news PS - Columbia University Medical Center

mechanisms by which inflammation
in the synovium leads to joint
cartilage and bone destruction. Her
laboratory has identified key molecular
and cellular pathways in RA,
including the identification of the
role of osteoclasts in articular bone
destruction, and has contributed
to new treatment modalities. “In
the last two decades we have made
tremendous strides in treatment and
we’re fortunate to have a number of
medications that can block the progression
of the disease.” Ellen joined
the University of Massachusetts in
2006 from Brigham and Women’s
Hospital, where she was the
Katherine Swan Ginsburg Visiting
Professor. She also has received the
Sandoz Award for medical research,
the McDuffie Award from the
Arthritis Foundation, the Scholars
in Medicine Award from Harvard
Medical School, and the Physician
Achievement Award from the University
of Massachusetts.
1983
In November 2011, Jeffrey Pollak
became the inaugural Robert I.
White Jr., M.D., Professor of Interventional
Radiology at Yale University.
The White professorship
is the first endowed professorship
in the Department of Diagnostic
Radiology. Jeff is co-section chief
of vascular and interventional radiology
and director of the vascular
and interventional radiology fellowship
program at Yale.
1984
Andrey Shaw holds a named
professorship in immunobiology
and pathology at Washington University
School of Medicine in St.
Louis. With two co-workers he formulated
the theory of the immune
synapse. He also discovered the
genes linked to focal segmental
glomerulosclerosis (seen in diabetes).
In addition to research he is
still interested in classical music
(in which he got his undergraduate
degree), literature, politics, and
human behavior. He and his wife,
classmate Cynthia (nee Florin),
have two children; their son is a
Columbia College graduate.
1986
P. David Adelson, director of the
Barrow Neurological Institute at
Phoenix Children’s Hospital, was
elected to the American Academy
of Neurological Surgery in January
2012. David also is division
chief of neurosurgery at Phoenix
Children’s. He joined the hospital
in 2008. Membership in the
American Academy of Neurologi-
cal Surgery, founded in 1938, is
limited to 105 active members,
who are invited because of their
noteworthy scientific achievements
in neurosurgery. David
was recruited to Arizona from
Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
He trained at UCLA, Children’s
Hospital of Boston, and Harvard
Medical School.
See Alumni in Print to read about a
book by Barron Lerner.
Jeffrey Pollak’83 P. David Adelson’86
Jeremy Luban’87
1987
Jeremy Luban was invested as the
David J. Freelander Professor of
AIDS Research at the University
of Massachusetts Medical School
in September 2011. Jeremy was in
medical school when patients with
what would turn out to be AIDS
began to be seen in hospitals and
clinics. “In a sense, my professional
career grew up with the HIV/AIDS
epidemic,” he told the Foundation
for AIDS Research. “I started
medical school in 1983, and by our
third year, we were seeing a lot of
AIDS patients in the local hospitals
in New York. During our fourth
year of medical school, students
had the opportunity to take an
elective, and I decided I wanted to
go to Africa and work with AIDS
patients. When I came back to the
United States, I did my internship/
residency and then went to work as
a postdoctoral researcher. My feeling
was that we needed to know a
lot more about the basic biology
of HIV so we could come up with
better therapeutics.” He is also
professor of molecular medicine
and co-principal investigator of
the NIH-funded UMass Center for
AIDS Research.
1989
Abraham Thomas, chairman of
endocrinology and division head of
endocrinology, diabetes, and bone
and mineral disorders at Henry
Ford Hospital, became president
of the American Federation for
Medical Research in April 2012
after a year as president-elect. He
has an MPH from the Harvard
School of Public Health.
1993
See Alumni in Print to read
about a book co-authored by
Jaime Landman.
Charles Prestigiacomo is the new
chair of neurological surgery at
New Jersey Medical School, succeeding
Peter Carmel’70 MSD, who
resigned to become president of
the American Medical Association.
Charlie completed an internship in
general surgery, then a residency
in neurological surgery at Columbia.
He also completed a research
fellowship at Columbia and fellowships
in interventional neuroradiology
and endovascular surgery
at Beth Israel Medical Center. Peter
recruited Charlie to New Jersey
Medical School, where he received
joint appointments in neurology
and radiology. He also has served as
director of the neurological surgery
residency training program and
director of the endovascular surgical
neuroradiology program.
1995
Hand surgeon Andrew Thomas
of St. Paul, Minn., was selected
to participate in the American
Andrew Thomas’95
Spring 2012 ColumbiaMedicine 35