HMS Thanks Joseph Martin for Decade as Dean

Liza Green, HMS Media Services

We offer our very best wishes to Joseph Martin, dean of the Faculty of Medicine, who is stepping down from that position in July. We applaud his accomplishments over the past 10 years and his leadership and vision, which made them possible. During his tenure at the Medical School, he fostered collaboration across the Harvard community, interdisciplinary investigation, diversity, and the highest standards in research. The legacy he leaves is one of integrity and of shared purpose in education, research, and clinical medicine. Above, Martin (right) appears at a dinner in his honor with former HMS dean Daniel Tosteson.

HMS Faculty Council Proceedings

May Pian-Smith, faculty chair of the Joint Committee on the Status of Women and HMS assistant professor of anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital, began the April 25 Faculty Council meeting by reviewing highlights of the committee’s recent work. Pian-Smith noted that the committee’s parental leave pilot program is now being used as a model at Harvard University; that work by the Task Force on Women Faculty and the Task Force on Women in Science and Engineering has helped lead to the establishment of the Harvard Office for Faculty Development and Diversity; and that the committee has submitted the names of nominees to the Dean’s Search Committee and the Harvard University Science and Engineering Committee.

She underscored the need to deal with the issues of recruitment, retention, and reward, and identified several initiatives intended to assist in retention of outstanding women faculty, including the Shore 50th Anniversary Scholars Fellowships, hospital-based Offices of Women’s Careers, leadership training programs, guest speaker programs, and the parental leave policy. Other initiatives include a career satisfaction survey, a study of flexible careers and advancement, a grant success parity survey, and a survey on gender pay equity.

Ellice Lieberman, dean for faculty affairs, reported on the new promotion criteria. The current system provides only two choices, investigator and clinician teacher, and does not provide for the evaluation of all of a faculty member’s activities. The new system will recognize a range of activities, allow for variation and combining of activities to contribute to promotion, and emphasize the expectation for teaching. An area of expertise must be identified, such as teaching and educational leadership, clinical expertise and innovation, or investigation. Other major differences in the new criteria include the broad definition of research and an increased emphasis on evaluation of teaching. Lieberman explained that the requirement of excellence in at least one area and in scholarship remains.

Members pointed out the need to recognize the differences in various fields of study when considering promotions. For example, several members noted that in their disciplines, authorship is listed alphabetically rather than by first or last author. Further, it was noted that in many instances instructors who wish to teach are not given the opportunity; therefore, promotion is more difficult for this group of young faculty.

Lieberman and council members agreed on the need for a program to educate faculty and staff on the changes, and the suggestion was made to enlist the services of the committee members to help educate their departments and divisions. The motion to present the Report of the Task Force on Promotion Criteria to the general faculty at the meeting on May 23 was made, seconded, and approved unanimously by the Faculty Council.

Raphael Dolin, dean for academic and clinical programs, updated members on Harvard’s application for the Clinical and Translational Science Award. The goal is to provide an academic home and integrated resources for the new intellectual discipline of clinical and translational sciences, and to create and nurture a cadre of investigators.

Dolin reminded members that in 2010 there will be no further funding for independent General Clinical Research Centers (GCRCs). Harvard currently has four GCRCs, which need to be melded into one center to be funded as a single Harvard-wide entity. He said the major Harvard-affiliated hospitals are participating in this effort, as are HSDM, HSPH, the School of Engineering, the Business School, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

The Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center will focus on education and training in clinical and translational research, bioinformatics capacity, expansion and integration of infrastructure, and the establishment of the capacity for early clinical “mechanistic” studies.
Dolin indicated that the total projected budget is $55 million annually. NIH’s contribution is targeted at $23 million, with the remaining $32 million expected to come from other sources, such as the University, HMS, and the affiliated hospitals. The plan is to submit the request to the Harvard University Science and Engineering Committee and to ask each hospital for support.

Teaching Awards Honor Class Acts

The Program in Medical Education presented the annual HMS Teaching Awards to 12 recipients in front of an audience of friends, family, coworkers, and students in the TMEC amphitheater on May 21.

