Honors

Herbert Benson, M.D., internal medicine, received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Lasell College in Newton, MA for his pioneering work in bringing the mind/body connection into traditional medicine.

Tom Delbanco, M.D., general medicine, Richard and Florence Koplow-James L. Tullis Professor of General Medicine at Harvard Medical School, received the John P. McGovern, M.D. Award. The annual award lectureship in the medical humanities was conferred by the C. Everett Koop Institute at Dartmouth, in honor of Delbanco’s work to improve primary health care.

An abstract authored by Bruce Dezube, M.D., hematology/oncology, entitled “A passive immunotherapy, HRG214, in patients infected with HIV-1: A phase I study” was selected for poster presentation at the XIV International AIDS Conference in Barcelona. Also listed as authors were JoAnn Proper, R.N., hematology/oncology, Jie Lin Zhang, M.D., infectious disease, William Weeden and Janine Morrissey, hematology/oncology, Julie Carpenter, R.N., clinical research center, and Eve Burns and Clyde S. Crumpacker, M.D., infectious disease.

Josef E. Fischer, M.D., chairman of the department of surgery and surgeon-in-chief at BIDMC, and Mallinckrodt Professor at Harvard Medical School, began his term as President of The Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract at its annual business meeting in May. The Society seeks to foster surgical leadership in patient care; teach and research the diseases and functions of the alimentary tract; provide a forum for sharing knowledge; and encourage training opportunities, funding and publications supporting those activities.

Patricia Folcarelli, R.N., patient care services, Jeff Driver, J.D., health care quality, and Hans Kim, M.D., M.P.H., health care quality, were three of the 50 health care leaders chosen to participate in the inaugural class of the Patient Safety Leadership Fellowship. Sponsored by Health Forum and the National Patient Safety Foundation, the fellowship program gives senior leaders opportunities to advance the process of creating cultures of safety and promoting breakthroughs in patient care.

Roger Laham, M.D., interventional cardiology, received the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) trainee award from the National Institutes of Health for best submitted abstract and gave a talk at the GCRC national meeting in Bethesda, Maryland. Laham’s research focuses on the therapeutic potential of angiogenic growth factors in ischemic heart disease and autologous cell transplantation for heart failure. Laham also provides therapeutic options for patients with end-stage heart disease using complex interventions and novel devices.

Mark A. Peppercorn, M.D., gastroenterology, received a 2002 Janssen Award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Gastroenterology. The award, presented at the National Meeting of the American Gastroenterology Association in San Francisco, honors contributions to the field of inflammatory bowel disease including patient care, clinical research and publications.

Russell S. Phillips, M.D., chief of the division of general medicine and primary care, has been named head of the Society of General Medicine (SGIM) Research Committee. The Committee promotes research in general medicine and coordinates SGIM research awards nationally, while focusing on such topics as improving the promotion process for researchers. Phillips, whose research focuses on end-of-life care, directed BIDMC’s role in the SUPPORT Project, a national study designed to improve end-of-life care.

Duane S. Pinto, M.D., cardiology, received the George Altman, M.D. and Harriet Altman Annual Cardiology Fellow Award, established to recognize cardiovascular trainees who have demonstrated outstanding talent as clinicians, researchers and humanitarian deliverers of care. Pinto, who was an intern, resident and chief medical resident at BIDMC, is currently finishing additional training in interventional cardiology and will join the faculty of the cardiology division in 2003.

Michael K. Rees, M.D., internal medicine, was presented with the “State Award For Excellence” by the Massachusetts chapter of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. The award acknowledges Rees’s leadership role in developing and delivering continuing medical education programs in the area of adult primary care medicine. Rees also was presented with an Award of Appreciation by the membership of the Core Curriculum Committee for his “untiring and extraordinary efforts” and “devotion to genuine quality and practicality in both medical practice and in continuing medical education.”

Allison Warren Richardson, M.D., and Panos Papageorgiou, M.D., Ph.D., both of cardiology, were the first recipients of the Career Development Award. Each received $20,000 to support their clinical research activities and academic pursuits. Contributions to the award were made by BIDMC patients and their families who wished to encourage exceptional young physicians to pursue clinical excellence in academic medicine. Stafford Cohen, M.D., cardiology, the fund’s founder and administrator, and Mark Josephson, M.D., chief, cardiovascular division at BIDMC, and Herman Dana Professor of Medicine at HMS, will announce two additional awardees next year.

Simon Robson, M.B.Ch.B., Ph.D., gastroenterology, was awarded a Roche Organ Transplantation Research Foundation grant. The award, drawing over 100 international applicants, aims to improve transplant results “through scientifically excellent and innovative research approaches.” Together with Imrana Qawi, M.D., immunology, Robson is studying aspects of blood coagulation activation within transplanted organs that trigger vascular thrombosis and result in graft loss.

Daniel Rooks, Sc.D., rheumatology and Be Well!, won an Arthritis Investigator Award from the national Arthritis Foundation. These grants support research in fields related to arthritis, and are awarded based on distinction and productivity in prior research and potential for future leadership. Rooks also received a Research Career Development Award from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the National Institutes of Health to identify the best model of disease self-management for persons with musculoskeletal disease. He delivered the keynote address at the Medical Fitness Association national meeting, titled “The Role of Exercise in Disease Management.”

Together with exercise physiologists Jamie Auciello, B.S., C.S.C.S., Marlene DaCosta, M.A., and Rozanne Puleo, B.S., Rooks presented at the New England American College of Sports Medicine Regional Conference. Topics were “Designing and Implementing a Strength Training Program for Seniors with Osteoporosis” (Puleo), “Designing an Exercise Program for People with Chronic Pain” (DaCosta and Rooks), and “Training First Time Marathon Runners” (Auciello).

Kenneth Sands, M.D., health care quality, was selected from a national applicant pool to join the Board of Examiners for the National Malcolm Baldrige Quality Awards. The Board evaluates companies nominated for this highly competitive award based on performance excellence, as defined by criteria that many organizations have adopted as a framework for performance and improvement.

Christopher A. Walsh, M.D., Ph.D., neurology, was one of 12 physician-scientists to be appointed as Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators in a program to improve the translation of basic science discoveries into enhanced treatments for patients. Walsh is the first researcher at BIDMC ever to receive this prestigious honor. Walsh’s laboratory is interested in causes of mental retardation and epilepsy in children.

Mark Waxman, J.D., legal services, gave a speech on “Compliance Issues for the Research Enterprise” at the American Medical Group Association Annual Medical Directors Symposium in San Diego, California. Waxman also spoke to the American Bar Association’s Health Law Section on “Liability Issues in Clinical Research” at their Mid-Year Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.

Augustus A. White, III, M.D., Ph.D., orthopedic surgeon-in-chief, emeritus, has been invited to serve on the National Advisory Council on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health. He recently began his four-year appointment.

- Karnika Haridoss

Submit honors and awards listings to vgoldste@caregroup.harvard.edu