2020 Inaugural Class Members

  • Spencer E. Amory, MD

    • Jose M. Ferrer Professor of Surgery at CUMC Department of Surgery

    Dr. Amory has focused on increasing the accessibility of surgical care in our local community and around the world. He pioneered laparoscopic surgery at the Allen Hospital in 1990, has obtained hospital privileges for surgeons in the community, and has conducted outreach to neighborhood primary care providers and community members.

  • Graham Barr MD, DrPH

    • Hamilton Southworth Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, Department of Medicine

    Dr. Barr’s research focuses on respiratory epidemiology. He is a principal investigator for the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) Lung Study and is the principal investigator for the Spirometry Reading Center for the Hispanic Community Health Study.

  • Maria de Miguel, MD, MS

    • Assistant Professor of Medicine at CUMC Department of Medicine

    Dr. De Miguel practices primary care at the AIM clinic and cares for patients from the community. Dr. De Miguel has focused academically on teaching residents and students about community health, social determinants of health, and community-academic partnerships.

  • Jordan Foster, MD

    • Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at CUMC Department of Emergency Medicine

    Dr. Foster has devoted many years of service to community-facing programs, such as the SAFE, RELAY, and ANCHOR programs, that provide incredibly important services to our patients and the community. Dr. Foster is passionate about providing exceptional care and services to underserved communities.

  • Scott M. Hammer, MD

    • Harold C. Neu Professor of Infectious Diseases at CUMC Department of Medicine

    Dr. Hammer recently completed a 20-year tenure as Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. He built a dynamic division with the goals of delivering outstanding patient care, developing new knowledge, and training the next generation of physicians.Dr. Hammer has dedicated his investigative career to the fight against HIV and played a leadership role in the development of clinical guidelines adopted locally, nationally and around the globe.

  • Hilda Hutcherson, MD, MS

    • Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at CUMC, Senior Associate Dean for Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology

    Dr. Hutcherson has devoted her career to diversifying the healthcare workforce. She has founded programs to support diverse students, residents, and faculty. Dr. Hutcherson also operates pipeline programs that provide resources for underrepresented students ranging from middle school through graduate school.

  • Rafael A. Lantigua, MD

    • Professor of Medicine at CUMC; Associate Dean for Community Service; Department of Medicine

    Dr. Lantigua’s clinical and research interest has focused on promoting the health of diverse communities in upper Manhattan. Since coming to Columbia in 1980, he has a distinguished record of working to improve the health of aging minorities and working to advance community partnerships and community based participatory research.

  • Allison Lee, MD

    • Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at CUMC Department of Anesthesiology

    Dr. Lee’s strong desire to give back led her to found the non-profit, Medics On A Mission, Inc., which conducts annual mission trips to rural Jamaica to provide urologic surgeries. Dr. Lee is a mentor for minority and disadvantaged college and high school students in the Northeast Regional MedPrep and State Pre-College Enrichment Programs.

  • Roberto Lewis-Fernández, MD

    • Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry

    Dr. Lewis-Fernández’s research focuses on developing culturally valid interventions and instruments to enhance patient engagement, reduce misdiagnosis, and help overcome disparities affecting underserved cultural groups. His team partners collaboratively with several community organizations. Dr. Lewis-Fernández serves on the Community Services Board and Health and Mental Hygiene Advisory Council of New York City.

  • José A. Luchsinger, MD

    • Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at CUMC Department of Medicine

    Dr. Luchsinger’s community and public service efforts have included directing the Community Engagement Core Resource of the Columbia CTSA from 2017 to 2019 and being Vice-President of the board of ARC FT-Washington a senior center in Northern Manhattan since 2011. He has also served in the scientific advisory board of the Columbia CTSA and other committees in the university.

  • Jennifer J. Manly, PhD

    • Professor of Neuropsychology (in Neurology, the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center and the Taub Institute), Department of Neurology

    Dr. Manly’s research focuses on mechanisms of disparities in cognitive aging and Alzheimer’s Disease. Dr, Manly’s research team has partnered with the Black and Latinx communities around CUIMC and around the country to investigate social factors across the life course, such as educational opportunities, racism and discrimination, and socioeconomic status, and how these factors relate to cognition and brain health later in life.

