Names and Faces

Carty Named Director for Clinical Operations Improvement

Marcy Carty, MD, MPH, this summer began as director of Clinical Operations Improvement, a newly created role in which her major focus will be two-fold, first being the clinician lead for many on going and new IT projects and, second, developing and implementing an innovative inpatient care model with improved caregiver communications, streamlined processes, improved ACGME work hour compliance and cost stabilization.

“Marcy comes to this position with a true understanding as a physician user of our systems, with valuable, practical experience in the system and processes she is committed to improving,” said Andy Whittemore, MD, BWH’s chief medical officer. Carty reports directly to Whittemore.

Carty, who earned her MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and a master’s in public health from Tufts Medical School, trained in BWH’s Department of Medicine and served as a hospitalist at BW/F for several years. Most recently, she was a senior consultant in the Center for Clinical Excellence. In addition, Carty is completing a two-year fellowship in pain and palliative care on her way towards board certification in that specialty.

Carty’s focus is on both hospital-wide IS projects, such as acute care documentation, improving discharge summaries and its user module, and all elements of the inpatient care model. Specifically, she will play a leadership role in helping BWH navigate the challenges of delivering patient care with changes in resident hours and ACGME regulations.

“We are constantly examining and trying to improve our model of care and the roles of all the members of our care team, including attending physicians, house staff, physician assistants and nurses,” Carty said. Additionally, Carty is examining operational processes in an effort to reduce physician time spent on non-care related tasks.

Got an idea for systems improvement at BWH? E-mail Carty at mgcarty1@partners.org.

BWH Welcomes Two Cardiac Electrophysicists

Gregory Michaud

Roy John

Roy John, MD, PhD, and Gregory Michaud, MD, this summer joined BWH’s cardiac electrophysiology team in the Cardiovascular Division.

John joins BWH as the director of Experimental Arrhythmia Research and associate director of the Electrophysiology Laboratory. Michaud was named director of the BWH Center for the Advanced Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation.

“Together, Dr. John and Dr. Michaud bring nearly 60 years of medical experience to the cardiac electrophysiology team. They are outstanding clinicians and researchers, and we are happy to welcome them to the Cardiovascular Division.” said Laurence M. Epstein, MD, chief of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Service at BWH.

John brings years of clinical and research experience in ablation for cardiac arrhythmias and device implantations. He comes to BWH from Lahey Clinic Medical Center in Burlington, where he served as director of the Cardiac Electophysiology Laboratory. John’s technical skills span all aspects from device implants to complex ablations, and he has strong experience investigating underlying causes of arrhythmias and developing the next generation of treatment options. He earned his MD at the Government Medical College, Trivandrum at the University of Kerala in India and completed his training at Middlesex and University College Hospital in London.

As director of the new BWH Center for the Advanced Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation, Michaud is responsible for the center’s clinical research development and also will work as a clinical cardiac electrophysiologist. The new center encompasses epidemiological research, genomics and the development and testing of new technologies with an educational center dedicated both to training physicians and educating patients. Michaud, who also comes to BWH from the Lahey Clinic where he was an attending cardiac electrophysiologist and director of its atrial fibrillation center, graduated from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and completed his internship and residency at Boston Medical Center.

O’Gara Named Watkins Clinic Medical Director

Patrick T. O’Gara, MD, director of Clinical Cardiology and vice chairman for Clinical Affairs in the Department of Medicine, was named medical director of the Watkins Cardiovascular Clinics.

O’Gara earned his MD from Northwestern University and completed his internship and residency at MGH, where he was chief resident for Medicine and practiced as an attending for approximately 10 years. He came to BWH in 1995, when he began as director of Clinical Cardiology. In addition, O’Gara has served as the medical director of the Partners HealthCare System Cardiac Service Line/Cardiac Executive Committee since 2001, a role in which he is responsible, in collaboration with others, for coordination of clinical initiatives, outcomes reporting and quality oversight. His clinical activities include a regional and national referral practice for patients with valvular heart disease, complex CAD and diseases of the aorta. He also attends on the inpatient services of the Cardiovascular Division several months each year, including the coronary care unit, telemetry unit and vascular medicine consult service.

