Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
RWJMedCover/spr01 5/9/01 8:26 PM Page 2 FOR ALUMNI & FRIENDS OF UMDNJ-ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON MEDICAL SCHOOL A PUBLICATION FOR RobertWoodJohnson SPRING / SUMMER 2001 MEDICINE Pathways to Cure: Breaking New Ground in Surgery and Cardiology Document1 5/9/01 3:43 PM Page 1 l e t t e r f r o m t h e d e a n May 2001 Dear Colleague, F or the second straight year, U.S. News & World Report has named UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School among the top 50 primary care medical schools in the country and second in the nation for community health programs. We are proud that we have made a positive impact on the medical community and that our peers across the country acknowledge the outstanding programs at the school. Each issue of Robert Wood Johnson Medicine emphasizes important new educational, research, clinical, and community programs. In this edition, we are pleased to highlight our high-tech, state-of-the-art medical and surgical research and clinical programs. Our physicians, scientists, and health care professionals collaborate with colleagues throughout the scientific community to bring the most up-to-date medical knowledge and innovations to our communities. We continue to be excited by the growth and expansion currently under way at the medical school. In the most recent National Institutes of Health ranking of research funding, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School continued to move up the list with a 27 percent increase in funding from 1999 to 2000. This outstanding rate of growth on our three campuses has created the need for an ambitious renovation and construction program that is under way to fill a critical need for academic, research, and clinical space. I hope you have an opportunity to look at the renderings of the six facilities being planned, in “Blueprint for Progress.” We are proud of our accomplishments in education, research, patient care, and community service. In addition, this issue details many of the school’s educational achievements, collaborative activities, and exciting research, new faculty, and alumni activities. Sincerely, Harold L. Paz, MD Dean Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 1 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/10/01 2:02 PM Page 2 S p r i n g / S 2 u 0 m 0 D E P A R T M E N T S Letter from the Dean 1 Letters 4 RWJMS News 5 Research Notes 6 If you’re like most medical professionals, you’re busy juggling a career, family…and your investments. That’s where TIAA-CREF can help. We’ve been providing comprehensive financial management and advice to medical, research, and education specialists for decades. We offer you a wide range of expertly managed financial services to help you meet your goals. Fixed and variable annuities…IRAs…life insurance…and much more. Plus, you get our history of solid performance, remarkably low expenses, and one-on-one, personal service. For more information on how we can help you build a smarter financial future, call us toll-free at 1-888-842-5350, Monday through Friday, 8am to 8pm, Eastern time. After all, thousands of your colleagues already have. E A T U R E S Blueprint for Progress: Construction and Renovation Proceed at RWJMS RWJMS is responding to the huge demand for research, clinical, and classroom space with an extensive, two-phase building program. By Kate O’Neill 24 Leading with the Heart 22 45 Surgery 2001: Invention Driven by Research RWJMS Alumni News 46 The Alumni Association Honor Roll of Donors 57 Class Notes 61 Last Page 64 RobertWoodJohnson MEDICINE A PUBLICATION FOR ALUMNI & FRIENDS OF UMDNJ-ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON MEDICAL SCHOOL Cutting-edge prominence, reflected by robotics in the OR, is strengthened by gene studies and other research to boost surgical capabilities in the new millennium. By Rita M. Rooney 30 The Clinical Research Center: High Standards, High Performance Located at the crossroads of New Jersey and of the pharmaceutical industry, the Clinical Research Center is surpassing academic, scientific, and economic goals. By Kate O’Neill 39 Paying Off the Cold War Mortgage The Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI) assumes a leadership role in nuclear waste cleanup. By Rita M. Rooney 43 Spring/Summer 2001 • Volume 5, Number 1 On Call: KidsHealth Pediatricians Are Always at Your Fingertips Dean Harold L. Paz, MD Editor Susan G. Palma Managing Editor Roberta Ribner Writers Kate O’Neill Rita M. Rooney Art Director Barbara Walsh Cover Illustration Tom White, Tom White Images For more complete information on our securities products, call 1 800 842-2733 ext. 5509 for prospectuses. Read them carefully before you invest. • TIAA-CREF Individual and Institutional Services, Inc. and Teachers Personal Investors Services, Inc. distribute securities products. • Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA), New York, NY and TIAA-CREF Life Insurance Co., New York, NY issue insurance and annuities. F r Clinical care combines with research, education, and community outreach in the design of an internationally acclaimed cardiology program. By Rita M. Rooney 27 Letter from the Alumni Association President e 17 Staff Spotlight New Faculty Contents m 1 Alumni Assciation Officers: President Eduardo Fernandez, MD ’89 Vice President/ President-Elect Euton M. Laing, MD ’90 Secretary-Treasurer Steven Krawet, MD ’89 Chair, Development Committee Ernest Biczak, MD ’77 Chair, Membership Committee Geza Kiss, MD ’95 Chair, Reunion Committee Francine E. Sinofsky, MD ’81 Whole families ride the Internet to KidsHealth.com, a Web site maintained by the Nemours Foundation’s Center for Children’s Health Media, founded and led by Neil Izenberg, MD ’76. By Kate O’Neill 50 Luck, Be a Lady! In her children’s saga of war, pirates, and elusive medical care, they should look for good fortune, not hardship, says Hang Minh Ngo, mother of three RWJMS students. By Kate O’Neill 54 Editorial and Advertising Office UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Office of Alumni Affairs • Roberta Ribner, Coordinator 125 Paterson Street • Suite 1400 • New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1977 Telephone: 732-235-6310 • Fax: 732-235-6315 • Email: [email protected] © 2001 Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association - College Retirement Equities Fund, New York, NY 4/02 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 3 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/9/01 3:53 PM Page 4 NEWS Letters r w j m s Eye-Catching Dear Dr. Paz: wish to note to you my excitement and pleasure in reading the various documents that have emanated from Robert Wood Johnson Medical School over the last few months. Two caught my eye specifically, the 1999 Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Annual Report and the recent Fall/ Winter 2000 edition of Robert Wood Johnson Medicine, dealing primarily with the research strengths of your school. It is obvious that your leadership and your keen sense of presence have added immensely to the outside view that the public and our constituencies will be taking of your school due to the quality of these publications. Thank you for projecting this welldeserved and important image of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Best wishes for another continuing successful year in 2001! Sincerely, Stanley S. Bergen, Jr., MD Founding President Emeritus I Informative Articles Dear Dr. Paz: hank you for forwarding me a copy of your Fall/Winter magazine. I appreciate reading the many informative articles on the research projects at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Sincerely, Carlos Hernandez, PhD President, New Jersey City University T Looks Terrific! Dear Dr. Paz: y compliments on your Fall/Winter 2000 Robert Wood Johnson Medicine publication; it looks terrific. Henry Brezenoff, PhD Acting Dean, UMDNJ-Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences M Drop Us A Line! • Please send letters to: Roberta Ribner, Coordinator, Alumni Affairs UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Alumni Association 125 Paterson Street • Suite 1400 • New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1977 Tel: 732-235-6310 • Fax: 732-235-6315 Email: [email protected] 4 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE Dean Paz Convenes First Meeting of RWJMS Board of Overseers UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Board of Overseers By Kate O’Neill T he UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Board of Overseers met for the first time in October 2000. Newly con vened at the invitation of Harold L. Paz, MD, dean, the board was formed to advise the dean and the school’s leadership on issues of critical importance and strategic planning. As he prepared for the board’s May gathering, Dr. Paz met with Robert Wood Johnson Medicine to reflect on the October orientation meeting and comment on the new dimension its members bring to the medical school. (RWJ Medicine) Q: Could you tell us about the timing of your decision to convene a Board of Overseers for RWJMS? (Dean Paz) A: At the medical school’s retreat in 1997, we discussed the need to set new goals and re-examine our mission. A year later, the idea for a Board of Overseers was in place. I subsequently had an opportunity to talk it over with Andy Wallace, now dean emeritus of the Dartmouth Medical School, who suggested looking at its Board of Overseers. He was very supportive, and we were impressed with the model it uses. Dr. Stuart Cook, the new president of UMDNJ, was also very enthusiastic about our making this move. So last year, when the university’s strategic imperatives were created and all schools were expected to participate in strategic planning, our plan was already in place. Q: What combination of qualities did you look for in your Board of Overseers members? A: We wanted a group that could help us take a fresh look at ourselves, to help us see what works and what doesn’t. We knew our board could become our most influential spokesmen, so we sought out respected people from the top of the academic and corporate world. One of the specific areas they can help with is advising us on the best use of information technology as we move in new directions such as distance learning, bioinformatics, and the use of technology in virtually every setting from the classroom to the patient’s bedside. Members from the pharmaceutical industry are key because of the industry’s geographic concentration in New Jersey and its role at the school in areas such as our Clinical Research Center. Q: What was the format for the meeting in October? A: It was a day-and-a-half meeting, held on our New Brunswick campus. Our opening dinner included senior faculty and featured a Among members attending the first meeting of the Board of Overseers of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School were (seated, left to right) Stuart D. Cook, MD, president, UMDNJ; L. Patrick Gage, PhD, president, Wyeth-Ayerst Research; Harold L. Paz, MD, dean; and Robert Savage, company group chairman, Johnson & Johnson; (standing, left to right) Michael Bassoff, president, Foundation of UMDNJ; Robert E. Campbell, chairman, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Jordan Cohen, MD, president, Association of American Medical Colleges; Adel A. F. Mahmoud, MD, PhD, president, Merck Vaccines; and Harold T. Shapiro, PhD, president, Princeton University. talk by Bill Hait (professor of medicine and pharmacology and director of The Cancer Institute of New Jersey). The second day consisted of presentations that helped give a sense of the school, including a discussion led by Dr. Stephen Lowry (professor and chair, Department of Surgery). Andy Wallace had suggested we leave plenty of time for input and questions, and we did. Also, at the end of the day, I held an executive session in order to gain as much frank feedback as possible. Q: Were you surprised by any new ideas from the meeting? A: I was especially pleased with the directness and candor of the participants. It meant we could take a good look at our present goals and evaluate the future direction of the school. Their evaluations were full of positive responses and suggestions. They were especially helpful on strategic planning, financial issues, program development, and resource allocation.The outcome of the meeting was good for us and for the university as a whole. Q: Now that the group has worked together, what will be different when it reconvenes in May? A: Fortunately, we are moving forward with the same group. We only lost Ken Weg, who stepped down when he retired last fall as vice chair of Bristol-Myers Squibb. He is succeeded on the board by Richard Lane, who is presi dent of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Worldwide Medicines Group. We know we have their enthusiasm — we have been pleased to hear inde pendently from several members since the meeting in October. We laid a solid foundation, so they will all be able to speak knowledge ably to specific issues facing our medical school. Q: What are your goals for the next meeting? A: We’ll be looking at a number of specific areas such as the Chandler Health Center and our community outreach programs. We’ll also examine the financial challenges facing us as a school and an academic medical center. We need to know where to emphasize growth and where to reduce cost. Overall, we’ll keep focusing on the factors that continue to move us into the top echelon of medical schools. ■ Michael Bassoff, President, Foundation of UMDNJ ■ Robert E. Campbell , Chairman, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ■ Jordan Cohen, MD, President, Association of American Medical Colleges ■ Stuart D. Cook, MD, President, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey ■ L. Patrick Gage, PhD , President, Wyeth-Ayerst Research ■ Bernard P. Gallagher , Concert Enterprises LLP ■ Richard J. Lane , President, Worldwide Medicines Group, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company ■ Francis L. Lawrence, PhD , President, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey ■ Arnold J. Levine, PhD , President and CEO, The Rockefeller University ■ Adel A. F. Mahmoud, MD, PhD, President, Merck Vaccines ■ David McCourt, Chairman and CEO, RCN Corporation ■ Isabel Miranda , Chair, UMDNJ Board of Trustees; Senior Vice President, U.S. Trust Company of New Jersey ■ Robert Savage , Company Group Chairman, Johnson & Johnson ■ Harold T. Shapiro, PhD, President, Princeton University ■ Ralph Snyderman, MD , Chancellor for Health Affairs, Duke University School of Medicine ■ DeForest B. Soaries, Jr., New Jersey Secretary of State ■ Bruce C. Vladeck, PhD , Senior Vice President for Policy, The Mount Sinai Medical Center Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 5 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/9/01 3:55 PM r Research B y Ka t eO ’ Ne i l l [ n o t e s ] Harold Varmus, MD, president and CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Page 6 w j m s NEWS Research [ n o t e s ] — Continued from page 6 Motolinsky Foundation Endows Chair in Hematology: Dr. Saidi Earns Another “First” in Her Division year, $337,353 NIH grant to study Parvin Saidi, MD, and former director of the National Insti- professor of medicine, tutes of Health, was the keynote speaker at the third annual Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Research Day, March 30, 2001. The annual event celebrates research at RWJMS and provides a means for the entire academic community to learn more about research in progress at the medical school. ■ Douglas M. Ziedonis, MD, MPH, associate professor of psychiatry, is a co-investigator in “Officebased treatment for addictions: Therapy development study,” funded by a $400,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Principal investigator is Sylvia Adtjian, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry. ■ Gloria A. Bachmann, MD, MMS ’70, professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences, associate dean for women’s health, and director of the Women’s Health Institute, was awarded a $314,000 grant by the NIH for a stu dy: “Chronic gynecologic pain syndromes, demographic predictors, and the role of previous medical and psychosocial history in the development of a new clinical classification for vulvodynia.” The NIH also awarded Jonathan D. Dinman, PhD, assistant professor of molecular genetics and microbiology, a $500,000 grant to study “Ribosomal frameshifting as a Probe of 5S rRNA function.” ■ Nicola Partridge, PhD, professor and chair, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, has been awarded a three- T he year 1969, best remembered for the first moon landing, was “the dark ages for hematology,” says Norman Reitman, MD, clinical professor of medicine (retired) and president of the Melvyn H. Motolinsky Research Foundation. “If we’d known then what we know now, Melvyn Motolinsky might still be alive.” But Mr. Motolinsky, a promising young New Brunswick lawyer, died that year of acute leukemia. “Mel’s family and friends wanted to establish a living memorial in his name,” adds Dr. Reitman, “and with that goal in mind they created the Melvyn H. Motolinsky Research Foundation.” In its almost 30 years, the Motolinsky Foundation has become an important par tner in hematology research at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. In 1970, the foundation’s board announced its goal of sup porting research activities of the then young division of hematology and oncology. It met this goal by 1972 with the establishment of the Melvyn H. Motolinsky Laboratory for Hematology Research. The foundation’s second goal was the establishment of an endowment fund to support a fellowship position in hematology and oncology at RWJMS, and each year since 1984, the best senior fellow in these fields has been selected as the Motolinsky Fellow. Additionally, for the past 27 years, the founda tion has presented, at its annual reception, the Melvyn H. Motolinsky Distinguished Service Award to leaders in medicine. Past recipients have included Harold L. Paz, MD, dean, RWJMS; William N. Hait, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and pharmacology and director, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey; and Parvin Saidi, MD, professor of medicine, chief, division of hematology, and director of the Melvyn H. Motolinsky Laboratory for Hematology Research. Last spring, the foundation’s board took another important step, pledging $1.25 million to endow the Melvyn H. and Ab Motolinsky Chair in Hematology at RWJMS in honor of Mr. Motolinsky and his father, the late Judge Abraham Motolinsky. The foundation has focused on RWJMS, says Dr. Reitman, in recognition of the care Mr. Motolinsky received from physicians on the school’s faculty. The foundation’s October 2000 award reception served as an ideal occasion to announce that Dr. Saidi had been selected as the first occupant of this chair. Congratulating Dr. Saidi and the foundation, Dr. Paz said, “The establishment of the Melvyn and Ab Motolinsky Chair in Hematology is not only a fitting and permanent family memorial, this generous endowment also enhances the academic mission of the medical school. Dr. Saidi is a superb choice as the first recipient of the chair. She has devoted her entire professional life to education, research, and patient care, earning the respect and admiration of colleagues in academia and clinical practice.” Dr. Saidi’s colleague of 25 years, John B. Kostis, MD, professor and chair, Department of Medicine, holds the first RWJMS chair, the John G. Detwiler Chair in Cardiology. He was delighted with Dr. Saidi’s welldeserved honor as first to occupy the school’s newest chair. “She has nurtured growth in a foundation that is now able to fund several areas of hematology research at the school,” he said. “She is an excellent example of an academic clinician with an illustrious career. A charismatic teacher, an accomplished clinician, and an innovative investigator, she supports and nourishes younger colleagues. Physicians recruited under her have become top clini cians and funded investigators on a tenure track.“ Reflecting on her multi faceted career, Dr. Saidi comments that teaching remains chief, division of hematology, and director of the Melvyn H. Motolinsky Laboratory “Collagenase removal in osteoarthritis.” ■ The Governor’s Council on Autism awarded Raymond S. Roginski, MD, PhD, associate professor of anesthesiology, $49,417 for a research project: for Hematology Research, will be first to hold the “Chromosome mapping of a candidate Melvyn H. and Ab autism susceptibility gene.” ■ Charles Motolinsky Chair in Hematology at RWJMS. W. Powers, PhD, MPH, professor of Here Dr. Saidi, second environmental and community medicine, from left, is congratulated by, left to right, Yetta Motolinsky, Nan Motolinsky, and Harold L. Paz, MD, dean. will be the principal investigator of the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation (CRESP), which the Department of Energy has renewed for five years at $35 million. The Department of Defense awarded Monica J. Roth, MD, professor of bio- her favorite aspect of medi cine. She is especially proud of the Hematology and Oncology Fellowship Program, which she established in 1972 and continues to direct. A lifelong pioneer in academics and medicine, she was a summa cum laude graduate of Smith College and graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1956, one of only five women in a class of 150 students. She did her specialty training at the University of California Hospitals in San Francisco and was invited to join the earliest cadre of faculty at RWJMS (then Rutgers Medical School) in 1968. Two years later, she became chief of hematology/oncology and shortly thereafter founded the New Jersey Regional Hemophilia Program, which she has directed for 25 years. Dr. Saidi was active in the 1994 establishment of The Cancer Institute of New Jersey and remained chief of hematology when oncology became a new division in the Department of Medicine. Under her leadership the hematology faculty has grown, and the division’s highly competitive fellowship program, accredited for 12 posi tions, annually receives more than 300 applications for three offered positions — placing it on an equal footing with fellowships in older, more established medical schools. Dr. Saidi has received more than $12 million in grants for her research in leukemia, erythropoiesis, and hemostasis. Widely respected both personally and professionally, she has published more than 140 research papers and scientific abstracts. Her many awards include the Melvyn H. Motolinsky Award for Research in Leukemia, the New Jersey Hemophilia Association’s Humanitarian Award, and the UMDNJ Foundation’s Excellence in Teaching Award. Dr. Saidi’s pride in the school deepened when her daughter, Dellara Farmanfarmaian Terry, chose to attend RWJMS. “It was a very proud moment when I handed her the diploma at the UMDNJ graduation in 1995,” says Dr. Saidi. “I have seen the medical school in its infancy and watched it go through its ‘teen years.’ It is a personal and professional pleasure and privilege to see the school’s extraordinary growth and progress as it matures,” she says. “Of the new medical schools founded in the late ’60s, it has accomplished the most.” — K.O’N. chemistry, a grant of $224,982 for “Development of retroviral vectors targeted to prostate cells.” ■ Frank A. Sonnenberg, MD, professor of medicine, was awarded $695,432 by the NIH to study decision analytic support for clinical guidelines. The NIH/National Cancer Institute awarded T. J. Thomas, PhD, associate professor of medicine, a grant renewal of $226,973 and a $13,714 supplement to study novel oligonucleotide delivery vehicles for gene therapy. The NIH awarded a twoyear grant for $1,891,451 for “Transgenic and gene-targeting core for the Child Health Institute of New Jersey (CHINJ)” to Robert L. Trelstad, MD, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, Harold L. Paz Chair of Developmental Biology, and acting director, CHINJ. — Continued on page 8 — Continued on page 7 6 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 7 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/9/01 3:58 PM r Research [ n o t e s ] — Continued on from 7 Page 8 w j m s NEWS $500,000 Gift to Child Health Institute Will Build an Atrium, Honor a Friend Center for Executive Health Debuts In January, Javier I. Escobar, MD, professor and chair, Department of Psychiatry, along with Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute faculty members Howard M. Kipen, MD, MPH, professor and acting chair, Department of Environmental and Community Medicine, and Nancy L. Fiedler, PhD, associate professor of environmental and community medicine, hosted an international conference: “Environmental Factors in Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms and Related Syndromes.” The conference sought to specify a coherent experimental and epidemiological research agenda for such medical presentations as Gulf War syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic Lyme disease, multiple chemical sensitivities, sick building syndrome, and somatoform disorders. ■ George H. Lambert, MD, associate professor of pediatrics and director, pediatric pharmacology and toxicology, received a grant from the New Jersey Cancer Commission funding his work examining the effects of herbal medicines on human sex hormone receptors and on drug metabolism in animals. Linda J. Patrick-Miller, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry and director, division of behavioral sciences at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, was awarded a $65,487 grant from the New Jersey State Commission on Cancer Research for a study: “The impact of a relative’s mam mogram: a teachable moment?” — Continued on page 10 8 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE A joint project of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is responding to the health needs of executives with a creative approach that consolidates the interests of New Jersey executives and the companies for which they work. Jeffrey L. Carson, MD, professor of medicine, chief of general internal medicine, and the Richard C. Reynolds Chair in Internal Medicine, and Ira Klein, MD ’91, assistant professor of medicine, are spearheading the program, designed to accommodate the busy schedules of management employees. “Companies certainly want their top executives to be in good physical shape,” Dr. Carson reports. “But taking the time for all the appropriate preventive measures can be taxing for people whose work takes them around the globe or who find them selves still at their desks late at night. What we’ve done is come up with a plan to meet the very personalized needs of this specialized patient population.” He explains that the Center for Executive Health has dedicated space in the medical school’s Clinical Academic Building. During an initial visit, a patient’s medical history will be taken and evaluated on the basis of age, gender, and general medical condition. A detailed Left: Medical efficiency drives care at the new Center for Executive Health, a joint project of RWJMS and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. Here, Jeffrey L. Carson, MD, professor of medicine, and Christine Ardesia, RN, Health Executive Program, introduce a local business leader to the personal services at the center. questionnaire will assess risks and help determine the appropriate need for special screening beyond a routine electrocardiogram (EKG) and chest X-ray, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test for men, and gynecological exam, mammogram, and bone-density evaluation for women. “Of course, many of the executives who come to the center already get comprehensive care,” Dr. Carson says. “Our goal is to consolidate their care. In doing so, we often see women whose mammograms are overdue or a male patient who just hasn’t gotten around to having his lipid levels checked.” The overall premise of the center is one of expediency. Dr. Carson says most tests are performed during the first visit, and patients return at the end of the day to review with a physician the results and any recommended treat ment. Some of the tests recommended, such as a colonoscopy, must be scheduled for a later day but again, the emphasis is placed on meet ing the exceptional demands on a patient’s schedule. “These are people, for the most part, who are conscien tious about their health,” Dr. Carson says. “In most medical settings, however, laboratory tests are not coordinated within a single patient visit. That’s what we do, in most situations and whenever humanly possible.” He adds that a highly personalized level of care is central to the center’s mission and that the program’s philosophy recognizes the concerns of patients who want every reasonable preventive measure undertaken to ensure their continued good health. “When we talk of a comprehensive package, we mean that we are sensitive to the individual perspectives of our patients,” he says. The Center for Executive Health will be marketed to individuals as well as New Jersey companies and will rely on referrals to RWJMS clinicians. Dr. Carson concludes, “The key word for the center is efficiency — and that’s one to which most executives respond.” — R.M.R. R aymond E. Donovan loved to help children. This will be the first thing visitors learn upon entering the Child Health Institute of New Jersey (CHINJ) at UMDNJRobert Wood Johnson Medical School. Joseph P. DeAlessandro has ensured that knowledge with his gift of $500,000 to the Foundation of UMDNJ to endow the Raymond Donovan Atrium at CHINJ. “We are thrilled that Mr. DeAlessandro has joined us in this important effort that will benefit children everywhere,” says Roger S. Fine, chair, Board of Trustees of the Foundation of UMDNJ, and vice president and general counsel for Johnson & Johnson. DeAlessandro first heard about plans for CHINJ from his friend Allen Chin, a member of the Board of Trustees of UMDNJ. He recognized an ideal opportunity to memorialize Donovan’s commitment to helping children. CHINJ focuses on finding cures for genetically based childhood diseases, “so I think it is very meaningful that he be recognized by naming the atrium of the Child Health Institute in his memory,” DeAlessandro says. “It is something Ray would never have done for himself, but I know he would have loved this.” After meeting with Harold L. Paz, MD, dean, to discuss the gift to CHINJ, DeAlessandro indicated an interest in continuing his relationship with the medical school. “Mr. DeAlessandro has a genuine concern for children and a long history of giving to the community,” says Dr. Paz. “To our great benefit, he has also indicated his willingness to participate in the activities of the Child Health Institute. I am delighted that Mr. Allen Chin introduced Mr. DeAlessandro to us.” DeAlessandro is president and chief executive officer of Rutgers Casualty Insurance Company, Kentucky National Insurance, and DeAlessandro and Associates Inc. Thirty years ago, as president and director of American International Group (AIG) Global Assistance, he met Donovan. He hired the New England architect and industrial designer to oversee renovations of the company’s offices. Later they would be colleagues at AIG, when Donovan became a vice president. They developed a close friendship that lasted until Donovan’s death several years ago. In addition to their professional connections, they shared a deep commitment to the community, especially to its youngest members. Like Donovan, DeAlessandro kept children’s needs foremost in his mind when he had the opportunity to give back. “I always marveled at anyone who helped kids,” says DeAlessandro, who also generously contributes to higher education and the arts. “So much of what Ray did was for children,” he adds. “He was constantly volunteering his time to help kids. He was a great chef, so he baked cookies for kids. He was a talented artist, so he designed sets for children’s theaters. He planned yearly Christmas parties for kids, where he shopped and bought gifts for Santa to give to kids — at least 50 kids each year. He would always go out of his way to take care of needy children.” Robert L. Trelstad, MD, Harold L. Paz Chair of Developmental Biology and acting director of CHINJ, is pleased that a private citizen has recognized the significance of the institute’s work. “The interdependence of a community and its academic and health care institutions might seem obvious. But mobilizing the community behind its institutions continues to require nur turing and foresight. Mr. DeAlessandro’s gift to CHINJ makes the clearest possible statement of community support for establishing a major center for children’s health in New Jersey.” For those who wish to remember family members, patients, friends, colleagues, or themselves in a very special way, certain areas at CHINJ have been set aside for commemorative naming. To join the Foundation of UMDNJ in support of the Child Health Institute or to receive further information, contact Jacqueline M. Bartley, director of development, at 732-235-8570. Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 9 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/9/01 4:03 PM r Research [ n o t e s ] — Continued from page 8 The American Heart Association awarded Page 10 w j m s NEWS The Class of 2001 Career Choices Class of 2001 Excels in Residency Match U M D N J - R o b e rt Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway & Camden Campuses a one-year, $49,500 grant to Harvey R. Weiss, PhD, professor of physiology and biophysics, to study “Changes in nitric oxide– cyclic GMP with cardiac hypertrophy.” ■ Peter M. Aupperle, MD, MPH, associate professor of psychiatry and director, division of geriatric psychiatry, was awarded $113,550 from Pfizer for his “Phase II, 12-week, randomized, double-blind, multi-center, placebo-controlled study evaluating the safety and efficacy of three fixed doses of oral CP-457, 920, and Conepezil in outpatients with Alzheimer’s disease.” Bristol-Myers Squibb awarded $149,900 to Umesh Chaudhari, MD ’96, associate professor of medicine and assistant medical director of the Clinical Research Center (CRC), for a study: “Relative bioavailability of a single dose of Aripiprazole in healthy subjects when administered as a 3 mg. oral liquid formulation relative to a 15 mg. commercial tablet.” Robert M. Dalsey, MD, associate professor of surgery, is involved in a study at the Genetics Institute: “A feasibility and safety study of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhbmp-2)/absorbable collagen sponge and allograft compared to autogenous bone graft in patients with severe tibial shaft fractures requiring staged reconstruction with bone graft.” Allan Garland, MD, assistant professor of medicine, and Harold L. Paz, MD, dean, are participating in a “Multi-center, prospective, randomized, controlled — Continued on page 13 10 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE S hortly before noon on Match Day, Euton M. Laing, MD ’90, vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Alumni Association, led a champagne toast to the Class of 2001. He was enthusiastically joined by the class, crowded into the Clinical Academic Building Conference Center with friends and family. Precisely at noon, they were among the nation’s 14,555 fourthyear medical students ripping open their residency match envelopes. They stared at the words that would frame their futures; then jubilation erupted, marked by screams, hugs, laughter, and tears of relief. With the five words “University of Virginia, Internal Medicine,” Jennifer Bishop ’01 learned she had been selected by her first choice. She was among the 57.2 percent of her RWJMS classmates who got their top match. Another 18.8 percent matched with their sec ond choice, and 8.9 percent matched with their third. Overall, 138 RWJMS students enrolled in the National Resident Match Program, and 98.6 percent of them matched — a significant notch above the national rate of 93 percent. One-third of the Class of 2001 will pursue residencies in New Jersey; one-quarter will be in programs at UMDNJ. One of these is Troy Edwards ’01, who will for four years. I think it’s more than a coincidence that we all got our top choice!” “The matching process begins with the first year of medical school,” says David Seiden, PhD, professor of ANESTHESIOLOGY INTERNAL MEDICINE Haren Heller: Saint Barnabas Medical Center, NJ; NY Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia Campus, NY Reena Agarwal: Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore, NY Attique Rahman: Jersey Shore Medical Center, NJ; New York University Medical Center, NY Left: Michael Maraventaro ’01, left, and Tapan Kadia ’01 share good Match Day tidings. Euton M. Laing, MD ’90, vice Minh Chau Tran: Atlantic Health System, NJ; UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ EMERGENCY MEDICINE Karma Brown-Warren: Newark Beth Israel, NJ Rachel Burke: University of Rochester/Strong Memorial, NY president/president-elect of the RWJMS Alumni Association, leads a champagne toast to the Class of Matthew Neulander: Carolinas Medical Center, NC 2001 on Match Day. Geralda Whyte: Thomas Jefferson University, PA Suspense ends in momentary disbelief for Carmen Ortiz ’01, who got her top match choice. graduate in May with both a PhD, in molecular pharmacology/oncology, and a medical degree. He was matched with Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, his top choice. “The research program is particularly strong at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey,” he says, “since the establishment of the Dean and Betty Gallo Center for Prostate Cancer.” Celebrating with his friends, Edwards added, “Our group stuck together and supported each other neuroscience and cell biology and associate dean for admissions and student affairs. “Our office provides the reality check. Students turn to us to help decide on their specialty. They use our database to research and compare the programs. They rely on us for information about other students with similar strengths who have applied to these programs.” Carmen Ortiz ’01 agrees. The former inner-city math teacher and translator for the Federal Bureau of Investigation will achieve her dream in May: she will receive her medical degree and begin a surgical residency program at RWJMS. “I couldn’t have done it without Student Affairs,” she says. “You just knock on their door, no appointment necessary. They’re always there for you.” — K.O’N. FAMILY PRACTICE Michelle Campbell: Crozer-Chester Medical Center, PA Above: Shayma Master ’01, right, congratulates Shabbar Danish ’01 on his match results Yira DeLaPaz-Avila: NY Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia Campus, NY May DiCola: Somerset Medical Center, NJ Kathleen Akgun: Yale New Haven Hospital, CT Jennifer Bishop: University of Virginia, VA Dana Lyn Brahms: UMDNJRobert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ Joseph Brignola: Saint Vincent’s Hospital, NY Carrie Burns: Brown University, RI Yihong Henry Cheng: UMDNJRobert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ Gerald Cioce: New England Medical Center, MA Hillel Cohen: UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ Omid Dardashti: UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ Jagdip Desai: UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ Samit Desai: UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ Barbara Frempong: UMDNJRobert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ Vassiliki Karantza-Wadsworth: UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ Emanuel King: Temple University Hospital, PA Erin Kozak: Lahey Clinic, MA Christina Kwack: New England Medical Center, MA Andrew Lan: Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals, WI Karen Lin: Temple University Hospital, PA Shayma Master: UMDNJRobert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ Janice Mehnert: Mount Sinai Hospital, NY Theodore Paparsenos: Beth Israel Medical Center, NY Jean Park: UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ Nehal Patel: Stonybrook Teaching Hospital, NY Naomi Shah: UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ Regina Gandica: Mount Sinai Hospital, NY Naomi Turunen: Boston University Medical Center, MA Sheri Gillis: UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ Adele Uglialoro: Saint Vincent’s Hospital, NY William Swart: Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital, CA Myriame Vastey: JFK Medical Center, NJ Thomas Yuen: Thomas Jefferson University, PA James Zamora: Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, CA Nikolas Harbord: Beth Israel Medical Center, NY John Hochhold: Thomas Jefferson University, PA Yvonne Jean-Francois: Mount Sinai School of Medicine/Cabrini, NY Millisaun Johnson: Thomas Jefferson University, PA Tapan Kadia: Baylor University Medical Center Program, Houston, TX Norman Greene: Emory University School of Medicine, GA Antoinette Ham: UMDNJRobert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ Nadia Pierre: SUNY Health Science Center, Brooklyn, NY Felix Olobatuyi: George Washington University, DC Marek Galazka: UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ Ryan McCormick: Thomas Jefferson University, PA Kudzai Dombo: Albert Einstein Medical Center, PA Todd Muller: Brown University, RI Aravind Ramakrishnan: Baylor University Medical Center, Houston, TX Neeti Gupta: UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ Mridasim Aguwa: Stamford Hospital/Columbia, CT Atinuke Olufowobi: UMDNJRobert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ Gregg Gagliardi: Brown University, RI Thomas Lee: Crozer-Chester Medical Center, PA OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY Lisa Motavalli: UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ Jennifer Hamilton: UMDNJRobert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ James Kwack: Crozer-Chester Medical Center, PA Howard Levene: Temple University Hospital, PA Jennifer Moodie: Brown University, RI Erica Erb: Somerset Medical Center, NJ Jay Kenkare: Warren Hospital, NJ Shabbar Danish: Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, PA Julia Korogodsky: North Shore University Hospital/NYU School of Medicine, Manhasset, NY Diane Fresca: UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ Gustavo Jaime: University of CA, San Diego Medical Center, CA NEUROSURGERY Tara Rajan: Brown University, RI INTERNAL MEDICINE/ PEDIATRICS Andrea Wong: Baylor University Medical Center, Houston, TX Lisa Price-Davis: Maimonides Medical Center, NY OPHTHALMOLOGY Guri Bronner: Greenwich Hospital, CT; UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ Edgar Caceres: Jackson Memorial Hospital, FL; Saint Vincent’s Hospital, NY Jodie Lucia: UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ; Georgetown University Hospital, DC Hany Michail: Saint Barnabas Medical Center, NJ; Washington University, St. Louis, MO Cristiana Pieroni: Mount Sinai School of Medicine/Cabrini, NY; Tufts Medical Center, MA ORTHOPAEDICS INTERNAL MEDICINE, PRELIMINARY Nicholas Avallone: Harvard Medical School/Combined Research Position, MA Elana Bornstein: Thomas Jefferson University, PA Gino Chiappetta: Jackson Memorial Hospital, FL Heather Jacene: Jersey Shore Medical Center, NJ Paul Codjoe: Temple University Hospital, PA NEUROLOGY David Rubin: DartmouthHitchcock Medical Center, NH Thomas McPartland: UMDNJRobert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ — Continued on page 12 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 11 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf r w j m 5/11/01 4:32 PM Page 12 s NEWS Research [ n o t e s ] Department of Psychiatry Garners Grants The Class of 2001 Career Choices U M D N J - R o b e rt Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway & Camden Campuses pivotal trial for efficacy of partial liquid — Continued from page 11 ORTHOPAEDICS Jamie Decker: Children’s National Medical Center, DC Jeff Schulman: George Washington University, DC Kenneth Wilkens: University of CA, Irvine Medical Center, CA OTOLARYNGOLOGY Adam Jacobson: Mount Sinai Hospital, NY PATHOLOGY Rachel Sargent: Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, PA PEDIATRICS Rebecca Carey: University of Utah Affiliated Hospitals, UT Beatriz Cunill: Miami Children’s Hospital, FL Melissa Diaz: Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Jacobi Medical Center, NY David Goldberg: Yale New Haven Hospital, CT Michael Gorn: Saint Christopher’s Hospital, PA Kathleen Greaney: Duke University Medical Center, NC Michelle Kiang: Children’s National Medical Center, DC Teyetdung Christine Le: University of North Carolina Hospital, NC Michael Maraventano: Children’s Hospital, Philadelphia, PA Jennifer Nicholson: University of Rochester/Strong Memorial, NY Taryn Weissman: Albert Einstein College of Medicine/ Jacobi Hospital, NY Sandor Kovacs: Atlantic Health System, NJ; Saint Barnabas Medical Center, NJ Jeffrey Petrozzino: SUNY Health Science Center, Brooklyn, NY PHYSICAL MEDICINE AND REHABILITATION Rizvan Mirza: Christiana Care, DE; Saint Luke’s-Roosevelt, NY Evan Shereck: NY Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia Campus, NY Melanie Sienicki: UMDNJRobert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ Olubunmi Songonuga: Baystate Medical Center, MA Johanna Vidal: University of Washington Affiliated Hospitals, WA Evan Weiner: Thomas Jefferson Univ/Dupont Children’s, PA Peter Gonzalez: UMDNJRobert Wood Johnson Medical School, Camden, NJ; University of Colorado School of Medicine, CO Alena Polesin: Morristown Memorial Hospital, NJ; NY Presbyterian HospitalColumbia Campus, NY PLASTIC SURGERY Asaad Samra: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX PSYCHIATRY John Applegate: Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, PA Anusuya Balasundaram: Saint Vincent’s Hospital, NY Carrie Ganek: Beth Israel Medical Center, NY Michael Jackson: Saint Vincent’s Hospital, NY 1-888-CHILDREN (244-5373) www.childrens-specialized.org 12 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE Chad Rabinowitz: Albert Einstein Medical Center, PA; Rhode Island Hospital/Brown University Robert Shaw: UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Camden, NJ; Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore, NY Adarsh Verma: Crozer-Chester Medical Center, PA; UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ SURGERY Robert McFadden: Thomas Jefferson University, PA Carmen Ortiz: UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ Lina Shah: Saint Vincent’s Hospital, NY Mountainside · Fanwood · Toms River Elizabeth · Newark · Union Hima Prabhakar: CrozerChester Medical Center, PA; Massachusetts General Hospital, MA Abigail Kay: Thomas Jefferson University, PA Ashika Patil: Saint Vincent’s Hospital, NY Serving the children of New Jersey in partnership with Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. Nicole Polini: UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ; NY Presbyterian HospitalColumbia Campus, NY Daniel Smith: Beth Israel Medical Center, NY Anthony Spinnickie: Stanford University, CA RADIATION ONCOLOGY Khashayar Vaziri: George Washington University, DC Hsiang-Hsuan Michael Yu: Christiana Care, DE; Johns Hopkins Hospital, MD SURGERY, PRELIMINARY RADIOLOGY, DIAGNOSTIC Mitesh Patel: UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ James Creeden: Saint Barnabas Medical Center, NJ; NY Presbyterian HospitalColumbia Campus, NY Reginald Denis: UMDNJRobert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ; UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Camden, NJ Michael Galbraith: Jersey Shore Medical Center, NJ; Saint Barnabas Medical Center, NJ Robert Kamieniecki: Saint Luke’s, Bethlehem, PA; Saint Barnabas Medical Center, NJ TRANSITIONAL David Goldstein: Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, VA UROLOGY Troy Edwards: UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ Victor Ferlise: Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, PA Alexander Kirshenbaum: SUNY at Stony Brook, NY — Continued from page 10 J avier I. Escobar, MD, professor and chair, Department of Psychiatry, recalls a patient whose complaint of symptoms led to five colon surgeries — none of which relieved his physical distress or con vinced him he had been cured. Dr. Escobar is the principal investigator of a four-year national study, funded by a $1.5 million National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) grant, to study somatizing patients or those who present to physicians with multiple medically unexplained physical problems. The clinical research, conducted in conjunction with the departments of family medicine, internal medicine, and psychiatry, will explore appropriate medical and psychiatric interventions to provide these patients with clinically sound treatment or improved functional status. “To date, no controlled trials toward relieving these patients of their chronic symptoms have been conducted,” Dr. Escobar reports. “And yet, it is estimated that as many as 40 percent of those who present to primary care physi cians have what traditionally were referred to as psychosomatic disorders.” He says that label and others are unfortunate because they categorize patients into a group of people who, through some vague characterization, have thus far been beyond the reach of medical science. In fact, he says several clinical diagnoses have evolved within specific specialties — all of ventilation with low and high doses of them in response to symptoms that cannot be documented by medical tests or laboratory analysis. “In internal medicine, there is chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndromes, and among urologists, we hear of irritated bladder,” Dr. Escobar says. “Cardiologists often are confronted by atypical chest pain — real to the patient even though it won’t be indicated on an EKG.” “The Robert Wood Johnson Medical School research, which includes randomized control trials of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) contrasted with medical care as usual, is set in a primary care environment because somatizers are reluctant to use psychiatric ser vices,” Dr. Escobar explains. “In my opinion, these patients are best handled in a primary care setting since they cannot see a psychosocial component in their illness,” he says. “Frustration in not being able to have their symptoms relieved is compounded by what they consider to be any suggestion of hypochondria or mental illness. We are avoiding sending that kind of message to the patient by explaining CBT as an intervention being studied to relieve their physical symptoms. In other words, to be effective, this has to be packaged as medical treatment.” The recipient of other NIMH funding, Dr. Escobar has received a grant of $500,000 as principal New Jersey investigator of a five-year national study of the risk for psychiatric disorders in Latino and Asian populations. Dr. Escobar’s portion of the research, conducted concomitantly with the National Cormorbidity Survey Replication and the National Survey of African Americans, will involve 4,000 Latino respondents, including Mexican Americans, who are the focus of his work. Its goals are to estimate ethnic differences in the prevalence of specific psychiatric disorders and expand the utiliza tion of mental health services by those who need them. “Latinos represent the fastest-growing minority in the United States,” he says. “And there is evidence of escalating risk for mental health problems in this group.” He adds that this phenome non may lead to recognition of similar risks among other ethnic minorities. — R.M.R. Perflubron in adult patients with acute lung injury.” Versicor awarded $569,186 to Alice B. Gottlieb, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, the W. H. Conzen Chair in Clinical Pharmacology, and director of the CRC, to study intravenous VER001 (VGlycopeptide) administered to normal volunteers. ■ John B. Kostis, MD, professor and chair, Department of Medicine, was awarded $1,625,000 by the BristolMyers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute to serve as the administrative center for a 12,500-patient study: “Omapatrilat in persons with enhanced risk of atherosclerotic events (OPERA).” ■ Lilly awarded two grants to Matthew A. Menza, MD, associate professor of psychiatry: $119,000 for “A randomized double-blind comparison of placebo and tomoxetine hydrochoroide in adult outpatients with DSM-IV attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder,” and $306,000 for “Long-term, open-label study of tomoxetine in adult outpatients with DSM-IV attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.” Lorna RodriguezRodriguez, MD, PhD, associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences, chief, division of gynecological oncology, and associate director, CINJ, received a $50,000 grant from the United Trust Company of New York for the Robert Black Charitable Grant, “Development of an in vitro, early invasion system to Study the Role of CD44 in Early Metastases of Ovarian Cancer.” ■ Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 13 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf r w j 5/11/01 m 5:02 PM Page 14 s NEWS The Medical Center at Princeton Joins CINJ Network T he 15-mile distance between Princeton and New Brunswick just got shorter. A recent affiliation between The Medical Center at Princeton (MCP) and The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) creates a new link in the long-standing association between the medical center and UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. The partnership started in 1972 when MCP became one of the medical school’s first teaching affiliates. Today, as a major clinical affiliate, it is a frequent teaching site for RWJMS students’ clinical rotations and residents starting work in their specialties. In October 2000, The Medical Center at Princeton became the 20th member of the CINJ network of partner and affiliate institutions. All MCP physicians who treat cancer are undergoing the credentialing necessary for eligibility in National Cancer Institute (NCI) protocols. Included in the process are not only MCP’s oncologists, but also its urologists, radiologists, and surgeons. Along with other medical centers and hospitals in the network, MCP will receive the advantages of membership in CINJ, New Jersey’s only NCIdesignated cancer center. A major benefit to member insti tutions and their patients is access to NCI cancer protocols, which is greatly expanded by the CINJ partners. “People living in the many communities served by The Medical Center will not have to travel far from 14 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE Left to right are Harold L. Paz, MD, dean, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; Ladawna Leeth, director of ambulatory services, The Medical Center at Princeton; Dennis W. Doody, president of The Medical Center at Princeton; and William Hait, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and pharmacology and director of The Cancer Institute of New Jersey. home to receive advanced com prehensive cancer care,” says William N. Hait, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and pharmacology and director of CINJ. “Together we are meeting the needs of patients and their families.” “Institutional networks help provide a variety of teaching environments,” says Harold L. Paz, MD, dean. “Each affiliate offers a different setting wher e students can interact with patients. Our expanded residency program benefits, too, when we can offer postgradu ates the opportunity to rotate through a wider group of hospitals and ambulatory care sites.” When the MCP Oncology Department decided to expand, its physicians researched affiliations with major cancer cen - ters, hoping for access to current NCI protocols. Princeton oncologist Peter Yi, MD, says the department carefully weighed the strengths of each potential collaborator, then decided to seek membership in the CINJ network. “CINJ is close by, and it’s a great place with a great future.” But he says the deciding factor was MCP’s teaching partnership with RWJMS. “Many of our physicians teach RWJMS students and residents, hold facul ty appointments at the medical school, and are on staff at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. It made for a perfect collaboration.” Surgical oncologist Darius Desai, MD, came to the Princeton Medical Group from Ohio State University’s Arthur James Cancer Hospital, one of 60 NCI-designated cancer centers. With that background, he is eager to see NCI protocols introduced at MCP. “In clinical trials, everyone benefits,” he says. “If trials are open, we encourage patients to go on them because it’s the best way to answer the unanswered questions about cancer. In Takara Shuzo Company Endows a Chair in Bioinformatics: $2M Gift Ensures RWJMS Role in the Genomics Revolution some cases, it may consist of changing the timing or combi nation of modalities used — surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, for instance.” Why would patients want to take part in clinical trials? “Anyone can receive the standard of care,” he explains. “But patients usually choose to enroll when they understand that protocols can be the route to better, more effective treatment.” — K.O’N. Art Director Wins on RWJMS Publica F or Robert Wood Johnson Medicine and Art Director Barbara Walsh, 2000 was a banner year. The Art Directors Club of New Jersey awarded Walsh a certificate of excellence in art direction and graphic design for each of last year’s issues. She received a third certificate in the same categories for the 1999 Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Annual Report. Since stepping into his cur rent position five years ago, Harold L. Paz, MD, dean, has supported the magazine’s growth into a full-blown publication that features faculty achievements and state-of-the-art programs at the medical school, says Ms. Walsh, whose foremost goal for Robert Wood Johnson Medicine is to convey the excellence of the medical Long friendship builds a bioinformatics chair. Future honors past. U MDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School recently received a $2 million grant to endow a chair in bioinformatics. Established with installments of $500,000 to be paid over four years, the grant comes from the Takara Shuzo Company, of Kyoto, Japan. The company is a worldwide leader