Laryngology: New Techniques in Vocal Cord Surgery Spare the Voice Dermatology: Sun May Cause Cancer by Targeting Rb Pathway Epidemiology: No Cancer Risk Found for Acrylamide Clinical Research: Statistical Approach Speeds Up Stent Trials Diversity: Teachers Institute Aims to Improve Diversity, Increase Science Literacy Integrated Medicine: First Osher Pilot Grants Announced for Studies in Complementary and Integrative Medicine   The Winter Bookshelf   Integrin Crystal Structure Reveals New Conformation Study Links Brain Attack to Oral Health Telomere Loss Acts Together with Atm Deficiency to Sap Stem Cell Supplies Blocking Protein Aggregates Reverses Disease in Mouse Model of Huntington's   New Appointments to Full and Named Professorships State Health Commissioner to Join HSPH Faculty Nathan to Receive Howland Medal for Pediatrics HSPH Launches Revamped Home Page Call for Papers on Medical Education in Poorer Countries Nominations Wanted for Excellence in Mentoring Awards Announcing the Second Year Show Honors and Advances News Briefs   Faculty, Students Build Bridges to Better Dental Health   Beyond Roe vs. Wade   Front Page

BULLETIN New Appointments to Full and Named Professorships These faculty members were appointed to a full professorship in November and December. Barbara Bierer Professor of Medicine (Pediatrics) Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Bierer is vice president for patient safety and director of the Center for Patient Safety at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. For the past five years she has been chief of the laboratory of lymphocyte biology at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health. She is also on the board of directors of the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs and the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. In addition to patient safety, her basic research interests focus on signal transduction pathways involved in T lymphocyte activation and immunosuppression. Stephen Faraone Clinical Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry Massachusetts General Hospital Faraone, director of pediatric psychopharmacology research at Massachusetts General Hospital, is principal investigator of several NIH grants studying the genetics of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He also participates in genetic studies of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. An author on more than 350 journal articles, editorials, chapters, and books, he was inducted into the Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Hall of Fame in 2003 in recognition of outstanding achievement in medicine and education research on attention disorders. Craig Gerard Professor of Pediatrics Children's Hospital Gerard specializes in the study of G protein-coupled receptors involved in the inflammatory response, notably the complement anaphylatoxin receptors C3a and C5a as well as the chemokine receptors. The biomedical significance of these receptors in host defense and inflammation is protean, and they have been implicated in asthma, sepsis syndrome, and HIV infection. Gerard directs the Ina Sue Perlmutter Laboratory at Children's Hospital, where he is also director of the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Center. Robert Kacmarek Professor of Anesthesia Massachusetts General Hospital Kacmarek is the director of respiratory care at Massachusetts General Hospital. His current research interests focus on the ventilatory management of acute respiratory distress syndrome, mechanical ventilator-induced lung injury, and adjuncts to ventilatory support in acute respiratory failure. Margot Kruskall Professor of Pathology Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Kruskall is director of the Division of Laboratory and Transfusion Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Her clinical focus is in transfusion medicine. Her research interests include the clinical and laboratory ramifications of removing blood group A- and B-defining sugars from human red cells using glycosidases, aiming at the creation of a universally transfusable group O blood supply. Richard Mollica Professor of Psychiatry Massachusetts General Hospital Mollica is a psychiatrist and public health specialist who directs the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma. Over the past 20 years, his epidemiologic and clinical research has placed the mental health care of refugees and traumatized civilian populations on the U.S. and international policy agenda. His research has documented the mental health effects of mass violence and described evidence-based and culturally effective interventions. Eliezer Peli Professor of Ophthalmology Schepens Eye Research Institute Peli is an optometrist, a biomedical engineer, and a vision scientist. His research and clinical interests are centered on low vision rehabilitation, which he explores through invention and assessment of devices and techniques using psychophysical, oculomotor, and engineering sciences. Peli is a lead investigator on a large Bioengineering Research Partnership grant and has extensive relationships with the ophthalmic and display industries. