Boston University Medicine - Winter 2022

BostonUniversity Medicine Boston University School of Medicine

WINTER/SPRING 2022 • bumc.bu.edu

MDs + PhDs synergy.

Mizgerd + Kotton work together seamlessly on the Biology of the Lung program that’s now funded into its 50th year.

Message From The Dean Boston University Medicine

We hope you and your families are continuing to weather the ongoing challenges of COVID-19.

Although we initially thought the pandemic was a sprint, we now know it’s a marathon.

Boston University requires that our faculty, staff, and students are vaccine- and booster-compliant so that we were able to return to in-person classes and research.

As always, I appreciate our faculty and staff’s resilience, creative solutions, and commitment to our missions.

Our new medical and graduate student classes arrived in August. Since we had kept them largely in pods last year to avoid COVID, our second-year students met many of their classmates in person for the first time at their orientation ice cream socials. Our thirdyear MD students are progressing through their clinical clerkships and fourth-year MD students are doing sub-internships, electives, and virtual residency interviews. Graduate students are doing their classwork, theses, and settling into their lab routines.

We have many events and honors to share with you in this content-rich issue.

To understand how health values of our country are expressed in our health systems, we hosted a Race and Medicine Symposium last fall. Louis W. Sullivan, MD (MED‘58) moderated a panel on the challenges facing our healthcare system and solutions that are feasible on individual and institutional levels. Read the recap on page 3.

On October 2, nearly 18 months after completing their studies, the Class of 2020 MD, PhD, and master’s degree program members were invited back to the Medical Campus to celebrate their accomplishments at a recognition event held during Alumni Weekend. See the story on page 2.

While Veterans Day only comes once a year, we are committed to improving the health and lives of the military and veteran communities every day through applicable

research, excellent clinical care, and access to government scholarship support for students returning from, or planning to serve in, the military. See the feature on page 6.

Our page 18 cover story showcases our Biology of the Lung program, the University’s longest-running, federally funded training program that began in 1975 and has been refunded through its 50th year! Kudos to all who have been involved in that program throughout the decades.

Our Giving section, which begins on page 28, highlights some very important work on a variety of fronts, all supported by your generous gifts, including a COVID-19 fund to support our faculty with family caregiving responsibilities during the pandemic; research to improve the well-being of women veterans; and a large Warren Alpert grant to increase diversity in our genetic counseling program.

Our Alumni section, which begins on page 34, shares a wealth of stories, including a historical feature on William Lane Watkins, who in 1876 became the first Black man to graduate from BUSM. We also showcase how Drew Weissman (MED’87, GRS’87) and Katalin Karikó developed the revolutionary mRNA technology that underlies the effectiveness of two COVID-19 vaccines, and spotlight Joshua Wynne, Steven Berk, and Robert Golden, who earned medical degrees in the 1970s and today are wellrespected deans of US medical schools—Dr. Wynne (MED’71, CAS’71) at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences; Dr. Berk (MED’75) at Texas Tech University School of Medicine and its Health Sciences Center; and Dr. Golden (MED’79) at the University of Wisconsin’s School of Medicine and Public Health.

As always, special thanks to our donors and friends. Thank you for your continued commitment to our school and your generous support for our outstanding students, faculty, and staff on the frontlines of medicine and science.

Boston University Medicine is published by the Boston University School of Medicine Communications Office.

Maria Ober Associate Dean, Communications

design & production

Boston University Creative Services

contributing writers

Joel Brown, Lisa Brown, Jessica Colarossi, Gina DiGravio, Kat J. McAlpine, Doug Most, Ting Yu

photography

Jake Belcher, David Keough, Jackie Ricciardi, Cydney Scott

Please enjoy this issue of BU Medicine.

Best Regards,

Karen Antman, MD Provost, Medical Campus Dean, School of Medicine

Please direct any questions or comments to: Maria Ober Communications Office Boston University Medical Campus 85 East Newton Street, M810H Boston, MA 02118 P 617-358-7869 | E mpober@bu.edu

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Boston University School of Medicine

22WM

COVER PHOTO: JAKE BELCHER

Dear Alumni, Friends, and Colleagues,

Contents

WINTER/SPRING 2022

Pulmonary fellow Ellen Suder preps her suit before working in the high containment lab, BSL-4, at the NEIDL. Photo by Cydney Scott for Boston University Photography

PHOTO: CYDNEY SCOTT

FEATURE

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DEPARTMENTS

BIOLOGY OF THE LUNG FUNDED THROUGH ITS 50th—YES, 50th—YEAR

BU’s longest-running, federally funded training program began in 1975

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Campus News

12 Faculty News 22 Research 28 Giving 34 Alumni News

Winter/Spring 2022 | bumc.bu.edu

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News

Celebration and Recognition for the Class of 2020

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“I really wanted to come back to see my professors and classmates, and share the milestone together,” said Eleni Stampouloglou, who received her PhD in biochemistry and now is a senior scientist at Intellia Therapeutics.

Of the 362 master’s recipients in 2020, 18 returned to campus for the recognition event, including from the MS in Medical Sciences (MAMS), Anatomy & Neurobiology, Biomedical Forensic Sciences, Biomedical Research Technologies, and Clinical Investigation and Clinical Research programs.

“With all of the hard work I’ve put in, and the life I’ve built, I felt like it’s finally come full circle,” said Kristen Wright, a MAMS program graduate who now is a second-year medical student at the University of Vermont.

“Our graduates represent a breadth of scientific expertise that is greatly needed in today’s world, from basic research to counseling and patient care,” said Deborah Stearns-Kurosawa, PhD, ad interim associate provost and dean of Graduate Medical Sciences. “Even in the middle of a pandemic, the students overcame the challenges, earning their degrees and many competitive institutional and national awards. They take this extraordinary fortitude with them in their professions and we wish them every future success.”

Barbara Schreiber, PhD, assistant dean for alumni affairs and associate professor of biochemistry, introduced each member of the class for hooding; Dean Antman presented the students with their diplomas and Stearns-Kurosawa presented each student with a long-stemmed red rose. Following the ceremony the assembled group moved to an adjacent tent for brunch, where they safely socialized and took additional photos. n

PHOTOS: DAVID KEOUGH

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n October 2, nearly 18 months after completing their studies, BUSM Class of 2020 MD, PhD, and master’s program members were invited back to the Medical Campus to celebrate their accomplishments at a recognition event during the school’s Alumni Weekend.

“You graduated at what was, and still is, the most challenging time in the medical sciences in the last century. You did not get to hear the cheers of your family and friends as we celebrated your achievements,” said Karen Antman, MD, BUMC Provost and BUSM Dean. “The faculty have great confidence in your creativity, intellect, and innovation, as evidenced by your perseverance and your resilience. We again congratulate you on reaching this major milestone in your professional life.”

Held under a tent on Talbot Green, the event was smaller than the usual spring convocation ceremonies and allowed the graduates to experience the hooding ceremony that would have taken place if not for the pandemic.

The BUSM MD class had 190 members and the GMS doctoral and master’s classes 44 and 362 respectively, but not all graduates were able to return to campus to celebrate.

“Our Class of 2020 MDs graduated in April of last year, a month earlier than expected, so that they could join the front lines fighting the pandemic. We recognize that it’s hard for our MD graduates to get back to the Medical Campus. They are in residency programs all over the United States and Canada and don’t have a lot of flexibility in their work schedules as first-year residents, but we wanted to invite them back to celebrate their graduation, and to thank them for their service over the last 18 months,” said Pedro Falci, MEd, director of Student Affairs.

“It is a little strange since we have been residents for the past year and a half, but I thought it would be nice to attend for our families, and to have the photos,” said Monica Chowdary, MD, now a second-year resident in emergency medicine at DartmouthHitchcock Medical Center.

“It’s great to be back in Boston. It’s nice to see your classmates and catch up, since we have been so busy,” added TJ Williams, MD, now a second-year neurology resident at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Twenty-three PhD recipients attended the ceremony. “We acknowledge the hard work and significant successes of our doctoral and master’s students. We are delighted to have so many of them able to join us today,” said Kimberly Arena, director of Graduate Affairs.

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Medical Curriculum Modified to Identify and Eliminate Racism

Race & Medicine Symposium Asks: Where Do We Go from Here?

W PHOTO: DAVID KEOUGH

PHOTO COURTESY OF KAYE-ALESE GREEN

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espite an evidence-based understanding that racial groups do not differ from one another significantly in biological terms, there are still many examples in medicine where race-based thinking emerges in diagnostic processes, in approaches to patient care, and in unintentional propagation of health disparities.

In a paper published in Academic Medicine, researchers from BUSM presented a blueprint for medical schools to identify problematic instances of racism in medicine as it is represented in medical education. The paper also presents best practices and key recommendations for schools to create more inclusive, antiracist medical curricula.

“This approach has the power to address healthcare disparities head on, to inspire a generation of advocates for change, and to transform the way we think about medical science and the patients we serve,” says corresponding author Kaye-Alese Green, MA, a third-year MD/JD student and the inaugural BUSM Diversity & Inclusion fellow.

A Vertical Integration Group (VIG) of faculty and student advocates was formed to perform a comprehensive internal curriculum assessment and a parallel assessment of peer institutions; this involved students reviewing a wide range of curricular materials while they navigated the curriculum as learners and examined approaches used at peer institutions to promote equity and inclusion.

Their findings and processes were guided and reviewed by the faculty members and, with the endorsement of the Medical Education office, were released to the medical school community with accountability processes to guide implementation.

The curricular recommendations fall into three domains of guiding principles: challenging the persistence of biological/ genetic notions of race; embedding structural practices in medical education to dismantle racism in medicine; and promoting institutional climate change. Initial steps to implement these recommendations are also described.

According to the researchers, it’s important to recognize that this work occurs in the context of a national reckoning with racism in America. “To make change upstream and ensure actual changes to patient care, medical education has to be the leader in teaching students and helping them to recognize the historical and current factors contributing to racism in medicine, in order to prevent that in the future,” says coauthor Priya Garg, MD, associate dean of education.

The school is currently implementing their findings.

ith the goal of understanding the health values of our country and how those values are expressed in our health systems, BUSM hosted the Race and Medicine Symposium. On September 29, Louis W. Sullivan, MD (MED‘58), moderated a panel on the challenges facing our healthcare system and what solutions are possible on individual and institutional levels. The symposium was held in conjunction with the installation of Sabrina Assoumou, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine, as the inaugural Louis W. Sullivan, MD, Professor of Medicine.

Sullivan is the former secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and president emeritus of Morehouse School of Medicine. He previously served as an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and assistant professor of medicine at Seton Hall College of Medicine. In 1966, he became codirector of hematology at Boston University Medical Center and founded the Boston University Hematology Service at Boston City Hospital one year later. Sullivan remained at Boston University until 1975, holding positions as assistant, associate, and professor of medicine.

“He has touched so many lives and has brought so much distinction and honor to all the institutions and organizations with which he has been affiliated,” said David Coleman, MD, FACP, Wade Professor and chair of medicine, as he introduced Sullivan to the virtual group.

Sullivan began by addressing the history of racism in our national healthcare system. He discussed the shorter life expectancy of Winter/Spring 2022 | bumc.bu.edu

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CAMPUS NEWS African Americans, underutilization of medical services by minority populations due to poverty and lack of insurance, and other issues of necessary healthcare access.

The first panel member, August A. White, MD, PhD, Ellen and Melvin Gordon Distinguished Professor of Medical Education at Harvard Medical School and professor of orthopedic surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, presented on “What Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Would Want Us to Know About Healthcare Disparities.”

White noted those most affected by national health disparities, including people with disabilities, women, and prisoners. He detailed solutions such as improving health literacy, educating caregivers and patients, and increasing the diversity of caregivers.

Next, Vivian W. Pinn, MD, director emerita of the Office of Research on Women’s Health through the National Institutes of Health, shared her perspective on “Increasing Racial and Gender Diversity in Medical Research & Among Medical Researchers.” She discussed how the definition and practice of women’s health have changed and undergone significant progress since 1990.

“As women and minorities increase in the general population, and in entry into medical science and research careers, their potential for contributions to advancements in science and medicine becomes even more valuable for our nation,” she said.

She also noted that women are not underrepresented in science due to any lack of aptitude; rather, the three major barriers are related to bias, discrimination, and sexual harassment. Women of color are more affected by these barriers.

Pinn offered solutions to combating this issue, including commitment from leadership at all levels, investing in financial and human resources, and enforcing accountability.

Ronny Lancaster, JD, former senior vice president of Morehouse School of Medicine, presented on the Association of Minority Health Professionals Schools (AMHPS). He spoke about a 1983 report issued by the AMHPS that was the catalyst for HHS Secretary Margaret Heckler assembling a panel of experts to address the issue of minority health. This led to the report, Black and Minority Health, commonly referred to as the Heckler Report, which in turn led to many changes in the department to address minority health issues.

Lancaster also detailed the principal role of the AMHPS in initiatives including Title III, Sec. 326 of the Higher Education Act, the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities, and the Disadvantaged Minority Improvement Act. Panelist Wayne Riley, MD, MPH, MBA, president of Downstate Health Sciences University, emphasized the dire need for more minority representation in the healthcare workforce. While 13 percent of the US population is African American, only 4 percent of doctors are African American.

“People think that diversifying the health professions is rocket science. Colleagues, it’s not,” he said. “You have to be intentional.”

He added that mentorship and sponsorship were vital in getting him to where he is now in his career.

Thanking the panelists and concluding the symposium by reemphasizing the need to collectively work toward a better and more equitable society, Sullivan said, “Although much has been accomplished in improving the health of our citizens, including citizens of color and those who are poor, there still remain challenges to be met by today’s health professionals and for those to come in the future.” n 4

Boston University School of Medicine

Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Strives to Reduce Human, Economic Toll Associated with the Disease

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he human toll of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is staggering. More than 6 million Americans are currently living with AD—a number projected to rise to nearly 13 million by 2050, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. The disease attacks the brain cells, causing memory loss, behavioral changes, and other problems that disrupt everyday life.

Reducing this burden is the mission behind BU’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC). Established in 1996 and one of 33 federally funded Alzheimer’s centers nationwide, the center has recently been awarded a $10 million, five-year grant by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health.

“Our goal is to reduce the human and economic costs associated with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), through the advancement of knowledge and the pursuit of better diagnosis and treatment,” says Neil Kowall, MD, director of the ADRC and professor of neurology.

“The center provides participants, data, and a collection of wellprepared brain material appropriate for the research requirements of local and national research efforts.”

The ADRC team spans multiple disciplines and professions, including Boston University faculty from the School of Medicine and the Charles River Campus, postdoctoral fellows and trainees, and a diverse staff of study coordinators, research nurses, technicians, and research assistants.

In addition to its research goals, the center provides educational resources to patients, healthy aging individuals, caregivers, and healthcare professionals. It also partners with local, affiliated clinics at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and various US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers to assure that all individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders receive the best possible care.

RESEARCH The center’s renewed funding will allow the team to continue its important work toward improving diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of AD.

“Right now, there is no truly effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease—the disease is relentlessly progressive,” says Kowall. “The only way to improve diagnosis and to find better treatments and cures is through research.”

Among various ongoing research studies at the center, some help researchers learn about the changes that occur in memory as people age; family and genetic studies look at the link between AD and genetics; caregiving studies focus on issues related to activities in daily life; and imaging and biofluid studies help researchers learn how brain scans and blood tests can provide earlier detection of AD. The center also investigates how brain trauma may affect risk for and clinical symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, including CTE, and a number of research participants have played contact sports, are combat veterans, or have experienced intimate partner violence.

One new project is examining “digital phenotypes” using data from wearable devices. Researchers are determining if smartphone data and activity trackers can detect dementia earlier—or more easily—than traditional pencil and paper testing.

The center also assesses whether computerized memory tests that are connected to brainwave-detecting electroencephalography (EEG) devices can diagnose and evaluate the severity of AD with improved sensitivity and specificity compared to traditional measures.

EDUCATION As a leading educational resource on AD, the center hosts numerous events and programs for community members, conducting and supporting professional educational activities and training dozens of healthcare professionals and researchers over the past 25 years.

To expand its reach and enhance efforts to educate the local community about AD, the ADRC partners with various agencies throughout Massachusetts.

Andrew Budson, MD, the center’s associate director for research and professor of neurology, cites education as an important tool when it comes to AD diagnosis and care.

“Understanding the differences between changes in memory due to normal aging versus due to Alzheimer’s disease is tricky, and education about those differences is crucial,” he says.

Recognizing that education is a vital component to managing Alzheimer’s disease, Budson and Maureen O’Connor, PsyD, leader of the ADRC Research Education Component, recently published Six Steps to Managing Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia.

The book breaks down the overwhelming process of caring for a loved one with AD into six digestible steps that cover understanding the disease; managing its problems; reviewing medications that can improve daily function; building a care and support team; sustaining relationships with a loved one suffering from AD; and navigating long-term care.

“We wrote this book to provide families with a straightforward guide to manage all the problems that come with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia,” Budson says. “It’s important to let individuals and families know that we can do much more to help someone with Alzheimer’s disease when they come to us in the earliest stages.”

“Right now, there is no truly effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease— the disease is relentlessly progressive. The only way to improve diagnosis and to find better treatments and cures is through research.”

Neil Kowall, MD

Director of the ADRC and professor of neurology

The ADRC website provides helpful resources for those who want to learn more about AD, including an overview of the disease, FAQs, an events calendar, and video resources.

CLINICAL CARE Although the ADRC does not provide clinical care, it partners with local clinics that offer services to individuals and families affected by AD and related memory problems.

Jesse Mez, MD, and Michael Alosco, PhD, coleaders of the ADRC Clinical Core and associate professors of neurology, launched a Memory and Aging clinic at BMC in spring 2020.

Mez, a neurologist with subspecialty training in behavioral neurology and neuropsychiatry, is the clinic’s medical director, and Alosco, a licensed clinical neuropsychologist who specializes in the neuropsychological evaluation of dementia, serves as neuropsychology director. The clinic closely integrates patient care, education, and research, providing patients and family members the opportunity to participate in an array of research studies along with standard clinical treatment.

O’Connor directs the Memory Diagnostic Clinic at the VA medical center in Bedford, Massachusetts. The Bedford clinic serves veterans with memory problems and mild dementia, and provides information to patients and caregivers concerning diagnosis, family planning, and patient care.

Budson and his colleague, Katherine Turk, MD, coleader of the ADRC Outreach, Recruitment, and Engagement Core, oversee the Memory Disorders Clinics at the VA medical centers in Boston and Brockton. These clinics evaluate veterans with common as well as uncommon disorders of aging including not only Alzheimer’s disease but also vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, frontotemporal dementia, and primary progressive aphasia. n Winter/Spring 2022 | bumc.bu.edu

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BUMC’s Dedication to Military-Affiliated and Veteran Communities

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hile Veterans Day only comes along once a year, the Boston University Medical Campus is committed to improving the lives of the military and veteran communities every day through doing cutting-edge research, providing excellent clinical care, and facilitating access to government scholarship support for students returning from, or planning to serve in, the military.

“Through a combination of onsite programs, training, and research including the Boston University Center for Military Health, strong affiliations with three Veterans Affairs medical centers, and specific research and programs within Graduate Medical Sciences (GMS) and the schools of Medicine (BUSM), Dental Medicine (GSDM), and Public Health (BUSPH), the campus works to support and improve the lives of service members,” says Karen Antman, MD, provost of the Medical Campus and dean of the School of Medicine.

CENTER FOR MILITARY HEALTH Founded in 2015, the Center for Military Health has an ambitious vision: to make Boston University the hub for military health research in New England. With expertise in fields including traumatic brain injury, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), trauma, and gender issues, BU scientists at the center are dedicated to meeting the varied health needs of US service members.

Research is one of three main center pillars. “We improve the health of active-duty members and veterans through research and finding better treatments for some of the common problems that affect this community,” explains Glenn Markenson, MD, professor of obstetrics & gynecology and center director. “Veterans often struggle with mental health issues like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression, as well as traumatic brain injuries.

Additionally, a subset of chronic conditions, like arthritis or pulmonary issues, can arise from prolonged service in the military.”

The center serves as matchmaker between investigators at the Medical Campus schools and research grants supported by the Department of Defense (DoD), and encourages BU researchers to apply for relevant grants and serve as a resource for questions.

Markenson’s research focuses on issues specific to women serving in the military. He published findings that military servicewomen have an increased preterm birth risk within six months of their first deployment, and those with three prior deployments face even greater risk. The study encouraged further research to better understand and address these often-overlooked specific health needs.

“We’re hoping to increase our focus in the School of Medicine on women’s research and eventually establish a center to support servicewomen and women veterans,” Markenson says.

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The center is committed to ensuring that future health professionals are well informed in order to offer outstanding care to veterans and military-affiliated patients.

“We feel strongly that BU provides an amazing education and really would serve the military personnel well if veterans were cared for by BU-educated medical, dental, and PA students,” Markenson says.

The center also is working to increase recruitment of medical and dental students who plan to serve in the military. Both groups of military-affiliated students can receive financial support through the center, and can use a military scholarship to pay for medical or dental school—or a physician assistant program—and go on to serve in the military. Veterans who have completed their service can get support to pursue an education outside of the military. In addition to GI Bill grants for undergraduate studies, these veterans can attend either the School of Medicine or the School of Dental Medicine.

Markenson was a recipient of the Health Professions Scholarship Program, which covers the cost of attendance to medical or dental school programs for army, navy, and air force veterans. “We want to encourage veterans to come here and make it known that we are a very veteran-friendly place,” he says.

Finally, the center supports veterans who are working and studying on the Medical Campus. The team is developing an outreach program to connect veteran BUSM employees with military-affiliated students and military members to provide mentorship and guidance.

VETERANS AFFAIRS CENTERS The Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine are affiliated with the VA Boston Healthcare System, with locations in West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, and Brockton; the Edith Nourse Rogers VA in Bedford, and the Manchester VA in New Hampshire.

BUSM and GSDM offer development opportunities for faculty located at the three affiliated VAs, which provide education and training opportunities for students, residents, and fellows as they pursue training in delivering clinical care and conducting research.

“Medical and PA students rotate through the VA and learn about the special needs and qualities of veterans, furthering their ability to deliver care to veterans wherever they might see patients,” says Michael Charness, MD, professor of neurology and associate dean for Veteran Affairs at BUSM and chief of staff at VA Boston Healthcare System.

