Andrew Mark Lippard Memorial Lecture

Lecture History

The Annual Andrew Mark Lippard Memorial Lecture was established in 1975 in memory of Professor and  Mrs. Stephen J. Lippard’s seven year-old son, Andrew Mark, who  had died of an acute encephalopathy two years  previously. The lecture series is co-sponsored by the Andrew Mark Lippard Memorial Fund, the Columbia MD-PhD Program, and the Department of Neurology.

Professor Lippard was a  member of the Department of Chemistry at Columbia at the time of his son’s death. Together with his wife, he established this annual lecture series to  stimulate studies on the cause and pathogenesis of  encephalopathic disease, particularly with respect  to viral components. The annual lecture is traditionally given each Autumn, as close as  possible to September 29th, the date of  Andrew Mark Lippard's death.

The first Lippard Lecturer was Dr. Philip R. Dodge.  Subsequent lecturers included prominent  virologists (e.g. Richard T. Johnson, Michael B.  Oldstone, Thomas C. Merigan). Topics began to vary more widely in 1982, with Leon E. Rosenberg,  Robert G. Schulman, and Stanley B. Pruisner. The scope of lecture topics has continued to evolve with the field.

A  complete list of Lippard Lecturers is provided on  the next slide. Of note, five former Lippard  Lecturers have subsequently won The Nobel Prize.

2023 Lecture: Please check back.


Joseph G. Gleeson, MD
Dr. Joseph G. Gleeson

Most recent 2022 Lecture Information:

“Gene-Environment Interactions and Precision Medicine in Pediatrics”

Joseph G. Gleeson, MD

Rady Professor of Neurosciences and Pediatrics University of California
San Diego and Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine

Dr. Joseph G. Gleeson is the Rady Professor of Neurosciences and Pediatrics at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), Director of Neurosciences at the Rady Children's Institute for Genomic Medicine, and Chief Medical Officer of the n-Lorem Foundation. His goal is to understand causes of pediatric brain diseases including autism, epilepsy and spina bifida, to improve outcomes.

The Gleeson lab has sequenced a cohort of 10,000 patients, and uncovered many causes of disease, including recessive and somatic mutations, and determined that many conditions have potential points of treatment. The n-Lorem Foundation seeks to develop and provide personalized antisense drugs to patients ‘for free, for life’.

Dr. Gleeson received an M.D. degree from the University of Chicago, residency in pediatrics and neurology at Children’s Hospital, Boston and research fellowship at Harvard Medical School. Awards include Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative Investigator, Howard Hughes Investigator, Klingenstein Award in the Neurosciences, the Searle Scholars Award, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Translational Research Award, and the Lieber Prize for Innovation in Developmental Neuroscience.  Dr. Gleeson was named a member of the National Academy of Medicine in 2013.


The Lippard Lectures: A Legacy in Neuroscience

For nearly four decades, the Andrew Mark Lippard Memorial Lecture Series has brought experts from across the field of neuroscience to Columbia University Irving Medical Center, to share and discuss the latest cutting-edge research. The list of past distinguished Lippard lecturers is a testament to Columbia's position at the forefront of new ideas and approaches to neurology.

See Past Lecturers

Supporting the Lippard Lectures

The Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons Department of Neurology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center remains a world leader in neurological research, patient care, and education thanks to the generous support of its friends and partners. If you would like to make a gift to support the Annual Andrew Mark Lippard Memorial Lecture Series, please visit our online giving page.

Selection Committee

Each year the featured Lippard lecturer is chosen by an interdisciplinary committee comprised of research leaders from across the medical center. Current committee members include:

  • Dritan Agalliu, PhD
  • Philip L. De Jager, MD, PhD
  • Michio Hirano, MD
  • Stephen Lippard, PhD (ex officio)
  • George Mentis, PhD
  • Serge Przedborski, MD, PhD (Chair)
  • Steven Reiner, MD
  • Jonathan Rosand, MD
  • Catherine Schevon, MD, PhD
  • Neil Shneider, MD, PhD
  • Ai Yamamoto, PhD

For more information, please email Tessa Bouche at thb2108@cumc.columbia.edu.