Fall 2024 Alumni News

By Julia Hickey González, alumni writer, and Bonita Eaton Enochs, editor

1948

Gerard Turino, the John H. Keating Senior Professor Emeritus of Medicine at VP&S, celebrated his 100th birthday on May 16. New York City Mayor Eric Adams issued a proclamation announcing May 16, 2024, as “Gerard M. Turino, M.D. Day” to recognize him as “truly a catalyst for scientific discovery” who “has repeatedly gone above and beyond in his service to mankind,” according to a press release by the COPD Foundation, which Dr. Turino co-founded. He is also the founder and director of the James P. Mara Center for Lung Disease at Mount Sinai West, which has supported research that led to the development of a biomarker for COPD and a potential therapy, currently awaiting further clinical trials. He helped found the American Thoracic Society Foundation’s Board of Directors and was an early member of the Board of Directors of the Alpha-1 Foundation. Dr. Turino’s research interests include lung matrix remodeling, the mechanisms of lung matrix injury, and the evaluation of specific protease inhibitors in treating certain lung diseases.

1954

Roy Vagelos was one of nine individuals who received honorary degrees at Dartmouth’s commencement ceremony in June. He received an honorary degree of doctor of humane letters. Said his citation: “ROY VAGELOS — as a business executive, physician, scientist, and philanthropist, you have made an indelible impact that will last for generations to come.”

1970

At this year’s alumni reunion, Henry Kronenberg received a gold medal for outstanding achievements in medical research. Dr. Kronenberg is chief of the endocrine unit at the Massachusetts General Hospital and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He leads a research group that studies the actions of parathyroid hormone and parathyroid hormone-related protein, particularly emphasizing bone development, bone biology, calcium homeostasis, and the roles of osteoblast-lineage cells in hematopoiesis.

Roman Nowygrod, professor of surgery at VP&S, received the Charles W. Bohmfalk Award for distinguished teaching in the clinical years. The award was presented at this year’s VP&S graduation ceremony.

1972

Correction: In the Spring/Summer 2024 issue of Columbia Medicine, Ken Tomecki was listed as a 1973 graduate. His classmate, Jules Dienstag, pointed out the error, adding “We stick together as a class and would not want any other class to take credit for our stars.”

1973

See Alumni in Print to read about a book of essays by Edward Tabor. Dr. Tabor worked in medical research and administration at the NIH, FDA, and Fresenius Kabi and is now retired.

1974

Karen Antman has announced plans to step down as dean of Boston University’s Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and provost of the BU medical campus after nearly 20 years. She will return to the BU faculty as a professor of medicine when her successor is named.

At this year’s alumni reunion, William Theodore received a gold medal for outstanding achievements in clinical medicine. He also gave a talk, “The Imaging Revolution in Epilepsy,” at the in-person symposium. Dr. Theodore is board-certified in internal medicine, neurology, and epilepsy. He is a professor of neurology at the F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and a senior investigator in the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke’s Division of Intramural Research. He investigates new therapeutic approaches to uncontrolled epilepsy and uses neuroimaging techniques to study cerebral metabolism, neuropharmacology, and functional cognitive anatomy. He is vice president and president-elect of the American Epilepsy Society.

1975

At this year’s alumni reunion, Steven Gambert received a gold medal for outstanding achievements in clinical medicine. After training in internal medicine and endocrinology, he devoted almost five decades to the field of geriatric medicine and advocated for improved training for medical students and residents in the care of older adults. In Westchester, New York, he started a Center on Aging with research, education, and clinical activities. He later developed a 400-bed “teaching nursing home” to educate students, residents, fellows, and practicing physicians. Dr. Gambert is a tenured professor of medicine and surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and director of geriatric medicine at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center.

1977

At this year’s alumni reunion, Marc Grodman received a gold medal for meritorious service to VP&S and its Alumni Association. Dr. Grodman supports student clubs and mentoring programs at VP&S and particularly the student-run clinics. He is also a class chair and an active member of the VP&S Board of Advisors, which supports the dean’s priorities and enhances student life.

1978

Alan Benvenisty received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mount Sinai Faculty Council in recognition of his contributions to the field of vascular surgery. Dr. Benvenisty is site chief of surgery at Mount Sinai Morningside and senior transplant surgery attending at the Mount Sinai Health System. He specializes in vascular surgery and endovascular surgery and is a registered vascular technologist.

Robert Kertzner, associate clinical professor of psychiatry in the VP&S Department of Psychiatry’s gender, sexuality, and health area, received the 2024 John E. Fryer Award from the American Psychiatric Association in recognition of his improving the mental health of sexual minorities. The award is named for John Fryer, a psychiatrist who played a crucial role in prompting APA to review the scientific data and to remove homosexuality from its diagnostic list of mental disorders in 1973.

1981

At this year’s alumni reunion, Karin Muraszko received the Virginia Kneeland Frantz’22 Award for Distinguished Women in Medicine. She was the first woman admitted to the neurosurgery residency at the New York Neurological Institute, followed by training there in pediatric neurosurgery. She worked for two years at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. One of the world’s leading surgeons for tethered spinal cords and pediatric brain tumors, she became the first woman in the United States to chair an academic neurosurgery department; she held that role at the University of Michigan from 2005 to 2022. She was elected in 2020 to the National Academy of Medicine.