Part of VA’s commitment to training the next generation of health professionals includes GSDM’s oral surgery and endodontic faculty and residents and fourth-year dental students providing dental care to VA Boston Healthcare System veterans. “Our students are honored to make a difference in the lives of those who have given so much for our country,” says Michelle Henshaw, DDS, MPH, professor of health policy and health services research, and associate dean for global and population health at GSDM. BUMC and the VA collaborate on world-class research programs, such as the BU Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, the National Center for PTSD, the VA Normative Aging Study, the VA Dental Longitudinal Study, and the Million Veteran Program, the world’s largest genomic biorepository.

“No other university in the world has surpassed the contributions to solving the problems of psychological trauma and its related conditions.”

Terence M. Keane, PhD

Professor of psychiatry and assistant dean of research

“Working at the VA has been a privilege and honor,” Charness says. “We are serving those who have sacrificed to defend this country.” He adds that their patient population comprises veterans with modest financial resources and many who have suffered disabilities; in this way VA Boston functions similarly to BMC as a safety-net hospital.

Charness notes that the VA is exemplary in responding directly to the unique health needs of veterans; cochlear implants for hearing loss, cardiac pacemakers for heart disease, and the first shingles vaccine were all major contributions of VA research. The National Center for PTSD was the first national initiative to address this disabling psychiatric condition, and the center continues to lead the world in developing novel ways to evaluate and treat people with PTSD. The Women’s Division of the National Center for PTSD, at the VA Boston is world renowned for its unique focus on the psychological problems experienced by women veterans.

“We are deeply proud of the achievements of Boston University faculty who’ve made significant contributions to the understanding, evaluation, and treatment of PTSD over the past 32 years since the National Center for PTSD was funded,” says Terence M. Keane, PhD, professor of psychiatry and assistant dean of research, who has directed the center since its inception.

“No other university in the world has surpassed the contributions to solving the problems of psychological trauma and its related conditions.”

GSDM faculty, including Dr. Marianne Jurasic, Dr. Judith Jones, and Carolyn Wehler, have been members of the VA’s

Oral Health Quality Group since its inception in 2008. As part of VHA’s Office of Dentistry, they have assisted with policy decisions that have improved the oral health of veterans attending VA dental service clinics across the nation. Initiatives include in-office applied fluoride to high-risk veterans, guided by a process of care measures.

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE A small number of first-year medical students rotate through the VA as they learn the core skills of practicing medicine, including how to appropriately interview and interact with patients. Many more rotate through the VA for their more intense third- and fourth-year core clinical training. “Our clinical affiliations with the VA are a terrific strength,” says Elizabeth Yellen, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics and assistant dean for affiliated sites. “It’s a really nice bidirectional relationship.”

The Other Side of the Bed program is available to students after their first year of medical school. Hired as health technicians at the VA Boston Healthcare System, accepted students undergo intensive training and complete a two-month service while attending weekly lectures on topics including patient safety and physician-nurse collaboration. The program is a valuable opportunity for students to get to know their patients beyond medical diagnoses.

Yellen notes that the VA is BUSM’s most significant partner when it comes to providing clinical education. Students focus on internal medicine, surgery, neurology, and psychiatry at VA Boston, ambulatory medicine, psychiatry, and neurology at the Manchester VA, and psychiatry and ambulatory medicine in their fourth year at the Bedford VA. “One strength of the VA that I see, and that students really appreciate, is the incredible sense of mission,” she says. “There’s this real sense that we as a society are committed to take care of this special group of people who have sacrificed tremendously on our behalf.”

In addition to its clinical partnership with the VA, BUSM supports community members affiliated with the military through national organizations such as the Women Veterans Network (WoVeN), which provides peer support by and for women veterans. Structured as an eight-week program, peer leaders coordinate weekly small groups of six to eight women veterans focusing on the unique needs of women veterans, such as life transitions, balance, and stress.

GRADUATE MEDICAL SCIENCES In August 2021, Graduate Medical Sciences launched the Community Catalyst Center, or C3, to promote a sense of belonging across the diverse student population. The center includes various affinity groups, including gMAV (MilitaryAffiliated and Veteran Students). Through resources, events, and workshops, the group hopes to bring together GMS staff, faculty, and students with military backgrounds.

“We saw a need for community-building in this area, and we were not aware of many support groups for veterans in higher education,” says GMS administrative assistant Hannah Andry, MEd. An Air Force veteran, first class airman, and trained as an aerospace medic, Andry was also one of the first female-identifying Winter/Spring 2022 | bumc.bu.edu

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“If you’re going to send people into combat to serve our country, then you must ensure they’re healthy by having trained, qualified clinicians, both physicians and dentists, ready to treat their needs.”

Joseph Calabrese, DMD

Associate dean of students at GSDM

enlisted trainees to cross-train for special operations candidacy.

“Seeking support and community isn’t something at the forefront of military culture and asking for help when you’re out of the military can be hard,” Andry says.

The gMAV group is working to increase awareness by being more visible within the Medical Campus community, from setting up an information table in the Instructional Building lobby on Veterans Day to hosting community chats. Currently, gMAV has three support members representing GMS staff and faculty and two student mentors.

The goal is to be proactive about meeting the needs of veterans and military-affiliated students. “We want to lead with curiosity and be proactive allies for this group,” Andry says.

SCHOOL OF DENTAL MEDICINE Joseph Calabrese, DMD, associate dean of students at GSDM, feels that oral health and overall health are inextricably linked.

“If you’re going to send people into combat to serve our country, then you must ensure they’re healthy by having trained, qualified clinicians, both physicians and dentists, ready to treat their needs,” he says. “We have to do everything we can to support them.”

In his role as associate dean, Calabrese works to ensure students and residents are aware of scholarship opportunities offered by the military. In September 2021, Calabrese received 8

Boston University School of Medicine

an award from the US Army recognizing his support and dedication to the Office of the Army Surgeon General and Boston Medical Recruiting Company. Later that fall, he was honored with the 2021 Soaring Eagle Award from the BU Center for Military Health, presented annually to an individual who has made significant contributions to the health of United States veterans and activeduty military members through innovation and advances in clinical care, research, and education or public advocacy.

In 2021, GSDM established the Uniformed Services Student Dental Association (USSDA), a community for students and residents participating in the Health Professions Scholarship Program, the Health Services Collegiate Program, and others interested in a career in military dentistry.

The USSDA’s mission is to improve the experience of military scholarship students by preparing future military dentists in areas such as navigating chain of command, selecting active-duty training locations, applying for military residency programs, maintaining physical fitness, and engaging in community service projects that support veterans, active-duty military, and their families.

Kathy Lituri, GSDM’s oral health promotion director, notes that since its inception, the USSDA has participated in community service activities including Toys for Tots, Greater Boston Stand Down, and the Disabled American Veterans 5K Boston, a run, walk, roll, and ride that thanks those who have served and raises awareness of the daily issues our ill and injured veterans face.

For more than a decade, GSDM has offered oral screenings, denture cleaning and labeling, and dental referrals at Greater Boston Stand Down, a daylong event where VA staff, volunteers, and service providers give food, clothing, and health screenings to homeless and at-risk veterans.

In addition to their many community service activities, students, residents, and faculty participate in clinical activities at Veterans Affairs medical centers.

SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH BUSPH researchers conduct an array of research on issues pertaining to veteran health, including the longstanding Gulf War Veteran Study, the PEPReC (Partnered Evidenced-Based Policy Resource Center) study, and the Ohio Army National Guard Mental Health longitudinal study.

There is also VetChange, a free, online, self-directed resource for veterans experiencing alcohol and PTSD problems developed in 2011 through a continuing partnership between the Boston VA Healthcare System, National Center for PTSD, BUSPH, and BUSM, with support from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, the VA, and Google. A randomized clinical trial of the program helped veterans returning from combat areas significantly reduce both their alcohol consumption and PTSD symptoms. The Boston VA VetChange team is currently working to integrate VetChange into addiction treatment programs inside the VA. n

GMS Launches Community Catalyst Center to Enrich Graduate Education

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raduate Medical Sciences (GMS) faculty and staff believe that graduate education is enriched by diversity and a strong sense of community among peers. This philosophy sparked the idea for the Graduate Medical Sciences Community Catalyst Center (C3), which launched in August 2021 with the goal of fostering holistic success for the diverse GMS student community by providing helpful resources, events, workshops, and community chats.

“We are excited to offer this additional support to our students,” said Deborah Stearns-Kurosawa, PhD, ad interim associate provost and dean of GMS.

The center features five affinity groups: gSOC (students of color); gFIRST (first-generation students); gMAV (militaryaffiliated and veteran students); gPLUS (LGBTQIA+ students); and gGLOBAL (international students).

“We are so proud of the diverse perspectives of our community and are eager to make sure that all students are comfortable and confident during graduate school, so they feel like an integral part of the GMS community,” said Theresa A. Davies, PhD, director of Oral Health Sciences and assistant dean of GMS master’s programs.

Past events sponsored by the center include walking tours of popular Boston neighborhoods, workshops on acclimating to GMS and Boston, and community chat social events for each of the affinity groups. Students of all backgrounds are welcome and encouraged to participate in C3 programming. n

MD Student Receives Prestigious Pisacano Scholarship Approximately 3,000 applicants representing more than 140 medical schools competed for these scholarships

PHOTO COURTESY OF PRESTON BUTLER

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reston Butler, a fourth-year medical student at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), is one of nine medical student scholars selected as a 2021 Pisacano Scholar.

Awardees are students attending US medical schools who show demonstrable leadership skills, superior academic achievement, strong communication skills, identifiable character and integrity, and a noteworthy level of community service. Butler is the second BUSM student selected as a Pisacano Scholar since the start of the program in 1993.

The scholarship program, valued at approximately $28,000 to each recipient, provides educational programs, leadership training, and funding for outstanding fourth-year medical students who have been identified as future leaders in the field of family medicine.

Originally from Maryville, Tennessee, Preston received his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Dallas with a degree in neuroscience as a Eugene McDermott Scholar and a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation College Scholar, the university’s preeminent scholarship designation.

At BUSM, he has advocated for LGBTQ patients by leading Service Pride, a service-learning group that volunteers in a foster home for LGBTQ youth and is funded by a grant that he and his coleaders secured from the Massachusetts Medical Society.

His commitment to community, primary care, and care of underserved populations led to Butler’s selection for the National Health Service Corps in his third year of medical school and the Gold Humanism Honor Society in his fourth. He plans to dedicate his career in family medicine to supporting the health of medically underresourced communities by practicing full-spectrum care with an emphasis on maternal and child health and LGBTQIA+ health, promoting interdisciplinary practice, equity, and antiracism.

Each Pisacano Scholar received an endorsement from his or her medical school prior to being reviewed by the Selection Committee, which comprises distinguished members of the Pisacano Leadership Foundation (PLF) Board of Directors and more than 300 participating family physicians. Since 1993, the PLF has selected 166 outstanding medical students for this honor. n Winter/Spring 2022 | bumc.bu.edu

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CAMPUS NEWS

GMS Student Spotlight:

Elissa Everton

“This is the powerhouse of biomedical research. Everyone you meet here is involved in something awesome.”

Elissa Everton

Fifth-year graduate student

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Boston University School of Medicine

RESEARCH Everton works in the Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM) at BUSM where, under the supervision of Dr. Valerie Gouon-Evans, she is studying the gender differences in Tylenol overdose recoveries.

According to research published in Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, Tylenol overdose causes more than 50,000 emergency room visits and 400 deaths per year in the US. Her research grew out of a project studying liver injuries in mice when she noticed that male and female mice responded differently to the dosages. Eventually, after her research was applied to hormonal treatment studies, the researchers found that growth hormones could be useful in treating Tylenol overdose.

Everton, who plans to work for Clarion Healthcare, a Seaportbased life sciences consultancy, starting next year, values working in an area of direct patient impact. “Every time I tell the story of my research, someone knows someone who has had a Tylenol overdose,” she says. “So, I feel like I have a purpose there.” n

PHOTO COURTESY OF ELISSA EVERTON

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ew Jersey native and BUSM fifth-year graduate student Elissa Everton has no intention of leaving Boston. “Are you kidding me? This is the powerhouse of biomedical research. Everyone you meet here is involved in something awesome,” she says.

Everton’s path wasn’t always so clear. Before coming to BUSM, she studied biotechnology and biochemistry at Rutgers University and had no plans to pursue more advanced education. After working for three years in bioremediation, however, she decided to get a PhD. “I realized I definitely needed another degree—I just didn’t know how to get there,” the first-generation college student recalls.

Everton navigated applications for doctorate programs on her own, often relying on online forums for advice. “I didn’t know anyone who applied for a PhD [program],” she says.

“I got to my first [interview] weekend and found out that people had applied to 15 schools. I applied to three.” Everton was accepted into BUSM’s graduate program in biomedical sciences and will graduate from the Molecular & Translational Medicine PhD program.

Her application experience highlights the importance of community for students who are first in their family to attend college. Everton is a mentor for gFirst, a program that helps guide first-generation students, and a member of the Tri Alpha chapter of the Newbury Center, which provides academic and community resources for them.

STUDENT GROUPS In addition to investing time in first-generation student groups, Everton is a founding member of several academic clubs, including the BU Biotech Consulting Club and the Medical Innovation and Technology program.

Everton was inspired to start the consulting club last year after a recruiter relayed the difficulties of learning about—and breaking into—the life sciences industry and expressed the need for a BU community to teach students about the industry. Everton thought, “I could do that.” And she did.

Along with fellow graduate student Shen Ning, Everton also cofounded the Medical Innovation and Technology (MInT) entrepreneurship program, an interdisciplinary group that fosters entrepreneurship in the life sciences industry. Last year, several student-led MInT teams designed new medical devices, receiving $12,000 in funding for their inventions. Everton was the first person Ning recruited for the leadership team. “It was a natural match. The way we work together, the way we communicate, sometimes…we steal the words out of the other person’s mouth,” Ning says.

Everton describes getting MInT off the ground as a “whirlwind.”

“There was so much excitement around it…we had, I think, 50 people at our first informational meeting,” she says. MInT now has integrated into Nucleate, a nationwide community for bioentrepreneurs.

“I attribute a lot of the success of MInT to the team,” says Ning.

Becoming a Doctor Is More Than Wearing a White Coat

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n September 13, the MD Class of 2025 gathered for the fourth annual Lorraine Stanfield Memorial Doctoring Lecture. Stanfield served as assistant professor of medicine, director of the Introduction to Clinical Medicine 2 (ICM-2) course, director of the Clinical Skills and Simulation Center, and student advisor and Center for Community Health Education Research and Service, Inc. (CCHERs) instructor for more than 20 years.

The lecture aims to help students understand the healing role of physician-patient interactions and the important function the physical examination plays in caring for and diagnosing patients, and to connect these themes to Stanfield’s career as a primary care clinician and award-winning medical educator.

Elizabeth Ferrenz, MD, assistant professor of family medicine, introduced the afternoon activities.

“Today is the anniversary of Dr. Stanfield’s passing and so it’s a particularly meaningful day for us all to be here together as you take the next step on your own journey. During the White Coat ceremony we welcomed you to the study of medicine. What we’re going to do today is to pass on some of the equipment and diagnostic tools that you’ll be using to involve yourself with patients in a different way than you may have done in the past.”

Megan Young, MD, assistant professor of medicine and assistant dean for student affairs, delivered the keynote address.

“It is a pleasure to speak today and honor Dr. Lorraine Stanfield.

During her time here at BU she received every teaching award you can possibly get. When I first started here as faculty at BUSM, I worked as one of the doctoring course directors alongside Lorraine. I am the educator and clinician I am today because of her,” Young said.

“Doctoring is an apprenticeship, defined as an arrangement in which you learn an art, trade, or job under another. To all the students here today, a piece of advice: observe all the different people you work with over the next four years and incorporate the traits you admire into the kind of doctor you want to be. I did this with Lorraine.

“I got this stethoscope 15 years ago when I was a first-year medical student at the University of Chicago. Although Lorraine wasn’t the one who taught me how to use it, she taught me much about the importance of using it. When you get your stethoscope today, hold on to it. Observe how your mentors use it. Use it as a starting point for the laying on of hands. Be good to yourselves and do something you love.”

In addition to the 167 members of the Class of 2025, Stanfield’s friends and family attended the lecture, including her husband, Pastor Burns Stanfield, and her colleague Katie Harris, MD, who serves as an internist and primary care doctor at DotHouse Health, a neighborhood health center that partners with Boston Medical Center to provide consistent, high-quality care, regardless of ability to pay. Stanfield worked at DotHouse for 26 years.

Harris related how she and Stanfield went through medical school and residency together, started at DotHouse together, and became treasured friends who raised their families together. “As a teacher, she really loved the physical exam. She never lost her sense of wonder and fascination with the fact that we examine parts of the body and diagnose and treat illnesses.

“As a doctor she was dedicated, smart, and kind. Her patients were devastated by her loss. When she passed away we all inherited her patients, and hers were big shoes to fill. I got into the habit of asking (her patients) what was it about her that made her special? They would always say, ‘she really listened to me, and she really knew me as a person.’ I think that would be my advice to you moving forward.”

Harris said that after Stanfield’s death, people donated money to DotHouse in her honor, which will now fund activities she valued. The BUSM Clinical Skills Simulation Center, which Stanfield was instrumental in establishing, will be updated and renamed, and the Lorraine Stanfield Scholarship at DotHouse will support a medical student summer internship between first and second year focused on community health work and a special project. “It’s been a really great way to honor Lorraine and combine her interest in teaching and community health and primary care,” said Harris.

Harris introduced second-year MD student Darienne Madlala, the inaugural recipient of the Lorraine Dudley Stanfield Scholarship. Madlala worked at DotHouse last summer, focusing on a hypertension quality improvement project, but also spent time in urgent care, infectious diseases, and going on home visits with Harris.

“When I first got to DotHouse and was introduced as the Lorraine Stanfield Scholar, the reaction was consistently the same,” Madlala said. ‘Oh, my goodness. Oh, I love her so much!’ and then people would dive into a story they had about Dr. Stanfield.

“I realized that Dr. Stanfield really was ‘someone’ here. And I consistently heard the notion of big boots to fill. Providers who had inherited her patients all agreed. Her impact was made very clear to me when I was there over the summer.”

A medical equipment kit distribution—managed by the Medical Education office for more than 15 years and funded by 1,500 alumni donors over the last 13 years—followed the lecture. The kit includes a diagnostic set (stethoscope, otoscope, and ophthalmoscope), a blood pressure cuff, tuning forks, a reflex hammer, and a paper gown. Also included was a card with the name and contact information of the alumni donor responsible. The class gathered together, tried out their new stethoscopes, and wrote thank-you notes to the donors who made the day possible.

Elizabeth Dooling, MD (MED’65) continued her annual tradition of being the primary donor of Atul Gawande’s book, Being Mortal.

“Lorraine Stanfield was the essence of doctoring,” said Priya Garg, MD, associate dean for medical education. “She cared deeply for her students and wanted them to truly become premier clinicians.

Before she passed away, she was sick and had to be seen in the ER. A former student came in to see her. Lorraine knew that she had fluid in her lungs and knew that the student could learn from her physical exam. Despite being the patient and feeling ill, she walked the student through her own physical exam so that the student could hear the lung sounds. That was who Lorraine was as a teacher and a person.

Today’s doctoring course is due to the work Lorraine started and that we now build upon.” n Winter/Spring 2022 | bumc.bu.edu

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FACULTY

News

Appointments, Honors & Awards Matthew Layne Named Assistant Dean for Research Matthew Layne, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry, has been named assistant dean for research.

Dedicated to facilitating, monitoring, and evaluating research experiences for medical students to expand and enhance student research opportunities at BUSM, Layne will report to Associate Dean for Research Andrew Taylor and work collaboratively with the Medical Education, Enrichment, and Student Affairs offices. In this role, Layne will maintain and develop new resources, programs, and curriculum for medical student research.

Layne also studies the mechanisms of fibroproliferative diseases; current projects include identifying signaling pathways in the vasculature that lead to aortic aneurysm.

Collaborative studies underway are defining the mechanisms of fat tissue expansion driven by changes in adipose tissue progenitors and identifying the mechanisms by which specific, disease-causing mutations lead to Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. n Vasan Ramachandran Receives International Honors Vasan Ramachandran, MD, FACC, the Jay and Louise Coffman Professor in Vascular Medicine, has been recognized with two outstanding honors in the fields of cardiovascular medicine and circulatory diseases.

Ramachandran was named the American Heart Association’s 2021 Distinguished Scientist in General Preventive Medicine and received the 2021 Louis and Artur Lucian Award, an honor bestowed annually to one researcher from around the world who has made exceptional contributions to the field of circulatory diseases.

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Boston University School of Medicine

Ramachandran was selected for these honors due to the impact his work has had on clinical practice in hypertension and for his significant contributions to the genetic and nongenetic epidemiology of high blood pressure and heart failure.

He has implemented population-based vascular testing (endothelial function and arterial stiffness), echocardiography, and exercise testing at scale in communitybased programs. He has also raised awareness of the lifetime risk for high blood pressure, examining young adult and midlife blood pressures as significant determinants of an individual’s risk for heart disease and stroke.

Joining BUSM as an associate professor of medicine in 1998, Ramachandran was promoted to professor in 2006 and appointed professor of epidemiology at BU School of Public Health in 2013.

Currently, he serves as chief of the section of preventive medicine and epidemiology in the department of medicine; principal investigator and director of the renowned Framingham Heart Study, with which he has been affiliated for the past 19 years; and principal investigator and founder of the Risk Underlying Rural Areas Longitudinal cohort study. He also is the founding editor of Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics and has received many RO1 awards and a midcareer clinical investigator award (K24) from the National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute.

Ramachandran has made major contributions to the genetic and nongenetic epidemiology of congestive heart failure; population-based vascular testing, echocardiography and exercise testing; the genetic and nongenetic epidemiology of high blood pressure; and cardiovascular disease risk prediction models. His many awards and honors include BUSM’s department of medicine’s Evans Scholar and Outstanding Mentor awards in 2010; Outstanding Mentor, American Heart Association (AHA) Council on Epi-

demiology Prevention in 2012; and the AHA’s prestigious Population Science Award in 2014.

Ramachandran received his medical degree from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, India, where he also completed his residency in internal medicine and fellowship in cardiology. n Sabrina Assoumou Named Louis W. Sullivan, MD, Professor of Medicine On September 29, Sabrina Assoumou, MD, MPH, was installed as the inaugural Louis W. Sullivan, MD, Professor of Medicine as colleagues, friends, and family gathered in person and virtually to celebrate the occasion and her contributions to the field of medicine.