in several fields, including genetic engineering. The grant qualifies the university for a dollar-for-dollar match through the New Jersey Higher Education Incentive Funding Act. This extraordinary gift stems from an equally extraordinary 40-year friendship. In 1960, two young doctoral students in the field of biochemistry were Three Awards for Work tions school to a wide outside readership. Her specialty is editorial design, and she has a knack for complementing text with creative, high-quality imagery. She seeks out cover artists whose thought-provoking work graphically portrays the RWJMS mission. “The cover should set our school apart,” she says. “It needs to say, ‘This is a forwardmoving, research-oriented medical school that hasn’t sacrificed patient care or community service on the road to excellence.’” Now an independent graphic designer, Walsh was a designer for New Jersey Monthly, Parade, and Good Housekeeping before serving as coordinator of publications design at RWJMS. In addition to her awardwinning work for Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, she has won a Gold Award from the Association of the Graphic Arts, a silver medal from the New Jersey Health Care Public Relations and Marketing Association, and a citation for Excellence in Creative Direction and Graphic Execution from the Association of Graphic Communications. — K.O’N. Company for the chair in bioincollaborating on their first formatics, and we are extremely paper. After completing their grateful to Dr. Inouye for work in Japan at the University advancing interest in the critical of Osaka, both came to the development of bioinformatics United States to teach and do research at RWJMS. research. Although their careers “Bioinformatics research is took them in different direcessential for our medical school’s tions, they stayed in touch, growth as a major sharing informaforce in basic tion within their “We are delighted to have the research,” he fast-evolving field. adds. The field of Last year, the support of the Takara Shuzo bioinformatics, at two friends, the interface of Masayori Inouye, Company for the chair in mathematics, comPhD, professor puter science, moland chair, bioinformatics, and we ar e ecular biology, Department of and genetics, Biochemistry at extremely grateful to Dr. promises to transRWJMS, and Ikunoshin Kato, Inouye for advancing interest late the outpouring of data from PhD, vice president of the Takara in the critical development of global genomesequencing proShuzo Company bioinformatics research grams into a new and president of understanding of its Biomedical the organization Group, collaborat- at RWJMS.” and function of ed on a second — Harold L. Paz, MD, dean biological systems. publication. It is expected to Another joint venlead to breakthroughs in drug ture developed when Dr. Inouye discovery, therapeutic treatsuggested that the Takara ments, and health care. Shuzo Company endow a chair “Endowments are unusual in in bioinformatics at RWJMS. Japan, where there are no tax These discussions brought Dr. advantages for corporate givKato and a colleague to RWJMS ing,” says Dr. Inouye. to visit the research facilities and “However, they do appreciate meet with Harold L. Paz, MD, the great importance of bioin dean. Within a short time, formatics in the future of medTakara Shuzo offered to endow ical research and are willing to a chair in bioinformatics at the help establish a strong center medical school. “This chair and for academic bioinformatics in nine others established at the department.” He adds that RWJMS in the last five years he hopes more companies and follow our increasing success in private donors will follow the fund raising,” says Dr. Paz. “We lead of Takara Shuzo. are delighted to have the sup— K.O’N. port of the Takara Shuzo Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 15 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf r w j m 5/9/01 4:09 PM Page 16 s s NEWS Teaching the Teachers: Internal Medicine Residency Program Presents 6th Annual Faculty Symposium I n medical schools nationwide, faculty members feel pressured to do research, get published, and maintain a busy clinical practice. It has become a challenge to devote time to teaching, especially in a clinical setting. But the impor tance of clinical teaching will prevail. Or it will if the decision is left to John B. Kostis, MD, professor and chair, Department of Medicine, and Nayan K. Kothari, MD, clini cal professor of medicine, director of the internal medi cine residency program, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and chair of the Department of Medicine at St. Peter’s University Hospital. To promote the importance of teaching clinical skills, the internal medicine program chose bedside teaching as the focus of its sixth annual “Teaching the Teachers” symposium. Keynoter Jordan Cohen, MD, president of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), was impressed by the Department of Medicine’s dedication to teaching as the core mission of a medical school. “Medical schools are buffeted by many issues, and the teaching mission is no longer as visible. The AAMC’s principal purpose is to champion med ical education — with a focus on clinical education.” Harold L. Paz, MD, dean, welcomed participants, speaking with obvious pride of the school’s internal medicine resi- 16 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE dency program. “The program has earned national attention through hard work on meeting and exceeding required clinical competencies,” said Dr. Paz. “It also has demonstrated its commitment to patient care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective.” Each speaker approached “bedside rounds” differently, but all emphasized the impor tance of maintaining the hon ored tradition in which an experienced physician teaches at the patient’s bedside. Robert S. Pinals, MD, professor and vice chair of the Department of Medicine, put the issue in historical perspective. “For more than two centuries, bedside rounds were the most important element of clinical inpatient teaching,” he said. In fact, “students paid extra for the privilege of being taught at the patient’s bedside. With the establishment of internships, elite students became active participants instead of clinical observers.” And recent studies show that patients feel hon ored, not embarrassed, to be part of the discussion, he added. F. Daniel Duffy, MD, executive vice president, American Board of Internal Medicine, reminded his audience that nothing is more practical and powerful than the feedback that comes from bedside rounds. Herbert Waxman, MD, senior vice president for educa tion, American College of Physicians – American Society of Internal Medicine, added his “Our medical residency program has earned national attention through hard work on meeting and exceeding required clinical competencies. It also has demonstrated its commitment to patient care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective.” — Harold L. Paz, MD, dean concern that academic medical centers will pursue their “love affair” with high technology at the expense of bedside skills. Dr. Kothari is dedicated to maintaining the role of the physical examination as both a teaching device and a tool for evaluating clinical competency. To highlight this, he invited two additional experts: Gerald Whalen, MD, vice president for clinical skills assessment at the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG); and Linda Blank, vice president for communications of the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Kothari is concerned about the consequences of bowing to other priorities. “Today,” he said, “most patients are admitted in critical condition, so there is no luxury of time to observe the patient, and certainly no room for errors. In modern medical schools, the faculty tend to let their residents work unob- served because we have the preconceived notion that residents learn by doing. But that’s wrong! Without an experienced physician present to cor rect them, junior staff are simply repeating errors and omissions.” Panelist Michael Ford, MD, Royal College of Physicians (RCP), Edinburgh, UK, added that “doing things repeatedly without correction improves confidence, not com petence.” One hundred people attended the symposium, which was co-sponsored by the Department of Medicine, RWJMS, and the Clinical Competency Center at St. Peter’s University Hospital. Invited participants included faculty from all UMDNJ sites, all RWJMS affiliates, and the New Brunswick Affiliated Hospitals. Chief residents were invited, but the symposium was open to any resident interested in teaching. “The goal was to teach as many teachers as possible,” says Dr. Kothari. “By any measure, it was a great success.” The next symposium, scheduled for September, will examine clinical competencies in basic care, focusing on the standards of the American Council on Graduate Medical Education. — K.O’N. t a f f Dr. Carver Steps into a New Post: Former Pediatrics Chair Named Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs I n Dr. Carver’s new office, there will be no tiny chairs. After 45 years of focusing on children, David H. Carver, MD, professor of pediatrics, has been appointed associate dean for faculty affairs. He replaces Raymond Rosen, PhD, professor of psychiatry and co-director of the Center for Sexual and Marital Health, who stepped down to devote more time to research. Until recently, Dr. Carver served as chair of the Department of Pediatrics, a post he had held since 1988. During the search for his successor, Stephen W. Kairys, MD, MPH, professor of pediatrics and senior associate dean for clinical affairs, will serve as acting chair. As associate dean for faculty affairs, Dr. Carver will have responsibilities that include working with the school-wide Committee on Appointments and Promotions and other faculty committees. He wishes to enhance a program for new faculty development, with emphasis on research mentoring and teaching skills. In addition, he will collaborate with Dr. Rosen and other senior administrators and staff to develop an orientation program and create an orientation handbook for new faculty. Dr. Carver is a member of the search committee for the director of the Child Health Institute of New Jersey (CHINJ), where researchers will study the molecular basis of disease. He previously served on the Planning Committee of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. In 1955, Dr. Carver graduated from Duke University School of Medicine. That same spring, a half-century revolution in medical research began as the public learned of Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine. Dr. Carver’s career paralleled that medical revolution, beginning with his early research and leading to his current commitment to the CHINJ. He worked with two Nobel laureates whose research on the growth of viruses in tissue cultures had led to Dr. Salk’s discovery: Frederick C. Robbins, MD, at Western Reserve Medical School, and John F. Enders, PhD, at Harvard Medical School. After completing a medical internship at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Dr. Carver did a fellowship at Western Reserve while on active duty with the U.S. Public Health Service Epidemic Intelligence Service. He completed his residency and chief residency in pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital prior to his fellowship with Dr. Enders. Dr. Carver began his teaching career as director of the infectious diseases division in the Department of Pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. At Johns Hopkins, he was a Senior Kennedy Scholar, reached the level of full professor, and served as director of the division of infectious diseases in the Department of Pediatrics. For the following decade, he served as professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto School of Medicine and as physician-in-chief at The Hospital for Sick Children, in Toronto. Since Dr. Carver’s appointment, the pediatrics faculty has grown from 40 full-time members to 78. The department now includes 16 divisions. In the year 2000, the Children’s Specialized Hospital, of Mountainside, New Jersey, became the newest member of the RWJMS affiliate network, combining its divisions of neurology and developmental disabilities with those divisions in the medical school’s Department of Pediatrics. Reflecting on his 12 years as chair, Dr. Carver takes pride in the department’s achievements. “On this strong faculty, many people stand out,” he says. Several have received national honors for their research and clinical activities, including the Young Clinical Investigator of the Year, the Award for Young Faculty in Clinical Investigation, and the Young Faculty Award in Basic Research. — K.O’N. Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 17 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf s t a 5/9/01 f 4:09 PM Page 18 f Elizabeth Talbot, MD ’92, to Receive UMDNJ Distinguished Alumni Award: Young Epidemiologist is Cited for Work in Botswana E lizabeth Talbot, MD ’92, has accomplished as much in nine years as many gifted people do in a lifetime. In recognition of this young epidemiologist’s unusual blend of achievement and compassion, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey has selected her to receive the 2001 Distinguished Alumni Award at Commencement. Harold L. Paz, MD, dean, nominated Dr. Talbot for the UMDNJ award. “We have many remarkable alumni at the top of their field,” he said. “Yet Dr. Talbot is distinguished by her philosophy as well as her achievements.” Last year, Dr. Talbot told Robert Wood Johnson Medicine that her goal is to be faithful, not successful. “How can I be ‘successful’ when by some definitions this could mean eradicating AIDS and tuberculosis? I have had to redefine success in my own terms because as much as I would love to, I may never succeed in curing even one case of AIDS.” “I was surprised and pleased to have been chosen for this honor,” she said recently. “I see the award as a reflection of the university’s commitment to international health and serving the underserved. Their encouragement makes me so glad to be on these front lines.” Dr. Talbot has served on the “front lines” since college. She has worked as a medical intern in the rural Philippines and has traveled widely in the third world to study, teach, do research, and treat patients. In 1998 Dr. Talbot 18 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE started a two-year tour in Botswana with the Epidemic Intelligence Service of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Last fall she returned to the small sub-Saharan nation, as director of TB research at the CDC’s HIV field site. This time she is joined by her infant son, Christophe, and her husband, Stéphane Courtine. On the first tour, she had developed a deep sense of community with her colleagues and neighbors. She had also gained a valuable understanding of the clinical and cultural underpinnings of the interlocked epidemics ravaging the African people. “Elizabeth is a doer, not a talker — a powerhouse of ideas,” says her supervisor, Charles Wells, MD, associate director of the Office of International Activities, Division of TB Elimination, CDC. “She’s fantastic: she has one leading protocol and four or five other trials ‘in the air.’ You could not have chosen a more deserving person. “All her questions and projects are framed in the important issues of public health,” adds Dr. Wells. “She is excellent at establishing what’s best for the most people, and determining how to do something about it. Epidemiologists eagerly anticipate the results of her current leading protocol, which will study effects of longterm TB preventive therapy for people who also have HIV.” For ten years, Dr. Talbot has challenged the odds, trying to find some solution to the devastating human effects of AIDS and TB in the third world. While her philosophy sustains her, her husband and son have given her a new perspective on her work. “After a grueling or overwhelming day, they remind me that all you can do is all you can do. Increasingly, our successes seem to be measured in the small things we are entrusted to do: being polite with the secretary, smiling when you leave a patient’s bedside, and spending time with loved ones.” — K.O’N. Melinda W. Davis T he Foundation of UMDNJ has appointed Melinda W. Davis to serve as vice president for development, New Brunswick and Piscataway. Davis began her career in banking. In her ten years as a vice president at Bankers Trust Company, she marketed financial-planning products to corporations, colleges, and universities. In 1988, she moved across the desk to become a development officer in planned giving and major gifts, first at Columbia University, then at Barnard College. RWJMS Nominee Arnold J. Levine, PhD, to Receive UMDNJ Honors A world leader in cancer research, Arnold J. Levine, PhD, was named president of The Rockefeller University, one of the world’s premier biomedical research institutions, in 1998. Last year, he became a charter member of the newly convened Board of Overseers of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. In recognition of his achievements, UMDNJ will confer an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters on Dr. Levine at Commencement. “Dr. Levine has been a wise and generous friend to the school,” says Harold L. Paz, MD, dean. “We are honored that he deepens this affiliation by accepting this honorary degree.” Dr. Levine responds, “It has been a pleasure to work with the people at UMDNJ. I have been especially pleased to see the medical school’s increase in scientific capabilities. Most amazing to me is the growth in cancer research and treatment with the clinical and basic science wings at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey. It is an additional pleasure to serve on the Board of Overseers.” In 1979, Dr. Levine isolated, cloned, and characterized the biological properties of the p53 suppressor protein, a molecule that inhibits tumor development. “His subsequent work established p53 as the most important tumor suppressor gene in human cancers,” says Peter Howley, MD, MMS ’70, who has worked with Dr. Levine. “He found that the p53 gene is mutated in over 50 percent of human cancers, and in most other cancers its function is abrogated by a variety of different mechanisms. The med ical and clinical significance of his work was enormous.” “Dr. Levine’s work with p53 may turn out to be the single most important discovery in the history of cancer research,” says William N. Hait, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and pharmacology and director of The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ). In 1993, as director of the newly founded CINJ, Dr. Hait first met Dr. Levine, a member of the institute’s External Scientific Advisory Board. “I had already admired Appointed VP for Development “Melinda Davis’s broad range of experience securing major gifts will be a strong asset to the foundation and the university,” says Michael L. Bassoff, president of the Foundation of UMDNJ. In this new position at the foundation, “she brings strong leadership to our New Brunswick and Piscataway campuses. She will unify some of our most dynamic fund raising initiatives, including those for The Cancer Institute of New Jersey and the Child Health Institute,” he adds. Her respon- sibilities include working closely with Harold L. Paz, MD, dean, providing comprehensive support for his priorities in the coming years. In Davis’s recruitment visits to RWJMS, she says, she saw an “up-and-coming health institution on the move.” She looks forward to the challenge of fund raising for a medical school. “What’s not to love about fund raising when you’re collaborating with scientists who are finding cures for cancer or childhood disease?” she says. Davis will start her tenure by building a team to raise major gifts. In order to raise the medical school’s gift profile, she explains, she also must raise its institutional profile. Only then can she inspire people to give to their capacity. “Many people in New Jersey have looked outside the state for advanced health care,” she says. “By working with the faculty, we’ll build confidence that we can support great medical research and treatment right here at home.” — K.O’N. him as a scientist, and later became a collaborator. He is a man of multiple interests. He is extraordinarily generous with his time and is the ideal collaborator on any project,” says Dr. Hait. As chairman of the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University, Dr. Levine helped Dr. Hait recruit Stuart Lutzker, MD, PhD, now an assistant professor of medicine at RWJMS. “In ’93, Dr. Lutzker was one of the most outstanding young people at Yale,” says Dr. Hait. “He joined CINJ when Dr. Levine invited him to come to Princeton for a summer fellow ship and offered him work and lab space.” Shortly after taking office at The Rockefeller University, Dr. Levine met with the staff of News & Notes, the university’s newsletter. “Everybody in science works very, very hard, and everyone makes important contributions,” he said. “You’ve got to be lucky to make a contribution that also has a medical or clinical impact. In some sense that’s the skill of choosing, and in another sense that’s the luck of being at the right place at the right time. I’ve always felt that I’ve been at the right place at the right time.” — K.O’N. Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 19 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf s t a 5/11/01 f 1:22 PM Page 20 f Changes Under Way at RWJMS-Camden Steven J. Shiff, MD, Awarded Unilever Chair A Dr. Benson to Pursue Research During Sabbatical O n January 1, 2001, Gordon D. Benson, MD, professor of medicine, stepped down as associ ate dean, RWJMS-Camden, to pursue research on liver disease. Free from administrative responsibilities, Dr. Benson looks forward to uninterrupted time to focus on his research into the mechanisms of injury in prima ry biliary cirrhosis, which is classified as an autoimmune disease. He will spend six months with an immunology group at the University of California at Davis, while periodically commuting back east to see longtime patients in his Camden hepatology practice. Dr. Benson joined the RWJMS faculty in 1978 as a professor of medicine. Five years later he moved to the Camden campus, where he became associate dean in 1987 and developed a strong new clinical program for students and faculty. “We believe the Camden program has an enormous benefit,” says Dr. Benson, “because students complete their clinical work at a single site.” He is proud also of his administration’s role in supporting student-initiated community outreach programs. “Students did an excellent job establish ing programs in the local schools and organizing a clinic where the truly indigent can receive care. As administrators, we smoothed the way and helped organize faculty support to make the clinic an educational site.” In 1993, alumni showed their appreciation for Dr. Benson’s 20 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE leadership by electing him an honorary member of the Alumni Association. Dr. Paz says Dr. Benson was well respected by colleagues both within and outside the medical school, adding, “We will miss him and wish him continuing success.” — K.O’N. Dr. Mehne Takes on a New Role at RWJMS-Camden P aul R. Mehne, PhD, asso ciate professor of family medicine and associate dean for academic and student affairs at RWJMS-Camden, has taken on new responsibilities following Dr. Benson’s departure for California. Dr. Mehne’s responsibilities include overseeing research, community outreach, planning, and the physi cal plant at the Camden campus. In addition, he is chairing the medical school’s two-year self-study for reaccreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) of the Association of American Medical Colleges. Dr. Mehne’s education includes interdisciplinary doctoral programs in environmental science and instructional design at Syracuse University and The State University of New York, College of Environmental Science. His career began at East Carolina University, with what he describes as “the exciting opportunity to build a medical school from the ground up.” He later served as associate dean for student and house staff affairs at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Mehne came to RWJMS-Piscataway 1992 as assistant dean for curriculum; two years later he was appointed associate dean for academic affairs and student programs. In 1995, Harold L. Paz, MD, dean, appointed him associate dean for academic and student affairs at RWJMS-Camden. — K.O’N. newly endowed chair at the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School will research dietary methods to prevent chronic disease. Steven J. Shiff, MD, associate professor of medicine, has been appointed to the Unilever Chair for the Study of Diet and Nutrition in the Prevention of Chronic Disease. The endowment also established the Unilever Center, a division of The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ), where the chair is located. Endowed by a $1.25 million gift from Unilever, the center will also educate the public on the latest research linking diet, health, and disease prevention. Unilever’s gift reflects the company’s commitment to research applicable to products that can improve health, not just sustain it. The endowment for the chair was the vision of Ed Veltkamp, PhD, Unilever’s senior vice president for research and development. “The Unilever Chair is one of ten new chairs and professorships we have established in the past five years,” says Harold L. Paz, MD, dean, “providing critical resources to expand our basic and clinical research programs. I am grateful to Unilever for the confidence shown by its generosity. Its tremendous support has provided us with the resources to recruit Dr. Stephen Shiff, a major force in nutrition.” Current evidence indicates that diet may play a role in the development of many common cancers, including those of the breast, colon, and lung. Dr. Shiff is widely published both on this topic and on the cancer prevention mechanisms of diet and aspirin-like drugs. “Through Dr. Shiff’s research, we hope to discover definitive new avenues of cancer prevention that can be used by the people of New Jersey and beyond to maintain their health, particularly those at high risk for the development of cancer,” says William N. Hait, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and pharmacology and director, CINJ. “This faculty has always been interested in basic research into complementary and alternative medicine,” says Dr. Shiff. He cites a pioneering study of naturally occur ring estrogens, conducted by Dr. Hait; Michael A. Gallo, PhD, professor of environmen- RWJMS Bids Farewell to Esteemed Colleague B ernard D. Goldstein, MD, professor and chair of environmental and community medicine, has accepted a position as dean of the Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh. He will commence his new responsibili ties in June, following a threemonth sabbatical and visiting professorship in Malaysia. Dr. Goldstein served as chair of the Department of Environmental and Community Medicine from 1980 to February of this year. He was appointed director of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI), a joint pro- gram of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers University, in 1986. In addition, he was the first principal investigator of the Consortium of Risk Evaluation and Stakeholder Participation (CRESP) and served as acting dean of the UMDNJ-School of Public Health from 1998 to 1999, the first year of its formation. “EOHSI is the largest acade mic environmental health program in the United States and is especially regarded for the breadth of its program and outstanding graduate programs,” reports Harold L. Paz, dean. “The medical school is indebt - ed to Dr. Goldstein for his outstanding leadership, which played such a significant role in the institute’s stature on the national scene.” Prior to his faculty position at RWJMS, Dr. Goldstein was assistant administrator for research and development at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He has served as chair of the NIH Toxicology Study Section and EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee. Dr. Goldstein is the author of more than 200 articles and book chapters related to environmental health sciences and public policy. — R.M.R. tal and community medicine and senior associate dean for research; and Robert S. Di Paola, MD, associate professor of medicine. Dr. Shiff served on the faculty at The Rockefeller University in New York, first as clinical scholar and assistant professor, then as associate professor of clinical investigation. While holding the Unilever Chair, he will continue as an adjunct faculty member at The Rockefeller University, a position he earlier held at the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Throughout his career in research and education, he held clinical appointments at New York Hospital – Cornell Medical Center, and at Rockefeller University Hospital. He now is a member of the medical staff at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. Dr. Shiff graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. He did his internship and residency at The New York Hospital before completing two consecutive fellowships: first at the Weill College of Medicine, in microbiology, then at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital, in gastroenterology. — K.O’N. Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 21 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/9/01 2:38 PM Page 22 s Faculty Department of Anesthesiology Denise C. Joffe, MD Associate Professor MD, McGill University School of Medicine, 1986 Jonathan L. Kraidin, MD Assistant Professor MD, Medical College of Pennsylvania, 1991 Department of Emergency Medicine Brigitte M. Baumann, MD Assistant Professor MD, Cornell University Medical College, 1995 Department of Family Medicine Ruppert A. Hawes, MD Assistant Professor MD, Ohio State University College of Medicine, 1991 Michelle L. McWeeney, MS Instructor MS, UMDNJ-School of Health Related Professions, 1999 Jay D. Patel, MD Instructor MD, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, 1997 Amy L. Ripley, MD Instructor MD, University of South Dakota School of Medicine, 1997 Department of Medicine Ajay K. Agarwala, MD Clinical Instructor MD, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, 1994 Nasimul Ahsan, MD Associate Professor MD, Chittagong Medical College, Bangladesh, 1980 Devender N. Akula, MD Instructor MD, Osmania Medical College, Hyderabad, India, 1994 Maqsood Amjad, MD Instructor MD, King Edward Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan, 1989 Mohd K. Anam, MD Assistant Professor MD, Dhaka Medical College, Bangladesh, 1983 22 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE t a f f appointments through April 17, 2001 Xin Geng, MD Adjunct Instructor MD, Tianjin Medical University, China Vishwanath N. Halukurike, MD Instructor MD, Bangalore Medical College, India, 1993 Philip Mathew, MD Clinical Instructor MD, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India, 1991 Zafar K. Mirza, MD Instructor MD, King Edward Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan, 1991 Ramamurthi Rallapalli, PhD, DSC Adjunct Associate Professor PhD, Sri Venkateswara University, India, 1962 DSC, National Open University of Sri Lanka, 1996 Babar K. Rao, MD Assistant Professor MD, Rawalpindi Medical College, Pakistan, 1983 Michael Reiss, MD Professor MD, University of Amsterdam Medical School, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1976 Suniti Sebastian, MD Clinical Assistant Professor MD, University of Kerala, Trivandrum, India, 1984 Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology Lori R. Covey, PhD Associate Professor PhD, Columbia University, 1986 Department of Neurology Carolyn D. Grace, PhD Assistant Professor PhD, Fairleigh Dickinson University, 1996 Malgorzata E. Wojtowicz, MD Assistant Professor MD, Jagiellonian UniversityCollegium Medicum-Faculty of Medicine, Krakow, Poland, 1987 Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology Dale L. Woodbury, PhD Assistant Professor PhD, Rutgers University, 1994 Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences Darlene G. Gibbon, MD Assistant Professor MD, State University of New York-Health Science Center at Brooklyn, 1989 Samuel L. Jacobs, MD Associate Professor MD, St. George’s University School of Medicine, Grenada, 1981 Nady E. Nady, MD Assistant Professor MD, University of Alexandria, Faculty of Medicine, Egypt, 1982 Joseph E. Osheroff, MD Clinical Assistant Professor MD, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 1991 Christine A. Walters, RDMS, BS Instructor RDMS, Ultrasound Diagnostic School, 1991 BS, Saint Peter’s College, 1989 Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Kari H. Briggs, MD Clinical Assistant Professor MD, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 1994 Chavela M. Carr, PhD Assistant Professor PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1995 Shaohua Li, MD Instructor MD, Nanjing Tiedao Medical College, 1982 Department of Pediatrics Zubair Aghai, MD Assistant Professor MD, Government Medical College, Nagpur, India, 1984 Terri F. Brown-Whitehorn, MD Assistant Professor MD, University of Missouri at Kansas City, 1991 Jixiang Ding, PhD Adjunct Instructor PhD, University of Manchester, United Kingdom, 1995 Amisha Malhotra, MD Assistant Professor MD, Albany Medical College, 1994 Wilbur Pan, MD, PhD Assistant Professor MD, PhD, University of Illinois School of Medicine, 1994 Department of Psychiatry Chowdhury Azam, MD Instructor MD, Chittagong Medical College, Bangladesh, 1979 Mona V. Bijlani, MD Assistant Professor MD, Kilpauk Medical College, Madras, India, 1995 Ziva Bracha, MD Assistant Professor MD, University of Paris, 1990 Angelica M. Diaz-Martinez, PsyD Clinical Instructor PsyD, Rutgers University, 1998 Donald P. Fong, MD Clinical Assistant Professor MD, Texas Tech University School of Medicine, 1991 Sasikala Ravi, MD Clinical Assistant Professor MD, S.V. University, Tirupati, India, 1980 Leonid A. Vorobyev, MD Assistant Professor MD, Second Moscow State Medical School, Moscow, Russia, 1985 Medicine, has been named plastic surgery, was nominated of environmental and commu- D chief medical editor of Internal as director of the American nity medicine, was elected a Medicine World Report, a publi- Board of Plastic Surgery for 2001. fellow of the American College and Donald R. Polakoff, MD, both cation distributed to 110,000 RWJMS students elected Susan E. of Epidemiology. Thomas clinical assistant professors of physicians. Stephen F. Lowry, MD, Boruchoff, MD, associate profes- Whalen, MD, professor of surgery, avid A. Harwood, MD ’84, Robert L. Morgan, MD, MPH Assistant Professor MD, St. George’s University School of Medicine, 1981 MPH, Columbia University School of Public Health, 1977 Sylvia Atdjian, MD Assistant Professor MD, Medical College of Virginia, 1993 High Visibility BY surgery, have been elected to professor and chair, Depart- sor of medicine, and Charles has accepted a position as membership in the American ment of Surgery, co-edited Gatt, MD ’89, clinical assistant chief, division of pediatric Association of Hip and Knee Surgery: Basic Science and professor of surgery, to member- surgery at RWJMS. In this posi - Surgery. Dr. Polakoff lectured on Clinical Evidence. The compre- ship in Alpha Omega Alpha. In tion he will also serve as chief of pediatric surgery at the Bristol- state-of-the-art knee-replace- hensive new text for surgical resi- the fall of 2000, then-Governor ment surgery at the annual “Hip, dents, practitioners, and med- Christie Whitman appointed Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital Knee, and Shoulder Symposium” ical students includes a CD-ROM James J. Chandler, MD, clinical at Robert Wood Johnson at Park City, Utah. Robert L. and was named “The Outstand- professor of surgery, to the New University Hospital. Hendren, DO, professor of psychi- ing New Medical Textbook for Jersey Task Force on the KATE atry and chief, division of child 2000” by the Association of Detection, Treatment, and O’NEILL and adolescent psychiatry, was American Publishers. Dr. Lowry Prevention of Cancer. The an invited speaker at the served as associate editor of Friends’ Health Connection pre- “International Symposium of another major new textbook, sented Year 2000 Frances Black Child and Adolescent Surgical Research, published this Humanitarian Awards in Health science and cell biology, was Psychiatry,” sponsored by the spring by Academic Press. Care to two members of the chair of the International Society King Fahad National Guard Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Professionally Speaking E manuel DiCicco-Bloom, MD, associate professor of neuro- Frank P. Murphy, MD, assistant RWJMS staff: David S. Kountz, MD, for Developmental Neuro- professor of medicine and act - associate professor of medicine science’s symposium, “Cell Barbara Louis, PhD adjunct assis- ing chief, division of dermatol - and associate dean for post- Cycle Regulation of Neuro- tant professor of pediatrics, was ogy, was appointed to the edi - graduate education, and Joy genesis.” The meeting took interviewed on “Whiz Kids,” a torial board of the Journal of Wilson, LSW, a social worker at place in Heidelberg, Germany. television program carried by the American Academy of the Eric B. Chandler Health Harold L. Paz, MD, dean, was appointed to the Association of the Hispanic network Telemundo Dermatology. The journal Center. Dr. Kountz was honored that aired on WNJU, in New Nature (407:471) published for his compassion and commit- American Medical Colleges Task York. Jeffrey C. Merrill, MPH, pro- “RNA Polymerase II Elongation ment to the care of his patients, Force on Fraud and Abuse. fessor of psychiatry and through Chromatin” by Danny F. as well as his work in helping David B. Seifer, MD, professor of University Professor, received a Reinberg, PhD, professor of bio- establish a medical clinic in obstetrics, gynecology, and $600,000 grant from the Robert chemistry and Howard Hughes Minsk, Belarus. Wilson was rec- reproductive sciences and Wood Johnson Foundation, as Investigator. Thomas Strax, MD, ognized for her commitment to chief, division of reproductive part of a larger project to com- clinical professor and chair, health care and her extraordi- endocrinology, was appointed pletely overhaul the Drug Abuse Department of Physical nary service to patients. to the Research Career Resistance Education (DARE) Medicine and Rehabilitation, program. In a front-page story has accepted an appointment ciate professor of pediatrics, (2001–3) of the American on obesity in children, the New as president of the American was appointed to the Pediatric Society for Reproductive George H. Lambert, MD, asso- Development Committee York Times highlighted a weight- Academy of Physical Medicine Expert Panel of the U.S. Medicine. Lawrence Weisberg, control program run by Richard and Rehabilitation. Robert L. Pharmacopoeia. He was also MD , associate professor of medi- S. Strauss, MD, assistant professor Trelstad, MD, professor of pathol- invited to participate in a cine, presented an invited lec- of pediatrics and director, ogy and laboratory medicine, review by the National Institutes ture, “Prevention of Acute Renal Mark B. Anderson, MD Associate Professor MD, New York Medical College, 1988 Pediatric Weight Control Harold L. Paz Chair of of Health of grants of develop - Failure in Critically Ill Patients,” at Program at RWJMS. Developmental Biology, and mental molecular mechanism the annual meeting of the acting director, the Child Health of human disease states in American Society of Institute of New Jersey, will serve adults. He serves on several Nephrology. James W. Lim, MD Assistant Professor MD, University of Missouri at Kansas City, 1988 N John T. Malcynski, MD Assistant Professor MD, Tufts University School of Medicine, 1991 Department of Surgery Publishing Kudos as an associate editorial boar d expert panels of the Scientific member of New Jersey Advisory Board for the U.S. adjunct associate professor of Medicine, a publication of the Environmental Protection environmental and community New Jersey Medical Society. atalie C. Freeman, PhD, MPH, medicine, co-authored Agency. Sandra R. Leiblum, PhD, In Memoriam M ichael Burnhill, MD, clinical professor of psychiatry, was professor of obstetrics, gynecol- awarded the 2001 Masters and ogy, and reproductive sciences Children’s Environmental Health: Taking Honors Reducing Risk in a Dangerous G Johnson Award by the Society for Sex Therapy and Research. emeritus and former chair, of surgery and chief, division of Daniel Wartenberg, PhD, professor Department of Medicine World. John B. Kostis, MD , professor and chair, Department of regory L. Borah, MD, professor Hadley Conn, MD, professor Robert WoodJohnson ■ M MEDICINE 23 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/10/01 10:59 AM Page 24 Blueprint for Progress: C O N S T R U C T I O N A N D R E N O V A T I O N P R O C E E D AT The Stage II Research Building , left, a second building of its type on campus,will provide expansion space for several basic science departments, and serve as staging space for Child Health Institute of New Jerse y investigators. ■ Located in Piscataway ■ 20,000 square feet ■ Cost of project:$7 million ■ Slated to open in August 2001 R W J M S T he blueprint for expansion and renovation at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School responds to today’s voracious demands for research space. In the first phase of a two-phase construction plan, the medical school is constructing two new build ings in Piscataway. Phase 2 will bring new research and clinical space to The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, space for the researchers at the Child Health Institute of New Jersey, and added space for the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute. Finally, construction of a new home for the Cardiovascular Institute of New Jersey will be crucial to its mission of improved service and outcomes. M The Child Health Institute of New Jersey, below, will be a comprehensive biomedical research center tha t will work to identify cures and treatments for devastating illnesses of children through biomedical research in genomics/ protenomics,developmental biology, and The Robert Wood Johnson Research Building, above, will bring investigators together from across basic science departments to focus on collaborative research and will The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ), above, is dedicated to the prevention, detection,treatment,and care of patients with cancer. CINJ is one of only sixty National Cancer Institute–designated centers in the country. The new addition will house major research and clinical programs,including the Dean and Betty Gallo Prostate Cancer Center ■ MEDICINE The Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, below, sponsors research,education,and service programs in a setting that fosters interaction among experts in environmental health, toxicology, occupational health,exposure assessment,public policy, and health education. The planned facility would expand the current 75,000-square-foot building. ■ Located in Piscataway ■ 15,000-square-foot addition ■ Estimated cost of project:$5 million ■ Fund raising under way and the Center for Women’s Reproductive Cancers.The planned facility would expand the current 80,000-square-foot building. ■ Located in New Brunswick ■ 121,500-square-foot addition ■ Double research,clinical,and support space ■ Estimated cost of project:$50.9 million ■ Funds raised:$16 million The Cardiovascular Institute of New Jersey, above, focuses on the molecular biology of heart failure, cardiovascular clinical trials,cardiovascular pharmacology, cardiovascular 24 Robert WoodJohnson house a 15,000-square-foot transgenic vivarium facility. ■ Located in Piscataway ■ 90,000 square feet ■ Cost of project:$35.9 million ■ Slated to open in August 2002 neurodevelopment.The building will house a 25,000-square-foot transgenic vivarium facility for the New Brunswick campus. ■ Located in New Brunswick ■ 100,000 square feet ■ Estimated cost of project:$39.9 million ■ Funds raised:$22 million biomedical engineering,and disease management and clinical outcomes. ■ Located in New Brunswick ■ Planning under way Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 25 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/11/01 1:29 PM Page 26 B Y L THE EADING H R I T A M . R O O N E Y WITH E A RT ymbolically, the heart is positioned at the center of our lives, vulnerable to attack yet with endurance that weathers time and abuse. While the annals of medicine don’t include even one case of a broken heart, the phrase is indicative of the metaphoric proximity between the organ and life itself. That connection is emphasized at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where a four-pronged integrated program in cardiovascular diseases “O and hypertension continues to break new ground. Dr. Moreyra; Jai B. Agarwal, ur mission is to mainMD, associate professor; and tain a prominent interKenneth Khaw, MD, assistant national reputation in the pro f e s s o r, are invasive and areas of clinical service, in t e rventional card i o l o g i s ts research, education, and comwho participate in clinical trials munity outreach,” reports John of pharm a c o t h e r a p y, used in B. Kostis, MD, professor and conjunction with angioplasty, chair, Department of Medicine. in the treatment of coronary Dr. Kostis, who has been prinartery disease and myocardial cipal investigator of numerous infarction. national and international re“We’re active participants in search studies and developed the national studies to determ i ne Myocardial Infarction Data not only which are the most Acquisition System (MIDAS), a effective drugs, but also which statewide MI database, says the combination of drugs and medical school’s clinicians are mechanical interventions, such in the forefront of diagnostic as angioplasty, works best,” and therapeutic progress. Dr. Moreyra says. In interventional cardiology, Abel E. Moreyra, MD, professor of medicine, left, an interventional Considerable interventional for example, Abel E. Moreyra, cardiologist at the forefront of his field nationally, has pioneered advances in angiography and other procedures. cardiology effort is focused on MD, professor of medicine, patients who suffer restenosis following a stent procedure, as has pioneered new advances in New Jersey, from complex well as those who are not candidates for either angioplasty or angioplasty and stent procedures to techniques that determine coronary bypass. blood flow across blockages using Doppler and pressure signals. 26 RobertWoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 27 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/9/01 4:20 PM Page 28 “W people of New Jersey — from our screening and prevention initiahile stents are successful in most patients, approxitives to the most complex tertiary and quarternary heart failure and mately 20 percent of those receiving them will experience cardiac transplantation programs.” a recurrence of blockage in time,” Dr. Moreyra says. “A The heart failure and transplantation cardiologists, Tarik novel therapeutic option for these patients to be introduced soon at Ramahi, MD, associate professor, and Robert Hilkert, MD, associthe medical school is brachytherapy. In this procedure, which is perate professor, work with a highly trained multidisciplinary team of formed in concert with specialists in radiation oncology, we deliver specialists in cardiac surgery, immunology, infectious diseases, psya small dose of radiation through a catheter, targeting blockages chiatry, and social services to bring the most advanced therapeutic that have developed in stents, to prevent future recurrences.” options to patients with end-stage heart failure. One exciting new technique, in which interventional cardiologists drill The medical school was the first in the state to offer cardiac MRI, several holes into heart muscle, using laser energy to make new channels a diagnostic boon to clinicians for nourishing the muscle, is that can eliminate the need for called Percutaneous Tr a nssome invasive procedures. Myocardial Revascularization Meir Shinnar, MD, associate (PTMR). The procedure is professor of medicine, reports reserved for patients with that this imaging enhancement intractable severe chest pain provides three-dimensional picwho cannot undergo angioplastures of every part of the heart ty or coronary bypass surgery. — including valves, muscle, tisGene therapy is another sue, and blood vessels. new therapeutic technique on “What is most exciting is that the national scene. Soon to be we actually get new types of in t roduced at RWJMS, it in f o rmation,” Dr. Shinnar in v o l v e s th e i n j e c t i o n o f says. “We now have the ability growth factors to promote new to do tissue discrimination and blood vessels in the heart. plaque characterization. We’re “This too is a technique that getting some extremely useful provides hope for people detail.” whose blockages are beyond He explains that traditionalrepair by coronary bypass or ly it was believed that the an g i o p l a s t y,” Dr. More y ra tighter the blockage, the more says. “We are optimistic that likely a patient was to suffer a the gene, which is delivered heart attack. However, it has through a catheter, will stimubeen shown that it is the comlate development of blood vesposition of the blockage that sels. This is a very young sciClifton R. Lacy, MD, associate professor of medicine and chief, division of ence for which we have high cardiovascular diseases and hypertension, maintains that emphasis within a broad mission determines the likelihood of a rupture and subsequent myocarexpectations but no documentfocuses on providing the highest level of clinical care. dial infarction. ed success at this point. The “Traditional imaging techniques don’t tell us anything about the functional capacity of a patient is treadmill tested before and following composition of blockage,” Dr. Shinnar says. “It isn’t determined by the procedure. We expect some patients will do better than others. echocardiography or catheterization, but we are beginning to be able What we do know is that gene therapy offers an additional treatment to study it with MRI. Admittedly, there is more to learn, but the option for people whose lifetsyles are severely limited by symptoms.” prospects are encouraging.” In addition, Dr. Shinnar is involved in research projects leading to expanded clinical use of cardiac MRI, including new ways of acquiring eadership efined and analyzing data. These advanced imaging techniques provide invaluable assistance to cardiologists Alan Tannenbaum, MD, associate prolifton R. Lacy, MD, associate professor of medicine and chief, fessor, and Sebastian Palmeri, MD, associate professor, who bring their division of cardiovascular diseases and hypertension, characterspecial expertise to the management of complex clinical conditions in izes the division’s mission as the pursuit and achievement of excellence their leadership of the cardiac inpatient and coronary care units. in clinical care, research, education, and community service. Electrophysiology studies at RWJMS currently include the use of “A central feature of this mission is the development and introducmapping systems in which the geometry of the electrical activity of the tion of the newest cutting-edge technologies and techniques that heart is re-created on a computer. advance the practice of medicine,” he says. “Our division has particiMark W. Preminger, MD, associate professor of medicine, reports, pated in the development of well over one hundred drugs and devices “In patients with atrial flutter, an abnormal heart rhythm, we see a cirand has led to the introduction and refinement of procedures that have cuit of electrical activity in a counterclockwise direction around the atriafforded patients better diagnostic and treatment options worldwide.” um. We can treat this by placing a catheter across the arrhythmia pathHe adds, “We provide a full spectrum of cardiac services to the C 28 RobertWoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE L D half of patients with acute stroke failed to present to the emergency department within the three-hour optimal time window for effective intervention,” Dr. Lacy says. The study recommended increased efforts to foster public awareness of stroke signs and symptoms. It also directed attention to the need for improving evaluation and treatment of acute stroke, reducing the time from onset to treatment, and thereby decreasing death and disability caused by stroke. Research underlines the quality of education at the medical school, where an internationally acclaimed faculty and wide-ranging patient population contribute to outstanding resident and fellowship programs receiving unconditional five-year approval by the American Council of Graduate Medical Education. Education is furthered as well by publication of a peer-reviewed u rg e o n i n g e s e a rc h medical journal, co-edited by Drs. Lacy and Kostis. Disease Management and Clinical Outcomes, which has a circulation of ifty current studies highlight the research activity of the approximately 10,000 and a focus on disease management, clinical division of cardiovascular diseases and hypertension. outcomes, and epidemiology, helps translate clinical knowledge These studies are being conducted in collaboration with the into clinical practice for the international health care community. National Institutes of Health (NIH), the A merican H e a rt Also influencing medical Association, and pharmaceueducation on an international tical and device companies. scale is the largest echocardioDr. Kostis, who holds the graphy Web site. Developed John G. Detwiler Chair in by Daniel M. Shindler, MD, Cardiology, is the lead invesassociate professor of meditigator in OPERA, a fivecine, this site includes a disyear systolic hypert e n s i on cussion group with 950 globstudy of 13,000 patients in al members, interaction with 17 countries worldwide, and related medical disciplines, in O C TAV E, a h y p e r t e n and article contributions from si o n s t u d y o f 2 5 , 0 0 0 leading echocard i o g r a p h e rs patients conducted at 3,000 around the world. sites. He was pro m i n e n t ly “We have had many exciting involved as well in SHEP, an interactions,” Dr. Shindler NIH-sponsored multicenter reports. “For instance, a docstud y of eld erly patients tor in England reported seeing with isolated systolic hy p e rso m e t h i n g o n a n e c h o h e te n s i o n ; T O N E , t r i a l s didn’t recognize. His obseru s i ng n o n - p h a rm a c o l o g i c vations were picked up by intervention, such as sodium someone in Australia who restriction, weight loss, and had the same experience. blood pressure reduction, to What we di s c o v e red was a t re at h y p e rt e n s i o n; a n d p h e n o menon related to the SOLVD, another NIH-sponnewer prosthetic valves never sored study investigating the John B. Kostis, MD, professor and chair, Department of Medicine, is a leading reported in the past.” use of angiotensin-converting cardiovascular researcher whose work extends to wide-ranging international studies. Here, Community service is anothenzyme inhibitors in the prehe consults with Donna J. Hoagland, LPN, regarding the medical progress of patients. er cardiology priority, emphavention of morbidity and sized by the medical school’s role as adviser to the Govern o r’s mortality in left ventricular dysfunction and heart failure. Office and the New Jersey State Department of Health and Senior The division also is known for its expertise in epidemiology and Services, as well as by participation in national and state health outcomes research. A recent study by Dr. Lacy examined delay in organizations. Dr. Lacy’s monthly radio broadcast, Heart of the presentation and evaluation for acute stroke. This study prospecMatter, is heard throughout the state and serves the mission of tively investigated factors associated with the time delay from onset community health education. of stroke signs and symptoms to arrival in the emergency departWith its four-pronged mission that encompasses national and ment and from arrival at the emergency department to patient evalinternational pre-eminence in clinical care, research, education, and uation. community outreach, the cardiology division of RWJMS continues “Our study found that, despite national efforts to promote pubto expand the definition of leadership. M lic awareness of the benefits of prompt stroke treatment, more than way and ablating it with electrical energy. Such mapping capabilities make our work more precise, reduce procedure time, and lead to better long-term results.” The new cardiac electrophysiology arrhythmia mapping technology is particularly advantageous in performing ablation procedures on those patients who previously were ineligible for the technique. Dr. Preminger and Archana Patel, MD, assistant professor, also are involved in the implantation of defibrillators to reduce the incidence of sudden death among patients awaiting cardiac transplantation. In addition, research is ongoing to identify populations of patients in whom defibrillation is more effective than drug therapy. F B R Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 29 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/9/01 4:32 PM Page 30 Invention Surgery Driven 2001: by Research In by Rita M. Rooney Photos by John Emerson 30 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 1846, science celebrated the first “painless” surgery, performed with ether. Between that event and the evolution of modern medicine lie almost two centuries and the progression of surgery from more to less. To be sure, the contrast separating early progress from that in the new millennium is evident in the increase of minimally invasive techniques. That contrast, however, is rooted in subtleties beyond procedural innovation. Today, the torch is carried by surgical centers with collective insights that coax technology to the limits of discovery compounded by both basic and clinical research. It is research that expands the margins of surgical success by conducting clinical trials examining patient outcomes and the impact of pharmacological intervention. And at the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, it is research that drives minimally invasive milestones taking place in the operating room — from complex pediatric and adult abdominal procedures to pioneer vascular and thoracic surgery, kidney removal for benign disease, and robotic techniques. In 2000, Surgery Department research at RWJMS was awarded more than $2.3 million in funding, almost $1.7 million of which comprised 13 National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants. Stephen F. Lowry, MD, professor and chair, Department of Surgery, reports it was the opportunity for both expanded research and clinical program development that brought him and his team of investigators to RWJMS from Weill Medical College of Cornell University. An internationally Among the most dramatic technological advances introduced in the Department of Surgery are robotic procedures that maximize surgical precision.Shown with the daVinci equipment, allowing surgeons to control a procedure from a remote source,are (from left) Andrew Boyarsky, MD ’80,associate professor of surgery; Mitchell R.Price,MD, assistant professor of surgery; and Nathaniel J.Holmes, MD,’87,assistant professor of surger y. RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/9/01 4:33 PM Page 32 biology, cell-extracellular matrix in wound healing, and the physical and molecular basis of tumor metastasis. “We’re exceptionally proud of the department’s newly funded young researchers and those with prestigious NIH grants,” Dr. Lowry reports. “We continue to recruit bright stars of the future, investigators whose work already shows promise of bringing added stature to the medical school.” The Next Generation Among Research is a priority that has gained national recognition for RWJMS. From left,Stephen F. Lowry, MD,professor and chair, Department of Surgery; Ramsey A. Foty, PhD,and Siobhan Corbett,MD,assistant professors of surgery, division of surgical sciences; and Steve E. Calvano,PhD,associate professor of surgery, division of surgical sciences,are surgical researchers whose work has merited major grant support. 