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BULLETIN
Interest Conflicts Top DiscussionAt the January meeting of the Faculty Council, Eugene Braunwald, the Hersey distinguished professor of the theory and practice of medicine and chair of the committee to review HMS conflict of interest rules, presented a proposal to revise the HMS Policy on Conflicts of Interest and Commitment. He said that prior to 1988, conflict of interest rules were very broad. An incident involving a research fellow in the late 1980s generated publicity in the local and national press. In response, medical dean Daniel Tosteson appointed a committee, chaired by Barbara McNeil and including Braunwald, to develop a more precise set of conflict of interest rules. Braunwald said the world has changed a great deal since the policy was adopted in 1990 and an update is needed. He said that HMS's current regulations are out of step with most major medical schools' conflict of interest rules. Braunwald then discussed the proposed revision of the conflict of interest guidelines pertaining to clinical and nonclinical research. Some faculty members believe there should be fewer restrictions while others think the current guidelines are too liberal. The committee wrestled with what was appropriate and took testimony from all sides of the issue, and their report is a compromise. The final revised guidelines will appear in Focus. Council member Patricia Donahoe, the Marshall K. Bartlett professor of surgery, then presented the Medical Area Health Services report and recommendations. Donahoe first outlined the history of the process. In November l998, a subcommittee of the Faculty Council was formed to examine the University Health Services' provisions for students and trainees in the medical area. Several factors contributed to the establishment of this subcommittee, including issues identified during the l995 self-study prepared for the Liaison Committee on Medical Education accreditation and the announced retirement of the director of the Medical Area Health Services as of spring 1999. The council unanimously approved a set of recommendations by the committee, including that a medical area advisory committee comprising faculty and representatives of the dean's office be established to provide ongoing oversight of the Medical Area Health Services. Some other recommendations included that the health services hours of operation be increased; that mental health services be expanded; that there be reporting relationships between the director of the MAHS and the dean for medical education and the associate dean for students at HMS; and that the physical space be remodeled to ensure patient confidentiality and ease of use. The full set of recommendations will be forwarded to the provost, the director of the Medical Area Health Services, and the Medical Area Advisory Committee. In Memoriam Photo by J. Berndt Eva Neer, distinguished biochemist and HMS professor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital for nearly 25 years, died February 20 at the age of 62. Born in Warsaw, Poland, Neer and her parents fled to Brazil in 1938 when she was only a year old and later came to the U.S. Neer received her BA from Barnard College and her MD from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. A member of the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, Neer's research focused on understanding the molecular basis for cell responses to external signals and analyzing the function of G proteins. Her research with David Clapham, HMS professor of neurobiology at Children's, changed the way G proteins were understood, with their discovery that the beta-gamma subunit helped carry out the protein's signaling work. For years before their discovery, it was thought that another part of the protein had the sole responsibility for signaling. A devoted teacher, Neer served as associate master of the Cannon Society. She was a member of the Partners senior advisory committee on women, where she cochaired the committee on the advancement and support of women in academic medicine at Partners institutions. She also served on the academic leadership subcommittee of the HMS Center of Excellence in Women's Health. Among her honors, Neer was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an NIH MERIT award recipient, and a member of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America. In 1996 she received the American Heart Association's basic research prize. She is survived by her husband, Robert Neer, HMS associate professor of medicine in the endocrine unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, and two sons, Robert Jr. and Richard. Her family requests that instead of flowers, donations be sent to the Eva J. Neer Fund at Harvard University, c/o Recording Secretary, 124 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. Honors and AdvancesFrederick Bieber, HMS associate professor of pathology at Brigham and Women's Hospital, was recognized last week with the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association's Distinguished Service Award. Bieber was honored with the award for his work to educate attorneys and others about forensic DNA evidence and for his courtroom testimony as an expert witness in many criminal investigations. The National Cancer Institute selected Peter Howley, the George Fabyan professor of comparative pathology and head of the Department of Pathology at HMS, for a MERIT award. The NIH chooses investigators for this program based on demonstrated superior competence and outstanding productivity. The renewable five-year award will support Howley's research on the E6AP ubiquitin protein ligase. Nominations Sought for Compassionate Caregiver AwardThe Kenneth B. Schwartz Center, an affiliate of Massachusetts General Hospital, is seeking nominations for its 2000 Compassionate Caregiver of the Year Award. The $5,000 award honors caregivers in Massachusetts who display extraordinary compassion in caring for patients. The Schwartz Center supports compassionate health care and seeks to strengthen the relationship between patients and caregivers. The deadline for nominations is May 15. To receive a nomination form, call 724-6416 or fax 726-7661. |
