Dr. Lee Goldman to Lead the Columbia University Medical Center

April 10, 2006 

To the Columbia Community, our Friends, and Neighbors,

I am proud to introduce Lee Goldman, M.D., MPH, as our new executive vice president for Health and Biomedical Sciences and dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine. Dr. Goldman also will hold dual appointments as professor of medicine in the College of Physicians & Surgeons and professor of epidemiology in the Mailman School of Public Health. He will join the Columbia community in late June.

Dr. Goldman is recognized internationally as an expert in health outcomes research and public health. He currently serves as the Julius R. Krevans Distinguished Professor and Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs at the University of California in San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine, and chairs the school’s highly ranked Department of Medicine, the leader in National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants and contracts. Prior to joining UCSF in 1995, he was a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. He was also vice chair of the Department of Medicine and later chief medical officer at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and a member of the operating committee of the Partners Healthcare System, all in Boston.

For our great urban university, with its distinguished traditions of teaching, research, and public service, Dr. Goldman’s appointment is especially exciting. He has proven himself to be an extraordinary leader in the world of academic medicine at two peer institutions, ably bringing together the highest quality medical care for patients, path-breaking research, a commitment to the wider community, and the kind of effective management that is so essential to the success of large academic medical centers. At Columbia, Dr. Goldman will head a medical center that spans four health sciences professional schools with more than 2,000 full-time faculty and 3,300 students enrolled in 86 departments and programs, and includes 64 centers and institutes, some 40 biomedical research and treatment centers, and physician practice affiliations with two dozen hospitals.

Dr. Goldman is a pioneer in the application of statistical analysis to key areas of clinical medicine. His research has focused on the costs and effectiveness of diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, with special emphasis on how care delivery can be improved based on rigorous clinical assessment using the latest analytical methods. Dr. Goldman has developed innovative predictive models used by clinical investigators and practicing physicians throughout the world. These include the Goldman Index for assessing cardiac risk involved in non-cardiac surgeries, the Goldman Criteria for identifying patients who require hospitalization for chest pain, and the Coronary Heart Disease Policy Model, which established priorities for preventing and treating coronary disease. In San Francisco, he also created the first “hospitalist” program – academic training for physicians who specialize in providing care for hospitalized patients.

A cardiologist by training, Dr. Goldman received his undergraduate and medical degrees at Yale University, where he also earned a master’s degree in public health (MPH). He fulfilled his internship and residency at UCSF and at Massachusetts General Hospital, followed by a clinical fellowship in cardiology at Yale University School of Medicine.

Dr. Goldman’s wife, Jill S. Goldman, M.S., MPhil, is a clinician, educator, and researcher. She has been a genetic counselor in the UCSF Department of Neurology and an assistant clinical professor in the UCSF School of Nursing. Her focus is on patient care and research aspects of hereditary adult-onset neurological diseases, such as dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). She has coordinated genetic research and genetic risk assessment and has taught nursing students specializing in genomics.

Dr. Goldman succeeds renowned neurobiologist Gerald D. Fischbach, M.D., who last year announced his plans to step down in order to focus on his research in neuroscience. Gerry’s leadership over the past five years has advanced the Medical Center’s mission in countless ways, maintained the highest academic standards, and earned the admiration and affection of all his colleagues. Dr. Goldman will lead the Columbia University Medical Center at a moment when it is positioned to achieve new levels of excellence in care, teaching, research, and public service.

Please join me in welcoming Dr. Lee Goldman to the Columbia community.

Sincerely,

Lee C. Bollinger