News
The HMS IT Department recently won two awards. InfoWorld, an online resource for IT professionals, has named the department to its InfoWorld 100 list, which recognizes the 100 most innovative uses of IT initiatives to further business goals. Selections are made based on the excellence and quality of the work environment. The department was recognized for its High Performance Computing Initiative, which involved building an internal compute cloud, or large computer network, for more than 500 researchers to use all over the world. Individual labs at HMS donated their hardware to create the infrastructure. The compute cloud allows scientists to complete large, complex computing tasks in a fraction of the time that a single computer would take, run multiple applications in parallel and collaborate and share files more easily. It also helps save resources because the labs do not have to purchase additional hardware and software or find space for multiple systems. In addition, Marcos Athanasoulis, director of research information technology services and director of client services, was named to Computerworld’s 2010 Premier 100 list, which recognizes IT leaders who guide the effective use of information technology to improve his or her company’s business performance.
Jeffrey Fredberg, HSPH professor of bioengineering and physiology, recently received the Walter B. Cannon lectureship from the American Physiological Society. He will deliver the lecture at the society’s annual meeting in April. The lectureship recognizes an outstanding physiological scientist as selected by the president–elect. The recipient presents a lecture on “Physiology in Perspective,” addressing Cannon’s concepts of “The Wisdom of the Body.”
New CFO Appointed at HMS
Wesley Benbow has been appointed HMS’s new associate dean for finance and chief financial officer, effective Feb. 1, 2010.
Benbow comes to HMS with more than 16 years of healthcare finance experience in key managerial and leadership positions. Currently, he is the vice president of finance and facilities at Joslin Diabetes Center. In this senior leadership role, he has been responsible for all financial operations including oversight of accounting, treasury, strategic and financial planning, purchasing, revenue cycle operations and overall plant management.
Prior to serving at Joslin, Benbow held financial positions at Boston Medical Center, Winchester Hospital and Middlesex Hospital in Connecticut. He holds an MBA from Quinnipiac University and a bachelor’s in economics and political science from Fairfield University.
HSPH Dean to Chair Alliance for Maternal and Child Health
Julio Frenk, dean of HSPH, has been elected chair of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH), a global alliance of 300 member organizations dedicated to advancing progress toward the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5, regarding the reduction of child mortality and the improvement of maternal health. PMNCH promotes the idea of a “continuum of care” to ensure that women and their children receive healthcare before, during and after pregnancy and childbirth. In particular, the organization focuses on three areas of need: family planning services, skilled postnatal care, and clinical care and treatment for sick children.
“I am very pleased to accept the role of chair of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health,” said Frenk. “When we see more than 10 million women and children die of unnecessary causes every year in poor countries, it presents an ethical dilemma for all of us…. The Partnership can play an important role in forging consensus on ways to act and in bringing the world’s attention to this very important issue.”
AAAS Taps 10 from Schools for Contributions to Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has named 10 new fellows from HMS and HSPH, who were among 531 appointed this year. The new fellows, selected for their efforts in advancing scientifically or socially distinguished science applications, will be presented with certificates at the AAAS annual meeting in San Diego in February. A list of new members from the Schools appears below.
Eric Chivian, HMS assistant clinical professor of psychiatry (social medicine) at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment, for important contributions to understanding the human health consequences of global environmental change.
Paul Epstein, HMS instructor in social medicine and associate director of the Center for Health and the Global environment, for contributions to understanding the links between climate change and health, and for education of students, business leaders and policymakers regarding solutions to these problems.
Laurie Glimcher, HMS professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Irene Heinz Given professor of immunology at HSPH, for her work in characterizing the molecular pathways that regulate CD4 T helper cell development and activation.
Alfred Goldberg, HMS professor of cell biology, for distinguished contributions in the field of cell biology, particularly in protein turnover.
Gökhan Hotamisligil, the James Stevens Simmons professor of genetics and metabolism and chair of the Department of Genetics and Complex Diseases at HSPH, for distinguished contributions to the field of metabolic regulation, its implications for human health and novel translational approaches to treat common chronic metabolic diseases.