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and the Optical Society of America. Steven Schachter Professor of Neurology Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Schachter is an epileptologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he is also director of research for the Department of Neurology and vice chair of the IRB. He is associate director of research for the HMS Division for Research and Education in Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies and serves as a director for the Epilepsy Foundation of America and the American Epilepsy Society. He is founding editor and editor in chief of Epilepsy and Behavior. His research interests include the development of new interventions for the disease. This faculty member was appointed to a named professorship in November. Paul Farmer Maude and Lillian Presley Professor of Medical Anthropology Harvard Medical School Farmer is a medical anthropologist whose work draws primarily on active clinical practice: he divides his clinical time between Brigham and Women's Hospital (Division of Infectious Disease) and a small charity hospital in rural Haiti. His work in anthropology and social medicine has focused on diseases disproportionately afflicting the poor, and the Program in Infectious Disease and Social Change, which Farmer runs along with his colleagues in the Department of Social Medicine at HMS, has pioneered novel, community-based treatment strategies for sexually transmitted infections (including HIV), drug-resistant typhoid, and tuberculosis in resource-poor settings. Farmer has also written extensively about health and human rights and about the role of social inequalities in the distribution and outcomes of readily treatable diseases.   State Health Commissioner to Join HSPH Faculty Howard Koh is stepping down as commissioner of public health for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a position he has held since 1997, to become associate dean and professor of public health practice in the Department of Health Policy and Management at HSPH. Koh, a noted cancer and public health specialist and one of a few U.S. physicians who has earned board certification in four medical fields as well as a master's of public health, will assume the leadership of the Division of Public Health Practice. His appointment begins on April 15. (Courtesy of Massachusetts Department of Public Health)   Nathan to Receive Howland Medal for Pediatrics The American Pediatric Society has named David G. Nathan, president emeritus and the Robert A. Stranahan distinguished professor of pediatrics at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the 2003 recipient of the John Howland Medal, the society's highest honor. The award will be presented to Nathan during the society's annual meeting in Seattle on May 4. The award is given annually to individuals whose service to pediatrics has helped advance the field. "The Howland Award represents individual achievement in pediatrics, but I feel that this award recognizes the collective contributions that my colleagues and I have made at Children's Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute," Nathan said. "I came to Children's and Dana-Farber because I was certain that our program would attract the best fellows and faculty members in the world, and that together we would make contributions which would improve the lives of children with very serious illnesses. We have all worked together for children everywhere. It is gratifying to realize that our colleagues in the field recognize our joint efforts."   HSPH Launches Revamped Home Page HSPH recently unveiled a new home page, replacing one that first debuted in 1998. The home page averages nearly 12,800 visits per day, with people in more than 175 countries viewing the site last year. The new home page offers a main tool bar with nine categories. When the cursor rolls over the bar, expanding menus spring up, providing access to more than 50 subdivisions. It retains the dynamic of the previous site, with nearly daily updates of press releases and announcements. "Inside HSPH" continues to provide information of interest to School staff, faculty, and students. "In the Media" highlights school research covered by the press. "Sites of Note" provides links to specific HSPH websites. A new section called "Innovations" features interactive HSPH websites, such as a map that viewers can click to read about international research projects involving the School. In addition to revamping the home page, School web pages have been given a more consistent look, and HSPH members now have the ability to maintain certain pages on their own. For example, faculty members can update their research pages, which now include links to press releases they are featured in. The links are automatically updated when a press release posts to the home page. Feedback about the new home page may be sent to Deane Eastwood at deastwoo@hsph.harvard.edu and Christopher Ternan at cternan@hsph.harvard.edu.   Call for Papers on Medical Education in Poorer Countries Development Medicine, the largest network of medical professionals working on medical conditions in developing countries, is seeking papers for its first annual scientific conference "eMedical Schools Ways and Means: Telecomputing and Medical Education in Developing Countries," to be held in Nairobi, Kenya on Dec. 1 to 5. Suggested paper topics include training, information technology for medical professionals, infrastructure, and professional domains and telemedicine. The deadline for abstracts is June 30. For more information, visit www.devmedicine.com or e-mail dmasc@devmedicine.com.   Nominations Wanted For Excellence in Mentoring Awards The Office for Diversity and Community Partnership requests nominations for the eighth annual A. Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award and the third annual William Silen Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award. Individuals may nominate only one faculty member for each award and should include the extent to which the mentor has provided sponsorship, encouragement, and support for the career or personal development of students, house officers, fellows, or faculty. Describe why this faculty member merits recognition as an outstanding mentor. The deadline for nominations is Feb. 28. For nomination guidelines, contact Nancy Kaufman at 617-432-1037 or nancy_kaufman@hms.harvard.edu.   