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Advisors and Partners at Columbia University

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This program would not have been possible without the support, advice and encouragement from senior members

of the Pathology Department at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University,

New York, NY, USA and the support of our Columbia University partners.

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Past Columbia Advisors:

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Paulette Bernd, PhD 

Professor and Course Director for Clinical Anatomy, Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, 

Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA 

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Kevin Roth, MD PhD 

Professor, and Chairman of the Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons,

Columbia University, New York, NY, USA (until 2023)

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Michael Shelanski, MD PhD

Professor, past Chairman of the Department of Pathology and Cell Biology and current Senior Vice Dean for Research

Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. 

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Carol, Kunzel, PhD 

Past Director of Research at the College of Dental Medicine, 

Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.

 

Anna Getselman  

Associate Dean of Hammer Health Sciences Library at Columbia University 

Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.

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Interschool Partners:

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Columbia College: Dean Ariella Lang, PhD

College of Dental Medicine: Deans Christian Stohler, DMD, DrMedDent; Dana Wolf, DDS

Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences: Dean Yinghui Mao, PhD

Columbia Mailman School of Public Health: Dean Michael Joseph, PhD

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External Advisory Board to the ICEP

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We are grateful for input, advice and support from our External Advisory Board.

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Leo Buehler, MD

Professor of Surgery, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland

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Mark Hardy, MD

Professor of Surgery, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

Mark A. Hardy is Auchincloss Professor of Surgery, Director Emeritus of the Transplant Centre, and Vice Chairman and Residency Program Director of the Department of Surgery at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeonsand NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.

Hardy is most recognized for co-founding the New York Organ Donor Network in 1978 (NYODN 2006). In addition to his work in transplantation, in the earlier part of his career he made several contributions to the development of prosthetic vascular grafts and the development and studies of biologic function of thymic hormones, both experimentally and clinically.

Hardy laid another cornerstone of organ transplant medicine by helping found the program for dialysis and kidney transplantation at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. He based the new program on the principle of combined clinical care between surgeons and nephrologists during a time when renal transplant programs were managed by one or the other discipline, never by both at once (CUMC Programs 2007). This cooperation between disciplines led to major contributions in immunogenetics, immunosuppression, and treatment of autoimmune diseases and lymphoma (CUMC Programs 2007).

His most recent focus has been on cellular transplantation with emphasis on islet transplantation. Hardy is Principal Investigator of a multicenter clinical trial exploring a combination of two immunosuppressant drugs, sirolimus and tacrolimus (CUMC 2007 Kidney). He also currently a member of several multiinstitutional studies of immunosuppressive agents which are individually sponsored by Novartis, Astellas and Bristol Mye

 

Geoffroy Noel, PhD (see bio under partner faculty)

Professor of Anatomy, University of California San Diego, USA

Director, Division of Anatomical Sciences at McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada (past position)

Chief, Division of Anatomy at the University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA (current position)

Dr. Noel serves as head of the External Advisory Board to ICEP.

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Sean McWatt, PhD (see bio under partner faculty)

Sean C. McWatt | Ph.D.
Assistant Professor (Human Anatomy, Teaching)
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University
London, Ontario, Canada

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Snehal Patel, MD, JD

Dr. Patel is the Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder of MyDoc, a leading telemedicine

company active in seven countries across South and Southeast Asia, as well as the US. In

addition, Dr. Patel serves as the Managing Director of Saena Partners, an investment firm

that has led the initial funding of several innovative firms in Asia that range from pioneers in

ecologically friendly circular packaging technology to luxury distribution.

A Kauffman Fellow, Dr. Patel moved to Singapore from the US in 2008 to found and lead the

healthcare investment team at the Clermont Group, a multi-billion dollar investment fund.

Prior to practising law at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, LLP in New York, Dr. Patel received an

MD and a JD from Columbia University and served as a Clinical Fellow at the Harvard

Medical School.

