2013 Faculty Grants

Alastair Ager, PhD, and Helen de Pinho, MBBCh, Population and Family Health, received $283,169 over 18 months from the ReBUILD Consortium for “Health Systems Resilience: A Complex Adaptive Systems Analysis.”

Yumiko Aratani, PhD, National Center for Children in Poverty, received $500,000 over five years from the Administration for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services for “Examining the Impact of Policy Changes on Child Care Subsidy Receipt and Child Care Stability Among Low-Income Families with Young Children in Illinois.”

Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, Epidemiology, received $596,230 over two years from the Department of Health and Human Services for “Community Factors that Promoted Resilience in the Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.”

ICAP, led by Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, has been awarded $11.8 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the first year of a five-year PEPFAR program in Ethiopia, “Technical Assistance for the Transition of Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Programs and Medical Education to Ethiopia under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).”

Matthew Perzanowski, PhD, Environmental Health Sciences, received $869,743 over two years from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for “Fungal Exposure in New York City Homes Damaged by Hurricane Sandy and Respiratory Outcomes in Asthmatic Children.”

Sheila Smith, PhD, National Center for Children in Poverty, received $7,500,000 over five years from the Administration for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services in a competitive renewal for “Child Care and Early Education Research Connections—ACF.”

Deliang Tang, MD, DrPH, Environmental Health Sciences, received $300,000 over two years from the Schmidt Family Foundation in a competitive renewal for “Air Pollution and Environmental Health in Taiyuan, China.”

Lisa Metsch, PhD, Sociomedical Sciences, received $692,435 over five years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for “Miami Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS)” and $346,336 over five years from the National Institute of Mental Health in a competitive renewal for “HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies.” Metsch also received $485,298 over one year from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for "HIV Testing and Counseling in STD Clinics: An Adaptation of CTN0032."

Carmen Rodriguez, PhD, Population and Family Health, received $588,985 over five years from the Administration for Children and Families for “Columbia University Head Start.”

Rachel Shelton, ScD, Sociomedical Sciences, received $729,000 over five years from the American Cancer Society for “Treatment Decision-Making Among Stage II Colon Cancer Patients.”

Y. Claire Wang, MD, ScD, Health Policy and Management, received $470,576 over two years from the National Cancer Institute for “Estimating State-Specific Potential Annual Healthcare Cost Savings from Reducing Obesity.”
Renee Wilson-Simmons, DrPH, Health Policy and Management, received $300,000 over one year from an anonymous sponsor in a competitive renewal for “Core Support for National Center for Children in Poverty.”

Manuela A. Orjuela-Grimm, MD, ScM, Environmental Health Sciences, received $344,963 through December 2014 from the National Cancer Institute for “Unmetabolized Folic Acid and Retinoblastoma.”

Helen de Pinho, MBBCh, FCCH, MBA, Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, received $400,000 through September 2014 from University Research Co./Center for Human Services for “Translating Research into Action (TRAction)—Focusing on Task Shifting of Cesarean Sections to Associate Clinicians in Zambia and Kenya.”

Lisa Metsch, PhD, Sociomedical Sciences, received $9.33 million over five years from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for “Enhanced Access to HIV Care for Drug Users in San Juan, Puerto Rico.”

Ezra Susser, MD, DrPH, Epidemiology, Psychiatry (P&S), received $1.8 million through December 2017 from the National Institute of Mental Health to study the genomics of schizophrenia in the Xhosa population of South Africa.

Brent L. Williams, PhD, Center for Infection and Immunity, received $450,000 through January 2016 from Autism Speaks for “Molecular Analysis of Gene-Environment Interactions in the Intestines of Children with Autism.”

Alastair Ager, PhD, HDPFH, received $273,000 from World Vision Inc. for “Evaluating Child Friendly Spaces (CFSs) in Emergencies; Strengthening the Evidence-Base for Intervention Effectiveness in Humanitarian Crises.”

Jennifer Hirsch, PhD, Sociomedical Sciences, and Paul Colson, PhD, ICAP, received $3.07 million over five years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Advancing PrEP for Black MSM: Community-Based Ethnography and Clinic-Based Intervention (ICAP).”

Karestan C. Koenen, PhD, Epidemiology, received $598,642 over two years from the State University of New York at Stony Brook for "Epigenetic Links in PTSD and Respiratory Disease in WTC Responders.”

Thelma Mielenz, PhD, Epidemiology, received $618,349 over two years from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) for “Creation of the Person-Centered Wellness Home Across the Life Course.” She also received $618,349 over two years from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute for "Creation of the Person-Centered Wellness Home Across the Life Course."

Alfred Neugut, MD, PhD, Epidemiology, received $2.63 million over five years, in a competitive renewal, from the National Cancer Institute for “Training Program in Cancer-Related Population Sciences.”

Mary Beth Terry, PhD, Epidemiology, received $2.96 million over five years from the Cancer Prevention Institute of California for “Breast Cancer Family Registry Cohort—NY Cohort.”

David Abramson, PhD, MPH, Sociomedical Sciences, received $252,819 over one year from Save the Children for “Save the Children’s Resilient and Ready Communities Initiative.”

Michaeline Bresnahan, PhD, MPH, Epidemiology, received $994,875 over five years from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for “Multigenerational Familial and Environmental Risk for Autism (MINERvA).”

Thomas D’Aunno, PhD, Health Policy and Management, received $338,237 over five years from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for “Impact of Health Reform on Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment Programs.”

Pam Factor-Litvak, PhD, Epidemiology, and Catherine Monk, PhD, Psychiatry (P&S), received $440,000 over two years from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for “Effects of a Major Climatic Event—Superstorm Sandy—on Pregnancy Outcomes and Telomere Length.”

Katherine Keyes, MPH, PhD, Epidemiology, received $909,871 over five years from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism for “Race, Alcohol Consumption, and Vehicle Crashes: An Epidemiologic Paradox.”

Shing Lee, PhD, Biostatistics, received $582,000 over four years from the American Cancer Society for “Toxicity Burden Summary from Chemotherapy in Cancer Trials.”

Bruce Levin, PhD, Biostatistics, received $638,911 over five years in a competitive renewal from the National Institute of Mental Health for “HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies.”

Robert Ogden, PhD, Biostatistics, received $961,448 over four years from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Characterizing Placebo Response.”

Regina Santella, PhD, Environmental Health Sciences, received $8.6 million over five years in a competitive renewal from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for “Center for Environmental Health in Northern Manhattan.”

Lindsay Stark, DrPH, Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, received $410,526 over two years from an anonymous sponsor for “Child Protection in Crisis Network—Transforming Learning into Change.” She also received $391,098 over two years from the Economic and Social Research Council for “Inter-Agency Research on Strengthening Community Based Child Protection for Vulnerable Children in Sierra Leone.

Roger Vaughan, PhD, Biostatistics, received $595,835 over three years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Columbia Summer Institute for Training in Biostatistics (CSIBS).”