Psychiatry: Deciphering the Adolescent Brain Medicine: Strategy Is Developed to Fortify DNA Vaccine Against AIDS Virus Social Medicine: Conference Takes Global Measure of Mental Illness Research Administration: New Office Protects All Research Subjects Diversity: Program Probes Barriers to Benefits for Gays, Lesbians, Presents 2nd Annual Diversity Awards No Home Run, But Batter on Base Against Lou Gehrig's Disease Study Makes Sweet Discovery of Bitter Taste Receptors Mutation Bias Maintains Length of Genetic Repeats MRI May Predict Alzheimer's Disease HMS Faculty Council: Faculty Growth, Library Discussed In Memoriam: Sharon Clayborne New Appointments to Full Professor A View from the Inner City: Tolerance Is Not Enough Front Page

BULLETIN HMS FACULTY COUNCIL Faculty Growth, Library Discussed At the February meeting of the Faculty Council, Mary Clark, associate dean for faculty affairs, gave a presentation on the multidimensional growth of the faculty. Citing data from 1980, 1990, and 2000, she said the size of the faculty has increased by about 2,000 each decade and has more than doubled since 1980. The faculty is still male dominated, although the number of women has more than doubled every 10 years. Women made up 14 percent of the faculty in 1980, 25 percent in 1990, and 32 percent today. The number of minorities in all categories also has increased, but the percentage of minorities represented has not greatly changed. Minority faculty made up 3.5 percent of the total in 1980, 3 percent in 1990, and 4.2 percent in 2000. The number of part-time faculty decreased during the past two decades. There has been an increase in the number and percentage of women in every rank during each of the past two decades. In 1980 the representation of women at the full professor level was 3 percent. It is now 11 percent, the U.S. medical school average. At the other end of the ranks, instructor representation has increased from 18 percent in 1980 to 40 percent today, again near the U.S. average. There has been a decrease in the number and percentage of underrepresented minority full professors in the past 20 years due to retirements and a dearth of new appointments. There is a small increase in the number of underrepresented minority faculty at the associate professor, assistant professor, and instructor levels, but overall representation is still low. The overall faculty growth is greatest at the instructor rank, with few new hires joining the ranks of the voting faculty. Countway's New Wings Judith Messerle, Countway librarian for the Harvard Medical and Boston Medical Libraries, gave a presentation titled "Countway Library: Emerging from the Chrysalis." She explained that during construction the central area of the Countway has been wrapped in a cocoonlike white tarp, which has now been removed. Some of the primary goals of the renovation were to expand the electrical and data line capacity; replace the HVAC system; bring the rare book collections together; create a reading room for current journals; build classrooms to support computer-based instruction; and open the second floor of the library to foot traffic. Messerle said several areas remain to be completed. She and the library staff are gearing up for the anticipated usage increase, which could be as much as threefold. She thanked community members for their patience during the construction and invited everyone to visit and "rediscover" the library. A rededication is planned for early fall. In Memoriam Sharon Clayborne, director of financial aid, passed away April 13 at the age of 47. Clayborne began working in the HMS Financial Aid Office in 1981 as a staff assistant. Over the years she received many awards for her untiring attention to students. The HMS class of 1999 presented her with an award for "Recognition of Tireless Dedication to the Students of Harvard Medical School." She also received a 1998 YMCA Black Achievers Recognition Award for her commitment to "service on behalf of young people." Last year, Clayborne received the first annual Dean's Award for Community Service for her work since 1980 producing Good News, a two-hour gospel program on the MIT radio station WMBR 88.1. Clayborne was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997 and experienced a recurrence a year later. Throughout her treatment, she came to work nearly every day. She leaves her daughter Trasee Clayborne and her granddaughter Bria Jenee Bradley. A memorial service will be held at HMS. Donations may be made to the Twelfth Baptist Church, 160 Warren St., Roxbury, MA, 02119 or The Sharon Preston Clayborne Fund, c/o Wellesley Student Aid Society, Wellesley College, 106 Central St., Wellesley, MA, 02481. New Appointments to Full Professor These faculty members were appointed to a full professorship in March. Richard Cambria Professor of Surgery Massachusetts General Hospital Cambria is a general vascular surgeon with expertise in extensive aortic aneurysm disease. He has pioneered techniques for spinal cord protection during thoracoabdominal aortic surgery. Cambria codirects the Thoracic Aortic Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and is principal investigator of a phase II trial for stent graft repair of thoracic aortic aneurysms. Ann Hochschild Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Harvard Medical School Hochschild's research interests center on the fundamental mechanisms of transcriptional regulation. Her approach takes advantage of the relative simplicity of the prokaryotic transcription machinery to address basic mechanistic questions about the process of gene regulation. Her work on prokaryotic regulatory proteins has also been directed towards elucidating the basis of specificity in protein–protein interactions. Lewis Lipsitz Professor of Medicine Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Lipsitz is physician in chief and codirector of the research and training institute at the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for Aged, where he holds the Irving and Edyth S. Usen chair in geriatric medicine. He is also principal investigator of the Hartford Foundation Center of Excellence in Geriatric Medicine at HMS. His research focuses on the highly prevalent, morbid, and costly problems of falls and syncope in the elderly, particularly on abnormalities in blood pressure regulation that predispose the elderly to these clinical events. Stephen Lipson Clinical Professor of Orthopedic Surgery Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Lipson has been orthopedic surgeon in chief at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center since 1992. Prior to that, he was on the orthopedic staff of Brigham and Women's Hospital. His research interests focus on adult spinal disorders, particularly intervertebral disk disease, degenerative spinal stenosis, and cervical spine rheumatoid arthritis. Andrew Onderdonk Professor of Pathology Brigham and Women's Hospital Onderdonk is interested in the role of human normal microflora in both health and disease. He is currently evaluating the role of bacteria in preterm birth as part of an NIH-funded clinical study in collaboration with investigators at the Center for Women and Newborns at Brigham and Women's Hospital. His laboratory is also engaged in research directed at the use of immunomodulating compounds to prevent and treat serious abdominal infections and their consequences, such as adhesions and abscesses. Burton Rose Clinical Professor of Medicine Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Rose's main interest is medical education, particularly the continued growth of UpToDate, an educational resource on CD-ROM for physicians in internal medicine, with OB/GYN and pediatrics CDs under development. UpToDate has three major components: medicine is divided into the questions that doctors ask (e.g., how do I treat hypertension in diabetes?); experts write evidence-based answers to these questions that contain specific recommendations; and the information is updated whenever new and important information is published. The information that doctors need can be accessed within 10 to 15 seconds. Robert Truog Professor of Anesthesia (Pediatrics) Children's Hospital Professor of Medical Ethics Harvard Medical School Truog is a pediatrician and anesthesiologist at Children's Hospital, where he is director of the Multidisciplinary Intensive Care Unit. His academic interests center around ethical issues in the practice of medicine, particularly those arising within critical care medicine and anesthesiology. Within the Department of Social Medicine, he coordinates educational activities and programs between the various HMS-affiliated hospitals. Marianne Wessling-Resnick Professor of Nutritional Biochemistry Harvard School of Public Health Wessling-Resnick's major research interests concern the transport and assimilation of iron. Her work has focused on the identification and characterization of factors involved in membrane transport of iron and on understanding the regulation of iron assimilation through receptor-mediated internalization of transferrin.