Program Mentors
Moshe Kelsen
- Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC)
Moshe Kelsen is the Assistant Director of Research Operations within the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) Administrative Core at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC). Prior to this role, Moshe served as the Administrative Director of the HICCC Clinical Protocol and Data Management (CPDM) Office. As the Assistant Director of Research Operations, he is responsible for management of HICCC finances, human resources, and space. Due to his prior role within the HICCC, he also serves as a key advisor to the new Administrative Director of the CPDM as well as the Protocol Review and Monitoring System (PRMS). In his role, he also serves as the key Administrative Core Liaison with central offices for Sponsored Program Administration (SPA), Sponsored Program Finance (SPF), as well as CUIMC and NYPH governance and funds flow committees.
Aaron Landon
- Faculty Practice Organization (FPO)
Aaron Landon is the Director of Operations at ColumbiaDoctors, the faculty practice organization for Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC). Aaron joined CUIMC in 2009 as practice supervisor of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery. He spent six years in the Department and gained a progressive level of responsibility as he developed competencies in practice management. In 2013, Aaron assumed responsibility for the oversight and improvement functions of all outpatient practice locations, where he coordinated process analysis and improvement projects with inter- and intra-departmental teams, and partnered with providers and divisions to target areas of improved efficiency, effectiveness and strategic growth. Aaron joined ColumbiaDoctors in 2015 as Operations Manager and started his new and current role as Director of Operations in 2018. The focus of Aaron’s current role is space and facilities planning, space utilization planning and analysis, new technology project and technological implementation for the nearly 1,800 provider faculty practice.
Aaron received both his B.S in Health Administration and Business and his Master's in Health Administration from The University of Scranton. Upon completion of his MHA, Aaron served as an Administrative Resident at The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, then at Laurel Regional Hospital in Laurel, Maryland. During the residency, Aaron’s key project was to lead an Emergency Department Operational Transformation Team in identifying strategies to improve patient flow and created a learning culture dedicated to identifying & initiating change. An equally important component of the administrative residency was collaborating with his preceptor and the senior leadership team to target specific areas for experiential learning, an experience that continues to influence the way he works with the FPO Operations Administrative Fellows. Following his administrative residencies and prior to starting at CUIMC, Aaron coached soccer full-time as the assistant coach for the Boys Varsity program at The Shipley School and as an academy trainer with YSC Academy/Philadelphia Union Juniors.
Outside of work, Aaron enjoys spending time with his family, projects around the home, spending time outdoors, and playing and watching soccer. Aaron resides in Bergen County, NJ with his wife and daughter.
Mayra Marte-Miraz
- Department of Medicine
Mayra Marte-Miraz is a Senior Director of Human Resources, Faculty Affairs, and Operations in the Department of Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. In this role, Mayra has responsibility for all faculty affairs, human resources, and operational functions across the largest department in the Medical Center. With over 30 years of administrative experience, she is skilled in aligning the vision with the tripart mission of the Department of Medicine and CUIMC.
She currently plays a key role in the Departmental DEI initiative and serves on the Office of Faculty Development, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Admin. Team, as well as the Departmental Wellness Committee. Mayra is the Vice President for the Service Corporation Board and serves on numerous university committees focused optimizing operational processes.
While Mayra has held numerous roles at CUIMC, she enjoys sharing her knowledge with other administrators and faculty and serves as a resource across the university and neighboring community.
Since the inception of the Administrative Fellowship Program, Mayra has been a mentor to the fellows and values the program for the growth it brings to not only the mentees but also each of the mentors in the Department of Medicine.
Emer M. Smyth, PhD
- Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC)
Emer Smyth serves as the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center’s (HICCC) Associate Director for Administration, working closely with Dr. Rustgi as Director and the HICCC leadership team. Over the course of her 20-year research career, which included 12 years as an NIH-funded principal investigator and faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania, Emer made important contributions in two major areas of human disease-cardiovascular disease and cancer. In addition to extensive service and education, Emer has directly mentored two PhD students, a master’s student, and four postdoctoral fellows and chaired or served on the thesis committee for five PhD students. In 2014, she took a leave of absence to shift her focus to scientific review and oversight and administration of cancer research grant programs. She joined the American Association for Cancer Research where she led a team of Professionals dedicated to management of the Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) funding initiative, a transformative cancer research program of excellence. Emer’s team managed the SU2C research portfolio from development of new funding opportunities through grant launch, peer review, grantee selection, and progress review and oversight. She recently returned to academia joining the faculty in Columbia University’s Department of Pathology and Cell Biology. As a Director of Cancer Research Alliances in the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Emer manages and directs the operations that establish, enable, and support cancer research at Columbia by supporting development of large-scale funding programs in cancer research.
Danielle Robbins
- VP&S Dean’s Office
Lloyd Torres
- Faculty Practice Organization (FPO)
Lloyd Torres is senior director of clinical information systems at ColumbiaDoctors, the faculty practice organization for Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. As the senior director of clinical information systems he is the lead director of current and future-state clinical systems and works closely with clinical and business leadership at CUIMC and to assist a multi-disciplinary team in the design, implementation, workflow optimization, change management, and issue resolution related to clinical and non-clinical applications. He joined CUIMC in September 2016 and was charged with developing the HIM resources to centralize medical records functions and improve EMR use at ColumbiaDoctors. Prior to joining ColumbiaDoctors, he created and led the ambulatory health information management department at Northwell Health providing centralized services for over 500+ physician practice locations. At Northwell Health, he worked closely with the ambulatory electronic health record (EHR) implementation and optimization teams and was also responsible for scanning and clinical data abstraction in the EHR.
Before Northwell Health, he was the assistant vice president and the corporate compliance officer at The Silvercrest Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, a 320-bed skilled nursing facility that is the only corporately sponsored long term care facility of NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System. At Silvercrest, Lloyd was responsible for corporate compliance, information systems, medical records, senior housing, public relations, marketing, fundraising/development, grants, emergency preparedness and unit support services. Prior to Silvercrest, he was the administrator for cardiology at the Tulane University School of Medicine where he oversaw cardiology services for 3 hospitals and numerous clinics.
He received his bachelor of arts degree from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and his master’s degree in healthcare administration from Tulane University, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Additionally, Lloyd has been an adjunct instructor at Hofstra University’s Master’s in Healthcare Administration program and has also taught at St. John’s University’s Health Services Administration program.
