Gray Matters At Columbia

Gray Matters at Columbia
Spring Benefit Luncheon
On Monday, May 12, Oscar-nominated actress Glenn Close, together with noted fashion designer Dana Buchman were honored at the Gray Matters at
Columbia Spring Benefit Luncheon at The Plaza Hotel. The more than 400 guests surpassed last year’s fundraising effort, raising $538,000.
Each year, Gray Matters at Columbia honors an individual who has made significant
contributions to promote brain research on mental illness. Both Ms. Close and Ms. Buchman
have established themselves as advocates for greater access to mental health services.
Past honorees at the Spring Benefit Luncheon include Andrew Solomon, Gwyneth Paltrow,
Congressman Patrick Kennedy, Paula Zahn, Anne Ford, Jane Pauley and Dick Cavett.
Ms. Close has spoken openly about her family’s experience with mental illness and that insight
was the catalyst for Bring Change 2 Mind, which aims to end stigma and discrimination
surrounding mental illness. It was difficulty accessing resources for her child that led Ms.
Buchman to found the Promise Project, which helps underserved children with learning
disabilities get the services they need.
Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, chairman of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center, noted,
“Research continues to be critical in advancing the development of life-saving treatments for
psychiatric disorders. Support from families and committed citizens is more important than
ever given the economic pressures and reductions in funding that researchers face.”
Andrew Solomon, Glenn Close, Jeffrey Lieberman, Dana
Buchman, Rosemarie Lieberman, Jill Goldman, Lee Goldman
Also honored was Giuseppe Bruno, owner of the celebrated Italian restaurant Sistina, Mr.
Bruno, who was given a special Advocacy Award, has hosted events to support brain trauma
and stress disorder research at Columbia Psychiatry.
Funds raised by the luncheon support research fellowships to help young scientists pursuing
brain research to help solve the mystery of serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia, bipolar
disorder, depression and autism. The chosen fellows benefit from the multidisciplinary
expertise of a peerless team of clinicians and scientists that includes two Nobel laureates.
The 2013-14 Gray Matters Fellows are Sidney Hankerson, MD (Depression); Amir Levine, MD
(Addiction, Adolescent Brain Development); Rachel Marsh, PhD (Pediatric Neuroimaging); and
Holly Moore, PhD (Schizophrenia).
As Featured in New York Social Diary
May, 2014
Charlotte Ford, Jeffrey Lieberman, Anne Ford
Giuseppe Bruno, Jeffrey Lieberman
Linda Coleman, Andrea McNulty, Kathy Ambrosiano, Laura
DeLuca, Patricia Ramonas, Claire Renga
Farah Moinian, Glenn Close, Stephanie Moinian,
Vajihe Soleymani, Vanda Tuberga
Lila Alizadeh, Sarah Long Solomon, Audrey Dinkeloo,
Nina Matza, Nancy Feinglass
Petra Stelling, Rosemarie Lieberman,
Jeffrey Lieberman, Vanessa Timken-Stelling
Andrew Solomon, Glenn Close,
Jeffrey Lieberman
Jeffrey Lieberman, George Handran,
Jerry Finkel
Shahzad Moghaddam, Lea Cohen, Ania Nassimi, Shirin Moinian,
Shifra Mokhtarzadeh, Shifra Mokhtarzadeh, Edna Shamsian
Rosemarie Lieberman, Jerry Finkel,
George Handran, Annette Swanstrom
Rosemarie Lieberman, Mary Elliot,
Ginny Millhiser, Mary Goldschmid
Sarah Long Solomon, Jeffrey Lieberman, Sarah Billinghurst
Betsy Kahn, Lori Rosenfeld, Diane Finnerty
Patricia Rosenwald, Jane Heffner
James Capozzi, Farah Moinian
Lyanne Saperstein, Jeffrey Lieberman, Astrid Fleischhacker,
Claudia Jackman, Rosemarie Lieberman
Brigitt Rok, Lyn Paulsin
Charlotte Farber, Dana Buchman
Ginny Millhiser, Charlotte Ford, Jeffrey Lieberman,
Monica Sagner, Anne Ford
Jill Goldman, Lee Goldman, Glenn Close, Andrew Solomon,
Dana Buchman, Charlotte Faber, Donna Hanover
Phillippa Burke, Patricia Ramonas
Giuseppe Bruno, Marianne Mebane
Lisa Gentil, Teresa Melhado, Rosemarie Lieberman,
Brigitt Rok, Mary Elliot
Monica Sagner, Karen Hsu, Maria Esperanza Hernandez
Claudia Jackman, Marianne Mebane, Marilyn Friedland,
Rosemarie Lieberman, Monica Sagner, Ana de Azevedo
Karen Hsu, Annette Swanstrom,
Masako Shinn, Monica Sagner
Rosemarie Lieberman, Steven Rosenfeld, Lori Rosenfeld
Claudia McNulty-Jensen, Joe Jensen, Jennifer Buckner
Kitty de Chazal, Elena Paterson, Elizabeth Hoguet
Michael Tusiani, Giuseppe Bruno
Kelly Posner, Farah Moinian,
Patricia Ramonas
Patricia Rosenwald, Frederic Adler
Patsy Kahn, Dana Buchman
Jeanine Ramonas, Patricia Ramonas,
Jennifer Weis Monsky
Lisa Gentil, Teresa Melhado
Jeffrey Lieberman, Betina Farkas, Leonardo Farkas
Betina Farkas, Leonardo Farkas
Jeffrey Lieberman, Glenn Close,
Sarah Long Solomon, Andrew Solomon
Farah Moinian, Monica Sagner, Rosemarie Lieberman, Vajihe
Soleymani, Shirin Moinian, Charlotte Kashani
Monica Sagner, Patricia Ramonas,
Rosemarie Liberman, Marilyn Friedland