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BULLETIN
Proceedings of the HMS Faculty CouncilAt the March 17 meeting of the Faculty Council, Harvard housing options in the Longwood Medical Area (LMA) were discussed by Eric Buehrens, HMS executive dean for administration; Jim Gray, associate vice president, Harvard Real Estate Services (HRES); and Susan Keller, director of residential real estate at HRES.LMA HousingProviding housing for the schools and faculties of the University is the mission of HRES, and although the LMA has long been underserved, steps are under way to correct this inequity. These include eligibility for faculty to purchase units in the new Pleasant Street condominiums, behind the former Polaroid building on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, which are now ready for occupancy.This program, in which the University maintains ownership of the land, allows for the sale of the condominiums at a discounted rate--21 percent below fair market value for comparable real estate in Cambridge (the equivalent of the value of the land). The aim is to earmark the complex for Harvard faculty now and in the future. (For more information, visit www.hpre.harvard.edu/rre). It was also announced that the University has indicated its intent to purchase a section of a development near the LMA to be built across the street from the Landmark Center, behind the triangular site at the intersection of Brookline Avenue and Boylston Street. According to the agreement, Harvard will own and operate 171 units out of a possible 550, ranging from studios to one- and two-bedroom apartments. The developer of the building, called the Residences at Fenway, contacted the University seeking its participation. The plan calls for the University to essentially purchase a shell in the complex. Apartments will be designed to meet the needs primarily of graduate students. The design and locale arose from recommendations obtained in the Graduate Student Housing Survey taken by the University in 2001. The top priorities were price and location; unit size was less of an issue. The developer also plans to build ground-level restaurants and underground parking. Harvard would receive 75 parking spaces to be rented on a first-come, first-served basis to Harvard tenants. While acknowledging the needs of those with cars, this also would send a message that cars are discouraged in the highly congested LMA. Construction is slated to begin in June, and the units are projected to be marketed in two years and be available in summer 2006. Expanded System of AppointmentsEugene Braunwald, the Hersey distinguished professor of theory and practice of medicine and chair of the Committee to Expand Appointments, reported on the issue of expanding the faculty appointment system at HMS. He said that increasing numbers of talented scientists and physicians are being recruited to the greater Boston and greater Cambridge area by the rapidly expanding for-profit biotech, pharma, and instrumentation industries. In addition, the acquisition and affiliation of community hospitals with primary affiliates of HMS also provides the opportunity for interaction with outstanding clinicians in the community setting. The question was asked if the educational mission of the School would be enhanced if HMS extended faculty status to selected scientists and clinicians at unaffiliated institutions and to selected members of the staffs of certain secondary affiliates (so-called "affiliates of the affiliates"). Representatives from Quad departments and from the affiliated hospitals and institutions, including those from both basic science and clinical departments, served on the committee.In his preliminary report, Braunwald emphasized that there are extraordinary scientists and clinician scientists being recruited to the area and also clinicians already practicing in secondary affiliates of HMS. He emphasized the need to regularize and to formalize relationships between HMS and the secondary affiliates, which would be done by the establishment of tripartite agreements between HMS and the primary and secondary affiliates. Such agreements would focus on the education component at the secondary affiliate and the role that faculty based at the primary affiliate would play in supervising medical education at the secondary affiliate. The committee is discussing a system of adjunct appointments for those at unaffiliated institutions (both for-profit and not-for-profit), and the part-time system of HMS appointments (clinical professor at rank series) for those in secondary affiliates who have signed a tripartite agreement. Braunwald will return to the council when details are finalized.
Three Endowed Chairs Named in Sleep MedicineHMS is taking steps to advance the field of sleep medicine through the establishment of three endowed chairs, all devoted to the emerging field.
Both David White (left) and Charles Czeisler were recently named to endowed chairs in sleep medicine. (Photo by Jeff Cleary) "This generous support will greatly accelerate progress in sleep and circadian rhythm research," said HMS dean Joseph Martin. "At a time when nearly 40 million Americans suffer with sleep disorders, many find numerous barriers to diagnosis and treatment. These gifts will enable HMS to take a leading role in this interdisciplinary field, ensuring the advancement of scientific research and the development of new treatments." The three chairs, whose full endowment is $2.75 million each, are named after the founders and chairmen of three publicly listed companies that have been innovators in sleep therapy: Frank Baldino, CEO of Cephalon; Gerald McGinnis, chairman of Respironics; and Peter Farrell, CEO of ResMed. Each chair is supported by unrestricted gifts from the companies or executives. The primary incumbent of the Frank Baldino, Jr., Ph.D. professorship of sleep medicine, the first of the chairs to be fully endowed, is Charles Czeisler, who is based at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Czeisler also heads the HMS Division of Sleep Medicine, created in 1997. "The endowment of these three professorships serves to establish sleep medicine permanently within the framework of HMS," he said. The Gerald E. McGinnis professorship of sleep medicine was established through a grant from the Respironics Sleep and Respiratory Research Foundation, a private foundation established by the company, and will be filled by BWH researcher David White. Finally, an international search is under way to bring a top scientist to HMS as the first incumbent of the Peter C. Farrell professorship of sleep medicine. Farrell is a passionate advocate of the discipline. "From my viewpoint, it is time for the medical profession to wake up to sleep," he said. "And it seems that the reason that medicine has been slow to take sleep problems seriously--sleep-disordered breathing, in particular--is that traditional medicine has stopped when the lights go out. This is now about to change. The connection between untreated sleep-disordered breathing and hypertension, stroke, diabetes, and heart failure, as well as traffic accidents, is now so abundantly clear that it can no longer be ignored." Sustained research and new advances in sleep medicine will also affect communities of shift workers in many fields such as manufacturing, medicine, tourism, emergency services, transportation, and security. Addressing sleep disorders may therefore have significant benefits for disease treatment and public safety as well as for the quality of life.
