A Farewell to Misia Landau

Science writer Misia Landau, who has worked on Focus for 15 years, has recently decided to leave HMS to pursue her personal writing projects. We will keenly miss her deep knowledge of research and researchers at HMS, her passion and talent for explaining science, her skill at visualizing molecular biology, her warmth as a colleague and friend, and her grace in all situations. We wish her the very best in her next career.

First-years Say Thanks to Faculty and Staff

On May 28, HMS and HSDM first-years treated faculty and staff to a luncheon in order to show their appreciation for the support and enrichment they received during their first leg of the long journey to becoming doctors and dentists. “Henry Brooks Adams once said, ‘A good teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops,’” said Elizabeth Chao, one of the students who organized the event. “I believe that this quote best captures the spirit of the HMS and HSDM faculty and staff.” Chao added that she hopes the luncheon becomes a tradition.

The Class of ’79 Reconnects

Gathering to celebrate “the 10th anniversary of our 20th reunion,” the HMS Class of 1979 reconnected through a mini-symposium, “Where Are We Now and How Did We Get Here?” featuring presentations by six members of the class, as well as a dinner and an afternoon clambake. The Class of 1979 boasts many notable graduates, including many currently at Harvard: Nancy Oriol, HMS’s dean for students; Richard ­Schwartzstein, director of the Academy at HMS and the Ellen and Melvin Gordon professor of medical education; Deborah Prothrow-Stith, HSPH adjunct professor of the practice of public health; and Eve ­Higginbotham, a Harvard University overseer and dean of Morehouse School of Medicine. Oriol, founder of the Family Van—a public health outreach program of HMS—led her classmates on a tour of the van, which had come to HMS for the occasion. “It was a wonderful moment!” she said. “And it was so good to hear of all the amazing work these HMSers—30 years out—are doing with their lives.”