Awards & Recognition: June 2015

Michael Charness

Michael Charness, HMS professor of neurology at VA Boston Healthcare System, received the 2015 Henry Rosett Award for outstanding contributions to research in the field of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders at the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Study Group conference held June 20 in San Antonio.

Charness, who is also faculty associate dean for Veterans Hospital programs, has been studying fetal alcohol syndrome for more than 20 years and is an active participant in educational efforts to broaden public awareness about fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. His finding that low concentrations of ethanol disrupt a molecule that is critical to the developing fetus has served as a touchstone in the public debate about moderate drinking during pregnancy.

The Henry Rosett Award is a lifetime achievement award given each year to an individual who has made substantial contributions to the field of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.


Paul Farmer. Image: Justin IdePaul Farmer, HMS Kolokotrones University Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine, accepted the Forbes 400 Lifetime Achievement Award for Social Entrepreneurship on June 3. The Honorable Bill Clinton presented the award to Farmer during the fourth annual Forbes Summit on Philanthropy at Carnegie Hall in New York.

Past winners of the Forbes 400 Lifetime Achievement Award for Social Entrepreneurship include Teach for America Founder Wendy Kopp and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi microfinance pioneer.


Six HMS professors received awards from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) for outstanding achievements in research and clinical care at the ADA’s 75th Scientific Sessions held June 5-9 in Boston, Massachusetts. They are:

Lori Laffel, HMS professor of pediatrics at Joslin Diabetes Center, received the 2015 Outstanding Physician Clinician Award; one of the Association’s highest awards, the award is presented annually to an individual who is actively involved in the clinical care of patients with diabetes. The award recognizes her accomplishments and career history as a mentor and health care provider.

George King, HMS professor of medicine at Joslin Diabetes Center, was given the 2015 Edwin Bierman Award for his exceptional achievements in the field of diabetes-related macrovascular complications and related risk factors and for serving as a mentor to other diabetes researchers. He delivered “Can Insulin’s Vascular Actions be Anti-Atherogenic?” as the Bierman lecture.

Osama Hamdy, HMS assistant professor of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center received the Michaela Modan Memorial Award for his abstract on the 5-year longitudinal study of lifestyle intervention on cardiovascular risk factors in patients with diabetes.

David M. Nathan, HMS professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, received the ADA award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Diabetes Research. Nathan’s work has had a groundbreaking impact on diabetes research and care throughout the world.

Pere Puigserver, HMS professor of cell biology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, received Outstanding Scientific Achievement award. This award is given to a researcher, less than 50 years of age, to recognize outstanding scientific achievement in diabetes research, taking into consideration independence of thought, originality, significance of discovery, and impact of the research.

Linda Delahanty, HMS assistant professor of medicine at Mass General, received the Outstanding Educator in Diabetes award. This award is presented to stimulate, acknowledge and reward outstanding educational efforts by health professionals in the field of diabetes education.

The annual Scientific Sessions hosted by the ADA is the world’s largest diabetes meeting and showcases timely and significant advances in basic science and the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diabetes.


Cigall Kadoch, HMS assistant professor of pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, and Karla Meza-Sosa, HMS research fellow in pediatrics at Boston Children’s, were selected as Pew Scholars in biomedical research.

Kadoch was named as one of five Pew-Stewart Scholars Program for Cancer Research. The Pew-Stewart program provides four years of flexible funding to pursue innovative work aimed at advancing progress toward a cure for cancer. Kadoch’s lab investigates how disruption of a protein complex that governs DNA architecture and gene expression can lead to cancer.

Meza-Sosa was selected as one of 10 postdoctoral scientists to the Pew Latin American Fellows Program in Biomedical Sciences. The fellowships are awarded to exceptional scientists from Latin America to pursue postdoctoral studies in the U.S. Meza-Sosa, a native of Mexico, will join the laboratory of Judy Lieberman at Harvard Medical School.

The Pew Charitable Trusts provides funding to support the research of exceptional early-career investigators of outstanding promise in science relevant to the advancement of human health.


The Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership has announced the recipients of the 2015 Dean’s Community Service Awards.

About the Award

Community service is an integral part of the missions of Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Dental Medicine. In keeping with this commitment, the Dean’s Community Service Award was established in 1999 to recognize individuals whose dedication and commitment to community service have made a positive impact on the local, national or international community.

Since the inception of the Dean’s Community Service Award, Harvard Medical School has recognized the contributions of 92 individuals and donated $1,000 each to 87 organizations that serve our community. Ten HMS faculty members have been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Community Service.

Members of the HMS/HSDM community were invited to identify outstanding individuals whose outstanding dedication and commitment to community service have had a positive impact on the local, national and/or global community. Self-nominations were also accepted. The award categories are faculty, trainee, student and staff.

An advisory committee composed of representatives of HMS/HSDM and affiliates carefully reviewed and discussed each nomination and recommended this year’s recipients.

2015 Recipients

Harvard Medical School donates $1,000 each to the organizations that the award recipients serve. The awards will be presented at a by invitation only Dean's Community Service Award Recognition Breakfast in October. This year’s recipients and their respective organizations are listed below.

Faculty

Alison Brookes, instructor in medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital

The Lynn Shelter Association

Soo-Woo Kim, HSDM instructor in oral medicine, infection and immunity

Dentists for Humanity

Trainee

Shaheen Lakhan, clinical fellow in anesthesia, Mass General

Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation

Haley Ramsey, research fellow in pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital

Birthday Wishes

Students

Sydnee Chavis, HSDM 2015

Improving Special Care, Access, and Patient Equality (iSCAPE)

Juliana Morris, HMS 2015

Matahari: Eye of the Day

Staff

Obiageli Ukadike, online learning manager, Harvard Catalyst | The Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center

The WaWa Project


Michael Greenberg. Image: Joshua TousterMichael Greenberg, head of the Harvard Medical School Department of Neurobiology, has been named a co-recipient of the 2015 Neuroscience Prize from the Gruber Foundation for his groundbreaking work regarding how neural activity controls wiring of the brain and how disruptions of those circuits can lead to neurobiological disorders.

Greenberg will share the unrestricted $500,000 award with Carla Shatz, professor of biology and neurobiology at Stanford University and former head of the HMS Department of Neurobiology.

Through his research, Greenberg, the HMS Nathan Marsh Pusey Professor of Neurobiology, has identified how genes in the brain are triggered by experience-stimulated neuronal activity. He has also described many of their critical molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways.

Greenberg is particularly interested in how these activity-dependent genetic processes can lead to the development of diseases of cognitive function, such as Rett syndrome, when they malfunction.

“Both Dr. Shatz and Dr. Greenberg are extraordinary researchers,” said Robert Wurtz, chair of the selection advisory board for the neuroscience prize, in a statement. “Both have also served as leaders in the neuroscience community and have been exceptional mentors to countless young people who have gone on to have distinguished careers of their own.”

The Gruber Prize citation stated, “their groundbreaking studies have provided new insight into how neural circuit function regulates brain development and plasticity and how dysfunction can contribute to neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.”

The cash award, a gold laureate pin and a citation will be presented to Greenberg and Shatz in Chicago at the 45th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in October.