Alumni Week PreviewAlumni Week runs from Wednesday, June 9, to Sunday, June 13. Selected HMS events appear below.Wednesday, June 9Division of Medical Sciences-sponsored alumni symposium on facilitated networking, with roundtable discussions on social responsibility in science, funding sources and moral dilemmas, and choosing a thesis/ postdoctoral research topic. Moderated by Dennis Vaccaro, HMS '77.Thursday, June 10Symposium of the HMS Class of 1979, a four-part program with sessions titled, "Evidence in Medicine," "Public Health Challenges," "Delivering Health Care," and "Beyond Biology."HMS faculty symposium, "Deep in the Heart of the New Research Building," moderated by Daniel Federman, senior dean for alumni relations and clinical teaching, and featuring panelists Michael Gimbrone, Peter Libby, Mel Feany, and Christine Seidman. Class Day with keynote speaker Norman Borlaug, winner of the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on famine relief. Friday, June 11Alumni Day Symposium, "Navigating the Health Care Crisis: Personal Reflections," with Mitchell Rabkin, Steffie Woolhandler, Vanessa Haygood, and Katherine Keeley.To get more information on these and other events and to register, visit www.hms.harvard.edu/alumni or call 617-432-1560.
HSDM Scholars Program Advances Dental Education and ResearchA shortage of individuals who choose full-time careers in dental education has resulted in more than 350 vacant positions in dental schools nationwide. To help fill the gap, HSDM established the Dean's Scholars Program in 2001 to provide guided research and academic experiences for individuals in the early stages of an academic career. The program provides financial support and mentorship during a postgraduate year at the Dental School. The following Dean's Scholars have received awards for 2004-2005:Arkhat Abzhanov, HMS research fellow in genetics, is recognized for his research on how differentiation of the cranial neural crest cells into chondrocytes and osteocytes occurs on the cellular and tissue level. Abzhanov is also interested in the mechanisms by which the processes evolve to produce distinct craniofacial morphologies. Rachel Badovinac, HSDM 1999 and HSDM research fellow in oral health policy and epidemiology, received an award for her research project on the multigenic and environmental effects on risk for isolated nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate. Badovinac's goal is to have a multidisciplinary background in dental medicine, epidemiology, and bioinformatics. Alexandre DaSilva, HSDM 2002, is honored for his research on treatment of trigeminal pain. His fundamental goal is to establish an independent scientific and academic career integrating multiple neuroimaging techniques in the study of this disorder. Porsche Jumlongras, HSDM 2003, has received her second year of funding through the Dean's Scholars Program. She has been working on two projects involving molecular mechanisms of mammalian tooth development. The goal of the first is to identify critical regulatory elements for the expression and function of Msx1 and Bmp4 in developing mouse dental mesenchyme at bud stage. The second project is a collaboration on genetic interactions of Msx1, Pax9, and Cpo1.
Armenise Foundation Awards Junior Faculty GrantsThe Giovanni Armenise-Harvard Foundation has announced the winners of this year's junior faculty grants: Grace Gill, HMS associate professor of pathology of the Armenise-Harvard Center for Cancer Biology, for her project, "Regulation of Gene Expression in Bone Cells by SUMO-1 Modified Sp3"; and David Rudner, HMS assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics of the Armenise-Harvard Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and the Host Response, for his project, "Regulated Proteolysis and Signal Transduction in Bacillus subtilis." Gill and Rudner each will receive a two-year, $50,000 grant in support of their research.The Armenise-Harvard Foundation was launched in 1996 by Count Giovanni Auletta Armenise after his wife, Dianora Bertacchini, died from a brain tumor in 1994. Bertacchini was treated at Massachusetts General Hospital, which inspired her and her husband to begin a foundation that would support research basic to medicine and agriculture. Since 1996, the foundation has established at HMS Armenise Centers for Cancer Biology, Structural Biology, Neuroscience, Microbial Pathogenesis and the Host Response, Integrative Biology and Physiology, and Genomics and Post-genomics and supported collaborative programs between these centers and Italian scientific institutions.
The first annual "Doctors' Night at Symphony Hall," an event that blends music and medicine, took place March 24, featuring an on-stage chamber music performance by the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) for an audience of approximately 130 Harvard faculty, residents, and medical students. The concert was born out of a collaboration between a group of physicians at HMS and the BSO to celebrate the traditions of healing in both music and medicine. The physician overseer committee, spearheaded by Martin Mihm, HMS clinical professor of pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital, consists of HMS dean Joseph Martin; Robert Mayer, HMS professor of medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; and John Potts, the Jackson distinguished professor of clinical medicine at HMS and MGH. The purpose of the committee is to bring the joy of classical music to physicians' lives as well as to medical practice. At this inaugural concert, members of the committee gave presentations on the current understanding of the role of music in medicine. With the collaboration of the BSO, the committee plans to expand its annual activities to include concerts at Tanglewood and opera performances. (Photo by Miro Vintoniv) |