The installation was held in conjunction with the Race and Medicine symposium (please see story on page 3).

Assoumou, a BUSM assistant professor of medicine as well as an attending physician in the section of infectious diseases at Boston Medical Center (BMC), is a clinician-investigator who cares for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients at BMC’s Centers for Infectious Diseases. Assoumou’s research focuses on medical complications of substance use, including HIV and Hepatitis C virus (HCV).

This professorship honors Louis W. Sullivan, MD (MED’58), former secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and president of Morehouse School of Medicine. In 1966, he became the codirector of hematology at Boston University Medical Center and founded the Boston University Hematology Service at Boston City Hospital one year later. Sullivan remained at Boston University until 1975, holding positions as assistant, associate, and professor of medicine.

David Coleman, MD, FACP, Wade Professor and chair of Medicine, highlighted Assoumou’s achievements in medicine

and emphasized the significance of professorship installations.

“Today we celebrate the establishment of a new professorship. We do so as part of a number of efforts to concretely and specifically value the need to become a more diverse and just profession, institution, and department,” he said.

Two guest speakers shared remarks on Sullivan and Assoumou’s transformative work.

Edgar Smith, PhD, professor of biochemistry, spoke first about Sullivan’s legacy.

“It is with a great sense of pride that I accept the honor and the challenge of introducing my friend and former colleague, Dr. Louis W. Sullivan,” Smith said. “The honor derives from a relationship spanning a period of more than 50 years. The challenge stems from an attempt to do justice to his enormous list of accomplishments.”

Smith detailed Sullivan’s career, from becoming a BUSM professor to establishing the Office of Research and Minority Health (now the National Institute of Minority Health and Disparities) at the NIH and organizing the Sullivan Alliance in 2005 to increase diversity and transform health professions education.

“Won’t you please join me in welcoming my friend, a true hero of American medicine, and an untiring warrior for health equity,” Smith concluded.

Sullivan spoke of his experience moving to Boston for medical school, his excitement at the learning opportunities before him, and his trepidation at living in a nonsegregated environment for the first time, saying that luckily, his classmates were welcoming, the faculty members were supportive, and he was able to immerse himself in the rich history of medicine in Boston.

Next, Benjamin Linas, MD, MPH, professor of medicine/infectious diseases, discussed Assoumou’s passion and positivity as a mentor and colleague.

“As you know, mentoring is a two-way street, and you inspire me in all you do,” he said.

Assoumou thanked her supporters and shared the many lessons she has learned along her career journey, including finding

your passion, honing your craft, and appreciating what you have.

Her father, who tuned in over Zoom from Abidjan, West Africa, praised his daughter and all she has achieved.

“The whole extended family is proud of you. The village is proud of you. Keep up the excellent work,” he said. n Tejumola Adegoke Named Inaugural MACE Fellow Tejumola Adegoke, MD, assistant professor of obstetrics & gynecology, has been named an inaugural MACE Fellow by the Maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences (MACE) Foundation.

Adegoke, who also serves as an obstetrics & gynecology physician and director of equity and inclusion at Boston Medical Center (BMC), leads the RESTORE (Reproductive Sexual Gynecologic Health Community Partnership) project that seeks to amplify the criticality of including the voices of communities of color in patient and community research priorities on maternal health inequities by establishing a permanent patient advisory board for the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at BMC.

“This project will inform advocacy efforts to improve maternal health care provision at the local and state levels and will be disseminated to other institutions to guide future research and quality improvement to address maternal health inequities.”

Tejumola Adegoke, MD Assistant professor of obstetrics & gynecology

“This compendium of priorities will form the agenda for continued communitybased participatory research with the Boston community. This project will inform advocacy efforts to improve maternal health care provision at the local and state levels and will be disseminated to other institutions to guide future research and quality improvement to address maternal health inequities,” said Adegoke.

The foundation also named BU Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences Clinical Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy Leanne Yinusa-Nyahkoon a MACE Fellow.

“The MACE Foundation is confident the projects of these fellows will yield positive and transformative results in the development of strategies, solutions, and policies in prevention and intervention that mitigate the disproportionate maternal mortality rates for Black women,” said Sharon W. Cooper, MD, MACE Foundation founder. n Joseph Mizgerd Named Jerome S. Brody Professor of Pulmonary Medicine On September 14, Joseph P. Mizgerd, ScD, was named the inaugural Jerome S. Brody, MD, Professor of Pulmonary Medicine in a ceremony held in person and virtually as colleagues, friends, and family gathered to celebrate his contributions to the pulmonary field.

The professorship honors Jerome Brody, professor emeritus of pulmonary, allergy, sleep & critical care medicine and the longest-serving director of the Pulmonary Center, overseeing its growth and accomplishments for more than 20 years. He has made many seminal contributions relating to cigarette smoking-induced lung disease, including lung cancer and COPD. Professor of medicine, microbiology, and biochemistry, and the center’s current director, Mizgerd focuses his work on immunology in the lung and its influence on acute lower respiratory tract infections.

Winter/Spring 2022 | bumc.bu.edu

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FACULTY NEWS

Appointments, Honors & Awards

BUMC Provost and BUSM Dean Karen Antman, MD, kicked off the event by noting that professorship installations offer some of the most joyful moments in academic medicine before opening the floor to David Coleman, MD, FACP, Wade Professor and chair of medicine.

“Professorships are a very important part of the way that we acknowledge people in our environment who have been really meaningful, important elements of the character of our department and our institution,” Coleman said.

“Dr. Brody has made indelible contributions to the many people who he inspired and the individuals that he mentored.”

Avrum Spira, MD, MSc, professor of medicine, pathology, and bioinformatics and the Alexander Graham Bell Professor in Health Care Entrepreneurship, spoke of Brody’s legacy in pulmonary medicine and their relationship as collaborators.

“You always were there to help me take the leap, take the risk, to believe in myself,” Spira told Brody. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you, not just on my behalf, but from the ocean of people who you’ve influenced in such a profound way. You’re a unique, visionary leader.”

On behalf of herself and her sisters, Karen Brody thanked the Pulmonary Center and BUSM for honoring their father.

“It makes us so proud that our father’s lifetime of research and teaching are being recognized through this professorship,” she said.

Brody’s brother, stepdaughter, and stepson also spoke of their admiration and pride before Brody stepped up to the podium to thank the speakers.

Matthew Jones, PhD, associate professor of pulmonary, allergy, sleep & critical

“This professorship is the most important, most meaningful, and most personally significant honor I’ve ever received.”

Joseph Mizgerd, ScD Professor of medicine and director of the Pulmonary Center

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Boston University School of Medicine

care medicine, a faculty member in the Pulmonary Center, and a former trainee of Mizgerd’s as a postdoctoral fellow in 2003, when Mizgerd was an assistant professor at Harvard School of Public Health, introduced Mizgerd to the group via Zoom.

“He fosters a culture of curiosity, scientific rigor, insightfulness, and hard work, and it’s balanced with reflection, life accommodation, and fun,” Jones said.

Upon taking the podium, Mizgerd said, “This professorship is the most important, most meaningful, and most personally significant honor I’ve ever received.” n George Murphy Receives the 2021 Healthy Longevity Catalyst Award George Murphy, PhD, associate professor of medicine and codirector of the Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM), has received a 2021 Healthy Longevity Catalyst Award for his project “Deciphering Mechanisms of Disease Resistance and Longevity in Centenarians.”

The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) founded the competition and coordinates among a network of global collaborators, each of whom administers a competition in their respective country or region. The NAM also administers a US-based Catalyst Award competition to which approximately 500 innovators submitted applications in 2021. Murphy is one of 25 awardees and will receive $50,000 as seed funding to advance his project. n Michael Wallace Receives Peter Paul Career Development Professorship Assistant Professor of Anatomy & Neurobiology Michael Wallace, PhD, has been selected to receive this year’s Peter Paul Career Development Professorship, made possible through the generous support of BU Trustee Peter Paul and presented to promising junior faculty who have been at BU for less than two years and who have held no prior professorships.

Wallace’s research uses new technologies and imaging techniques to

better understand the synapses, cells, and circuits—particularly in the basal ganglia— that guide motivated behaviors, with the goal of developing new therapeutics to treat disorders, including depression, Parkinson’s disease, and drug addiction.

Wallace received his PhD in neurobiology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and his bachelor’s degree in cell biology and neuroscience from Rutgers University. He completed his postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School. n Ravin Davidoff Takes on New Roles Ravin Davidoff, MBBCh, professor of medicine, has stepped down as BUSM associate dean for clinical affairs and BMC chief medical officer and senior vice president of medical affairs, effective January 2, 2022. He will continue with BMC and BUSM in a new capacity.

Davidoff joined Boston City Hospital in 1980 as an internal medicine resident—and never left. As a champion and advocate for every person’s right to high-quality, compassionate care, he has earned the trust and respect of patients, faculty, staff, and countless community partners and peers. In addition to his clinical and research achievements, Davidoff served as associate dean of clinical affairs at BUSM and received numerous teaching awards, including the Excellence in Teaching Award in Medicine at University Hospital/Boston Medical Center in 1992, 1996, 2003, and 2006, and the BUSM Stanley L. Robbins Excellence in Teaching Award in 1994.

In his new role, Davidoff will serve as a part-time executive medical director, in which capacity he will manage nonclinical relationships with BUSM and continue his clinical practice, oversight of Boston HealthNet, and leadership of BMC’s ongoing clinical partnership with Steward Health Care. He will also continue to serve as a mentor for health system leaders and help the new chief scientific officer assimilate into that position.

To honor Davidoff’s commitment to exceptional care without exception throughout his career, the BMC Board of Trustees has established and endowed the Ravin Davidoff Health Equity Fellowship

to train the next generation of physician leaders in health equity during the early career stages.

David McAneny, MD, professor of surgery, succeeds Davidoff as BUSM associate dean for clinical affairs and BMC chief medical officer and senior vice president of medical affairs. A valued and esteemed member of BUSM and BMC, McAneny has served as chief of the division of general surgery, vice chair of the department of surgery, and BMC chief surgical officer. He joined University Hospital and Boston City Hospital as a surgery intern in 1983, followed by a fellowship in GI, pancreas, and hepatobiliary surgery at the Lahey Clinic before being recruited back to the department of surgery in 1989. n Angelique Harris Coauthors Award-Winning LGBTQI+ Report The recent National Academies report Understanding the Well-Being of LGBTQI+ Populations received the 2021 Achievement Award from GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQI+ Equality (previously known as the Gay & Lesbian Medical Association) at their 39th Annual Conference on LGBTQI+ Health.

The GLMA Achievement Award honors exemplary individuals and/or organizations for their significant contributions to improving the health and well-being of LGBTQI+

The report was recognized as “a groundbreaking effort to compile and synthesize a decade’s worth of research, policy change, and public opinion about the social and legal status and wellbeing of LGBTQI+ people.”

individuals or people living with HIV/AIDS; improving the climate for the LGBTQI+ health workforce; or contributing to gains made by the LGBTQI+ civil rights movement.

The report was recognized as “a groundbreaking effort to compile and synthesize a decade’s worth of research, policy change, and public opinion about the social and legal status and well-being of LGBTQI+ people.”

Angelique Harris, PhD, associate professor of medicine and director of faculty development & diversity for the department of medicine and director of faculty development for the Medical Campus, contributed to the report as coauthor in her role as a member of the Committee on Understanding the Status and Well-Being of Sexual and Gender Diverse Populations.

Released in 2020, the report explores the well-being of LGBTQI+ and other sexual and gender diverse populations across demography; law and legal systems; public policies and structural stigma; community and civic engagement; families and social relationships; educational environments; economics; physical and mental health; and healthcare access, providing recommendations on strengthening research and evidence-based interventions for this growing and understudied population. n David Coleman to Step Down as Chair of Medicine David Coleman, MD, has announced his plans to step down as Chair of the Department of Medicine at BUSM and Physician-in-Chief at Boston Medical Center. He will remain in these roles while a national search for his successor is conducted.

Coleman came to BUSM as chair and chief in 2006 after serving as chief of medical service at VA Connecticut for 10 years and interim chair of the department of medicine at Yale School of Medicine for nearly four years. He also served as interim president/CEO of the Faculty Practice Plan at BMC. The department of medicine has grown substantially under Coleman’s leadership over the last 15 years. Continuing its already remarkably inspiring history,

the department’s clinical programs have doubled in size and experienced major improvements in inpatient mortality, ambulatory specialty and primary care access, and patient satisfaction. New inpatient specialty teams have been established in nephrology, infectious diseases, and hematology-oncology.

The department’s research programs also developed in size and scope during this period, and research funding increased substantially, to more than $285M of new grants in academic year (AY) 2019. During the period between 2008 and 2018, 70 percent of the department’s more than 10,300 publications appeared in the top quartile of most-cited journals, with five percent of the publications appearing in the top one percent of the most-cited journals.

Several new research instrumentation and education evaluation cores were developed, and five innovative and highly successful centers for research and training were established: the Center for Regenerative Medicine, the Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research, the Center for Integrative Transdisciplinary Epidemiology, the Center for Implementation and Improvement Sciences, and the Program in Health Equity in General Internal Medicine.

Nine endowed professorships were established to support and honor outstanding department faculty. The first section of Computational Biomedicine in a Department of Medicine in the US was formed in 2009, and Biomedical Genetics was established as a separate section.

The department’s educational programs have become increasingly selective and the collective performance of residents on in-training and certification exams has risen to top-tier nationally. The faculty development and diversity programs have become national models and important resources for the entire campus community. The percentage of women faculty at the rank of professor has nearly tripled, with several women appointed to section chief and vice chair positions.

The percentage of department faculty from underrepresented groups increased threefold from AY 2012 to 2020.

In the early phase of his career, Coleman studied fundamental aspects of macrophage proliferation and activation Winter/Spring 2022 | bumc.bu.edu

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FACULTY NEWS

Appointments, Honors & Awards

and characterized immuno-regulatory signals produced by cells of mesenchymal and endodermal origin. More recently, his scholarly work has focused on medical professionalism and program development in research and education. He has received multiple awards, including from the Yale School of Medicine, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the American College of Physicians, and the Humanitarian Award from Catholic Charities of Connecticut. He has served as president of the Association of Professors of Medicine and on the boards of the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine, the American Board of Internal Medicine, and the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation. Based on the accomplishments of the department of medicine and his national service, Coleman received the 2020 Robert Williams Distinguished Chair of Medicine Award from the Association of Professors of Medicine.

Karen Antman, MD, BUMC provost and BUSM dean, and Kate Walsh, BMC president and CEO, congratulated Coleman.

“Please join us in thanking Dr. Coleman for his leadership and his many contributions to our health system, faculty practice, medical school, and professional community over his 15 years at BUSM/BMC,” Dr. Antman said. n Deborah StearnsKurosawa Steps Down as GMS Associate Provost/ Dean ad interim Deborah StearnsKurosawa, PhD, has stepped down from her role as associate provost/dean ad interim for Graduate Medical Sciences (GMS). She will remain on the faculty as an associate professor of pathology & laboratory medicine through June 30, 2022, at which point she will retire from Boston University to spend time gardening and with her family.

Stearns-Kurosawa earned a BS in biochemistry from Pennsylvania State University and a PhD in chemistry from Cleveland State University, doing graduate research at the Cleveland Clinic. She completed postdoctoral training focused on mechanisms of blood coagulation in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) laboratory at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. She joined BU in 2008.

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Boston University School of Medicine

Her research focuses on host contributions to distinct coagulation abnormalities from bacterial and E. coli toxin-induced severe sepsis. Continuously funded as principal or co-investigator on numerous NIH and organizational grants for two decades, Dr. Stearns-Kurosawa holds multiple patents. She also has served on the editorial board of Shock for seven years and has consulted for five pharmaceutical companies.

She was a core faculty member of the BU Faculty Innovation Network—which supported development of the Innovate@ BU initiative for student entrepreneurs—and designed the GMS PA 810 Seminars in the Business of Science course to lead students through the business realities of modern biomedical sciences. She directed and teaches medical immunology for medical and graduate students and codirects the Goldman School of Dental Medicine’s general pathology course. She also has mentored more than a dozen master’s, PhD, and postdoctoral fellows through their research training and into successful careers.

Stearns-Kurosawa has served on numerous BUSM and GMS committees and chaired the Institutional Biosafety Committee. She guided the GMS graduate programs through transitions necessitated by the pandemic and managed the successful return to campus. She also restructured GMS to include a new business office, expanded the registrar’s office, and realigned admissions, marketing, and student services personnel to better serve the GMS community. n C. James McKnight Appointed GMS Associate Provost/Dean C. James McKnight, PhD, associate professor of physiology & biophysics, accepted the position of associate provost and dean for Graduate Medical Sciences (GMS) effective January 1, 2022. McKnight replaced Deborah StearnsKurosawa, PhD, who stepped down from the role at the end of 2021.

He will be a member of the senior leadership teams of the School of Medicine and Medical Campus, overseeing curricula and execution of all graduate programs

including recruitment, admissions, ongoing program activities, new program development, and student outcomes. He also will continue to foster the collaboration of the basic science and clinical departments in education and graduate research.

McKnight received his BS in chemistry from Washington College, Chestertown, Maryland; master’s in chemistry and biochemistry from the University of Delaware; and PhD in biochemistry from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT before joining BU in 1995 as an assistant professor of biophysics.

A structural biologist who directs the BUSM Core Facility for Structural NMR Spectroscopy, McKnight also serves as cocourse director of Foundations in Biomedical Sciences in the PhD curriculum, and codirects the renal section of the PrISM course for medical students. He is an experienced and valued mentor, teaching multiple medical, dental, PA, and GMS classes on campus.

He chairs both the GMS Committee on Academic Standards and the Program in Biomedical Sciences (PiBS) Admissions Committee, recruiting committee members from the 10 participating doctoral programs and working with them to fairly and thoroughly evaluate hundreds of PiBS applications, with the goal of matriculating a diverse class of outstanding scientists. n David H. Farb to Step Down as Chair of Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics After 31 years at BUSM as chair of the department of pharmacology & experimental therapeutics, David H. Farb, PhD, has announced he is stepping down from that role when a successor is appointed. Thereafter, he will focus more on his own research in neural systems basis for memory disorders and on his leadership of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences-supported T32 Biomolecular Pharmacology training program, consistently funded for the past 24 years, which he founded and continues to direct.

Farb received his BA in chemistry from Long Island University, where he was

president of the American Chemical Society chapter and received honors including the American Institute of Chemists Award. He received his PhD in biochemistry (enzyme mechanisms/ bioorganic chemistry) with William P. Jencks, MD, at Brandeis University. His current research focuses on identifying novel targets in the hippocampal trisynaptic circuit that underlie prodromal memory dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease using cuttingedge in vivo electrophysiology and computational analysis.

Before joining BU, Farb was a Fogarty Senior International Fellow with Sydney Brenner, PhD, in the Molecular Genetics Unit at the Medical Research Council, Cambridge University, UK. Dean Aram V. Chobanian recruited Farb to BUSM to develop a research-intensive department of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics and to enhance medical and dental education in therapeutics.

His early efforts at BU were instrumental in developing a system of faculty governance for the MD/ PhD program with Associate Dean Carl Franzblau. Farb chaired the MD/ PhD executive committee for 18 years, implementing many enhancements to benefit students. He also founded the Program in Biomedical Neuroscience at BUSM, which subsequently merged with the CRC Program in Neuroscience to become the University-wide Graduate Program for Neuroscience.

Farb was a member of the founding Scientific Advisory Boards of CoCensys, DOV Pharmaceuticals, and SAGE Therapeutics. He holds nine US patents, and one each in Australia and Japan. Farb pioneered technology development for high-throughput electrophysiology and was the scientific founder of Scion Pharmaceuticals, which commercialized his patents on high-throughput electrophysiology and small molecule modulators of amino acid receptors. High-throughput electrophysiology is currently in use throughout the pharmaceutical industry for ion channel and receptor-directed drug discovery. n

In Memoriam: John Noble, MD Emeritus Professor of Medicine John Noble, MD, died on October 3, 2021, at home. He was 84.

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orn in Boston, John Noble received his undergraduate degree from Harvard and his MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Noble’s career began with his service as an officer in the United States Public Health Service, National Communicable Disease Center, specializing in viral infections. From 1967 to 1969, he was director of the World Health Organization Regional Reference Laboratory for Smallpox and a consultant to the WHO Smallpox Eradication Program.

In the early 1970s, Noble held the position of superintendent and medical chief of staff at the Middlesex County Hospital in Waltham and Lexington, Massachusetts. He spent five years as director of primary care at North Carolina Memorial Hospital before joining the BUSM faculty in 1978 as a professor of medicine and embarking on what would be a 20-year tenure as chief of general internal medicine and director of the Primary Care Center at Boston City Hospital (now Boston Medical Center). He was named emeritus professor of medicine in general internal medicine in 2013.

Over the course of his career, Noble received countless honors and accolades for his accomplishments and creative program development. He initiated and oversaw programs to improve health outcomes for persons with smallpox, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, homelessness, and frail elders, and helped establish clinics providing specialized services for members of the Haitian and Hispanic communities, for young Black men, for the diagnosis and assessment of HIV infection, and for homebound seniors in need of care, among many other initiatives. Noble was a lifelong champion of general internal medicine as an academic discipline and for primary

care as a career for physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants.

Noble was a seminal force in academic medicine at the local, national, and international levels. He was among a small group of colleagues who created the organization now known as the Society of General Internal Medicine, for which he served as president from 1989 to 1990.

He also served as commissioner and, ultimately, chair of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations. He authored more than 50 publications and two leading textbooks on primary care and the practice of medicine.

His guidance and passionate support for his students, trainees, and junior faculty helped mold countless careers in public health, clinical medicine, healthcare research, medical education, administration, and advocacy. In each domain of service, he insisted on excellence and purpose, always demanding attention to the health and hope of the neediest among us. Given his achievements and stature in the field, an endowed professorship was created in his honor in 2016, the John Noble Professor of General Internal Medicine.

