EVP for Health and Biomedical Sciences, CEO of Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and Dean of the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

Columbia University seeks an exceptional, nationally recognized academic medicine leader to serve as the next Executive Vice President for Health and Biomedical Sciences, Chief Executive Officer of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and Dean of the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (EVP/Dean). This is an extraordinary opportunity to lead Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) at a consequential moment for academic medicine and to shape the future of one of the world’s most distinguished academic health sciences enterprises. The EVP/Dean will provide leadership across CUIMC and the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S), advancing excellence across research, education, clinical care, and community health while bringing together the extraordinary intellectual and clinical strengths of Columbia University and its longstanding clinical partner, NewYork-Presbyterian (NYP). This next leader will be called upon to articulate a bold, collaborative vision for CUIMC’s future and strengthen connections across its missions, schools, and the larger university. They will also cultivate the trust, partnerships, and resources necessary to translate Columbia’s scientific excellence into meaningful advances in human health.

CUIMC enters this search from a position of strength. This leader will oversee an institution that is poised to lead development of the clinical care model of the future, continue pioneering breakthrough research, elevate education in response to a rapidly changing profession, and advance community health through partnership. Its clinical enterprise reaches patients at more than 100 sites across the tri-state area with $1.9 billion in patient care revenue in FY25, accounting for 26 percent of the University’s operating budget. Columbia’s provider workforce has grown 50 percent since 2010 to support this clinical growth. The educational mission similarly is on a strong path: the VP&S MD program recently received full LCME accreditation for the maximum eight-year term, and its 2026 graduating class achieved a 100 percent match rate.

Discovery is central to Columbia's identity, and VP&S is the recipient of more than $500 million in external funding in FY2025, representing an increase of $223 million, or 79 percent, from FY2015. The institution is advancing cutting-edge work spanning gene and cell therapies, artificial intelligence, cancer, rare diseases, translational science, among other areas of biomedical discovery. The Irving Institute's $75 million CTSA grant was renewed in June 2026, while new investments include the Vagelos Innovation Laboratories, described as New York City's first all-electric biomedical research building, with state-of-the-art laboratories and spaces designed to encourage collaboration.

The next EVP/Dean also arrives at a significant moment in the evolution of Columbia's clinical enterprise and its relationship with NYP. This partnership, which shares a history stretching back more than a century, is the essential clinical platform for Columbia’s patient care, research, and educational missions. Columbia, NYP, and Weill Cornell Medicine are engaged in a combined strategic planning process focused on patient-centered, sustainable growth.

Reporting to the President and working collaboratively with the University’s senior leadership, CUIMC’s other deans and department chairs, trustees, NYP leadership, faculty, donors, and community partners, the EVP/Dean will be charged with articulating a bold vision for the future of CUIMC. The EVP/Dean will have the opportunity to extend and strengthen Columbia’s leadership by recruiting and developing exceptional talent; investing strategically in research, clinical programs, and infrastructure; expanding ambulatory care and Columbia’s reach across the broader New York market; sustaining excellence in education; leveraging the Columbia-NYP partnership; building greater integration across CUIMC and the University; and expanding philanthropy and investment capacity. Central to this mandate will be identifying the areas in which Columbia can invest to achieve international distinction while preserving the integration of science and clinical medicine that is fundamental to its identity. Candidates must have an MD, MD/PhD, or equivalent clinical doctoral degree, be board-certified in their specialty, have a record commensurate with appointment at the rank of Professor with tenure, and be eligible for licensure as a physician in the State of New York.

Please direct all inquiries, nominations, and applications to Isaacson, Miller, the national executive search firm assisting with the search. All replies will be held in strict confidence. Correspondence and applications, which should include a CV and letter of interest, should be submitted below.

Ariannah Mirick and John Muckle are leading this search with Jane McInerney and Ethan Thomas.

Columbia University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer.