Cell Biology: Protein Seen to Animate Cell Skeleton Pathology: What's Wrong with My Mouse? Technology Transfer: Patent Process Built into Framework for Discovery International Health: Community-based Program Targets AIDS, Drug-resistant TB in Peru Study Suggests Surprising Cause of Arthritis Double Transplant Helps Multiple Myeloma Patients Allergy-producing Cells May Play Role in Rheumatoid Arthritis Appointments to Full and Named Professorships New Associate Dean for Planning Named HMS Welcomes Entering Students Treadway Becomes Cannon Society Master FUNC Adds Outreach to First-years' Repertoire MGH Receives Doris Duke Grants for HIV/AIDS Research in South Africa The Plague: Historical Killer, Modern Menace Front Page

BULLETIN Appointments to Full and Named Professorships This faculty member was appointed to a full professorship in February. David Wessel Professor of Pediatrics (Anesthesia) Children's Hospital Wessel was director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Children's Hospital for 14 years and is now on a yearlong sabbatical in London as a visiting professor at Imperial College of the University of London and as an honorary consultant at Royal Brompton Hospital. His current research involves multinational, multicenter trials in drugs that improve cardiac output and act as pulmonary vasodilators for newborns and children after cardiac surgery. He was one of the first investigators to study the effects of nitric oxide on the pulmonary circulation of children with heart disease. He is board-certified in pediatrics, anesthesia, pediatric cardiology, and pediatric critical care. These faculty members were appointed to a full professorship in June. Maurizio Fava Professor of Psychiatry Massachusetts General Hospital Fava is the associate chief of psychiatry for clinical research at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he also directs the depression clinical and research program. He has identified a subtype of depressive disorder characterized by marked irritability and "anger attacks." His work has led to the discovery that these individuals present a blunted prolactin response to fenfluramine challenge and may selectively respond to SSRIs. His major research interests are short- and long-term pharmacological treatment of major depressive disorder, combined cognitive and drug treatment of unipolar depression, and psychological and biological predictors of response in major depression. He co-directs the psychopharmacology course of the HMS Department of Continuing Education. Alan Moses Professor of Medicine Joslin Diabetes Center Moses's major interest has been in the area of hormone resistance using severe insulin resistance as a model system. He has been studying the development of novel therapeutic approaches to the treatment of severe insulin resistance using recombinant human insulin-like growth factor I as a probe. This work led to attempts to develop rhIGF-I as a therapy for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. He remains active in the development of alternative forms of insulin delivery, first with nasal insulin administration and subsequently as an investigator in ongoing studies on pulmonary insulin. He helped to design the Phase II studies for inhaled insulin in type 1 diabetes mellitus that were conducted by Pfizer and Inhale Therapeutics. His interests and activities continue in the area of developing novel therapeutics and diagnostics for diabetes mellitus and for understanding the mechanism of action of new drugs at the level of their cellular targets. Roger Pitman Professor of Psychiatry Massachusetts General Hospital Pitman's major research focus has been the psychobiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as it occurs in combat veterans, women sexually abused as children, breast cancer patients, accident victims, and military nurses. He utilizes psychophysiological, neurological, and structural and functional neuroimaging approaches. He is the principal investigator on a large-scale, NIMH-funded psychobiologic investigation of a national sample of monozygotic twins discordant for combat exposure. These HMS faculty members were appointed to a named professorship in June. Paul Chapman Nicholas T. Zervas Professor of Neurosurgery Massachusetts General Hospital Chapman is chief of pediatric neurosurgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. His major clinical interests include congenital craniospinal anomalies, complex tumors, and intracranial pressure regulation. He is also neurosurgical director of the proton radiosurgery program at MGH and devotes his efforts to the development of improved methods for treatment of vascular malformations and brain tumors. Bradley Hyman John B. Penney, Jr. Professor of Neurology Massachusetts General Hospital Hyman is a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital with a primary interest in dementia. His laboratory has explored the pathobiology of Alzheimer's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies in cell culture, animal model and human genetics, and clinical pathological studies. A recent innovation has been the development of multiphoton microscopy as a tool for imaging neuropathological lesions in vivo in animal models. Lee Nadler Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Medicine Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Nadler is the first Virginia and D.K. Ludwig