The Reporter: June 1997, Vol.8, No.3
REPORTER AT LARGE

Dr. Gregg Gundersen, P&S associate professor of anatomy and cell biology and of pathology, has been awarded the 1997 Nikon Fellowship to pursue research at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass. The Nikon Fellowship is awarded each year to young investigators to develop advance light microscopic and imaging approaches to study cell structure and function. Dr. Gundersen will use the fellowship to develop imaging techniques employing fluorescent protein chimeras. He plans to use this methodology to investigate how organelles are positioned in cells.

Dr. Cheryl Healton, associate professor of clinical public health, has been appointed head of CSPH's Division of Sociomedical Sciences. She is an expert on HIV infection in women and children and an advocate for health promotion and disease prevention. Dr. Healton will continue to serve as director of the school's Center for Applied Public Health and associate dean for program development.

Dr. Frederica Perera, CSPH professor of public health, was listed as one of "100 people for the new century" in a special feature in the April 21 edition of Newsweek. The article opens: "Our object has been to take a snapshot of the future, framing some of the personalities whose creativity or talent or brains or leadership will make a difference in the years ahead." Dr. Perera is noted for her study of the environmental causes of cancer and the effects of maternal exposure on the developing fetus and infant. She has pioneered a new approach to research and prevention termed molecular epidemiology.

Dr. Richard J. Deckelbaum, director of the Institute of Human Nutrition and the Robert R. Williams Professor of Nutrition, was conference chair for an American Heart Association-sponsored scientific conference "Preventive Nutrition: Pediatrics to Geriatrics." Other program participants from Columbia were Dr. Geoffrey R. Howe, professor of public health; Dr. F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, P&S professor of medicine; and Dr. I. Bernard Weinstein, the Frode Jensen Professor of Medicine, professor of public health, and professor of genetics and development. Dr. Deckelbaum also has co-edited a new book titled "Preventive Nutrition: The Comprehensive Guide for Health Professionals."

The Research Foundation of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons has awarded a $40,000 grant to Dr. E. Sander Connolly, chief resident and postdoctoral residency fellow in neurological surgery. He is one of only three neurosurgeons nationwide to receive the award. Dr. Connolly will study the effects of leukocytes and adhesion receptors in the pathogenesis of evolving stroke, examine the role of thrombosis in evolving stroke, and attempt to determine whether adhesion receptor blockade increases the efficacy and safety of thrombolytic therapy.

The New York Academy of Medicine honored Columbia University, among other health leaders, at its 150th annual stated meeting in April. The Columbia School of Public Health received the New York Academy of Medicine Sesquicentennial Institutional Award for its leadership in disease prevention and for its active role in the promotion of health for all. Dr. Thomas Q. Morris, vice dean of P&S and senior associate vice president of Health Sciences, was awarded the Academy Plaque for his contributions to the academy and as an expression of gratitude. He has been a fellow of the academy since 1987 and served on its board of trustees. Dr. Jean Pakter, lecturer in CSPH's Center for Population and Family Health, received the academy's award for pediatrics.

The first John N. Schullinger Lecture in Childhood Cancer was given May 8 as part of the Department of Surgery's John Jones Society day-long program. The lectureship, established in honor of Dr. John N. Schullinger, P&S professor of clinical surgery, was launched to recognize Dr. Schullinger's abiding interest in education as it pertains to the child with cancer. The first Schullinger Lecturer was Dr. Garrett M. Brodeur of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia who spoke on "Neuroblastoma--From the Bench to the Bedside."

Lynne Roth has been appointed deputy director for Health Sciences Development. Ms. Roth, who has been a major gifts officer at P&S since 1989, is chief fund-raiser in the Department of Medicine. She is also in charge of training and mentoring all new development officers, developing fund-raising opportunities for the clinical research and diabetes committees of the Health Sciences Advisory Council, and assisting in generating strategies for increasing private-sector revenue to the Health Sciences. Ann Mitchell is the new development officer for the Department of Urology and the cancer committee of the Health Sciences Advisory Council, as well as special projects assistant for the Department of Medicine. Ms. Mitchell was formerly a major gifts officer at Fordham University.

Dr. Rita Charon, P&S associate professor of clinical medicine, has been given two awards recognizing her excellence in scholarship and teaching. The American College of Physicians has bestowed the Nicholas E. Davies Memorial Scholarship Award for Humanism and Medicine to Dr. Charon to recognize her contribution to humanism in the practice and teaching of medicine and in her research in the relations between literature and medicine. The Society of General Internal Medicine presented her with its award to recognize innovators in medical education, specifically her work in literature and medicine. Dr. Charon's medical humanities seminar for second-year medical students teaches the importance of understanding the stories of patients' lives. She also directs a course for third-year students in which participants keep written diaries of their feelings, thoughts, and impressions revolving around certain clinical experiences. Dr. Charon is currently completing her doctoral dissertation in English at Columbia University.

This spring, Dr. Herbert Pardes, vice president and dean, joined with other health care leaders voicing support for forward-looking strategies for improving the health of the elderly by investing in NIH research. The group made remarks following the release of a study on disability rates among older Americans and a presentation on Medicare policy by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). The briefing was co-sponsored by the Alliance for Aging Research and the Task Force on Science, Health Care, and the Economy.

Dr. Charles Prestigiacomo, postdoctoral residency fellow in neurological surgery, was awarded the Elsberg Prize by the New York Society of Neurosurgery for his lecture, "Exacerbation of Focal Cerebral Ischemia in IL-6 Deficient Mice: Putative Neuroprotective Role for IL-6," presented at Resident's Night in April.

The Second World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery was held in Honolulu in May and several P&S faculty had important leadership roles in this global meeting. Those faculty members are Dr. Welton M. Gersony, P&S professor of pediatrics and director of pediatric cardiology; Dr. Linda J. Addonizio, P&S associate professor of pediatrics, Dr. Lindsey D. Allan, P&S professor of pediatrics; Dr. Robyn J. Barst, P&S associate professor of pediatrics; Dr. Allan J. Hordof, P&S associate professor of clinical pediatrics; Dr. Daphne Hsu, P&S associate professor of clinical pediatrics; and Dr. Jan M. Quaegebeur, P&S associate professor of surgery and director of pediatric cardiac surgery.

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