A Message from the Director
Welcome to the Drukier Institute for Children’s Health. Our mission is to accelerate research discovery from the bedside to the bench and back with the ultimate goal of improving the lives of children.
I am a pediatric rheumatologist by training with long-standing experience in translational research, and I am delighted for the opportunity to be the Founding Director of the Drukier Institute. For more than twenty years, it has truly been my honor to take care of chronically ill children with inflammatory and autoimmune diseases; and it is their tenacity and courage in the face of disease that fuels my goal to accelerate progress in pediatric research.
Patient-centered research, scientific collaboration and mentoring the next generation of pediatric clinician-scientists are institutional priorities and are rooted in the work we do every day. I am proud to lead the Drukier Institute’s outstanding group of investigators whose work is dedicated to providing a hopeful outlook for the treatment and care of sick children.
Please explore the website to learn more about our research and meet our faculty.
My very best regards,
Virginia Pascual, M.D.
About Gale and Ira Drukier
Ira Drukier graduated from Cornell in 1966 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering with a focus on solid-state physics and in 1967 with a Master in Engineering, earning a doctorate in electrical engineering in 1973 from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. He is co-owner of BD Hotels, LLC, a real estate development company that owns and operates more than two-dozen hotel properties in New York City, including the Mercer, Hotel Elysee and the Maritime.
Dr. Drukier has served on the Weill Cornell Board of Overseers since 2012, sat on Cornell University's Board of Trustees for eight years and was a member of the Cornell Tech Task Force to help develop the Cornell NYC Tech campus on Roosevelt Island. He is chair of the council for the Johnson Art Museum at Cornell, chair of the board of trustees building committee of the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, N.Y., and serves on the Metropolitan Museum of Art's President's Council. Dr. Drukier is vice-chair of the American Society for Yad Vashem and is a member of the Museum of Jewish Heritage's Board of Overseers.
Gale Drukier graduated from New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development in 1972 with a degree in speech pathology and audiology, later earning a Master of Science ('73) and a Doctor of Education degree ('79) in audiology from Teacher's College at Columbia University. Dr. Drukier began her career as an audiologist at Bellevue Hospital and at Veterans Affairs hospitals in metropolitan New York, later joining Trenton State University — now the College of New Jersey — as a professor. After retiring from teaching, Dr. Drukier joined her family's business, BD Hotels, and has managed and renovated properties on Manhattan's West Side for more than 12 years.
Dr. Drukier also has been active at Cornell University, chairing the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art's Program Committee and is a member of the Plantations Council. Dr. Drukier is an animal lover, particularly of felines, and is on the board of directors of the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons
Mr. and Mrs. Drukier have a legacy of philanthropy at Cornell, having endowed the deanship at Cornell's College of Architecture, Art and Planning, endowed the curator of prints and drawings at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum and created a garden at Plantations at Cornell University. The couple is also active in the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, N.Y., and serves on the Metropolitan Museum of Art's President's Council. The Drukiers have one daughter and four grandchildren.