Welcome to the MD/PhD Program website.
Our newest class has arrived for the summer!
Justin Lee
Joshua Cook
Noam Rudnick
Alana Mendelsohn
Andrew Anzalone
Sakellarios Zairis
Mariel Kozberg
Anna Janas


Good Luck to the MD/PhD Class of 2009!
Wassim Abida
Frank Appah
Andrew Bellinger
Scott Bratman
Barry Fine
Thomas Fralich
Danella Hafeman
Vesselin Miloushev
Matthew Neimark
David Tsay
Rachel Ventura
Brendon Watson
Arun Wiita
Elizabeth Kass
Peter Park
Marcel Brus-Ramer
Lao Saal


MD/PhD Students Recognized at the Dean's Day for Research 2009:
Martha Neagu
Potent Inhibition of HIV-1 by TRIM5- Cyclophilin Fusion Proteins Engineered of Human Components
Masoud Tavazoie
A Vascular Niche for Adult Neural Stem Cells


Congratulations to our MD-PhD students on the 2009 Match:
Wassim Abida
Internal Medicine at Hospital of the University of PA, Philadelphia PA
Frank Appah
Psychiatry at Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven CT
Andrew Bellinger
Internal Medicine at UC San Francisco, San Francisco CA
Scott Bratman
Medicine-Preliminary at CA Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco CA
Radiation Oncology at Stanford University Progs, Stanford CA
Barry Fine
Internal Medicine at NYP Hospital-Columbia Univ Med Ctr, New York NY
Thomas Fralich
Emergency Medicine UC San Francisco-Fresno, Fresno CA
Danella Hafeman
Psychiatry at UPMC Medical Education Program, Pittsburgh PA
Vesselin Miloushev
Medicine-Preliminary at NYU School Of Medicine, New York NY
Radiology-Diagnostic at NYP Hospital-Columbia Univ Med Ctr, New York NY
Matthew Neimark
Medicine-Preliminary at Staten Island University Hosp, Staten Island NY
Radiology-Diagnostic at SUNY-Downstate, Brooklyn NY
David Tsay
Internal Medicine at NYP Hosp-Columbia Univ Med Ctr, New York NY
Rachel Ventura
Medicine-Preliminary at NYU School Of Medicine, New York NY
Neurology at NYP Hosp-Columbia Univ Med Ctr, New York NY
Brendon Watson
Psych at Payne Whitney-NYP Hosp-Weill Cornell Med Ctr, New York NY
Arun Wiita
Pathology at UC San Francisco, San Francisco CA


Columbia alumnus named 2009 Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. Scholar!

Columbia MSTP Alumnus Paul Planet, M.D., Ph.D. was one of four P&S physician scientists who was selected as a winner of the 2009 Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. Scholars Program award. Designed to support physician-scientists in their goal of bringing new treatments to patients, the initiative awarded its first group of winners in 2008. A committee, chaired by Dr. Robert Kass, selected this year's winners after reviewing 43 applications from 12 departments.

Paul J. Planet, M.D., Ph.D., a fellow in pediatric infectious disease in the Department of Pediatrics, will apply his microbial bioinformatics skills to finding pathogens in cystic fibrosis. He will work with Dr. Alice Prince to define the microbial flora of the lung in cystic fibrosis from the time when young children acquire infection. Findings from this work could lead to novel targets for therapy to prevent as well as optimize treatment for cystic fibrosis patients.

Dr. Planet majored in both biochemistry and anthropology at Yale University, and received his M.D. and Ph.D. from P&S in the Integrated Program for Cellular, Molecular and Biophysical Studies. In 2005 he began a residency in pediatrics at the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NYPH/Columbia. He began his fellowship in pediatric infectious disease in 2008, upon completion of his residency.


Congratulations to the 2008-2009 PhD Graduates!

Jeremy Hwang
"Identification of Novel Small Molecule Modulators of Alzheimer's Disease Beta-Secretase"
Christopher Ortiz
"Guanylyl Cyclases Mediate Functional Asymmetry in C. elegans Gustatory Neurons"
David Chung
"Location of KCNE1 within the IKS Channel Complex and Regulation of IKS by Sympathetic Stimulation"
Masoud Tavazoie
“A Specialized Vascular Niche for Adult Neural Stem Cells"
Martha Neagu
"HIV-1 Inhibition by Human TriMCyp Fusion Proteins"
Babacar Cisse
"Transcriptional Regulation of Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Development"
Lily Wang
"The Role of Fanconi Anemia Proteins in DNA Replication and Repair"
Daniel Medina
"Non-parametric approaches to the spatiotemporal prediction of infectious diseases in Sahelian Mali"
Sean Luo
"Models of Innate and Learned Odor Discrimination in Drosophila"
Carmelle Norice
"Studies of Candida albicans SUN41 function and regulation"
Sean Escola
"Markov chains, neural responses, and optimal temporal computations in biology"
Mohsin Ahmed
"Presynaptic Function and Long-Term Plasticity of Direct Cortical Inputs to Hippocampal CA1 Neurons"


Grant Announcements - F30s & F31s
Elaine Budreck
Distinct Function of the Neuroligin 3 Postsynaptic Adhesion Complex
Philip Effraim
Kinetic Discrimination of Substrates by the Ribosomal Biosynethic Machinery (NIGMS)
Hasina Outtz
The Connection between Notch Signaling and VEGFR1 in Angiogenesis (NHLBI)
Christopher Ortiz
Analysis of Functional Diversity in the Chemosensory System of C. Elegans (NIDCD)
Anne O’Donnell
Epigenetic Profiling of Major Depression
Ellen Penney
MicrRNAs and their Targets are Novel Regulators of NMJ Morhology in Drosphila (NINDS)
Tristan Sands
Pathogenesis of Tuberous Sclerosis Cortical Lesions (NINDS)
Tanya Sippy
Function of Neocortical GABAergeric Interneurons in Local Circuit Activations (NINDS)
Rachel Ventura
The Roles of ID Protein in CNS Glial FateDecisions (NINDS)
Melissa Walker
Structural and Functional Studies of Invertebrate Classical Cadeherins
Brendon Watson
Circuit Mechanisms of Cortical Synchronizations (NINDS)


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