Genetics: Body's Clockwork Looks Loopy in New Study Opinion Research: Elderly in Five Nations Polled on Health Care Medicine: Explanation Advanced for Complications of Diabetes Status of Women: Events Chart Progress on Women's Issues Growth Factor Expands Tumor Cell Networks Substance Found to Shift T Cells into Reverse Study Quantifies Health Cost of Coal-Fired Power Plant Pollution ECG Screening for SIDS Not Cost Effective Warfield Named Head of Anesthesia at BID In Memoriam: Dolores Brown Arthur Mu-En Lee New Full and Endowed Professorships Conference Explores Impact of Internet on Public Health Martin Calls HMS Faculty Meeting on Conflicts of Interest MGH Donates EKG Machine to Clinic in Mexico A Promising Take on Gene Therapy Two Years at the Bench Produces Top 10 Insights Front Page

BULLETIN Warfield Named Head of Anesthesia at Beth Israel Deaconess At the end of March, HMS associate professor of anesthesia Carol Warfield was appointed head of the Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She is the first female chair of an anesthiology department in the history of the Harvard teaching hospital system. Warfield is internationally known in the field of pain management and has been chief of BID's pain management division in anesthesiology since 1992 and director of the pain management center since 1980. Her focus is educating physicians on the appropriate treatment of pain, particularly the management of cancer pain. "I am very pleased Dr. Warfield has accepted this chairmanship. She is a highly accomplished anesthesiologist, a wonderful physician to her patients, and a talented leader," says Michael Rosenblatt, BID's interim president. In Memoriam Dolores Brown, administrative assistant to Daniel Tosteson, the Caroline Shields Walker distinguished professor of cell biology, died suddenly May 5. Brown began working in the HMS Dean's Office in 1985, when Tosteson was dean. At a memorial service held at HMS on May 18, Susan Sherwin, now associate dean for development at Harvard Divinity School, who then worked with Brown in the Dean's Office, spoke about Brown's influence. "Dolores took hold in a calm and steady way, never getting ruffled, never complaining, and always ready to pitch in. She was remarkably loyal, devoted to the dean and to the School, and she worked tirelessly to keep us all on an even keel." Donations may be made in her name to the Wilmington Garden Club Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 712, Wilmington, MA 01887. Arthur Mu-En Lee, HMS associate professor of medicine and HSPH associate professor of molecular biology, died April 10 at age 46. Born in Taiwan, Lee received his MD from Kaohsiung Medical College in Taiwan and his PhD in physiology from the University of California, San Francisco. Following a residency at the Mayo Clinic, he joined the Harvard community in 1987 as an HMS research fellow in medicine and a clinical and research fellow in cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1992, he joined the cardiovascular biology laboratory at HSPH and Brigham and Women's Hospital Cardiovascular Division. Most recently, Lee served as director of the Program of Developmental Cardiovascular Biology at Brigham and Women's Hospital. His work produced new fundamental concepts in cardiovascular biology, most notably in the areas of endothelin-1 gene regulation, the cellular and molecular role of homocysteine in vascular biology, smooth muscle cell biology, pathophysiology of septic shock, and cardiomyocyte growth and differentiation. Lee substantially advanced the understanding of the mechanisms by which local humoral factors regulate the growth and differentiation of cells of the vascular wall in normal and disease states. Lee's research garnered him several prestigious awards, including the Caroline tum Suden Professional Award of the American Physiology Society, presentation of the Thomas W. Smith Memorial Lecture of the American Heart Association, and lectureship of the Tokyo Society of Medical Sciences. Lee devoted a considerable effort to teaching and was widely known among students, fellows, and colleagues for his ability to communicate complex ideas in understandable terms. Fellow researchers often sought him out for his careful advice and his broad technical knowledge. At a young age he already had helped to launch the careers of several junior faculty members both at HMS and around the world. He is survived by his wife, Mei, and three sons, Sean, Jay, and Alexander. New Full and Endowed Professorships These faculty members were appointed to a full professorship in February, March, and April. Louis Burke Clinical Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Burke is in the forefront of the development and teaching of colposcopy for the diagnosis and management of cervical cancer. He also is studying the effects on a group of women exposed in utero during their mother's pregnancy to diethylstilbestrol (DES) and investigating the use of autofluorescence of cervical tissue in the diagnosis of cervical neoplasia. Tayyaba Hasan Professor of Dermatology Massachusetts General Hospital Hasan is a biochemist and associate director at the Wellman Laboratories of Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. Her research interest is in photomedicine with special emphasis on the use of photochemistry-based targeting for diagnostic and therapeutic applications in gynecologic and prostate cancers, ophthalmology, and infectious diseases; she holds six patents in related areas. Hasan has served as a member of NIH study sections and is on review committees of other national and international agencies. She is on the advisory boards of several academic and industrial organizations and on the editorial boards of two leading photobiology journals. Stephen Lory Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Harvard Medical School Lory is a bacteriologist with major research interests in the area of basic mechanisms of virulence by opportunistic human pathogens, specifically those infecting patients with cystic fibrosis. His current work focuses on genome-based approaches towards understanding host–pathogen interactions. He will direct the newly established HMS Center for Genomic Applications and Therapeutics. Daniel Lowenstein Professor of Neurology Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Dean for Medical Education Harvard Medical School Lowenstein is a neurologist, neurobiologist, and teacher. When he arrives in July, he will become the HMS dean of medical education and will head a new program in brain plasticity and epileptogenesis at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. His research interests focus primarily on basic