The Watkins Cardiovascular Clinic, on floors two and three of the Shapiro Center, encompasses all BWH outpatient cardiovascular services, including multiple specialists and advanced diagnostic testing. More than 60 physicians, fellows and nurse practitioners practice in the 30 exam rooms in the Watkins Clinic.

Asp Named Vice President and Chief Development Officer

On the heels of leading one of the country’s most successful fundraising programs, James Asp joined Brigham and Women’s Hospital in October as vice president and chief development officer.

Asp previously was associate vice chancellor of University Development and Alumni Relations and chief development officer at the University of California, San Francisco, where he led an effort that raised more than $366 million last year. He also was vice president of the UCSF Foundation, which secures and manages philanthropic funds for the university.

“We welcome Jim to the BWH community and look forward to his leadership of a dedicated and caring Development team that connects our dedicated donors to our world-class care, research and educational programs,” said BWH President Gary Gottlieb, MD, MBA. “Looking ahead, we see a multitude of opportunities to enrich our mission as we touch lives with the support we receive through our philanthropic outreach.”

Asp brings more than 25 years of professional development experience to his new role. Prior to the University of California, Asp served as director of principal and leadership gifts at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, vice president for college resources at Sarah Lawrence College, associate vice chancellor for university advancement at the University of California, Irvine, and director of university development at The George Washington University.

Zinner Presented 2008 Association of Women Surgeons Award

Michael Zinner, MD, BWH’s surgeon in-chief, received the 2008 Award from the Association of Women Surgeons Awards Committee. Zinner was chosen in recognition for advancing the personal and professional goals of women in surgery across the country through leadership, mentorship and advocacy. The committee unanimously selected Zinner for this award, which he received at the annual awards dinner Oct. 13th at the American College of Surgeons Annual Clinical Congress in San Francisco.

Camp Named Transplant Regional Champion

Phillip C. Camp Jr., MD, director of the Lung Transplant Program at BWH, was recognized for his dedication, passion and diligent efforts to make a difference and create a positive impact on organ donation and transplantation. The Leadership Team of the Organ Donation and Transplantation and the Transplant Growth and Management collaborative named Camp among their 10 “Regional Champions.” Camp, who recovers both lungs and hearts for transplant at BWH, has been largely responsible for the increase in the lung recovery rate in the region. These regional champions were recognized during the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration Medal of Honor Awards Gala in October for their outstanding contributions on behalf of organ donors, donor families and transplant patients.

Eisenhauer, Gawande, Whittemore Recognized for Safety, Quality Efforts

Andrew Eisenhauer

Atul Gawande

Anthony Whittemore

The Massachusetts Medical Law Report, a state-wide publication for medical professionals about legal news and risk management, launched a new awards program to recognize medical professionals for best practices in safety, quality and risk management in health care, and three BWH faculty were among the first-ever group of honorees. Andrew Eisenhauer, MD, director of the Interventional Cardiovascular Medicine Service, surgeon Atul Gawande, MD, and Anthony D. Whittemore, MD, BWH’s chief medical officer, are among the first to receive the Mass. Law Report’s Rx for Excellence award. The selection committee included a group of leaders in the Massachusetts health care community, along with the editorial staff of the newspaper. Winners received their awards at a gala breakfast and ceremony at the Taj Boston Oct. 31.

Harris Wins Breast Cancer Award

Jay R. Harris, MD, chair of Radiation Oncology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, was named as the second annual recipient of the Gianni Bonadonna Breast Cancer research Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Harris accepted this award in September at the 2008 Breast Cancer Symposium in Washington, D.C., where he delivered a lecture, “Local Treatment of Breast Cancer: Looking Backward to Gaze Forward.” Harris’ research is focused on the use of radiation therapy in breast cancer and in establishing the most effective and safe radiation treatment for breast cancer patients.

