Neurology: Alzheimer's Study Maps Alternate Route to Disease Cell Biology: Yeast Ramps Up Sugar Production to Survive Cold Clinical Research: Harvard Clinical Research Group Gains Reputation for Trial Design, Statistical Analysis Women's Health In Kass Lecture, Brundtland Points Way Toward Eliminating Global Health and Gender Disparities Regulator of Protein Degradation Emerges as Anticancer Target Flaws Revealed in Study Assailing Mammograms Inflammatory Pathway Uncovered with Tie to Early Atherosclerosis   New Full and Named Professors Thier Professorship Established for Work in Health Policy at BWH or MGH Hirsh Nominated for AAMC Humanism Award, Celebration Planned for Award Nominees Student Research Displayed at HST Forum HMS Again Takes Top Spot in U.S. News Rankings Honors and Advances News Briefs   Coalition Supports Haitian Immigrants   When It Comes to Drugs, Price Is Not the Real Problem   Front Page

BULLETIN New Full and Named Professors The following full professors were appointed in February and March. Michael Alexander Professor of Neurology Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Alexander's research has addressed a wide range of clinical topics: aphasia, visual neglect, outcome from stroke and traumatic brain injury, and memory disorders. His recent work has focused on the cognitive and attentional consequences of damage to the frontal lobes of the brain. He is a consultant at the Rotman Research Institute in Toronto and collaborates with investigators there. He directs a neurorehabilitation program at Youville Hospital in Cambridge in collaboration with the Department of Neurology at BID. Julie Buring Professor of Medicine Brigham and Women's Hospital Buring is also a professor of ambulatory care and prevention; her research focuses on the epidemiology of chronic disease, primarily cardiovascular disease and cancer, especially among women. She is currently principal investigator of the Women's Health Study, a large-scale randomized clinical trial of the benefits and risks of low-dose aspirin and vitamin E in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer among 40,000 female health professionals. Buring is also director of an NIH T32 training grant in the epidemiology of aging. Anthony D'Amico Professor of Radiation Oncology Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute D'Amico's research centers around two populations of men with prostate cancer: those who are curable and those who are not. For men whose disease is curable, D'Amico developed and leads the Minimally Invasive MRI-guided Prostate Brachytherapy Program at BWH. For men with potentially life-threatening prostate cancer, he is leading the international effort to expedite the clinical trial process aimed at the discovery of effective systemic therapies through the use of a surrogate endpoint that he defined for prostate cancer-specific mortality. Kenneth H. Falchuk Professor of Medicine Brigham and Women's Hospital Falchuk's research focuses on molecules that induce differentiation of cancer cells. He is chair of the education council for the Department of Medicine and director of the core clerkship in medicine at BWH. He also directs the International Medicine Center at BWH. Brian Hoffman Professor of Medicine VA Boston Health Care System Hoffman's research interests are focused on adrenergic pharmacology, particularly on elucidating mechanisms of signaling and regulation of gene expression by adrenoceptors. He also has maintained a program of clinical investigation relating to the effects of drugs on the cardiovascular system and using computer-based systems to implement guidelines in the treatment of hypertension. Philip Kantoff Professor of Medicine Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Kantoff's research interests include understanding genetic susceptibility and genetic diversity in prostate cancer, particularly as they relate to clinical heterogeneity. His research also includes drug development and clinical trial design in prostate and kidney cancers. Kantoff is chief of the Division of Solid Tumor Oncology and director of the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology at Dana-Farber. He is also the director of the Prostate Cancer Program and SPORE at the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. Eric Lander Professor of Systems Biology Harvard Medical School Lander is the founding director of the Broad Institute, director of the Whitehead Institute Center for Genomic Research, and a professor of biology at MIT. As a geneticist, mathematician, and molecular biologist, he has been a principal leader of the Human Genome Project and has pioneered applications of genomics to biomedical research. Under Lander's leadership, the Center for Genomic Research has led the effort to develop genetic and physical maps of the human and mouse genomes. Trevor McGill Professor of Otology and Laryngology Children's Hospital McGill's research focuses on congenital cholesteatoma and neoplasms of the head and neck in the pediatric patient. His work on nasopharyngeal angiofibromas has substantially molded the clinical approaches to these lesions by pediatric otolaryngologists. He has redefined the role of the carbon dioxide laser in the management of subglottic hemangioma. Russell Phillips Professor of Medicine Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Phillips is chief of the Division of General Medicine and Primary Care at BID and is chairman of the research committee for the Society of General Internal Medicine. A general internist and clinical epidemiologist, his research has focused on end-of-life care, quality of care, and integrative medicine. Phillips has led the HMS Faculty Development and Fellowship Program in general internal medicine since 1998 and directs an NIH-funded research fellowship program in complementary and alternative medicine. David S. Walton Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology (academic part-time) Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Walton's clinical research focuses on the treatment of children with cataracts and glaucoma. He is also a research associate at MIT involved with work in bioengineering centered on developing a more successful glaucoma implant. The following named chairs were established in November 2003. David Blumenthal Samuel O. Thier Professor of Medicine Harvard Medical School Blumenthal, who is also an HMS professor of health care policy, focuses his research on understanding the prevalence and consequences of academic-industry relationships in the life sciences, methods of improving quality of care, improving patient safety, and physician behavior. He also has studied the behavior of academic health centers. Blumenthal is director of the Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital and Partners HealthCare System, director of the Harvard University Interfaculty Program for Health Systems Improvement, a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and a national correspondent for the New England Journal of Medicine. William Shipley Andres Soriano Professor of Radiation Oncology Harvard Medical School Shipley, deputy head for clinical research in the Department of Radiation Oncology, began more than three decades ago at Massachusetts General Hospital as a pioneer in clinical science in the area of genitourinary oncology, evaluating multimodality cancer care. He entered into a collaboration with his MGH colleagues in the Departments of Urology, Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, and Pathology, resulting in the implementation of seven successive national protocols for bladder cancer patients using a multimodality approach. In prostate cancer, Shipley and the MGH team have developed and led 10 randomized trials using radiation therapy.   