Neurobiology:
Ion Channel Protein in Inner Ear Is Likely Long-sought Key to Hearing
Anesthesia:
Study Finds How Aspirin Dampens Inflammation
Genetics:
Broken Calcium Gate Leads to Heart Syndrome with Related Autism
State of the School
Martin Draws Picture of Tangible Progress at HMS
Biomedical Computing:
Faculty Receive Funding for Two National Biomedical Computing Centers
Calcium Supplements During Pregnancy Linked to Healthy Blood Pressure in Children
Newly Found Cancer Gene Offers Model for Breast Tumor Development
Cell-Cell Interaction Not Needed for Normal Neuron Size in Retina
Scholars Program Maintains Growth in Junior Faculty Awards
Former HMS Professor Wins 2004 Nobel Prize
HMS Revamps Program in Medical Education
NIH Pioneer Award Funds Developmental Biology Research
Modeling Disease: New Windows on a Hidden World
Grant Promotes Clinician-scientists in Eye Research
NIH Roadmap Supports Pilot for Vision Research Center
HMS Unveils New Web Pages
Escape from the Stereotype Trap
Scholars Program Maintains Growth in Junior Faculty Awards
At the 2004 reception for the 50th Anniversary Program for Scholars in Medicine on Sept. 23, 56 new fellowship awards were announced, the largest number ever given by the program. Dean for faculty affairs Eleanor Shore said since it began in 1995, the program has provided 296 fellowships, representing more than $7 million in support for junior faculty who are following academic careers while carrying heavy personal or family responsibilities. After recognition of the 2004 fellows, HMS dean Joseph Martin closed the ceremony announcing that the program would be renamed the Eleanor and Miles Shore 50th Anniversary Program for Scholars in Medicine, honoring Eleanor Shore's leadership and the couple's longtime support. A list of the 2004 recipients appears below.
HMS dean Joseph Martin congratulates Eleanor Shore after announcing that the scholars program would be renamed the Eleanor and Miles Shore 50th Anniversary Program for Scholars in Medicine. (Photo by Steve Gilbert)
Marylyn Addo, clinical fellow in medicine, MGH (2nd year), Claflin Distinguished Scholar Award
Miriam Baron, instructor in medicine, BWH and Channing Laboratory, Edward and Amalie Kass Fellowship at the Channing Laboratory
Jennifer Beach, instructor in medicine, BID, Rabkin Fellowship in Medical Education
Lori Berkowitz, instructor in obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology, MGH, Rabkin Fellowship in Medical Education
Alice Brown, instructor in neurology, MGH, Dr. Lynne Reid/Drs. Eleanor and Miles Shore Fellowship
Catherine Chen, instructor in surgery, CH (2nd year), Children's Hospital Faculty Career Development Fellowship
Rachael Clark, instructor in dermatology, BWH, Brigham and Women's Hospital Fellowship
Karen Costenbader, instructor in medicine, BWH, Eli Lilly and Company Women's Health Fellowship
Sandra Cremers, instructor in ophthalmology, MEEI, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Fellowship
Susan Dallabrida, instructor in surgery, CH, Harvard Medical School Fellowship in memory of David M. Bray
Jatin Dave, clinical fellow in medicine, BWH, Rabkin Fellowship in Medical Education
Adriana Donovan, instructor in pediatrics, CH, Children's Hospital Faculty Career Development Fellowship
Lisa Dunn-Albanese, instructor in obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology, BWH, Brigham and Women's Hospital Obstetrics and Gynecology Foundation Fellowship
Diane Fingold, assistant professor of medicine, MGH, Rabkin Fellowship in Medical Education
Alice Flaherty, instructor in neurology, MGH (2nd year), Claflin Distinguished Scholar Award
Elizabeth Garner, instructor in obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology, BWH (2nd year), Brigham and Women's Minority Career Development Award
Irene Georgakoudi, instructor in dermatology, MGH, Claflin Distinguished Scholar Award
Alisa Goldberg, assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology, BWH, Brigham and Women's Hospital Obstetrics and Gynecology Foundation Fellowship
Rebecca Greenwald, instructor in pathology, BWH, Brigham and Women's Hospital Department of Pathology Fellowship
Susan Huang, instructor in medicine, BWH and Channing Laboratory, Edward and Amalie Kass Fellowship at the Channing Laboratory
Natasha Johnson, instructor in obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology, BWH, Brigham and Women's Hospital Obstetrics and Gynecology Foundation Fellowship
Daniel Jones, visiting associate professor of surgery, BID, Rabkin Fellowship in Medical Education
Amy Juraszek, instructor in pathology, CH, Children's Hospital Pathology Foundation Fellowship
Christopher Kabrhel, instructor in medicine, MGH, Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Emergency Medicine Fellowship
Margaret Lanca, instructor in psychology in the department of psychiatry, CAM, Cambridge Health Alliance Department of Psychiatry Fellowship in honor of Barbara Dickey, PhD
Karen Lasser, instructor in medicine, CAM, Cambridge Health Alliance Department of Medicine Fellowship in honor of Thomas H. Glick, MD
Lisa Lee, instructor in obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology, MGH, Dorothy Rackemann Fellowship established by the Vincent Memorial Hospital/Massachusetts General Hospital