1986

At this year’s alumni reunion, Christopher Cannon received a gold medal award for outstanding achievements in medical research. Dr. Cannon is professor of medicine at Harvard and senior physician in the cardiovascular division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He worked for 25 years as an investigator in the TIMI Study Group and is now a member of Brigham’s cardiovascular innovation group, serving as director of education. He has been principal investigator of more than 20 multicenter clinical trials, including TACTICS-TIMI 18, PROVE IT, IMPROVE IT, RE-DUAL PCI, and, currently EVOLVE-MI. He works on clinical trials, registries, and quality improvement projects in the fields of acute coronary syndromes, atrial fibrillation, diabetes, lipids, and prevention.

1991

Shari Hall, who retired from clinical practice as an anesthesiologist in 2017, is senior lecturer of medical education at the Griffith University School of Medicine and Dentistry on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. She also has become the co-owner, publisher, and managing editor of Matters Magazine, a business publication that is distributed in print throughout Queensland and also available online. In the years since retirement from clinical practice, she has released four self-produced music albums and performed in the Australia and New Zealand regional tour of “Menopause the Musical.” She is married, has three daughters, and loves living in Australia’s Sunshine Coast.

1999

At this year’s alumni reunion, Heidi Hopkins gave a talk, “What causes febrile illness in Africa and Asia?” at the in-person symposium. She is associate professor of malaria and diagnostics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Marc Melcher has been appointed chief of the Division of Abdominal Transplantation at Stanford Medicine, where he is professor of surgery and director of the abdominal transplant fellowship. He also has a PhD in molecular biology from UC Berkeley. He completed his residency at Stanford University and a fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. He is married to classmate Tami Daugherty, a transplant hepatologist at Stanford.

2000

Jennifer Ashton has launched a company, Ajenda, that focuses on menopause and weight management/nutrition. She offers a weekly newsletter that provides information about hormones and health, menopause and metabolism, weight management, and other physical, mental, and emotional concerns. The newsletter also provides symptom solutions and expert advice on issues affecting women starting 10 years before menopause happens. She also will answer questions from readers. “Leveraging my skills as a communicator of medical information and my double board-certification in OB/GYN and obesity medicine with a master’s in nutrition, I felt a responsibility to help the millions of women struggling with these issues,” Dr. Ashton says. The Ajenda website, www.joinajenda. com, offers free subscriptions to her newsletter. “As with so many topics that affect women, there is a powerful judgmental component surrounding both menopause and weight. And I’ve become increasingly frustrated when people who are not credentialed experts use their platforms and opinions to essentially shame women into feeling ‘less than,’ or like victims, or out of the loop. I trust that women are smart enough to make the right decisions for their own health, as long as they are accurately informed and properly advised. And that’s why I created AJENDA.”

2003

Michelle Au gave the commencement speech at Wellesley College in May. She is a 1999 Wellesley graduate. Dr. Au, a member of the Georgia House of Representatives, physician, author, and strong gun safety advocate, urged Wellesley’s Class of 2024 to try to find common ground with people from differing viewpoints. She shared lessons she has learned from working across the aisle as a Democrat in the Georgia House of Representatives, where she is a member of the minority political party. Dr. Au wrote the first substantive gun safety legislation to be heard in a Georgia House subcommittee in more than six years, framing the issue of gun violence as a health epidemic in what she called the Pediatric Health Safe Storage Act. Dr. Au said she gave the bill that name “because I wanted to make clear that secure gun storage was not a political issue, but a public health issue, and an issue of protecting kids. Even when we disagree,” she told the graduates, “there are common goals we can identify. And when we allow ourselves to eschew absolutism, and interrogate our assumptions, we can move forward, and do good work together.”

At this year’s alumni reunion, Brian Benson gave a talk, “Artificial Intelligence in Otolaryngology,” at the in person symposium. Dr. Benson is the founding chair of the Department of Otolaryngology/ Head & Neck Surgery at Hackensack Meridian Health School of Medicine.

2007

Jess E. Jones is head of health and healthcare industry for the World Economic Forum. In addition to receiving his MD degree, he received an MBA from Columbia Business School. Before joining the World Economic Forum, Dr. Jones was a business strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company and director of health care investments for an investment fund. He also sat on multiple boards of biotech companies.

2014

Anne West Honart and Jennifer Perri met with two Columbia medical students during their Duke Medical Center rotating sub-internships in cardiac surgery in July 2023. Dr. Perri was a Duke aortic surgery fellow at the time and helped ensure Megan Chung’24 had a good experience on the aortic service, while Alice Vinogradsky’24 was on the pediatric heart surgery service. Dr. Honart is an assistant professor of OB/GYN at Duke. The four convened for dinner on “Burger Night” at Dr. Perri’s invitation. “I was the only one who knew all four,” writes Dr. Perri, “but everyone quickly bonded over their shared medical school experience.”