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BULLETINExxonMobil Awards $1 Million To Harvard Malaria InitiativeExxonMobil has given a $1 million grant to the Harvard Malaria Initiative at HSPH to accelerate development of new antimalarial drugs and malarial vaccines and strengthen programs for malaria prevention in five sub-Saharan African countries: Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria. Two other grant recipients were Medicines for Malaria Venture, based in Geneva, Switzerland, and Roll Back Malaria, a program of the World Health Organization. Though eradicated in many countries, including the U.S., malaria is one of the world's most serious diseases. With 300 million new cases estimated for 2001, the disease kills more than a million people each year, 90 percent of those deaths occuring in sub-Saharan Africa. New Endowed Chair Honors Schepens
The establishment of the Charles L. Schepens endowed professorship at HMS was formally announced by HMS dean Joseph Martin at a March 26 ceremony. The professorship honors Schepens, founder of the Schepens Eye Research Institute and a pioneer in the field of modern retinal surgery. The endowed professorship was made possible by institute donors who have pledged or paid $2.2 million, with a lead gift from Alice McPherson, who in 1957 was the first woman postdoctoral fellow at the institute. Martin also announced that J. Wayne Streilein (above), president of Schepens, has been named the first Charles L. Schepens professor of ophthalmology. Photo by Peter Mallen, Schepens Eye Research Institute In MemoriamThayer French, HMS lecturer on biochemistry in the Center for Biochemical and Biophysical Sciences and Medicine, where he was director of laboratories, died April 12. He was 66. Born in Pittsburgh, French received his bachelor's degree in biology and PhD in biochemistry from MIT, where he later taught. In 1986 he joined the faculty of HMS. As director of laboratories, French was responsible for all of the financial, administrative, and operational aspects of the Center for Biochemical and Biophysical Sciences and Medicine. He is survived by his wife, Sue. Memorial Service Celebrates Kety's LifeA memorial service celebrating the life of Seymour Kety, HMS professor emeritus of neuroscience who died last May, will be held at 11:00 a.m. on May 10. The service will take place in the Appleton Chapel of Memorial Church in Harvard Yard. Following the service, there will be a reception at Upstairs at the Pudding at which Louis Sokoloff will speak about some of Kety's scientific contributions. Sokoloff is a senior scientist at the Laboratory of Cerebral Metabolism of the National Institute of Mental Health. Free parking is available at the Broadway Garage located on Felton Street, between Cambridge Street and Broadway. If attending, please RSVP to Nancy Maxwell at 617-855-3505. Doctors Without Borders Founder to Speak at HSPHBernard Kouchner, founder of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and currently France's Minister in Charge of Health in the Ministry of Employment and Solidarity, will give a talk from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. on May 17 in the Snyder Auditorium at HSPH. Kouchner founded the physicians' group in 1971 and served as president through 1979. From 1980 to 1988 he was president of Médecins du Monde (Doctors of the World). Since then, he has held a variety of posts under the French government and the United Nations, most recently as the special representative of the Secretary-General and head of the UN Interim Administration in Kosovo. First Tosteson Award Presented for Leadership in Medical EducationThe Carl J. Shapiro Institute for Education and Research at HMS and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center named Kenneth Ludmerer, professor of medicine and history at Washington University, as the first recipient of the Daniel C. Tosteson Award for Leadership in Medical Education. The award presentation took place April 29 during the Shapiro Institute and Association of American Medical Colleges Millennium Conference, "Clinical Education at the Turn of the 21st Century." Named in honor of Tosteson, former HMS dean of the Faculty of Medicine, the award recognizes an individual for major contributions to medical education at a national level. Honors and AdvancesSara Vargas, HMS instructor in pathology at Children's Hospital, received the Neustein Memorial Award for her presentation at the Society of Pediatric Pathology annual meeting. The award honors the best presentation applying innovative technology to pediatric pathology. The American Philosophical Society has named Todd Golub, HMS assistant professor of pediatrics at the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, as the first recipient of the Judson Daland Prize for outstanding achievement in clinical investigation. The $15,000 prize recognizes Golub's work on the genetic basis of cancer. Paul Farmer, HMS professor of medical anthropology in the Department of Social Medicine, has been named a 2000 Pfizer/ Association of American Medical Colleges Humanism in Medicine Award winner. The annual award recognizes faculty members who embody the finest qualities in a healer: compassion, tolerance, sensitivity, ethics, mentoring, and community service. Farmer was selected to receive the award by HMS students. The American Academy of Neurology announced that Alvaro Pascual-Leone, HMS associate professor of neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, is the recipient of the Norman Geschwind Prize in Behavioral Neurology for his outstanding history of research in the field. Michael Gimbrone, the Elsie T. Friedman professor of pathology, has been named the new chairman of the Department of Pathology at Brigham and Women's Hospital. At a March ceremony, Richard Levins, the John Rock professor of population sciences at HSPH, received the 30th Anniversary Medal of the Cuban Academy of Sciences. Levins was recognized for his work during the past three decades with various Cuban institutions on pest management and new diseases. He was also given the title of research collaborator of the Ministry of Science, Technology, and the Environment. News BriefsJames Breitmeyer, president and CEO of the Harvard Clinical Research Institute, announced that W. David Watkins has been named as the institute's chief operating officer. Watkins is currently a professor at the University of Pittsburgh and chief medical officer of the Pittsburgh Clinical Research Network. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation has awarded a four-year, $3 million grant to the Schepens Eye Research Institute to establish the first Center for Diabetic Retinopathy funded by the foundation. Mara Lorenzi, HMS associate professor of ophthalmology, is the principal investigator and director of the center. The William Randolph Hearst Fund, established at HMS in honor of Isabelle and Leonard Goldenson and Ethel and Jack Hausman on behalf of handicapped children, is accepting applications for a $25,000 award to be given in support of research in pre- and peri-natal medicine, with an emphasis on the prevention of neuromotor disabilities. Applications are open to medical faculty with preference given to junior or new investigators. The deadline is June 1. For more information and application guidelines, contact Kemith LeBlanc at 432-2663 or e-mail kemith_leblanc@hms.harvard.edu. Application guidelines are also available online at www.hms.harvard.edu/spa/funding/fundmain.htm. |
