2021 Alumni Medalist Thomas Lo '08VPS
Channel: Columbia Alumni
Date: 2022-05-26

Thomas Lo is a doctor by day and chef by night, known professionally as Chef Dr. Lo. Chef Dr. Lo is a board-certified anesthesiologist with a lifelong passion for food and cooking. After graduating with a degree in Molecular Biology from Yale University in 2000, Lo began his professional culinary career studying at the French Culinary Institute in New York. He has appeared on numerous network shows and most recently, he competed on and won the Food Network show, Kitchen Crash. After leaving the culinary world, Lo went on to pursue his interest in medicine at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S). 

Lo was the recipient of the Virginia P. Apgar Award for excellence in Anesthesiology and Critical Care. Lo remained at Columbia for his residency in the Department of Anesthesiology and completed his postdoctoral residency training in 2012. Currently, he is an anesthesiologist, Diplomate of the American Board of Anesthesiology, and CEO of Modern Renaissance Anesthesia in New York. He has served as a council board member of the VP&S Alumni Association since 2012, and President since 2018. He initiated a five-year alumni engagement campaign, serving as Chair, and has hosted many alumni events including a president’s tasting dinner, where he cooked an eight-course regional Chinese banquet for local alumni. Lo has also been a member of the CAA’s Alumni Trustee Nominating Committee since 2020. At the start of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Lo had the opportunity to partner with the CAA and contacts in China to help procure and deliver much-needed PPE for the clinical front lines at CUIMC, NewYork-Presbyterian, and other major hospitals in the New York metropolitan area. 

Lo is also the owner and culinary director of Spy C Cuisine restaurant in Forest Hills, New York. Spy C Cuisine has quickly gained critical accolades from The New York Times and received its first Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2020. With the understanding of the molecular physiology of taste, he enjoys playing with the palate by combining flavor combinations and balancing the harmonies of sweet, salty, bitter, and sour. Lo is known for his Sichuan Mind Numbing Sauce, which must be properly prepared and used for dishes to provide the perfect balanced flavor profile. When given in the proper amount, harmony is achieved.