Noble’s many interests beyond medicine included a vast knowledge and passion for the visual arts, classical music, rare books, and travel. He and his beloved wife Ewa Kuligowska, MD, professor of radiology at BUSM and BMC, traveled often and spent as much time as possible in her native Poland. For half a century, Noble was an active member and leader of the Dorchester Medical Club, an organization of physicians from in and around Boston that has met monthly for fellowship and ongoing education since the Civil War. He will be remembered often and fondly by his family, friends, and colleagues for his warmth and good humor, his humility and dignity, his unfailing curiosity, and—always—for his sense of style. n

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COVER STORY | BIOLOGY OF THE LUNG: 50 YEARS

50 Biology of the Lung Funded through Its 50th—Yes, 50th— year!

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Boston University School of Medicine

By Joel Brown

th BU’s longest-running, federally funded training program began in 1975

When the School of Medicine training program called Biology of the Lung: A Multidisciplinary Program began, on July 1, 1975, Gerald Ford was president, all four Beatles were alive, and gas cost about 50 cents a gallon.

PHOTO: JAKE BELCHER

“I

was in elementary school when this started, so I wasn’t spending a lot of time thinking about lung biology or pulmonary disease or anything else,” Joseph Mizgerd, now program coprincipal investigator, says with a smile.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has funded Biology of the Lung from the beginning and has just renewed it for five more years, taking it through years 46 to 50 of training predoctoral and postdoctoral scientists, both PhDs and MDs, in lung biology and pulmonary disease. The $4.1 million renewal will fund stipends and other expenses for a dozen trainees a year until 2026.

While Biology of the Lung appears to be the longest-running grant-funded training program at the University, the scientists who run it would much rather talk about the innovative idea at its core.

“There are certain well-worn, traditional paths in training a doctor or a researcher, and this program is not one of those. It’s very different,” says Darrell Kotton, who joined Mizgerd as a coprincipal investigator on the grant this summer.

Mizgerd, the Jerome S. Brody, MD, Professor of Pulmonary Medicine, is a professor of medicine, microbiology, and biochemistry and BU Pulmonary Center director. Kotton, the David C. Seldin Professor of Medicine, is a professor of medicine and pathology and founding director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM).

“The well-worn paths are: if you decide to become a doctor, you go through medical residency and a fellowship and get a job as a clinician,” Kotton says. “If you decide to be a researcher, you get a PhD in grad school and go through a postdoc and get a job in a company or a university as a researcher.

This program is neither of those. It’s the synergy of the two, the interface of the two.”

Clinical and research trainees are thrown together in the same laboratories and seminar rooms, start talking, and ultimately train each other. Each is also assigned a faculty mentor. The result is greater than the sum of its parts.

The PhD scientists learn about the clinical questions that are most vexing for physicians, what sorts of clinical materials might be available to help empower their biological research, and how scientific discoveries can powerfully impact the prevention, diagnosis, or cure of pulmonary diseases.

“You have these unique researchers who get an impressive breadth of understanding of what are the clinical issues that a patient suffers from and what is the true biology that’s going on in the lung when things go wrong in patients, and come up with some really interesting ideas in the lab about how to make them go right,” Kotton says.

On the other side, Mizgerd says, by working with the basic scientists, the MDs learn the application of scientific rigor and how best to ask research questions like: “What do genes do when they get turned on or off in the lungs, and how that affects pulmonary diseases, such as which immune

Joseph Mizgerd (l) and Darrell Kotton are the current coprincipal investigators on BU’s longest-running federal research grants for the pulmonology program for students learning to be lung researchers and has been going strong for 45 years and has been renewed.

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COVER STORY | BIOLOGY OF THE LUNG: 50 YEARS

cells get summoned in response to infections or allergens or pollutants, why some lung cells get too twitchy in asthma, or which cells are responsible for the stiffening of fibrotic lungs.”

“I was 100 percent a clinician at the time I arrived on campus in 1998,” says Kotton, who graduated from this same program he now coleads more than two decades later. “They gave me a lab opportunity that unexpectedly attracted me to basic science research.

I changed my career as a result of this program, to a physician-scientist track, and so it has really affected my life and experience in delivering care and research to the community.”

Like a Kid in a Candy Shop

Of course, pulmonary specialists have been much in demand—and in the news—since COVID-19 arrived on the scene, but the two PIs say that the SARS-CoV-2 virus wasn’t really a factor in the grant’s renewal. There was already a tremendous need for more lung disease researchers, a high priority for the NIH. Many prominent pulmonary scientists at BU and elsewhere first passed through the Biology of the Lung program as trainees.

“The training grant had a huge impact on my career trajectory,” says Avrum Spira (ENG’02), BU’s Alexander Graham Bell Professor in Health Care Entrepreneurship, professor of medicine, pathology, and bioinformatics, and the global head of the Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson & Johnson. “It allowed me to go back to school and get training in the emerging field of bioinformatics, which in turn catalyzed the launch of my career as a physician-scientist in the field of computational genomics.”

Others include Sharon Rounds, a Brown Medical School professor of medicine and of pathology and laboratory medicine and a past president of the American Thoracic Society; Rebecca Kusko (MED’15), Immuneering Corporation vice president, business development and corporate affairs; and Alicia Wooten (MED’19), a Gallaudet University assistant professor of science, technology, accessibility, mathematics, and public health biology.

“When I came out of residency, I already knew I was looking for a research-oriented fellowship, but I wanted one that would give me excellent clinical training too,” says Burton Dickey, Clifton Howe Distinguished Professor of Pulmonary Medicine and for 20 years the chief of pulmonary medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, who was a trainee in the program in the 1980s before briefly joining BU’s faculty.

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Boston University School of Medicine

“I was like a kid in a candy shop, taking a course in biophysics one semester and learning the structure of lipid bilayers, and another semester taking a course on drug receptor interactions,” Dickey says. “There were so many outstanding basic scientists and so many opportunities to learn from them. I was so busy going from one to the next.”

Training Doctors and Researchers

Some fellows have found themselves on the front lines in the pandemic.

“My dissertation research actually focuses on filoviruses—that’s Ebola and Marburg,” says Ellen Suder (MED’26), a PhD candidate in microbiology and a program trainee who has been doing a lot of COVID-related work at BU’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) highcontainment labs. “Over the past year and a half, I’ve picked up a lot of research on SARS-CoV-2. It’s been a really amazing experience to be involved with all that.”

The NEIDL lab where she works offered virology help to scientists around the Boston area last year as soon as the seriousness and duration of the outbreak became clear. “We ended up accruing 20-plus collaborators at a bunch of labs in the Boston area—a lot of BU labs, a lot of other universities, some companies,” Suder says. “It was very much an allhands-on-deck situation. I just started volunteering to take on samples that needed to be generated and things like that.

“The biggest project that our lab did last year was this collaboration with Darryl Kotton’s lab at the CReM. We came up with all of these potential drug targets and curated a list of drugs that were either approved for something else entirely or were in clinical trials and tested if they would be viable in preventing this infection. What we found out that was really cool was in the cell-type model we normally use they weren’t terribly effective at preventing infection, but in the actual stem cell–derived lung cells, they worked a lot better.

“Now I’m really interested to see what I can do with these lung cell models,” she says, “studying the viruses we normally study.”

Among the training program’s benefits is its openness to a wide variety of research interests within the pulmonary field, says Nathan Mesfin, MD, clinical instructor and a Pulmonary Center fellow, who was recently accepted into the School of Public Health Master of Public Health program. He is studying how to optimize goals-of-care conversations between

Pulmonary fellow Ellen Suder preps her suit before working in the high containment lab, BSL-4, at the NEIDL.

patients and providers, both in the ICU and outpatient settings, including end-of-life conversations.

The Biology of the Lung program has allowed him to better learn the methodology of epidemiology, take SPH courses, and build foundational knowledge in biostatistics. “It leads you on the road to becoming an independent researcher,” Mesfin says.

Mesfin’s mentor is Renda Wiener, professor of medicine. Like Kotton, she was a program trainee before becoming a mentor.

“For me, a lot of it is being a role model and them seeing what the job of an academic scientist looks like—doing the work, having a team of people that are pitching in to move the science forward,” says Wiener, who is also associate director of the VA Boston Healthcare System Center for Healthcare Organization & Implementation Research. “I really like helping people find and develop what they feel passionate about, what they want to do for the rest of their lives, and help them get there.”

Being part of a half-century-old program “is a very humbling experience,” Mesfin says. “To know that there are so many people who have gone through this process and have become very successful, like Dr. Wiener, who were sort of raised through this program. Nearly 50 years running—it is amazing.”

PHOTO: CYDNEY SCOTT

In the Beginning

Jermone Brody, professor emeritus of medicine, founded the Biology of the Lung program with several other faculty members and was its first principal investigator. He ran the program for 25 years, passing the baton in 2001 to David Center (MED’72, CAS’72), Gordon and Ruth Snider Professor of Pulmonary Medicine and professor of medicine and

biochemistry, who ran it until 2011, when Mizgerd joined him as co-PI. When Brody was told of the grant extension this week via Zoom, his response was, “Wow…that’s fantastic,” but he’s quick to share credit with the other faculty from the 1970s and those who have come along after him.

“A lot of people contributed,” he said. “It’s a good group, very smart, very dedicated, and usually right on target.”

“The goal was to train the PhD scientists side by side with the MD scientists,” says Center, “so the PhDs would learn the clinical relevance of the research with respect to human health, and the MD scientists would learn the techniques and rigors of PhD science. We still use that as the opening line of the grant, which has been pretty good to us over the years.”

In the early days of the program, new tools included molecular biology. Transgenics came along later, followed by big data, RNA sequencing, and clinical outcomes analysis. The latest techniques include gene editing, stem cells, and regenerative medicine.

“I imagine five years from now it’ll be a completely different conversation again,” Kotton says, “but what won’t be different is the innovative nature of this crossdisciplinary training program that really breaks conventional boundaries and silos.”

“The whole idea here is that this is an investment in the future of science,” Center says, “and NIH believes that this is one of the major ways that young scientists can be trained in environments that will give them the rigor to succeed subsequently. We’ve trained a lot of people who’ve gone on to make major contributions to our understanding of lung diseases and lung health.

“That’s why they keep investing in us,” he says.

“We’re flattered, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t hard work.” n

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BUSM

Research The risk of developing blood clots varies depending on the cancer type, something the team will dig into further during the four years of research.

Katya Ravid, here in her lab, will lead a new center tasked with uncovering why some cancer patients are at a higher risk for developing cardiovascular issues after treatment.

Why Are Black Cancer Patients at Higher Risk for Blood Clots?

New BU center will examine link between cancer and cardiovascular diseases, with special focus on understanding and preventing health disparities

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veryone is at risk for developing a blood clot at some point in their lives—a condition that affects an estimated 900,000 people in the United States each year—but for cancer patients, the odds are higher.

Certain types of cancers drive up the risk—some blood cancers, as well as cancers of the pancreas, stomach, brain, lungs, uterus, ovaries, and kidneys—and cancer therapies can also make blood clots more likely. One out of seven cancer patients will die because of blood clotting.

And for reasons that aren’t yet clear, some Black cancer patients are at even higher risk of developing blood clots than non-Black patients.

A team at Boston University and Boston Medical Center (BMC), led by cardiovascular and disease expert Katya Ravid, has 22

Boston University School of Medicine

received funding from the American Heart Association (AHA) to investigate the different ways heart and blood diseases, including blood clots, emerge in cancer patients—and why the condition is more common among certain groups of patients.

“This [study] may help to better predict which cancer patients are at risk for blood clots, and to identify treatments to prevent blood clotting in some types of cancers,” says Ravid, the Barbara E. Corkey Professor of Medicine.

The research team, codirected by Vipul Chitalia, associate professor of medicine, has received more than $2.7 million from the AHA to open a new center at BU and BMC, called Cancer-Associated Thromboembolism as Affected by Health Disparities, which will closely examine the links between cancer and diseases of the heart and lungs.

According to the AHA, there are more than

17 million cancer survivors in the United States as of 2020, making cardio-oncology a critical research area.

Ravid and a team of scientists are planning to use data from the Veterans Health Administration and BMC to investigate the biological mechanisms that cause blood clots, and to better understand health disparities that can increase the risk for blood clotting in people with cancer, including social factors like living conditions, diet, and race.

The risk of developing blood clots varies depending on the cancer type, something the team will dig into further during the four years of research. Combing through a huge amount of data—from 22 million veterans, 1.7 million of whom developed cancer—the researchers hope to find some answers. They will run cause-and-effect analyses using the data, Ravid says, and the team plans to use machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques to generate an accurate risk model for developing blood clots.

As a part of the award funding, BMC is partnering with Tougaloo College, a historically Black liberal arts college in Jackson, Mississippi, to develop a training program in cardio-oncology, as well as train postdoctoral fellows in this new field.

“It’s important that we pass on knowledge gained through this center, at the scientific level and professional level, to budding scientists,” Ravid says. “To me that’s part of the mission of the center.” n

Researchers Receive $20M NIH Grant to Study Protection from Alzheimer’s Disease

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hy are some 100 plusyear-old men and women as cognitively alert and intact as peers 30 years younger? Why has Alzheimer’s disease (AD) not impacted them?

Thomas Perls, MD, MPH, FACP, professor of medicine, and Stacy Andersen PhD, assistant professor of medicine, and their colleagues seek to learn more about these centenarian cognitive “super-agers” thanks to a $20 million grant from the National Institute on Aging and the McKnight Foundation.

Along with George Murphy, PhD, associate professor of medicine and codirector of the Center for Regenerative Medicine, Perls and Andersen will study the resilience against AD in centenarians and their offspring.

Four and a half million people in the US currently have AD. With the baby boomer population aging, if nothing is done to significantly impact this disease, this number will increase more than threefold—to 14 million by 2040. It is the most common cause of dementia and the fifth-leading cause of death in adults older than 65. It slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. The total healthcare costs for AD treatment in 2020 is estimated at $305 billion, with the cost expected to increase to more than $1 trillion as the population ages.

Centenarians delay disabilities into their mid-90s. Some remain cognitively intact despite extreme exposure to the strongest risk factor for cognitive impairment and AD—aging. “Despite the fact that aging

PHOTOS: OPPOSITE, JACKIE RICCIARDI; THIS PAGE, BRIAN ONGORO/AFP

Malaria Vaccine—the First Ever to Immunize Against a Parasitic Infection—Gets Green Light from WHO

is one of the strongest risk factors for cognitive impairment, aging in centenarians is typified by resilience and, in some cases, resistance to aging-related disability into the mid-90s,” explains Perls, who also is founder and director of the New England Centenarian Study.

By studying approximately 500 centenarian cognitive super-agers, Perls and his team hope to identify the protective factors and underlying mechanisms that offer resilience— and, in some cases, even resistance—to cognitive decline and dementia.

“We aim to discover genetic variants and biological mechanisms that protect against aging-related brain changes and AD and then translate those findings into therapeutic strategies and targets,” Perls says.

Other institutions participating in this multidisciplinary research include Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Columbia University, University of California Los Angeles, and the University of Utah. n

A child gets a malaria vaccination at Yala Sub-County hospital, in Yala, Kenya, on October 7, 2021.

Malaria and infectious disease expert says the vaccine could save countless children’s lives in sub-Saharan Africa—but he still has a few concerns

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n a historic move, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced their recommendation for widespread use of the first-ever malaria vaccine—green-lighting a vaccine that has the potential to prevent hundreds of millions of cases of malaria and thousands of deaths in children worldwide each year. It’s the first time a vaccine will be rolled out to combat infection caused by a parasite, rather than a virus.

Malaria is a serious mosquito-borne infection, caused by a parasite that passes through mosquito bites into humans, that is found across broad geographic regions of the world, but is most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2019, there were 229 million cases of malaria globally and 409,000 deaths, mostly impacting children who live in the sub-Saharan African nations where rates of malaria are especially high, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As part of a pilot program, more than 2.3 million doses of the vaccine, developed by Glaxosmithkline and called Mosquirix, have already been administered to over 800,000 children in three countries—Kenya, Malawi, and Ghana, all of which are places where malaria is rampant. The vaccine is given in three doses to children between 5 and 17 months of age, followed by a fourth dose about 18 months later.

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BUSM RESEARCH To find out what the Mosquirix vaccine means for global health, we reached out to BU infectious disease expert Davidson Hamer, who has treated patients with malaria and has worked to help improve tropical disease control strategies in countries around the world. He helped run the Boston University Malaria Project (ZAMBUMP) between 2001–2005, which helped strengthen surveillance programs to reduce malaria in Zambia and to establish the most effective treatment and prevention guidelines for the region’s doctors and patients. Hamer has also worked closely with the WHO to research and improve public health guidelines for other serious illnesses around the world.

He is a professor of global health and medicine at BU’s School of Public Health and School of Medicine, and a faculty member at BU’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL).

Q&A with Davidson Hamer Can we put this milestone into the broader context— why is the approval of this malaria vaccine a big deal?

Hamer: I’ve been watching this vaccine develop for the last 10 to 15 years and doing malaria research for about 15 years, mostly focusing on malaria control strategies in regions with high transmission. There have been other [malaria] vaccines in development—[but] this one is the one that has gone the furthest [by gaining] approval from WHO. Having a malaria vaccine is the holy grail of malaria control.

How does this vaccine work?

It [builds immunity by stimulating production of antibodies against] a protein that is [given off] the parasite when it enters the bloodstream. Ideally, a vaccine would work shortly after the bite from the mosquito, to prevent parasites [from] replicating in the bloodstream…[because] we want to prevent large amounts of parasites [from being] in the bloodstream in the first place. This vaccine works later [on], after the infection is [already] in the bloodstream.

The parasites [that cause malaria] have a complex life cycle and are constantly 24

Boston University School of Medicine

mutating … There are five major species of the [malaria-causing] parasite but Plasmodium falciparum is the major one that this vaccine targets.

Do people acquire natural immunity after they’ve had malaria?

The complexity of the immune response [to malaria] is something we don’t fully yet understand. In [regions where the malaria-causing parasite is prevalent], after someone has multiple episodes of malaria early in life, they develop only partial immunity. We have seen that, if you take a sample of blood from an infected person, they may have three or four different strains [of the disease] at one time…so all of this has made developing the vaccine a challenge.

Why are children more susceptible to getting infected with malaria?

Children are at high risk because they haven’t developed an immune response [to malaria] yet. It’s similar to when travelers visit places and encounter new parasites or bacteria they’ve never been exposed to before. Malaria will affect anyone of any age, if they have not been exposed to it before. An estimated 90 percent of all malaria deaths [worldwide] happen in subSaharan Africa, and [those who die] are mostly children infected from Plasmodium falciparum. You can develop partial immunity from episodes early in life…but if you have not been exposed, then the infection could lead to severe malaria, and cause anemia and other serious problems, and it kills.

How are people currently treated for malaria?

The three major pillars for malaria control are bed nets treated with insecticide, insecticide on the walls of dwellings, and having access to effective treatment.

The most widely used treatment is called artemisinin-based combination therapy, or ACT, which is a family of drugs developed from a Chinese herb over 1,000 years old. It is still amazingly effective on all strains of malaria, though it has shown some drug resistance in South Asia. Between 2003 and 2006, ACT became the first-line treatment for malaria in every country in Africa that has intense transmission.

Can you explain how safety is determined for a vaccine like this one?

The biggest way safety is determined is through controlled clinical trials. [This vaccine underwent a] phase three clinical trial between 2009 and 2011, which was a controlled trial. The [vaccine developers] then chose three countries—Kenya, Malawi, and Ghana—to test real-life effectiveness in a pilot program starting in 2018.

What is the potential impact of this malaria vaccine being widely available to communities that need it?

I think this is going to be an additional tool that is going to help us reduce deaths and illness. It’s not the solution to fully eliminating malaria, but it’s a big step forward. I have a couple of concerns, and I think we need to look at using this in conjunction with other innovative approaches that researchers have been studying. I want to see more of their results from the pilot study to learn more about the safety profile. Even if the effectiveness isn’t amazing, anything over a 30 percent reduction in deaths and severe illness is going to have a big impact.

What are your concerns?

This is a vaccine that uses an adjuvant— which is a substance that strengthens the quality and intensity of the immune response. This adjuvant is extracted from a certain type of tree only found in Chile. Since extracting it from these trees is the only source, it raises the question, are they going to be able to produce the amount of doses needed if countries accept this into their regular vaccine program?

Now that the WHO has recommended its use, what has to happen next for the vaccine to become more widely available?

Countries are going to need to decide if the effectiveness is worth the added benefit.

I think a lot of countries that have very intense transmission rates will probably seriously consider it. That requires funding in countries that are considering adding it to their national vaccination programs for it to become widely available. The work for other malaria vaccines will continue, and it [will be] exciting to see which countries will take this up in their national vaccination programs. n

Walking Is Good, but Moderate to Vigorous Exercise Boosts Fitness Three Times More With help from 2,000 Framingham Heart Study participants, BU researchers explored how much being sedentary, walking, and routine exercise impacts fitness

PHOTO: ND3000/iSTOCK

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xercise is healthy. That is common knowledge. But just how rigorous should that exercise be in order to really impact a person’s fitness level?

And, if you sit all day at a desk, but still manage to get out and exercise, does that negate your six, seven, or eight hours of sedentary behavior?

These were the sort of questions Matthew Nayor, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine, and his team set out to answer in the largest study to date aimed at understanding the relationship between regular physical activity and a person’s physical fitness.

Their findings, which appear in the European Heart Journal, came from a study of approximately 2,000 participants from

the Framingham Heart Study. They found that bouts of moderate to vigorous exercise—working out with more intensity than, say, walking 10,000 steps over the course of a day—drastically improved a person’s fitness, compared to milder forms of exercise.

“By establishing the relationship between different forms of habitual physical activity and detailed fitness measures,” Nayor says, “we hope that our study will provide important information that can ultimately be used to improve physical fitness and overall health across the life course.”

Nayor is also a cardiologist specializing in heart failure at Boston Medical Center. We caught up with Nayor to explain the results of the study and what people

should know about exercise in relation to fitness.

Q&A with Matthew Nayor People might see a study that finds that moderate to vigorous activity is the best way to improve fitness, and think, isn’t that obvious? But your research is more specific than that, so can you tell us what was surprising or perhaps revealing about your work?

Matthew Nayor: While there is a wealth of evidence supporting the health benefits of both physical activity and higher levels of fitness, the actual links between the two are less well understood, especially in the general population (as opposed to athletes or individuals with specific medical problems). Our study was designed to address this gap, but we were also interested in answering several specific questions.

