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HMS Faculty CouncilAt the Nov. 1 Faculty Council meeting Eleanor Shore, dean for faculty affairs, announced that Carol Nadelson, clinical professor of psychiatry, had been reelected vice chair of the council and chair of the docket committee for the second consecutive year. Mortimer Litt, associate dean in Faculty Affairs, provided a brief history of the election process and the formation of the council. James Herndon, the Partners Health Care System professor and head of orthopedic surgery, requested permission to use the HMS name for the annual publication of the Harvard combined orthopedic residency program. The publication updates alumni, new trainees, and the orthopedic faculty and staff on the department and activities of the graduating trainees. Divided on the use of the HMS name for a non–peer-reviewed journal, the council referred the matter to HMS dean Joseph Martin. Division DisbandedEleanor Shore presented a request on behalf of Walter Frontera, the Earle P. and Ida S. Charlton associate professor and head of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, to disband the Division of Rehabilitation Medicine. Shore said that when looking for a division director, the search committee recommended that a new department be formed to attract the best candidates. After recruiting Frontera to head the department, the department superseded the division. The motion to disband the division was unanimously approved.New Building UpdateEric Buehrens, associate dean for planning and facilities, presented a brief history of past and present growth and described plans for the new research building. Buehrens reported that the building will provide 250,000 square feet of functional wet lab space, 30,000 square feet of animal facilities, a 550-seat symposium and conference center, and 561 underground parking spaces. The HMS Departments of Genetics and Pathology will occupy 117,000 square feet while the remaining 133,000 square feet is targeted for use by the affiliated hospitals. The total projected cost is $313 million. Buehrens emphasized that the aim is to maximize collaborative efforts within broad programmatic lines, and that a major initiative led by Dennis Kasper, executive dean for academic programs, will define a set of specific research themes around which the space will be designed.To Bolster PostdocsRoslyn Orkin, assistant dean for faculty affairs, and Mary Clark, associate dean for faculty affairs, gave a progress report on the status of HMS postdoctoral fellows. There are about 2,900 HMS postdoctoral fellows (600 on the Quad alone), who account for 47 percent of the total number of trainees at HMS and its affiliated hospitals. Despite success in ensuring that all salaries meet the NIH minimum and in providing mandatory health care benefits to Quad-based fellows and their families, much remains to be done. Although the NIH minimum salary level has increased significantly over the last four years, it remains low: $26,916 for the fiscal year ending Sept. 1, 2000. Further, because most postdoctoral fellows fall into two major administrative categories based on funding sources, their benefit eligibilities differ. Those who are funded from their sponsors' grants are entitled to employee health benefits because the grants include a negotiated fringe benefit rate that covers the costs. Those who obtain their own postdoctoral fellowships (which do not have fringe benefit provisions) are not eligible for employee health benefits and thus can only enroll in the University Health Services Student and Affiliate Plan. This constrains access and virtually eliminates any prescription drug coverage ($750 deductible). Orkin said that the Office for Faculty Affairs is seeking alternatives to provide equitable benefits to all Quad-based postdocs.Orkin announced the new Office for Postdoctoral Affairs to be staffed by Dorothy Berkoben. Orkin further reported that a Quad-based postdoctoral fellows council and a faculty and staff steering committee were established within the last year. A lively discussion culminated when Patricia Donahoe, the Marshall K. Bartlett professor of surgery, requested that a motion be put forward to support the efforts to bring equitable salary and benefits to the entire postdoctoral population. This motion passed unanimously. Honoring SilenJoanne Ingwall, professor of medicine and director of the Office for Faculty Development at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, representing Presage and the Joint Council for the Support of Women, requested that the council recommend to the dean that the Lifetime Achievement Award in Mentoring be named in honor of William Silen, the Johnson and Johnson distinguished professor of surgery and faculty dean for faculty development and diversity. Silen has headed this office for six years and recently announced his retirement. The council unanimously supported this recommendation, which will be brought to HMS dean Joseph Martin.Students, Faculty Celebrate the Life of Angelica ChavezOn Dec. 8, students and faculty held a memorial service for first-year student Angelica Chavez, who died on Nov. 30. The event, with songs, poetry, and reflections, was a celebration of the life of Chavez, a devoted daughter, wife, and friend who touched many in her three months at HMS. The ceremony's program read, in part, "You were always so kind and generous with your time.... You were always so giving. With your beautiful, long eyelashes, infectious laughter, and open heart, you embraced our true selves. Your joyful spirit enabled us to confide to you our dreams, fears, and aspirations. You brought out the best in us." Daniel Goodenough, master of the Holmes Society to which Chavez belonged, gave a moving testimony to her passion as an individual and a doctor-to-be. Addressing her directly, he pledged, "I will make meaning out of your loss." In closing remarks, HMS dean Joseph Martin announced the creation of a $25,000 fund in memory of Chavez. The administration is inviting her fellow students in the Class of 2004 to help determine how the money will be used.
