Program Mentors

Aaron Landon is the Director of Operations at ColumbiaDoctors, the faculty practice organization for Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC). Aaron joined CUIMC in 2009 as practice supervisor of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery. He spent six years in the Department and gained a progressive level of responsibility as he developed competencies in practice management. In 2013, Aaron assumed responsibility for the oversight and improvement functions of all outpatient practice locations, where he coordinated process analysis and improvement projects with inter- and intra-departmental teams, and partnered with providers and divisions to target areas of improved efficiency, effectiveness and strategic growth. Aaron joined ColumbiaDoctors in 2015 as Operations Manager and started his new and current role as Director of Operations in 2018. The focus of Aaron’s current role is space and facilities planning, space utilization planning and analysis, new technology project and technological implementation for the nearly 1,800 provider faculty practice.

Aaron received both his B.S in Health Administration and Business and his Master's in Health Administration from The University of Scranton. Upon completion of his MHA, Aaron served as an Administrative Resident at The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, then at Laurel Regional Hospital in Laurel, Maryland. During the residency, Aaron’s key project was to lead an Emergency Department Operational Transformation Team in identifying strategies to improve patient flow and created a learning culture dedicated to identifying & initiating change. An equally important component of the administrative residency was collaborating with his preceptor and the senior leadership team to target specific areas for experiential learning, an experience that continues to influence the way he works with the FPO Operations Administrative Fellows. Following his administrative residencies and prior to starting at CUIMC, Aaron coached soccer full-time as the assistant coach for the Boys Varsity program at The Shipley School and as an academy trainer with YSC Academy/Philadelphia Union Juniors.

Outside of work, Aaron enjoys spending time with his family, projects around the home, spending time outdoors, and playing and watching soccer. Aaron resides in Bergen County, NJ with his wife and daughter.

Emer Smyth serves as the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center’s (HICCC) Associate Director for Administration, working closely with Dr. Rustgi as Director and the HICCC leadership team. Over the course of her 20-year research career, which included 12 years as an NIH-funded principal investigator and faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania, Emer made important contributions in two major areas of human disease-cardiovascular disease and cancer. In addition to extensive service and education, Emer has directly mentored two PhD students, a master’s student, and four postdoctoral fellows and chaired or served on the thesis committee for five PhD students. In 2014, she took a leave of absence to shift her focus to scientific review and oversight and administration of cancer research grant programs. She joined the American Association for Cancer Research where she led a team of Professionals dedicated to management of the Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) funding initiative, a transformative cancer research program of excellence. Emer’s team managed the SU2C research portfolio from development of new funding opportunities through grant launch, peer review, grantee selection, and progress review and oversight. She recently returned to academia joining the faculty in Columbia University’s Department of Pathology and Cell Biology. As a Director of Cancer Research Alliances in the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Emer manages and directs the operations that establish, enable, and support cancer research at Columbia by supporting development of large-scale funding programs in cancer research.