Advisory Council
Statement of Goals, Mission, and Purpose
Our Mission
The Center’s mission is to be on the forefront of radiological science and its applications in clinical medicine, public health, and national defense.
Who We Are
Our Council is comprised of philanthropists and professionals from wide-ranging sectors committed to assisting in the advancement of basic research into the fundamental nature of radiation and its effects. Our members have a strong interest to further the excellence for which Columbia University’s Center for Radiological Research (“CRR”) is known.
What We Do
Through regular meetings and collaboration with CRR faculty, we will: position the CRR as an internationally recognized, pre-eminent “go-to” resource for radiation research, application, practice, education, policy decisions, and press coverage; establish new sources of funding and expand existing funding sources; and further strengthen the PR program to build the CRR’s leadership position.
Our Goals
Our Council is committed to assisting the CRR in continuing to uphold its reputation as an international leader in radiation sciences. In support of this objective, it will support the CRR in its efforts to: continue cutting edge discovery and practical research in radiation sciences to benefit human health; educate the next generation of radiation scientists; and identify and protect against radiation uses and exposures that could harm human health and the environment, including national security and defense.
To Achieve Our Goals
We commit to work in partnership with the leadership of the CRR to empower and facilitate its efforts to: continue to solicit competitive research and development grants from federal, state, and local governments; seek out and obtain new sources of funding for CRR activities, including private foundations, businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and individual donors; recruit and educate talented, committed individuals for radiation educational programs; recruit and retain top scientific talent for the CRR; and proactively disseminate CRR knowledge through publications, social media, education, new devices, and inventions.
Chair
Paul Locke, JD, DrPH
Dr. Paul Locke is an environmental health scientist and attorney and a Professor at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, where he also chairs the Department’s Committee on Inclusion, Diversity, Anti-Racism and Equity (IDARE). He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board, and has served on ten NASEM committees, including the Committee on Lessons Learned from the Fukushima Nuclear Accident for Improving the Safety of US Nuclear Plants. He also chaired the NASEM Committee on Uranium Mining in Virginia.
Members
Leila Alland, MD
Dr. Leila Alland currently serves as the Chief Medical Officer of PMV Pharmaceuticals, a company dedicated to developing first-in-class p53 regulators for the treatment of cancer. A pediatric hematologist-oncologist and accomplished physician-scientist, she serves as a reviewer for the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. She has held leadership positions at Affimed, Tarveda, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis, and Schering-Plough, where she worked on a broad range of oncology products from early to late stage development and contributed to multiple successful drug approvals.
Armond Cohen, JD
Armond Cohen is co-founder and Executive Director of the Clean Air Task Force, a global environmental organization that focuses on commercializing low emission energy for a world that will need more. Armond's direct advocacy work focuses on scaling nuclear energy safely, and creating the policy and commercial conditions for potential future low carbon energy sources such as advanced geothermal and fusion. He is an honors graduate of Harvard Law School and Brown University.
Eric Goldstone, MBA
Eric Goldstone is a Columbia graduate (CC ’80) and an investment adviser with more than forty-five years of experience in wealth management and investment strategy. He is founder, principal shareholder, president, and chief investment strategist of Goldstone Portfolios Incorporated, an SEC-registered investment advisory practice providing discretionary portfolio management and supervisory services to individuals, families, trusts, charitable organizations, corporations, and businesses.
Eric began his career with Bankers Trust and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette before joining The Bank of New York at age 25 as its youngest-ever senior portfolio manager. He later served on the bank’s Investment Policy Committee, directed derivatives-trading for its Personal Investment Counsel division, and held senior investment roles with A.C. Israel Enterprises and The MDE Group, where, as Chief Investment Officer, he oversaw growth to more than $1 billion in assets under management. Eric earned an MBA in finance from New York University’s Graduate School of Business Administration.
Alan Jakimo, JD, MBA
Alan Jakimo is a senior counsel and retired partner in the New York office of the law firm Sidley Austin, LLP, one of the largest corporate law firms in the US, where he worked in the corporate, securities, venture, and technology fields, with an emphasis in the life science and information science industries. He is a Director of the Cancer Trust and member of the Advisory Board of the Genetics Policy Institute.
Heidi Levine, JD
Heidi Levine is a co-leader of Sidley’s Product Liability and Mass Torts practice. She represents clients in the pharmaceutical, medical device and toxic tort industries as lead national litigation counsel in the mass tort context, in coordinated or individual state and federal actions, as well as related litigation outside the U.S.
