Winter 2023 Alumni News
By Julia Hickey González and Bonita Eaton Enochs
1961
See Alumni in Print to read about a book written by John Curran. After medical school, John completed a medical surgical internship at St. Luke’s Hospital and a psychiatric residency at the New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York City. He is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. His book is based on 50 years of experience providing consulting services at state and private mental hospitals, county and private mental health centers, nursing homes, and residential treatment centers for adolescent sexual offenders and adult alcoholics. John, who lives in Minneapolis, writes that he is now “finally, happily, and fully retired,” which gave him time to finish his book. “Otherwise I’m hanging out with my children, step-children, & and their grandchildren, fussing over my tomatoes, and catching up on my reading. And I now have the chance to study painting, especially the work of Edward Hopper, one of my favorites. His work both subtracts and adds, hypnotizing and ironic. Life would be so dull without irony.”
1962
Norbert Hirschhorn received this year’s Michael Pupin Medal for Service to the Nation In Engineering, Science, or Technology beyond the candidate’s professional field. The medal was presented by the Columbia Engineering Alumni Association. The medal recognized Norbert for his life-saving development of oral rehydration therapy, which has saved an estimated 50 million lives worldwide. He co-founded John Snow Inc., a firm working in public health with government and non-government agencies in the United States and abroad. He has published a number of articles and books and advocated for free and open access of published scientific work.
1973
Katherine A. Hawkins received a St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Distinguished Alumni Award for 2023 at a dinner held at the New York Academy of Medicine. Katherine, who also has a law degree, is associate professor of medicine, hematology, and medical oncology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. After an internship at Columbia, she completed a residency in internal medicine at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center and a fellowship in hematology at NYU.
1979 PhD
Adele J. Wolfson has been chosen to receive the Sustained Leadership Award from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The award, which will be presented at next year’s annual ASBMB meeting, recognizes individuals who have a strong commitment to advancing the careers of women in biochemistry and molecular biology and have demonstrated excellence in research and/or service.
1982
The Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City honored Frank P. Cammisa Jr. with a Lifetime Achievement Award during the hospital’s annual tribute dinner in June. Frank is chief emeritus of the Hospital for Special Surgery’s spine service and professor of clinical orthopedic surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine. The award honors an individual who has made significant standing contributions to the advancement of musculoskeletal medicine. Frank is founder of SpineCare of NY and specializes in the surgical treatment of spinal disorders. His areas of expertise include spinal reconstructive surgery, minimally invasive surgery, athletic spinal injuries, and motion preservation techniques. He also engages in research to advance the innovative treatment of complex spine conditions.
Risa Gold, a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist with a private practice on Long Island, has started a non-profit called Miracle of Help to provide free maternal and general health care in a remote rural region of eastern Sierra Leone in West Africa. Miracle of Help won the 2023 Impact Company of the Year Award from DotCom Magazine. In partnership with the Sierra Leone government, Risa writes, the non-profit has renovated an existing maternal child health post, run monthly pop-up clinics with all Sierra Leone medical staff, started two malnutrition programs to respond to the 80% malnutrition among the children there, and started a surgical program. The non-profit has raised funds for 12 scholarships for Sierra Leone doctors, nurses, midwives, and lab techs to staff the new maternity hospital the group is raising funds to construct. Other assistance includes teaching organic agriculture, forming a co-op of 500 cocoa farmers, and teaching skills to indigent mothers of malnourished children. Future goals include a psychiatry clinic to treat PTSD caused by war and Ebola and an HIV/AIDS education and outreach program to combat stigma and provide treatment. To help or offer expertise, contact Risa through miracleofhelp.org
1983
Lee Jones has been elected chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges Board of Directors for 2023-24. Lee is dean for medical education and professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine.
1984
See Alumni in Print to read about a book by Beatriz Olson. Betty, who is board-certified in endocrinology, metabolism & diabetes, and internal medicine, has led an integrative medicine practice in Connecticut for 15 years and has three decades of experience and expertise caring for patients by combining evidence-based science, mind-body-spirit aligning techniques, and integrative and functional medicine. She has certifications in age management medicine and feminine power transformational leadership. She completed a residency in internal medicine and a research-clinical fellowship in endocrinology at the University of Pittsburgh, then served as a clinician-scientist at the NIH before joining the faculty at Yale University’s medical school. She has published numerous first-author publications in basic science and clinical peer-reviewed journals and has contributed chapters to several textbooks. Betty lives in Connecticut with her husband, medical school classmate Eric J. Olson.
1988
Robert Gaiser has been named to the board of directors of the American Board of Medical Specialties, which oversees certification of physicians and medical specialists in the United States. Bob is president of the American Board of Anesthesiology and professor of anesthesiology at Yale medical school. He is also anesthesiology residency program director at Yale.
