Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUMC) appointed Dr. Rafael Lantigua to be the first director of the newly created VP&S Office of Community Service Programs. The office expands the commitment of the university’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) to community service, with a focus on the Washington Heights/Inwood community, Upper Manhattan, and parts of the Bronx, where large Dominican populations live.
Dr. Lantigua is a professor of Medicine at CUMC and will have the additional title of associate dean for community service in VP&S. Dr. Lantigua is a native of the Dominican Republic and faculty member at Columbia since 1980. He has been a dean’s special adviser for community health affairs since 2011.
Dr. Lantigua’s clinical and research interest has focused on promoting the health of the diverse community in upper Manhattan and improving access to care for the community’s growing aging population.
Columbia University reports that within the new office, Dr. Lantigua will also facilitate the creation of a new VP&S Academy of Community and Public Service to recognize medical school faculty who make substantial contributions to the community and public health. The academy will be modeled after two other VP&S academies, the Virginia Apgar Academy of Medical Educators and the Academy of Clinical Excellence.
The new VP&S Office of Community Service Programs will be housed in the medical school within the Office of Government and Community Affairs, which is under the direction of Associate Dean Ross Frommer. However, it also will be closely aligned with community programs at the Mailman School of Public Health, School of Nursing, College of Dental Medicine, and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Full programming for the new office, which will include health fairs and student learning opportunities, will be announced this fall.
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Columbia University
Columbia University
23 May 2019