Everett Lyn, assistant professor of medicine, BWH (2nd year), Brigham and Women's Minority Career Development Award
Laura Mauri, instructor in medicine, BWH, The Brigham and Women's Hospital Faculty Development Award
Gail Musen, instructor in psychiatry, JOS, Joslin Diabetes Center Fellowship in memory of Priscilla White, MD
Cherie Noe, instructor in medicine, MTA, Mount Auburn Hospital Fellowship in Graduate Medical Education
Emily Oken, instructor in ambulatory care and prevention, HPHC, Robert H. Ebert, MD Fellowship established by the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation
Claudia Ordonez, instructor in pediatrics, CH (2nd year), Children's Hospital Faculty Career Development Fellowship
Paola Pajevic, instructor in medicine, MGH (2nd year), Claflin Distinguished Scholar Award
Nelly Pitteloud, instructor in medicine, MGH, Claflin Distinguished Scholar Award
Patricia Purcell, instructor in oral and developmental biology, FI, Harvard School of Dental Medicine Fellowship in honor of Aina M. Auskaps, DMD
Laurence Rahme, assistant professor of surgery (microbiology and molecular genetics), MGH, Claflin Distinguished Scholar Award
Hope Ricciotti, assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology, BID, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Ob/Gyn Foundation Academic Support Fellowship
Herminia Rosas, assistant professor of neurology, MGH (2nd year), Claflin Distinguished Scholar Award
Fidencio Saldana, research fellow in medicine, BWH, Brigham and Women's Minority Career Development Award
Elizabeth Samelson, instructor in medicine, BID, Eli Lilly and Company Women's Health Fellowship
Thomas Sequist, instructor in medicine, BWH, Brigham and Women's Minority Career Development Award
Sanja Sever, assistant professor of medicine, MGH (2nd year), Claflin Distinguished Scholar Award
Karen Shedlack, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry, MCL, McLean Hospital Fellowship
Lydia Shrier, assistant professor of pediatrics, CH, Priscilla and Richard Hunt Fellowship
Naomi Simon, assistant professor of psychiatry, MGH (2nd year), Claflin Distinguished Scholar Award
Ulrike Spaete, instructor in oral and developmental biology, FI, Forsyth Institute Fellowship
Amy Sullivan, instructor in psychiatry, DFCI, DanaFarber Cancer Institute Fellowship
Cathryn Sundback, instructor in surgery, MGH, Claflin Distinguished Scholar Award
Anne Thorndike, instructor in medicine, MGH, Claflin Distinguished Scholar Award
David Ting, instructor in medicine, MGH, Rabkin Fellowship in Medical Education
Nicole Ullrich, instructor in neurology, CH, Children's Hospital Faculty Career Development Fellowship
Adele Viguera, assistant professor of psychiatry, MGH, Claflin Distinguished Scholar Award
Rachel Wilson, assistant professor of neurobiology, HMS, The Loreen Arbus Scholarship in Neuroscience
Jie Zhang-Hoover, instructor in medicine, SERI/BWH, The Alice J. Adler Fellowship of the Schepens Eye Research Institute
Alison Zimon, clinical fellow in obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology, BID, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Ob/Gyn Foundation Academic Support Fellowship
Former HMS Professor Wins 2004 Nobel Prize
HMS congratulates Linda Buck, cowinner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. She shares the prize with Richard Axel of Columbia University. Buck, a faculty member in the HMS Department of Neurobiology from 1991 until 2002, won the Nobel for discoveries in "odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system." Since 2002, she has been a full member in the Division of Basic Sciences at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. (Photo by Graham Ramsay)
HMS Revamps Program in Medical Education
The Program in Medical Education at HMS has established two new divisions and announced a set of new appointments as part of a sweeping reorganization tied to the School's Medical Education Reform initiative. The new divisions are the Division of Student Services and the Division of Curriculum Services.The Division of Student Services, which will be led by Nancy Oriol and Mohan Boodram, will include the current Offices of Admissions, Advising Resources, Enrichment Programs, Financial Aid, Recruitment and Multicultural Affairs, the Registrar, and Student Affairs. Oriol, HMS associate professor of anesthesia at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and associate dean for students for the last seven years, has assumed the new position of dean for students. Boodram, most recently HMS director of admissions and financial aid, has been named associate dean for students. Oriol will provide executive oversight of the division and Boodram will serve as its chief operating officer. Together, they will be working to enhance existing services and to launch new initiatives that complement the curriculum changes to be introduced in the coming years. During the transition to the new organizational structure, the division's leadership will be working closely with Terri Orr, associate dean for admissions and student services, who will be retiring in December after more than 24 years of leadership and service to HMS.
