History

The fund provides a permanent endowment to support clinical research at the medical Center, and establishes the Herbert and Florence Irving Center for Clinical Research at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center that consolidates previously scattered units. Mr. Irving is a co-founder of Sysco Corporation, a leading national food distribution group, and he and Mrs. Irving, having been treated at CPMC on a number of occasions, expressed their commitment "to give honor and recognition to our own personal physicians by establishing incentives for young physician-investigators to embark on a career of clinical research."

Dr. Ginsberg, who is the Tilden-Weger-Bieler Professor of Medicine and Associate Director of the Irving Center, replaces Dr. Robert Canfield, Irving Professor of Medicine, who had been the director since the center's opening.  Upon Dr. Canfield’s retirement, Dr. Ginsberg assumes the role of Director and the title of Irving Professor.

A new community resource center opens to promote health literacy and clinical trials education. The newly renovated 1800-square-foot center located at 390 Fort Washington Avenue features a bilingual health library, computers for community members to search for health information; and features exam rooms, and a conference room designed as a site for health promotion and disease prevention lectures, focus group meetings, and related events.

As one of 10 academic institutions nationwide to receive renewed CTSA program funding, Columbia University and the Irving Institute receives $38.9 million to help translate science into treatment. During this same year, NCRR is abolished as part of an NIH reorganization and was replaced by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). As the newest of 27 Institutes and Centers at NIH, NCATS is established to transform the translational science process so that new treatments and cures for disease can be delivered to patients faster.

The Irving Institute receives a new 5-year, $58.4 million CTSA grant from NIH. Along with two previous grants, of $54.1 million in 2006 and $38.9 million in 2011, the Irving Institute received more than $151 million in CTSA Program funding.

Columbia University and NewYork-Presbyterian announce the naming of the Columbia University Herbert and Florence Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

After more than 22 years as Director of the Irving Center and then the Irving Institute, Henry N. Ginsberg, MD steps down. Dr. Ginsberg remains active in the Irving Institute as Director of the Pilot Award Program and the Predoctoral/Postdoctoral Training Program.

Muredach P. Reilly, MB, MS becomes Director and Principal Investigator of the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. Dr. Reilly joined the Irving Institute as Director Designate in 2016 from University of Pennsylvania.

In 2017, the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research formed an Opioid Crisis Response Initiative. In 2020, this culminated in the Columbia Center for Healing of Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders—Intervention Development and Implementation (CHOSEN), founded on a cross-disciplinary collaboration among Columbia’s School of Social Work, the Department of Psychiatry Division on Substance Use Disorders, and the Irving Institute, to focus on the negative health consequences caused by opioid and other substance use disorders.

Dr. Marisa Spann & Dr. Jacquelyn Taylor join the Training and Nurturing Scholars for Research that is Multidisciplinary (TRANSFORM) resource, led by Daichi Shimbo, MD, Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean of Research Career Development. The TL1 program, previously led by Dr. Henry Ginsberg for many years, offers a two-year program of research and didactic training for predoctoral students and post-doctoral fellows.