The CSCI trainee council is excited to present ABCs: Academia – Babies – Challenges – Support
We have invited faculty members and post-docs from the greater CSCI community to share with us their personal experiences, challenges, and tips balancing work in academia and having children. The program will include Q&A with our panelists, a brief presentation by the Office of Work/Life to share some resources available to the Columbia community, and a roundtable/casual discussion. No matter if you have children or how you are building your family, all are welcome and encouraged to attend!
- Interested in hearing the inspiring personal stories of successful scientist parents?
- Are you a PI and want to learn how to best support your trainees with children?
- Do you have children and want to share your own stories, challenges, and successes?
- Are you thinking of having children?
This event is for YOU!
Date: Thursday, November 18
Time: 11:30 AM
For more info & to send questions in advance: ll3129@cumc.columbia.edu
Panelists:
Amelie Collins, MD-PhD - Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Since finishing medical training, Amelie has been an attending physician in the NICU, hence her title as Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, with the majority of her time spent performing mentored research in the lab of Emmanuelle Passegué. She functions as a post-doc in the lab, but has additional professional obligations as a physician outside of that. Amelie has a 5 year old daughter that she had during the last year of her clinical training as a Neonatology fellow.
Sharon Fleischer, PhD - Postdoctoral Research Scientist in the Department of Biomedical Engineering
Sharon is a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in Dr. Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic’s research group. Sharon received her B.Sc in Biotechnology at Tel-Aviv University, Israel in 2011 and her Ph.D in Biomedical Engineering in Dr. Tal Dvir’s at Tel-Aviv University in 2017. In 2017, she started her postdoctoral training supported by the Rothschild Fellowship. Sharon has a 2-year-old daughter, Liri, who she had during her postdoctoral training.
Arnold Han, MD, PhD - Robert F. Loeb Assistant Professor of Medicine and Microbiology and Immunology
Arnold received his MD and PhD degrees from Mount Sinai School of Medicine then completed his Internal Medicine residency and Gastroenterology fellowship at Stanford University. After completing his clinical fellowship, he also pursued postdoctoral research training at Stanford, during which time he and his wife Kelley became parents of triplets. He now serves as the Robert F. Loeb Assistant Professor of Medicine and Microbiology and Immunology and is now father of 4 children: triplets who just turned 7 and a 2 year old boy he had during his early faculty years
Chao Lu, PhD - Assistant Professor of Genetics and Development
Chao received his Ph.D. from University of Pennsylvania, where he worked in the laboratory of Dr. Craig Thompson. He then joined the laboratory of Dr. C. David Allis at the Rockefeller University. In 2018, he was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Genetics and Development and the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at CUIMC. Chao has two sons (ages 6 and 3). His older child was born at the beginning of his postdoc fellowship, and the younger one was born not too long after he came to Columbia.
Joanna Smeeton, PhD - H.K. Corning Assistant Professor Rehabilitation and Regenerative Medicine Research
Joanna is the H. K. Corning Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine Research and is also affiliated with the department of Genetics and Development. She received her PhD from the University of Toronto (SickKids), performed her postdoctoral training in the lab of Gage Crump at the University of Southern California (USC Stem Cell), and established her lab at Columbia in January 2020. She is a mom of 5-year-old boy/girl twins that she had during the third year of her postdoc.
Kelley Yan, MD, PhD - Warner-Lambert Assistant Professor of Medicine (in the Columbia Center for Human Development) and Assistant Professor of Genetics and Development
Kelley received her MD and PhD degrees from Mount Sinai School of Medicine then completed her Internal Medicine residency and Gastroenterology fellowship at Stanford University. After completing her clinical fellowship, she also pursued postdoctoral research training at Stanford, during which time she and her husband Arnold had triplets. She currently serves as Warner-Lambert Assistant Professor of Medicine (in the Columbia Center for Human Development) and Assistant Professor of Genetics and Development at CUIMC. She is mother of 4 children: triplets who just turned 7 and a 2 year old boy she had during her early faculty years.