2021

Linda P. Fried, MD, MPH, Dean of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, was named to PolitcsNY's "Power Players in Healthcare." PoliticsNY recognizes leaders in health who manage day-in and day-out work in the industry and envision a better health care future for all New Yorkers.
Ashwin Vasan, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Population and Family Health and Medicine, has been appointed the 44th Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH), effective March 2022. Vasan is an epidemiologist, a medical doctor, and a public health leader and advocate. He leads Fountain House, a national mental health nonprofit and has previously worked as the founding executive director of the Health Access Equity Unit of the NYC DOHMH. Read more.
The Lancet's Group for Racial Equality (GRacE) has appointed Samuel Kelton Roberts, Jr., PhD, associate professor of Sociomedical Sciences as a member of its International Advisory Board. The Board will play a pivotal role in guiding GRacE in its mission and helping us create a Lancet special issue on advancing racial and ethnic equity in science, medicine, and health. We have issued a call for papers explaining our intentions for this issue.
Quarraisha Abdool Karim, PhD, professor of Epidemiology, has retained her National Research Foundation A rating based on the quality and impact of her research outputs over the past eight years. The foundation defines an A-rated scientist as “a researcher recognized by all reviewers as a leading scholar in his/her field internationally for the high quality and wide impact (i.e., beyond a narrow field of specialization) of his/her recent research outputs.”
CAPRISA’s Director, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, PhD, MBBCH, and Sweden’s state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell, MD, MSc, were again the key participants in the annual 2021 Nobel Inspired Public Lecture, “The Meaning of Science in the Age of COVID-19, one year on,” which was hosted by the National Research Foundation in partnership with the Swedish Embassy in Pretoria, on 12th October. Last year, Drs. Abdool Karim and Tegnell delivered the 2020 Nobel Inspired Lecture, “The meaning of science in the age of COVID-19”. The lecture explored the meaning of science, its promise, ethos and method, the sociology of science, the interplay between the social context and scientific knowledge. In the 2021 lecture, Abdool Karim explored the growing clinical problems in long Covid-19 and raised alarm that medical doctors were complicit in anti-vaxx sentiments and in promoting unproven Covid-19 treatments.
Silvia Martins, MD, PhD, associate professor of Epidemiology and director of the Substance Use Epidemiology Unit, received the National Award of Excellence in Mentorship from the National Hispanic Science Network. Read more.
Rachel Shelton, ScD, MPH, was named co-director of the Irving Institute’s Community Engagement Core Resource. Shelton will work closely with the CECR leadership team to continue the integration of community-partnered research approaches across CECR services and activities. They will also continue to provide leadership in implementation science to ensure its integration in academic, clinical and community partnerships and settings. Read more.
Ashwin Vasan, ScM, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Population and Family Health and Medicine, has been named to City & State 2021 Power of Diversity: Asian 100 List. Vasan is a primary care physician, public servant and nonprofit leader. He was the founding executive director of the Health Access Equity Unit at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene before joining Fountain House as president and CEO in 2019. The nonprofit’s all-encompassing model to its housing program has garnered public praise and has been replicated in over 30 countries. Read more.
Silvia S. Martins, MD, PhD, associate professor of Epidemiology and director of the Substance Use Epidemiology Unit of the Department of Epidemiology, was selected as the 2021 recipient of the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science (IAPHS) Mentoring Award. Read more.
Norman Kleiman, PhD, Environmental Health Sciences, will receive a 5-year grant of $1,139,975 from the National Cancer Institute for “Multiplexed In-Solution Serological Test for SARS-COV-2, Human Coronaviruses and Other Respiratory Pathogens.”
Heather Krasna, Mailman School Assistant Dean, Career Services Named a Closing Plenary Speaker for the Public Health Improvement Training Conference Convened by the CDC. Read more.
Quarraisha Abdool Karim, PhD, professor of epidemiology, and associate scientific director of CAPRISA, has been appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Mr. Antonio Guterres to serve on the United Nations high-level 10-member group in support of the Technology Facilitation Mechanisms (TFM) to achieve the SDGs. She was invited to co-chair the UN 10-member group for a two-year period.