The second new division, the Division of Curriculum Services, will take responsibility for the executive management of the curriculum and will be led by Ronald Arky and Richard Gillis. Arky, the Charles S. Davidson distinguished professor of medicine and founding master of the Francis Weld Peabody Society, has assumed the new position of dean for curriculum. Gillis, most recently director of the HMS Office of Educational Resources, has been named associate dean for curriculum. Arky will provide executive oversight of the division, and Gillis will serve as its chief operating officer.
In their new roles, Arky and Gillis will collaborate with the academic society masters, basic science and clinical department heads, and course and clerkship directors to coordinate the delivery of the medical curriculum. By bringing the academic societies into closer alignment with curriculum operations, the new division will strengthen the School's ability to meet students' academic needs and streamline administrative course support for the teaching faculty. The Division of Curriculum Services will have two goals: maintaining the high quality of the School's current educational program and planning for the operational implementation of a new core curriculum, slated for AY07. Alane Shanks, associate dean for educational administration and finance, will assist in the transition to the new structure prior to her departure in December after 20 years of service to HMS.
Additionally, Beverly Woo, associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and associate master of the Peabody Society for the past 12 years, has been named senior associate master. In this new position, Woo will assist Arky in the executive management of the Peabody Society.
"We are confident that the dedicated professionals of the new Student Services and Curriculum Services divisions will ensure that our students and faculty are able to take full advantage of the many new opportunities emerging in medicine and medical education today," said Joseph Martin, dean of the Faculty of Medicine at HMS.
NIH Pioneer Award Funds Developmental Biology Research
George Daley, HMS associate professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology and of pediatrics at Children's Hospital Boston, has been awarded a National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award. A central component of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research, the $2.5 million, five-year Pioneer Award was established this year to support individual scientists and thinkers with innovative ideas and approaches to contemporary challenges in biomedical research.
Daley, associate director of the Stem Cell/Developmental Biology research program at Children's, said, "Most grants have very specific aims and propose experiments that everyone on the study section knows you can complete. The pioneer process actually encouraged me to propose highly speculative goals. Science is most fun when you have the freedom to pursue exciting new directions, and the pioneer funding will make that possible."
Nine grants were given this year, including one to Sunney Xie, professor of chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Cell Biology at Harvard University. (Photo courtesy of George Daley)
Modeling Disease: New Windows on a Hidden World
Nov. 17, 20048:45 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
NRB Amphitheater
This symposium features panel discussions on in vivo modeling, technology enhancements, in vitro modeling, and in silico modeling, with a keynote address by Marc Tessier-Lavigne, senior vice president of drug discovery, Genentech. To register online, please use the online registration. Sponsored by HMS in collaboration with Charles River Laboratories
Grant Promotes Clinician-scientists in Eye Research
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Eye Institute to fund the new Harvard Vision Clinical Scientist Research Program. The five-year, $4.5 million award allows MEEI to recruit, train, and support clinician-scientists who can develop translational and clinical research into cures for eye diseases. The new program will be directed by Reza Dana, HMS associate professor of ophthalmology at the infirmary."This new program allows us to exploit the considerable strengths we have at our many Harvard institutions, namely our faculty, research, and teaching programs, to offer a unique mentored learning and career development program to trainees," said Joan Miller, chief of ophthalmology at MEEI and chair of ophthalmology at HMS.
NIH Roadmap Supports Pilot for Vision Research Center
Schepens Eye Research Institute has been awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health to find cures for blinding diseases such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma. It is the only eye research institute to receive this type of award, part of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research."This is an exciting opportunity to bring enormous energy and new brain power to solve some of the most complex puzzles in eye research," said principal investigator Darlene Dartt, HMS associate professor of ophthalmology and director of scientific affairs at Schepens.
The institute will collaborate with HMS, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, and other affiliated hospitals on the three-year, $2 million grant, which will fund the planning and piloting phase of what will ultimately become an interdisciplinary research center.
"While experts from these areas often collaborate informally on vision disease, ophthalmology has remained somewhat specialized and in some ways isolated from other disciplines. This is really the first federal program to formalize collaboration," said Dartt.
HMS Unveils New Web Pages
The Harvard Medical community has a new presence on the Web, featuring a redesigned home page, expanded consumer information, and multimedia sites. The new home page was unveiled this summer and includes research news and events as well as links to the affiliated hospitals and institutions. A new section of consumer information geared toward the general public could be a rich patient referral resource with 18 pages of disease-specific information, from asthma to Parkinson's disease. And new interactive multimedia presentations have been added to Lab Works.