Program Leadership
Steven L. Reiner, MD
- Director, MD-PhD Program
Steven L. Reiner, MD (Duke) is the Charles H. Revson Professor of Microbiology & Immunology and Pediatrics, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He completed an internal medicine residency at Cornell, followed by a fellowship in infectious disease and postdoctoral research in immunology from the University of San Francisco. The Reiner lab uses lymphocytes as a model system and has provided evidence that asymmetric cell division may be a way for many mobile, non-polarized cells to generate cell fate diversity among their progenies. Dr. Reiner came to Columbia in 2012 and joined the MD-PhD program in 2014 as Program Director. He is a physician scientist who has spent over 20 years in education and training of future physician scientists. He was a leader in the Immunology Graduate Program at University of Pennsylvania for 8 years and was very involved in the recruitment, mentoring, and advising of Penn's MSTP trainees for over 12 years. He is dedicated to improving the pipeline of future physician scientists who will become the thought leaders of biomedical investigation, scientific and medical practice and policy, and academic medical administration.
Ronald Liem, PhD
- Associate Director, MD-PhD Program
Ronald Liem, PhD (Cornell University). Dr. Liem is Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology and Director of the Integrated Program in Cellular, Molecular and Biophysical Studies (the PhD program with the highest number of MSTP students), and the Pathology Graduate Program. Dr. Liem was formerly Associate Director of the MSTP at NYU. He serves as the principal liaison between the MSTP and the students in graduate school as well as a key advisor to the students in all years.
Patrice Spitalnik, MD
- Associate Director, MD-PhD Program
Patrice Spitalnik, MD (University of Chicago) has been with the MSTP since 2003 when she was hired in response to the need for more "dedicated" administration of the program. She has responsibility for the day-to-day administration of the program, scheduling of students, development and teaching of medical and research ethics, student support throughout the educational period. Dr. Spitalnik is an Associate Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology. She has been honored for her teaching of basic sciences at both Penn and Rochester. She has been nominated for "Teacher of the Year" a number of times at P&S and received an award for "Outstanding Teaching" from the second-year medical school class. Except for her teaching time, she devotes full time to the MSTP. Her office is in the MSTP office suite.
