Dorothy Sippo Named Vice Chair of Informatics

Dorothy Sippo, MD, MPH, has been named vice chair of informatics for the Department of Radiology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S).

Sippo is a respected informaticist and board-certified radiologist with subspecialty training in breast imaging. She is coming from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she was an associate professor of radiology served as vice chair of informatics for the Department of Radiology. She previously served on the faculty at Yale School of Medicine and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). She will join Columbia as an associate professor of radiology on August 28, 2024.

“We are excited to welcome Dr. Sippo to our faculty at Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian," said Ajay Gupta, MD, MS, professor of radiology and chair of the Department of Radiology. "Dr. Sippo brings extensive expertise in clinical informatics to our Columbia Radiology team, with a particular focus on creating tools that help physicians learn continuously from patient outcomes. Her leadership experience and innovative research in this field will substantially enhance our ability to translate advanced informatics tools into our clinical practice, ultimately benefiting the patients we serve.”

Sippo's extensive experience includes the development and implementation of an automated feedback system for breast imaging radiologists at MGH, an innovation that led to a measurable improvement in mammography performance metrics across the division. She also applied informatics methods to develop breast MRI research databases at Brigham and Women’s and MGH.

In this inaugural role, Sippo will be integral to the ongoing implementation of artificial intelligence tools into clinical workflows, an area where radiology is a leader among medical specialties. She will work closely with Columbia’s new Center for Innovation in Imaging Biomarkers and Integrated Diagnostics, a multidisciplinary center led by Despina Kontos, PhD, which is dedicated to developing and integrating quantitative imaging and non-imaging biomarkers for disease prediction.

Sippo has been recognized with numerous awards and honors, including the Association of University Radiologists GE Radiology Research Academic Fellowship (GERRAF) Award. She is a fellow of the Society of Breast Imaging (SBI).

Sippo received her medical degree from New Jersey Medical School and completed a diagnostic radiology residency at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. She completed a combined breast imaging and imaging informatics fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, as well as a Master of Public Health at Harvard School of Public Health.