  • Andrew R. Marks, MD

    • Clyde '56 and Helen Wu Professor of Molecular Cardiology, Professor and Chair, Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics

    A major focus of Dr. Mark’s research is the study of mechanisms that regulate muscle contraction. Dr. Marks is the founder of the Summer Program for Underrepresented Students (SPURS) at Columbia University, which provides mentored research training for underrepresented and economically disadvantaged students primarily from the New York City public colleges and universities.

  • Richard Mayeux, MD, MSc

    • Gertrude H. Sergievsky Professor of Neurology, Psychiatry, and Epidemiology; Chair, Department of Neurology

    Dr. Mayeux’s research on Alzheimer’s disease and other degenerative diseases of the aging brain focuses on genetics and epidemiology. Dr. Mayeux has led a multidisciplinary, population-based investigation of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders known as the Washington Heights-Inwood Community Aging Project (WHICAP) since 1989. He studies the rates and risk factors for Alzheimer's disease among elderly of mainly African-American and Caribbean Hispanic descent.

  • Dodi D. Meyer, MD

    • Professor of Pediatrics at CUMC, Department of Pediatrics

    Dr. Meyer’s work focuses in health disparities, community health, and cultural competency. She has expertise in developing and sustaining community-academic partnerships for the purpose of training, service, and research. As director of Community Pediatrics, she oversees several population health initiatives that address major challenges to children’s health through the contexts of biology, family, and community.

  • Lisa Park, MD

    • Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at CUMC Department of Ophthalmology

    Dr. Park is an advocate for public awareness of eye health.  She has been a volunteer surgeon with Hospital de la Familia Foundation in Guatemala for ten years and travels regularly to Africa with Vision Care USA to teach local eye surgeons. Dr. Park also serves on the International Foundation of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery and is Vice-Chair of Vision Care USA.

  • Steven J. Shea, MD

    • Hamilton Southworth Professor of Medicine and Professor of Epidemiology, Senior Vice Dean, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Department of Medicine

    Dr. Shea’s research focuses on social determinants of health and access to care. Dr. Shea is the principal investigator for the Columbia Field Center for the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, which has been funded by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute to identify risk factors and subclinical phenotypes for cardiovascular disease in a population-based multi-ethnic cohort.

  • Magdalena Sobieszczyk, MD, MPH

    • Associate Professor of Medicine at CUMC Department of Medicine

    Dr. Sobieszczyk’s research focuses on HIV prevention, especially among women, Blacks, and Latinos – communities that are highly impacted by HIV yet underrepresented in prevention care and research. Dr. Sobieszczyk examines and addresses disparities in uptake and adherence to prevention modalities in communities around us and works with stakeholders to ensure that community voices are represented.

  • Melissa S. Stockwell, MD, MPH

    • Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Population and Family Health, Department of Pediatrics

    As the Director of the Department of Pediatrics’ Center for Children’s Digital Health Research, Dr. Stockwell seeks to understand how to use digital technologies to promote pediatric and population health. Her work concentrates on underserved children and adolescents and focuses on ways to improve vaccination rates and prevent respiratory infection transmission in the community.

  • Carolyn L. Westhoff, MD

    • Sarah Billinghurst Solomon Professor of Reproductive Health at CUMC Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology

    Dr. Westhoff’s career has focused in efforts related to contraceptive care. She has collaborated with the New York City Department of Health to introduce contraceptive care into the city’s school-based clinics and has been the Chair of Planned Parenthood’s National Medical Committee. Dr. Westhoff is the CUIMC Principal Investigator of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Contraceptive Trials Network.

  • Olajide A. Williams, MD

    • Associate Professor of Neurology, Department of Neurology

    Dr. Williams’ research focuses on community-based interventions with an emphasis on stroke health disparities. He is an NIH-funded researcher with several R01-level awards, and a large U54 stroke disparities center award.Dr. Williams is the founder of Hip-Hop Public Health, which targets impoverished communities through an entertainment-education framework.

  • Richard G. Younge, MD

    • Associate Professor of Medicine at CUMC, Department of Medicine

    Dr. Younge has been a member of the faculty of the Center for Family and Community Medicine since 2007, and the Center Director since 2011. The Family Medicine faculty and residents serve the Washington Heights, West Harlem, and Inwood communities providing clinical care in the ACN, school-based health centers, at the Allen Hospital, and the VP&S the student-organized clinics.