Thier Professorship Established for Work in Health Policy at BWH or MGH With tributes to the leadership of Samuel Thier (right) and David Blumenthal (left), HMS dean Joseph Martin opened a reception on April 7 celebrating the establishment of the Samuel O. Thier professorship in medicine at HMS and the appointment of Blumenthal as its first incumbent. Martin and James Mongan, president and CEO of Partners HealthCare, praised Thier as a health care visionary who took the lead in shaping the Partners organization. Currently an HMS professor of medicine and of health care policy, Thier stepped down as president and CEO of Partners in 2003 after serving in that position since 1996. "We see the Thier professorship as a lasting tribute to Sam's accomplishments and values," Mongan said. After adding his own perspective on the Thier legacy, Massachusetts General Hospital president Peter Slavin helped Thier unveil a portrait of himself commemorating the new endowed chair. Taking the lectern, Thier expressed his pleasure at the choice of David Blumenthal as the first chair holder, saying, "When we need an ethical barometer, it's David we turn to." In addition to the Thier professorship, Blumenthal holds an HMS professorship in health care policy and directs the Harvard University Interfaculty Program for Health Systems Improvement. The Thier chair is supported by Partners and focuses on work in health care policy at Brigham and Women's or MGH. (Photo by Liza Green, HMS Media Services)   Hirsh Nominated for AAMC Humanism Award, Celebration Planned for Award Nominees David Hirsh, HMS instructor in medicine at Cambridge Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital and an HMS Academy scholar, was nominated for a Humanism in Medicine Award, sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative. Hirsh was selected for nomination by medical students, who cited his 2002 reform of the second-year standardized patient experience, which he continues to direct. He was also commended for his role as medical director for the Boston Healthcare for the Homeless clinic and as an instructor for the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine. A reception honoring Hirsh and last year's award nominee Ernesto Gonzalez will be held on April 27 from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the TMEC atrium. Gonzalez is an HMS associate professor of dermatology at MGH, an Academy scholar, associate director of the Multicultural Affairs Office at MGH, and founder and director of the Hispanic Medical Students Mentorship Program.   Student Research Displayed at HST Forum Georg Gerber (left), in the Medical Engineering and Medical Physics program of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, discusses his poster, "Computational Discovery of Gene Modules and Regulatory Networks," with Irving London, former director of HST, professor emeritus of medicine at Harvard, and professor emeritus of biology at MIT. A poster session was part of the HST Forum on March 18, which also included a keynote address by George Daley, HST faculty member and alumnus and HMS associate professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at Children's Hospital. Daley's research group reported the first successful application of therapeutic cloning on embryonic stem cells combined with gene therapy to treat genetic disease in a mouse model of immune deficiency. (Photo by Ralph Lindenfeld)   HMS Again Takes Top Spot in U.S. News Rankings In its annual roundup of America's best graduate schools, U.S. News & World Report has named HMS to its number one spot for top medical school in the research category for the 14th year in a row. The School also took top ranking for both its pediatrics and women's health programs, second place for both internal medicine and drug/alcohol abuse programs, and third place for AIDS. The schools that follow HMS among the top five overall are, in order, Washington University, Johns Hopkins University, and tying for fourth place, Duke University and the University of Pennsylvania.   Honors and Advances Frederick Alt, a Howard Hughes investigator, HMS professor of genetics, and the Charles A. Janeway professor of pediatrics at HMS and Children's Hospital, has received the Irving Institution's ninth annual Scientific Leadership Award in recognition of commitment to excellence in immunology. Alt, chairman of Irvington's Scientific Advisory Board, and Craig Bassing of the Irvington Institute recently announced the discovery of a chromosomal component that can suppress genetic mistakes that lead to cancer.   News Briefs David Irby has been named the recipient of the 2004 Daniel C. Tosteson, MD Award for Leadership in Medical Education. Irby is a professor of medicine and vice dean for education at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. As head of the Office of Medical Education since 1997, he has directed the UCSF programs in undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education. He has written extensively on curriculum innovation, ambulatory teaching, student evaluation, and the effectiveness of different models used to diagnose patient problems and learners' knowledge and reasoning. The award is given by the Carl J. Shapiro Institute for Education and Research at HMS and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. At the Boston Medical Foundation's awards ceremony on March 30 honoring Mayor Thomas Menino's distinguished contributions to community health, JudyAnn Bigby, HMS associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and medical director of community health programs at BWH, served as keynote speaker. Bigby discussed the disparities in health care for underserved populations. 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