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BULLETIN
HMS, Blue Cross Lead Health Care Cost-effectiveness Project
HMS and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association have launched a partnership to monitor and evaluate local Blue Plan initiatives to keep health care affordable. The announcement came as a part of the launch of BlueWorks, a campaign to spotlight the most effective health care practices within the Blue Cross Blue Shield system. the partnership will be led by HMS's Barbara McNeil, head of the School's Department of Health Care Policy; Richard Frank, the Margaret T. Morris professor of health care policy at HMS; David Blumenthal, HMS professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital; and Edward Guadagnoli, HMS associate professor of health care policy.
The BlueWorks-Harvard partnership is the first resource of its kind to share ideas about what policies work and thereby promote affordability in the health care system. "With the heightened public concern about rising health care costs and the uninsured," McNeil said, "we must examine, address, and educate others about cost-effective and quality-enhancing ways to mitigate the rising costs."
HMS Appointments to Full ProfessorshipsThese faculty members were appointed to a full professorship in September.
Iswar Hariharan
Joseph Majzoub
Ralph Metson
Ulrich von Andrian This faculty member was appointed to a full professorship in July.
Francis McGowan Correction: The Full Professors section of the Sept. 26 Focus reported an inaccurate hospital location for Amin Kassis. He is a professor at HMS and Brigham and Women's Hospital.
IOM Taps Three from HMSThree HMS professors have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine. With their induction, members dedicate a significant amount of volunteer time to IOM committees, which engage in a variety of studies on health policy issues.Paul Farmer, the Maude and Lillian Presley professor of social medicine at HMS, divides his time between HMS and a small charity hospital in rural Haiti. His work in anthropology and social medicine has focused on diseases disproportionately afflicting the poor such as multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and AIDS. Farmer has written extensively about health and human rights and about the role of social inequalities in the distribution and outcomes of readily treatable diseases. Jeffrey Flier, the George C. Reisman professor of medicine at HMS and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, is a member of the endocrine division at BID and a leading investigator in obesity and diabetes. Earlier this year, he was awarded a five-year, $500,000 unrestricted metabolic research grant by Bristol-Myers Squibb to lead research into the mechanisms of insulin action and resistance, the molecular and cellular aspects of obesity, and the relationship of obesity to type 2 diabetes. Rakesh Jain, the A. Werk Cook professor of radiation oncology (tumor biology) at HMS and Massachusetts General Hospital and a member of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, focuses his research on tumor pathophysiology, bioengineering, and molecular, cellular, anatomical, and functional imaging. His interests include tumor angiogenesis and microcirculation, tumor-host interactions, vascular and interstitial transport in tumors, delivery of molecular and cellular medicine to tumors, and mathematical modeling.
eCommons Expands Search Capabilities, Offers Resume SystemA completely revised eCommons, the Harvard Medical intranet, features a new electronic résumé system, in-house hospital conference schedules, and expanded search capabilities like quick access to the Harvard Medical phone and e-mail directory and a searchable Purple Book for faculty appointments and promotions. Access these and other features with a single log-on.In addition to convenient access to the Digital Library and portable bookmarks, eCommons now offers helpful templates so groups in the Harvard Medical community can share their calendars, forms, and other resources among faculty based at different institutions. To register for a username and password, go to http://ecommons.med.harvard.edu. If you have access difficulties, call the HMS IT Help Desk at 617-432-2000.
Milestone Series to Explore Molecular SensingOn Dec. 4, the third in a series of symposia honoring the 100th anniversary of the Longwood Quadrangle groundbreaking will be held in the new research building from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The program, "Molecular Sensing in the Brain," will feature Eric Kandel, University Professor, Columbia University, and HHMI investigator, and other notable researchers from HMS and other institutions. All events in the series require a Web-based RSVP. To register or to get more information about this and upcoming symposia in the Milestone series, visit www.hms.harvard.edu/milestone.
Nominations Sought for Distinguished Biostatistics AlumThe HSPH Department of Biostatistics has announced the establishment of the Distinguished Alum Award to recognize an individual in government, industry, or academia who has affected the theory and practice of statistical science through support of research, methodology, and theory; significant organizational responsibility; and teaching. The award recipient will be invited to deliver a lecture on his or her career and life beyond the department, for the primary benefit of students.Nominations for the first award, to be given in May 2004, should be sent to the Distinguished Award Committee, Dept. of Biostatistics, HSPH, 655 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115. Nominations must be received by Jan. 31, 2004.