mechanisms of nervous system reorganization associated with seizures and the clinical problem of status epilepticus. Harry Rubash Professor of Orthopedic Surgery Massachusetts General Hospital Rubash is chief of orthopedic surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and an active clinician. His clinical interests include primary and revision total hip and total knee arthroplasty. His research interest is in the mechanisms of failure of total joint replacement and complex reconstructive procedures. He is actively involved in the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and is treasurer of the Orthopedic Research Society. James Sabin Clinical Professor of Psychiatry Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Sabin is a psychiatrist at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, researcher on health system ethics, and teacher. He codirects the Center for Ethics in Managed Care, sponsored by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and the HMS Division of Medical Ethics, and directs the HPHC corporate ethics program. His research focuses on fair resource allocation and organizational ethics. These faculty members were appointed to an endowed professorship in April. Tom Delbanco Richard A. and Florence Koplow–James L. Tullis Professor of General Medicine and Primary Care Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Delbanco, chief of general medicine and primary care at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, is a general internist with a strong interest in primary care delivery, education, and research. He has studied techniques to improve the quality of care, the doctor–patient relationship, and the role physicians play in addressing alcoholism. He created Healthcare Associates, the BIDMC primary care teaching practice, and the HMS-wide faculty development and fellowship program in general medicine. He helped found and chairs the not-for-profit Picker Institute and Picker Institute Europe, organizations that study patient experiences with health care, and draw on the patient's perspective in educating health workers to improve care. Michael Klagsbrun Professor of Cell Biology in the Department of Surgery Children's Hospital Klagsbrun has been professor of surgery since 1993 and professor of surgery (pathology) since 1995. His major research focus has been on the structural and biological characterization of vascular growth factors and their receptors. In particular, his group purified FGF-2, HB-EGF, and more recently, EGF receptor variants and the VEGF receptor neuropilin-1. These growth factors and receptors are being analyzed for their role in regulating cell migration and proliferation, angiogenesis, and tumor growth. Bruce Zetter Charles Nowiszewski Professor of Cancer Biology Children's Hospital Zetter conducts research on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of tumor metastasis. His laboratory conducts research into changes in cell adhesion, motility, and cell cycle control that metastatic tumor cells undergo and the use of this information in developing clinical diagnostic assays. Zetter also directs the course in integrated human physiology for first-years at HMS. Conference Explores Impact of Internet on Public Health HMS and HSPH are cohosting a satellite conference, "The Internet and the Public's Health: The Impact on the Health of Individuals, Communities, and the World," as part of the University's "Internet and Society 2000" conference at the end of the month. The satellite conference, which takes place May 30 and 31 at Lowell Lecture Hall in Cambridge, will feature panel presentations on supporting the patient–doctor relationship, reaching underserved populations in the U.S., creating solutions for the developing world, and improving health care systems. For more information on the conference, visit its website at www.hsph.harvard.edu/health-internetconference. For more information on the broader conference hosted by the University, visit www.is2k.harvard.edu. Martin Calls HMS Faculty Meeting on Conflicts of Interest HMS dean of the Faculty of Medicine Joseph Martin announced that a special faculty meeting to address proposed revisions to the HMS Policy on Conflicts of Interest and Commitment will be held June 1 from 8:00-11:30 a.m. in the Benjamin Waterhouse room of Building A at the Medical School. A committee appointed by the dean will present its suggested revisions. Because of the importance of the issue, Martin has invited some prominent individuals outside the community to attend and act as advisers. These invited commentators are D. Ronald Daniel, chair of the HMS board of fellows; David Korn, senior vice president of the Association of American Medical Colleges; Charles Sanders, chair of the HMS visiting committee; and Kenneth Shine, president of the Institute of Medicine. The current policy can be found in Faculty Policies on Integrity in Science or at www.hms.harvard.edu/integrity. The proposed revisions will be available at the meeting. MGH Donates EKG Machine to Clinic in Mexico Massachusetts General Hospital recently donated an EKG machine to LIGA International, a non-profit organization of health care professionals who make monthly trips from California to operate free health clinics in six isolated areas of Mexico where medical resources are scarce. The request for the donation was made by Robert Ruelaz, HMS '00, who worked at one of LIGA's clinics in El Fuerte, in the state of Sinaloa, Mexico, in January and saw the need for equipment and supplies. Bill Driscoll, a clinical engineer in the Biomedical Engineering Department, and Anne Manning, operations manager in the Cardiology Division, arranged for the donation to be made. A Promising Take on Gene Therapy Photo by Liza Green In its raw form, a gene is a messy molecule consisting of a hodgepodge of functional and non-functional stretches of DNA. Before the gene's message can be carried by messenger RNA, the wheat—or exons—must be separated from the chaff—or introns. This is the job of the spliceosome. In the annual Minority Biomedical Scientists of Harvard guest lecture on April 26, Mariano Garcia-Blanco (above) described how researchers are using their understanding of the spliceosome and the process of pre-messenger RNA splicing to correct defective genes and introduce therapeutic genes into patients. Garcia-Blanco, who is an associate professor of pharmacology and cancer biology at Duke University Medical Center, described how he and his colleagues have exploited this process to introduce toxin genes into the DNA of tumor cells, thereby killing them. The lecture was cosponsored by the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology.