Dr. Barchas (center) with Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg (left), president of the Institute of Medicine, and Sir Michael Rutter, chairman of the Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat Award Committee. Photo courtesy of the Institute of Medicine.
Dr. Jack Barchas, the Barklie McKee Henry Professor and chairman of the Department of Psychiatry, was awarded the 2006 Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Award in Mental Health from the Institute of Medicine (IOM). Consisting of a medal and $20,000, the prestigious award recognizes Dr. Barchas' outstanding contributions to the field of psychiatry and the impact on fundamental and behavioral neurobiology, particularly in the area of neuroregulators—chemical substances that transmit information between nerve cells—and behavior. Dr. Barchas was the first to demonstrate that various types of neurotransmitters are altered differently by stress. His studies in molecular neurobiological mechanisms led to advances in understanding the regulation of neurotransmitters, the first genetic studies of these processes, the discovery of previously unrecognized neuropeptide transmitters, the mapping of transmitters, and the investigation of their roles in behavior. The Sarnat Award was presented to Dr. Barchas at the IOM annual meeting in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 9. The award is bestowed upon individuals, groups or organizations that have demonstrated outstanding achievement in improving mental health.
Elizabeth Enschede. Photo by Weill Cornell Art & Photo.
Fourth-year medical student Elizabeth Enschede has been named one of five recipients of the Pisacano Scholarship, a scholarship of up to $28,000 awarded to students through an extremely competitive process during their final years of medical school. Recipients of the Pisacano Scholarship are widely regarded as the future leaders of family medicine. According to the Pisacano Scholars Leadership Program, who are sponsors of the award, "each scholar has shown demonstrable leadership skills, superior academic achievement, strong communication skills, identifiable character and integrity, and a noteworthy level of community service." Elizabeth, who speaks fluent Spanish, has been involved in outreach both locally and globally. After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College, she served as leadership educator for Global Kids Inc., a non-profit organization that provides underprivileged teens with leadership skills to confront issued faced in their neighborhoods. As part of this program, she helped bring a group from Global Kids to Croatia to work with Serbian refugee teens from the camp in the area. While at Weill Cornell, Elizabeth traveled abroad to Cuba, working in health-care facilities for HIV, renal diseases and neonatal treatment. She also volunteers with the Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) student group and serves as an educator with the AIDS Teaching Program, conducting workshops to teach high school students about HIV/AIDS and common STDs. Elizabeth plans to stay in Brooklyn following medical school and residency, where she can serve the many large communities with inadequate health resources.
Louise Holmes, manager of training in the Department of Human Resources, has successfully written the application and was awarded a training grant for $121,000 from the New York City Department of Small Business Services. The NYC Business Solutions Training Grant will provide training for 105 staff members and 55 new employees working in the new Ambulatory Care and Medical Education Building in customer service and other skills. The building is scheduled for opening in January 2007. It is the first grant awarded to the Weill Cornell human resources department, who are one of six organizations to be awarded funding under the program.
Dr. David Staskin, associate professor of urology and urology in obstetrics and gynecology, and Dr. Linda Cardozo of King's College London, were awarded first prize for the second edition of the textbook "Female Urology and Urogynecology," of which Dr. Staskin served as co-editor. More than 250 books were nominated from all medical texts published in 2005. The award is presented by the Society of Authors and Royal Society of Medicine.
Dr. Harel Weinstein, the Maxwell M. Upson Professor and chairman of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, has been named president-elect of the Biophysical Society. Dr. Weinstein will assume the presidency at the March 2007 annual meeting in Baltimore, and begin his term at the 2008 business meeting. The Biophysical Society was founded in 1957 to encourage development and dissemination of knowledge in biophysics. There are more than 7,000 members working in academia, industry and government worldwide. The society is also publisher of the monthly Biophysical Journal.