Marc Kirschner, the John Franklin Enders University professor of systems biology and head of that department, for contributions to understanding the cytoskeleton, eukaryotic cell cycle, protein degradation and embryonic patterning, and for leadership in public policy.
Jen Sheen, HMS professor of genetics at Massachusetts General Hospital, for seminal studies of signaling pathways in plants.
Christopher A. Walsh, the Bullard professor of neurology at Children’s Hospital, Boston, for his groundbreaking work on the genetic basis of brain development and developmental brain disorders.
Kai Wucherpfennig, HMS professor of neurology at Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, for distinguished contributions in the field of immunology, particularly for advancing the understanding of T cell receptor recognition and T cell activation in human autoimmune diseases.
Junying Yuan, HMS professor of cell biology, for distinguished contributions on the roles of caspases in mediating apoptosis of mammalian cells and necrostatins, small molecule inhibitors of a cellular necrosis pathway.
HSPH Presents Its First Public Health Journalism Prize
The HSPH Center for Health Communication honored The New York Times for “distinguished journalism in public health” at a luncheon in New York City in December. The center's newly established journalism award cited the Times’s series “Driven to Distraction,” which drew widespread public attention to the dangers associated with driving while texting or phoning. HSPH dean Julio Frenk presented the award to Arthur Sulzberger Jr., chairman of the New York Times Company and publisher of The New York Times. The Time’s reporting included the disclosure of previously suppressed research documenting serious hazards associated with the use of cell phones and other electronic devices while driving and led to enactment of new state laws and also raised public awareness of the problem.
The luncheon also celebrated the 21st birthday of the National Designated Driver Campaign to prevent drinking and driving, which was launched by the Center for Health Communication in 1988.
Global Health Initiative Names First Burke Fellows
The Harvard Initiative for Global Health has announced the inaugural class of Burke Global Health Fellows. Five out of the six new fellows are from HMS and HSPH. The fellowships, supported by the Katherine States Burke and T.R. Burke Fund for Global Health at Harvard University, supports innovative research by junior faculty and the development of undergraduate courses and mentorship focused on global health. The fellows from the two Schools appear below.
Ingrid Bassett, HMS instructor in medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, will investigate the use of a mobile phone short messaging service (SMS) intervention toward improving the linkage from HIV testing to HIV care in South Africa.
Arachu Castro, HMS assistant professor of social medicine, is conducting research as part of an ongoing project titled “The Latin America and Caribbean Initiative for the Integration of Prenatal Care with the Testing and Treatment of HIV and Syphilis.” The objective is to develop innovative strategies to effectively integrate HIV and sexually transmitted infection screening and treatment with prenatal care in Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Uruguay and Peru.
Marcia Caldas de Castro, HSPH assistant professor of demography, will use remotely sensed imagery to infer levels of urban malaria risk in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Her team believes that geostatical analysis applied to remote sensing can help pinpoint where malaria risks are greatest and lead to more targeted interventions and the development of a predictive model of malaria transmission in urban areas.
Hongtu Chen, HMS assistant professor of psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and HMS, will focus on caregivers of elders with dementia in demographically transitioning Asian countries by assessing the social and cultural resources that serve as a social safety net for maintaining caregiver mental health. The project’s specific goal is to develop an instrument—the Social and Cultural Resources Inventory—that can be used to assess the social safety net for mental health in developing Asian countries.
Manoj Duraisingh, HSPH assistant professor of immunology and infectious diseases, aims to characterize polymorphism in erythrocyte proteins between individuals in Senegal and to analyze their functional consequences for malaria invasion and growth.
New Appointments to Full Professor
The faculty members below were appointed to a full professorship in November.
Anne Goldfeld
Professor of Medicine
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Goldfeld is internationally known for her work on the regulation of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) gene. Her laboratory uses biochemical, genetic and evolutionary approaches to understand the checkpoints of TNF gene regulation. These studies have led to a new understanding of mechanisms of cell and inducer–specific eukaryotic gene regulation, including the evolution of noncoding sequences and the role of distal regulatory elements. Her laboratory also studies how the human immune system responds to HIV and tuberculosis infections at the molecular level and has identified host susceptibility and resistance genes that influence the pathogenesis of TB and AIDS. In addition, the lab has identified a role for immunosuppressive T cells in the inhibition of an effective immune response to TB. Her work has pioneered the approach of combining basic discovery with the delivery of clinical AIDS and TB care, particularly in Cambodia, where she co–founded the Cambodian Health Committee in 1994. She also has an appointment in the HSPH Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases and is a senior investigator at the Immune Disease Institute, the Program in Molecular and Cellular Medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston.
