Jacqueline Yuey Lonier, MD

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.

Dr. Vargas specializes in Pediatric Endocrinology and is an engaged educator. Dr Vargas joined our faculty in 1998. She has played an active role in the clinical care of pediatric patients with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes at the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center (NBDC), where she was an integral part in the establishment of its Pediatric component. Her work has focused on curriculum development for patient education in diabetes management and most recently in nutrition education. These efforts include hands-on and virtual cooking demonstrations as well as contributing to the NBDC monthly newsletter topics such as incorporating healthful foods and treats that can help maintain or improve blood sugar control. Dr Vargas participated in the establishment of a Pediatric Obesity Center, now called the Program for Overweight Education and Reduction (POWER) Clinic. She is involved in several ongoing clinical trials; recruiting patients from the community to participate in efforts to promote and study changes in lifestyle and their effect on childhood obesity. Dr. Vargas received a Master of Science in Nutrition at the Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University 2/2017. Her thesis research addressed childhood obesity prevention and management in an academic teaching center with a specific focus on resident education. Her findings lead to her involvement in curricular development for the medical student Pediatric Clerkship curriculum in nutrition and obesity which commenced July 2017. She is also co-chairing a committee on Developing a Pediatric Residency Training Curriculum in Nutrition and Obesity since 2018. Dr. Vargas and Dr. John Rausch worked with two residents on their scholarly projects on Culinary Medicine and focusing on the concept of Food as Medicine and are working on integrating their findings to improve outpatient care. In addition, she is involved with Kyle Murray, RD, CDE from NYP-CHALK in giving a monthly nutrition education workshop to the pediatric residents during their outpatient clinical rotation “Social Determinants of Health, Food Insecurity and Introduction to Culinary Medicine” where the residents get to do hands-on cooking demonstrations. She truly feels that Nutrition in our current environment needs to be well taught and that improving our diet quality can prevent and treat diseases such as diabetes. She is currently pursuing a Culinary Medicine Specialist Certification with expected completion spring 2021.

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.