32 Robert WoodJohnson ■ acclaimed researcher, Dr. Lowry is currently pursuing studies related to inflammation and injury. “I saw an opportunity to develop world-class research here,” he says. “The core of such work had already begun under the leadership of my predecessor, Dr. James W. Mackenzie. Building on that, we have been able to identify areas in which the department can assume a primary role in biomedical studies.” One of those areas is in biological response modification to severe infection. Dr. Lowry’s group is studying cytokines and counter-regulatory hormones that play a critical role in the immuno-inflammatory response to injury and infection. Specifically, the NIH- funded research seeks a way to reduce the 150,000 annual deaths attributed to systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and sepsis. MEDICINE Although Dr. Lowry says all leading departments of surgery engage in basic and clinical studies, colleagues nevertheless claim his work stands apart. He has been continuously funded by the NIH since 1982 and is to date the only surgeon currently to hold the NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences’ Merit Award for significant contributions to medical research. Under his leadership, the Department of Surgery is demonstrating outstanding strength in cancer research, with cutting-edge studies in gene therapy and new ways of delivering medications presurgically to bladder cancer patients. The division of surgical sciences, an integral part of the department, consolidates research toward the goal of developing Centers of Excellence. The division is focusing on basic and translational immunology, inflammation these young research luminaries, Siobhan Corbett, MD, assistant professor of surgery, division of surgical sciences, is the recipient of a five-year NIH grant plus funding from the American Heart Association and the Foundation of UMDNJ. Board certified in general surgery, Dr. Corbett says she became interested in surgical research while a resident at RWJMS. “My area of focus is cell biology and the process of wound contraction,” she reports. “We know that contraction is responsible for 85 percent of wound closure, with only 15 percent the result of new tissue development. While our studies primarily are concerned with surgical wounds, there are other implications for this research. The end purpose is to understand the process so that it can be modified to promote healing or prevent scarring.” Ramsey A. Foty, PhD, assistant professor of surgery, division of surgical sciences, is funded by the New Jersey State Commission on Cancer Research, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the American Foundation for Urological Disease. His basic research investigates characteristics of tumors that cause them to escape the prostate and infiltrate the blood. Dr. Foty, whose work has been published in Cancer Research, reports, “This research is important because, while there is no available treatment once the tumor h a s s p read to the bloodstream, the slow-gro w i n g nature of prostate cancer makes us question how less invasive treatment can extend the time — perhaps by 15 or 20 years — until the tumor gets into the blood.” In the division of vascular surgery, Gary B. Nackman, MD, assistant professor of surgery and director of vascular research, is engaged in extensive clinical studies to determine how different surgical interventions affect postoperative function. “Traditionally, we have measured outcomes by standards that are not necessarily patient related,” Dr. Nackman explains. “We evaluated the success of a procedure by whether or not a graft remained open. But a more critical question is whether or not the patient’s function has been improved.” Surveys performed preoperatively and postoperatively and presented to the Society of University Su rgeons demonstrate that, following pro c e d u res involving lower extremities, patients were identified whose functional health had not significantly improved, although the surgery had been successful in keeping grafts open and saving the limbs. This research has resulted in the development of a baseline for traditional interventional techniques and standards with which to judge less invasive procedures. Other research extends to aortic aneurysms, which Dr. Nackman calls “understudied phenomena.” The recipient of a Foundation of UMDNJ grant, Dr. Nackman also holds a prestigious five-year career development award from the NIH. In addition, he participates, along with Drs. Lowry and Scholz, in an NIH-funded training grant held by the New Jersey Center for Biomaterials. The grant is earmarked for clinician scientists interested in basic and applied research in biomaterials. Based on the dollar amount of recent grants, an NIH favorite is the kind of translational bench-tobedside research that begins with a explicit disease process, proceeds to defining underlying mechanisms in specific patients, and then goes back to the lab for solutions. It has become a priority as well in the division of surgical oncology, where Edmund C. Lattime, PhD, professor of surgery, molecular genetics and microbiology, and associate director of The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, explains the mind-set of a surgical team bent on discover y. “The quality and extent of cancer research in the department can be traced to the number of surgeons doing lab work side by side with researchers focused on “We’re exceptionally proud of the department’s newly funded young researchers and those with prestigious NIH grants,” reports Stephen F. Lowry, MD, professor and chair, Department of Surgery. “We continue to recruit bright stars of the future, investigators whose work already shows promise of bringing added stature to the medical school.” laboratory- based investigations,” he says. “We’re developing vaccines for tumors and gene therapy in a way that can best be approached by the combined intellects of clinicians and basic scientists.” His point is well made — no fewer than 14 major grants fund the department’s oncology research. Two NIH grants, held by Dr. Lattime, each support every Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 33 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/9/01 4:33 PM Page 34 RWJMS is both extensive and comprehensive in nature. “The work being performed by Dr. Krause is an excellent example,” he says. Tyrone J. Krause, MD, assistant professor of surgery, has an NIH grant studying the impact of spiritual and familial support systems on the outcomes of cardiac surgery. “This is significant research for which Dr. Krause, who has a background in religious study and who teaches a related undergraduate course at Rutgers, is eminently qualified,” Dr. Lowry says. Minimizing for Maximum Advantage end point of research, of course, is to perfect the art of surgery. In an earlier time, such honing of surgical skills proceeded at a more leisurely pace. In 1847, for instance, physicians first recognized the benefits of washing their hands to prevent the spread of disease. But it was more than 40 years later, in 1889, that surgeons took the precaution a step further by wearing rubber gloves in the operating room. Compare that with accelerating adaptations to laparoscopic techniques originally introduced in the late 1980s. Driven by technology and patients’ growing interest in their own health care, advances in surgical capabilities now occur with rapidity that would have been inconceivable even 50 years ago. At the heart of discovery is the groundbreaking realization that less surgery often is better surgery. “Here at the medical school, we are undertaking a concerted effort to become a leading center for minimally invasive procedures,” Dr. Lowry reports. “This is cutting-edge technology that will encompass virtually every surgical discipline.” Among the newest applications is distance surgical technology, or robotics (see page 37). RWJMS is one of about a dozen centers nationally to set up an internal review board (IRB) prior to inevitable 2001 approval by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA). While the technology will be used in general surgery, its value in cardiac surgery is especially dramatic. It employs a robotic device with arms that manipulate instruments through one-inch chest incisions, while the surgeon sits at a console controlling the procedure. The primary advantages are technical precision and the absence of tremor that could adversely affect the surgery. Mark Anderson, MD, associate professor of surgery, division of cardiothoracic surgery, and surgical director of cardiopulmonary transplantation, explains that the medical school will be one of only a few New Jersey centers using the technique for cardiac surgery. “We are exploring the benefits of robotic intervention for everything from coronary bypass to valvular procedures,” he says. “This includes beating-heart surgery, which we now are doing and which I believe can be enhanced by using the robot.” The John Langenfeld,MD, assistant professor of surgery, and James W. Mackenzie,MD,professor of surgery and chief,division of thoracic surgery, have pioneered video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS), which has been found to significantly reduce recuperative time for patients undergoing lung procedures. 34 Robert WoodJohnson ■ aspect of investigation for five years. A third NIH grant supports clinical trials in correlating lab stud ies, gene therapy, and bladder cancer. Work in bladder cancer, which focuses on developing genetically based therapy that can be administered noninvasively, is significant because nonsurgical access to the tumor provides a ready target. Randall D. McKinnon, PhD, associate professor, division of neurosurgery, and associate professor of molecular genetics and microbiology, recently received a five-year competitive renewal of an NIH grant studying the potential for replenishing mature cells in the adult brain. He hopes his studies will facilitate clinical application to improve brain repair. Funded by the NIH since 1988, Peter M. Scholz, MEDICINE MD, professor of surgery, division of cardiothoracic surgery, is conducting significant research aimed at secondary prevention of heart failure. He has established a research laboratory and highly recognized program for treatment of valvular heart disease. Michael G. Dunn, PhD, division of orthopedic surgery, is engaged in promising investigations that could lead to success in regenerating cartilage. In addition, several researchers are identifying new markers for melanoma, using sentinel node biopsies. These studies may well limit the amount of surgery needed, not only for melanoma but for breast cancer as well, through the injection of a radioactive dye that targets the sentinel node. Dr. Lowry concludes that surgical research at One of the few surgeons to perform beating-heart surgery on patients without the use of systemic anesthesia, Dr. Anderson is a strong proponent of the procedure over the traditional bypass operation. Numerous studies conclude that cardiopulmonary bypass may result in significant neuro-cognitive risks. “In fact, some studies suggest that coronary bypass itself is a risk factor for mortality,” Dr. Anderson reports. “By avoiding it, we also can decrease the risk of transfusion and minimize the incidence of renal and pulmonary dysfunction. In addition, by using regional instead of general anesthesia, we limit some of the negative physiologic responses while benefiting from some of the positive effects of epidural anesthesia. The patient satisfaction we encounter has been gratifying as well.” With an active program aimed at significantly increasing its yearly volume of cases, RWJMS conducts one of two New Jersey heart transplant centers, the only one based at a medical school — and one that holds a 100 percent success rate for transplants performed during the program’s first year. Minimally invasive donor nephrectomies are being done by David A. Laskow, MD ’81, associate professor of surgery and chief of the kidney/pancreas transplant service — one of the most active transplant programs in the state. “The difference to kidney donors is that the operation is a much more minor procedure involving less recuperative follow-up than previously. Donors now can return to work within two to four weeks, contrasted to three to four weeks when we used the more invasive surgical technique,” Dr. Laskow says. One of the most valuable implications of the change is its impact in increasing the pool of available “Here at the medical school, we are undertaking a concerted effort to become a leading center for minimally invasive procedures. This is cutting-edge technology that will encompass virtually every surgical discipline,” says Stephen F. Lowry, MD, professor and chair, Department of Surgery. donors who may now view the procedure with less apprehension than previously. In addition to Dr. Laskow’s work, the method for obtaining donor kidneys using laparoscopic techniques is being used by Andrew Boyarsky, MD ’80, and John Sutyak, MD, both associate professors of surger y. Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 35 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/9/01 4:33 PM Page 36 endovascular peripheral technology, including balloons and advanced angioplasty as well as treatment from remote sites. Even now, minimally invasive treatment for abdominal aortic aneurysms, approved only recently by the FDA, is being performed regularly at the medical school. “Prior to FDA approval, we had an IRB consent for compassionate use,” Dr. Graham reports. “Once the devices were approved, our OR was already specially equipped and we were set to make this state-of-the-art surgical procedure available to our large aneurysm population.” While video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) has only recently been making headlines across the country, it has already become a commonly performed procedure at RWJMS. John Langenfeld, MD, assistant professor of surgery, says it has led to significant improvement in patient comfort and reduced recuperative time compared to conventional thoracotomy. Advanced thorascopic surgeries, such as lobectomy and esophageal myotomy, now are performed as minimally invasive procedures as well. “We also use the mini-thoracotomy muscle-sparing technique for complex oncologic disease,” Dr. OR RWJMS surgeons (from left) Omran R. Abul-Khoudoud,MD, vascular surgery fellow; Alan M.Graham,MD, associate professor of surgery and chief,division of vascular surgery; and Gary B.Nackman,MD, assistant professor of surgery and director of vascular research. 36 Robert WoodJohnson ■ Neurosurgical Techniques Advanced G. Nosko, MD, PhD, associate professor of surgery and chief of neurosurgery, reports that frameless stereotactic techniques permit exact localization of intracranial pathologies during minimally invasive procedures. Computer MRI and CT images are correlated to the patient and projected through the operating microscope, allowing the surgeon to perform precise resection of brain tumors and other pathologies. “We also are using minimal incisions in performing spinal surgery,” Dr. Nosko says. “And we are the first center in New Jersey to use an advanced minimally Michael MEDICINE invasive procedure in cerebral vascular procedures.” He explains the endovascular technique involves use of a small platinum coil attached to a catheter that is inserted through the groin and carried to the aneurysm, where an electrical current detaches the coil in the aneurysm, ultimately removing the aneurysm from the circulation. Less invasive neurosurgical techniques are being pioneered at RWJMS to treat movement disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, with the ultimate benefits being that the procedure incurs less risk to brain tissue and the patients experience shorter hospital stays and quicker recoveries. With the largest vascular surgical group in the state, Alan M. Graham, MD, associate professor of surgery and chief, division of vascular surgery, predicts that within five years, more than half of all vascular operations will use Langenfeld says. “It allows for precise surgical excision.” The medical school launched New Jersey’s first program for laparoscopic pediatric procedures, led by Mitchell R. Price, MD, assistant professor of surgery, who employs minimally invasive techniques for splenectomy, anti-reflux surgery, and other procedures. Laparoscopic contralateral hernia exploration in children is especially advantageous, because it is often necessary to create an additional large incision to check for the possibility of a second hernia. Thomas V. Whalen, MD, professor and chief of pediatric surgery, reports that the recent appointment of Randy Burd, MD, PhD, will add significant new strength to research in shock and sepsis among the pediatric population. In the final analysis, RWJMS is well positioned to take surgical technology to the highest level of performance and patient satisfaction. The medical school is distinguished by landmark surgical achievements. Paralleling these advances is growing renown, ignited by world-class clinical and biomedical research, which will continue to drive discovery in the future. M Robotics in the The daVinci robot in use at RWJMS, has While the medical community is buzzing with the latest surgical breakthrough — a robot no less — Andrew Boyarsky, MD ’80, associate professor of surgery, refers to it as just the next step, one that might have been anticipated, in making surgery safer and more precise. Dr. Boyarsky, who performed the first robotic gallbladder procedure at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in February and several more since then, says it is this kind of absolute assurance with which he answers patient questions. “I would not have performed the first one, much less subsequent procedures, if I couldn’t provide patients with confidence that the technology takes surgical progress to the next level by increasing safety,” he says. The daVinci robot in use at RWJMS has mechanical wrists, which the surgeon controls from a remote threedimensional console some distance from the patient. Dr. Boyarsky, who gained experience in the technique at an American College of Surgeons meeting in Chicago and at the manufacturer’s New Jersey laboratory, says, “It is the arm of the robot that controls the instruments — but it is the surgeon’s fingers that control the operation.” from a remote three-dimensional console mechanical wrists, which the surgeon controls some distance from the patient. Andrew Boyarsky, MD ’80, associate professor of surgery, says, “It is the arm of the robot that controls the instruments — but it is the surgeon’s fingers that control the operation.” He adds that the three-dimensional field allows working from different angles, and that it’s possible to advance, rotate, tilt, and withdraw minuscule instruments. “As we become more comfortable in doing this procedure, I feel sure it will be applied to almost everything, from spleen to kidney, adrenal glands, and more,” he adds. “In the meantime, I have to admit it may take a while to become accustomed to going into OR without scrubbing or wearing gloves.” M Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 37 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/11/01 12:28 PM Page 38 The Clinical Research Center: High Standards, High Performance By Kate O’Neill T The Clinical Research Center (CRC) is located at the hub of the UMDNJ- Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. This places it at the crossroads of New Jersey and at the center of the pharmaceutical industry. With these ideal coordinates, the CRC is an important showcase for the school’s achievements in research. In recent years, the CRC has become a remarkable focus for clinical research while surpassing its academic, scientific, and economic goals. Since 1999, its research program has more than doubled, and patient visits have increased from 259 to 450. In the same period, grants have risen from $1.5 million to $3.5 million. Today, the CRC is involved in more than 50 clinical trials. Most concern dermatology and immunology, but trials are also under way in endocrinology, infectious disease, nephrology, surgery, and psychiatry. Three physicians, two full-time and one part-time, a six-person nursing staff, full-time administrator, recruiter, and clerical staff all keep the unit humming. “Thinking People with Academic Goals” F our years ago, Alice B. Gottlieb, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and professor of molecular genetics and microbiology, stepped down as chief of the division of dermatology to accept the William H. Conzen Chair in Clinical Pharmacology and directorship of the CRC. (See accompanying faculty profile.) The CRC sits atop the Acute Care Building of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, near the atrium connecting the hospital’s main facility with the RWJMS Medical Education Building. “Alice Gottlieb has grown the CRC so fast that we may soon have to find new space for it,” says 38 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE Michael A. Gallo, PhD, professor of environmental and community medicine and senior associate dean for research. Looking ahead, Dr. Gallo sees the CRC’s well-respected work as a springboard to establishing additional, specialty CRCs: a second unit, dedicated to pediatrics, and then a third, based at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey. “The Clinical Research Center has featured prominently in the development of new treatments for male and female sexual dysfunction,” says Raymond Rosen, PhD, professor of psychiatry and director of the Sexual Pharmacology Research Unit. “The facilities and resources of the Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 39 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/11/01 12:29 PM A practicing dermatologist as well as a research scientist, Alice Gottlieb, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, professor of molecular genetics and microbiology, William H. Conzen Chair in Clinical Pharmacology, and director of the UMDNJ-RWJMS Clinical Research Center, examines a patient (left). Page 40 CRC were ideal for developing our research program in sexual pharmacology. The unit offers patients a comfortable and highly secure environment, while providing investigators with all the laboratory and clinical amenities they need.” Under Dr. Rosen’s direction, approximately 20 clinical trials in male and female sexual dysfunction have been performed at the CRC in the past five years. These trials have brought international recognition to RWJMS as a leader in this rapidly evolving field of research. Findings from his studies at the CRC have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, the Lancet, and the American Journal of Psychiatry, among others. Drug trials for external sponsors also play a large part in the CRC’s success, but it retains a distinctly pedagogical mission. “These are thinking academic people with academic goals, who nevertheless have a good understanding of pharmaceutical research in industry,” says Neville Ford, MD, PhD, clinical associate professor of medicine. Dr. Ford, who was formerly with Bristol-Myers Squibb, says Dr. Gottlieb’s hands-on leadership has created an academic clinical research center that is highly credible in the pharmaceutical industry. “Boston, New York, and Philadelphia all have clinical centers,” adds Dr. Ford. “If the CRC keeps growing, it could help UMDNJ become equally well known. It has an excellent team. It’s located in the center of a state with a population of more than eight million people! We’re in the heartland of the pharmaceutical industry. RWJMS could easily be New Jersey’s first Center of Excellence for clinical research.” Dr. Gottlieb’s many goals for the CRC include making it a magnet for students and residents who might be future clinical researchers. To this end, she hopes to establish a doctoral program in clinical research. The center is already proving successful in the preparation of serious investigators, and most students and fellows who have worked in the CRC have had abstracts or papers published, she says. Dr. Gottlieb is justly proud of Umesh Chaudhari, MD ’96, assistant professor of medicine and assistant medical director of the Clinical Research Center. During the third year of his residency, Dr. Chaudhari discovered the CRC. A year later he obtained a postgraduate fellowship at the CRC to do clinical trials and work on drug development. Now, as its newly appointed assistant medical director, he supervises clinical trials and focuses on attracting new grant support to the CRC. Ideally, he says, the school would require a course in clinical research, so that every student would discover the CRC. “At a min - imum, students who plan to teach and do research should spend time here. In reality, many students haven’t decided what they want to do after graduation, and their crammed schedules make it difficult to fit in hard-core research.” He hopes that by expanding the breadth of its specialties, the CRC can draw more students in for their required research project. “That way they would start their careers already involved in the research in their field.” Personally, Dr. Chaudhari is dedicated to continuing research at the medical school but realizes his field is competitive. “My future at the CRC depends on how much new research I can recruit.” Building Corporate Relationships T he CRC sustains a delicate balance between the precision of academic inquiry and the practical needs of its corporate sponsors. It hosts independent faculty research and conducts Phase I through IV drug research for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Its success as a site for clinical trials partially stems from its history of corporate support. In 1985, a grant from Merck created the unit as a satellite of the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine. Two years later, Schering endowed the William H. Conzen Chair in Clinical Pharmacology, ensuring continuing support for the position of CRC director. Each year, Merck gives $100,000, renewable annually. The CRC has developed a specialty niche in biotechnical clinical research. It has initiated major clinical research contracts for RWJMS with pharmaceutical companies including Bristol-Myers Squibb, Hoffman–La Roche, Versicor, Xenna, and Bayer. Biotechnical research sponsors with master clinical trial agreements include Biogen and IDEC Pharmaceuticals. “In that our medical school is in the center of America’s pharmaceutical heartland, it is gratifying to see the phenomenal growth of the CRC under Dr. Gottlieb’s leadership,” says Harold L. Paz, MD, dean. “There is tremendous opportunity for us to work with our colleagues at the other UMDNJ schools and to create a statewide center of excellence. Given all we have accomplished in such a short amount of time, we must now move the CRC to General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) status. This will provide critical federal funds to support the huge overhead costs of independent research by faculty.” Umesh Chaudhari, MD ’96, assistant professor of medicine and assistant medical director of the Clinical Research Center. FACULT Y P R O F I L E : Alice B. Gottlieb, MD, PhD By Kate O’Neill E very day, a research wonderland awaits Alice B. Gottlieb, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, professor of molecular genetics and microbiology, the William H. Conzen Chair in Clinical Pharmacology, and director of the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School’s Clinical Research Center (CRC). The CRC staff supervises Phase I through IV clinical trials, from preapproval by the Food and Drug Administration to post-marketing studies, proving or disproving the safety and efficacy of new drugs. Dr. Gottlieb is both a practicing dermatologist and a dedicated research scientist. She specialized in dermatology, she says, because the skin is the body’s largest, most accessible organ, making it ideal for research. She is also board certified in rheumatology and internal medicine and holds a PhD in immunology. 