Medicine COVID-19 and RACISM
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Columbia 2019–2020 ANNUAL REPORT Medicine Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons FIGHTING TWO VIRUSES: COVID-19 AND RACISM Features: 4 12 20 At a Crossroads: All Hands on Deck The Bioethics of Medicine and Genomics and Justice the Movement Pivot was the action verb that describes how VP&S clinicians, A new ethics division is Work toward health equality researchers, and students expanding VP&S scholarship has begun at VP&S and all confronted COVID-19 when the into the ethical, legal, and of academic medicine as early virus arrived in New York City. social implications of precision summer protests revealed From redeploying clinicians to medicine. The 360-degree the health disparities in areas outside their specialty to perspective includes “studying medicine in general and graduating fourth-year students the studies” as researchers especially in COVID-19 cases. early, VP&S helped “bend the continue to unleash the Students and faculty share curve” at the epicenter of the power to treat, prevent, and their own perspectives on nation’s pandemic. cure disease. The effort also the intersection of COVID-19 provides an opportunity to and Black Lives Matter. bring social science to bear on bioethical questions. On the Cover Steven McDonald, MD, a 2014 VP&S graduate, is one of five faculty members and medical students who share their perspectives on the Black Lives Matter movement. Read about the five and the VP&S plans to promote racial justice, Page 4. Photograph by Jörg Meyer ColumbiaMedicine | 2019–2020 Annual Report Issue Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons Departments: 2 Dean’s Message 24 Philanthropy News 28 2020 Year in Highlights · Research highlights · Patient care highlights · Education highlights · Community highlights · COVID-19 research highlights 54 About VP&S · Trustees Committee on the Health Sciences · CUIMC Administration · CUIMC Board of Advisors · CUIMC Advisory Group Chairs · VP&S Administration · Executive Committee of the Faculty Council · VP&S Department Chairs · Institutes, Centers, and VP&S Schoolwide Initiatives and Their Directors · Affiliated Hospitals · Facts and Statistics 29 2019–2020 VP&S Annual Report Office of the Interim Executive Vice President and Editor: Bonita Eaton Enochs Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine Columbia University Irving Medical Center Principal Writer: Sharon Tregaskis 630 W. 168th St. Contributing Writers: Barbara Brody, Kristin Bundy, New York, NY 10032 Julia Hickey, Brittany King, and Christine Yu Communications Office Art Director: Eson Chan Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons Produced by the Communications 701 W. 168th St., Box 153 Office at Columbia University New York, NY 10032 Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons Phone: 212-305-3900 Christopher DiFrancesco, Fax: 212-305-4521 Chief Communications Officer Office of Development Printed in November 2020 Columbia University Irving Medical Center 630 W. 168th St., P&S 2-421 New York, NY 10032 http://ps.columbia.edu/ Phone: 212-342-0088 • DEAN’S MESSAGE A YEAR LIKE NO OTHER s people all over the country watched, New We paused most research during the height of the York City became the epicenter of the U.S. pandemic—with the exception of COVID-19 research, ACOVID-19 pandemic and all eyes were on our research that could be performed remotely, and clinical faculty, students, and staff, as well as our colleagues at research that could directly benefit the patients being our partner, NewYork-Presbyterian. Our commitment studied—but an impressive amount of research had been to simultaneously treat patients, test best practices for published before the first COVID-19 patient appeared. helping those patients, and research the science of the Highlights of research projects, clinical advances, edu- virus was on view even beyond our national borders cational milestones, and community engagement fill and illustrated the strength of our great school’s part- several pages of this report, and a special section of nership with an equally great hospital. highlights is devoted to COVID-19 research. A pandemic alone would have been enough to define Several research highlights show the power of cryo- BARBARA ALPER BARBARA the 2020 fiscal year described in this annual report, electron microscopy (cryo-EM), a scientific advance which covers the year that began July 1, 2019, and ended for which Joachim Frank, PhD, shared the Nobel Prize June 30, 2020. But as we started to feel some relief from in Chemistry in 2017. The research made good use of fighting the virus, Black Lives Matter protests reminded the new Cryo-electron Microscopy Center that opened us of the health disparities revealed by COVID-19 and in the lower level of the Hammer Health Sciences Cen- other persistent structural racism in academic medicine ter. The center trains researchers and provides access and throughout society, unfortunately. to the advanced instrumentation, data collection These two history-changing phenomena converged