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Metabolism:
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Structural Biology:
Interdisciplinary Team Yields High-res Clathrin Model

Pathology:
Blood Flow Mechanics Affect Genetics in Vascular Cells

School History:
Book and Forum Recognize Achievement of African Americans at HMS

Medical Education:
Education Reform Aims for Longitudinal Clinical Experience

Muscle Loss Pathways Proliferate

Fine-particle Pollution Linked to Blood Pressure Boost

Human Cell Therapy Center Created at CBR Institute

Lieberman to Head Faculty Affairs

Five Faculty Members Become AAAS Fellows

Ground Broken for New Fenway Housing

Grant Funds HSPH Initiative for Preparedness Against Terrorism

Long-term Care: Averting a National Crisis

Front Page

Book and Forum Recognize Achievement of African Americans at HMS

Against All Odds, a book by Nora Nercessian (right), includes a biography of James T. Still, who graduated from HMS in 1871. Still's relative, Gloria Still (left), spoke at a reception celebrating the book and the HMS alumni it features. (Photos by Jeff Thiebauth)

Nercessian said she was driven to write about this subject due to the number of questions she fielded from government officials, researchers, and reporters about students of African descent at HMS, such as who was the first African American to be admitted to the School? "I had none of the answers," she said, "and when I asked around, the answers were quite vague."

The questions could only be answered through research. "Over many months," she said, "one name after another emerged from the folds of the past. Archives, catalogs, and newspapers turned them into persons. At the end, the material amounted to nothing less than a spectacular odyssey of achievement by individuals of heroic character who were simply wanting to be the best doctors they could be."

"To me, the important story is that young people understand that even in the midst of what I call modern-day slavery, whether it's drugs, alcohol, or undereducation, the whole story of [our] family is that people, in spite of adversity, can be free, can be successful, and can soar."

Writing in the book's preface, HMS dean Joseph Martin and Daniel Federman, the Carl W. Walter distinguished professor of medicine and senior dean for alumni relations and clinical teaching, say, "The effort to prepare a complete record of the African-American presence at HMS is complemented by autobiographical contributions from living alumni. Their memories include some painful experiences, but the outcomes are cause for celebration."

The forum included a panel discussion with Martin; Steven Hyman, provost, Harvard University; Gary Gottlieb, president of Brigham and Women's Hospital; David Torchiana, chairman and CEO of Massachusetts General Physicians Organization and HMS associate professor of surgery at MGH; and Marc Kirschner, the Carl W. Walter professor of systems biology and chair of that department. Panel members provided statistics showing the number of underrepresented minorities involved in various areas of biomedicine. Although progress has been made at HMS since affirmative action--the current first-year class is 24 percent underrepresented minorities--many areas, including the Faculty of Medicine, are still lacking in minority representation.

Joan Reede, dean for diversity and community partnership, thanked Nercessian at the forum for helping HMS realize its past. Reede turned the audience's attention to the future by describing programs administered by her office that address all levels of the pipeline, from middle school to medical practice. "I think the real challenge for us is to take the knowledge that we have and to apply that knowledge in a way that we make a change," she said.

Gloria Still, descendant of James T. Still, who entered HMS in 1867 and was the third student of African descent to graduate from HMS, attended the reception and dinner following the forum with three Still relatives. She said, "To me, the important story is that young people understand that even in the midst of what I call modern-day slavery, whether it's drugs, alcohol, or undereducation, the whole story of [our] family is that people, in spite of adversity, can be free, can be successful, and can soar."

In closing the day's events, Reede extended her gratitude to those who came to HMS before her, for their courage, sacrifice, and perseverance. "It is because of you that people like me can stand here today. We stand on your shoulders," she said. "The challenge for all of us is to find ways to continue to work together Š to make the past that has led to where we see ourselves today inform the future."

Against All Odds author Nercessian has written several other books, including Worthy of the Honor: A Brief History of Women at Harvard Medical School, A Legacy So Enduring: An Account of the Administration Building at Harvard Medical School from Its Foundation to Its Rededication as the Gordon Hall of Medicine, and In Celebration of Life: A Centennial Account of the Harvard Medical Alumni Association 1891 to 1991. To view Against All Odds online, visit www.hms.harvard.edu/dcp/againstallodds.

--Leah Gourley