Dr. Flint Beal, the Anne Parrish Titzell Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience, and Dr. Jean Pape, professor of medicine, have been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors bestowed by the scientific community. The Institute, established by the National Academy of Sciences in 1970, is recognized as a national resource for independent, scientifically formed analysis and recommendations on issues related to human health.
Dr. David V. Becker, professor of radiology and medicine, participated in a panel of the National Academy of Sciences that issued a report recommending that potassium iodide pills should be available to everyone age 40 or younger—especially children and pregnant or lactating women—living near a nuclear power plant. Dr. Becker contributed a section in the report on iodine physiology and the effects of the Marshall Island's Bikini accident of 1954. Dr. Becker has also served as chairman of the National Cancer Institute's Chernobyl Fallout Joint Study Group and currently serves as a member of the Thyroid Advisory Oversight Group for U.S.-Berlarus and U.S.-Ukraine cooperative studies of post-Chernobyl thyroid disease.
Paul Cohen
Paul Cohen, a student in the Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program, is one of 17 students selected from the United States and Canada to win the prestigious 2004 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award, sponsored by the Basic Sciences Division of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Mr. Cohen conducted his research in the laboratory of Dr. Jeffrey Friedman at The Rockefeller University. He will graduate from the MD-PhD Program in 2004 and will present his research at a scientific symposium in May.
This is the second MD-PhD student in two years to win the award since its establishment in 2000. Dr. Agata Smogorzewska, who graduated from the MD-PhD Program in 2003, won the award in 2002.
The award honors the late Dr. Harold Weintraub, a founding member of Fred Hutchinson's Basic Sciences Division, who died in 1995 from brain cancer at age 49. Dr. Weintraub was an international leader in the field of molecular biology.
Dr. Joseph Fins, chief of the Division of Medical Ethics, delivered the John P. McGovern Award Lecture in the Medical Humanities on March 2 at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. His topic was "Brain Injury as Oxymoron." The lecture series is endowed by prominent Houston allergist and philanthropist Dr. John McGovern to bring internationally renowned thinkers in the medical humanities to the university.
Dr. Jerry Halpern, clinical assistant professor of surgery, was appointed a permanent consultant for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in New York City, following his 10 months of work identifying the remains of victims from the Sept. 11th attacks. He was also presented with two certificates of recognition for his efforts. This past September, Dr. Halpern gave a keynote presentation on "Recollections of September 11, 2001, and the Impact of the Forensic Dental Identification Team" at the 85th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons in Orlando, Fla.
Dr. Alan Manevitz, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry, was honored by the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD) for clinical excellence and patient advocacy on Feb. 28 in Palm Beach, Fla.
Dr. John Moore, professor of microbiology and immunology, is the recipient of the 2004 "Freedom to Discover" Unrestricted Infectious Diseases Research Grant from Bristol-Myers Squibb. Dr. Moore will supervise and serve as the principal investigator of the five-year $500,000 grant, whose research will focus on the HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins and their functions during virus entry. The Bristol-Myers Squibb Freedom to Discover grants offer premier research institutions the unrestricted opportunity to pursue new clinical and laboratory findings, support promising young scientists, or acquire new laboratory technology. Since the program's inception in 1977, it has awarded more than $100 million in grants to more than 150 institutions in 23 countries.
Dr. Rock Positano, adjunct clinical assistant professor of podiatry in medicine, has been appointed director of the Non-Operative Foot and Ankle Service at the Hospital for Special Surgery.
Dr. Neil Sadick, clinical professor of dermatology, was awarded the 2003 Best Scholarly Article Appearing in the American Journal of Cosmetic Surgery by the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery on Jan. 30 in Hollywood, Fla. His paper was entitled "Low-Level Laser-Assisted Liposuction: A Multicenter Side-by-Side Comparison Study."
Dr. William Stubenbord, professor of surgery and acting chairman of the Department of Surgery, was honored by the New York Organ Donor Network during their 25th anniversary Donate Life dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Nov. 13, 2003. Dr. Stubenbord, one of the Donor Network's founding transplant surgeons, was cited for his vision and extraordinary commitment to patient care, education and the advancement of transplantation.
Dr. Shankar Vallabhajosula, professor of radiochemistry and radiopharmacy, has been selected to receive a grant from the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) for his study in prostate cancer. Dr. Vallabhajosula has been at the forefront of research into a gene encoding a unique protein that is highly expressed in prostate cancers, the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA). Dr. Neil Bander, the Bernard and Josephine Chaus Professor of Urological Oncology and professor of urology, and Dr. Stanley Goldsmith, professor of radiology and medicine, were co-investigators in this grant. From 1998 to 2003, the Department of Defense has awarded Dr. Vallabhajosula with $1.4 million for research involving radiolabeled antibodies in prostate cancer.
Dr. Steven Witkin, professor of immunology in obstetrics and gynecology, and Ramu Perni, a second-year fellow in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, won awards for research excellence for their abstracts at the annual meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, held Feb. 2-7 in New Orleans. Among the 1,200 abstracts submitted, only eight such honors were given.
Dr. Michael Wolk, clinical professor of medicine, was installed as president of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) at the 53rd Annual Convocation in New Orleans on March 9. The ACC, based in Bethesda, Maryland, and has chapters in 39 states, was chartered and incorporated as a teaching institution in 1949. Dr. Wolk has served on the ACC Board of Trustees since 1995.
Photo by Weill Cornell Art & Photo.