First, we wondered how different intensities of physical activity might lead to improvements in the body’s responses during the beginning, middle, and peak of exercise. We expected to find that higher amounts of moderate-vigorous physical activity, like exercise, would lead to better peak exercise performance, but we were surprised to see that higher intensity Winter/Spring 2022 | bumc.bu.edu

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BUSM RESEARCH activity was also more efficient than walking in improving the body’s ability to start and sustain lower levels of exertion.

We were also uncertain whether the number of steps per day or less time spent sedentary would truly impact peak fitness levels. We found that they were associated with higher fitness levels in our study group. These findings were consistent across categories of age, sex, and health status, confirming the relevance of maintaining physical activity [throughout the day] for everyone.

Second, we asked, how do different combinations of the three activity measures contribute to peak fitness?

Intriguingly, we observed that individuals with higher-than-average steps per day, or moderate-vigorous physical activity, had higher-than-average fitness levels, regardless of how much time they spent sedentary. So, it seems that much of the negative effect that being sedentary has on fitness may be offset by also having higher levels of activity and exercise.

Our third question was, are more recent physical activity habits more important than previous exercise habits in determining current levels of fitness?

Interestingly, we found that participants with high activity values at one assessment and low values at another assessment, performed eight years apart, had equivalent levels of fitness, whether or not the high value coincided with the fitness testing.

This suggests that there may be a “memory effect” of previous physical activity on current levels of fitness.

A lot of people wear Fitbits or their Apple Watch to track their daily step counts these days, and they might think, hey, I did 10,000 steps today! But it sounds like your research suggests that while walking is valuable, it’s not the same as exercise?

Well, I think we need to be a little careful with this interpretation. It is important to note that higher steps were associated with higher fitness levels in our study, which is reassuring, especially for older individuals or those with medical conditions that may prohibit higher levels of exertion. There is also ample evidence from other studies that higher step counts are associated with a host of favorable health outcomes. So, I would not want to dissuade people from following their step counts.

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Boston University School of Medicine

However, if your goal is to improve your fitness level, or to slow down the inescapable decline in fitness that occurs with aging, performing at least a moderate level of exertion [through intentional exercise] is over three times more efficient than just walking at a relatively low cadence.

Where is that line? When does exercise go from moderate to rigorous, for people who might be wondering if they are doing enough?

We used definitions from prior studies that categorized a cadence of 60–99 steps/minute as low-level exertion, while 100–129 steps/minute is generally considered to be indicative of moderate physical activity and greater than 130 steps/minute is considered vigorous.

These step counts may need to be a bit higher in younger individuals. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend 150–300 minutes/week of moderate intensity or 75–150 minutes/ week of vigorous intensity exercise.

However, this upper limit is really a guidance meant to encourage people to exercise. In our study, we did not observe any evidence of a threshold beyond which higher levels of activity were no longer associated with greater fitness.

Can you explain in some detail how the results of your study were achieved, studying participants in the Framingham Heart Study?

Thank you for this question and for the opportunity to thank the Framingham Heart Study participants. It is only through their voluntary participation over three generations now that studies such as ours are possible. For our study, we analyzed data from participants of the Third Generation cohort (literally the grandchildren of the original participants, in many cases) and the multiracial sample.

At the most recent study visit in 2016– 2019, we performed cardiopulmonary exercise tests (CPETs) on stationary cycles for comprehensive fitness evaluations. CPETs are the “gold standard” assessment of fitness and involve exercise testing with a face mask or mouthpiece to measure the oxygen that is breathed in and the carbon dioxide that’s breathed out during exercise. You may have seen professional endurance athletes (such as cyclists) performing similar tests during

“Performing at least a moderate level of exertion [through intentional exercise] is over three times more efficient than just walking at a relatively low cadence.”

Matthew Nayor, MD, MPH Boston Medical Center cardiologist and assistant professor of medicine

training sessions. Participants also took home accelerometers, which were worn on belts around their waist for eight days after their study visit. Accelerometers were worn at the recent study visit and at the prior visit eight years earlier, and information was compared.

Do you have your own exercise routine, where you are consciously thinking of moderate versus rigorous, and trying to find that balance?

Well, I’m certainly not a competitive athlete, but I try to stay active. One aspect of our results that I keep coming back to is the finding that higher levels of sedentary time can be offset by dedicated exercise. I find this reassuring—especially during the pandemic when many of us are spending even more time seated in front of a computer—that my daily run or Peloton class is serving to at least preserve my fitness level. n

New Online Prediction Tool Could Reduce Breast Cancer Deaths Among Black Women

BU researchers have developed a breast cancer risk model to meet critical gap in identifying the cancer earlier in Black women

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n the United States, Black women are more likely to have breast cancer at earlier ages and with a worse prognosis than white women. Despite this, there is a critical gap in breast cancer risk prediction models for Black women. Breast cancer risk prediction tools are used by clinicians to identify women at higher-than-average risk of breast cancer for early or more frequent screening by mammography and other modalities. But until now, there’s been a lack of prediction tools tailored to Black women.

That’s finally poised to change.

Researchers at Boston University’s School of Public Health (BUSPH) and Slone Epidemiology Center have developed and evaluated a risk prediction model for breast cancer in Black women, suitable for use in primary care settings in the United States.

The researchers described and evaluated the model in a recent report published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

“Because US Black women have a disproportionately high rate of breast cancer deaths, improvement in early detection of breast cancer in this population is critical, especially in young Black women who have not yet reached the ages at which mammographic screening is typically begun,” says study corresponding author Julie Palmer, ScD, a BUSPH professor of epidemiology, director of BU’s Slone Epidemiology Center, and the Karin Grunebaum Professor in Cancer Research at the BU School of Medicine.

Palmer and colleagues used epidemiologic data from three case-control studies

of Black women from various regions of the United States to build a new risk prediction model. They tested the model using 15 years of follow-up data from 51,798 participants in BU’s Black Women’s Health Study and found that it was well calibrated.

Discriminatory accuracy, which reflects how well a model predicts risk for an individual woman, was similar to that of the most frequently used questionnaire-based breast cancer risk prediction models for white women—and was most accurate for women under age 40.

The researchers say the online tool is simple to use through a website, and all the information required can be obtained from the women themselves with a few questions.

“This new tool for personalized prediction of breast cancer risk in Black women can be easily used by primary care providers to guide screening recommendations and/or referral for genetic testing, particularly for young Black women, thus leading to earlier diagnosis and reduced mortality,” says Palmer.

Women can also use the tool themselves and input their own information to calculate their five-year breast cancer risk, says study senior author Ludovic Trinquart, a BUSPH adjunct associate professor of biostatistics and director of the Center for Clinical Trials at Tufts Medical Center.

“We believe that it’s best to discuss breast cancer risk and screening with a healthcare provider, and our tool could help women have a part in shared decisionmaking,” Trinquart says. n

“Because US Black women have a disproportionately high rate of breast cancer deaths, improvement in early detection of breast cancer in this population is critical, especially in young Black women who have not yet reached the ages at which mammographic screening is typically begun.”

Julie Palmer, ScD

BUSPH professor of epidemiology, Director of the Slone Epidemiology Center, and Karin Grunebaum Professor in Cancer Research at BUSM

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BUSM

Giving

bu.edu/supportingbusm

COVID-19 Fund to Support Faculty with Family Caregiving Responsibilities

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egan H. Bair-Merritt, MD, MSCE, professor of pediatrics, and Tuhina Neogi, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and epidemiology, have been awarded a two-year, $550,000 grant funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation through the COVID-19 Fund to Retain Clinical Scientists collaborative. The award was made possible through the support of a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.

The COVID-19 Fund to Retain Clinical Scientists provides grants for US medical schools that are evolving to strengthen policies, practices, and processes to support the research productivity and retention of early-career faculty with family caregiving responsibilities. “Caregiving challenges were magnified during the pandemic but will continue to fuel inequities for the foreseeable future,” says Bair-Merritt. “This grant will further our momentum in implementing sustainable efforts that prioritize diversity and normalize caregiving, allowing us to more effectively retain and promote exceptional early-career researchers.”

With this support, Bair-Merritt and Neogi will launch Creating and Advancing Research Equity (CARE) across BUSM. Housed within Boston University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), the program aims to support, advance, and retain diverse early-career physician scientists who are conducting transformational health research and balancing productivity and caregiving responsibilities by providing the career development programs and mentorship necessary to ensure success.

The program will contribute to a University-

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wide culture that normalizes caregiving and prioritizes gender and racial equity.

With additional support provided by departmental leadership, supplemental funding will be available for up to 17 earlycareer BUSM and BMC investigators conducting clinical research projects that may be used to support research staff such as technicians or coordinators, grant-writing, or to reduce clinical commitment to allow more time for research. In addition to receiving funding, recipients will participate in monthly peer networking meetings, coaching sessions, and appropriate CTSI and career development programs through the Faculty Development office.

The BU-CTSI will also provide $5,000 vouchers to each awardee to fund additional research-related resources such as staff and supplies.

“ Caregiving challenges were magnified during the pandemic but will continue to fuel inequities for the foreseeable future,” says Bair-Merritt. “ This grant will further our momentum in implementing sustainable efforts that prioritize diversity and normalize caregiving, allowing us to more effectively retain and promote exceptional early-career researchers.”

The culmination of these resources will significantly improve support available to early-career BUSM and BMC investigators with caregiving responsibilities. “CARE across BUSM strongly aligns with our institutional objectives and efforts to conduct transformational science, support caregiving, and enhance diversity and equity,” says BUMC Provost and BUSM Dean Karen Antman, MD. “This grant will complement our current and enduring commitments.” n

Kathleen Berentsen Swenson Receives $1.76M to Increase Diversity in Field of Genetic Counseling

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athleen Berentsen Swenson, MS, MPH, CGC, director of the Master’s Program in Genetic Counseling (BUGCP), will colead an initiative to increase diversity in the genetic counseling field.

She will join directors of four other genetic counseling programs in the Alliance to Increase Diversity in Genetic Counseling, a five-year, $9.5M project supported by the Warren Alpert Foundation, with $1.76M coming to BUSM.

According to the National Society of Genetic Counselors, 94 percent of genetic counselors are female and 90 percent are white. To address this issue and to educate a genetic counseling workforce that improves support for patients from underrepresented backgrounds, the alliance will expand all dimensions of diversity.

The other participating institutions are Rutgers University, Sarah Lawrence College, the University of Maryland,

and the University of Pennsylvania, which will lead the initiative.

Across the five schools, 10 students will be selected yearly to receive full tuition support and a cost-of-living stipend. “There has never been funding of this magnitude for trainee scholarships in this field,” Swenson says. “The alliance will accelerate our field’s efforts to broaden the diversity and perspectives of the genetic counseling profession.” n

Renewed Funding to Improve Well-Being of Women Veterans

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he Walmart and Bob Woodruff Foundations have renewed their support of work led by Tara Galovski, PhD, and Amy Street, PhD, both associate professors of psychiatry and leaders of the Women’s Health Sciences Division of the National Center for PTSD at the VA Boston Healthcare System. This is the second grant from the Bob Woodruff Foundation for the Women Veterans Network (WoVeN) and the fourth from the Walmart Foundation.

Together, they have provided WoVeN with more than $1.4 million to date.

The most recent grants will continue to advance the work of WoVeN, an evidencebased, peer support network designed to target the unique needs of women veterans.

Since the program’s inception in 2017, WoVeN has served more than 1,500 women.

Thanks to the current Bob Woodruff Foundation grant, WoVeN will build capacity to serve more women, through enhanced enrollment technology and training processes, both of which will increase the numbers of peer leaders and women veterans enrolled in online and in-person groups. The founda-

tion’s support also will enable the development and implementation of alumni groups for women who have completed the core WoVeN program.

“The grant from the Bob Woodruff Foundation will help us to enroll substantially more women who are now on our waiting list of hundreds,” says Galovski, director of the Women Veterans Network. “And it will respond to the question we hear from so many women completing WoVeN groups: ‘What’s next?’ Women veterans tell us that they benefit tremendously from the support of women who have walked a similar life path and are looking for more opportunities to sustain and deepen those connections.”

The Walmart Foundation grant will address another challenge frequently faced by veterans, transitioning to a new career, by focusing on women in their last year of military service and first year of reintegration into civilian life. Also based on a peer-to-peer model, this program, BRIDGES, will match women veterans with women who are preparing to leave military service. With support from the Walmart Foundation, program leaders will refine the BRIDGES curriculum piloted

in 2021 and build partnerships with veteranserving organizations such as Hire Heroes USA and others.

Women have conveyed a need for more resources as they make the enormous shift from military to civilian life. In spite of an abundance of organizations designed for veterans, it is not always easy to know where to turn,” says Street, codirector of WoVeN and BRIDGES. “With its foundation of peer support, evidence-informed programming, and vetted organizations, BRIDGES will expand on the WoVeN model and reach women earlier in their transition.” n Winter/Spring 2022 | bumc.bu.edu

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Giving Barbara and Michael Bliss, MD (MED’63).

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he life of Charles Michael Bliss, Sr. (MED’63, Parent MED’89), changed dramatically in 1965, when esteemed BU Professor Franz J. Ingelfinger, MD, offered him a position in the BUSM Gastroenterology Fellowship Training Program, which Ingelfinger had founded in 1945.

Bliss had just returned from a year as a medic in Vietnam, caring for injured soldiers.

He had served as an intern under Ingelfinger and even saw him “for a moment,” he says, in Vietnam, where Ingelfinger was investigating the causes of diarrhea among the troops.

“When I completed my army career, I visited Dr. Ingelfinger and asked him if he had any jobs available for me,” says Bliss. “And he said, ‘Well, Mike, I’m sorry, there’s no room for your residency, but how would you like to be a gastroenterology fellow?’ I said to him, knowing full well that he knew that I knew I had no other choice, ‘Well, is gastroenterology any good?’ He answered, very seriously, ‘Well it’s always been very good to me.’

“Now, I told that story to a large group of famous gastroenterologists at an annual American Gastroenterological Association meeting in 2001 when I received a Distinguished Clinician Award. And this group of prominent docs laughed out loud.

They thought it was a great story.”

Ingelfinger served as chief of the gastroenterology clinic at Massachusetts 30

Boston University School of Medicine

Memorial Hospitals, which later became Boston Medical Center (BMC).

“I really fell in love with gastroenterology because of him and his teachings,” says Bliss.

Ingelfinger retired from BU in 1967 to become the editor of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. But he still came by, says Bliss, to do grand rounds. “He was always very kind and very thoughtful, and just a wonderful man.”

In honor of his mentor, Bliss and his wife, Barbara, established a charitable gift annuity, with the remainder to go to the Franz J. Ingelfinger, MD, Professorship in Gastroenterology.

Bliss fondly recalls Ingelfinger’s gift for making clinical practice and rigorous science accessible to young doctors, and the affection he had for his fellows.

“Dr. Ingelfinger used to call his fellows ‘Fingerlings,’” he laughs. “As it turned out, I was his last Fingerling.”

Bliss devoted himself to gastroenterology, completing his fellowship at BU under Robert Donaldson, MD. He served on the school’s faculty from 1970 until he fully retired, in 2006, as an associate professor of medicine, teaching his own students—as he had been taught—that care for the whole patient was paramount.

“Gastroenterology is exciting; different,” says Bliss. “You deal with many different organs: the stomach, the intestines, the liver,

the pancreas. It’s hands-on, with a lot of unknowns.”

He transferred that love of discovery to his son, Charles Michael Bliss, Jr. (MED’89), who followed in his footsteps.

After earning his medical degree, the younger Bliss did his internship and residency in medicine and his fellowship in gastroenterology at BMC (then Boston City Hospital). Today, he is an assistant professor of medicine at MED. His father is proud of their legacy. “My son took over a lot of my patients when I retired,” he says. “He still tells me, ‘Oh, Mrs. Jones sends you a big hug.’”

Bliss credits long-standing traditions of BUSM culture—such as manning the front lines for the underserved and warmly supporting deans—with nurturing his exploratory spirit. “I got wonderful training from the School of Medicine and from Boston City Hospital, and all of the faculty who were there,” he says. “I wanted to repay some of that, the best way I could.” n

PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL BLISS, MD (MED’63)

Honoring a Mentor Who Changed Lives

“ I got wonderful training from the School of Medicine and from Boston City Hospital, and all of the faculty who were there,” Bliss says. “ I wanted to repay some of that, the best way I could.”

Giving

FY21 Gifts from the Dean’s Advisory Board, Alumni, Faculty and Staff, Parents, and Friends

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oston University School of Medicine is extremely grateful to be able to recognize our donors for their contributions during the past year. Their gifts have greatly helped the School of Medicine support the vitally important study and practice of medicine and research. We thank our donors for the powerful impact they have made on our school, our students, and our research.

This year, the FY21 (July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021) BUSM donor rosters have been moved to an online format. In this issue, only the Dean’s Advisory Board and the Chester S. Keefer, MD Society are listed. For a complete list of BUSM’s FY21 donors, including all individual and foundation giving, please scan the QR code above or visit our website (bumc.bu.edu/busm/giving/who-gives/) for the full listing of all donors.

DONOR REPORT GIVING LEVELS: $50,000–$99,999 Mercury members • Invitation to the spring Chester S. Keefer, MD Society Dinner • Honorary plaque $100,000–$249,999 Bronze members • All of the previously listed benefits • Invitation to and preferred seating, when available, at select BU/BUSM events throughout the year $250,000–$499,999 Silver members • All of the previously listed benefits • Personalized tour of research/ clinical area of your choice at BU Medical Campus $500,000–$999,999 Gold members • All of the previously listed benefits • Direct communication with the recipients of your generosity (students, faculty, researchers) $1,000,000+ Platinum members • All of the previously listed benefits • Private lunch with the Dean and other leadership of the School of Medicine ■ 2021 Donor ■ Deceased ■ Class of 2021

Scan for a complete list of BUSM’s FY21 donors.

Thank you, donors.

The Chester S. Keefer, MD Society • The Chester S. Keefer, MD Society was established as a means of recognizing individuals whose personal philanthropy has helped advance the dual research and education missions of Boston University School of Medicine. The society is named in honor of Dr. Chester S. Keefer, whose foresight and determination in roles as chairman of the Department of Medicine, dean of Boston University School of Medicine, and director of the Medical Center were responsible for laying the foundation for the Boston University Medical Center. As dean of the School of Medicine, he established a tradition of cutting-edge research that continues to this day. In memory of his spirit, we honor the outstanding generosity of donors whose total contributions to the School of Medicine have reached $50,000 or more.

P LAT I NUM Joel J. Alpert ■ and Barbara W. Alpert (SPH’79) ■ Merwyn Bagan (MED’62, SPH’95) and Carol J. Bagan Nancy L. Bucher ■ Howard D. Buzzee ■ Shamim A. Dahod (MED’87, CGS’76, CAS’78) ­and Ashraf M. Dahod ■ Richard H. Egdahl, MD ■ and Cynthia Egdahl (GRS’77) Alan Gerry and Sandra Gerry Jonathan P. Gertler (Questrom’99) and Jane R. Clark ■ Albert M. Ghassemian ■ Audrey & Martin Gruss Foundation Lewis Heafitz and Ina B. Heafitz ■ Stephen R. Karp (CAS’63) and Jill E. Karp Sarkis J. Kechejian (MED’63) ■ Stanley H. Konefal (MED’47) ■ and Catherine M. Konefal ■ Sherry M. Leventhal and Alan M. Leventhal (Hon.’09) ■ Inez Lopez ■ Frank J. Miselis (MED’45) ■ and Theodora T. Miselis ■ Carl A. Olsson (MED’63) and Mary D. Olsson ■ Jerome S. Serchuck and Joan S. Serchuck ■ Richard C. Shipley (Questrom’68,’72) ■ Wesley R. Skinner ■ and Charlotte A. Skinner ■ Jack N. Spivack ■ Christine E. Stiefel ■ Helen L. Tarlow ■ and Sherwood J. Tarlow ■ Diane Tauber and Laszlo N. Tauber ■

G OLD Norman W. Alpert and Jane D. Alpert ■ Karen H. Antman and Elliott Antman Nancy Baler Anita B. Barkan (CAS’46) ■ and Donald B. Barkan (MED’45) ■ George A. Finley III and Phyllis A. Finley John L. Hall II (CAS’65) and Ann T. Hall Paul F. Nace, Jr. Joelyn L. Rohman and Michael Rohman (MED ’50) ■ ■ Albert Rosenthaler and Debbie Rosenthaler ■ Paul Rothbaum and Jean Rothbaum ■ Elayne Russek Thomas J. Ryan ■ and Nancy T. Ryan Robert E. Schiesske (MET’78, Questrom’82) ■ Andrew Yee and Mirta Yee ■ SILVER William Y. Au (MED’55, CAS’51) and Beverly N. Au ■ ■ Donna R. Barnard (MED’65) and Douglas E. Barnard (MED’65) ■ Gerald Besson (MED’50) ■ and Eleanore S. Besson ■ Mary Ann Blount and James A. Blount, Jr. Paul C. Burke and Gloria J. Burke ■ Helen L. Burr ■ and George Burr ■ David J. Caron and Susan M. Caron ■ Lin Castre and Abraham D. Gosman ■ Richard J. Cavell (MED’61) and Bonnie Cavell Ann C. Cea (MED’67) and Anthony Tedeschi ■

Aram V. Chobanian (Hon.’06) and Jasmine Chobanian ■ ■ Mary Lou Cohn and Arthur B. Wein (MED’39) ■ Andrew B. Crummy, Jr. (MED’55) and Elsa E. Crummy ■ ■ Elizabeth C. Dooling (MED’65) ■ Idea S. Fiering ■ Robert C. Green and Sally E. McNagny Rod F. Hochman (MED’79, CAS’79) and Nancy J. Hochman (Sargent’77,’83) Hideo H. Itabashi (MED’54, CAS’49) ■ and Yoko O. Itabashi ■ Reshma Kewalramani (MED’98, CAS’98) and Abhijit R. Kulkarni (ENG’93,’97) ■ Joseph J. Konefal (MED’77) and Karen G. Konefal ■ Lenore Larkin and Harold S. Larkin ■ Susan E. Leeman Douglas N. MacInnis (MED’46) ■ Barry M. Manuel (MED’58, CAS’54) and Patricia D. Manuel (SON’78, Wheelock’86) ■ Rita Z. Mehos Steven A. Miller (MED’70, CAS’70) and Jacqueline H. Miller (CAS’70) ■ Joseph B. Mizgerd and Ann F. Mizgerd ■ ■ John H. Nichols, Jr. ■ Simon C. Parisier (MED’61) and Elaine S. Parisier ■ Peter E. Pochi (MED’55) ■ Jeffrey D. Tripp and M. Douglass Poirier (MED’76, CAS’73) ■ Ronald L. Ragland (MED’82) ■ Alexander M. Rodger ■ Richard D. Scott and Mary Scott ■

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Giving

DONOR REPORT

DEAN’S ADVISORY BOARD Erika Natalie Ebbel Angle, PhD (MED‘12,’12) ■ Gabriella J. Avellino, MD (MED’09,’13) John T. Avellino ■ Steven L. Berk, MD (MED’75) ■ H. Kim Bottomly, PhD ■ Elizabeth R. Brown, MD ■ Richard J. Catrambone, MD, DMD (MED’92) ■ Ann Christine Cea, MD (MED’67) ■ Harold N. Chefitz (CGS’53, COM’55) ■ Jane R. Clark, MD ■ Illaria Conti, MD, PhD Suzanne Cutler, PhD (Questrom’61) ■ Shamim A. Dahod, MD (MED’87, CGS’76, CAS’78) ■ David R. Edelstein, MD (MED‘80) ■ Mary Jane R. England, MD (MED’64, Hon.’98) ■ Joseph S. Fastow, MD (MED’70) ■ Maurice R. Ferre, MD (MED’92, CGS’81, SPH’92) ■ Dan R. Fishbein, MD (MED’85, CAS’85) ■ Jonathan P. Gertler, MD (Questrom’99) ■ Shahram S. Gholami, MD (MED’96) Burton P. Golub, MD (MED’65) ■ Lewis Heafitz ■ Rod F. Hochman, MD (MED‘79, CAS‘79) ■ Christine Spitaels Hunter, MD (MED’80, CAS’80) ■ Jeffrey Robert Jay, MD (CAS’83, MED’83) ■ Donald Martin Kaplan, MD (MED’73) ■ Sarkis J. Kechejian, MD (MED’63) ■ Reshma Kewalramani, MD (MED‘98, CAS‘98) ■ Sherry M. Leventhal ■ Douglas M. Macdonald, PhD (MED’98, GRS’92) ■ J. Kenneth Menges, Jr., Esq (Questrom’79) Simon C. Parisier, MD (MED’61) ■ Peter T. Paul (Questrom’71) ■ Terry R. Peel Albert Rosenthaler ■ Pedram Salimpour, MD (MED’96,’00) Robert William Schulze, MD (CAS’86, GRS’88, MED’92, Questrom’17) Jerome S. Serchuck ■ Leslie Karen Serchuck, MD (MED’90) ■ Richard C. Shipley (Questrom’68,’72) ■ Lee Bryan Silver, MD (MED’82, CAS’82) ■ Rachelle L. Silver ■ Louis Wade Sullivan, MD (MED’58, Hon.’90) ■ Patricia J. Williams, MD (MED’89, CAS’84) ■ Emily M. Wise Shanahan, MD (MED’09) ■ ■ FY21 Donor

New DAB Members in Italics

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Boston University School of Medicine

Lee B. Silver (MED’82, CAS’82) and Rachelle L. Silver ■ Louis W. Sullivan (MED’58, Hon.’90) and E. Ginger Sullivan ■ Mary U. Taylor ■ A. Raymond Tye (Questrom’47) ■ Martin L. Vogel (MED’53) and Phyllis M. Vogel ■ Madeline Wikler and Joseph M. Wikler ■ Deborah W. Wilson (GRS’72) and John Wilson ■ Amber Wong Arnold Wong, Jr. BRONZE Anonymous (4) ■ Carmela R. Abraham and Menachem E. Abraham ■ Winston D. Alt (MED’80) and Deborah A. Gribbon ■ Gerhard R. Andlinger ■ and Jeanne D. Andlinger Erika Ebbel Angle (MED’12) and Colin Angle ■ Michael L. Apuzzo (MED’65) ■ Edward Avedisian (CFA’59,’61) and Pamela A. Avedisian ■ John T. Avellino and R. Ellen Avellino ■ Ruth M. Batson (Wheelock’76) ■ Melvin R. Berlin ■ and Randy L. Berlin Jag Bhawan and Pratibha G. Bhawan David G. Bradley and Katherine B. Bradley Alan J. Brody ■ Elizabeth R. Brown ■ Richard J. Catrambone (MED’92) and Sophia Catrambone ■ Robert D. Champion and Marjorie Champion Harold N. Chefitz (COM’55, CGS’53) and Charlotte M. Chefitz ■ Hsi-Pin Chen (MED’96,’96, CAS’89, SPH’91) and Kenneth E. Hancock (ENG’92,’01) ■ Yi-Chuan Ching (MED’58) and Helen Yu-Ching ■ ■ Michael J. Critelli and Joyce M. Critelli Suzanne Cutler (Questrom’61) ■ Jodi Dome Linger and Nicholas T. Linger ■ Paul R. Dooling ■ and Sandra A. Danussi E. Elaine Erbey (Wheelock’72) Joseph S. Fastow (MED’70) and Ellen K. Fastow ■ Maurice R. Ferré (MED’92, CGS’81, SPH’92) and Maria D. Ferré ■ Joseph T. Ferrucci and Brenda Ferrucci Samuel Finkielsztein and Gala Finkielsztein Frederick L. Fox (MED’68) and Gail P. Fox ■ Charles N. Freed ■ and Marlene Freed

Patricia L. Freysinger (SON’82) Ralph G. Ganick (MED’67, CAS’67) and Lois B. Ganick ■ Shahram S. Gholami (MED’96) and Neda Gholami ■ Godley Family Foundation Burton P. Golub (MED’65) and Lee H. Golub ■ Malcolm Gordon (MED’48) and Nan Miller ■ Donald J. Grande (MED’73) and Elena M. Grande ■ Jack C. Guden ■ Haynes Family Foundation ■ Lea Highet and Ian Highet Michael F. Holick and Sally A. Holick Jeffrey R. Jay (MED’83, CAS’83) and Mary Ellen A. Jay ■ Donald M. Kaplan (MED’73) and Edna E. Kaplan (COM’88) ■ Denise S. Katsaros (Wheelock’69) and Arthur T. Katsaros ■ Earl G. Kendrick, Jr. and Randy Kendrick The Kessler Family Nasir A. Khan ■ Elaine B. Kirshenbaum (CAS’71, Wheelock’72, SPH’79) ■ and Howard D. Kirshenbaum ■ Shirley P. Klein (MED’68, CAS’68) ■ Rose Ann Kornfeld and Lewis F. Kornfeld, Jr. ■ Lawrence E. Langsam (Questrom’57) and Hannah S. Langsam Estella I. Leach ■ Patricia M. Leavitt (CAS’54, MED’58) Richard S. Leghorn Ruth R. Levine ■ and Martin J. Levine ■ Henry T. Lew (MED’62) and Winifred Lew Rita E. Loos ■ James H. Lowell II and Susan W. Lowell The Estate of Lillian A. Luksis Jules N. Manger (CGS’66) ■ and Janis G. Manger ■ Rocco S. Marino (MED’42) ■ Allan P. Markin and Patricia Markin ■ JoAnn McGrath Robert B. Melikian (CGS’60, CAS’62) Ruth A. Moorman (CAS’88, Wheelock’89,’09) and Sheldon N. Simon Charles Mosesian ■ Peter J. Mozden (MED’53) ■ Carolann S. Najarian (MED’80) and K. George Najarian John Noble ■ and Ewa Kuligowska Wilson Nolen and Eliot Nolen Zein E. Obagi and Samar A. Obagi Paul I. Ossen (MED’43) ■ William Patty and Eliot Patty Louise E. Penta and P. A. Penta (MED’51) ■

Carol C. Pohl (MED’67) and Alan L. Pohl ■ Theodore Polos (MED’47) and Jean Polos Allen Questrom (Questrom’64, Hon.’15) and Kelli Questrom (Hon.’15) ■ Elihu Rose and Susan W. Rose Doris M. Russell and Robert F. Russell (MED’46) ■ Paulette Samowitz ■ The Schulze Family Charles L. Schwager (Questrom’66) and Evelyn C. Schwager (Questrom’66) Richard Seeborg Florence Seldin and Ira L. Seldin ■ Leslie K. Serchuck (MED’90) ■ Muriel Shapiro and Arnold Shapiro ■ Stuart E. Siegel (MED’67, CAS’67) ■ John Silber (Hon.’95) ■ and Kathryn U. Silber (Hon.’01) ■ Sumner Stone (MED’58) and Martha Skinner ■ Charles W. Smith and Hazel Smith ■ Gordon L. Snider ■ Edward Spindell (MED’53) ■ and Judith K. Spindell Eliot B. Stewart and John M. Stewart ■ ■ Elliott H. Sweetser (MED’43) ■ and Aileen B. Sweetser ■ Nevart Talanian Gloria P. Talis ■ and George J. Talis (MED’50) ■ Alfred I. Tauber and Paula Fredriksen Gerald Treece and Patricia Treece Yolande Tsampalieros and Gabriel Tsampalieros ■ Burton White (MED’61) and June S. White ■ Marcelle M. Willock (Questrom’89) ■ Henry R. Wolfe (MED’45) ■ and Grace A. Wolfe ■ Herbert H. Wotiz ■ Sam S. Wu (MED’92, CAS’87, GRS’90, SPH’92) and Patricia C. Tsang (MED’92, CAS’92, GRS’92) Lawrence A. Yannuzzi (MED’64) and Julie Yannuzzi ■ Jeremiah O. Young (MED’62) and Beverly A. Young ■ Larry C. Young and Sue Young ■ Lily M. Young (MED’65) and John G. Johansson ■ The Family of Alan Ziskind ■ MERCU RY Anonymous (2) ■ Lawrence D. Ackman and Ronnie Ackman Noubar B. Afeyan and Anna Afeyan Gerald Ajemian and Lucille Ajemian Dwight M. Akers (MED’53) ■ and Beverly R. Akers ■

Max M. April (MED’85, CAS’81) and Pamela T. April (Questrom’83) Sonya Nersessian (LAW’85) and Richard K. Babayan ■ Steven Baker ■ and Shirley Baker ■ Elizabeth D. Barnett (MED’85) and Suleiman N. Mustafa-Kutana ■ Paul C. Barsam (STH’52) and Joyce L. Barsam Howard C. Beane (MED’57) ■ and Shirley T. Beane Robert M. Beazley ■ John H. Bechtel (MED’50) ■ and Shirley F. Bechtel Franklyn D. Berry (MED’41) ■ David W. Bishop (MED’46) ■ Elsa C. Bodon (MED’41) ■ James F. Bopp, Jr. S. Arthur Boruchoff (MED’51) ■ and Anna Silverman-Boruchoff (MED’49) ■ Yvonne K. Brockman and Stanley K. Brockman (MED’55) ■ ■ Robert A. Cameron ■ Robert J. Carey (MED’54) ■ and Mary E. Carey (Wheelock’55) Russell K. Carney and Geraldine Carney Edmond E. Charrette (MED’62) and Maria T. Charrette ■ Jeremy Chess (MED’70, CAS’70) David J. Chronley (MED’74) and Marianne K. Chronley ■ Frank Citrone, Jr. and Carol Citrone John P. Cloherty (MED’62) ■ John F. Cogan, Jr. ■ and Mary L. Cornille (GRS’87) Alan S. Cohen (MED’52) ■ and Joan P. Cohen Patricia A. Connolly (MED’84) ■ Marian M. Cook Ronald B. Corley and Janice Corley ■ ■ Sidney Covich ■ Brit D’Arbeloff and Alexander V. D’Arbeloff ■ R. Gordon Darby ■ ■ Paul E. Dixon, Jr. and Rebecca K. Dixon ■ Thomas J. Dowling, Jr. (MED’81, CAS’81) and Rosemary Dowling Hilda R. Dressler (MED’34) ■ Carol A. Dyer and Gene Gordon (MED’46) ■ Alan M. Edelstein (Questrom’47, LAW’49) ■ and Sybil Edelstein David R. Edelstein (MED’80) and Eve L. Edelstein ■ Alvin N. Eden (MED’52) and Elaine R. Eden Mary Jane R. England (MED’64, Hon.’98) ■ Michael J. Esposito (MED’49) ■ Geraldine L. Feldman (MED’69, CAS’69) ■ Judith N. Feldman Bertha Offenbach Fineberg (MED’36) ■ and Nathan L. Fineberg (MED’30) ■ Nicholas J. Fiumara (MED’39) ■ Daphne H. Foster (CAS’79, Questrom’82) and Lawrence Foster Beverly R. Franklin (CAS’44) and William E. Franklin (MED’46) ■

Myrna Franzblau (Wheelock’73) and Carl Franzblau Monte Friedkin and Skeets Friedkin Ray A. Garver ■ and Donna L. Garver ■ Marion L. Gendron (PAL’26) ■ George E. Ghareeb (MED’62) and Nancy B. Ghareeb ■ Arnold Goldenberg (MED’54) and Gloria Goldenberg ■ Dorothy A. Gottlieb (CAS’76) and Leonard S. Gottlieb ■ Doris Grabosky and Jack Grabosky Ellen R. Grass ■ David T. Greenleaf (MED’65) and Katherine O. Greenleaf Robert E. Griffin and Cathleen Griffin Morton S. Grossman (MET’42) ■ and Sylvia Grossman ■ Kenneth M. Grundfast and Ruthanne Grundfast Fritz Grunebaum (Hon.’79) ■ Robert W. Healy (MED’67) and Bonnie M. Healy ■ Juan D. Hernandez Batista ■ and Maria A. Tavarez-De Hernandez Arnold S. Hiatt George L. Hines (MED’69, CAS’69) and Helene A. Hines (Sargent’69) ■ Ann S. Hintlian ■ and Deran Hintlian Michael G. Hirsh (MED’63) and Carol N. Hirsh ■ Betsy E. Horen ■ Arline Housman ■ and Herbert E. Housman ■ Charles Housman Edward L. Housman (Questrom’42) ■ and Charlotte Housman ■ James B. Howell (MED’65) and Marlene A. Howell Bernard L. Huang (MED’62, CAS’57) ■ and Ann M. Huang Richard E. Hunter (MED’44) and Minta L. Hunter David Ingall (MED’57, CAS’52, GRS’53) and Carol Ingall Patricia K. Issarescu (MED’61) ■ Joseph A. Izzi, Sr. and Barbara A. Izzi Peter F. Jeffries (MED’60) ■ and Jeanne F. Arnold (MED’61) ■ Clinton W. Josey, Jr. and Betty Josey ■ Esther B. Kahn (Wheelock’55, Hon.’86) ■ Charlotte A. Kaitz ■ and Louis L. Kaitz ■ Damon J. Keith ■ The Kibrick Family Burton I. Korelitz (MED’51) and Ann Z. Korelitz ■ Conan Kornetsky ■ Edward E. Krukonis (MED’63) and Priscilla J. Krukonis ■ Saul Kurlat ■ ■ Cecelia Lance ■ Charna C. Larkin and Alan B. Larkin ■ Robert E. Leach and Laurine Leach Brian Levine and Beth Levine Brigette Lonner and Joseph J. Lonner ■ Thomas A. MacLean (MED’64) and Colleen K. MacLean William I. Malamud (MED’54) ■ and Camille C. Malamud ■ William M. Manger and Lynn S. Manger

Richard C. Marcus Stella C. Martin and Clive R. Martin Ronald P. McCaffrey and Maureen McCaffrey John F. McCahan and Kathleen B. McCahan ■ ■ Edward J. McDonald, Jr. and Catherine A. McDonald Jean E. McPhail ■ Robert F. Meenan (MED’72, Questrom’89) ■ Daniel E. Moalli (MED’61) and Glenna M. Moalli ■ ■ Jordan Monocandilos Rodney A. Montag and Sally A. Montag Sanford R. Montag and Nancy L. Montag Thomas J. Moore and Mary C. Moore ■ Sunit Mukherjee (MED’89, CAS’89) and Sumeeta Mukherjee ■ Michael F. Mullarkey (MED’70) and Dawn Mullarkey (CAS’68) G. Vijaya Naidu Newton Family Fund Merel G. Nissenberg Dawn B. Norcia and David J. Norcia N. Stephen Ober (MED’86, CAS’82) Anne W. O’Connor and John F. O’Connor (MED’57) ■ Hytho H. Pantazelos (MED’63) and Peter G. Pantazelos ■ ■ Dianne M. Parrotte (MED’79, CAS’79) Edward F. Parsons (MED’65) ■ Jordan C. Paul and Valerie J. Paul ■ Lita Perkins ■ and John S. Perkins ■ Jona A. Perlmutter and Donna Perlmutter Astrid O. Peterson (MED’77, CAS’74) N. Neal Pike (LAW’37) ■ John I. Polk (MED’74, Wheelock’13) and Mary C. Nugent Polk (SON’76,’77) ■ Helen S. Ratner and Frank Ratner (MED’47) ■ ■ Iver S. Ravin (MED’40) ■ Nancy E. Rice (MED’65) and Millard J. Hyland ■ Martin S. Rifkin (Questrom’82) and Judy A. Rifkin ■ ■ Joel A. Roffman (MED’75, CAS’72) and Nancy C. Roffman ■ Gerald L. Ross ■ Melanie Rothbaum and David Rothbaum (MED’82) ■ Richard A. Rudders ■ Stephen W. Russell (MED’55) and Gail D. Russell Ralph L. Sacco (MED’83) and Scott Dutcher ■ Hannah E. Sandson and John I. Sandson ■ Francis P. Saunders (MED’58) and Lydia M. Saunders Frank J. Schaberg, Jr. (MED’68, CAS’68) and Monica J. Schaberg (MED’68, CAS’68) ■ Alan L. Schechter (MED’78) and Genevieve Schechter Harold S. Schell (MED’70) and Antoinette M. Schell ■ Rocco Schelzi ■ Herman Selinsky (MED’24) ■ Richard J. Shemin (MED’74, CAS’72) and Susan H. Shemin Norton L. Sherman ■ and Claire M. Sherman William F. Shields (MED’94, GRS’90) ■ ■

The Shooshan Family ■ Barry E. Sieger (MED’68) and Margarete Sieger Richard L. Simmons (MED’59) ■ Simon L. Strong (ENG’79, Questrom’91) and Sarah A. Strong Lois N. Talis (PAL’49) ■ Tony Y. Tannoury and Viviane Tannoury Stephen M. Tringale (MED’90, CAS’80, GRS’86) ■ Sanford W. Udis (MED’44) ■ Marian A. Vita Franz Waldeck ■ Carl W. Walter ■ and Margaret H. Walter ■ Murray Weinstock (MED’65) and Gloria Weinstock ■ Sue Rosenwasser Weiss and Seymour Rosenwasser ■ Anthony Weldon Judith F. Wellington and Peter S. Wellington ■ Jerrold Wexler and Joan Wexler Robert H. Wexler ■ and Joanna B. Wexler ■ Alan Winters and Hope Winters Robert A. Witzburg (MED’77) and Lorraine G. Witzburg (Wheelock’06) ■ Peak Woo (MED’78, CAS’78) ■ Earle G. Woodman (MED’58) ■ Moshe Yanai and Rachel Yanai Charles R. Young ■ and Marion L. Young ■ Frances W. Young ■ Barry S. Zuckerman and Pamela A. Zuckerman HONORARY Dorothy C. Keefer (PAL’46,’48) ■ Ishebel K. Lyle ■ and Carl Lyle ■

Winter/Spring 2022 | bumc.bu.edu

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Alumni

NEWS

CONTACT US: If you have news, announcements, or creative works you’d like to share with your fellow alumni, please write to the BUSM Alumni Association at 72 E. Concord Street, L120, Boston, MA 02118 or email us at alumbusm@bu.edu.

Greetings,

T

To make a gift, please scan.

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Boston University School of Medicine

his year, the Alumni Association board came together virtually to dive into alumni engagement, including how we ought to measure it, how can we make it meaningful for our diverse alumni, and how we can strengthen engagement within our community.

While the main goals are to increase alumni connection—including through readership of the monthly E-News and the school magazine, meaningful volunteer activities with current students, and strengthening our community to further inclusion—our overarching mission is to represent our alumni to the best of our ability and promote a culture that welcomes and engages all alumni, students, and faculty.

We desire a lifelong relationship with our alumni, and we want you to feel connected. We want to be relevant to you and aim to build and provide inclusive programming, events, and digital offerings to connect, support, and engage you. This focus will ensure the school continues to provide meaningful opportunities for you and your fellow alumni.

The board developed an alumni engagement survey asking for your feedback. One initiative that came of our work was improving our connections through the use of class notes. We increased the frequency of the “ask” and created different ways of asking. Thank you to those who have shared their news (see page 42).

You’ve helped provide insight into what is important to you, and we learned we can do better by creating opportunities for you to enrich the lives of our current students and your fellow alumni. You also helped us identify several key

ways to build and sustain a culture of alumni engagement. A special thank-you to members of the alumni board, who made this work happen.

Looking forward, please save the dates of September 30–October 2, 2022, for MED Alumni Weekend (this is also University Alumni Weekend). Stay tuned and watch your inbox to hear more about the three distinguished alumni we will recognize at an in-person luncheon and ceremony on Friday, September 30: • Gail D’Onofrio, MD (SON’75, MED’87) [Par COM’12, CGS’10] for her outstanding career in emergency medicine • Daniel Rotrosen, MD (MED’78) for his outstanding career in infectious diseases and internal medicine • Drew Weissman, MD, PhD (MED’87, GRS’87) for his outstanding career in allergy, immunology, and infectious diseases As part of the celebration, our three award recipients will participate in an interactive panel discussion with alumni, faculty, and students.

Engagement requires a mutual commitment.

We look forward to continuing to learn from and work with you.

Best,

Heather Miselis, MED’04, MA/MPH’00 She/her/hers Assistant Dean for Alumni Affairs Assistant Professor of Family Medicine Principal Investigator, Boston University Community Health Alliance of Medical Professionals (BU CHAMPs)

How Scientists Drew Weissman (MED’87, GRS’87) and Katalin Karikó Developed the Revolutionary mRNA Technology Inside COVID Vaccines It started with a chance encounter, and led to worldwide acclaim for the two researchers Ting Yu

WEISSMAN PHOTO: PEGGY PETERSON/COURTESY OF PENN MEDICINE. KARIKÓ PHOTO: ZUME PRESS, INC./ALAMY

A

n astonishing number of worldchanging medical breakthroughs have come to humanity by way of serendipity. Mishaps and lucky breaks gave us X-rays, insulin, and, most famously, penicillin, discovered in 1928, when a Scottish biologist returned from a summer holiday to find the bacteria cultures in his lab destroyed by a peculiar mold. Modern medicine was transformed in an instant.

