Spring/Summer 2025 Alumni News
By Jonathan Danziger, Senior Writer
1975
Samuel Hazell was selected as a 2024 recipient of the St. Luke Lifetime Physician Achievement Award, which is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a physician affiliated with Roper St. Francis Healthcare in Charleston, South Carolina.
1978
Robert Michael Kertzner received the 2024 John E. Fryer Award from the American Psychiatric Association for contributing to improving the mental health of sexual minorities. He also presented the award lecture, “Psychological Well-Being and Positive Mental Health in LGB Adults.” Dr. Kertzner is an associate clinical professor in the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry.
1980
Julia Edelman has joined Noom, a digital health care company committed to chronic disease prevention, weight management, and behavioral health, as executive director of women’s health. Dr. Edelman completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and manages a private practice in Massachusetts.
1981
Ron Cohen has been appointed to the board of directors of Egret Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing therapies that modulate innate immunity to preserve function following acute ischemic injury. Dr. Cohen previously served as president, chief executive officer, and founder of Acorda Therapeutics Inc., a public biotechnology company that developed therapies for disorders of the nervous system.
1987
Terri Laufer has been appointed to the scientific advisory board of Caribou Biosciences, a genome-editing biopharmaceutical company in Berkeley, California. Dr. Laufer is an emeritus associate professor of medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and an attending rheumatologist at the Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and Philadelphia VA Medical Center.
1988
Allen Ho has been appointed to the scientific advisory board of EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, which develops therapeutics for retinal disease. Dr. Ho is an attending surgeon and director of retina research at Wills Eye Hospital and co-director of the Wills Eye Hospital Retina Service, as well as a professor of ophthalmology at Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University.
1991
Edith Gurewitsch Allen joined Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, New York, as chair of obstetrics and gynecology. She had previously served as interim chair of obstetrics, gynecology, and women’s health at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, New York. Dr. Allen’s primary research focus is on shoulder dystocia, and she is co-inventor on two patents: a birthing simulator and a brachial plexus simulator.
Donald M. Lloyd-Jones has been named director of the Framingham Center for Population and Prevention Science, principal investigator of the Framingham Heart Study, and chief of the section of preventive medicine within the Department of Medicine at the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center. Dr. Lloyd-Jones is chair of preventive medicine and Eileen M. Foell Professor of Heart Research and professor of preventive medicine, medicine, and pediatrics at Northwestern University. He served as president of the American Heart Association from 2021 to 2022.
2002
Szilárd Kiss has been appointed to the board of directors of Adverum Biotechnologies, which seeks to establish gene therapy for ocular diseases. Dr. Kiss’ translational and clinical research focuses on the areas of ocular gene therapy, retinal imaging, novel therapeutic targets for ocular neovascularization, and genetic markers for retinal diseases.
2008
Daniela Lamas published an op-ed in The New York Times about unresponsive patients and their possible continuing consciousness titled “The Terrifying Realization That an Unresponsive Patient Is Still in There.” Dr. Lamas is a pulmonary and critical care physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and a contributing Opinion writer for the Times.
David Tsay has been appointed chief medical officer of Counterpart Health Inc., which is developing artificial intelligence tools to help support the earlier diagnosis and management of chronic conditions. Dr. Tsay’s previous roles have included serving as chief medical officer at Cue Health and leading the clinical team for digital health medical device products at Apple.
2015
Adjoa Smalls-Mantey, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at VP&S, becomes president of the New York County Psychiatric Society, the largest district branch of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), in May. Dr. Smalls-Mantey was also appointed by the current APA president to the Presidential Workgroup on Lifestyle Psychiatry and serves as co-chair of the nutrition section. In addition, she was appointed to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee by the HHS secretary in 2024. This committee reports to Congress and federal agencies on issues related to adults with serious mental illness and children with serious emotional disturbance.
2020
Dawn Queen received the 2024 Resident of Distinction Award from dermMentors and presented the award lecture, “Assessing Outcomes for SCC In-Situ Treated With Topical 5-FU as Primary Therapy and for Residual SCC In-Situ After Mohs Micrographic Surgery.” Dr. Queen completed her dermatology residency training at Columbia, serving as chief resident in her final year. In practice, her focuses include medical dermatology, alopecia, and cosmetic dermatology.
Alumni in Print
Dr. Wanderer’s new book details the evolution of his research and its importance to him, both personally and professionally, with a focus on magnesium deficiency and its impact on heart health.
Dr. Wanderer trained in internal medicine and pediatrics at Bellevue Hospital and Cornell. He served in the Army Medical Corps; completed a fellowship in allergy, asthma, and clinical immunology at National Jewish Health in Denver; and has conducted clinical research in inherited inflammatory disorders, asthma, cold hypersensitivity syndromes with anaphylaxis, sickle cell disease, and transplant organ viability. He has retired to Bozeman, Montana.
Dr. Wanderer’s previous book, “Anaphylaxis: A Medical Thriller,” was published in 2012.
Send books published within the past two years to:columbiamedicine@columbia.edu