Wolf Wins Awards from BBJ, American College of Physicians, HMS
Marshall Wolf, MD, was named a 2007 Health Care Champion by the Boston Business Journal, claiming a place among the “best and brightest in the Bay State’s world-class health care industry.”
In addition, he also was named Internist of the Year by the Massachusetts Chapter of the American College of Physicians and received a diversity award from HMS.
The BBJ award came in the lifetime achievement category for Wolf, professor of Medicine at HMS and former vice chairman for Medical Education in the Department of Medicine. Wolf is legendary for his decades-long commitment to teaching and launching the careers of some of medicine’s brightest stars, according to the BBJ. He helped shaped the careers of more than 2,000 physicians, including three MacArthur geniuses, CEOs, hospital presidents and 700 who hold full professorships at leading medical institutions.
As the director of BWH’s residency program from 1972 to 2000, Wolf led the program’s growth from 35 to 175 residents. He created the world’s first residency program for primary care physicians. The program was also the first to combine clinical training with a research component, a true bench-to-bedside approach. Wolf was an early leader in recruiting minority and female physicians, helping to establish the Minority Faculty Career Development Award at BWH.
Jim Kim, MD, PhD, chief of the Division of Medicine Social Medicine and Health Inequalities and one of Wolf’s former residents, gave the keynote address at the award ceremony. Wolf was also featured in a special section of the BBJ highlighting the award winners in August.
“Marshall is unique. There’s never been anyone like him and there will never be anyone like him again,” Kim said.
In addition to Wolf, the BBJ also recognized Anne Bane, MSN, RN, manager of Clinical Systems Innovations for the Department of Nursing, as a Nursing health care champion; and PHS’s Thomas Lee, MD, network president of Partners HealthCare and CEO of Partners Community HealthCare Inc., and senior physician at BWH; and Matt Fishman, vice president for Community Health at Partners.
Wolf was also named the Internist of the Year by the Massachusetts chapter of the American College of Physicians. This award honors those members of the ACP in Massachusetts who demonstrate an abiding commitment to excellence in medical care, education or research by their example and conduct and in service to their community and the ACP. Wolf received the award at the Chapter’s annual meeting on Oct. 13.
In addition, Wolf took home the 2007 Harold Amos Diversity Award from HMS. The award recognizes HMS faculty who make significant achievements in moving HMS/HSDM to be a diverse and inclusive community.
Blumberg Elected President of SMI
Richard S. Blumberg, chief of the Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endoscopy Division and professor of Medicine at HMS, was recently elected to a two-year term as the president of the Society for Mucosal Immunology. SMI advances research and education related to mucosal immunology and represents more than 700 scientists and clinicians from 37 countries. Recently, SMI launched a journal, Mucosal Immunology, in partnership with Nature Publishing Group. Blumberg attended Jefferson Medical College and completed his residency at NY Hospital, Cornell Medical Center. He completed fellowships at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and BWH.
Larsen Receives Koch Award
P. Reed Larsen, MD, chief of the division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Hypertension, won the highest honor bestowed by the Endocrine Society, the Endocrine Society Fred Conrad Koch Award. Larson is recognized for his exceptional contributions to endocrinology over the past 30 years. Larsen will receive the award during ENDO 2008, the 90th annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, in San Francisco in June 2008.
CCI Issues Teaching Excellence Awards
The Center for Clinical Investigation awarded its first teaching excellence awards this year based on the highest marks from student evaluations. More than 600 people completed 1,659 evaluations for CCI’s Education programs. Elizabeth Hohmann, MD, won for “IRB Issues for the Bench and Desk Scientist,” and E. John Orav, PhD, won for “Advanced Biostatistics.” The CCI Education program is directed by Grace Chang, MD, MPH; managed by Marianne Moore, RN; and coordinated by Erica Eagan.
Hentschel Receives CIMIT Award
Dirk Hentschel, MD, has been named the recipient of a CIMIT Fast Forward Award for his project “Training in Interventional Nephrology.” Using this award, he will focus his research on how to improve care of hemodialysis patients. He will focus on percutaneous endovascular procedures for dialysis access as well as vascular monitoring, surveillance and preemptive procedures.
Fast Forward Awards are designed to change the way care is delivered. This award provides funding of up to $20,000 to enable the recipient to travel, study at another medical center, practice new skills and techniques in a laboratory setting and develop a proctoring program when performing the first clinical cases at a CIMIT site. Hentschel will be training in interventional nephrology in St. Louis with Thomas Vesely, MD, a leading interventional radiologist.
Johannsen, Sagar Win HHMI Awards
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has announced the 20 recipients of its Early Career Awards, which encourage new physicians to pursue academic research. Two BWH doctors from the Division of Infectious Diseases received awards, which includes $375,000 over a five-year period for research. Eric Johannsen, MD, a Medical Fellows Program alumnus, researches Epstein-Barr herpes virus and provides evidence that LF2, a protein produced by the virus, is responsible for inhibition of EBV replication in cells. Manish Sagar, MD, a Research Scholars Program alumnus, is working to better understand the pathogenesis of hepatitis GBV-C, such as identifying the host cell receptor or receptors that GBV-C uses to enter the body and to develop a recombinant GBV-C for antigen presentation.
