Daichi Shimbo, MD, and Rachel Shelton, ScD, MPH, named co-directors of the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research

We are pleased to announce that Daichi Shimbo, MD, and Rachel Shelton, ScD, MPH, will join Muredach Reilly, MBBCh, MSCE, and Harold Pincus, MD, as co-directors of the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. The arrival of Drs. Shelton and Shimbo will further the institute’s mission to advance discoveries, knowledge, and innovation to improve human health across the lifespan. This leadership team will build collaborative efforts throughout the university, local communities, and national networks. Dr. Shimbo’s guidance in workforce development and mentorship of clinical and translational researchers and Dr. Shelton’s expertise in implementation science, community engagement, and health equity research, will strengthen the broad efforts of the institute for years to come.

Dr. Shimbo is an internationally recognized physician-scientist, tenured professor of medicine, and associate dean of research career development at VP&S. He co-directs the Columbia Hypertension Center, a multi-disciplinary center of excellence that provides high-quality care and state-of-the-art diagnostic testing for patients with hypertension. Dr. Shimbo’s clinical interests include the accurate diagnosis and treatment of hypertension and evaluating the cardiovascular manifestations of hypertension. His rigorous, innovative, and interdisciplinary research has increased the understanding of behavioral, psychosocial, and biological processes in the pathogenesis of the increased cardiovascular disease risk associated with hypertension. Since 2018, Dr. Shimbo has served as director of the Irving Institute’s training and education resource, TRaining And Nurturing Scientists FOr Research that is Multidisciplinary (TRANSFORM), and he will continue as the scientific and administrative leader of TRANSFORM.

Dr. Shelton is a cancer researcher and social/behavioral scientist, and a tenured associate professor of sociomedical sciences at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health. She has more than 15 years of experience leading research on advancing the implementation and sustainability of evidence-based interventions to address health inequities in cancer and other chronic diseases. As deputy chair for faculty development and research strategy in sociomedical sciences, Dr. Shelton is widely known for her collaborative leadership and mentorship in implementation science across CUIMC, the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) national networks, and internationally through diverse training programs. Dr. Shelton has served as a co-director of the Community Engagement Core Resource and director of the Implementation Science Initiative within the Irving Institute since 2018. She will continue to support their core leadership and mission while expanding dissemination and implementation science activities across all Irving Institute programs and processes.

Drs. Reilly, Pincus, Shimbo, and Shelton will oversee the institute’s broad strategies for translational and implementation science to address barriers to clinical and translational research, while providing solutions to improve the research processes across the Irving Institute, CUIMC, NewYork-Presbyterian, and numerous partners locally and nationally.

Please join me in congratulating Drs. Shimbo and Shelton on their appointments, which will continue to strengthen and develop our research enterprise at the institute and across the university.

Sincerely,

James McKiernan, MD
Interim Dean, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
CEO, ColumbiaDoctors

Muredach Reilly, MBBCh, MSCE
Vice Dean for Clinical and Translational Research, VP&S
Director, Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research