Jacqueline Salas-Spiegel, MD

Dr. Ali Gharavi is a kidney specialist with expertise in human genetics. He is the Harold Ames Hatch (II) Professor of Medicine and currently serves as Chair of the Department of Medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Physician-in-Chief, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia. He previously served as the Chief of the Division of Nephrology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. The principal investigator on multiple research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Gharavi has specific interests in the genetics of kidney diseases, including IgA nephropathy and congenital abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tract. His research has identified genes and risk loci for many kidney diseases and has demonstrated the utility of sequencing for the diagnosis and management of patients with kidney disorders. "Owing to the recent progress in genomic technologies, we now have the opportunity to make a precise genetic diagnosis for many patients and individualize care based on the specific molecular mechanism of disease. My objective is to therefore bring personalized genomic medicine from the laboratory into patient care," says Dr. Gharavi. As Department Chair, he aims to enhance access to genomic medicine for patients and reduce disparities for underserved populations. After receiving his medical degree from George Washington University, Dr. Gharavi completed his Internal medicine residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center and fellowships in hypertension and nephrology, also at Mount Sinai. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in human genetics at Yale University School of Medicine. He previously held academic appointments at Yale University School of Medicine and Mount Sinai School of Medicine and hospital appointments at Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Gharavi is the author of over 200 peer-reviewed publications and has led national and International committees related to genetic testing and research for kidney disorders. He was a recipient of the Judson Daland Prize for Outstanding Clinical Investigation from the American Philosophical Society, the National Kidney Foundation Clinical Scientist Award, and Homer Smith Award from the American Society of Nephrology. He was elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the American Association of Physicians.

Dr. Robin Goland, J. Merrill Eastman Professorship of Clinical Diabetes, Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at Columbia University, directs the patient care and clinical research programs at the Berrie Center. She was instrumental in establishing the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center in July 1998. Under the leadership of Dr. Goland and Berrie Center Co-Director Dr. Rudolph Leibel, the Berrie Center has become recognized nationally and internationally for excellence and innovation in patient care and research in diabetes. Dr. Goland has a B.A. from Harvard University and an M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons. She was a resident and chief medical resident at NY-Presbyterian Hospital and did her endocrinology research training at Columbia University.

Dr. Utpal Pajvani, Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology at Columbia University, is a physician-scientist with clinical and research focus in Type 2 Diabetes and related metabolic diseases. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in Biology in 1996, then earned MS (2001), MD (2005) and PhD (Department of Cell Biology, 2005) degrees from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Pajvani completed his internship and residency training and is board certified in Internal Medicine (2007) and fellowship in Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism (2011), both at the Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Pajvani has been on the faculty of Columbia University since 2011. He is a teaching attending on the inpatient and outpatient Endocrinology and General Medicine services of the New York Presbyterian Hospital, and sees patients at the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia University.