Honoring Medical Staff- Clinical & Research News - For and about the Physicians and Researchers of Brigham and Women's HospitalHonoring Medical Staff- Clinical & Research News - For and about the Physicians and Researchers of Brigham and Women's Hospital

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Honoring Medical Staff


From left, BWPO award recipients Michael VanRooyen, MD, MPH, Nina Longtine, MD, Mehra Golshan, MD, and R. Morton Bolman, III, MD. Honoree Zeina Chemali, MD, is not pictured.

In his more than half a century at BWH, Pathology’s Joseph “Mac” Corson, MD, served as chief resident, participated in early studies of organ rejection with Joseph Murray, MD, and became the hospital’s first director of surgical pathology—a practice model that was adopted worldwide some 20 years later.

“He is a man who stands like the marble columns at 15 Francis St.—an icon for our institution,” said Michael Gimbrone, MD, PhD, chair of Pathology.

With 55 years of service each, Corson and Thomas O’Brien, MD, of the Department of Medicine, topped the list of Service Award honorees recognized during the Physician Recognition Dinner and Medical Staff Awards sponsored by BWH, the BWPO and the Brigham and Women’s Physicians’ Council at the Intercontinental Hotel held this spring.

O’Brien started running the hospital’s Infectious Disease program when BWH began its pioneering work in transplantation. “He saw patients with new types of infectious disease and described it for the first time,” said Elliott Kieff, MD, PhD, chief of Infectious Disease, noting that O’Brien and John Stelling, MD, MPH, have developed software to globally track the spread of bacterial antibiotic resistance in human infections. “His love of science is really in basic bacteriology and how organisms become resistant to disease. He has been bringing that science to the bedside throughout his career.”

Awards were presented to more than 200 physicians with five to 55 years of service in increments of five years. All physicians and scientists were honored during the evening for their contributions to patient care, research, teaching and the community.

“I have no doubt we are blessed with the best clinicians and scientists, bar none,” said Allen Smith, MD, MS, president of the BWPO. “It really energizes me knowing that I am collaborating with some of the most gifted and talented people in our profession.”

During the service awards celebration, the presenters reminisced about “the old hospital,” with Chief of Orthopedic Surgery Thomas Thornhill, MD, a 40-year service honoree, taking the audience on a trip down memory lane and describing the former squash courts on campus, Gabe the Barber and other people and places unique to BWH history. “This is a great hospital that is part of a great health care system,” he said, concluding with a forward-looking sentiment. “And the future for us is incredibly bright, as evidenced by our many promising residents and fellows.”

BWH President Betsy Nabel, MD, thanked physicians and scientists for their contributions. “Thank you for being leaders in compassionate care and discovery and for your service to our patients and the local and global community,” she said. “This is really an environment that fosters excellence in all we do.”

Nabel and her husband, Gary, were residents at BWH 30 years ago, and she remarked that she saw many of her fellow residents from that time receiving their service awards this year.

Jessica Dudley, MD, chief medical officer for the BWPO, introduced the BWPO Physician Award recipients. “We had many incredible nominations, and this was by no means an easy decision for the Physician Recognition Award selection committee,” she said.

Clinical Community Service:

Zeina Chemali, MD, director of Neuropsychiatry within the Center for Brain-Mind Medicine, for helping to lead neuropsychiatry at BWH while dedicating herself to the care of underserved populations worldwide, including efforts in Lebanese refugee camps and nursing homes and health care in Guatemala. She serves on the International Psychogeriatrics Society’s International Steering Committee on the quality of care in nursing homes, and she has worked with nursing homes in Lebanon to improve care for elderly residents through optimal screenings of medical, neurological and psychiatric diseases.

Clinical Innovation:

Nina Longtine, MD, director of Molecular Diagnostics in the Department of Pathology, for positioning BWH at the forefront of personalized medicine. Under Longtine’s guidance, Molecular Diagnostics provides state-of-the-art laboratory tests that identify specific molecular biomarkers in patient specimens to enable more precise diagnosis and prognosis, define molecular targets for therapy, allow sensitive monitoring of therapeutic response and stratify risk of disease development and inform genetic counseling.

Clinical Collaboration:

Mehra Golshan, MD, director of Breast Surgical Services, for his dedication to providing comprehensive care of patients with breast cancer and breast disease. Golshan’s innovative and collaborative spirit led to the development of the region’s first breast surgery rehabilitation inpatient program, the establishment of a new protocol for increasing OR efficiency in image-guided surgery and the implementation of a breast center website for patients.

Clinical Community Service:

R. Morton (Chip) Bolman, III, MD, chief of Cardiac Surgery, for his leadership and guidance of Team Heart, in partnership with his wife, Ceeya Patton-Bolman, a nurse who is the volunteer program coordinator. Team Heart works with the Rwanda Ministry of Health and the Rwanda Heart Foundation to build a comprehensive, sustainable cardiovascular program in Rwanda. During the past three years, Bolman and Team Heart have traveled to Rwanda to perform surgeries on adolescents and young adults with advanced rheumatic heart disease, enabling them to attend school, work and support their families.

James S. Winshall Leadership Award:

Michael VanRooyen, MD, MPH, FACEP, FAAEM, chief of the Division of International Health and Humanitarian Programs in the Department of Emergency Medicine, for his relief efforts in massive humanitarian crises. As one of the world authorities on humanitarian and medical issues related to displaced populations, VanRooyen has served in more than 30 conflict zones and disaster settings. After the Haiti earthquake, he assembled a team of HHI physicians who organized a large post-surgical recovery and rehabilitation hospital on the island.


From left, Service Award recipients include Joseph Dorsey, MD, Thomas O’Brien, MD, Thomas Thornhill, MD, Winthrop Churchill, MD, and Joseph Corson, MD.