See Alumni in Print to read about a book co-edited by Rajveer Purohit. Rajveer is professor of urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is also director of reconstructive urology at Mount Sinai Hospital.
1991
Read Alumni in Print about a book by Eric D. Fethke, a pediatric cardiologist who, since completing his medical training at Columbia, has been practicing and teaching in academia and on the front lines of community medicine in New York’s Greater Hudson Valley for 25 years. In his book he expresses his concerns about the significant changes in U.S. health care over this timeframe. Because he believes that “health care belongs to everyone,” through his book, podcast, and daily work, he strives to point all of us toward a more constructive horizon.
2002
Clara Keegan received the Graduate Medical Education Educator of the Year Award from the University of Vermont Health Network. Clara is associate professor of family medicine at the University of Vermont and core faculty for the school’s family medicine residency.
2003
James Wolak has been named vice president of medical affairs, intensive services for Maine Behavioral Healthcare. James is a board-certified psychiatrist who previously served as the medical director of hospital psychiatry and director of psychiatric emergency services at Maine Medical Center. In his new role, he will lead a team to oversee the delivery of intensive behavioral health services and oversee all aspects of clinical operations, including quality assurance and safety standards. He is also assistant professor of psychiatry at Tufts University.
2007
Judith Joseph was honored in Washington, D.C., in June during Caribbean American Heritage Month with a U.S. House of Representatives proclamation recognizing her research and advocacy in the Caribbean-American community and her social media reach. She was nominated by Florida Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who presented the award to Judith. Remarks about her work were read on the House floor and will be part of the Congressional Record. Judith, a board-certified psychiatrist, is PI at Manhattan Behavioral Medicine and clinical assistant professor in NYU Langone Medical Center’s Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She also has an MBA from Columbia. She chairs the VP&S Alumni Women in Medicine Collaborative.
2007 PhD
Philip R.O. Payne was named an inaugural Janet and Bernard Becker Professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Philip, professor of general medical sciences and of computer science and engineering at Washington University, oversees the university’s Institute for Informatics, Data Science and Biostatistics and the Bernard Becker Medical Library. He also is associate dean for health information and data science and chief data scientist at the School of Medicine.
2008
See Alumni in Print to read about a book to which Andrew T. Turk contributed. Andrew is associate professor of pathology & cell biology at VP&S.
2009
See Alumni in Print to read about a book co-edited by Marc Manseau. Marc co-authored two chapters in the book with his fellow editor, VP&S faculty
member Michael Compton. Marc is clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
2011
Uzodinma Iweala and the Africa Center, which he joined as CEO in 2018, received this year’s Leo Award from ICI (Independent Curators International). ICI is committed to advancing curators in contemporary art, and the award recognizes individuals and organizations that have supported curators and artists and created new infrastructures that serve a broader art world. Uzodinma and his team sponsor programming that promotes cross-cultural understanding and collaboration. The center has created a new space for African art and produced several public art installations on the plaza of its Harlem building as a focal point for communities to come together through art. Uzodinma is an award-winning writer and filmmaker. As the CEO of the Africa Center, he is dedicated to promoting new narratives about Africa and its Diaspora. He is a faculty member at New York University’s creative writing program, where he teaches fiction and creative non-fiction courses. Uzodinma was the CEO, editor-in-chief, and co-founder of Ventures Africa magazine, a publication that covers the evolving business, policy, culture, and innovation spaces in Africa. His books include “Beasts of No Nation,” a novel released in 2005 to critical acclaim and adapted into a major motion picture; “Our Kind of People,” a nonfiction account of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria released in 2012; and “Speak No Evil” (2018), a novel about a queer first-generation Nigerian-American teen living in Washington, D.C. His short stories and essays have appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, and the Paris Review. His films have appeared at Sundance and on Al Jazeera. Uzodinma was also the founding CEO of the Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria, an organization that promotes private sector investment in health services and health innovation in Nigeria. He sits on the boards of the Van Leer Foundation, the International Center for Photography, the Sundance Institute, and the International Rescue Committee. He is also a Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University. He lives in Brooklyn.
See Alumni in Print to read about a book to which Danny Neghassi contributed. Danny co-wrote the chapter on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He is assistant clinical professor of medicine at VP&S.
2012
Pamela Good is one of four VP&S physician-scientists who were named 2023 Gerstner Scholars. Gerstner Scholars receive funding for up to three years to support their research. Pamela, assistant professor of pediatrics in neonatology at VP&S, heads a lab that investigates the causes of acute kidney injury in newborns. After medical school, she completed a pediatric residency at Columbia and served as chief resident before beginning subspecialty training in neonatology.
2021
See Alumni in Print to read about a book to which Taiwo Alonge contributed. Taiwo co-wrote the chapter on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He is a psychiatry resident at Yale.