But the story of how scientist Drew Weissman (MED’87, GRS’87) and his research partner Katalin Karikó developed the revolutionary mRNA technology that powers the world’s most effective COVID-19 vaccines was a much slower burn—one that easily could have flickered out. Their decades-long crusade has been marked by rejection, crushing setbacks, and dogged perseverance.

Chance had nothing to do with it. Except, perhaps, for how they met.

It was 1998. Weissman, an immunologist with a PhD in microbiology, had recently accepted a position at the University of Pennsylvania and was trying to figure out how to make a better vaccine. Most traditional vaccines work by injecting an inactive, weakened, or small fragment of a pathogen— called an antigen—to trigger an immune

Drew Weissman (MED’87, GRS’87), left, and Katalin Karikó pioneered the mRNA technology that is fundamentally reshaping the landscape of vaccine development and the future of gene therapies.

response that the body remembers and can jump-start if the invader returns. But developing such vaccines can take years, and live pathogens pose health risks to those with compromised immune systems.

Weissman was especially intrigued by a single-stranded molecule called messenger RNA, or mRNA, which brings our cells the DNA blueprint for making proteins so that the body can function. If we could manipulate those instructions, could mRNA be harnessed to create an entirely new kind of vaccine— one that could generate immunity without ever bringing a pathogen into the body?

One day, while waiting at the office to photocopy articles from a research journal, Weissman struck up a conversation with Penn biochemist Karikó. The two scientists realized they shared a particular interest. “I had always wanted to try mRNA,” Weissman says, “and here was somebody at the Xerox machine telling me that’s what she does.”

What followed was a partnership that has lasted for more than two decades. During

that time, they pioneered the mRNA technology that is fundamentally reshaping the landscape of vaccine development and the future of gene therapies. Not only have the new mRNA vaccines proven to be more effective and safer than traditional vaccines, they can be developed and reengineered to take on emerging pathogens and new variants with breathtaking speed. Using mRNA technology, Pfizer-BioNTech designed its coronavirus vaccine in a matter of hours.

Now, Weissman and Karikó are being hailed for their work. Earlier this year, Brandeis University and the Rosenstiel Foundation honored the scientists with the Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Research. In September, they won a Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences from the Breakthrough Prize Foundation. And Columbia University awarded them the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, bestowed annually for groundbreaking work in medical science. Of the 106 previous Horwitz Prize winners, nearly half have gone on to receive Nobel Prizes.

Winter/Spring 2022 | bumc.bu.edu

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BUSM Alumni Cracking mRNA’s Code From the start, Weissman and Karikó believed mRNA was the key to unlocking a new generation of vaccines and therapeutics.

Theoretically, it could instruct any cell in the body to make any desired set of proteins. But practically, there were many obstacles. Synthetic mRNA was notoriously unstable and tended to break down before it could do its job. The closest attempt came in 1990 when researchers from the University of Wisconsin showed that injected mRNA could generate proteins in mice. Many scientists, however, were skeptical that this process could be replicated in humans.

For her part, Karikó had been captivated by mRNA since the earliest days of her career.

She left her native Hungary in 1985, when funding dried up for her lab, taking a low-level postdoctoral position at Temple University.

Four years later, Karikó moved to Penn, where she would spend the next decade making sporadic discoveries with mRNA but consistently failing to win grants. She was forced to move from lab to lab, going wherever she could find someone willing to fund her research.

By the time she met Weissman, at the copy machine, Karikó had been demoted and was adrift without funding or a lab.

But Weissman didn’t care about her lack of grants or credentials. “I never say no to anything,” he says. “RNA had been tried by others and didn’t work very well, but I wanted to try it.”

Karikó brought her synthetic mRNA to his lab. Weissman injected it into mice. Then he waited to see what would happen. The results were unexpected and discouraging.

The mRNA set off a harmful inflammatory immune response in the mice. They grew sick, and some died. “Kati got depressed because it meant that mRNA couldn’t be used as a therapeutic,” Weissman recalls.

“You can’t give something that makes people sick.”

But neither scientist was ready to give up on the promise of mRNA. They spent years investigating the cause of the inflammation and years more experimenting with how to prevent it.

In 2005, they had a breakthrough.

By altering one of mRNA’s four building blocks, known as nucleosides, Weissman and Karikó found that their modified mRNA could fly under the radar of the body’s immune sys36

Boston University School of Medicine

tem, no longer causing inflammation. It was a game changer, and they both knew it.

With this hurdle cleared, the clinical applications for synthetic mRNA seemed infinite.

Custom-tailored mRNA, once injected into the body, could order cells to produce any desired sequence of proteins.

There were “enormous possibilities,” Weissman says. The scientists believed their

95% Efficacy of mRNA vaccines in preventing COVID-19 infection is 95%.

technology had the potential to transform medicine, opening the door to countless new vaccines, therapeutic proteins, and gene therapies.

The idea may have been too radical to grasp. Several leading medical journals turned down their report of their findings before it was published, in 2005, by the journal Immunity. The researchers braced for the shock waves their study would generate in the scientific community.

“I told Kati our phones are going to ring off the hook,” Weissman recalls. “But nothing happened. We didn’t get a single call.”

The researchers were deeply frustrated at the lack of interest. Still, they secured patents, and in 2006 launched a company called RNARx that focused on developing mRNA therapeutics for a wide range of diseases. But eventually funding ran out and the company shut down.

The pair forged ahead, and five years after they published their groundbreaking findings, their discovery caught the attention of two biotech newcomers, Moderna of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Germany’s BioNTech.

Both companies eventually licensed Weissman and Karikó’s patents. (Karikó was hired

by BioNTech in 2013, and the company would later partner with US pharmaceutical giant

Pfizer on vaccine development. The two companies also now support Weissman’s lab.)

By the time ominous reports of a mysterious virus began emerging from Wuhan, China, in late 2019, Moderna and BioNTech had been working on developing mRNA influenza vaccines and other therapies for years. As soon as China released the genome sequence for the new coronavirus, both companies began racing toward a vaccine.

Would mRNA Vaccines Work in People?

The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines deployed the same clever mechanism. A shot of specially coded mRNA would instruct certain cells to manufacture the notorious COVID-19 spike protein, enabling the cells to briefly masquerade as the virus and teach the immune system to recognize it. Within weeks of injection, the mRNA would break down naturally without a trace, leaving in its wake a powerful immunity against the coronavirus.

Although Weissman was confident in the science—he had worked on 20 different vaccines in animal models with great success—he was anxious to see the results of the human trials. “In science, we know that what works in mice rarely works in humans, and what works in [monkeys] sometimes works in humans,” Weissman says. “So I was very nervous [about] whether it would work in people.”

Results from the human clinical trials showed the vaccines to be remarkably safe, with 95 percent efficacy in preventing COVID-19 infection. Weissman was elated. In December 2020, he and Karikó received their first vaccine shots together at the University of Pennsylvania.

“It was an emotional moment,” he says, reflecting on their long struggle to show the world the promise of this extraordinary molecule. “There were a lot of down times, a lot of soul-searching, a lot of figuring out why things weren’t working. But we never lost hope because we both saw the incredible potential that mRNA had.”

Since COVID vaccines were first granted emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration in December 2020, nearly 219 million Americans have been immunized, with the vast majority receiving either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.

Columbia’s David Ho, one of the country’s leading virologists, calls their research “an

BUSM Alumni essential precursor” to the COVID vaccines “that have made a huge impact on the pandemic.” Others in the scientific community believe Weissman and Karikó deserve the Nobel Prize for their groundbreaking discoveries with mRNA. Weissman takes it all in stride. “We knew from the beginning that what we were doing had huge potential,” he says, “but every scientist’s work isn’t like that. If RNA had not worked, no one would have heard of Kati and me, and we would’ve retired and gone off to our nursing homes.”

The Future of mRNA Technology These days, Weissman seems a bit wistful for a time when he could work in relative anonymity. “I was and still am quiet and shy and not very outgoing,” he says. “I’ve always enjoyed working in my lab alone without much attention. The reporters, awards committees, everybody imaginable wanting to talk to me—it’s been the hardest thing.”

With what little leisure time he has, Weissman likes to unwind by engineering more domestic innovations. “When he’s having trouble finding a solution to something, he builds rooms onto our house,” says his wife, Mary Ellen, a child psychologist. The couple has two daughters, Rachel and Allison.

“I build screen porches, kitchens, bathrooms, playrooms,” Weissman says. “I enjoy building. I’m sure I got that from my dad.” His father was an engineer who owned a company that designed optical mirrors for satellites. His mother was a dental hygienist.

Weissman describes a carefree childhood growing up in Lexington, Massachusetts, “playing kickball in the streets and roaming around the neighborhood causing trouble.” In high school, his talent for science came into focus. “I was always interested in biology and took the top science classes,” he says.

He studied biochemistry and enzymology at Brandeis University and earned an MD/PhD in immunology and microbiology from Boston University in 1987. After a residency in Boston, he pursued a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, where he worked closely with Anthony Fauci (Hon.’18), now director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, whom he describes as “one of the great drivers of my research interest.”

Weissman has been dismayed by the partisan vitriol directed at his former mentor.

“I see it as very sad. I never imagined that people would attack Tony for trying to save lives and do the right thing,” he says. “The United States is absolutely ridiculous in how they’ve handled this vaccine and the pandemic itself. And the continued politicization of it is terrible.”

His frustration with how the United States is managing the pandemic has led him to focus on vaccine access for the rest of the world. Weissman is currently working with the governments of Thailand, Malaysia, South Africa, and Rwanda, among others, to develop and test lower-cost COVID vaccines.

To Weissman, the new COVID variants present a compelling challenge. The beauty of mRNA vaccines, he says, is that tweaking the code to work against Delta or other new

“There were a lot of down times, a lot of soulsearching, a lot of figuring out why things weren’t working. But we never lost hope.”

Drew Weissman strains “is a simple thing. It takes a few weeks to make a brand-new vaccine.”

He has set his sights on a more ambitious target: a pan-coronavirus vaccine. “There have been three coronavirus epidemics in the past 20 years,” he explains. “You have to assume there are going to be more. We’re now working on a vaccine that will protect against every variant that will likely appear.

Our thinking is that we’ll use it as a way to immunize the world—and prevent the next pandemic from happening in the future.”

So far, the results in mice, which were published in the journal Nature in August 2021, have been promising. But Weissman is hardly stopping with coronaviruses. He’s working

on about 20 other vaccines for diseases from malaria to HIV, with several moving into clinical trials. His lab is also exploring new gene therapies to treat immune deficiencies like cystic fibrosis and genetic liver diseases.

One of the most promising projects focuses on curing sickle cell anemia, a chronic genetic disorder that disproportionately affects people of African descent. The existing treatment is a labor-intensive procedure that involves removing bone marrow from the patient, treating it with an altered virus designed to deliver a healthy version of the sickle cell gene, and then putting the marrow back into the patient. “The problem with that is 200,000 people are born with sickle cell in sub-Saharan Africa every year,” Weissman says, “and it’s half a million dollars per treatment.”

Using mRNA technology, Weissman has developed a gene therapy that can treat sickle cell anemia with a single shot. “We’ve taught [the mRNA] how to target bone marrow stem cells, so they fix the gene and cure the disease,” he says. The therapy has been successful in mice and will move into monkey trials soon.

“Once we get the sickle cell therapy working, there are a couple of hundred other bone marrow genetic diseases it can be applied to,” he says, along with liver and lung genetic disorders. In time, he believes mRNA gene therapies can bring hope to research on devastating neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s that have seen disappointingly few advances.

Meanwhile, biotech companies like Moderna and BioNTech are charging forward on a mind-bending spectrum of mRNA applications, including personalized cancer vaccines and autoimmune therapies.

Weissman generally comes across as pragmatic and self-effacing, but as he looks to the future, he sounds genuinely awed by the staggering potential of the technology he and Karikó invented: “It really is exciting. It’s limitless.” n Winter/Spring 2022 | bumc.bu.edu

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BUSM Alumni

Alumni Stories

Three Alums Shine as Medical School Deans

Steven Lee Berk (MED'75) Dean, School of Medicine

Executive Vice President for Clinical Affairs, Health Sciences Center Texas Tech University “If you want to be a good dean—or one who really understands what’s going on—have your son go to medical school where you are,” says Steven Lee Berk of the Texas Tech University School of Medicine.

“He taught me a lot about my own medical school—half of which I can disclose to people and half of which I can’t.”

Their chats prompted Berk, an infectious disease specialist who joined the Lubbockbased university system in 1999, to expand his conversations to all medical school 38

Boston University School of Medicine

M

any School of Medicine alumni have made significant contributions to the fields of medicine and science. Beginning with this issue, BU Medicine will profile some of these alums in the series Alumni Stories as BUSM approaches its 175th anniversary in 2023.

Joshua Wynne, Steven Berk, and Robert Golden earned medical degrees in the 1970s from Boston University School of Medicine.

Today, they head medical schools.

Berk (MED’75) has led the Texas Tech University School of Medicine and its

Health Sciences Center since 2006, the same year Golden (MED’79) was appointed to lead the University of Wisconsin’s School of Medicine and Public Health. Wynne (MED’71, CAS’71) has served as dean of the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences since 2009.

According to Golden, longevity has its advantages. “I’ve always felt that if one is … going to have a major impact on an institution, population, or constituency, then you have to be in it for the long game,” he says.

These alumni have demonstrated that they are committed to the long haul.

students. He now invites all third-year students to meet with him, share feedback, and talk through career plans. About half of the 180 students in each class take him up on his offer.

While impressed with their diligence and sense of purpose, Berk urges students to strive for a sense of balance as well.

“They’re so dedicated and ambitious and always wanting to do better,” he says. “I’d like them to figure out how to enjoy the ride more.”

Under his leadership, the medical school has increased from 140 students per class to 180, and he has also boosted the size and number of residency programs. “That’s really important to us,” he says, “because there are tremendous manpower needs in West Texas.”

Roughly 60 percent of Texas Tech’s doctors stay in the state, but only about 15 percent practice medicine in rural areas such as West Texas, which is dotted with small towns of 25,000 to 50,000 people and needs family physicians. Berk is especially proud of the school’s accelerated family medicine track, which graduates students in three years eligible to enter a family medicine program. Although the percentage of students choosing a career in family medicine increased from 10 to 18 percent during his tenure, graduates still can’t keep pace with the demand for small-town doctors.

A New York City native, Berk took what he calls “a leap of faith” at age 32

to become chief of medicine and the infectious disease specialist at East Tennessee State University’s Quillen College of Medicine. Because he’d already spent several months on a Native American reservation in Kings Canyon, Arizona, as a fourth-year School of Medicine student, he credits his BU education for preparing him to succeed in that “very challenging environment.”

In 1999, Berk was named regional dean at Texas Tech’s Amarillo campus, a role he learned about from friend and classmate Ed Sherwood (MED’75), who headed the Amarillo VA Health Care System. Appointed dean in 2006, Berk is also the executive vice president for clinical affairs of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, which includes the School of Medicine, School of Nursing, School of Pharmacy, School of Health Professions, and the Graduate School of Health Professions.

He oversees the main campus in Lubbock as well as satellites in Amarillo, Odessa, and Midland.

Berk’s 15-plus years as a dean have given him the experience to envision and advance ambitious projects, such as opening a branch campus for third- and fourth-year students to train in communitybased clinical settings. “Having a broadrange picture and the ability to make things happen over the longer term is very helpful,” he says.

BUSM Alumni

Robert N. Golden (MED’79) Dean, School of Medicine and Public Health

Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs

PHOTOS COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA SCHOOL OF MEDICINE & HEALTH SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH, AND TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

University of Wisconsin-Madison Since he was planning a career in psychiatry, Robert Golden didn’t see much value in visiting public housing residents during his “visiting home health” rotation; back then he thought his efforts would be better spent studying neurology, endocrinology, and the biological roots of depression.

Now, decades later, Golden says those in-home visits taught him the importance of community outreach— especially for people who were not adept at navigating a healthcare system—as well as the public health aspects of keeping people and communities healthy. “I didn’t realize that I would be so grateful for that at the time,” he says.

Golden continues to draw on that experience as dean of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. The school’s name reflects its commitment to integrating medicine and public health in its service mission, as well as in its approach to education and research, and reaching underserved rural and urban populations across the state.

When he became dean in 2006, Golden encountered what he calls “a two-headed monster”: The medical

school was affiliated with the university, while the hospital was run separately.

“It was clumsy at best when it came to forming partnerships with other healthcare systems or with other entities,” he says. “And at times they didn’t have shared priorities. The next ambitious goal was to integrate the academic faculty practice plan with the health system … as a unified academic health system dedicated to all three missions. That took some time.”

Today, Golden oversees an annual school budget of $720 million and what he calls “a truly comprehensive academic health system, which includes majority ownership of a large and growing health insurance plan as well as community hospitals,” that have a budget of $3.6 billion.

Boosting the number of underrepresented populations in medical school is a priority and remains a challenge. Nearly a third of students admitted to the last two classes are minorities—up from eight percent a decade ago—and healthcare leaders reach out to students of color starting in middle school to encourage interest in health professions. The medical school also aggressively pursues diversity in its out-of-state students, who make up 30 percent of medical school classes.

A New Jersey native, Golden had no plans to become an administrator but drifted into leadership roles while doing neurobiological research at the University of North Carolina. He became a department chair at age 40 and vice dean for the UNC School of Medicine in 2004, moving to Wisconsin two years later.

Throughout his medical and administrative careers, Golden says he has relied on his BU psychiatry training, which emphasized “listening to the person—not simply applying a label as a patient—but really learning how to listen and trying to understand what a person is feeling and why they are feeling that way,” he says. “Those same kinds of approaches are relevant when it’s ... an organization or a population you’re trying to understand at a deeper level.”

Joshua Wynne (MED’71, CAS’71) Vice President for Health Affairs and Dean

University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences University of North Dakota (UND) School of Medicine & Health Sciences, North Dakota’s only medical school, relies on the state for about a third of its funding, so Dean Joshua Wynne (MED’71, CAS’71) makes regular trips to the state capitol in Bismarck to enlist the support of lawmakers. By way of introduction, he tells them, “My name is Joshua Wynne.

I’m vice president for health affairs at the University of North Dakota, and I’m proud to be dean of your School of Medicine and Health Sciences.”

Wynne doesn’t mention that he’s a cardiologist who, at 74, still sees patients and holds multiple advanced degrees.

Besides, he says with a chuckle, “They all know who I am. And in North Dakota, you don’t pat yourself on the back. Being modest is part of the culture.”

So is maintaining relationships, which is why Wynne asks the assembled lawmakers what the state needs from the school of medicine, rather than inform them what the school needs from them.

“It’s important that the people have a right to say what they want from their medical school,” he explains.

What they want, he’s learned, are doctors and healthcare workers who will serve North Dakota’s 780,000 residents.

When Wynne drilled down on why newly Winter/Spring 2022 | bumc.bu.edu

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BUSM Alumni minted physicians were taking higherpaying jobs in other states, he discovered that although a UND medical education costs less than other schools, its graduates carry greater debt.

“Quite frankly, we had less scholarship support available, and we have a pretty solidly middle-class medical student class,” he says. “So in our philanthropic efforts, we made debt mitigation our priority. We were able to double the number of scholarships we gave and, as a consequence, our cumulative medical school debt fell from the 75th percentile down to about the 30 or 35th percentile— from way above average to way below average.” The medical school has also increased its class size and added statefunded residencies to bolster the number of healthcare providers across the state.

The first doctor in his Long Island, New York, family, Wynne received his undergraduate and medical degrees through BU’s six-year program. After teaching at Harvard Medical School, he joined the faculty at Wayne State University School of Medicine in 1984 as chief of cardiology, then transitioned into administrative roles to further impact policy.

He honed his skills in managing an institutional budget in a team environment by earning an MBA from the University of Chicago in 2000, and an MPH from the University of Michigan in 2002 helped him broaden his healthcare perspective from the doctor-patient relationship to include the entire system.

Wynne took a second-in-command role at the University of North Dakota in 2004. “I finally figured out that for

Distinguished Alumni Awards The BUSM Alumni Association announces the Distinguished Alumni Award recipients.

The awardees will be recognized at an in-person ceremony and luncheon on Friday, September 30, as part of MED Alumni Weekend.

the rest of my career, I wanted to be a medical school dean, but I didn’t really have any of the qualifications to do it,” he says.

Despite administrative duties and appearances before the state legislature, Wynne makes time to see patients once a week and, with a colleague, runs North Dakota’s only adult congenital heart disease clinic, an interest that dates to his days as a cardiology fellow in Boston.

His passion for academic medicine was “largely incubated at BU,” he says. “It was being in that environment of inquiry and excitement about learning new things, in addition to taking care of patients, that was awakened at BU. The excitement of combining the intellectual aspects with the patient-care aspects hasn’t gone away in 50 years.” n

Gail D’Onofrio, MD (SON’75, MED’87) [Par COM’12, CGS’10] for her outstanding career in emergency medicine

Daniel Rotrosen, MD (MED’78) for his outstanding career in infectious diseases and internal medicine

Congratulations to the honorees!

Drew Weissman, MD, PhD (MED’87, GRS’87) for his outstanding career in allergy, immunology, and infectious diseases

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Boston University School of Medicine

BUSM Alumni

Historical Alumni Spotlight:

William Lane Watkins “We present a class of thirty-one, whose names are before you, upon whom is to be conferred the medical degree of the University….They all go forth bearing the respect of the faculty and earnest wishes for their prosperity and success…”

abandoned by BUSM and other schools that had taught them.

On March 2, 1876, Dr. Watkins became the first Black male graduate of BUSM and returned to his hometown of New Bedford, Massachusetts, described by Ishmael in Melville’s Moby Dick as “perhaps the dearest place to live in all New England.” His father, William H. Watkins, was white and his mother, Susan M. Bowie Watkins, was biracial. They had settled in New Bedford, where William became a city messenger, in the mid-1800s to start a new life after fleeing Maryland, where their marriage was illegal.

—I.T. Talbot, Dean of the Faculty, Boston University School of Medicine, March 1876

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illiam Lane Watkins enrolled in the inaugural class at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) in November 1873, shortly after Boston University merged with the New England Female Medical College to become the first accredited, coeducational, medical school in the United States. All records about Watkins’ life as a medical student have been lost, except an 1876 catalog entry listing his thesis topic, “Jaborandi.”