40 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE A summa cum laude graduate of Brandeis University, Dr. Gottlieb simultaneously earned a medical degree from Cornell Medical School and a doctorate at The Rockefeller University, where she taught while completing her residency. She subsequently did a rheumatology fellowship at New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery and residencies in dermatology and internal medicine at New York Hospital. Dr. Gottlieb joined the RWJMS faculty in 1995 as chief of dermatology. Two years later, she accepted the CRC directorship. “It became my goal to see that our CRC played a central role at the university,” she says. She has encouraged faculty and students to conduct research at the center and hopes to establish an RWJMS doctoral program in clinical research. “What I can do, we do,” she says. “What I can’t do becomes a goal.” Dr. Gottlieb has turned the CRC into a highly successful academiccorporate venture with a specialty niche in biologics and immunology. “Alice is doing an outstanding job. In addition to conducting impressive research, she has turned the CRC around financially,” says Michael A. Gallo, PhD, professor of environmental and community medicine and senior associate dean for research. Her ability to attract outside research to the center is evidenced by grants totaling $3.5 million. Meanwhile, she has also re-engineered the division of dermatology, established the units of dermatosurgery and cosmetic dermatology, and set up the school’s first basic research laboratory in dermatology. Beginning with her research at The Rockefeller University, Dr. Gottlieb’s discoveries about the pathophysiology of psoriasis have led to a new understanding of that disease. She was among the first to demonstrate that psoriasis is a T cell–mediated immune disorder, a finding that has revolutionized treatment. Her work, published in Nature and Medicine and noted in the Lancet, has shown that a T cell–specific immunotoxin clears psoriasis both clinically and histologically. In ongoing research on immunobiologics, Dr. Gottlieb’s goal is “to interfere with the immune reaction responsible for the attack on the skin without affecting the functioning of the rest of the immune system — an exceedingly difficult balancing act,” said Andrew Pollack of the New York Times in a recent article on Dr. Gottlieb’s work. She serves on the National Psoriasis Foundation Medical Board and the Board of Directors of the Women’s Dermatologic Society. She is also a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery, the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, and the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. She received the Johnson & Johnson Corporate Office of Science and Technology Award for 1997–99 and served in the Hoffman–La Roche Executive Development Program. In addition to appearing in the New York Times business feature cited here, she has been designated one of the “Best Doctors” in New York by New York magazine and received equivalent recognition from New Jersey Monthly. Professionally, Dr, Gottlieb has accomplished wonders while raising two sons. Perhaps the ultimate wonder about Alice Gottlieb’s world is not just her capacity for clinical research, but her ability to find time to accomplish and give so much. M Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 41 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/11/01 12:29 PM Page 42 The CRC staff works hard to remain competitive with other academic centers, for-profit clinical research units, and consortia of private physicians. Visibility is important, so the staff convenes a quarterly advisory board meeting for potential trial sponsors and academic customers. “Each major pharmaceutical has visited in the past year,” reports Dr. Rosen. “All were highly impressed with our facilities.” “From a corporate point of view, clinical research must be more than an academic exercise,” says Dr. Ford. “Pharmaceutical companies want prompt results, but regulatory pressure from the Food and Drug Administration makes corporations extremely demanding about every phase of drug development. If blood is to be taken during research, this has to be decided prospectively with the volunteer’s informed consent; then the researcher must record precisely what was done with it. Every detail of documentation must be credible, easily retrievable, and absolutely transparent.” A unit that offers this level of research in an academic setting, he says, attracts corporate interest. That the CRC is attached to both the hospital and the medical school can be an additional incentive to a pharmaceutical company seeking a site to study a new drug that has not previously been studied in people. The hospital also offers security to the subjects involved in such trials. In addition, clinics at the medical school can be a good source of subjects for clinical studies from a diverse range of medical specialties. While the center’s 16-bed inpatient unit and the 4-bed outpatient unit are often full, additional work takes place in a “virtual CRC.” The staff is available to conduct off-site studies using the same high level of scientific inquiry that is standard within the CRC. Clinical research, with preapproval by the FDA and the Internal Review Board, can occur in nursing homes, as well as varied practice settings. Of great interest to corporate sponsors is the CRC’s streamlined procedure for paperwork. Its bifurcated Master Clinical Trial Agreement creates a blanket contract with specific, approved companies. Once the legal aspects are settled, medical school researchers who want to do research with that company can bypass initial red tape by appending their contract to the original, blanket agreement. Sustaining Excellence T “ he CRC is extremely useful to the school,” says John B. Kostis, MD, professor and chair, Department of Medicine. “First, it is our only site that focuses on teaching clinical research. Second, it is the only site available for certain types of trials, especially those requiring the subjects to sleep overnight. And third, it is dedicated to attracting new research studies to be carried out by our faculty.” In name, the Clinical Research Center is dedicated to only one-quarter of the RWJMS mission. In fact, its importance to the school stems from its influence on each area in which the medical school pursues excellence: education, research, health care delivery, and the promotion of community health. It is small wonder, then, that Dr. Gottlieb’s leadership has created a CRC with an impact disproportionate to its size. And it is no wonder that the center is setting a new standard in clinical excellence for the university and the state it serves. M Vision for a Specialty CRC in Pediatrics E ach year, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School faculty, primarily from pediatrics, conduct studies involving children. Participating children have conditions ranging from childhood obesity to seizures, cystic fibrosis, asthma, and AIDS. Some of these studies are conducted in the current Clinical Research Center (CRC). “But children are different from adults, and they have different requirements,” says George H. Lambert, MD, associate professor of pediatrics and director, division of pediatric pharmacology and toxicology. “To create a truly kidfriendly environment requires everything from a different setting and technology to a medical staff trained in pediatric pharmacology.” Dr. Lambert believes the time is ripe to create a pediatric CRC at RWJMS. Pharmaceutical companies have developed a keen interest in pediatric clinical trials, and the Food and Drug Administration has announced patent extensions for companies that research the specific effects of a drug when it is used in chil42 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE dren. “The FDA is creating a very strong financial incentive for needed, appropriate research,” he says, “and the companies have responded favorably.” “Only 15 percent of drugs administered to children have been adequately studied to allow the FDA to label these drugs for use in children,” explains Dr. Lambert. Pediatric clinical studies at various developmental stages are necessary because of the way drugs affect children. They absorb and metabolize drugs much differently from adults and have greater inter-individual differences. Dr. Lambert reports that the pharmaceutical industry would prefer to conduct pediatric clinical trials in a space designed for children’s needs. “Now it’s time for academic facilities to step up to the plate and create kid-friendly research centers that ensure the pediatric trials take place in a safe and protective environment, with a staff who understand children, their disease states, and the unique, age-specific ways they handle drugs.” M t is estimated more people have been employed to clean up the nation’s nuclear weapon sites than were engaged in the development of the atomic bomb itself. Taxpayers have been paying more than $6 billion annually to clean up waste created during the Cold War, and according to some projections, the total bill will exceed $235 billion. In 1995, an unprecedented $30 million Department of Energy (DOE) federal assistance agreement was awarded to UMDNJRobert Wood Johnson Medical School and administered by the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI) — a partnership between RWJMS and Rutgers University. The agreement also partnered the leadership of EOHSI with the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of Washington. A similar new agreement now expands the partnership, operating as the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation II (CRESP II). This initiative is a liaison among university researchers who are helping the government make tough decisions about these potentially hazardous sites. The project’s goals include uncovering information about conditions at former nuclear sites, translating that information to identification and evaluation of other sites, and ultimately promoting safer and more cost-effective cleanup remedies nationwide. Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 43 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/11/01 12:29 PM Page 44 he original five-year grant was the largest received by the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School,” reports Harold L. Paz, MD, dean. “It represents national recognition for our wide range of experience in basic laboratory science, public policy, mathematical modeling, economics, ecology, and occupational health.” CRESP was founded on a premise of responsibility to all stakeholders, among them communities and citizen groups as well as the DOE and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Bernard D. Goldstein, MD, former director of EOHSI and founding principal investigator for CRESP, defines community integration as providing timely information to affected communities, engaging their participation on citizen advisory committees, and ultimately getting community leaders to help set research agendas. “In terms of external funding, RWJMS has the largest environmental occupational health program in the country,” Dr. Goldstein says. “And we have experience. New Jersey lights up on just about every environmental map except those for the DOE. We have been able to apply our success in solving other environmental problems to those inherent to nuclear cleanup.” He adds that the effectiveness of CRESP during the past five years can be credited in large part to the direction provided by nationally renowned environmental experts, now at RWJMS, as well as to the collaborative work performed by faculty members at Rutgers University. Among project leaders at the medical school, he cites Charles W. Powers, PhD, professor of environmental and community medicine, CRESP II executive director, and its principal investigator. The architect of CRESP, Dr. Powers has been a faculty member at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Tufts universities. He is widely acclaimed for creating many organizations that resolve environmental and health risks, for which he is the recipient of the René Dubos Environmental Achievement Award. Another luminary on the CRESP team is Arthur C. Upton, MD, professor of environmental and community medicine. Formerly director of the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Upton is an ex officio member of the Board of Directors of the International Consortium for Research on the Health Effects of Radiation and a member of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements Science Committee on Policy Analysis and Decision Making. Barry Friedlander, MD, MPH, professor of environmental and community medicine and deputy executive director of CRESP, has considerable expertise in program planning, monitoring and evaluation of sites, and related health surveillance. He is coordinating academic efforts at several universities to improve the quality and scope of research and protect the health and environment of stakeholders at DOE sites. 44 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE Commenting on the scope of the problem undertaken by CRESP, Dr. Powers says, “We have been focusing considerable efforts on one of the larger sites, the Savannah River project in Aiken, South Carolina, which is 316 square miles in area. The government has been spending $1.2 million a year at that site for eight years and will continue to do so for many years ahead. If we were to combine the total landmass designated by the DOE for cleanup, it would equal the size of Delaware and Rhode Island.” According to Dr. Powers, the real complexity involved is related to time, and this is not a one-dimensional waste problem. “Normally, you can incinerate waste or put it into some other chemical context,” he says. “Radionuclides, however, have to decay at their own pace — and that can take from six years to hundreds of thousands of years. So the big problem comes in figuring out how to keep these materials from producing human and ecological risk in the meantime.” Therein lay the DOE charge to CRESP during its first five years of research. The organization was primarily involved in risk assessment and in helping regulators and the DOE use existing law to reframe issues. “Our agenda for the next five years is to take what we have learned, determine what is needed in terms of resources and remediation, and then get the job done,” Dr. Powers says. “In other words, we have to figure out a way to keep the hazard at bay until it is no longer a hazard. We call that stewardship.” Dr. Goldstein adds that the awarding of this enormous undertaking to a university-based program represents a breakthrough in government policy. “Academia has always had the credibility to direct such efforts,” he says. “However, the theory was that academics don’t have the ability to fail fast, which is what happens in industry. What we have been able to demonstrate is a management structure that develops a strategy and, if necessary, can move on quickly to new ideas. The result, for the most part, has been the introduction of some highly cost-effective approaches.” Dr. Powers agrees, adding, “The government has always tapped good scientists to attack these problems. What we have been able to provide is independence and integration in a team of professionals capable of putting all the components together.” M (Editor’s note: Dr. Goldstein recently accepted a position as dean of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Replacing him and serving as principal investigator of CRESP’s RWJMS component is Paul Lioy, PhD, professor of environmental and community medicine.) l e t t e r f r o m t h e a l u m n i a s s o c i a t i o n p r e s i d e n t Dear Alumni and Friends: I cannot tell you how excited I am about all the new developments at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. The Alumni Association has reached new heights this year with our commitment to sponsor a full four-year scholarship, which will assist recruitment of the very best applicants. Dean Paz has set a goal for us to ultimately offer one four-year scholarship every year. That’s going to take a few more phone calls and a whole lot of generosity, but it’s a goal I think we can reach. The Alumni Association also strives to improve student life on both the Piscataway and Camden campuses. We recently held our first Happy Hour in New Brunswick for students and alumni, and everyone had a great time. We continue to sponsor the HIPHOP 5K Run, Career Night, A Day in the Life, an Orientation breakfast, and a champagne toast at Match Day. We sponsor many student activities, but we also have events planned throughout the year for alumni. Foremost is the Alumni Reunion Weekend on October 19 – 21, 2001. We will celebrate the anniversary of the following classes: ’70, ’71, ’75, ’76, ’80, ’81, ’85, ’86, ’90, ’91, ’95, ’96. The highlight of the weekend will be the Saturday evening Dinner Dance at the Brunswick Hilton. There will also be an accredited continuing education conference entitled “Breakthroughs in Medicine: New Discoveries and Applications to Clinical Care at RWJMS” on Saturday morning. We are planning tours of RWJMS and a Sunday brunch. The weekend definitely cannot be a success without you there, so call a few of your buddies and spend a little time remembering good times. Don’t know where everybody has gone? Let us know and we’ll send you a list of addresses and phone numbers for your classmates so that you can get in touch with them. Join the Board of Trustees and me in our quest to make the Alumni Association a recognized leader and force in the lives of all medical students at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. I wish you all the best and look forward to meeting you at the Reunion Weekend. Sincerely, Eduardo Fernandez, MD ’89 President, RWJMS Alumni Association Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 45 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/9/01 5:18 PM Page 46 NEWS r w j m s • a l u m n i Alumni Association Board of Trustees Introduces New Officers T he Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Alumni Association Board of Trustees has elected the following officers to serve a two-year term, from January 1, 2001, to December 31, 2002: ■ Eduardo Fernandez, MD ’89 President ■ Euton M. Laing, MD ’90 Vice President/ President-elect ■ Steven Krawet, MD ’89 Secretary-Treasurer ■ ■ Geza Kiss, MD ’95 Chair, Membership Committee Among recent Career Night volunteers were officers of the RWJMS Alumni Association: Ernest S. Biczak, MD ’77 Chair, Development Committee (left to right) Vice Francine E. Sinofsky, MD ’81 Chair, Reunion Committee MD ’90, President President/ President-elect Euton M. Laing, ■ Eduardo Fernandez, MD ’89, Membership The Board of Trustees is composed of alumni from each graduating class. If you are interested in joining the board as a class delegate or helping with any Alumni Association activity, contact Roberta Ribner, coordinator, alumni affairs, at 732-235-6310 or email: [email protected]. 46 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE Student Interests Come First for New Alumni Board Chair Geza Kiss, MD ’95, and Reunion Chair Francine E. Sinofsky, MD ’81. “S tudents are increasingly aware of our programs,” says the RWJMS Alumni Association’s new president, Eduardo Fernandez, MD ’89. “They’re asking us for a lot of help, so this is an ideal time to build alumni participation.” “We don’t expect alumni to get involved in every activity, but we also know that once you’re involved, it’s easy to stay involved,” says Dr. Fernandez. In addition to leading the Board of Trustees, he volunteers for Career Night and the association’s A Day in the Life program. “Alumni take new pride in the school as they meet students through the programs and learn more about what’s going on there.” A graduate of Lehigh University and RWJMS-Camden, Dr. Fernandez first served the Alumni Association Board of Trustees as a class delegate, then as vice president. As a board member he has taken special interest in supporting and expanding the opportunities for students and alumni to meet informally. Dr. Fernandez has a private practice in hematology/oncology in Mount Laurel and works at Cooper Health System, the core teaching hospital for RWJMSCamden. He commutes an hour each way to attend Alumni Association board meetings. Clearly serious about volunteering for his school, he says, “It’s not a problem. We meet on my day off.” Vice President/President-elect Euton M. Laing, MD ’90, says, “The new board has a good geographic spread. That should help us reach out to more alumni.” As a medical student, Dr. Laing volunteered for the service-focused Student National Medical Association, the oldest Alumni Association is in an ideal position UMDNJ’s Outlook earlier this year, but and largest medical student organization “it is a role I take quite seriously. I want to support students,” he says. “We’re a dedicated to people of color and understudents to see they are the ones who will down-to-earth group. If students have a served communities. He has helped with keep dreams alive for the next generation Career Night since his days as a chief res- question or a problem, they can speak to of future doctors. I look forward to the us informally and get advice without ident at Somerset Medical Center. “It’s day when the fund can give every deserv‘putting it on the record.’ good to be giving back to the school by ing student the opportunity to make a dif“As graduates, it’s our turn to give helping the students,” he says. ference in both health care and life itself.” financial and moral support to the stuHe serves as associate director of the Former association president Francine dents,” adds Dr. Kiss. His first goal is to Family Practice Residency Program at E. Sinofsky, MD ’81, clinical associate JFK Medical Center, Edison, and as presi- help his class set a record for reunion professor of obstetrics and gynecology, participation. “I love to keep in touch dent of the Middlesex County chapter of with old friends,” he says, “and I plan on chairs the Reunion Committee. She is a the New Jersey Academy of Family partner in the OB/GYN Group of East phoning every classmate within a 500Physicians. Brunswick. mile radius to get them back for Reunion Dr. Laing volunteers at his four chilDr. Sinofsky has been organizing Weekend.” dren’s schools and serves as assistant pasRWJMS reunion weekends since 1983. Fund raiser extraordinaire Ernest S. tor of his church, the New Creation of She keeps the number of attendees growBiczak, MD ’77, chairs the Development the Apostolic Faith in Somerset. He also ing by responding to alumni preferences, Committee. participates in Caribbean Medical such as the Continuing Medical A former Missions, helping with health care in Education (CME) program for the many emerthird world countries. alumni who like to combine business gency Secretary-Treasurer Steven Krawet, with pleasure. This MD ’89, is a gastroenterolStudent Alumni year there will be ogist in solo practice in East Programs Programs campus tours by Brunswick. Annually, he faculty or staff. gives the esophagus lecture ■ Student Loans and ■ Alumni Reunion Weekend “People who in the first-year RWJMS Scholarships haven’t been here course “Introduction to ■ Distinguished Alumni for two years will be Medicine.” ■ Career Night Award amazed to see the Dr. Krawet believes in ■ Careers in Medicine Lunch ■ RWJMS Alumni Association new construction at working for the Alumni Web site ■ A Day in the Life the school,” she Association because its ■ Spring theater party says. Annual Fund supports stu■ Orientation Breakfast “The Saturday dent loans and scholarships. ■ Alumni receptions ■ Alumni-Student Happy Hour night dinner dance Classmate Nancy Sierra, (new) ■ Email forwarding (new) is always everyone’s MD ’89, invited him to a favorite event. The board meeting two years To learn additional, up-to-date information, check the Hilton is an elegant ago. While encouraging RWJMS Alumni Association Web site at www2.umdnj.edu/rwjaaweb setting, and we make other alumni to become sure to provide a great dinner and a great physician, he serves as senior vice presiactive and join the board, he also hopes dance band,” she adds. “But no matter dent of physician operations at St. the association sets an example for stuwhat we do, the alumni take the evening Barnabas Health Care System in dents who will, in turn, catch the spirit as a chance to catch up and have fun.” Livingston. He also makes time for one and become active alumni themselves. Dr. Sinofsky hopes alumni will make of his favorite hobbies: raising friends Dr. Krawet says his all-doctor band, a record number of nominations for the and funds for the RWJMS Alumni Alter Ego, which has performed at severassociation’s Distinguished Alumni Association’s Annual Fund. al RWJMS events, is “taking a new Award and Honorary Alumni Ernie and Cathy Biczak have hosted shape.” (Stay tuned!) Memberships. Now they can make nomseveral elegant recognition events for Membership Chair Geza Kiss, MD inations on the Alumni Association’s alumni donors. Additionally, he throws ’95, assistant professor of anesthesiology, Web site. “At reunions we focus on the himself into Phonathons, where his infecwas 35 years old when he left a career as people at the school and the great fountious enthusiasm motivates students to a chiropractor to attend medical school. dation they gave us. We all realize they become successful callers. In his fourth year, he received the Alumni got us where we are today.” “I enjoy the work, and even have some Award, and after graduation he became a — K. O’N. fun doing it,” he told The Foundation of class delegate to the alumni board. “The Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 47 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf A L U M 5/9/01 N 5:33 PM Page 48 I NEWS Career Night ’01 Alumni Host Happy Hour in New Territory N ova Terra is the latest of several innovative new restaurants to open in New Brunswick. With its airy West Indies atmosphere, Caribbean menu, and location on Albany Street near the medical school, it was an ideal venue for the first Alumni/Student Happy Hour. The success of the lateJanuary party was evident in the lively, informal conversations. For several hours, 60 Robert Wood Johnson Medical School guests seemed transported from New Brunswick to the New World getaway suggested by the restaurant’s name. For more than a year the Board of Trustees of the Alumni Association had hoped to sponsor a casual get-together for students and alumni. The event would supplement the association’s existing student programs, such as A Day in the Life and Career Night. A “Happy Hour” seemed to fit the bill. The challenge became finding a date, place, and time that suited stu- mark your Calendar: Graduation Banquet Class of 2001 (Piscataway) Alumni Reunion Weekend October 19 –21 May 21 Awards Dinner Dance Class of 2001 RWJMSCamden May 21 RWJMS Convocation May 22 UMDNJ Commencement May 23 Student Clinician’s Ceremony June 25 Alumni Association Breakfast Class of 2005 Orientation August 7 White Coat Ceremony Class of 2005 August 10 Dean’s Golf Outing Cranbury Golf Club October 9 Mini Medical School October 4–November 1 48 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE Continuing Medical Education 3rd Annual Conference on Culturally Competent Care Improving the Health of Our Emerging Majorities: A Personal & Collective Responsibility June 14, 2001 Annual Update on Urology Conference 2001: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Management Strategies June 23, 2001 Overcoming Barriers to Successful Pain Management September 29, 2001 For more information about these or future conferences, contact the Center for Continuing Education at 732-235-7430. dent schedules as well as physicians’ calendars. Then, late last fall, Nova Terra hosted a “sneak preview” dinner — a party for more than 100 of the best friends of the Child Health Institute of New Jersey. Alumni Association Secretary-Treasurer Steven Krawet, MD ’89, attended the party, and the Nova Terra Happy Hour crystallized. “To launch the new event, we wanted a place that would appeal to alumni as well as students,” he says. “Nova Terra was perfect: hip and upscale, with good food.” While many students enjoyed informally meeting with alumni, Jennifer Sherr ’03, student director of HIPHOP, the RWJMS student outreach program, spent the time catching up with many of her third-year friends who are off doing rotations this year. “The idea of coming to Nova Terra really attracted people,” she says. Harold L. Paz, MD, dean, spent the evening informally visiting with alumni, faculty, and students. “The evening was thoroughly enjoyable,” he says. “Everyone who attended was delighted to have an opportunity to relax and enjoy each other’s company.” Dr. Krawet credits Daniel Caruso ’03, a member of the Alumni/Student Liaison Committee, with creating the Student/Alumni Happy Hour. “In the long term,” says Caruso, “we’re not just enhancing current student life, we’re growing future alumni who will want to make a difference to the students and to the school.” — K.O’N. T he RWJMS Alumni Association held its 13th annual Career Night on January 9, 2001 in the Great Hall on the Piscataway campus. The commitment of alumni to this program and the enthusiasm of medical students resulted in another great evening. The Alumni Association greatly appreciates the generous support of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Pfizer Inc. A special thank you to David S. Kountz, MD, associate dean of postgraduate education, for his enthusiastic assistance and support. 