Kiros Berhane, PhD, Cynthia and Robert Citron-Roslyn and Leslie Goldstein Professor and Chair of Biostatistics, was named to a committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that will consider frameworks to assess causality of health and welfare effects of air pollutants in EPA’s Integrated Science Assessments (ISAs) conducted as part of EPA reviews of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Read more.
Goleen Samari, PhD, assistant professor in the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health , has been named a William T. Grant Scholar. One of five researchers selected for its newest class of early career scholars, Samari will explore how recent xenophobic federal and state immigration policies in the U.S. influence immigrant adolescent and young adult reproductive behaviors, access to reproductive healthcare, and, ultimately, birth outcomes.
Rachel Shelton, ScD, associate professor of Sociomedical Sciences, PI, and colleagues were awarded the 2020 Springer Award for Excellence in Publication in Behavioral Medicine for their paper “What Is Dissemination and Implementation Science?” The award recognizes excellence in publication and contribution to the field through publishing in IJBM, and will be presented at the Opening Ceremony of the International Society of Behavioral Medicine in June.
Salim Abdool Karim, PhD, professor of global health at the Mailman School and director of CAPRISA - Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa, has been appointed as a member of the World Health Organization’s Science Council. The Science Council, comprising 9 of the world’s leading health researchers and chaired by Nobel Laureate Dr. Harold Varmus, is being inaugurated on 27 April by WHO’s Director-General. The Council was established by the Dr. Tedros, WHO’s Director-General, as the ‘voice of scientific leadership and will directly advise WHO about high-priority scientific issues.'
Robert Fullilove, EdD, professor of Sociomedical Sciences and associate dean, Community and Minority Affairs, is being honored by JASA, the go-to agency serving older adults in New York City, providing critical services to over 40,000 people annually. Fullilove will receive a special award by JASA at their annual event to recognize and celebrate the dedication of JASA’s frontline workers. Fullilove is being honored for his work promoting COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among diverse communities of older adults, particularly in communities of color.
Linda P. Fried, MD, MPH, Dean of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, was awarded the George M. Kober Medal, its highest honor, by the Association of American Physicians (AAP), the elected society of the U.S.'s leading physician scientists, for her lifetime scientific and mentorship achievements. Fried served as president of the association in 2016-2017 and was the first dean of a School of Public Health to be president of AAP. Read more.
Quarraisha Abdool Karim, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology and Associate Scientific Director of CAPRISA, was awarded the 2020 prestigious Christophe Mérieux Prize, in the field of infectious diseases in developing countries. Karim received the award in recognition of her pioneering research work ‘resulting from the use of antiretroviral drugs to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV infection in women’ and was recognized as only ‘the sixth woman scientist to receive the biggest prize of the French Academy of Sciences’. Ambassador of France to South Africa, Aurélien Lechevallier, on behalf of the Fondation Christophe et Rodolphe Mérieux-Institut de France and the French Academy of Sciences, bestowed the certificate and medallion to Abdool Karim. Last year, Karim also received an honorary doctorate, Doctor of Science, from the University of Stellenbosch and was named one the most influential Africans in 2020 by the Paris-based publication, Jeune Afrique.
Max O'Donnell, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Florence Irving Associate Professor of Medicine and Department of Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, was selected as a 2021 finalist for the "Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Awardees" announced by The Clinical Research Foundation. The awardees will be recognized at a special event and at "Translational Science 2021" in late March. He received the award for "Epidemiology, Clinical Course, and Outcomes of Critically Ill Adults with COVID-19 in New York City: Translational Science for Pandemic Severe Respiratory Viral Infection." Read more.
Ashwin Vasan, ScM, MD, PhD, has been appointed to City & State New York's first advisory board to provide valuable insights that will help maintain and improve focus on diversity and inclusion. Read more.
Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, MPA, founder and global director of ICAP, was selected as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the organization dedicated to help achieve a better understanding of the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries. Read more.
Linda P. Fried, MD, MPH, Dean of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, was named to City & State New York's The 2021 Health Power List. Read more.
Morgan Philbin, PhD, assistant professor of sociomedical sciences, was selected a recipient of the 2021 ODP Early-Stage Investigator Lecture by NIH and the Office of Disease Prevention. She is recognized as an early-career prevention scientist who has made substantial research contributions to her respective field and is poised to become a leader in prevention research.