Upcoming Events

Join us for a workshop that explores the complexities of online data protection and access with a focus for those who are active online community-builders. In this workshop we will: Discuss the TikTok ban and privacy-related technologies, such as VPNs Interrogate what role data-hosting policies play in decisions of security  Introduce data protection regulations such as GDPR and CCPA, explain how they are used to protect user privacy, and highlight where they fall short Emphasize the need for situational awareness on different platforms including Signal and Telegram, and how encrypted chat messaging services do and don’t protect your private information If you'd like to ask the instructors a privacy-related question before the workshop, you can do so anonymously here.

SPRING 2025 SEMINARS OF THE ROBERT N. BUTLER COLUMBIA AGING CENTER | Assets of Aging: A Series on the Capabilities that Accrue with Longer Lives Join us for the Columbia Aging Center's ONLINE seminar--the next in a series that focuses on the assets of aging and the capabilities that accrue with longer lives. Please register to attend via Zoom on April 9, 2025. Details and registration link below.   WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2025, 12:00PM-1:00PM ET Structural social capital and healthy aging Ichiro Kawachi, MBChB, PhD John L. Loeb & Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Social Epidemiology  Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Virtual Seminar Location: Zoom Register to attend via Zoom at: https://columbiacuimc.zoom.us/meeting/register/J7AyNHdaRQCVtxNRHnDw5w   Abstract: Social connections promote the process of healthy aging through the exchange of tangible support and by encouraging people to remain active as they age via informal socializing, volunteering and participation in organizations. Collectively, we refer to the resources derived from social connections as “social capital”.   Social capital is linked to the prevention of functional disability as well as cognitive decline. In 2024, the U.S. Surgeon General called for the development of a national strategy to advance social connection. My talk focuses on two questions prompted by the Surgeon General’s call: (1) how can interventions enhance structural social capital to promote healthy aging? and (2) how do we ensure equity in access to social capital? With regard to strengthening social capital, I distinguish between two types of intervention strategies. In the first type, the manipulation consists of activities that directly build or strengthen social capital. An example is community service programs, such as the Experience Corps. Other interventions in this category include CBPR projects involving community health workers, the provision of social spaces (community centers, Men’s Shed, community gardens), social prescribing and related interventions that mobilize the health workforce to connect individuals to community resources. In the second category of interventions, social capital acts as an intervening factor to channel the effects of an intervention to improve outcomes. That is, the strengthening of social capital is not the target of the intervention per se, but it is a by-product or collateral benefit. Examples of these types of interventions include place-based interventions (participatory neighborhood development planning), neighborhood regeneration, and social infrastructure interventions in the built environment (e.g., parks, playgrounds, libraries). Policies also need to address existing inequities in access to social capital by socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, racially minoritized groups and people living with disabilities.   

Optimize your writing process with our Self-Editing Workshop! Whether you are working on a thesis, capstone, dissertation, or other manuscript, it is important that you have a process to edit your work. In this workshop, we will explore ways to optimize your editing process by practicing transferable editing skills that will not only help you with your project, but also make you a desirable member of any research team aiming to publish. By the end of the workshop, you will be able to: Describe different self-editing techniques Evaluate your own writing style for common areas of improvement Click here to learn more and register!

Alison Taylor, PhD Assistant Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology Department of Pathology & Cell Biology Program: Precision Oncology and Systems Biology (POSB) Brian Henick, MD Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Columbia University Medical Center      Department of Medicine, Hematology & Oncology Program: Tumor Biology and Microenvironment (TBM)   Title: Aneuploidy as a Biomarker of Therapeutic Response Description: In developing new biomarkers and targets for cancer therapies, the focus is often on mutations. However, large copy number changes such as aneuploidy occur more frequently across solid tumors. Dr. Taylor will discuss methods to model aneuploidy computationally and experimentally, and how we have used these methods to identify therapeutic targets in squamous cell carcinomas. Dr. Henick will discuss the use of aneuploidy and copy number as a histology-specific biomarker of patient outcomes in non-small cell lung cancer.   Zoom Meeting https://columbiacuimc.zoom.us/j/97847371419?pwd=hNTcbh48XWXbHY2BMFflr6wLYQonOo.1  Meeting ID: 978 4737 1419 Passcode: seminar