Todd Golub
Professor of Pediatrics
Dana–Farber Cancer Institute
Golub’s research focuses on the use of genomic information in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. His laboratory develops methods for the classification of human cancers based on their genomic profiles. More recently, his lab has worked to develop novel chemical genomic approaches to therapeutic intervention in cancer. His research program is based jointly at the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute and serves as a model for collaborative, interdisciplinary research.
James Liao
Professor of Medicine
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Liao’s research interests are focused on signaling pathways that govern vascular function, in both normal and diseased states. His laboratory attempts to translate basic findings in the vascular wall to therapeutic applications in patients with cardiovascular disease. In particular, he is interested in the mechanistic basis for some of the cholesterol–independent effects of HMG–CoA reductase inhibitors or statins in cardiovascular protection. He currently serves as the director of vascular medicine research at BWH.
David Wilbur
Professor of Pathology
Massachusetts General Hospital
Wilbur’s primary clinical interests are in cytopathology, particularly related to gynecologic applications. His research focuses on the clinical applications of computerization in pathology. His specific areas of interest include automated screening of cervical cytology specimens and the use of digital imaging for telepathology applications. He has spent much of his career developing and testing the computerized scanning devices now widely employed in cytology laboratories around the world, and he has recently developed methods for the expansion of the use of these devices for remote telepathology clinical interpretation.
In Memoriam
Priscilla Schaffer, HMS professor of medicine (microbiology and molecular genetics) at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, died on Nov. 18 at age 67. She had been fighting a series of complications caused by Parkinson’s Disease.
An internationally recognized expert on herpesviruses, Schaffer received her bachelor’s degree from Hobart and William Smith College in 1964 and her doctorate in microbiology from Cornell University Medical College in 1969. After only two years as a postdoctoral researcher at Baylor College of Medicine, she was appointed assistant professor in the school’s Department of Virology and Epidemiology.
Schaffer joined the HMS community in 1976 as an associate professor in microbiology and molecular genetics and chief of the Laboratory of Tumor Virus Genetics at the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute. She was promoted to professor of microbiology and molecular genetics in 1981.
In 1996, Schaffer left HMS to serve as chair of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She returned to Boston in 2001, serving as professor of medicine (microbiology and molecular genetics) and chief of the Laboratory of Molecular Virology at BID until 2007, when she moved to Arizona to continue her research at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
As a researcher, Schaffer worked to elucidate the mechanisms by which herpes simplex virus replicates and causes disease. In addition to publishing more than 150 peer–reviewed papers, she trained numerous doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows over the course of her career. Schaffer received many awards, including the Elizabeth Blackwell Award for her “outstanding service to humanity.”
Recently, a fund was established in her honor to help students and postdoctoral fellows present their research and to sponsor a lectureship bearing her name at the International Herpesvirus Workshop.
Schaffer is survived by her mother, Marie Knudsen Schaffer of Knoxville, Tenn.; sisters Phyllis Kraft of Pretoria, South Africa, and Judith Burt of Nashville, Tenn.; brothers Albert Schaffer of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Stephen Schaffer of Nashville, Tenn.; and her friend and caregiver Madelon Cook of Tucson, Ariz.
Donations in her memory may be made to the Priscilla Schaffer Lecture Fund through the Beth Israel Deaconess Department of Medicine Foundation, c/o Dr. Donald Coen, Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, 250 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115.
Robert Smith, clinical professor emeritus of anesthesia and former chief of anesthesiology at Children’s Hospital Boston, died on Nov. 25. He would have turned 97 on Dec. 10.
Smith received his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College in 1934 and his medical degree from HMS in 1938. He completed a rotating internship at the Faulkner Hospital and two years of general surgery at Boston City Hospital before going into general practice in Cohasset for a year.