THANK YOU : Cynthia A. Lemere, PhD, associate professor of Neurology at BWH, traveled to Pennsylvania this summer to thank the family of Jean Brunozzi, who died of Alzheimer’s disease almost 6 years ago. The Brunozzi family has raised approximately $150,000 for research for the Foundation for Neurologic Diseases. On behalf of the Foundation for Neurologic Diseases and BWH Neurology, Lemere, center, presents a “Thank you” plaque to the Brunozzi family, from left Ron, Bob, Jeff and Bert.
Manson Receives NAMS Research Award
JoAnn E. Manson, MD, DrPH, chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine at BWH and the Elizabeth F. Brigham Professor of Women’s Health at Harvard Medical School, received the North American Menopause Society’s (NAMS) Postmenopausal Cardiovascular Health Research Award in 2007 at the NAMS annual scientific sessions in October in Dallas. The award recognizes an individual whose research “has advanced the understanding of cardiovascular health in women beyond menopause.” Manson was honored for her research elucidating the relationship between estrogen and coronary disease.
Golshan New Director of Breast Surgical Services
The Division of Surgical Oncology in the Department of Surgery appointed Mehra Golshan, MD, as the new director of Breast Surgical Services for the Dana Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center. A faculty member of the Division of Surgical Oncology since 2003, Golshan has helped lead the group that treats all breast cancers and breast disease. In this new role, he will direct clinical and research activities for academic surgeons at DF/BWH, Faulkner and South Shore Hospitals.
“This growing team of surgical oncologists will expand access to high quality tertiary care and innovative cancer clinical trials for patients with breast malignancies,” said Monica Bertagnolli, MD, chief the Division of Surgical Oncology.
Before beginning his tenure at BWH, Golshan previously was a fellow at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. He completed medical school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
Coblyn Honored by Arthritis Foundation
Jonathan S. Coblyn, MD, director of Clinical Rheumatology and director of Robert B. Brigham Arthritis Center, received the Dr. Marian Ropes Award for excellence in arthritis care and leadership in the fight against arthritis. Coblyn received this honor at the Physician Achievement Award Dinner in October, which is sponsored in part by BWH and Partners HealthCare.
Johnson, Jensen Wins NIH Innovator Awards
Mark Johnson, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Neurosurgery, and Frances Jensen, MD, professor of neurology, were presented the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award and Pioneer Award, respectively, at the third annual NIH Director’s Pioneer Award Symposium Sept. 19. Two of 28 recipients, Jensen and Johnson were selected from a pool of more than 2100 nominees. Johnson will examine the role of decreased synthesis of microRNA, a recently discovered class of molecules, in the development and aggressiveness of human cancer. Jensen will focus on how brain circuits are shaped by experience during critical periods in infancy and early childhood when the brain is especially adaptable and able to rewire itself.
Kuritzkes Receives NIH MERIT Award
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, awarded Daniel Kuritzkes, MD, a MERIT award in the amount of $2.17 million over five years, with the possibility of extending funding for another five years. The award will be used to fund research focused on the development of resistance to antiretroviral drugs, including drugs commonly used to treat HIV.
Karp Named Director of Lab for Advanced Biomaterials and Stem-Cell-Based Therapeutics
Jeffrey Karp, PhD, was selected to participate in the National Academy of Engineering’s Frontiers of Engineering program, which brings together engineers ages 30 to 45 who are performing exceptional engineering research and technical work in a variety of disciplines. It was held in September at Microsoft Research in Redmond, Washington.
Karp is an instructor of Medicine in Health Sciences and Technology and recently was named director of the Laboratory for Advanced Biomaterials and Stem-Cell-Based Therapeutics, a faculty post for BWH, HMS and HST. Two of his current projects include creating intraoperative stem cell therapies and creating biomedical adhesives on gecko nanostructures. Karp also collaborates with clinicians, including the chief of Orthopedic Surgery.
Zafonte Named HMS Physical Medicine Chair, Spaulding VP
Ross D. Zafonte, DO, in October began as the Earle P. and Ida S. Charlton Chair of the Harvard Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) and vice president of Medical Affairs for Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. Zafonte has served as a professor and the chair of the Department of PM&R at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and as vice president of Clinical Rehabilitation Services for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center for the past seven years.
Prior to that, he was interim chairman of the Department of PM&R at Wayne State University and senior vice president for Rehabilitation Services at the Detroit Medical Center, where he also served as physiatrist-in-chief, vice president for Medical Affairs, chief of staff and medical director of the Traumatic Brain Injury Unit at the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan. Zafonte completed his residency in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, where he served as chief resident.
Cohen and Blacklow Appointed to Leadership Positions
David Cohen, MD, PhD, director of Hepatology in the Gastroenterology Division and associate professor of Medicine and Health Services Technology at BWH, was named the co-director of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. Cohen studies how the liver removes cholesterol from the blood and the impact of obesity on hepatic cholesterol metabolism.
Stephen Blacklow, MD, PhD, associate professor of Pathology at BWH, is the new director of the MD-PhD program basic sciences track at HMS. His research focuses on the structure and function of Notch receptors and of proteins in the LDL receptor (LDLR) family.