesley College in May. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
John Pepen’09 joined the Commonwealth Health Physician Network’s surgical team in Pennsylvania. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
Chris Lawton’12 was ordained as a Paulist priest in May. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
Derek Smith’13 has joined Flagstaff Bone & Joint. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
Simon Sung’13 has joined Fox Chase Cancer Center. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
Natalia Biles’18 has joined a dermatology practice owned and operated by women in Maryland. Read more.(link is external and opens in a new window)
In Memoriam
David Benninghoff’52(link is external and opens in a new window)
A. Stephen Passloff’54(link is external and opens in a new window)
Louis Scian’56(link is external and opens in a new window)
William H. Salot’60(link is external and opens in a new window)
Allen J. Dennis’61(link is external and opens in a new window)
Spencer E. Sherman’62(link is external and opens in a new window)
Brent Lambert’65(link is external and opens in a new window)
John McDowell Wolff’66(link is external and opens in a new window)
Gordon Page Guthrie Jr.’70(link is external and opens in a new window)
Anthony Whittemore’70(link is external and opens in a new window)
Susan Spear’72(link is external and opens in a new window)
Sharon Grundfest-Broniatowski’73(link is external and opens in a new window)
Harlan Kutscher’75(link is external and opens in a new window)
Richard Hotes’80(link is external and opens in a new window)
R. Alexander Blackwood’82 PhD/’83 MD(link is external and opens in a new window)
Kenneth Powers’88(link is external and opens in a new window)
Eric Collins’90(link is external and opens in a new window)
Sean Elliott’93(link is external and opens in a new window)
Send your news to columbiamedicine@columbia.edu(link sends e-mail)
Note: External links are current at the time of this posting. The Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons is not responsible for the content of external websites.