Lounge Named for HMS Dean

A little over a year ago, students petitioned the HMS administration, requesting a student lounge that would allow PhD and MD students and postdocs to mingle and become familiar with one another. On June 6, the Joseph Martin student lounge, the renovated and repurposed common room of Vanderbilt Hall, was officially commemorated and made available to students. The lounge was named after the dean of the Medical School after he worked with students to create the facility. The lounge is now equipped with a flat-screen satellite TV and a bar, along with couches and plush, red high-backed chairs. Describing her hopes for the lounge, Ashlee Earl, HMS research fellow in microbiology and molecular genetics, said, “Science is a really fun and interactive thing,” recalling that James Watson and Francis Crick first hashed out the structure of DNA on a napkin in a bar. Thanking the students for their innovation and for honoring him, Martin acknowledged the importance of ensuring that different types of students share ideas. “This is a community where everyone gains from learning from each other,” he said.

Honors and Advances

• Richard Chou, HMS research fellow in medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, was one of three recipients of the Abbott Scholar Award in Rheumatology. The prize is given annually to young investigators studying rheumatic diseases. Chou was selected for his research on inflammatory arthritis.

• Robert Blendon, HSPH professor of health policy and management, will receive the 2006 John M. Eisenberg Excellence in Mentoring Award from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, on June 24. The award honors an individual who has proven to be an outstanding mentor.

top