Meet the 3 Women Who Have Guided Columbia Through the Pandemic
Melanie Bernitz, Wafaa El-Sadr, and Donna Lynne have led a comprehensive response for Columbia University to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As we near the somber one-year anniversary of COVID-19 hitting New York City and mark the start of Women's History Month, Columbia News profiles three remarkable women who have ushered and buoyed our community through this pandemic from the very start.
Columbia’s data clearly shows that the testing and the tracing programs have made a difference. We are far below New York City's numbers as well as those in the surrounding areas. The rapidity of our process has broken chains of infection.
—Melanie Bernitz, senior vice president of Columbia Health
My experience at Columbia through the past several decades has enabled me to identify the key problems that we face as a global community and to build partnerships across disciplines and interests to shape scalable solutions.
—Wafaa El-Sadr, University Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine, director of Columbia World Projects, and founder and director of ICAP
We had to become a cohesive and flexible team as things changed rapidly. We needed consistent policies, procedures, and protocols. We also had to manage fear and anxiety, which could only be accomplished through communication and transparency.
—Donna Lynne, senior vice president and chief operating officer, Columbia University Irving Medical Center