Nominations Sought for 2004 Marvin Zelen Leadership AwardHarvard School of Public Health's department of biostatistics seeks an individual in government, industry, or academia who has demonstrated oustanding leadership and influenced the theory and practice of statistical sciences to receive the Marvin Zelen Leadership Award in Statistical Science. Individual accomplishments will be considered, but the most distinguishing criterion is the awardee's contribution to the creation of an environment in which statistical science and its applications have flourished. Nominations should be sent to the Marvin Zelen Leadership Award Committee, Department of Biostatistics, HSPH, 655 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115. A letter should describe the contributions of the candidate and include a CV. Supporting letters and materials are also accepted; everything must be received by Dec. 1, 2003.
Honors and AdvancesLeon Eisenberg, the Presley professor of social medicine and HMS professor emeritus of psychiatry, has been given both the Ruane Prize for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Walsh McDermott Medal. The Ruane Prize, a lifetime achievement award given by the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD) recognizes Eisenberg for his contributions in child psychiatry for more than 40 years. The Walsh McDermott Medal of the Institute of Medicine also recognizes Eisenberg's service to the institute over an extended period of time.Adrian Ivinson, director of the Harvard Center for Neurodegeneration and Repair, has been named a member of the newly launched Bayer International Bioethics Advisory Council (BIBAC), the first privately funded international independent bioethics advisory body. Created by Bayer Biological Products, BIBAC is dedicated to developing recommendations on ethical issues associated with biological products. Ravi Kamath, HMS '04, was awarded a Young Scientist prize by Amersham Biosciences and Science. Kamath's winning research was conducted with Julie Ahringer at the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK and shows how genes determine the phenotype of an organism. Kamath studied gene function on a large scale by using RNAi to systematically knock down almost all the products of genes in the nematode C. elegans. The University's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study named Anne Brunet, HMS research fellow in neurology at Children's Hospital, the Helen Putnam fellow. Brunet will investigate the role of transcription factors of the FOXO family in the regulation of organismal longevity. The American Association for the Advancement of Science has awarded the distinction of fellow to 348 members this year, three of whom are HMS faculty members. Fred Winston, HMS professor of genetics, was named to the section on biological sciences for his distinguished contributions to genetics and molecular biology, particularly for studies on the intersection of chromosome remodeling, chromatin structure, and transcription regulation. Joining the section on neuroscience, Clifford Saper, the James Jackson Putnam professor of neurology at HMS and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, was recognized for extensive contributions to knowledge of the functional neuroanatomy of brain homeostatic systems involved in the regulation of sleep, energy metabolism, and visceral pain. Also in the section on neuroscience, Dennis Selkoe, the Vincent and Stella Coates professor of neurologic diseases at HMS and Brigham and Women's Hospital, was honored for distinguished contributions to the fundamental understanding of neurodegenerative disorders and the biology of proteins that mediate Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Six Massachusetts General Hospital women faculty members won a 2003 Claflin Distinguished Scholar Award, providing bridge funds for junior women faculty with family responsibilities to sustain their research productivity. The two-year, $30,000 grants were awarded to Marylyn Addo, HMS instructor in medicine; Naomi Simon, HMS instructor in psychiatry; Sanja Sever, HMS assistant professor of medicine; Herminia Rosas, HMS assistant professor of neurology; Alice Flaherty, HMS instructor in neurology; and Paola Divieti of MGH medicine. The award was established in 1993 by the Women in Academic Medicine Committee, originally chaired by honorary trustee Jame Claflin.
News BriefThe Gas Enabled Medical Innovations Fund (GEMI Fund), created earlier this year by Harvard Medical International, the Karolinska Institute of Sweden, and AGA Linde Healthcare to support research and development of gas-related medical therapies and diagnostic tools, has distributed $1 million to seven investigators, including one from HMS. Recipient Massimo Ferrigno, HMS assistant professor of anesthesia at Brigham and Women's Hospital, plans to study a novel method of inducing hypothermia to protect vital organs during ischemia or hypoxemia. |