1. Alumni Association past presidents Hank Lubin, MD ’83 (left) and Neal Collins, MD ’83 (right), enjoy their conversation with Harold L. Paz, MD, dean. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 2. Yulia Gray, MD ’95, left, who traveled from Providence, R.I., talks to Phillip Cohen, MD ’95. 3. Judith Amorosa, MD, clinical professor of radiology, is an annual participant. 4. Euton Laing, MD ’90, discusses careers in family medicine. 5. Marie Trontell, MD ’76, associate dean for academic affairs, talks about career choices. 6. Joseph Costabile, MD ’86, discusses careers in surgery. 7. Ernest Spann, top left, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, speaks with alumni. 8. David S. Kountz, MD (center), associate dean for postgraduate education, and Pfizer Inc. team. 9. Internist James Brody, MD ’83, shares his experiences. 10. Alan Zaccaria, MD ’86, presents his annual slide show on plastic and reconstructive surgery. 11. Urologist Michael Solomon, MD ’71, exchanges ideas with students. 12. Lisa Chou, MD ’98, discusses her pediatrics residency. 13. David Seiden, PhD, associate dean for admissions and student affairs, counsels students. 14. Paul Stein, director, Kessler Teaching Laboratories, reminisces with students and alumni. 15. Francine E. Sinofsky, MD ’81, shares her experiences in OB/GYN. Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 49 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf A L U M 5/11/01 N 12:57 PM Page 50 I NEWS A L U M N I You’ve (Always) Got Mail! Email Forwarding Is Available to RWJMS Alumni N either snow nor sleet nor a change of ISPs shall stay your email from its appointed rounds. Thanks to email forwarding, a new service from UMDNJ Academic Computing Services, many alumni from the Classes of 1996–2001 use their umdnj.edu address to forward email to an ISP (Internet Service Provider) of their choosing. With umdnj.edu as their central email forwarding address, they have uninterrupted access to their email no matter how many times they change ISPs. Many people switch their home ISPs, from America Online to Microsoft Network or AT&T/WorldNet, for instance. Often new jobs bring new email addresses. Changing ISPs or addresses is easy. Email forwarding can make it equally easy to post the new address to everyone in one’s address book. Alumni who choose UMDNJ’s email forwarding option obtain a new email address or ISP to which their email will be forwarded. Any time they change their ISP or preferred email address, they notify Academic Computing Services, using the designated Web form, and their email continues uninterrupted. A forgotten PIN (Personal Identification Number) is quickly retrieved by answering several simple questions. 50 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE P R O F I L E On Cal l KidsHealth Pediatricians Are Always at Your Fingertips “T he work I do In addition to convenience, there are other advantages to using RWJMS email forwarding. There is a certain status to using a dot-edu address, even if one’s home or office ISP is a dot-com. In addition, email forwarding makes it much easi er to stay in touch with classmates and the Alumni Office, and vice versa. Email forwarding was first offered to members of the Class of 2000. Many graduat ing students took advantage of the opportunity. Their response encouraged the university to include alumni from the Classes of 1996 to 2001. “We look forward to extending this service to alumni in classes prior to 1996,” says Roberta Ribner, coordinator of alumni affairs. “We'll be in touch with them soon about the details of setting up their own email-forwarding accounts.” — K.O’N. is one part Benjamin Spock, one part Steven Spielberg — only the medium we use is the Internet,” says Neil Izenberg, MD ’76, associate professor of pediatrics at Thomas Jefferson Medical School and chief executive and founder of the Nemours Foundation’s Center for Children’s Health Media. R ecruited by the Nemours Foundation in 1992, Dr. Izenberg founded the center and developed it into a major producer of multimedia health resources for families. With his lighthearted reference to Dr. Spock, Dr. Izenberg highlights the role of a new health care consumer: the family. Starting in the 1940s, Dr. Spock’s dogeared Baby and Child Care would guide several generations of parents through the child-rearing years. Today, the Center for Children’s Health Media, along with its parent organization, the Nemours Foundation, takes a new-millennium approach. Its goal is multimedia education of whole families — not just parents — to help them make informed decisions about a child’s physical and emotional health. The center produces a comprehensive library of health-related media, used by parents, children, teens, and clinicians. Videos, print publications, and educational board games are available for distribution by hospitals, private physicians, and corporations. Dr. Izenberg has written or co-written much of the material. His award-winning educational videos for parents as well as children B Y K A T E include How to Talk to Your Doctor, Your Child’s Anesthesia, and Late Breaking News, in which Muppet-like characters use humor to explain broken bones, casts, and cast care. The center has just published a new multi-volume encyclopedia for Scribner’s, Human Diseases and Conditions — the first of its kind directed toward teen O ’ N E I L Neil Izenberg, MD ’76, founder of the Nemours Foundation’s Center for Children’s Health Media, relies on user feedback and response panels to evaluate his KidsHealth.com Web site. L Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 51 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/11/01 12:57 PM Page 52 A L U M N I readers. Other informational online sites are in the works. This July, the Center for Childre n ’s Health Media will open a slot for its first Fellow in Health Media — the first of its kind in the nation. “We’re excited about the chance to help train the MD educators of the future,” says Dr. Izenberg. KidsHealth.org is on call 24/7 T he farthest-reaching, most accessible outcome of Dr. Izenberg’s work is his five-year-old brainchild, KidsHealth.org. Last fall a new sibling, Te e n H e a l t h . o rg, joined the KidsHealth family. Dr. Izenberg also served as founding editor of Kids Health at t h e A m e r i c a n M e d i c a l Association, which for three years was part of the AMA Web site. “Health is one of the most popula r top ic s o n the Internet,” he says. “To many of us, the Web still seems amazing, but this generation of kids and their parents take it for granted. Pare n ts arrive at appointments with sheaves of downloaded information.” The award-winning KidsHealth site contains well over a thousand original articles. It averages 1.5 million daily hits an d 1 4 0 , 0 0 0 p a g e v i e w s. “Because the Web is at a consumer’s fingertips 24 hours a day, seven days a week, it’s ideally suited to our mission,” says Dr. Iz e n b e rg. “Where else can a family find interactive, up-to-date, medically reviewed information on demand?” As editor-in-chief, Dr. Izenberg sets rigorous standards for the sites. Helping him meet these high criteria is a professional editorial staff that specializes in developing and presenting material for different age and interest levels. Before a new online fea ture is launched, all its content is reviewed 52 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE P R O F I L by a team of specialists and generalists. A s a m o d e r n - d a y D r. S p o c k , D r. Izenberg is concerned not only with words but also with creating an age-appropriate design and approach for each page in the site. Whether an article addresses the management of asthma, depression, or fungal infections, its tone and look welcome and engage the reader for whom it is designed — a young child, a teenager, or an adult. Children can explore serious topics by playing with interactive elements that enliven reading and reinforce understanding. The pages illustrated with sound-filled animations about the body’s inner works are irresistible for children — and perhaps for many pare nts as well. Adults looking for in-depth, up-to-the-minute informati o n c a n g o t o “ N e w s Parents Can Use.” This page takes important pediatric research from medical journals and translates it into clear abstracts for the lay reader. E Hard work earns a great report card D r. Izenberg invites and receives comments from kids and parents visiting the site. And he reads every one. He also uses response panels that critique the information and presentation on each site. “We’re not there to sell a product; this is not advertising in disguise,” he says. “It’s consumer-oriented, professionally presented information that must be usable by family members of all ages.” The KidsHealth sites have received recognition ranging from user comments to juried national awards. The site elicited a 12-exclamation-point salute from an eight-year-old visitor: “Thank you for telling me what a belly button is!!!!!!!!!!!!” A young teen with scoliosis wrote, “I started to feel better knowing I’m not the only one with this problem. I don’t feel alone anymore.” At the other end of the family order, Netmom® Jean Amour Polly, author of Internet Kids and Family Yellow Pages, called KidsHealth.org “the best health site on the Net for and about kids.” M An Interest in Communication D r. Izenberg, a Columbia University anthropology major, has long been interested in human communication. His current position allows that interest to complement his knowledge of medicine. After graduating from Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, he did his pediatric residency followed by subspecialty fellowships in pediatric endocrinology/diabetes and in adolescent medicine. He subsequently served as director of the section of adolescent medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia. Later, he would serve as pediatrician-in-charge in the department’s Behavioral Pediatrics Program, then as program director of its Adolescent Family Planning Program. With its mission to educate families and help them make informed decisions about children’s health, the Nemours Foundation is a good match for Dr. Izenberg’s background and interests. The foundation was established in 1936, a legacy of industrialist Alfred I. DuPont. Before the advent of managed care, it provided free pediatric orthopedics at its hospitals in Delaware and Florida. A non-grant-making foundation, it remains one of the largest nonprofit organizations devoted to children’s health and has the largest physician practice delivering subspecialty pediatric care. It also provides selected health care for the elderly. Its academic affiliation with the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, and Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia allows Nemours physicians to hold academic appointments at both of these institutions. M Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 53 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/9/01 A L U M N I 5:46 PM P R O Page 54 F I L Left: Hang Minh Ngo, center, visits her children at RWJMS. Left to right are Minh Chau Tran ’01, Diem Quynh Tran, Ngoc Quynh Tran, MD ’99, and Bao Chau Tran ’04. E Inset: As young children, far left, the Trans arrived in New Jersey, refugees from Vietnam. LBeuck, aLady! T he Trans’ story could be told as one of extreme hardship. But Mrs. Ngo kept telling the children how lucky they were. Their mother’s unflinchingly positive outlook left no doubt in their minds: their lives are filled with good fortune. Now they want to share it with others. By Kate O’Neill 54 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE L ying quietly in a narrow pit covered by mats, the four Tran children waited through the night. In the dark, their mother heard patrol dogs sniffing and footsteps crunching as soldiers passed by. “You are lucky to be so small and quiet,” their mother, Hang Minh Ngo, told them in the morning. They left the hut and hitched a ride with fishermen, joining other Vietnamese “boat people” who fled the war’s aftermath in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Transferring to a larger boat, packed with refugees, they drifted for days in the South China Sea. Pirates attacked and took all their belongings, their food, and their water. Around them, people were drinking seawa- ter and dying, but eventually the survivors were picked up by the Indonesian coast guard and towed in to land. Throughout the experience, Mrs. Ngo kept reminding the children — ages five through eight — of their good fortune. Eventually the family arrived in the United States, where they were adopted by a church in Cliffside Park, New Jersey. They later moved to a series of nearby towns, “looking for our niche,” says Minh Chau Tran, the second youngest. Their indigence led to difficulties in finding medical care, but Mrs. Ngo emphasized that good can come from hardship. She never let her children forget the generosity and good humor of a physician who accepted Medicaid, treated them as first-class patients, and made sure they got necessary medication. “Always be kind like him,” she told her children, “and give back to the community around you.” The Trans’ story could be told as one of extreme hardship. But at all times, Mrs. Ngo kept telling the children how lucky they were. Their mother’s unflinchingly positive outlook left no doubt in their minds: their lives are filled with good fortune. Now they want to share it with others. All the Trans graduated from Paramus (N.J.) High School and Rutgers University. Diem Quynh Tran, the eldest, has become a retail pharmacist; her three siblings are all at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Ngoc Quynh Tran, MD ’99, is a resident in the OB/GYN residency program. Minh Chau Tran will graduate in June 2001 with an MD/MPH degree. Bao Chau Tran is a member of the class of 2004. Initially, says Ngoc Quynh, she was on track to do pediatrics, but she changed her mind. She found that “most of pediatrics is dealing with parents, and it’s so sad when anything bad happens to a child.” Obstetrics, she finds, combines her love of surgery with a generally happy time in people’s lives. Her new dream is to teach OB/GYN in a hospital setting. She would also like to be in private practice with her brother Minh Chau, who plans on a residency in anesthesiology and a career focused on pain management. In July, Ngoc Quynh will marry James Hoppe, MD ’97, in a ceremony that will blend Vietnamese and American traditions. “We are so lucky to be at RWJMS,” says Minh Chau, whose love of the school should be familiar to alumni who hear from him during Phonathons. Roberta Ribner, coordinator of alumni affairs, says, “Minh Chau is a Phonathon genius! He is absolutely one of our top fund raisers because, in his quiet way, he conveys so much enthusiasm for the medical school and the alumni loan and scholarship programs.” Bao Chau Tran, the youngest of the children, donned his white coat last September. At the White Coat Ceremony, he heard a familiar theme in the welcoming words of David Seiden, PhD, professor of neuroscience and cell biology and associate dean for admissions and student affairs. Dr. Seiden said sheer luck often separates accepted students from those who don’t make it into medical school. “In many cases, you not only earned the privilege, you were given the privilege by good fortune.” For this reason, he added, physicians must always be willing to give generously to others. “Lucky again!” Bao Chau must have thought. “My mom could have written that!” M Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 55 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/9/01 5:49 PM Page 56 The Alumni Association Honor Roll of Donors 2000 Annual Fund Total: $167,173 C and volunteers are committed to serving our communities. F. Charles Brunicardi, MD ’80 Joseph H. Kahn, MD ’79, & Nancy Hochberg Kahn, MD ’79 Debra A. Cipriani, MD ’85 Robert C. Mackow, MD ’79 Jay A. Cohen, MD ’75 Thomas J. Nordstrom, MD ’78 Joseph P. Costabile, MD ’86 Patrick F. Zazzaro, MD ’75 totaling $167,173, an increase of 17.6 percent Caduceus Club ($1,000 to $1,999) over the total for the 1999 Annual Fund. Neal T. Collins, MD ’83 David E. Conston, MD ’77 Association proudly reports, it has awarded Thomas R. Eanelli, MD ’86 more than $1 million in student scholarships Richard W. Harbison, MD ’73, & Doris I. Lundberg, MD ’72 and loans. For the upcoming 2001–2002 academic year, the Board of Trustees has awarded $110,000 in scholarships and low- Mary I. Holowinsky, MD ’84 interest loans, including a new $20,000-per- Karyn J. Israel, MD ’84 year academic scholarship for an incoming Terrence H. Jones, MD ’76 student. Daniel Y. Kim, MD ’80 Se Duc Kim, MD * Nicholas J. Dudas, MD ’86 Frederick J. Duffy, Jr., MD ’87 David C. Minton, MD ’88 John C. Morgenstern, MD ’87 Peter J. Pappas, MD ’87 Amy S. Pappert, MD ’89 Mark A. Raifman, MD ’74 Linda R. Roe, MD ’74 Michael A. Rosenberg, MD ’87 Robert C. Rothberg, MD ’80 Stephen M. Schmitz, MD ’82 Michael S. Sofman, MD ’85 Orysia N. Tresznewsky, MD ’80 James W. Turner, MD ’81 Robert Eidus, MD ’74 Nicoletta A. Turner, MD ’95 Stephen M. Felton, MD ’76 William M. Unwin, MD ’85 Eduardo E. Fernandez, MD ’89 Mary A. Venezia, MD ’81 Robert R. Ford, MD ’83 William A. Wainwright, MD ’74 Robert S. Freid, MD ’83 Janice Warner, MD ’83 David R. Grossman, MD ’82 Nancy E. Weissbach, MD ’85 Jay A. Grotas, MD ’74 Carol A. Wool, MD ’75 Bernard F. Hearon, MD ’75 Mary C. Yankaskas, MD ’86 Carolyn Horowitz, MD ’81 Joseph C. Yarze, MD ’86 Euton M. Laing, MD ’90 Elizabeth A. Hosmer, MD ’90 the Richard Harvey Professorship in Bernard Lenchitz, MD ’85 Saleem Husain, MD ’90 Innovative Teaching, and the fund raising cam- Marc E. Lieberman, MD ’81 paign for this new professorship in honor of Bruce J. Quinn, MD ’89 Leonard A. Jokubaitis, MD ’81 Dr. Harvey yielded $163,500 from our alumni. Stephen C. Rabin, MD ’74 In addition, the Alumni Association con- Donald J. Rose, MD ’80 the opportunity to participate in supporting Michael D. Karoly, MD ’79 Scott R. Zeigen, MD ’82 Kenneth J. Zemanek, MD ’86 Gregory Zollner, MD ’88, & Paula Grasso Zollner, MD ’88 Patrons Club ($250 to $499) tributed $5,000 toward its $25,000 pledge to Nancy Sierra, MD ’89 Gregory J. Kauffman, MD ’87 the Dr. James W. Mackenzie Chair in Surgery. Francine E. Sinofsky, MD ’81 Allen J. Kern, MD ’78 Lawrence E. Adler, MD ’76 Luis Villa, MD ’68 David Kirschenbaum, MD ’86 Eldridge T. Anderson, MD ’77 Fund. The Alumni Association and the entire Robert R. Wolf, MD * Prudence P. Kline, MD ’78 Robert Wood Johnson Medical School family Steven J. Zuckerman, MD ’80 Steven H. Krawet, MD ’89 Constantine Audeh, MD ’88 The Honor Roll of Donors highlights those thank you all for your generous contributions and continued support. Eduardo Fernandez, MD ’89 President, RWJMS Alumni Association www.meridianhealth.com Jersey Shore Medical Center • Medical Center of Ocean County Riverview Medical Center Jeffrey N. Bruce, MD ’83 Kevin Davey, MD ’85 who have contributed to the 2000 Annual We’re proud to be a caring neighbor. Paul A. Bergh, MD ’83 William P. Brotherton, MD ’76 Jennifer Delikat, MD ’81 It was especially rewarding this year to have physicians, award-winning nurses, dedicated staff, and loyal auxilians University Club ($2,000 to $4,999) Edward P. Riuli, MD ’82 Over the last 18 years, the Alumni services and treatments...and the employer of 8,000 renowned Mark A. Bloomberg, MD ’74 The Wayen Charitable Foundation past year. In 2000, alumni made contributions right here at home...the source of the broadest possible diagnostic Ernest S. Biczak, MD ’77 mary fund raising campaign of the Robert Association, have increased dramatically in the We’re proud to be known for the finest health care anywhere, Barbara A. Bernstein, MD ’87 ontributions to the Annual Fund, the pri- Wood Johnson Medical School Alumni More than medicine, Caring takes many forms Dean’s Academy ($5,000 or more) Ernest S. Biczak, MD ’77 Chair, Development Committee David R. Kurish, MD ’72 Joel C. Labow, MD ’73 Founders Club ($500 to $999) Robert A. Latimer, MD ’73 Sofia H. Anthony, MD ’77 Katherine T. Lovello, MD ’84 Davill Armstrong, MD ’74 Gloria A. Bachmann, MD ’72 Andrew Beloni, MD ’78 Hank Lubin, MD ’83 Barbara A. Marroccoli, MD ’82 Lloyd A. McPherson, MD ’82 Gary J. Balady, MD ’79 Frank E. Barber, MD ’77 Scott F. Bateman, MD ’72 Stephen M. Bloomfield, MD ’80 Catherine M. Bodnar, MD ’82 Mamie S. Bowers, MD ’85 Claude A. Brachfeld, MD ’82 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 57 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf Karen C. Bresnahan, MD ’86 James D. Brody, MD ’83 David D. Bullek, MD ’87 William M. Byra, MD ’78 Peter A. Chirico, MD ’86 Joan W. Chisholm, MD ’81 Mark Choi, MD ’87 Katherine J. Chou, MD ’87 5/9/01 5:49 PM Page 58 Michael G. Huss, MD ’91 Russell G. Sarver, MD ’90 Joel S. Bass, MD ’84 Carol A. Dennis, MD ’85 Karen M. Ingram, MD ’78 Alan I. Schwartzstein, MD ’78 Kathleen C. Bel Bruno, MD ’83 Donald F. Derse, MD ’76 Ann L. Shallcross, MD ’79 Vera Ann M. Bennett, MD ’91 Elliot W. Jacobs, MD ’68 Paul B. Jenkins, MD ’86 Judith A. Johnson, MD ’89 Peter Shamamian, MD ’89 Ruth S. Feldman, MD ’74 Marcia L. Fennell, MD ’81 Alan T. Glass, MD ’92 Robert L. Glicini, MD ’84 Katherine A. Godfrey, MD ’84 Peter M. Goldsmith, MD ’85 Fern Gotfried, MD ’80 Eli J. Hammer, MD ’86 Joseph M. Koziol, MD ’83 Lon M. Dubey, MD ’79 Jeffrey M. Bernstein, MD ’83 Dona J. Hills, MD ’77 Frances J. Dunston, MD ’78 Veronica Hlibczuk, MD ’97 Christine H. Llewellyn, MD ’80 John W. Peterson, MD ’85 Michael Honor, MD ’87 Drew M. Locandro, MD ’84 Bernard A. Pfeifer, MD ’73 Peter M. Howley, MD ’70 Debra M. Loeb, MD ’88 John D. Pilla, MD ’84 Raymond Hsia, MD ’87 Anne E. Pinou, MD ’81 Margaret Hsieh, MD ’96 Sabato J. Lombardo, MD ’79 Keith S. Hughes, MD ’78 Carl H. Lopez, MD ’81 Peter Hyans, MD ’86 Michael J. Lucas, MD ’95 Frank Iannetta, MD ’87 Jacqueline S. Lustgarten, MD ’77 Emmanuel D. Lerner, MD ’91 Frederick Licciardi, MD ’86 David R. Maizel, MD ’74 Susan J. Margolin, MD ’78 Anthony F. Mayer, MD ’74 John H. McGowan, MD ’71 Kevin McGuigan, MD ’86 Mark A. Menegus, MD ’81 Arthur E. Middleton, MD ’77 Alan L. Miller, MD ’74 Michael Miller, MD ’83 John L. Mottley, MD ’78 Daphne M. Norwood, MD ’93 Stephen L. Pinals, MD ’89 David A. Strumpf, MD ’83 Richard C. Szumel, MD ’89 John L. H. Tamminen, III, MD * Judith E. G. Braun, MD ’91 Joseph P. Tassoni, Jr., MD ’83 Carol A. Terregino, MD ’86 Catherine C. Ulasewicz, MD ’81 Edwin M. Villalobos, MD ’81 Benjamin Weinstein, MD ’76 Agnes H. Whitaker, MD ’76 William P. Braun, III, MD ’82 Julio Hip-Flores, MD ’76 James C. Salwitz, MD ’81 John E. Agens, MD ’86 Cathy D. Angell, MD ’91 Raymond F. Anton, Jr., MD ’76 George C. Apostolou, MD ’89 John T. Capo, MD ’92 Mitchell L. Ferges, MD ’75 Richard E. Carlino, MD ’84 Leonard Ferreira, MD ’87 Emma L. Cataldi, MD ’88 Wesley V. Forgue, MD ’73 Laura A. Charette, MD ’89 Paul F. Barratt, MD ’72 Felix M. Barte, MD * Matthew P. Basara, Jr., MD ’88 Michael J. Malkowski, MD ’88 Charles T. Pu, MD ’89 Richard J. Jackson, MD ’71 Elizabeth L. Jacobson, MD ’90 Robert F. Mancuso, MD ’89 Howard M. Regenbogen, MD ’74 Adolph W. Johnson, MD ’82 Jeffrey M. Reinkraut, MD ’75 Arthur A. Frazzano, MD ’75 Leo Kahn, MD ’87 Smita Kasat, MD ’97 Andrew A. Martin, MD ’88 Christopher T. Retajczyk, MD ’93 Ann M. Furgiuele, MD ’76 Richard A. Kauff, MD ’80 Gregory A. Kaufmann, MD ’86 Donald R. Keir, MD ’95 Barbara A. Kelly, MD ’75 John J. Kelly, MD ’75 Michael Goldman, MD ’94 Anthony J. Delfico, MD ’92 Paul J. DeMartino, MD ’88 Helene Reich, MD ’88 Robert T. Mansfield, MD ’88 Christine A. King, MD ’96 Albert C. Dearden, MD ’84 Steven M. Manders, MD ’88 Cheryl A. France, MD ’88 Ira M. Klein, MD ’91 Mark R. Davis, MD ’79 Herbert E. Mandell, MD ’73 Susan C. M. Rakfal, MD ’81 Michael R. Manes, MD ’82 John S. Golden, MD ’85 David R. Dembinski, MD ’82 58 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE David W. Price, MD ’85 Thomas J. Giordano, MD ’90 Efthymios I. Daniskas, MD ’77 Laurel G. Porter, MD ’73 Dino Madonna, MD ’93 Neil A. Izenberg, MD ’76 Peter S. Cohn, MD ’87 Joseph D’Agosto, MD ’85 Sharon N. Pondek, MD ’86 James P. Lyons, Jr., MD ’82 Douglas Ivins, MD ’95 Jeffrey L. Gevirtz, MD ’86 Robert J. D’Agostini, MD ’80 Maria M. Plummer, MD ’90 Joanne B. Porway, MD ’75 John Ghazi, MD ’86 James P. Axford, MD ’78 Elliot M. Pittel, MD ’79 Sarah K. Potash, MD ’95 Robert M. Cohen, MD ’72 Richard L. Corson, MD ’83 Rama D. Peri, MD ’86 Richard E. Lyon, MD ’75 William L. Indruk, MD ’72 Henry D. Clarke, MD ’93 Waldo L. Avello, MD ’78 Jay B. Patel, MD ’95 Matthew B. Jones, MD ’87 Elizabeth A. Garreau, MD ’86 David J. Cordon, MD ’84 Wei-Chi Liao, MD ’87 James A. Paskow, MD ’86 Charles A. Joseph, MD ’76 Lori B. Cirangle, MD ’85 Erik D. Assarsson, MD ’89 Renee A. Levine, MD ’86 Dennis L. Parenti, MD ’76 Diane G. Forney, MD ’80 Richard F. Gargiulo, MD ’83 Mitchell I. Clarin, MD ’88 Elias A. Iliadis, MD ’92 Matthew L. Levine, MD ’83 Robert L. Reid, MD ’87 Kristina K. Ciccotelli, MD ’90 Stephen S. Cook, MD ’76 Anastasia T. Barna, MD ’83 Joyce D. Fingeroth, MD ’74 John P. Gallagher, MD ’83 Julie D. Asch, MD ’88 Mark B. Barettella, MD ’86 Evan Feibusch, MD ’93 Maurizio Cibischino, MD ’89 Eugene Coles, MD ’80 Lory E. Baraz, MD ’85 Benjamin Fand, MD ’79 Jonathan L. Fellus, MD ’95 Richard Arking, MD ’73 Ellen A. Bahtiarian, MD ’90 Jeffrey E. Epstein, MD ’85 Rene B. Esquerre, MD ’79 Joseph Canterino, MD ’91 Dalya L. Chefitz, MD ’90 Richard M. Abramowitz, MD ’88 Nancy Egan, MD ’76 Paul Feldan, MD ’85 John A. Cece, MD ’81 David P. Reed, MD ’87 Michael W. Egan, MD ’72 Rudolph C. Camishion, MD ** Martha Cebrian, MD ’79 Nancy C. Higgins, MD ’86 Gary A. Ebert, MD ’93 Elissa A. Favata, MD * Robert E. Wold, MD ’86 Century Club ($100 to $249) Craig P. Eberson, MD ’95 Teresa Ann Bridge-Jackson, MD ’78 Leonard J. Zawodniak, MD ’86 Thomas A. Rebbecchi, MD ’92 hank you so much for the RWJMS alumni loan. I am delighted and honored by the kind efforts of the RWJMS Alumni Association. Your outstanding work is greatly appreciated. It is a great feeling to know that the alumni of RWJMS care so much about students! I am looking forward to participating in the next Phonathon. Yours truly, Nicole Nevadunsky Class of 2002 Joseph F. Binns, MD ’87 Alfred F. Tallia, MD ’78 Andrew Piskun, MD ’77 Dear RWJMS Alumni Association: Craig C. Berry, MD ’81 Jeffrey R. Bessette, MD ’84 Mark G. Blumenthal, MD ’87 Mitchell J. Heller, MD ’93 T D. Merrill Hersey, MD ’72 Kevin T. Kelly, MD ’83 Robert Masci, MD ’83 Dear RWJMS Alumni Association: Jack H. Ostroff, MD ’82 Barbara B. Pacholec, MD ’86 William M. Hike, MD ’83 Christine L. Stoll, MD ’75 Mary B. Faulstich, MD ’86 Richard Levandowski, MD ’74 Judith E. Hersh, MD ’90 Francesco Labbadia, MD ’90 Chaim B. Eliav, MD ’89 Paul A. Heineken, MD ’71 Juan C. Orozco, MD ’94 Marc M. Dreier, MD ’89 Alan B. Compton, MD ’69 Alan D. Eisenberg, MD ’84 A. S. Lemansky, MD ’80 Ronny Drapkin, MD ’98 Jothan Staley, MD ’76 Charles R. Dinerstein, MD ’76 Stanley I. Hegg, MD ’70 Thomas F. Orman, MD ’73 Mordechai Bermann, MD ’87 Gary R. Spivack, MD ’74 Richard Day, MD ’93 Daniel J. Lee, MD ’89 Jessica M. Berlet, MD ’92 Paula S. Krauser, MD ’78 Dennis P. DeVito, MD ’78 Margaret E. Hegg, MD ’70 Gayle P. Orczyk, MD ’79 Arunan Sivalingam, MD ’85 Mark Konwiser, MD ’78 Henry R. Kranzler, MD ’82 Thomas D. Coyte, Jr., MD ’94 Connie M. Domingo, MD ’94 William E. Lawson, MD ’77 Robert A. Simpson, MD ’74 Laurence Karper, MD ’88 Andrew J. Collier, Jr., MD ’80 Miles R. Congress, MD ’75 Harry T. Berger, MD ’77 Dennis M. Destefano, MD ’88 Denise D. Hayward, MD ’96 I am currently a thirdyear medical student doing my clinical years at the Camden campus. This letter is to thank you for choosing me as a recipient of one of the Alumni Association’s low-interest loans. I very much appreciate the support and acknowledgment — every little bit helps! I also wanted to mention that I participated in numerous Phonathon drives during my first two years. In addition, I worked closely with Roberta Ribner to help organize the First Annual Helping Hands Fun Run/Walk — an initiative of HIPHOP and the Alumni Association. This was a tremendous success, and I want to thank the Alumni Association for working hard to support and encourage medical students. I think that the Alumni Association and RWJMS medical students have established a really wonderful working relationship to strengthen and support each other ’s efforts. I hope that this will continue. Sincerely, Carrie B. Rubenstein Class of 2002 Gregory S. Rihacek, MD ’82 Edith Goldie McCarthy, MD ’92 Frank E. Robinson, MD ’86 Christopher Seidler, MD ’86 Daniel G. Swistel, MD ’79 Timothy B. McKinney, MD ’87 Ricardo E. Rodriguez, MD ’84 Michael R. Seidner, MD ’75 Eric P. Tamm, MD ’91 Tasneem F. Shamim, MD ’81 Robyn S. Tepper, MD ’83 Barbara A. Miller-Lines, MD ’92 Melissa Roesly, MD ’94 Eileen M. Shanahan, MD ’88 Ronald F. Tutrone, Jr., MD ’87 Jacqueline F. Mislow, MD ’78 George E. Roksvaag, MD ’78 Brenda M. Shank, MD ’76 Kevin J. Shaw, MD ’95 Yves Morency, MD ’81 Andrew G. Rosenberg, MD ’81 James H. Morland, MD ’90 Marianne Ruby, MD ’73 Kenneth J. Shulman, MD ’90 Martin J. Moskovitz, MD ’89 Gregory J. Rumore, MD ’80 Amy Shute, MD ’85 Christo S. Klele, MD ’89 Joan M. Gopin, MD ’83 Sophia N. Kotliar, MD ’89 Gregory J. Mulford, MD ’85 Joseph S. Salay, MD ’85 Katherine C. T. Grimm, MD ’69 Joseph W. Kozachek, MD ’81 Timothy J. Murtha, MD ’85 Louis F. Salazar, MD ’86 Lawrence A. Silverman, MD ’87 Amy D. Gruber, MD ’88 Brijendra Kumar, MD ’98 Joseph F. Navoy, MD ’74 David R. Salowe, MD ’86 Joel H. Kurtz, MD ’83 Carole Sampson-Landers, MD ’74 Carl A. Sirio, MD ’84 Stephen T. Grybowski, MD ’79 Edward J. Niewiadomski, MD ’85 Sophia Kwo, MD ’83 Daniel B. Novak, MD ’83 James L. Scales, Jr., MD ’79 Jason O. Hall, MD ’85 Tamara A. La Couture, MD ’94 Dennis E. Novak, MD ’74 R. Walter Schlesinger, MD ** Michael J. Solomon, MD ’71 Brenda E. O’Brien, MD ’77 Helene K. Schwartz, MD ’73 Heidi Solz, MD ’80 Betty Hammond, MD ’80 Peter Y. Hannoush, MD ’92 Gerard T. Hart, MD ’83 William J. Hayes, MD ’89 David H. Kim, MD ’92 Theresa A. Lafranco, MD ’87 Stephen M. Land, MD ’86 David A. Laskow, MD ’81 Roger A. Shell, MD ’77 Elisabeth Siegert, MD ’87 Shawn D. Sieler, MD ’91 Sandra J. Smith, MD ’74 Jamie S. Ullman, MD ’89 Paul P. Vessa, MD ’85 Ann D. Vijums, MD ’79 Robert J. Vinci, MD ’80 Kevin E. Vitting, MD ’82 Frank E. Vogel, MD ’81 Manfred A. Von Fricken, MD ’73 Diane Walder, MD ’80 Ira G. Warshaw, MD ’79 Marius A. Wechsler, MD ’85 Marvin A. Weinar, MD ’82 Timothy J. O’Grady, MD ’86 Stuart T. Schwartz, MD ’84 Gayle R. Spill, MD ’90 Donald S. Weinberg, MD ’74 Philip J. Olivieri, MD ’78 Paul Scoles, MD ’79 Kevin L. Sullivan, MD ’81 Kerry E. Weinrich, MD ’88 Robert O. Olson, MD ’74 Richard J. Segal, MD ’86 Marty D. Sweinhart, MD ’93 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 59 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/9/01 5:50 PM Page 60 C Dennis Coffey, MD ’93 Eileen G. Hill, MD ’78 Mark N. Porway, MD ’75 Winfried G. Wieland, MD ’92 Leslie Coopersmith, MD ’85 Fred H. Hsu, MD * Ravi K. Raheja, MD ’97 James H. Sloves, MD ’89 Garrett S. Hyman, MD ’97 Monica Rama, MD ’99 Elisabeth Spector, MD ’97 Austin O. Williams, MD, ’94 Elisa H. Cusati, MD ’88 Eytan Irwin, MD ’84 Nikita Rangwalla, MD ’98 Michael J. Spedick, MD ’78 Jennifer H. Jacobs, MD ’92 Mark S. Rappaport, MD ’88 Naum Spiegel, MD ’89 John M. Williams, MD ’81 William D. Williams, MD ’79 Barth L. Wilsey, MD ’71 Roger M. Wint, MD ’76 Caryn S. Dahl, MD ’86 James G. Dalzell, MD ’88 Martin H. Dauber, MD ’86 Anthony Del Piano, MD ’86 Barbara P. I. Karp, MD ’80 Susan R. Karp, MD ’75 Edward K. Katz, MD ’74 Mary E. Witt, MD ’72 Christopher Derivaux, MD ’93 Christopher C. Wright, MD ’87 Elizabeth Di Prospero, MD ’99 Barbara L. Wuehrmann, MD ’76 Kim C. Dixon, MD ’97 James Kimball, MD ’98 Michael Donnelly, MD ’98 Scott K. Kindsfather, MD ’89 Grace C. H. Yang, MD ’77 Vincent W. Yang, MD ’84 Ann-Lee Yuan, MD ’84 Anthony P. Yudd, MD ’79 Lawrence R. Zukerberg, MD ’86 Marie R. Durant, MD ’96 Dominick J. Eboli, MD ’95 Adam Elfant, MD ’89 Stephen D. Elgert, MD ’80 Kari E. Emsbo, MD ’94 Jeffrey A. Evans, MD ’99 Dellara F. Farmarah-Terry, MD ’95 Contributors (up to $99) Michael Farrell, MD ’97 Mohammed-Tarek Al-Fahl, MD ’96 Richard J. Feldman, MD ’84 Richard J. Angelo, Jr., MD ’86 Thomas W. Fowlie, Jr., MD ’92 Janice E. Aton, MD ’94 William C. Franckle, MD ’96 Kathi A. Aultman, MD ’74 Deborah Lynn H. Frey, MD ’96 Lila M. Bahadori, MD ’88 Lois M. Ramondetta, MD ’93 Ross Bauer, MD ’93 Robert E. Baumwoll, MD ’73 Robert A. Bazewicz, MD ’83 Philip Beattie, MD ’97 Patrick D. Beaty, MD ’83 Louis J. Berges, Jr., MD ’86 John Boldizar, MD ’96 Robert F. Brennan, MD ’90 Cindy M. Breznak, MD ’87 Philip F. Bronowitz, MD ’77 John B. Cahill, MD ’97 Kim Friedman, MD ’99 Jonathan Fuchs, MD ’97 Donald G. Ganim, II, MD ’91 Laurence M. Katz, MD ’87 Roger M. Kerr, MD ’79 Richard Kilker, MD ’97 John E. Kingsley, MD ’81 Shuchi Kiri, MD ’98 David Kroon, MD ’98 Barbara Lane, MD ’82 Roberta S. Lane, MD ’83 David Y. Lee, MD ’94 Ina Li, MD ’97 Glenn S. Lieberman, MD ’93 Donna P. Reger, MD ’95 Goerge H. Roenning, MD ’76 Michael L. Rosenberg, MD ’74 Mindy S. Rosenbloom, MD ’85 Dwight J. Rosenstein, MD ’77 Michael P. Rosenthal, MD ’80 Jerome J. Rosman, MD ’75 Michelle S. Rovner, MD ’93 James Thomas, MD ’99 Stacey M. Vitiello, MD ’94 Mark J. Weinstein, MD ’85 Richard G. Welch, MD ’83 Todd Werner, MD ’94 Robin O. Winter, MD ’76 Ayanna Woltz, MD ’99 Richard Worth, MD ’99 Walter T. Rymzo, MD ’68 Scott Woska, MD ’97 Kenneth N. Sable, MD ’99 Joan D. Sage, MD ’84 Lisa L. Littman, MD ’92 Raymond A. Samatovicz, MD ’95 Anjali A. Saini, MD ’93 Friends of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, Inc. Petra Lukoschek, MD ’87 Raymond J. Sanders, MD ’85 Susan L. Martling, MD ’79 Osman R. Sayan, MD ’90 ITT Industries, Inc. Sharon E. Schoenholtz, MD * Johnson & Johnson James J. Matino, MD ’76 Janice M. Miller, MD ’94 Robert G. Gibson, MD ’78 Mark Mintz, MD ’84 Cadrin E. Gill, MD ’76 Gary S. Moak, MD ’82 Arthur F. Schroeder, III, MD ’76 Thomas A. Schwartzer, MD ’93 Hoffman-La Roche Lipincott, Williams & Wilkins Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation Pfizer, Inc. James M. Gill, MD ’88 Bruno Molino, Jr., MD ’98 Robert Glasgold, MD ’97 Alba P. C. Moore, MD ’92 Ravi D. Goel, MD ’97 William J. Mullally, MD ’76 Jonathan G. Gold, MD ’96 Richard S. Murray, MD ’79 Ruben A. Gonzalez-Florin, MD ’81 Hassan W. Nemeh, MD ’91 Constantine A. Serkes, MD ’87 William A. Norcross, MD ’72 Chirag Shah, MD ’97 SmithKline Beecham Foundation Kartik Shah, MD ’99 Telcordia Technologies Srihari Gopal, MD ’95 Jeffrey C. Oppenheim, MD ’75 Pranav N. Shah, MD ’92 The Union Carbide Foundation, Inc. Robert C. Gorman, MD ’89 Rhoda B. Padow, MD ’68 Daniel Shalom, MD ’86 Eric Shen, MD ’99 Sandra B. Goodman, MD ’87 Karen Schumann Scoles, MD ’83 Schering-Plough Foundation Thomas F. Seck, MD ’83 The Harris Shapiro Foundation, Inc. John J. Gregory, MD ’92 Carol Pak, MD ’99 Laura A. Grygotis, MD ’93 James F. Parker, MD ’98 Steven Sheris, MD ’88 Peter M. Pasley, MD ’95 Shailesh Sheth, MD ’87 Michael M. Caruso, MD ’92 Stacey Markowitz Hecht, MD ’89 Lolita Chatterjee, MD ’93 William Heffernan, MD ’82 Steven A. Chernus, MD ’77 Jonathan Heistein, MD ’96 Kevin F. Clancy, MD ’81 Leonard H. Hellman, MD ’69 Jeanne M. Clark, MD ’92 Kathleen A. Hickey, MD ’95 MEDICINE James J. Sullivan, Jr., MD ’95 Linda Y. Wong, MD ’99 Jonathan Carp, MD ’96 ■ Sean R. Stetson, MD ’87 Mitchell P. Stokes, MD ’95 Karen G. Rubin, MD ’76 Keith D. Calligaro, MD ’82 60 Robert WoodJohnson James A. Stansbury, III, MD ’93 Edith B. Rubenstein, MD ’76 Raymond J. Litecky, MD ’87 Karen Vill W. Locker, MD ’87 Karen A. Spinelli, MD ’85 Jennifer Peos, MD ’96 Denise Shiu, MD ’95 Jeffrey R. Petrella, MD ’87 Gregg A. Shivers, MD ’90 Paul A. Piccini, MD ’73 Leon H. Shulman, MD ’86 Beverly A. Poelstra, MD ’88 Danielle M. B. Sieler, MD ’93 Walter Poprycz, MD ’72 Warner Lambert Company * Completed Robert Wood Johnson Residency Programs **RWJMS Faculty ’71 ’72 ’74 ’75 Nineteen Seventy-One ’76 ’81 ’83 Nineteen Seventy-Six Richard Jackson, director of the National Center for Environmental Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was the guest speaker at the Bloustein Memorial Lecture at Rutgers University on February 15, 2001. He spoke on “Why Land Protection Is Child Protection: Smart Growth and Public Health.” Nineteen Seventy-Two Linda Fisher has been appointed director of health of Fairfax County, Va. She writes: “After 25 years in St. Louis, Mo., I am back on the East Coast.” Nineteen Seventy-Four Robert Eidus was recently appointed medical director of the faculty practice plan at Albert Einstein in Philadelphia. Nineteen Eighty-One Lloyd McPherson is proud to report that his wife, Arlene McPherson, RN, is the current president of the Auxiliary North Jersey Medical Society chapter of the National Medical Association. Michael Seidner was elected president of the medical staff at North Penn Hospital in Lansdale, Pa. He and his wife, Stephanie, celebrated 25 years of marriage in May 2000. Neal Collins has accepted a new position as senior medical director, medical regulatory services, at Pfizer Inc. in midtown Manhattan. He writes: “I am recruiting for medical regulatory physicians to build a new team. Please email at neal.collins@pfizercom.” Michael Miller received a $1.2 million grant to investigate “Molecular and clinical evaluation of low HOL syndromes.” He and his wife also announce the birth of their second daughter, Ilana, on January 18, 2000. Patrick Zazzar o is chairman of the Department of Radiology at Prince William Hospital in Manassas, Va. His daughter, Lori, a graduate of the Class of 2000 of the University of Virginia, is working for Accenture, in Reston, Va. His son Michael is a sophomore at James Madison University, and his son Mark is a freshman at George Mason University. Nineteen Eighty-Five S 2000. We also have a son, Evan Andrew, and live in The Woodlands, Texas (near Houston). I am the medical director of the Emergency Department at Trinity Medical Center and vice president of Brazos Emergency Physicians Association. This company is the first in the country to provide emergency telemedicine service via videoconferencing to rural hospitals with mid-level practitioners.” Nineteen Eighty-Seven Frederick Duffy, Jr., is board certified in general and plastic surgery. He is in private practice in Dallas, and has a teaching appointment at the University of Texas– Southwestern. He is married to an ENT surgeon. They have two boys, ages six and three. Weichi Liao began a new research position at the Covance Company. Grace Yang writes: “My son, George, is now a second-year ENT resident at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. My daughter, Jean, graduated from MIT in June 2000 and is now living in San Francisco. I recently received tenure at NYU School of Medicine. My husband enjoys his retirement.” ’88 ’90 Julie Bouchard writes: “I recently relocated to Boise, Idaho, after 15 years in the Portland, Ore., area. I practice in an OB/GYN group here. My husband, Glenn Beyerman, continues to be my lifeline after 25 years. We have two children, Chelsea (11) and Jacques (8). We spend our time enjoying all the outdoor pleasure of the Northwest, especially skiing in the powder.” Nineteen Eighty-Six S ’87 Francine Sinofsky is secretary-treasurer of the New Jersey Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. ’85 ’86 Gary Spivak writes: “I founded a new executive coaching firm, Insight Coach Inc., for leadership and professional growth.” Nineteen Seventy-Five Cadrin Gill is medical director of the IPA Physicians Alliance Network in Los Angeles. Nineteen Eighty-Three A NOTES Edward A. Skobac, MD ’80 James M. Weiss, MD ’88 L Eli Hammer reports from Phoenix: “I resigned from 11 years of family practice to start a practice in anti-aging medicine.” Frederick Licciardi is associate director of reproductive endocrinology at the NYU School of Medicine. He and his wife, Josephine, have three children. James Paskow reports: “My wife, Janet, and I have a new arrival. Our daughter, Lucy Lynn, was born on September 27, Nineteen Eighty-Eight Chris Friedrich is an associate professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine, Division of Medical Genetics, at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine in Jackson, Miss. His wife is an assistant professor of pediatric cardiology there. They have two children. Nineteen Ninety Maria Maratta Plummer writes: “This past year has been busy. Our son, Ian, was born on December 14, 1999, and our daughter, Gwen, began kindergarten on her fifth birthday, September 5, 2000. I finished my anatomic pathology boards and am now board certified in clinical pathology (1995) and anatomic pathology, and am Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 61 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf C L A 5/9/01 S 5:50 PM Page 62 S NOTES working as a part-time pathologist for the time being at a local hospital.” L ’91 9 ’ 6 ’92 ’97 ’93 ’95 Nineteen Ninety-One Vera Ann Meier-Bennett and her husband proudly announce the birth of their fourth child, Elizabeth Theresa, on April 28, 2000. Eric Tamm is an assistant professor of diagnostic radiology at the Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Nineteen Ninety-Two Jonathon Fellus was recently named directory of brain injury services at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation. He writes: “Not only am I still cracking jokes but my wife, Ruth, still puts up with them!” Alan Glass reports: “We just had a new baby girl, Abigail Rose, born in October. My wife, Shira, and our two other children, Gideon (8) and Ruth (5), are living in Woodmere, N.Y. I currently have three dermatology offices in Manhattan and Long Island.” Victor Gorloff is in practice with a pulmonary/critical care group in Englewood. He and his wife have two sons, Alexander and Matthew. Elliot Semet and his wife are proud to announce the birth of their son, Evan Christopher, on November 26, 1999. Nineteen Ninety-Three Christopher Derivaux completed his surgical residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. He is presently doing a cardiothoracic fellowship at New York University. Nineteen Ninety-Five Albert DeNittis and his wife, Lisa, have two children: Andrew (2 1/2) and Juliana (3 months). 62 Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE ’98 ’99 Kathleen Hickey writes: “Frank and I had a beautiful baby girl over the summer, Jacqueline Clare. We’re busy but all very happy!” Raymond Samatovicz reports: “Named associate director, Brain Injury Program at Kaiser Foundation Rehabilitation Center in Vallejo, Calif. Enjoying life in Napa Valley with my wife, Lisa.” Nineteen Ninety-Six Kimberly Raymond (Friend) and John Friend write: “After finishing our residency in family practice in Charlotte, N.C., in June 1999, and backpacking through Scandinavia that summer, we both joined a group practice in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina. We also celebrated the birth of our daughter, Carly Anne Friend, on September 7, 2000. We have lots to be thankful for! We’d love to hear about more of our classmates. Write in!” Jennifer Peos is the 2000–2001 chief resident in internal medicine at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. Nineteen Ninety-Seven Garret Hyman writes: “I am a third-year resident in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle. My wife, Rachel, and I are enjoying the great outdoors in the Northwest as much as possible. Enjoyed seeing other alums, Scott Woska and Jeff Heffler, at the November 2000 meeting of the Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.” Elisabeth Spector writes: “Beautiful daughter, Maya, born April 30, 1999. Alas, the marriage didn’t last. Now working as family physician in Flemington, where it feels like the deer outnumber the humans.” Scott Woska reports: “Currently chief resident in rehabilitation medicine at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, now known as New York Presbyterian Hospital. Very active in performing-arts medicine and experienced in treating disorders of musicians and dancers. Founding member of HARTS (Healing Arts Club) at RWJ.” Nineteen Ninety-Eight Jorge Romeu reports: “I am currently in my third year of residency in pediatrics. I have applied for a neonatology fellowship in the military.” Nineteen Ninety-Nine Brian Golden writes: “Please pass on warm regards to everybody and spread the news. Dee Dee Wu ’98 and I are now engaged after dating for five years. Dee is finishing her residency at Montefiore and will start a rheumatology fellowship in 2002 at the Hospital for Special Surgery. I am in my second year of residency at New York Hospital and will do an endocrine fellowship at Mt. Sinai starting in 2002.” Sonia Garcia Laumbach and Robert Laumbach ’97 proudly announce the birth of their son, Robert Kevin Laumbach. In Memoriam: Martha Cebrian ’79 John Crofford ’87 Residents: Sharon Schoenholtz writes: “My husband, Lawrence Hanau , and I are the proud parents of a seven-month-old boy.” Residents In Memoriam: James Brennan What’s New? Please send your professional and personal news for C l a s s N o t e s to: Roberta Ribner, Coordinator, Alumni Affairs UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Alumni Association 125 Paterson Street • Suite 1400 New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901-1977 • 732-235-6310 Fax: 732-235-6315 Email: [email protected] a s t c o n t i n u e d P f r o m a g e p a g e 6 4 important. Now these concerns are of at least equal importance, and people, funding for biomedical research already reflects strong many argue that costs are the principal or only consideration. beliefs in such arguments. Anyone who has ever attended the Senate Regardless of where along this spectrum the truth lies, it is a fact and House appropriations committees’ hearings on funding for that health care now conforms much more to a business model research will hear advocates argue such views both implicitly and rather than a human services model. Decisions about what and how explicitly, and members of Congress will avidly agree. much treatment will be used, and what will be reimbursed, will be No one would argue against expanded funding for biomedical a function of how much a particular intervention costs, its effectiveand clinical research. Rather, the questions we face are what role ness, and what savings to the system may accrue if it is used. health services research should play and whether greater investThus, even clinical research decisions may be dictated by the same ment helps the medical community achieve its overriding goal of kinds of choices that any company might make on the development improving health status. The answers are grounded in our changor manufacture of a product. If researchers and ing health care system. practitioners are to see new interventions become Many remember the “good old days” of costp art of the medical arsenal, they too will be relying based reimbursement; of fee-for-service medicine; here is an on the health services researcher. There is an of a system encouraging the growth and prosperity of academic health centers. We now speak a differincreasing need to increasing need to demonstrate that investing in the development and application of a new drug, ent language that includes such chestnuts as market demonstrate that equipment, or procedure will yield benefits that share, competition, PPOs, point-of-service, DRGs, exceed its costs. In the same way, insurers want to prospective reimbursement, capitation, utilization investing in the know whether the effectiveness of a more expenreview, and deep discounts. That is not to say that sive intervention is worth the extra cost. Why, for all that has changed is bad. Clearly, the health sysdevelopment and example, should a purchaser pay for more expentem was out of control and new forces had to be imposed to bring some order to a costly system that application of a new sive care in a teaching hospital than in a less costly community facility? Are the services so much was leaving increasing numbers of citizens without more effective? Can the purchaser reap economic coverage and access to care. Whether the changes drug, equipment, benefits in terms of fewer rehospitalizations or less imposed have responded to those needs is not yet or procedure follow-up care? Can we justify costly stem cell known, but change was needed. transplants in terms of their cost-effectiveness and It is precisely this question of assessing the will yield benefits cost/benefit for cancer patients? impact of our current health system that justifies One can already see a scenario emerging in the need for health services research. The issue of that exceed which rigid practice standards and a Wall Street whether recent changes have improved or hurt investment/yield mentality take the place of clin the health care system is, in itself, an important its costs. ical innovation and physician decision making. question that can be answered only through Sounds far-fetched? Any physician who has dealt with the uninhealth services research. For example, the kind of epidemiological terested voice of a Utilization Review clerk on the other end of the research described above is critical to knowing whether changes line dictating whether, where, and how long a patient can receive such as managed care have increased or decreased access to this treatment has already seen the reality of this. new system. It also helps us understand whether these changes What can the medical profession do to counter this trend? It improve or hurt outcomes, and for whom. Further, we can examwill only be through solid health services research efforts that we ine how these changes have affected the organization, financing, will be able to monitor how the system is changing and how it is and delivery of health care and what the implications of this are affecting providers, patients, and society. This discipline will also for quality, access, and improved outcomes. Finally, cost research be the link between research and practice, letting us know what can help determine whether the system is costing less or more, works best and is most feasible. Most important, cost studies will what elements represent cost savings, and whether these savings be a major force in helping to justify and ensure the acceptance of are related to decreased access, more efficient use of services, or new technology. Without health services research, it may be improved outcomes. Given all that has transpired, we must increasingly difficult to sell and implement the scientific gains answer these questions, and soon. that basic and clinical research will continue to provide. M Another contribution that health services can make in the mod- T ern managed care environment relates to a new way of thinking about health care. At one time, finding and implementing new interventions was paramount, with cost considerations significantly less — Jeffrey C. Merrill Professor of Psychiatry and University Professor UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Robert WoodJohnson ■ MEDICINE 63 RWJMS Med/spr 01/fin/for pdf 5/11/01 1:05 PM Page 64 LAST P A G E Health Services Research What Is It and Why Is It So Critical an Adjunct to Biomedical Research? Health services research is an important, yet misunderstood, component of medical research. Both the current and past presidents have urged Congress to appropriate significant increases in the budget for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). However, despite its growing importance, the health services research community will see little of this money. A principal reason for the dissonance between the need for such research and the amount of funds devoted to it is the fact that so few, even in the medical community, understand what is meant by the notion of health services research. Even among the NIH institutes, there is often great disagreement about what is involved in this discipline and its value. Often, staff members argue that it is simply an extension of clinical effectiveness research or believe that, since it lacks the exactitude of controlled trials or basic science, it has little utility in the scientific community. What do we mean by the term health services research? The fact is that it encompasses a wide range of studies. Briefly, health services research can be summarized as: 1. Effectiveness research, which involves moving from the security of the laboratory or controlled setting into realworld situations. Although this presents real methodological questions, it also permits us to validate and replicate findings in situations other than under the most optimum of conditions. B Y 64 Robert WoodJohnson J ■ MEDICINE E F F R E Y 2. Infrastructure research, which examines the impact of the organization, delivery, and financing of services on a given intervention or on a mode of practice. For example, it allows us to look at how changes such as managed care or cuts in Medicare funding affect the outcomes of medical-care delivery. 3. Epidemiological re s e a rc h, wh i c h a s s e s s e s h o w t h e access to and outcomes of treatment may be diff e re nt, based upon such variables as race or ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and age. As the health system continues to un d e rgo dramatic changes, these issues become increasingly important. • Friday, October 19: Cocktail Reception Clinical Academic Building, New Brunswick Invited speaker: Congressman Rush Holt 12th Congressional District, New Jersey • Saturday, October 20: Morning Continuing Medical Education Conference “Breakthroughs in Medicine: New Discoveries and Applications to Clinical Care at RWJMS” Clinical Academic Building, New Brunswick 4. Cost research, which address- • Afternoon Tours Piscataway and New Brunswick campuses es such questions as how much a service or series of services cost, whether they are cost-effective and cost beneficial, and what an illness like substance abuse is costing the nation. In an environment where we search for greater understanding of the genetic and bio-physiological markers of diseases and their treatments, one might ask why we should worry about such issues as costs or access. Should we not find the cures for such problems as cancer, AIDS, heart disease, and schizophrenia before we worry about how to organize, finance, and deliver them? While such arguments may seem spurious to many C o n t i n u e d C. M E R R o n p a g e I L 6 3 L • Gala Dinner Dance Honoring the Following Anniversary Classes: 30th: 1970, 1971 • 25th: 1975, 1976 20th: 1980, 1981 • 15th: 1985, 1986 10th: 1990, 1991 • 5th: 1995, 1996 Brunswick Hilton, East Brunswick F OR M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N T A C T: Roberta Ribner, Coordinator, Alumni Affairs UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Alumni Association 125 Paterson Street • Suite 1400 New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901-1977 Phone: 732-235-6310 • Fax: 732-235-6315 Email: [email protected] • Sunday, October 21: Alumni Brunch Brunswick Hilton RWJMedCover/spr01 for PDF 5/11/01 12:14 PM Page 1 A PUBLICATION FOR ALUMNI & FRIENDS OF UMDNJ-ROBER RobertWood MEDIC Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. The very image of 21st century medical science. Behind every technological advancement, every research innovations. The first hospital in New Jersey to offer two discovery, every refined medical procedure, and every revolutionary imaging techniques to our patients – PET successful treatment, there is a face. A face of knowledge. A scanning and Cardiac MRI – that will advance the way we face of technology. A face of compassion. Robert Wood diagnose and treat cancer and heart disease. We are the face of Johnson University Hospital is the face of 21st century health care. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, one of medicine, pioneering the latest medical advances and the nation’s leading academic health centers. P R O U D T O B E PA R T O F N E W B R U N S W I C K , A M E R I C A’ S H E A LT H C A R E C I T Y. Principal hospital for UMDNJ – Robert Wood Johnson Medical School • Member, University Health System of New Jersey, The Robert Wood Johnson Health System and Network members include: Bayshore Community Hospital, CentraState Healthcare System, Children's Specialized Hospital, Rahway Hospital, Raritan Bay Medical Center, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Hamilton, Warren Hospital, UMDNJ - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Presbyterian Homes & Services, Inc., Chandler Health Center, Henry J. Austin Health Center, Plainfield Health Center and VNA of Central New Jersey Community Health Center w w w. rw j u h . e d u O n e R o b e r t Wo o d J o h n s o n P l a c e • N e w B r u n s w i c k, N J 08 903 -2 601 • 1- 80 0-2 42 -00 22 Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage P A I D Piscataway, NJ Permit No. 44 125 Paterson Street • Suite 1400 New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903-0019 Breaking New Ground in Surgery and Cardiology