Columbia University Announces New Chair Of Department Of Physiology And Cellular Biophysics
New York, NY – March 5, 2003 – Columbia University’s College of Physicians & Surgeons (P&S) has named Andrew Marks, M.D., chair of the Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics at P&S. Dr. Marks succeeds Dr. Samuel Silverstein, who chaired the department for 20 years.
“We are pleased to announce that Dr. Marks has accepted the position as chair,” says Gerald Fischbach, M.D., executive vice president for Health and Biomedical Sciences and dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Columbia University. “He is an outstanding researcher, teacher, and physician, and brings a wealth of experience to the Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, as well as to Columbia’s Health Sciences community.”
In addition to serving as chairman, Dr. Marks will retain his roles as the Clyde and Helen Wu Professor of Molecular Cardiology, professor of medicine, director of the Center for Molecular Cardiology at Columbia, and attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
“I couldn’t be happier with this decision,” says former chairman Dr. Silverstein. “Dr. Marks had proven to be an enthusiastic researcher and the department will benefit from his experience and continue to do well under his leadership.”
Dr. Marks graduated from Amherst College in 1976 and received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1980. Following an internship and residency in internal medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) he completed two years of post-doctoral training in molecular genetics at Harvard Medical School and two years of clinical cardiology fellowship at MGH. After his training, Dr. Marks joined the Cardiology Division at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital where he remained for three years before returning to his hometown, New York, in 1990 as assistant professor of molecular biology and medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. In 1995, he was named the Fishberg Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Two years later, he moved to Columbia University College of Physician & Surgeons and became director of the Center for Molecular Cardiology and the Clyde and Helen Wu Professor of Molecular Cardiology. In 2002, Dr. Marks was named editor-in-chief of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
“I am pleased to accept the position as chair of the Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics,” says Dr. Marks. “I look forward to working with the esteemed faculty of the department and helping to translate the important research taking place here into viable technologies and clinical treatments.”
Dr. Marks’ own research has contributed important novel insights concerning the molecular mechanisms underlying two of the major cardiovascular conditions – heart failure and coronary artery stent restenosis, or re-clogging of the artery after angioplasty. In both areas, his basic and translational studies have led to the development of novel therapeutics, including the rapamycin-coated stents for coronary artery disease that have substantially reduced the incidence of coronary artery stent restenosis in patients.
Dr. Marks has received many honors including an Established Investigatorship Award from the American Heart Association, membership in the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, and the Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
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