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Julianne Imperato-McGinley MD, Associate Dean for Translational Research and Education is the Director and Principal Investigator of the CTSC. Dr. Imperato-McGinley is the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Distinguished Professor of Medicine in Endocrinology, and past Program Director of the Clinical Research Center, and Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. She is a clinical and translational researcher with over 25 years of NIH funding. Her landmark paper, first published in Science in 1974, defined a previously unrecognized clinical disorder - inherited 5a-reductase deficiency. Eventually the clinical implications of her research were translated into treatment of human disease; the development of the first medical therapy (finasteride) for prostate enlargement, and subsequently, for the treatment of male-pattern baldness. Her classic studies, involving androgen physiology and its effect on the body and brain were the first to significantly challenge the widely held view that gender is socially acquired. Much of her work is included in standard textbooks of endocrinology, psychology, urology and medicine. She is an elected member of the American Association of Physicians for her contributions to clinical research. In April 2005 she was awarded the EH Ahrens Award in Clinical Research.
Dr. Imperato-McGinley also has a long history of training and mentoring students from high school to MDs in fellowship training, particularly second-year endocrine fellows in their patient-oriented research projects. She is the Program Director of the K-30 Masters Program in Clinical Investigation, a recipient of two Empire State Investigator Grants for mentoring, and is the PI on a T32 endocrine training grant. She worked with the Dean to establish a prize for excellence in clinical research and served on the Medical Student Research Awards Committee for over 10 years and as chairperson for 4 years and is Program Director of the NIH funded K30 /Masters in Clinical Investigation.
Dr. Imperato-McGinley works closely with the Academic Deans of the Medical College and Graduate Schools and Heads of all partner institutions to ensure coordination across disciplines, schools, other institutions, and affiliated hospitals. She is a strong advocate for the program and strives to develop further core concepts that will make the program distinctive.
To assist the Program Director in this complex process, two faculty members serve as Coordinating Program Directors (CPDs). They come from different partnering institutions and have different areas of expertise. They are experienced investigators with backgrounds that complement those of the PD. These diverse areas of expertise will allow comprehensive oversight of all key functions while providing optimal assistance. They are Craig Kent, MD, WMC, and Mary Crow, MD, HSS.
Mary Crow, MD is Professor of Medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Benjamin M. Rosen Professor of Autoimmunity and Inflammation Research, Senior Scientist, and Director of Rheumatology Research at Hospital for Special Surgery. She is also Co-Director of the Mary Kirkland Center for Lupus Research and was previously the Director of the Immunology Graduate Program at Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences. Dr. Crow received her MD at Cornell, Internal Medicine and Rheumatology subspecialty training at New York Hospital, and post-doctoral research training at Rockefeller University.
Dr. Crow’s first research contribution was the observation that T lymphocytes can be activated by autologous antigen presenting cells and generate immunosuppressive T cell activity. While at Rockefeller University, in the laboratory of Dr. Henry Kunkel, she was among the first to characterize and study the functional properties of human dendritic cells. At the Hospital for Special Surgery, Dr. Crow investigates the underlying triggers and mediators of autoimmunity in the prototype rheumatic diseases, SLE and rheumatoid arthritis, and the cellular and cytokine mediators of uncontrolled immune system activation in those disorders. She studied the effects of superantigens on T cell-dependent immune responses; characterized the oligoclonal T cells that comprise the cellular infiltrate in the rheumatoid synovium; studied the functional consequences for B lymphocytes of cognate help from T cells; and demonstrated the altered regulation of CD40 ligand in lupus T cells. Her most recent work defined the role of interferon-alpha in systemic lupus erythematosus.
Dr. Crow has been active in leadership roles in professional organizations and foundations. Most recently she was President of the American College of Rheumatology from 2005-2006.
K. Craig Kent, MD, Professor of Surgery at WMC, is a renowned vascular surgeon and influential investigator in areas of basic, translational and clinical research. With an ultimate goal to provide better treatment for patients, Dr. Kent devotes his research efforts to understand the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of vascular diseases, in particular atherosclerosis, restenosis and aneurysms. His current basic research, funded by two R01 grants from the NIH and grants from numerous foundations, explores the fundamentals of normal and abnormal behavior of vascular cells including intracellular signaling and gene regulation. In his effort to bridge laboratory research and patient care, Dr. Kent has initiated studies, in collaboration with a number of clinicians, scientists and engineers, to develop new therapeutic tools such as non-viral gene carriers, bio-degradable synthetic grafts and adult stem cell technology to treat vascular disease. Dr. Kent’s 13 member vascular division is also involved in over 15 clinical trials of new devices and drugs to treat patients with vascular disease.
Dr. Kent is dedicated to training the next generation of vascular surgeons and scientists. He is the Program Director of two multi-institutional T32 training grants, providing research training to postdoctoral fellows (MDs and/or PhDs) in the broad disciplines of basic and translational vascular biology as well as injury biology. He has authored or co-authored over 200 manuscripts and chapters that have been published in peer-reviewed journals and textbooks and is regularly invited to speak at local, national, and international scientific meetings. He has been elected the 2006-07 President of the Society for Vascular Surgery, and is on the editorial board or an associate editor of number of scientific journals.