Crispian Scully, dean of the Eastman Dental Institute for Oral Healthcare Sciences at the University of London, was the Harvard School of Dental Medicine's 2000 Ahmed Visiting Professor. Scully (second from left), who is also a codirector of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Oral Health, Disability, and Culture, gave three lectures on Oct. 2 and 3 as visiting professor. Presenting Scully with a plaque in recognition of the honor are (l to r) A. Razzaque Ahmed, associate professor of oral medicine and diagnostic sciences at HSDM, for whom the professorship is named; Stephen Sonis, head of the Department of Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences; and R. Bruce Donoff, dean of HSDM. Photo by Steve Gilbert
Two New Endowed Chairs Established at HospitalsOctober saw the formal announcement of two new HMS endowed professorships, one at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the other at Massachusetts General Hospital. Both incumbent appointments were approved earlier by the Harvard University Governing Boards. The Austin L. Vickery, Jr. professorship in pathology was established at Massachusetts General Hospital with the appointment of Nancy Lee Harris as the first Vickery professor. The director of residency programs at the hospital, Harris has focused her research on the biology of malignant lymphomas and lymphoid tissues. The professorship honors Vickery, who served in the Department of Pathology at MGH for 50 years. At Beth Israel Deaconess, the Harold H. Rosenfield professorship in obstetrics and gynecology was established in memory of Harold H. Rosenfield, the first chief of the department at the former Beth Israel Hospital. Honoring the preference of the Rosenfield family that the chair holder have a special interest in obstetrics and public health, Benjamin Sachs was appointed the first incumbent. Obstetrician–gynecologist in chief and chair of the department at the hospital, Sachs is also a professor in the Maternal and Child Health Department at HSPH and is a leader in public health initiatives for women's health. Center of Excellence in Women's Health Presents GrantsIn its second year of funding collaborative, interinstitutional research and programs concerning women's health, the HMS Center of Excellence in Women's Health recently an-nounced the winners of the 2000 HMS Fund for Women's Health Awards. This year 11 awards of up to $45,000 were granted, up from eight last year. This year's recipients are Phyllis Carr (Massachusetts General Hospital) and Hope Ricciotti (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center) for "Women's Health Education at the Harvard Teaching Hospitals"; John Copeland (BID) and Alun Jones (Brigham and Women's Hospital) for "Contrast-enhanced Energy-subtraction Digital Mammography: Proof of Principle"; Allison Goldfine (Joslin Diabetes Center), Marie Gerhard, Ellen Seely, and Caren Solomon (all from BWH) for "The Role of Estrogen and Progesterone in Vascular Reactivity in Women with Type II Diabetes Mellitus"; Paula Johnson (BWH), JudyAnn Bigby (BWH), Karen Carlson (MGH), and Jennifer Potter (BID) for "The Impact of One-stop Comprehensive Care on the Quality of Care for Minority Women"; Christos Mantzoros (BID), Corrine Welt (MGH), and Jean Chan (BID) for "Role of Leptin Administration in Restoring Neuroendocrine Abnormalities in Women with Functional Hypothalamic Amenorrhea and Strenuously Exercising Women"; Lori Panther (BID), Richard D'Aquila (MGH), Nina Carroll (BID), Pamela Chatis (BID), and Lee-Jen Wei (HSPH) for "Differential Gene Expression and Human Papillomavirus (HPV)–induced Cervical Dysplasia in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-Infected Women"; Gloria Perez (MGH), Junying Yuan (HMS), and Stanley Korsmeyer (Dana–Farber Cancer Institute) for "Molecular Genetic Manipulations to Preserve Ovarian Function in Females Undergoing Cancer Treatments"; Janet Rich-Edwards (HMS) and Barbara Gottlieb (BWH) for "Impact of Social and Economic Hardship on the Health of Pregnant Women"; Amy Sullivan (DFCI) and Antoinette Peters (HMS) for "Who Cares for Women at the End of Life? The Nature and Effects of Caregiving Relationships for Older Women with Life-threatening Illness"; Patricia Flynn Weitzman (HMS), Sue Levkoff and Grace Chang (both from BWH) for "Assertiveness in the Provider–Patient Interaction: A Study of Middle-aged Minority Women"; and Francine Welty (BID) and Marie Gerhard (BWH) for "Effect of Dietary Soy on Lipid Levels, Brachial Artery Function, Biochemical Markers of Bone Turnover, Inflammatory Markers of Atherosclerosis and Menopausal Symptoms in Postmenopausal Women." Taplin Awards Are AnnouncedThe Harvard–MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology has announced this year's recipients of the John F. and Virginia B. Taplin Awards. The $42,000 awards, given over three years, are designed to support the work of HST faculty in building educational and training infrastructure for the division. The award winners are Bertrand Delgutte, HMS associate professor of otology and laryngology at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, for "Laboratory Exercise in Neural Modeling for Speech and Hearing and Neuroengineering"; Donald Ingber, HMS professor of pathology at Children's Hospital, to establish a new biocomplexity initiative within HST; Isaac Kohane, HMS associate professor of pediatrics at Children's Hospital, and Gregory Stephanopolous, HMS lecturer on surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, for "Multi-institutional HST-based Training Grant for Functional Genomics and Bioinformatics"; and Lucille Ohno-Machado, HMS assistant professor of radiology at Brigham and Women's Hospital, for building a curriculum for biomedical informatics. |