capacity, and processing support required to incorpo- just as the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons rate cryo-EM into their studies at the medical center, at (VP&S) and the greater Columbia University Irving Columbia’s Zuckerman Institute, and at the New York Medical Center were transitioning to new leadership. Structural Biology Center campuses. As Lee Goldman, MD, prepared to step down as chief Although the final figures from the NIH are not yet executive of the medical center and dean of VP&S at available for the 2020 federal fiscal year, early indica- the end of Fiscal 2020, I was appointed by President tions show government support of our research remains Lee Bollinger as interim EVP and dean. Dr. Goldman strong, with VP&S receiving a substantial increase in was a good teacher during the transition and continues NIH funding this year. If the early figures are confirmed, to advise me on important matters. The last months of his tenure were unlike any other four-month period of The Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center at Columbia, his 14 years as dean, but he was generous with his time led by David Ho, is one of the teams trying to identify potential antiviral drugs and antibodies for use against the in preparing me for the transition. new coronavirus. Pictured is Kenia De Los Santos, a senior Inside this annual report, you can read about the technician in Dr. Ho’s lab. impact of the pandemic on research, patient care, and education and the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement on five members of our community as illus- trative. A taskforce was commissioned by me with multiple working groups across the medical center in O’ROURKEJENNIFER July 2020, and a full report should be available for the Fall/Winter 2020 issue of Columbia Medicine. I will welcome your feedback on the steps we will take to strengthen our commitment to an inclusive work- place, our pledge to eliminate health disparities, and our efforts to educate and train a generation of health care professionals who will make equality a hallmark of health care for all. 2 Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons JENNIFER O’ROURKE we will move in NIH funding rankings from #9 in 2019 Preparing the next generation of physicians and to #5 in 2020. Another measure of our research excel- scientists will always be at the core of our mission, The Department of Emergency Medicine lence is Nature Index, an annual calculation of research and this year’s accomplishments in education were not has been on the front citations. In the 2019 index, Columbia University Irving dimmed by the changes put in place to respond to the lines of the pandemic Medical Center was No. 1 in the health care sector. We pandemic. Even though the way we taught students since the first patients were admitted in have ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 over the past five shifted, it was a momentary course change and we March. Wearing full years. Among medical schools ranked by the U.S. News hope to have all students back on campus next year, personal protective equipment are two & World Report, VP&S tied for sixth place this year, recognizing that many CUIMC students are on cam- emergency medicine our highest ranking in recent years. pus already. In addition to adjusting to online learning faculty: Angela Mills, As research advanced at VP&S during the year, so early in the pandemic, students stepped up to support department chair, and Penelope Lema. too did patient care. Most notable is the growth of our missions in new ways, whether collecting data for primary care. The recruitment of David Buchholz, research teams, taking on service-learning projects to MD, as senior founding medical director for primary support front-line workers, performing music to pro- care at ColumbiaDoctors and NewYork-Presbyterian vide respite for colleagues, or bringing together stu- has expanded our strategy to provide patients greater dents from around the world to collaborate virtually. access to primary care services across the New York I want to emphasize our deep partnership with metropolitan area. Plans are moving forward on new NewYork-Presbyterian in multiple domains related to primary care practice sites on the Upper West Side, clinical care, graduate medical education, and commu- in Midtown, and in Westchester. The Washington nity programs under the leadership of Dr. Steve Cor- Heights and Morningside campuses have primary care win, president and CEO. practices, part of the strategy to add 50 to 70 primary Every year we publish an annual report to document care doctors in the next five years in partnership with measurements of growth, and VP&S during the 2020 NewYork-Presbyterian. fiscal year showed growth, adaptation, and resiliency Confident that in-person outpatient care will always in abundance. While the year will best be remembered be an option—and for some patient care a necessity— for what changed us, it must also motivate the growth we are nonetheless heartened to see how quickly our that will strengthen us in the years ahead.