Honoring Physicians and Scientists

In his 55 years at BWH, S. James Adelstein, MD, PhD, of Radiology, has held two endowed professorships, served as the founding chief of Nuclear Medicine and become a wonderful role model, advisor and friend to generations of radiologists.

Adelstein, who remains active in his laboratory and in an advisory role, topped the list of service honorees during last month’s Physician Recognition Dinner and Medical Staff Service Awards, sponsored by BWH, the BWPO and Brigham and Women’s Physicians’ Council.

“Dr. Adelstein is exceptionally wise, approachable and generous with his time, and it would be impossible to overestimate his impact on the Brigham community,” said Steven Seltzer, MD, in presenting the award. Adelstein and Franz von Lichtenberg, MD, of Pathology, who was honored by Michael Gimbrone, MD, for 50 years of service, were among 19 physicians receiving awards for 30 or more years of service to BWH. The 30-year and above recipients were represented by Tom Lee, MD, and Soheyla Gharib, MD, who provided detailed, humorous accounts of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital 30 years ago. Howard LeWine, MD, honored the 20 and 25 year honorees. One hundred fifty-nine medical staff received Service Awards for five to 25 years at BWH.

BWH President Gary Gottlieb, MD, MBA, a 10-year service award recipient, thanked the physicians for their dedication, citing the Physicians’ Council’s new volunteerism program and a leadership program as ways that physicians continue to go above and beyond in educating themselves and helping others.

“Through your leadership, your dedication and your passion, you make the Brigham and Women’s Hospital one of the best hospitals on the face of the earth,” Gottlieb said.

Allen Smith, MD, president of the BWPO, said that November is a month for giving thanks, and that he is thankful to work among so many talented colleagues.

“Every day, what you do, whether it is clinical care, research, teaching or administration, you put your heart and soul into it,” said Smith to the 515 attendees at the dinner. “I am inspired by all of you and excited to come to work every day to try to make this place better for you.”

This year’s dinner was the first at the InterContinental Hotel in Boston. “Special thanks to Brooke Zeliff, Michele Manning and Kristen Giambusso for the countless hours they spend organizing this wonderful event,” said Brian Bilchik, MD, co-chair of the Physicians’ Council.

The BWPO also recognized five physicians and scientists with prestigious recognition awards for clinical collaboration, clinical innovation, clinical community service and leadership. “All of the nominees for these awards are truly inspiring,” said Jessica Dudley, MD, chief medical officer for the BWPO.

Clinical Collaboration: David Gitlin, MD, director of the Medical Psychiatry Division for BW/F. Gitlin has done an outstanding job both individually and by leading his division in providing expert psychiatric consultation and co-management of the behavioral problems of med/surg/ob/gyn in patients and Emergency Department patients, and by closely collaborating with non-psychiatric physicians and caregivers of other disciplines throughout the hospital. In 2002, Gitlin developed an approach to the care of ED patients with psychiatric disorders that centered around working with ED medical and nursing leadership to implement a shared care model between psychiatric and emergency medicine attendings and nursing staff. He established a daily review process of all ED patients with behavioral disorders and created an efficient and user-friendly method for documentation and communication of the psychiatric consultant’s management recommendations.

Clinical Innovation: Jim C. Hu, MD, MPH, of Surgery. Over the past three years, Hu has made a profound impact on transplant and urologic surgery. He inspired the revival of robotic surgery at BWH and has performed more than 500 laparoscopic and robotic procedures, primarily for prostate cancer and removal of kidneys for cancer or donation procedures. Last year, he performed 220 robotic radical prostatectomies, making him one of the highest volume prostate cancer surgeons in the state. He also was the first surgeon in the state to perform robotic assisted laparoscopic radical cystectomies and partial nephrectomies to treat bladder and kidney cancers. He is generous with his expertise, actively engaging gynecological surgeons also using the robot and training their OR personnel.

Clinical Innovation: Charles N. Pozner, MD, of Emergency Medicine. Pozner has transformed medical education at BWH by applying medical simulation to training of medical students, residents, fellows and attending physicians from virtually every clinical department at BWH in the STRATUS Center. At the center’s earliest stage, Pozner was selected as medical director and was instrumental in its design and development at a time when few medical centers or programs had achieved large scale integration of medical simulation into formal residency training. When it opened in 2004, STRATUS was an immediate success, training 2,000 medical providers in its first year. Under Pozner’s leadership, the center has since expanded to encompass procedural training in all disciplines. It stands among a handful of the most advanced medical simulation centers in the world.

Clinical Community Service: Danny A. Milner, Jr., MD, of Pathology. Milner develops new molecular diagnostics tests for infectious agents and has a translational research focus in infectious disease pathology related to global public health. He has participated since 2001 in an on-site multinational research consortium at the University of Malawi College of Medicine, performing autopsies on children with cerebral malaria. As a visiting lecturer at the university’s department of Histopathology, Milner, who holds a medical license in Malawi, is involved in surgical pathology service during his visits there each year, which includes usually 20 to 40 cases per week for diagnostic sign-out. Among other projects, he is working in collaboration with Pardis Sabeti of Harvard to develop a clinical research ELISA assay for the diagnosis of Lassa hemorrhagic fever to be used in a study in Nigeria.

James S. Winshall Leadership Award: Peter A. Banks, MD, of Medicine. A member of the Gastroenterology Division for 16 years, Banks created an educational program for the training of clinical investigators in Gastroenterology. The highly innovative program is supported by a $2.5 million endowment that Banks raised. The training program, which has become a model across the country, has supported MPH training for at least 20 individuals in the past decade, all of whom have progressed on to academic careers at BWH and throughout the country. Banks also developed the world class and highly unique Center of Pancreatic Disease, which provides care for patients with acute and chronic pancreatic diseases. The program has a major commitment to clinical research supported by Development funds, also raised by Banks for this purpose. His legacy at BWH are unparalleled clinical programs that continue to train physicians committed to the treatment and investigation of many complex and poorly understood gastrointestinal diseases.