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Alexander Preker, MD PhD

Professor Alexander S. Preker (Adjunct AssociateProfessor at Columbia University and Executive Scholar at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai in New York) is a globally recognized scholar and expert on financing, capital investment, private sector development, and market-based solutions to public policy challenges. 

In addition to his academic teaching and research, Professor Preker is the President and CEO of the Health Investment & Financing Corporation and a Founding Member of the New York Chapter of the Keiretsu Forum, a Limited Liability Partner with the Keiretsu Capital Fund.  His company is an active investor with OurCrowd and other investment vehicles that focus on early-stage companies that have a high potential for impact. He serves on the board of several of the companies that these groups have funded. He is also on the Board of the USA Health Alliance (USAHA), an organization that works closely with the US Department of Commerce and the Exon Bank to promote export of American health care technology.

Prior to his current work, Professor Preker had a distinguished career, working at different times for the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the World Health Organization (WHO). From 2007 to 2012, Professor Preker was Head of the Health Industry Group and Investment Policy for the Investment Climate Department of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The Department was a leader in investing in the new solutions to the threats of climate change, infrastructure, public-private-partnerships, health and education, e-Government solutions, and competition. He and his team set up a US$1 billion Investment Facility to improve the market environment for private sector participation and expand small and medium-sized businesses in the Africa Region as well as the preparatory work for setting up a similar facility for Asia. 

Earlier in his World Bank career, as Chief Economist for the health sector, he was responsible for oversight over an annual lending pipeline of about US$3 billion with a total portfolio value in the range of US$15 billion. During this period, he had the privilege of working with both Lawrence Summers (former Director of the National Economic Council under the Obama Administration) and Joseph Stiglitz (recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences) during their respective tenures as Chief Economist for the World Bank Group as well as many Ministers, other senior officials, private businesses and investors. It was in the 1990s, during Mr. Summers’s tenure at the Bank, that the World Bank Group largely abandoned industrial policy in favor of more market-based approaches to industrial development. Notably, following the collapse of the Former Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Professor Preker was involved in helping countries in that region transform their moribund planned economies to dynamic and market-based solutions.  He and others from his team were also involved in the early phases of designing and monitoring compliance with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Professor Preker has published extensively, having written many scientific articles, and authored over 20 books.  He is the Editor-in-Chief for the World Scientific Series on Health Investment and Financing and a reviewer of several journals.  Previously, he was the Chair of the Editorial Board for the World Hospitals and Health Services journal and is now an Honorary Member of the Governing Council of the International Hospital Federation. During his tenure at the World Bank, he was a member of its main Editorial Board in the External Operations Publication Department.  He was also the Editor-in-Chief of the Bank’s Health, Nutrition and Population Publications.

Professor Preker holds several academic appointments. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Management at Columbia University and an Executive Scholar at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.  His education includes a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, an MD from the University of British Columbia/McGill, and a Diploma in Medical Law and Ethics from Kings College in London.

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Takeshi Sakurai, PhD (see bio under partner faculty)

Professor of Anatomy, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan (past position)

Adjunct professor at Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan; Nagoya University School of Medicine, Japan; 

and Juntendo University School of Medicine, Japan. Adjunct professor at Columbia University, USA.

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Student Staff Leaders

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Webmasters 

Monica Kieff (New York) - website first edition 2018

Chloe Gong (New York) - website updates 2021

Luca Schahadat and Mona Hadj (Munich) - updates 2023

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Social Media Masters

Alexandra Matschiner (Halle) -Facebook 2017 and 2018

Benedicte Lauritzen (Copenhagen)- Facebook 2019

Rachel Utomo (New York) - Slack 2021

Chloe Gong (New York) - Instagram 2022

Luca Schahadat and Mona Hadj (Munich) - Instagram updates 2023

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Other Media

Monica Kieff (New York) - website design, video and photos

Carol Liu (New York) - video 2018 edition

Jordi Brull (Barcelona) and Thabir Haque (London) - video 2022 edition

Ricky Wang (Taipei) - video 2023 edition

Ewen Huang (Taipei)- ICEP Travel Student Appreciation Book, start 2023

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