“We are all very fortunate at HMS to have teachers of this caliber in our midst,” said Jules Dienstag, dean for medical education, in his opening remarks. Each of the award winners who spoke expressed gratitude to the students who had nominated them, and the love of teaching was a theme that ran through their talks.

“I have learned more from them, truly, than they have learned from me,” said Kenneth Falchuk, HMS professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a winner of the HMS Special Faculty Prize for Sustained Excellence in Teaching. “There is nothing better to do at the Medical School than to teach medical students, and I feel that it is the greatest pleasure that I’ve had for the past 40 years.”

Christine Kim, HMS instructor in psychiatry at BWH and the winner of the Cynthia N. Kettyle award, echoed the sentiment, saying “I’m so honored and blessed to be recognized and awarded for something I happen to truly love doing.”

Liza Green, HMS Media Services

Christine Kim (right) receives congratulations from Michael Kahn and Cynthia Kettyle after accepting her certificate at the HMS Teaching Awards ceremony.

The following is a complete list of the 2007 HMS Teaching Award winners:

Faculty Prizes for Excellence in Teaching
• Douglas Cotanche, HMS Associate Professor of Otology and Laryngology at Children’s Hospital Boston
• Gregory Sawicki, CHB
•James Hurst, HMS Visiting Professor of Surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
•Alberto Puig, HMS Lecturer on Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital

Special Faculty Prizes for Sustained Excellence in Teaching
• Kenneth Falchuk, HMS Professor of Medicine, BWH
• Harvey Goldman, HMS Professor of Pathology, BID
• Peter Yurchak, HMS Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, MGH

S. Robert Stone Award at BID
David Roberts, HMS Assistant Professor of Medicine, BID

Leo A. Blacklow Award at Mount Auburn Hospital
Michael Kjelsberg, HMS Instructor in Medicine, MTA

Cynthia N. Kettyle Teaching Award/Harvard Departments of Psychiatry
Christine Kim, HMS Instructor in Psychiatry, BWH

Klaus Peter International Teaching Award
Ernesto Gonzalez, HMS Associate Professor of Dermatology, MGH

L. James Wiczai Jr. Award
Suzanne Horton, Program Coordinator for the Core and Advanced Clerkship in Pediatrics and Coordinator for the Year Four Electives and Patient–Doctor II Course, CHB

New Appointments to Full Professor

The following faculty members were appointed to a full professorship in March, April, and May.

Beverly Biller
Professor of Medicine
Massachusetts General Hospital
Biller’s major research interests include the pathophysiology and metabolic consequences of pituitary tumors. Specific areas of study include Cushing’s disease, the neuroendocrine causes of osteoporosis, and the diagnosis and treatment of growth hormone deficiency in adults. She has collaborated with international colleagues interested in pituitary disorders to address clinical questions on these rare conditions. Biller also has had a long-standing interest in the development of novel educational programs in the area of pituitary disease and neuroendocrinology.

Joren Madsen
Professor of Surgery
Massachusetts General Hospital
Madsen’s research focuses on the role of adaptive and innate immune responses in the acute and chronic rejection of vascularized organ allografts. His other major interest is in achieving immune tolerance through central (thymus-based) and peripheral (Treg-based) mechanisms. At MGH, he is also involved in clinical trials in organ transplantation.

Matthew Warman
Professor of Genetics
Children’s Hospital Boston
Warman’s investigations focus on human diseases that affect the skeletal system. Based on a “bedside to bench to bedside” approach, his research questions have their origins in patients affected by rare, heritable, skeletal disorders. The work in his lab uses genetic, cell biologic, biochemical, and model-organism approaches, with the long-term goal of using research discoveries to improve patient care. His lab also studies biologic pathways that are essential for the normal growth and homeostasis of bone and cartilage. Warman is also an HMS professor of orthopedic surgery.

George Tsokos
Professor of Medicine
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Tsokos investigates T cell signaling and gene transcription aberrations in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. The goal of his studies is to identify novel molecular therapeutic targets and identify biomarkers of disease activity. In addition, he uses animal models to study mechanisms of immune injury and exploit novel therapeutics. He also consults on patient care involving complex systemic autoimmune diseases.