Simmons Receives Marian Ropes Award

Barry Simmons, MD, chief of the Hand and Upper Extremity Service, was honored with the Dr. Marian Ropes Award for excellence in arthritis care and leadership in the fight against arthritis. Simmons received the award, along with Don Goldberg, MD, chief of Rheumatology at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, at the Arthritis Foundation Physician Achievement Award Dinner in September at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel.

Prostate Cancer Foundation names Mucci Young Investigator

Lorelei A. Mucci, ScD, MPH, a researcher in the Channing Laboratory at BWH, was selected as one of the Prostate Cancer Foundation’s 19 Young Investigators in 2008. The award provides Mucci with $225,000 over three years that will be matched by BWH and is designed to support her prostate cancer research project that focuses on the existence of specific fusions of chromosomes in disparate regions of a patient’s genome, which is a recent finding in prostate cancer biology. The Young Investigator Awards provide career and project support for young proven investigators who have already achieved junior faculty positions and are committing their lives to the field of prostate cancer.

Katz Gains Honorable Mention by AMWA for Back Pain Book

Jeffrey N. Katz, MD, MSc,, director of the Orthopaedic and Arthritis Center for Outcomes Research at BWH, is the recipient of an Honorable Mention for the 2008 Medical Book Awards presented by the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA). Katz and his coauthor, Gloria Parkinson, were honored for “How to Heal Your Aching Back,” their 2007 book which offers the latest research and proven techniques for preventing back pain from occurring or recurring. The book awards were established more than 30 years ago by AMWA to recognize the best in medical writing. The Medical Book Awards were presented Oct. 24 at the AMWA annual conference in Louisville, Ky.

Kikinis Awarded for Excellence, Commitment to Imaging, Brain Mapping

Ron Kikinis, MD, founding director of the Surgical Planning Laboratory at BWH, in August received the Pioneer Award in Medicine from the International Brain Mapping & Intraoperative Surgical Planning Society (IBMISPS). This award is presented to individuals who advocate scientific excellence in research, development and education. Kikinis, one of the leading developers of Slicer, an open source software package for visualization and image analysis, is recognized for his dedication to scientific excellence, significant contribution to scientific advancement in the field of brain mapping and image guided therapy as well as research and patient care, resulting in important advances in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with brain diseases. IBMISPS presented the award to Kikinis at its international forum at the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, where Kikinis was one of six keynote speakers during the three-day event. Slicer 3.2 was released in June with new features that include advanced visualization capabilities, multi-platform support for pre-compiled binaries for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, scene snapshots that allow for capture of all visualization parameters and extensive support for IGT and diffusion tensor imaging.

Kikinis Named NARSAD Young Investigator

Zora Kikinis, instructor in psychiatry at BWH, was one of thirteen HMS researchers who received 2008 Young Investigator Awards from NARSAD, an organization that raises funds for psychiatric research.

Lechene Gains $9M in Grants

BWH’s Claude Lechene, MD, principal investigator at the National Resource for Imaging Mass Spectrometry, received three grants this summer totaling more than $9 million to further his work using multi-isotope imaging mass spectrometry (MIMS).

Lechene received a High End Instrumentation Grant from the National Center for Research Resources, part the NIH, for $2 million. He received a $6 million Biotechnology Resource Grant over five years from the NIBIB/NIH, and in September, he was selected as an Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar in Aging, a $1 million award over four years.

MIMS uses a microscope that, instead of light, bombards the target cell with a narrow beam of particles to scan the target, peeling away layers of atoms that compose the cell. The atoms are collected to create images of any layer in the cell, showing precisely which atoms and how many came from any position in the cell. MIMS generates quantitative, three-dimensional images that reveal the accumulation and distribution of molecules like proteins, DNA, sugar and fatty acids within tissues and cells, allowing researchers to determine the fate of these molecules inside cells and opening up an entirely new world of quantitative imaging.

