Dr. Bruce Ballard.
After 30 years of outstanding service and commitment to medical education, equal opportunity and the Weill Cornell Medical College community at large, Dr. Bruce Ballard, associate professor of clinical psychiatry, was honored at his retirement reception on May 31 in Griffis Faculty Club. Students, staff and faculty paid tribute through speeches and special gifts, including a portrait of Dr. Ballard signed by the Class of 2009, and a moving photograph titled "Weary" from the "Plantation Lullaby" series by Titus Brooks Heagins.
Dr. Antonio Gotto, dean of the Medical College, presents to Dr. Ballard a Tiffany clock engraved with Dr. Ballard's name and titles.
Throughout his tenure, Dr. Ballard has been an advocate for student affairs and helped raise the importance of minority recruitment to medical schools, including his involvement in the Travelers Summer Research Fellowship Program for Premedical Students, a program created in 1969 that allows minority students to take part in summer research at the Medical College. Weill Cornell maintains one of the largest percentages of underrepresented minority students of any private medical school in the United States, an accomplishment due in no small part to the work of the Office of Student Affairs and Equal Opportunity Programs, for which Dr. Ballard has served as associate dean since 1981.
In addition to membership in the Association of Psychoanalytic Medicine, the Association of Academic Psychiatry, the American Medical Association and the National Medical Association, he is also board-certified in psychiatry and neurology and holds a position as fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine.
A skilled classical pianist and chamber music player, Dr. Ballard plans to pursue a number of personal interests in his retirement and spend more time with his family.
Snapshots from Dr. Ballard's Retirement Reception
Dr. Ballard with a gift from the Class of 2009.
First-year MD-PhD students Dennis Spencer (left) and Ankit Patel (center) wish Dr. Ballard a fond farewell.
From left: Elizabeth Wilson-Anstey, assistant dean for student affairs; Dr. Antonio Gotto, dean of the Medical College; Dr. Carol Storey-Johnson, senior associate dean for education; and Dr. Ballard.
Dr. Ballard, with wife, Eleanor, and daughter, Tracy, accepts a gift from the Department of Academic Affairs.
Faculty from the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology gave presentations at the 42nd Annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Meeting, held June 2-6 in Atlanta. The ASCO Annual Meeting is considered the premier educational and scientific event in the oncology community, attracting thousands of attendees from around the world. The following is a list of Weill Cornell faculty and their presentations presented at the ASCO meeting.
Dr. Richard Silver
"Imatinib Mesylate in the Treatment of Polycythemia Vera"
"The Frequency of the JAK2 V617 Mutation in Patients with Polycythemia Vera and Its Correlation with Severity of Disease"
"Dasatinib in IM Patients with Accelerated Phase Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Who Are Resistant or Iintolerant to Imatinib"
Dr. John Leonard
"Phase I/II results of a Second-Generation Humanized Anti-CD Antibody, IMMU-106 (ha20), in NHL"
"Preliminary Immune Response (IR) Results of a Phase II Study with Idiotype (Id) Immunotherapy After Treatment with CVP and Rituximab for Follicular Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma"
Dr. Matthew Milowsky
"Phase II Trial of 177 Lutetium Radiolabeled Monoclonal Antibody HuJ591-GS (177 Lu-J591) in Patients with Metastatic Androgen-Independent Prostate Cancer"
"Phase ½ Dose Escalation Trial of Multiple Doses of MLN2704 in Subjects with Metastatic Castrate-Resistant Prostate Cancer"
Dr. Ruben Niesvizky
"Increased Risk of Thrombosis with Lenalidomide in Combination with Dexamethasone and Erythropoietin"
"Biaxin, Revlimid and Dexamethasone (Bird) Combination Therapy as Primary Treatment of Multiple Myeloma"
Dr. Joseph Ruggiero, session chair
"Medical Oncology Knowledge Workshop: SEP-Based learning for ABIM Recertification"
Dr. Kevin David, poster presentation
"Perioperative Chemotherapy Treatment Patterns in Stage III Transitional Cell Carcinoma, 1998-2003"
The Department of Medicine honored residents, fellows and investigators in a series of annual award celebrations during May and June. The following is a list of awards presented and their recipients.
David E. Rogers Memorial Research Award Recipients
Dr. Daniel Cantillon
Department of Medicine, Housestaff Officer—PGY 3
"Microvolt T-Wave Alternans Predicts Arrhythmia-Free Survival in Patients with Severe Left Ventricular Dysfunction"
Dr. Tamas Gonda
Department of Medicine, Housestaff Officer—PGY 3
"Gene Expression Profiling of B Cells in Chronic Hepatitis C"
Dr. Javier Pinilla-Ibarz
Department of Medicine, Housestaff Officer—PGY 3
"Immune Response to Imatinib-Induced Resistance Mutations in BCR-ABL Kinase"
Dr. John Pfeifer
Department of Medicine, Housestaff Officer—PGY 3
"Vein Graft Versus Native Coronary Intervention in Acute Myocardial Infarction: Is There a Difference?"
The Fourth Annual Department of Medicine Fellow Award Recipients
Dr. Brian DiCarlo
Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology
"Complement Activation in the Pathogenesis of Thrombotic Microangiopathies"
Dr. Daniel Krauser
Division of Cardiology
"Left Ventricular Mass Index Independently Predicts All-Cause Mortality and Cardiovascular Events in Normotensive and Pre-Hypertensive Subjects: The Strong Heart Study"
Dr. Torsten Roepke
Division of Cardiology
"MiRP1 Is Essential for Gastric Acid Secretion"
Dr. Daphne Schneider
Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology
"Surprising Prevalence of Vitamin D Insufficiency in an Older Adult Population"
The Fifteenth Annual Department of Medicine Investigator Award
Dr. Geoffrey Abbott
Division of Cardiology
"Redefining MiRPs as a Novel Class of Potassium Channel Chaperones"
Dr. David Gardiner
Division of International Medicine and Infectious Diseases
"A Novel DNA Vaccine Expressing the Clostridium Difficile Toxin A Receptor Binding Domain"
Dr. Ben-Gary Harvey
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
"Identification of an Early Form of COPD with a Deleterious Gene Expression Transcriptome of the Small Airway"
Dr. Kyu Rhee
Division of International Medicine and Infectious Diseases
"Tuberculosis and Diabetes Mellitus: New Insights into Ancient Associations"
Photos by Amelia Panico.