Syed Ali Husain, MD

Dr. Nicolino Valerio Dorrello is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons since 2015. He obtained his MD from University of Naples (Italy) in 2000 and his PhD in Molecular Oncology at New York University in 2004, focusing on the role of ubiquitin mediated proteolysis in cell cycle regulation. He then completed a residency in Pediatrics at the University of Padua (Italy) in 2010 and a subsequent pediatric residency at Columbia University before staying for his Fellowship in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine and then as faculty. Dr. Dorrello is double board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Critical Care in Unites States and in Pediatrics in Europe. In his clinical duties in the pediatric critical care unit, one of the most devastating and common injuries he comes across, unfortunately, is severe, progressive lung injury. What represents a daily clinical challenge – making these patients better – has become his research passion. He has recently succeeded in developing an airway-specific method to efficiently remove only the lung epithelium (de-epithelialization) while preserving lung vasculature and architecture in anex vivo rodent model. This new functional, vascularized lung graft then enabled the attachment and engraftment of lung epithelial progenitors. Dr. Dorrello’s laboratory is focused on elucidating the optimal strategies to selectively remove defective lung epithelial cells and supportthe proliferation and differentiation of lung progenitors towards healthy epithelium and ultimately lung repair. Dr. Dorrello has published in international peer -reviewed journals of highest reputation, such as Science, Nature, Molecular Cell, PNAS, and Science Advances.

Dr. Sharon Newman-Meininger is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in Emergency Medicine at the Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Newman is a board-certified pediatrician and an attending pediatrician in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the NewYork Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. Dr. Newman is a graduate of the MD/PhD program, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and completed her Pediatric Residency at the Mount Sinai Hospital.

Dr. Nancy Kerner is a physician-scientist who has clinical and research expertise in the intersection of sleep and circadian rhythm disturbances and cognitive impairment, including Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). Her clinical background is in geriatric psychiatry. She is board certified in General Psychiatry and Geriatric Psychiatry. Her clinical practice has focused on healthy aging and late-life neuropsychiatric disorders, encompassing sleep and behavioral disturbances, depression, anxiety, and psychosis in older adults with stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and dementia. Dr. Kerner also received fellowship training in research, supported by a NIH-funded T32 Late-life Neuropsychiatric Disorders research training program, with a focus on studying the association between vascular depression, cognitive impairment, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). In recent years, Dr. Kerner has assembled a multi-disciplinary team with renowned research investigators in an older adult population, including (1) Davangere Devanand MD, an expert in geriatric depression and cognitive impairment diagnosis and treatment, (2) Jose Luchsinger MD, MPH, an expert in dementia risk factor research, (3) Terry Goldberg, PhD, an expert in cognitive diagnostic instruments, and (4) sleep and circadian rhythm research experts (e.g., Johns Hopkins University). I have also established a consultant team, including Yaakov Stern, Ph.D., an expert in neuropsychology and cognitive reserve, and Mitchell Elkind, MD, MPH, an expert in cerebrovascular disease associated with cognitive impairment and dementia. Her projects include implementing early screening and diagnosing cognitive decline and sleep/circadian rhythm disturbance in clinical and community settings. Dr. Kerner’s optimal goal is to develop a novel diagnostic matrix and treatment for sleep and circadian rhythm disturbances among older adults with cognitive concerns, MCI, and dementia in order to optimize their quality of life and improve long-term cognitive outcomes.