HMS/HSDM Class Day: Science Applied to Problems of the Poor HSPH Class Day: Speakers Address People's Health and Social Disparities Alumni Day Symposium: HMS Alums Take on the Health Care Crisis Class Symposium Class of '79 Details Illness in the Body Politic Faculty Symposium: At the NRB, Faculty View Convergence of Biology and Medicine Class Day: HMS/HSDM Speakers Describe Their Personal Journeys International Health: Education and Research Center Launched in Dubai Medical Education: New Residency Created in Global Health Prizes and Awards: Honors Given to Students and Faculty for 2004 Letter to the Editor   Small Molecule Blocks Herpes Replication Test Ratio Predicts Breast Cancer Patients Who Respond to Tamoxifen   Proceedings of the HMS Faculty Council   Student-Faculty Collaboration Yields Pharmacology Text   Front Page

CLASS DAY HMS/HSDM Student Speakers Describe Their Personal Journeys Each of the three student speakers at the HMS/HSDM Class Day praised their classmates for their support throughout their four-year journey together. From collaboration on community service to consolation during times of personal loss, the students relied on the bonds they formed with each other. Most important, they could always depend on a classmate to make them laugh. HSDM graduates Phoebe Good, a co-moderator, and Adesegun Tewogbade, a student speaker, take part in Class Day commencement ceremonies. (Photo by Liza Green) This humor was displayed in Andrew Dauber's speech, facetiously titled, "Phospholamban and Its Role in Calcium Recycling in the Cardiomyocyte." "Amazingly, in four short years, we have been transformed from Average Joe to Joe Millionaire in Debt, MD," Dauber said. He represented HMS at the podium and will be doing his residency in pediatrics at Children's Hospital. PhD Graduates Attend First Commencement on the Quadrangle On June 10, the Division of Medical Sciences at HMS held its first-ever graduation ceremony for PhD students on the HMS campus in a program that complemented the larger Faculty of Arts and Sciences ceremony in Cambridge earlier in the day. The 95 graduates, who are conferred PhDs through the University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, were congratulated by Nancy Andrews, associate dean for basic sciences and graduate studies and the Leland Fikes professor of pediatrics at Children's Hospital and HMS. Andrews urged them to value diversity, bravery, and generosity in their scientific careers. "If you find that things are always working out the way that you want them to, then you're not taking enough risks and you're wasting your gifts," she said. "Learn to be both brave and resilient. It will serve you well." Andrews appears above with Marc Kirschner, chair of the Department of Systems Biology at HMS. (Photo by Liza Green) "I want to pass along a few professional secrets that I learned in medical school," he joked. "When a patient questions how long any given symptom will last, the answer is always two to four weeks. Unless, of course, you're in pediatrics. Then the answer is one to two weeks, because kids get better faster." On a serious note, he said, the best part of his time at HMS was getting to know his classmates. "I am continually inspired, not only by your penetrating questions, but also by your striving to find the answers to those questions and to create solutions when none exist. Through my years here at HMS, I have been touched by all of your passions and dreams. They have infused me with the drive to always try to accomplish more." In his speech, "Making a Difference," Adesegun Tewogbade, representing HSDM, spoke about the diversity of his classmates and their desire to improve the oral health of the population. "We all seem very different in both appearance and personality, and many of you may wonder what, if anything, all of us have in common. One common thread that connects us is our determination to make a difference," he said. "As I continued my journey through HSDM, I began to realize what makes this school such a beautiful place is that the diversity of the student body allows each of us to be passionate about making a difference in our own unique way," he continued. "I also learned that we are a group of people who are willing to help each other reach those goals." He urged his fellow graduates not to lose sight of the dreams that propelled them to want to make a difference and not to cave in to the professional pressures that may interfere with their dreams in the future. Markella Zanni, an HMS graduate and the final student speaker of the day, delivered a talk titled, "Vision and Style." She challenged her classmates to search out inspiration and to apply themselves to what they're passionate about. "When, in your graduate school career--in your life--did you get goose bumps? When did you think, 'I need to do something about this situation,' or 'I need to collaborate with this person'? When did you experience that feeling of urgency, or necessity, or maybe even destiny?" she asked. "When you've identified these kinds of encounters, it is easy enough to let them guide you, but the question, 'Where should I place myself?' you can answer, 'I should place myself in an environment where I feel inspired to contribute.'" There were 231 graduates of HSDM and HMS. This Class Day, 198 MDs were conferred to the HMS Class of 2004, 33 of which were awarded through the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. Thirty-three DMDs were conferred to the HSDM Class of 2004. --Leah Gourley