Eduardo C. Alfonso, M.D. ’80, the Edward W.D. Norton Professor of Ophthalmology, was named chair of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, the Department of Ophthalmology of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, in June. A 1984 graduate of the institute’s residency program, Alfonso has been on the faculty since 1986. He is known for his clinical expertise in diseases and surgery of the cornea, and in ocular microbiology and laser vision correction.
Aaron T. Beck, M.D. ’46, received the 2009 Award for Extraordinary Accomplishment in Medical Research from the Robert J. and Claire Pasarow Foundation in May. The $50,000 award is one of three given each year for basic or clinical research in cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neuropsychiatry. Beck, the University Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, is a member of the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences.
Katherine Benesch, M.D. ’70, J.D., a partner in the health law practice group at the Princeton office of Duane Morris LLP, was appointed to the American Arbitration Association (AAA) Health Care Advisory Council in March 2009. The council is a national group appointed by the AAA to develop dispute resolution solutions for the health care industry. The AAA provides administrative services in the United States, as well as abroad through its International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR). The AAA's and ICDR's administrative services include assisting in the appointment of mediators and arbitrators, setting hearings, and providing users with information on dispute resolution options. The 13-member group consists of general counsel from throughout the health care industry, including hospital associations, HMOs and universities, as well as health care attorneys in private practice.
Elizabeth H. Blackburn, PH.D., FW ’77, SC.D.H. ’91, the Morris Herzstein Professor of Biology and Physiology at the University of California, San Francisco, was one of three American scientists to share in the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine “for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.” Blackburn began her research into telomerase while she was a postdoctoral fellow at Yale. She shares the Nobel award with Carol W. Greider, PH.D., of Johns Hopkins, and Jack W. Szostak, PH.D., of Harvard, with whom she shared the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 2006. The citation from the Nobel Foundation stated, “This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to three scientists who have solved a major problem in biology: how the chromosomes can be copied in a complete way during cell divisions and how they are protected against degradation. The Nobel Laureates have shown that the solution is to be found in the ends of the chromosomes—the telomeres—and in an enzyme that forms them—telomerase.” Blackburn earned her doctorate from the University of Cambridge in England in 1975 and did her postdoctoral work at Yale from 1975 to 1977 in molecular and cellular biology in the laboratory of another 2006 Lasker honoree, Joseph G. Gall, PH.D. ’52.
Among other honors and awards, Blackburn was named California Scientist of the Year in 1999, elected President of the American Society for Cell Biology for the year 1998 and served as a board member of the Genetics Society of America (2000-2002). Blackburn is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1991), the Royal Society of London (1992), the American Academy of Microbiology (1993) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2000). She was elected Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences in 1993, and was elected as a member of the Institute of Medicine in 2000.
Francis Collins, M.D., PH.D. ’72, was one of nine recipients in 2009 of the National Medal of Science. He received the medal from President Barack Obama at a White House ceremony on October 7. The medal, along with the Medal of Technology, is among the highest federal government honor given to scientists, engineers, and inventors. Collins is best known for leading the Human Genome Project. The National Medal of Science was created in 1959 and is administered for the White House by the National Science Foundation. Awarded annually, the medal recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to science and engineering.
Jennifer Davids, M.D. ’05, and Matthew Davids, M.D. ’05, announced the birth of their first child, Emily Isabella, on August 20, 2009. “Emily couldn't wait to see everyone, so she decided to come a month early. Mom, Dad, and baby are all doing well.” Jennifer is a general surgery resident at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Matthew is a hematology/oncology fellow in Harvard’s combined Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Massachusetts General Hospital program. They live in Boston.
Matthew B. Klein, M.D. ’97, has been named the David and Nancy Auth-Washington Research Foundation Endowed Chair of Restorative Burn Surgery at the University of Washington. Klein is associate professor of plastic surgery, associate director of the University of Washington Burn Center and director of the Plastic Surgery Residency Program.
Howard Koh, M.D. ’77, M.P.H., has been named assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. The assistant secretary serves as the Secretary of Health and Human Service's primary advisor on matters involving public health. Koh was previously the Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the Practice of Public Health and associate dean for public health practice at the Harvard School of Public Health. He also served as the Massachusetts Commissioner of Public Health from 1997 to 2003.
Richard Lamb, M.D. ’54, received the 2009 Distinguished Service Award from the American Psychiatric Association. The award honors individuals and organizations that have contributed meritorious service to American psychiatry.
Jiyon Lee, M.D. ’96, assistant professor of radiology (breast imaging) at New York University (NYU) School of Medicine, was honored at the American Cancer Society’s Diamond Luncheon in May for her volunteer work with the ACS in Westchester County, N.Y. She has been serving as medical director and a member of the board of advisors for the past five years. She is a mammographer at the NYU Clinical Cancer Center and at Bellevue Hospital in New York.
Anthony V. Proto, M.D. ’71, was awarded the 2008 Gold Medal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) for his contributions to radiology. The Gold Medal requires the unanimous approval of the RSNA board of directors. Proto, who recently completed more than 10 years as editor of the journal Radiology, is a professor of radiology at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center.
Gualberto Ruaño, PH.D. ’92, M.D. ’97, was inducted into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering’s College of Fellows in April at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., at the National Academy of Sciences. Recipients of this honor are chosen for exceptional leadership and achievements in medical and biological engineering. Ruaño is president and chief executive officer of Genomas Inc., director of genetics research at Hartford Hospital, and adjunct professor in the medical faculties at George Washington University and at the University of Puerto Rico. In his 25-year scientific and medical career, Ruaño has developed systems for DNA-guided medicine based on genomics, nanoscience, and clinical informatics. At Genomas, he has pioneered physiotypes based on multi-gene markers and bioclinical algorithms for the prediction of human drug response and DNA -guided medicine in patient care.
Eliot Sorel, M.D., FW ’75, of George Washington University where he has professorial appointments in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and in Global Health, Health Services Management & Leadership in the School of Public Health and Health Services, has been appointed council member of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, d.c., in June