In 1942, he entered the army and received three months of anesthesia training before being appointed chief of anesthesia of the 100th General Hospital (in France and Germany), a position he held until 1946. Following this service, he joined the HMS community as assistant in anesthesia and served on the staff of Children’s Hospital Boston, where he was appointed the hospital’s first anesthesiologist–in–chief. He would remain at Children’s for more than three decades, serving as anesthesiologist–in–chief and rising to the position of clinical professor of anesthesia.
Smith was a distinguished pioneer in pediatric anesthesia. The pediatric anesthesia fellowship program he started at Children’s is one of the oldest in North America and includes intimate bedside teaching. At a time when anesthesia monitoring consisted primarily of simple visual observation of the anesthetized child, Smith initiated the concept of physiological monitoring using the precordial stethoscope and pediatric and neonatal blood pressure cuffs (Smith cuffs), initially handmade in his garage.
In 1959, Smith wrote a comprehensive textbook specifically dedicated to the anesthetic management and care of children, titled Anesthesia for Infants and Children. In 1990, after the fourth edition by Smith, the fifth edition was renamed Smith’s Anesthesia for Infants and Children, when Smith passed the baton to colleagues. The textbook is soon to appear in its eighth edition, the longest–running textbook of pediatric anesthesia in the world.
After retiring as clinical professor emeritus of anesthesia from HMS in 1980, Smith practiced at the Franciscan Hospital for Children from 1980 to 1992.
Smith was predeceased by his wife of 69 years, Margaret Smith. He is survived by his two daughters, Marcia Dalva of Larkspur, Calif., and Karen Young of Andover; his son, Jonathan Smith, of Wellesley; eight grandchildren; and two great–grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in memory of Robert Smith to establish a chair in his honor at Children’s Hospital Boston. Please mail checks to Children’s Hospital Trust, 1 Autumn Street #731, Boston, MA 02215–5301.
Ralph Warren, a surgeon whose practice stretched from the urban confines of Boston, to the battlefields of Iraq, to the Navajo country of New Mexico and Arizona, died Dec. 2, in Gallup, New Mexico, after a long illness. He was 55.
Born on Sept. 28, 1954, Warren was raised in Short Hills, N.J., and graduated from the Pingry School in Hillside, NJ. He attended Harvard College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and HMS, where he earned his MD degree in 1981. He trained in general surgery and then in cardiothoracic surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital.
From 1989 through 2000, Warren practiced general surgery at MGH, serving as chief of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit. In 2000, he left Boston to take a position with the Indian Health Service at the Gallup Indian Medical Center in Gallup, N.M. For the last nine years of his life he was dedicated to caring for the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni and Pueblo peoples served by the Gallup hospital. Proficient in six languages, Warren distinguished himself by becoming conversant in the Navajo language, a feat rarely achieved by bilagáana (non-Navajos).
In 1990 Warren joined the Massachusetts Air National Guard as a flight surgeon and served in that capacity for 10 years. During operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, he filled in the backlines at Andrews Air Force Base. His service with the National Guard took him several times to the Antarctic, where he served as the physician for National Guard personnel at McMurdo Station, as well as on goodwill missions to Guatemala and Ecuador.
Upon relocating to New Mexico in 2000, Warren transferred to the New Mexico Air National Guard, ultimately becoming the State Air Surgeon for New Mexico before retiring from the Guard earlier this year with the rank of colonel. Warren completed two tours of duty in Iraq, the first in 2004 and the second in 2005. During the latter tour, he served as a trauma surgeon at Balad Air Force Base outside Baghdad. He was twice awarded a Distinguished Service Medal by the New Mexico Air National Guard, the highest noncombat honor bestowed by the force.
Warren is survived by his two daughters, Maxine Warren of Arlington, Va., and Madison Warren of Nahant, Mass.; his father, Edus Warren Jr., of Atlanta, Ga.; his sisters, Ann Warren of Freehold, N.J., and Sarah Fenton of Basking Ridge, N.J.; and his brother, Edus Warren III, of Bainbridge Island, Wash.