The grants enable Lechene to acquire a state-of-the-art secondary ion mass spectrometer, of which there are less than 10 in the world, for this research. Lechene’s lab is deemed an NIH “National Resource” that develops, teaches and disseminates this revolutionary methodology and collaborates with labs around the world in fields ranging from cell biology, biochemistry, cardiology, nephrology, immunology, transplantation, cancerology, infectious disease and neuropsychiatry.

Brenner, Plenge Receive RA Grants

Michael Brenner

Robert Plenge

The American College of Rheumatology Research and Education Foundation (ACRREF) selected 15 experienced researchers from leading institutions to receive an estimated $6 million from the Foundation’s Within Our Reach: Finding a Cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis campaign, and two BWH faculty were among the recipients.

Michael B. Brenner, MD, chief of the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, received the ACRREF’s innovative basic research grant for “How FLS Mediate Cadherin-11 Dependent Inflammation in RA.”

Robert M. Plenge, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of Rheumatology, received a grant for translational research, “Genome-wide Association Study of Response to Anti-TNF Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis.”

ACRREF launched the Within Our Reach campaign and national research collaboration in 2006 to accelerate RA research and expand financial support for this disease which affects an estimated 1.3 million Americans. These awards are the second round of grants funded by the $30 million national multi-year fundraising effort focused specifically on rheumatoid arthritis.

Klerman Appointed to NSBRI Leadership Team

Elizabeth B. Klerman, MD, PhD, an associate professor in the Division of Sleep Medicine at BWH and an associate director of the CTSC, was appointed associate team leader for the Human Factors and Performance Team of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI). As associate team lead, she will help manage scientists at seven institutions working on nine NSBRI projects. The team’s research focuses on studying ways to improve daily living and keep crewmembers healthy, productive and comfortable during long-duration spaceflights and lunar exploration missions. The projects address sleep, circadian rhythms including lighting, nutrition, human factors, lunar dust issues and mathematical modeling. The NSBRI, funded by NASA, is a consortium of institutions studying the health risks related to long-duration spaceflight. The Institute’s science, technology and education projects take place at more than 60 institutions across the United States, including HMS.

Moore, Trauma Center Receive $6M Grant

Francis D. Moore, Jr., MD, professor of Surgery at BWH, is a recipient of the Trauma Center Research Grant for $6 million over the next three years. The grant has been given to researchers at BWH for the past fourteen years. The National Institute for General Medical Science and the National Institute of Health awarded the grant to Moore and colleagues, K. Frank Austen, MD, the AstraZeneca professor of Respiratory and Inflammatory Diseases, and Michael C. Carroll, PhD, professor of Pathology based at the Immune Disease Institute, for research on new therapies for burns and tissue injury in the heart, gut and skeletal muscle.

Washko Named Francis Fellow

George R. Washko, MD, of the Pulmonary Division at BWH, was selected as one of 18 Parker B. Francis Fellows for 2008 by the Parker B. Francis Fellowship Program. This prestigious award is presented annually to outstanding young lung researchers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Washko was honored for his research of computer tomographic imaging in COPD, a heterogeneous lung condition characterized by progressive loss of lung function. Washko is one of more than 700 fellows in the fields of lung biology and respiratory disease supported by the PBF Fellowship since its inception in 1976.

CCI Education Awards go to Kelly, Nierenberg and Bierer

The Center for Clinical Investigation announced the 2007-2008 academic year teaching excellence award recipients: Patricia Kelly, of BWH Pharmacy, on IDS; Andrew Nierenberg, MD, of MGH Psychiatry, on “How to Give a Talk;” and Barbara Bierer, MD, senior vice president for Research at BWH, on Research Ethics. The CCI’s education programs focus on essential information for all engaged in clinical research, for the clinical research investigator, and for the clinical research study coordinator. The effectiveness of the education is only possible because of the generous and gifted teachers who participate. Some 1,813 course participants completed and submitted 1,407 course evaluations during the year, and the above mentioned awardees received the highest ranking evaluations. The 2007-2008 CCI education program was directed by Grace Chang, MD, MPH, managed by Marianne Moore, RN; and coordinated by Erica Eagan.