Announcing the Second Year Show This year's Second Year Show, "My Big, Fat Distal Swelling," runs from Feb. 20 to 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Mainstage in the Media Arts Building at Roxbury Community College, 1234 Columbus Ave., Boston. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in the TMEC atrium from 12:30-1:30 p.m. until the day of the show. For more information on tickets, schedule, or location, contact Alejandra Casillas at 617-432-9159.   Honors and Advances Eugene Beresin, HMS associate professor of psychiatry and director of the Massachusetts General/McLean Hospital child psychiatry residency training program, received the Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The award recognizes outstanding directors in graduate medical education for successful mentoring and program development and improvement. The MetLife Foundation presented its Award for Medical Research in Alzheimer's Disease to Bruce Yankner, HMS associate professor of neurology at Children's Hospital. He was recognized for his efforts and contributions to understanding Alzheimer's and received a $200,000 research grant as well as a $50,000 personal award. Claudio Toppelberg, HMS instructor in psychiatry and director of the Project on Language and Child Psychiatry at Judge Baker Children's Center, has been awarded a five-year Scientist Development Award from the National Institute of Mental Health. It will support a longitudinal follow-up study on 250 Latino children in Boston and the relationship between psychological and language development in bilingual youngsters. The American Foundation of Urologic Disease has awarded a two-year, $120,000 grant to Price Kerfoot, HMS instructor in surgery at the Boston Veterans Administration Medical Center in West Roxbury, to help improve urologic education for medical students. His preceptor for the project is William DeWolf, HMS professor of surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The project will determine whether medical students learn urology better in a clinic or operating room and the deficiencies of each environment. A Web-based teaching application will then be developed to address these deficiencies. Alberto Ascherio, HSPH associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology, has received a two-year grant of $538,622 from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research for his "Prospective study of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and risk of Parkinson's disease." Rudolph Tanzi, HMS professor of neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, has been invited to speak at Time magazine's "The Future of Life" conference celebrating the 50th anniversary of the discovery of DNA. He was also invited to serve on the conference's advisory board. The American Association for the Advancement of Science has invited Tanzi to present a topical lecture at its 2003 annual meeting. Tanzi's presentation is among only a handful of invited topical lectures at the meeting. John Urschel, an internationally recognized thoracic surgeon, has been named as chief of general thoracic surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Urschel previously served as deputy chief of staff for St. Joseph's Healthcare, a teaching hospital of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is noted for his expertise and work in esophageal cancer surgery, complex benign esophageal diseases, and lung cancer. The American Academy of Neurology has awarded Ashley Bush, HMS associate professor of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, with the 2003 Potamkin Award for Research in Pick's, Alzheimer's, and Related Disorders. The award carries a $100,000 prize. As part of the award, Bush will present a lecture at the annual meeting.   News Briefs The National Institute on Drug Abuse has awarded McLean Hospital a five-year, $7.7 million grant to help improve drug treatment. The federal grant is the largest ever awarded to the hospital. The grant establishes McLean as the center of a clinical trials network, a partnership between nine community treatment programs and eight academic research centers throughout northern New England. McLean is one of 17 national sites chosen to form a larger clinical trials network. The principal investigator for the northern New England trials is Roger Weiss, HMS associate professor of psychiatry and clinical director of McLean's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Center. The Harvard University Bridge to Learning and Literacy program is seeking volunteer tutors at HMS. The program provides instruction in English conversation, reading, writing, basic math, computer skills, and GED preparation to university workers. Tutors work for two hours each week with adult learners. No experience tutoring is necessary. Training and support is provided. For more information, contact David Hayes at 617-384-9444 or e-mail david_hayes@harvard.edu. The Forsyth Institute has received a $2 million, five-year NIH grant to assess the effectiveness of surgical and nonsurgical treatment for periodontitis, the advanced form of periodontal disease that affects nearly a third of U.S. adults over age 35. The research will take place in four Massachusetts communities and be conducted in collaboration with Delta Dental Plan and HSPH. It is the first community-based study to compare benefits, risks, and limits of surgical and nonsurgical methods used to treat gum disease in clinical practice. The principal investigator is Richard Niederman, director of the Forsyth Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry, and a co-investigator is Chester Douglass, HSPH professor of epidemiology and chair of the Department of Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology at HSDM.