Terry Moore
Terry Moore is an author, entrepreneur, and philanthropist whose work explores the intersection of science and wellbeing. He is the founder of the Radius Foundation, which unites diverse worldviews; and The Unified Path, which transforms lives through wholeness. He is also the founder of BEACON40, a health technology company inspired by his wife’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease. His three TED talks have been viewed more than 17 million times. Terry received his Bachelor of Arts in General Studies at the University College of Ohio University.
Gareth Roberts, MA
Gareth Roberts has over 40 years of experience in the oil industry, working initially as a geologist for Texaco, Murphy Oil, and Coho Resources. In 1990, he founded Denbury Management, Inc., serving as its President and CEO from 1992 to 2009. He holds honors and master degrees in Geology from St. Edmund Hall, Oxford University, where he has been elected to an Honorary Fellowship and to its Chancellors Court of Benefactors.
Ray Rothrock, MSc, PhD
Trained as a nuclear engineer, Dr. Ray Rothrock has over two decades of experience as a venture capitalist, including an exemplary track record at Venrock, which led to his twice being named to the Forbes Midas List. He is currently Chairman and CEO of the enterprise cyber security company RedSeal, Inc. Harper Collins published his book, Digital Resilience, in 2018. In 2023, he was elected to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Thalia Taylor
Thalia Taylor is a scientist, entrepreneur, author, and translational strategist with a background spanning molecular biology, clinical laboratory science, and pharmaceutical research. She founded and led a clinical laboratory and has spent her career helping translate scientific innovation into real-world healthcare settings. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she was recruited by the State of North Carolina for her expertise in laboratory quality and regulatory oversight, helping expand access to molecular diagnostics during a period of unprecedented demand. As founder of Pinnacle Lab Solutions, she advises healthcare, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and wellness organizations, driving innovation at the intersection of regulation, implementation, and patient care.
P. Roy Vagelos, MD
- Honorary Member
Dr. P. Roy Vagelos is a biomedical scientist and former pharmaceutical executive. From 2005 to 2025, he served as Founding Chair of the Board of Advisors at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he received his medical degree in 1954. He is the retired Chairman of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, based in Tarrytown, NY, and former Chairman and CEO of Merck & Co.
Frances “Chip” X. Cameron, JD
- Emeritus Member
Chip Cameron is an attorney and conflict resolution expert with over thirty years of experience in the legal, policy, and technical aspects of the licensing and regulation of the use of nuclear materials, as well as with the preparation of environmental reviews for energy and natural resources projects under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Gerald Chan, MS, PhD
- Emeritus Member
Dr. Gerald Chan is the co-founder of Morningside Group, a private investment group with venture, private equity and property investments. He is also a trained radiobiologist and former research fellow at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Harvard University’s School of Public Health was named in honor of Dr. Chan’s late father, T.H. Chan, in Sept. 2014.
Conrad “CJ” DeSantis, JD, MBA
- Emeritus Member
C.J. DeSantis is co-founder and managing director at CounterPointe Energy Solutions, LLC, a firm providing long term capital for renewable energy systems and energy and water efficient products. He is a former managing director with Merrill Lynch & Co. with expertise in mortgage and federal agency finance.
Faculty Leaders
David J. Brenner, PhD, DSc
- Director, Center for Radiological Research
Dr. David Brenner is the Higgins Professor of Radiation Biophysics and Director of the Columbia University Center for Radiological Research and of the Radiological Research Accelerator Facility (RARAF). He has published more than 350 peer-reviewed papers.
Norman Kleiman, PhD, MS
- Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at CUMC
Dr. Norman Kleiman is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences in Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health where he directs its MS degree program in Radiological Sciences & Toxicology. He serves as an Associate/Academic Editor for the peer-reviewed journals, Current Molecular Medicine, Frontiers in Radiation and Health, SAGE Open, and PLOS One.
In Memoria
Howard I. London, Ph.D.
Herbert I. London, PhD was a founding member of the CRR Advisory Council. Dr. London had a distinguished career. Concurrently, he was president of the London Center for Policy Research, a conservative think tank organized to engage in research on the key policy issues of national security, energy, and risk analysis and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a think tank focused on domestic policy and urban affairs. Dr. London was also professor emeritus and the former John M. Olin Professor of Humanities at New York University where he was responsible for creating the Gallatin School in 1972, and served as dean until 1992.
G. Lynn Shostack, MBA
Lynn Shostack is the former president of Gardner Capital Corporation, a private investment firm specializing in real estate development and various global markets, and former owner, president, and chairman of Joyce International, Inc., which sold office furniture globally. She has held senior positions at Citibank and Bankers Trust Co.