professor of medicine. He is currently the senior vice president for experimental medicine and past and founding chair of the Department of Adult Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. His research interests include experimental human stem cell transplantation, tumor immunity, and immunotherapy. He has been recognized for his achievements in translational research with the 1998 Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Award and the 2002 American Association for Cancer Research-Joseph H. Burchenal Clinical Research Award. Charles Serhan Simon Gelman Professor of Anesthesia Brigham and Women's Hospital Serhan's research focuses on structural elucidation of bioactive small molecules, in particular, lipid mediators and their roles in inflammation and host defense. He serves as program director on the new NIH program project entitled "Molecular Mechanisms in Leukocyte-Mediated Tissue Injury" and is director of the Center for Experimental Therapeutics and Reperfusion Injury at Brigham and Women's Hospital. The mission of the multidisciplinary center is to elucidate the cellular and molecular mechanisms of acute inflammation and reperfusion injury with a focus on identification of new therapeutic targets. Serhan's most recent research is directed toward uncovering the mechanisms involved in the resolution phase of inflammation.   New Associate Dean For Planning Named Eric Buehrens, HMS executive dean for administration, announced the appointment of Deborah Kuhn as the new associate dean for planning and facilities. Kuhn began in the new position on Sept. 9. As associate dean, Kuhn directs the HMS Planning Office and has responsibility for facilities planning at HMS and HSDM. Her office will work closely with the Office of the Dean for Research, headed by Ed Harlow, to improve programmatic and facilities planning. Kuhn has worked at Harvard since 1989. Previously she served as deputy director for the University Planning Office, chief financial officer for Planning and Real Estate, and director of strategic projects in the Office of the Vice President for Administration. Prior to coming to Harvard, she worked as the deputy state budget director for Massachusetts. (Photo by Jeff Cleary)   HMS Welcomes Entering Students This year the traditional White Coat Ceremony took place on August 29 in each of the student societies. Putting on their white coats for the first time is an annual rite of passage for incoming students, allowing them to dress the part of a doctor as they begin learning to become one. Above, trying on his white coat for size, is Gregg Furie of the Castle Society. The Division of Medical Sciences welcomed incoming students on Sept. 4 with a series of brief talks, an introduction to the four basic-science programs--Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Immunology, Neuroscience, and Virology--and a luncheon. Above, Heather Christofk and Andrew Choi get acquainted at orientation. (Photos by Liza Green, HMS Media Services)   Treadway Becomes Cannon Society Associate Master Gordon Strewler, master of the Walter Bradford Cannon Society at HMS, recently announced the appointment of Katherine Treadway, HMS assistant professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, as associate master of the society. Treadway is codirector of the MGH site for Patient-Doctor II and a scholar in the Academy at Harvard Medical School. This year she received a Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award. She joins Robert Masland and Julian Seifter as associate masters of the Cannon Society.   FUNC Adds Outreach to First-years' Repertoire Now in its fourth year, the First-year Urban Neighborhood Campaign (FUNC) took place the week before school opened, enabling first-year students to volunteer at community service projects throughout Boston. This year's organizers were second-year students Walter Bethune, shown at right at the Chinatown After School Program, and Jack Casey. (Photo by Liza Green, HMS Media Services)   MGH Receives Doris Duke Grants for HIV/AIDS Research In South Africa The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation has awarded Massachusetts General Hospital with two grants to expand HIV/AIDS clinical research in South Africa. The grants, together worth $3.75 million, will enable the University of Natal's Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine in Durban, South Africa, to build a new research facility and create an HIV pathogenesis program that will enhance research, training, and collaborative efforts between clinical researchers from the HMS Division of AIDS and the University of Natal. Coleaders of the program are Bruce Walker, director of the HMS Division of AIDS, director of the Partners AIDS Research Center, and HMS professor of medicine; Philip Goulder, HMS assistant professor of medicine at Partners AIDS Research Center; and Hoosen Coovadia, professor of HIV/AIDS Research at the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine. The program seeks to enhance the research and training opportunities for young South African clinical investigators who will be the future leaders of the struggle against HIV/AIDS in southern Africa. "This grant will place a major AIDS research institute exactly where it needs to be--at the heart of the AIDS epidemic--and will provide necessary resources to a pool of promising African AIDS investigators," Walker said.