After nine years as president of Columbia University, Dr. George Rupp stepped down this summer to become president of the International Rescue Committee, one of the world’s leading refugee relief agencies. In Vivo asked Dr. Rupp about his work with the Health Sciences Division during his tenure.

How has the relationship between the Morningside Heights and Washington Heights campuses changed during your time as president?

There has been a steady increase in the collaborations between the two campuses. The Center for Neurobiology and Behavior continues to generate interactions between the Health Sciences and such Arts and Sciences departments as psychology and biology. But many new joint programs have developed—for example, biomedical engineering or the participation of the Mailman School of Public Health in the Earth Institute.

What do you feel are your most significant accomplishments with respect to the Health Sciences Division while you were president?

The most significant accomplishment is sustaining forward momentum at a time of enormous financial pressures on academic medical centers. The structural challenges often are concentrated in the revenue streams that reimburse hospital costs and physician services. But academic health centers require not only tuition income and research funding but also adequate payments to affiliated hospitals and doctors. The challenge is to forge strategies through which all of the actors in the medical center can flourish. I think that we have, to a remarkable degree, met that challenge.

Dr. Gerald Fischbach, executive vice president and dean, has announced the appointments of two new Health Sciences officers. Harvey R. Colten, M.D., joins Columbia as the Vice President and Senior Associate Dean for Translational Research in the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine, and Jeffrey Davis, Esq., LL.M., has been named the Associate Vice President for HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) Compliance/Privacy Officer.

As the person responsible for providing administrative oversight to research-related functions and facilities, Dr. Colten will be instrumental in Columbia’s efforts in cutting-edge research and academic programs involving, among other things, genomics, imaging, and computational biology. He will also play a key role in developing biotechnology opportunities and industrial partnerships. Before joining Health Sciences, Dr. Colten was a professor of pediatrics and chief of allergy and pulmonary medicine at Harvard Medical School, chairman of pediatrics at Washington University, dean and vice president for medical affairs at Northwestern University, and, most recently, chief medical officer of iMetrikus Inc., a web-based firm linking patients, providers, and healthcare companies.

Mr. Davis will lead efforts on the behalf of Health Sciences to set and maintain standards for both patient privacy and the confidentiality of information gathered for clinical and research activities. He will also work with leaders from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and the Morningside campus to bring Health Sciences into full compliance with new HIPAA privacy guidelines. Mr. Davis comes here from the accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche, where, as a senior manager in the Healthcare Regulatory Practice, he provided consulting services related to corporate compliance program implementation, HIPAA compliance, and other health law-related topics.

In 1997, Columbia University Health Sciences joined forces with Ben Gurion University of the Negev, in Israel, to address the growing need for physicians to understand the impact of economic, environmental, cultural and political factors on the health of individuals and populations throughout the world. Last month, 26 men and women became the first graduates of the Ben Gurion University of the Negev M.D. Program in International Health and Medicine in collaboration with Columbia University Health Sciences, the world’s first medical degree program designed to train doctors for the practice of international health and medicine.

The program is directed by Dr. Richard J. Deckelbaum, who is also the director of Columbia University’s Institute of Human Nutrition. It is designed to advance global health and improve healthcare for underserved populations throughout the world. In addition to the usual medical school courses, the curriculum includes cross-cultural medicine, healthcare economics, travel and disaster medicine, infectious diseases, nutrition and preventive medicine, and environmental health. Students enroll in coursework at Ben Gurion’s Joyce and Irving Goldman Medical School in Beer Sheva, Israel. (Classes are taught in English, but all students receive two years of Hebrew instruction.) They also complete a required two-month clerkship in International Health in Medicine in India, Kenya, Ethiopia, or Israel.

The next step for most graduates is a U.S.-based residency program. Among the most popular programs were family practice, internal medicine, and pediatrics. Others will pursue a master of public health degree before continuing their medical careers.

The next step for most graduates is a U.S.-based residency program. Among the most popular programs were family practice, internal medicine, and pediatrics. Others will pursue a master of public health degree before continuing their medical careers.

The Neighborhood Fund presented the Tapley Award to the Inwood-Manhattan Little League at the fund's annual awards ceremony last month. The league is pictured above with Ivy Fairchild, associate vice president for government and community affairs, back row, third from left. The Neighborhood Fund, begun in 1987, distributes money raised through employee donations to various local non-profit organizations. The Tapley Award was named for the Fund's founder, Dr. Donald Tapley, a former Health Sciences dean who died in 1999.

A dedication ceremony was held to mark the opening of the new Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University. Founded to provide patient care, advance research, and offer education to both patients and caregivers, the center already hosts a number of research programs investigating the genetics and epidemiology of celiac disease. Dr. Peter H.R. Green, clinical professor of medicine at P&S, holding the center's plaque, will serve as the center's director.

Dr. Ralph Blume, clinical professor of medicine at P&S, was honored with the first Anne Youle Stein Teaching Scholar Award. The award's endowment fund was established by Ms. Stein, a patient of Dr. Blume's, to help support physicians who volunteer their time to teach clinical medicine to students, house staff, and fellows. Ms. Stein specifically requested Dr. Blume, center, be the first recipient of this award, which he received from Dr. Thomas Q. Morris, vice president for Health Sciences and vice dean of the faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine, above left, and Dr. Joseph Tenenbaum, the Edgar Leifer Professor of Clinical Medicine and acting chairman of medicine.

Erratum: In the May 29 issue, the caption for the Samuel Rudin Distinguished Visiting Professorship identified Jack Rudin as Samuel Rudin. We apologize for the error.