In a ceremony at Harvard Medical School’s Gordon Hall of Medicine on Sept. 17, HMS Dean Jeffrey S. Flier celebrated the activation of the Shlomo Ben-Haim, MD, Professorship in Medicine in the Field of Cardiac Electrophysiology.
The event honored Mark Josephson, the HMS Herman Dana Professor of Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, as the ultimate shared namesake, and recognized the donor, Shlomo Ben-Haim, as the interim namesake and ultimate shared namesake.
“Through the establishment of this professorship, Dr. Ben-Haim is ensuring that Beth Israel Deaconess, Harvard Medical School, and all incumbents of this professorship will continue to advance the field of cardiac electrophysiology while maintaining the high standard of care that patients have come to expect from Beth Israel’s Department of Medicine and Division of Cardiovascular Medicine,” said Flier.
“We are so pleased to join together to recognize Dr. Josephson’s achievements, to honor Dr. Ben-Haim’s generosity, and to celebrate the department’s and division’s continued success and undoubtedly bright future,” said Flier.
Upon Josephson’s retirement, the professorship will be renamed the Shlomo Ben-Haim, MD – Mark E. Josephson, MD, Professorship in the Field of Cardiac Electrophysiology.
The inaugural incumbent of the professorship has not yet been selected.
Josephson, who has been called one of the fathers of electrophysiology, has been part of the Beth Israel Deaconess faculty for 22 years. He has helped develop cardiac devices and techniques to diagnose, treat and better understand the cause of arrhythmias. He also established the internationally respected Harvard-Thorndike Electrophysiology Institute and Arrhythmia Service at Beth Israel Deaconess.
“The studies he has completed since the 1970s have helped to expand the field from that of a compelling research interest to a discipline that provides diagnostic and therapeutic benefits to patients,” said Flier.
Ben-Haim thanked Josephson for opening doors to him, both personally and professionally.
Other speakers at the event included Kevin Tabb, president and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess and professor of medicine at HMS; Mark Zeidel, the Hermann Ludwig Blumgart Professor of Medicine at HMS and chair of the Department of Medicine and physician-in-chief at Beth Israel Deaconess; and Peter Zimetbaum, HMS associate professor of medicine and clinical director of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess. Several speakers praised Josephson for treating his students and fellows as his children and grandchildren.
“Teaching is not simply teaching for Mark,” said Zeidel. “He is always thinking of new ways to use new information.”