Moorhead Chair Bolsters Brain Science

Liza Green, HMS Media Services

HMS dean Joseph Martin opened the celebration of the Alice and Rodman W. Moorhead III Professorship of Neurobiology saying that the chair represents the Moorheads’ longstanding interest in brain function. Neurobiology chair Carla Shatz added, “This is a wonderful culmination of hard work on all parts.” She continued, “I’m particularly delighted that the first holder of this chair is John Maunsell.” Shatz described the first incumbent as not only a great scientist, but a great person and leader. He has become editor-in-chief of The Journal of Neuroscience, she said, which is a major honor reflecting his knowledge and his fairness. Maunsell, who studies the neuronal mechanisms of attention and also holds an appointment as a Howard Hughes investigator, was similarly praised by Neurobiology Department colleagues David Corey and John Assad. Corey called Maunsell a very careful and thorough scientist who has “seen farther than almost anyone else in his field.” Assad said that Maunsell has an amazing ability as a mentor and that “he is one of my scientific heroes.” After thanking the speakers who had preceded him, Maunsell observed that it was “a very exciting time to be in systems neuroscience,” investigating the mechanisms of plasticity and learning in the brain. Yet he ultimately deferred to his lab: “They’re the ones who really do all the work we’re talking about here today.” Above at the celebration are (from left) Maunsell, Alice Moorhead, Martin, and Rodman Moorhead.

News Brief

• The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has elected 203 new fellows for 2007, including three from HMS and HSPH. Nancy Andrews, the George Richards Minot professor of pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Boston and dean for basic sciences and graduate studies at HMS; Junying Yuan, HMS professor of cell biology; and David Williams, the Florence Sprague Norman and Laura Smart Norman professor of public health at HSPH, will be inducted into the organization in a ceremony at the academy’s Cambridge headquarters in October.

Global Health Residency Fetes First Grads

Jeff Thiebauth

The Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities at Brigham and Women’s Hospital honored the first graduates of the Howard Hiatt Residency in Global Health Equity and Internal Medicine, Nancy Lange and David Walton, in a ceremony on May 24. Founded in 2004, the program is named for Hiatt, HMS professor of medicine, former dean of HSPH, and the founder and associate chief of the Health Inequalities Program at BWH. The residency gives BWH internal medicine residents an opportunity to focus on culturally competent health care and the reduction of health disparities, including field rotations, while simultaneously fulfilling the requirements for a master’s in public health.

“Through the residency, I’ve gotten to really see the cutting edge of this growing field,” said Lange, who noted that in a traditional residency, she would not have had time to work abroad.

Walton, who graduated with an MD from HMS in 2003, has worked with Paul Farmer and Partners In Health in Haiti and has researched drug-resistant tuberculosis in the former Soviet Union. Lange, who received her medical degree from Cornell University in 2003, has studied waterborne illnesses in Brazil, participated in an AIDS initiative in Senegal, and worked at the Partners In Health site in Rwanda.

Pictured at the event are (from left) Hiatt; Lange; Farmer, the Maude and Lillian Presley professor of social medicine at HMS; Walton; and Jim Yong Kim, head of the HMS Department of Social Medicine, who is also the François-Xavier Bagnoud professor of health and human rights at HSPH.

Academy Announces 2008 Fellows

he Academy at HMS has selected four new fellows for the 2008 academic year. David Brown, HMS instructor in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Boston, was awarded the Morgan–Zinsser fellowship for a project titled “Multimedia Case Based Pediatric Cardiology Tutorial.” Elizabeth Gaufberg, HMS assistant professor of psychiatry, was awarded the Curtis Prout Fellowship for her project, “Qualitative Analysis of Medical Student Reflection.” The second Curtis Prout recipient was Beth-Ann Lesnikoski, HMS instructor in surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, for a project titled “Women’s Health: Improving Competency in Breast and Auxiliary Exam Across the HMS Continuum.” Matthew Ruble, HMS clinical instructor in psychiatry at Cambridge Hospital, received the James H. and Susan M. Jackson Academy Fellowship for his project, “Resident as Teacher—Psychiatry.” The Academy Fellowships in Medical Education provide both junior and mid-career physician-educators with the opportunity to pursue a mentored project in medical education and participate in a faculty development program