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BULLETIN
Kingston Takes Reins of BBS PhD Program
Robert Kingston, HMS professor of genetics at Massachusetts General Hospital, has been named the director of the HMS Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS) Graduate Program, effective March 1. Kingston has been a leader in studies of chromatin remodeling and its role in controlling activation and repression of genes throughout development. On the HMS faculty since 1985, he has a particular interest in understanding DNA packaging in the nucleus and how this process relates to cellular function. Kingston succeeds Connie Cepko and Cliff Tabin, both professors of genetics at HMS, who have served as director and codirector of the program since its inception a decade ago.
The BBS program, within the HMS Division of Medical Sciences, offers interdisciplinary research training in biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, pathology, microbiology, structural biology, pharmacology, virology, developmental biology, and computational biology. It draws its faculty primarily from the five basic-science departments at the School. At the program's conclusion, BBS recommends its candidates to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for a Harvard PhD.
Springer Shares Crafoord Prize
Timothy Springer, the Latham family professor of pathology at the CBR Institute for Biomedical Research and HMS, has been awarded the Crafoord Prize in Polyarthritis 2004 from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Springer and Eugene Butcher of Stanford were recognized for their studies of the molecular mechanisms involved in migration of white blood cells in health and disease. In particular, Springer has mapped the behavior and structure of integrin adhesion molecules on the surface of blood cells. He and Butcher will share the $500,000 award, which they will receive from the king of Sweden, Karl Gustav XVI, in Stockholm this September.
Applications Wanted for NIH Pioneer AwardTo stimulate high-risk, high-impact medical research, the National Institutes of Health is inviting nominations for the newly established NIH Director's Pioneer Award Program. The award will support individual scientists with pioneering approaches to contemporary research challenges and will encourage investigators to follow unexplored avenues of research in pursuit of groundbreaking discoveries. Applicants should have the ability to integrate diverse sources of information, an inclination to challenge paradigms and take intellectual risks, resilience in the face of failure, an ability to attract the right collaborators, and the diligence and concentration necessary to plan and execute effective strategies for accomplishing goals. Successful applicants will have the freedom to pursue ideas and follow them in expected or unexpected directions. Nominations will be accepted from March 1 to April 1. For further information, visit www.nihroadmap.nih.gov/highrisk/initiatives/pioneer.
Call for Mentoring Award NominationsThe Office for Diversity and Community Partnership at HMS seeks nominations for two annual prizes, the A. Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award and the William Silen Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award. The successful candidates will be HMS or HSDM faculty members who have distinguished themselves in providing sponsorship, encouragement, and support for the career and development of others in the Harvard community. The deadline for nominations is Monday, March 1. Guidelines and nomination information may be found at www.mfdp.med.harvard.edu/mentoringawards. For more information, contact Joyce Johnson at 617-432-1847.
Red Book Details Available Grants and FellowshipsThis year's summary of postdoctoral and faculty fellowships and grants--the Red Book--is now available. It lists more than 50 competitive awards open to members of the HMS community by invitation only. The private foundations that fund these grants allow Harvard to nominate a limited number of researchers for each award. In order to choose candidates who will represent Harvard in the national competitions, the HMS Faculty Fellowship Committee conducts an internal review and selection process. Applications to be considered in this internal review must reach the HMS Office for Faculty Affairs by April 12.
Milestone Event to Consider Drug DevelopmentThe Department of Health Care Policy presents a Milestone Symposium titled "Moving Drugs Forward: Reaching the Patient," on Tuesday, March 9, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Panelists include Carl Feldbaum, president, Biotechnology Industry Organization; Haiden Huskamp, HMS assistant professor of health economics; Ronald Kessler, HMS professor of health care policy; Louis Lange, CEO, CV Therapies; Mark McClellan, commissioner of the FDA; and Barbara McNeil, the Ridley Watts professor of health care policy at HMS and chairman of the Department of Health Care Policy. CME credits are available; online registration is required. The symposium will take place in the new research building auditorium, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur.
News BriefThe Alzheimer's Research Consortium has awarded its first grants to HMS and Emory University. The consortium, a public-private organization to combat Alzheimer's disease by supporting development of new research model systems, is funding the project "Novel Fly and Mouse Models for the p25/Cdk5 Kinase." It is being performed in the lab of Li-Huei Tsai, Howard Hughes investigator and HMS professor of pathology.
Honors and AdvancesHarley Haynes, vice chair of dermatology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and professor of dermatology at HMS, received the Dermatology Foundation's Lifetime Career Educator Award recognizing a full-time academic who has dedicated his career to educating dermatology residents and fellows. Haynes also serves as associate chief of dermatology at the VA Boston Healthcare System.Frederick Alt, Howard Hughes investigator, the Charles A. Janeway professor of pediatrics at Children's Hospital, and HMS professor of genetics, is the recipient of the 44th American Association for Cancer Research-G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award for outstanding recent accomplishments in basic cancer research. While Alt's research in cancer biology and immunology over the past three decades was commended, the AACR cited his major discoveries in genomic stability and cancer. Greg Koski, HMS associate professor of anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital, has been named to the board of trustees of the American Academy of Pharmaceutical Physicians. Koski formerly served as the first director of the new Federal Office for Human Research Protections within the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Dinesh Patel, chief of arthroscopic surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and HMS assistant clinical professor of orthopedic surgery, has been awarded a Gujarat Garima award from the Indian state of Gujarat. The award was given at the Hindu festival Uttarayan, also known as Makar Sakranti, which celebrates the northward movement of the sun and marks the end of winter. Patel, who was recognized for excellence and achievement in his field and for bringing honor to Gujarat, received the award from the prime minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
In MemoriamPaola DeGirolami, associate professor of pathology at HMS, died Jan. 9 at the age of 59.DeGirolami earned her bachelor's degree at Galvani Classical Lyceum, Bologna, Italy, in 1962 and her MD at the University of Bologna Medical School in 1968. She joined the HMS faculty in 1976 as a clinical instructor in pathology at Cambridge City Hospital and in 1977 became an instructor in pathology at New England Deaconess Hospital. She became assistant professor of pathology in 1985 and associate professor of pathology in 1994 at NEDH, now Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. DeGirolami served as the director of the Microbiology Section, Department of Pathology, at NEDH from 1978 to 1997 and held the same position at BID from 1997 until her death. DeGirolami's research focused on infectious diseases and included studies of antibiotic-associated colitis and Helicobacter pylori-associated gastritis. At BID, she was the coordinator for the Training Program in Clinical Pathology, and at HMS, she was a tutor in first- and second-year courses since 1988. DeGirolami is survived by her husband, Umberto, HMS professor of pathology at Brigham and Women's and at Children's; two children, Laura DeGirolami-VanderElst, a third-year medical student at HMS, and Marc; and one grandchild. |