His intense study of the medicinal properties of an herb was conducted as part of a mandatory, two-year preceptorship under the supervision of Dr. Henry B. Clarke, a professor of clinical medicine. In keeping with the practice of early Boston University medical faculty like Dr. Talbot, the school’s first dean, BUSM was an explicitly homeopathic school from its founding until 1918. While controversial, homeopathy, which emphasized hydration and bathing, was seen by many as an equally valid alternative to bleeding, purging, and medical concoctions that were then standard for classically trained physicians. Course catalogs show that Watkins and his classmates studied anatomy, surgery, and pathology as they would have in any contemporary medical school, but also learned the principles and philosophical approach of homeopathy. Over the years, as mainstream medicine became more focused on evidence and developed more effective techniques and therapies, homeopathy and other sectarian medical practices fell out of favor and were gradually

On March 2, 1876, Watkins became the first Black male graduate of BUSM and returned to his hometown of New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Sadly, Susan Watkins died in childbirth on September 27, 1874, shortly before her son began his second year of medical school.

Watkins anticipated that New Bedford, a city with a rich tradition of history and culture, intellectual prowess, economic vibrancy, and innovative spirit, would be the ideal location to establish a flourishing medical practice. Instead, he faced racial discrimination and found himself pasting broadsides on fence posts and barn sidings to make a living.

Subject to active and passive discrimination as a medical professional in Massachusetts, the educated and ambitious Watkins

migrated to Baltimore, where he worked at the US Customs Office before being hired as the first teacher at the Mt. Nebo School near Queen Anne Town, a port on the Patuxent River established in 1704. George Washington frequently lodged there as he traveled between Virginia and Annapolis.

Housing in the Queen Anne Town area was very limited when Watkins arrived in 1877, and because the school year and teacher salaries were determined by the agricultural calendar, teacher salaries were lower than those offered in urban settings.

By September 1878, Watkins had set up a medical practice in addition to teaching, and married Jane Ellen “Jennie” Turner. When the couple decided to move from the countryside to within city limits, they were met with threats and disparaging remarks from white city officials. Watkins was not dissuaded, and despite the initial ostracism, in the years that followed he gained considerable respect in the community as physician, teacher, principal, social worker, recording clerk in the Prince George’s County Circuit Court, and civil rights advocate.

A republican, Watkins was a loyalist to the “Party of Emancipation” and thanks to the 15th Amendment, a voter. By the late 1880s, he had established a solid reputation as a political activist, winning leadership roles within the county and with the state republican party central committee. At the 1887 county convention, he was nominated for a seat in the Maryland general assembly house of delegates. Following the Supreme Court’s Plessy v. Ferguson decision, the institutionalization of “separate but equal” ideology motivated him to continue to work even more fervently within the Maryland republican party structure to advocate for quality education, equity in medical care, human rights, and against disenfranchisement measures.

Tragically, while Dr. Watkins provided medical care to immigrants, indigent patients, and Black soldiers returning home at the end of World War I, the second wave of the Spanish Flu killed thousands of Americans in their prime, including his daughters, Blanche and Maud, who died within days of each other in Baltimore in the fall of 1918.

In November 2022, Watkins’ life and achievements will be commemorated both at BUSM and at Greater Mt. Nebo African Methodist Episcopal Church in Bowie, Maryland, to honor the 170th year of his birth. n Winter/Spring 2022 | bumc.bu.edu

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BUSM Alumni

CLASS NOTES

CLASS NOTES

Bennett Miller of Atlantis, Florida, writes, “I continue to look back at my years at BUSM as some of the best memories of my life! To be able to talk to faculty, rather than listen to them on a podium, greatly enhanced my years at BUSM. My undergraduate years (Harvard) did not have the intimacy and emotional connection I had at BUSM (contrasted with my war years in WWII)!! Thank you, faculty. Franz Ingelfinger, Henry Bakst, pharmacologist Dr. Mason, Alice Marsdon, Dr. Conel, and many others!!”

1952

Alvin Eden of Forest Hills, New York, writes, “At age 95 I have recently published two more books, my memoirs A Look Back and An Anthology of Filth, a joke book and more, both via Amazon. Looking forward to our 70th reunion in 2022.”

1958

Jerome Waye of Greenwich, Connecticut, writes, “Medical School Class of 1958.

Internship, residency, and GI fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital, NYC. Written over 200 papers in peer review journals, and 10 books, including the most widely read, Colonoscopy Principles and Practice. Past president of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), and the World Endoscopy Organization (WEO). Recently delivered the keynote lecture at the ACG annual meeting; requested to deliver the presidential lecture of the WEO in Kyoto next year.

Retired at age 87, but still working. Recent publication in Video GIE on a new era of Remote Training in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, where I am training doctors in Uganda via Zoom, the first in our field of GI. Every day is great.”

1966

Peter Schwartz of Port Saint Lucie, Florida, writes, “Really enjoyed our recent class virtual get-together! Currently serving on the American Medical Association’s Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs and doing some virtual teaching/learning sessions. Have

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Boston University School of Medicine

IN Memoriam Dr. James Matthew Dargin, MD (MED‘04), 43, of Nashua, New Hampshire, died unexpectedly at his home on October 31, 2021.

Born in Nashua on April 16, 1978, Jim received his BS and MD from Boston University (CAS’00, MED’04). He completed his residency in emergency medicine at Boston Medical Center and fellowship in critical care at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center before returning to New England to practice.

A specialist in pulmonary and critical care, Jim was an attending physician at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, Massachusetts. He was deeply committed to teaching and especially enjoyed educating medical students on tending to critical care patients. He had an insatiable desire for learning, whether through reading, conversation, or exploration. He loved fishing and watching Red Sox and Patriots games with friends and relatives and above all else, cherished his wife and children and the time they spent together as a family.

Jim’s loved ones will forever remember him as a strong, warm, and adoring family

done several presentations on the ethics of vaccine distribution, noting that thus far, the entire continent of Africa has received only 1–2% of the world’s vaccine. I also continue to teach in Ethiopia, though I have not been able to be there since February 2020.”

1967

Richard Goldwater of Newton Center, Massachusetts, writes, “My story is atypical.

After psychiatry residency, I spent the next five decades doing psychotherapy in Newton, out of touch with colleagues. I was part of LSD research in the 1970s, leading to my later career as a cofounder of profitandentropy.com.

Alas, our work is still unpublished, but pending.

We are out to replace alchemical, free market economics with thermoeconomics, and put profit in its place as a waste product, not magically created energy. Definitely a long shot.”

man. In addition to his parents John and Virginia and his wife Beth, Jim is survived by his two daughters, Paige Marie and Meredith Ann Dargin of Nashua; his brother, John P. Dargin and his wife Kathie of Nashua and his nieces, Brianna and Emma; his sister-in-law, Jennifer Matsis of Milford and his nieces Alexandra and Ashleigh; and many extended family members.

Jim was greatly loved and will be dearly missed.

Meyer Lifschitz of Jerusalem, Israel, writes, “My wife and I are well, living here in Jerusalem for the past 19 years. I retired from part-time nephrology in the end of 2019, when Corona started here in Israel. I now learn full time in Yeshiva Ohr Somayach and function as an informal MD there for students or staff with questions.

We are fortunate to have all our children, grandchildren, and now some greatgrandchildren all living here in Israel. I would be happy to connect with any BUSM alumni who might come to Jerusalem.”

1968

Frederick Fox of Harrisonburg, Virginia, writes, “Class ‘68 congratulates Deeb Salem (BUSM’68) for being awarded the Tufts School of Medicine Dean’s Medal in May 2021 in recognition of his 21 years as Chair of

PHOTO COURTESY OF LAHEY HOSPITAL & MEDICAL CENTER

1951

BUSM Alumni

CLASS NOTES

CLASS NOTES the Department of Medicine. We all knew our fellow classmate from the six-year program had great promise. There is now a standing challenge from the Class ‘68 for the upcoming 50th reunion class to exceed our recordsetting reunion gift in 2018 of just under $500,000. The new goal is to exceed this figure or to reach $1M by creative use of IRA rollovers and prudent estate planning. The Class ‘68 looks forward to the leadership of our women colleagues in promoting our 55th reunion in 2023.”

1969 Marc Hirsch of Bowling Green, Kentucky, writes, “Hello, Boston University School of Medicine. I graduated in 1969 and retired in 2011. Before I retired, I began writing historical detective fiction set in the 1950s New York City with a female protagonist modeled after my older sister. It was the beginning of the Alice White Investigator series, of which I am writing the fourth installment right now. Discounted copies of The Case, Hard Case, and The Con Case are available for any modern e-reader, including Kindle and Nook, and in paperback at my online store, marchirsch.com.”

Michael Salcman of Baltimore, Maryland, writes, “I closed my medical practice on September 30, 2019, just a few months before the pandemic began. Ilene and I were delighted to attend my 50th class reunion at BUSM in October and see that many of my classmates were easily recognizable. My career as a poet has continued to flourish, even if only on a virtual basis. In May 2019 I was invited to lecture at Newcastle University (UK) at the annual Hippocrates Meeting devoted to Medicine and Poetry on how I had constructed Poetry in Medicine, my anthology of classic and contemporary poems on doctors, patients, illness, and healing. While there, I had the honor of doing a joint reading of my poems with Carolyn Forche, noted poet and activist. My fourth collection, Shades & Graces: New Poems, the inaugural winner of the Daniel Hoffman Legacy Book Prize, came out June 1, 2020, when the pandemic really

got rolling and no in-person readings were possible. Nevertheless, it received a glowing review in the spring issue 2021 of the Hudson Review under the heading “Poetry for a Pandemic Spring.” I have already received the page and cover proofs of my forthcoming fifth collection, Necessary Speech: New & Selected Poems. I like to have all the poems in my books first see the light of day in at least one literary magazine; the approval of another editor is always reassuring. In November 2021 I turned 75, but I am still writing, editing, and submitting. Ilene and I have the usual physical complaints of age, but we are getting ready to visit our grandchildren in California for the holidays, our first trip out of state since the pandemic hit. We need the escape and wish all of you well.”

1972 James Brasic of Baltimore, Maryland, writes, “I lead international teams for clinical translational research of neuropsychiatric disorders and welcome opportunities to collaborate with colleagues around the world. I participated in an oral history project on medical education, Brasic J, Goodman J. James Brasic and Jack Goodman. Archive StoryCorps.

Interview ID MBY020614. 2021.”

Bob Friedman of Lakeville, Maryland, writes, “After 34 years in primary care internal medicine, I joined a big medical group and that was clearly not for me, as I lasted less than three months in that environment. I kind of retired but have had several jobs since then. I had a house call job, then did some telemedicine. I worked as a jail doctor in the Plymouth County House of Correction; the administration and I did not see eye to eye on proper patient care, but I did last 16 months. They did not respond to my ultimatum on how to fix things, so I left. I then walked into a psych hospital and immediately got a job doing medical care on the psychiatric patients; I felt a lot safer in the prison than I did there, as they basically had no security. They did have several clinics for patients with substance use disorders, so I got the waiver and

began working in a clinic right away and did that for over four years. I felt this was some of the most important work I had ever done, but the organization was poorly run and I had to leave, taking a break anyway with the pandemic. I am now working for Recovery Connection, a very well-run organization; my clinic is in Brockton. It is only one day a week and I have a nonmedical job with Automotion International in Middleborough. Basically, I drive beautiful, new, high-end cars out to auto writers in New England, where they keep them for one week to do the reviews. The cars are great, but I generally listen to books all the way. So, I have a driving job on Tuesdays and a drug use job on Thursdays. Plenty of time for my favorite sport of cycling and I completed my 22nd Pan Mass Challenge last August. Our youngest grandchild is four and a half and there is plenty of time for him, family, and more reading and outside work. At 75, I guess I am in my last quarter, but it seems to be going well so far.”

Russell Jaffe, MD (MED’72) overlooking a group of orangutans.

Russell Jaffe of Ashburn, Virginia, writes, “Lifelong health in the challenging 21st century is the topic of HSC Press’s first book for consumers based on nature’s Alkaline Way, self-assessments and predictive biomarkers. Personalized primary predictive proactive prevention practice protocols are available online through PIH Academy at HealthStudiesCollegium.org. Join us in promoting well-being even as we marinate in a virtual sea of toxins and distress.”

Winter/Spring 2022 | bumc.bu.edu

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BUSM Alumni

CLASS NOTES

CLASS NOTES and various other jobs. I was president of the PA Psychiatric Society and spent eight years on the board of the PA Medical Society. And I may be the only member of the American Psychoanalytic Association with a PhD in Pharmacology.”

1974 Richard Chung, MD (MED’73) with wife Linda and one of his daughters.

1973 Richard Chung of Honolulu, Hawaii, writes, “As of November, I will be the Medical Director of the Hawaii Health Network, a newly formed clinically integrated network (CIN) of 3 IPAs/ POs and Adventist Castle Hospital in Honolulu/ Oahu, Hawaii. Unfortunately, I will have to tell my wife Linda that I will be unretiring for the 4th time, for one more start-up. I miss Boston and with the COVID situation easing in Hawaii, our family hopes to visit Boston and family soon.”

Michael Feinberg of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, writes, “This picture is from Ari and Kate’s wedding last year. He is a resident in Medicine and she is a resident in Psychiatry. Our older son, Josh, is a psychiatric social worker and Termeh is an epidemiologist; Gabby is eight.

Helen is a mostly retired attorney doing courtordered custody mediations, and I am in private practice after 22 years in academia, building and running a small psychiatry department

David Chronley of Narragansett, Rhode Island, writes, “I’m still working in my hometown, clamming and helping my wife with her oyster farm. Still enjoy practice; three kids healthy and fine. LIFE IS GOOD!!”

Robert Gilman of Ann Arbor, Michigan, writes, “After 31 years practicing plastic surgery in the Boston area, I took an offer and moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and became an assistant professor, director of aesthetic surgery, and member of the full-time faculty at the University of Michigan. I taught residents in the Harvard program at MGH for many years and came to the conclusion that teaching plastic surgery was now the most rewarding aspect of my professional life. The University of Michigan gave me the opportunity to follow that path full time, and it has been a wonderful experience.

In February 2022 I will lead my 23rd pediatric reconstructive surgical mission to Colombia under the auspices of Healing the Children, Northeast. To date, our team has operated on 1,190 children with a variety of congenital, traumatic, and disease-related deformities. I have had the privilege to mentor 44 residents over the years who have accompanied us on these mission trips. This experience makes me especially grateful to all those who mentored me during my years at BU as a medical student, dental student, and resident. As many of us approach or have already reached retirement, we can all reflect on our experiences in the BUSM Class of 1974.”

Tom Insel of Pleasanton, California, writes, “Deb and I are enjoying life on our small farm in Northern California with children and grandchildren nearby. My book, Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health, will be out in February 2022. Continuing to work with

Michael Feinberg, MD (MED’73), left, pictured at the wedding of son Ari and daughter-in-law, Kate.

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Boston University School of Medicine

a number of digital mental health start-ups and nonprofits. Recently came back to BU to receive an honorary degree with the Class of 2020, several months after the Class of 2021 graduation. Amazing to see the changes at BUSM. And so moving to witness the joy of the new graduates who were returning to BU after almost 18 months of pandemic separation.”

Alice Rothchild of Seattle, Washington, writes, “I am currently writing a memoir in verse for young adult readers, The Life and Times of a Rebellious Woman, describing growing up in the ‘50s and ‘60s and becoming a feminist physician at a time when women were just beginning to enroll in medical school and enter careers such as ob-gyn. There is a lot I can say in poetry—cathartic, angry, funny, and meaningful stories that the younger generations need to hear.”

1976 Randy Birken of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, writes, “At 71 years old, continue to do telemedicine for plant-based hormones for men and women from my home. Published a book, The Bio-identical Way: Patient Profiles in Natural Hormone Optimization. Appreciated the medical educational integrity I received at BUSM; those basics remain foundations within my medical acumen.”

Mark Goulston of West Los Angeles, California, writes, “I cocreated and moderated a multi-honored documentary called Stay Alive: An Intimate Conversation about Suicide Prevention, and also was featured in another documentary called Tell My Story, about a father’s search for the reasons behind the suicide of his teenage son.”

Barry Zamost of Long Beach, California, writes, “After 40 years in the private practice of gastroenterology, I fully retired this year. Enjoying time with my wife and grandchildren, volunteer work, golf, and training for and completing my 7th Alcatraz swim.”

BUSM Alumni

CLASS NOTES

CLASS NOTES continuing clinical practice part time in the Baystate Medical Center ICU in Springfield.”

1980 Andrew Wexler of Pacific Palisades, California, writes, “Last month I was honored by being inducted into the ACS Academy of Master Surgical Educators. Additionally, I received the American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons Presidential Honorary Award for ‘countless contributions and service, and your enormous impact on the field of maxillofacial surgery by educating and mentoring generations of plastic surgeons.’ My greatest professional enjoyment has been working with scores of young surgeons both in the US and internationally, and I hope to have a few more years to do so.”

Michael Israel, MD (MED’77) with his grandchildren.

1977 Michael Israel of Wainscott, New York, writes, “After 41 years practicing internal medicine I will be retiring in June 2022. I have been an attending physician at Stony Brook/ Southampton Hospital since 1981. I was in private practice until 2008 when I became a hospitalist and also became an attending physician in Stony Brook’s residency program. I had a very rewarding career, but it’s time to retire while I’m still healthy. I want to spend time with my grandchildren, tour Europe on a motorcycle, develop my hobby in photography, and just live!

I am forever grateful to BUSM!”

1978 Mitchell Engler of Teaneck, New Jersey, writes, “Retired from pulmonary/critical care/sleep medicine on June 30, 2021. Slowly transitioning to the next phase. Lots of grandchild care, some cautious travel. Embracing the stress-free life!”

Tom Higgins of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, writes, “Recently published a method for benchmarking mortality using electronic medical record data. As chief medical officer for the Center for Case Management (www.cfcm.com), consult on hospital quality issues nationwide, while

1981 Ira Papel of Lutherville, Maryland, writes, “It is hard to believe that we graduated 40 years ago.

Since leaving BUSM I did my training at Johns Hopkins and UCSF, and have practiced facial plastic and reconstructive surgery in Baltimore since that time. While in private practice, I serve as professor in the departments of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery and plastic surgery at Johns Hopkins. I stay busy clinically and am codirector of the Facial Plastic Surgery Fellowship at Hopkins. We have a steady stream of residents and fellows in the office, which keeps me in touch with lots of modern ideas and innovations. I have had the good fortune to lecture in diverse countries all over the world. While the pandemic has interrupted my travels, it has provided more time to practice my golf skills.”

1983 Ronald Lindsay of St. Johns, Florida, writes that he recently retired after over three decades as a developmental-behavioral pediatrician.

Received national recognition for research, teaching, healthcare delivery, and program development. In research, he was the lead pediatrician in the National Institutes of Mental Health Research Units of Pediatric Psychopharmacology Autism Network with NIMH on studies on the first FDA approved

medication (risperidone) for treating disruptive behaviors in children with autism.

He announced the research findings at the Pediatric Academic Societies’ annual meeting prior to publication in the New England Journal of Medicine. Wrote the grant application for, and then successfully directed, the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Program at The Ohio State University for almost five years. He won the 2003 Ambulatory Pediatric Association Health Care Delivery Award. The surgeon general of the US, ADM David Satcher, later personally congratulated Dr. Lindsay and cited his health care model as “Model Program/Creative Program” in his report, “Closing the Gap, Report of the Surgeon General’s Conference on Health Disparities, and Mental Retardation.”

Finally, he created significant improvements in the care of children with disabilities in North Dakota, where he won the Air Force Commendation Medal in 1990. He wrote 16 articles in peer-reviewed journals, eight as first or corporate author, 11 book chapters, 33 nonpeer-reviewed articles, reviews, letters to the editor, 24 abstracts to national academic meetings, and 45 invited lectures. He now lives in Jacksonville, Florida, with his wife Kathleen.

1984 Mark Wolozin of Sandy Springs, Georgia, writes, “Continue to practice as noninvasive specialist with Georgia Heart Institute in Gainesville. COVID hit our center hard but family is vaccinated and well. Thirty years living in Sandy Springs. Son finished at UGA this spring and heads to medical school in the fall.

Daughter in NYC, recent Cornell Tech MBA, married in spring with wedding next summer.

Wife Tina (BU’81) staying well and busy. My side interest has been now 12 years with NC ski area as patroller and instructor (first aid and skiing/toboggan).”

Jack Yu of Porter Ranch, California, writes, “I had my 30-year work anniversary, as associate program director of Adventist health family medicine residency in Glendale, California, near downtown Los Angeles. My wife works in

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My daughter is about to finish an MD/PhD at Loma Linda University, and applying to med peds. My other daughter is a data scientist at Disney Plus.”

1987 Vince Fonseca of El Paso, Texas, writes, “I started a pediatrics residency but quit after the first year. Since I owed the Army for a college scholarship, I went to Germany to do primary care for three years to figure out what I wanted to do. I decided on preventive medicine and did a residency at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. I stayed a total of eight years in the Army, then switched to the Air Force and moved to San Antonio. I did nine years at Brooks AFB there. Then became the first Latino Texas State Epidemiologist during the last pandemic for three and a half years. Back to San Antonio working half time for a software development company developing custom clinical decision support for government clients and consulting with nonprofits; became board-certified in clinical informatics. Then to medical school in San Antonio for three years, developing a home visiting curriculum with a focus on healthrelated social needs and child unintentional injury prevention until that got eliminated from the curriculum. I got board-certified in lifestyle medicine. I went to Loma Linda, CA VA to become the preventive medicine clinic chief as a grant-funded temporary job. Now I’m at the El Paso VA as the whole health medical director.”

Barbarajean (BJ) Magnani of Newburyport, Massachusetts, writes, “In 2019, I stepped down as chair of pathology and laboratory medicine at Tufts Medical Center (Tufts University School of Medicine) to pursue a full-time career as a novelist. My third novel, A Message in Poison, continues the story of Dr. Lily Robinson, a Boston pathologist who has been recruited by the US government as an assassin. Part of the proceeds from my novels helps support free breast and cervical cancer

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screening through the College of American Pathologists Foundation.”

1989 Mubin Syed of Springfield, Ohio, was featured in a Springfield News Sun story about his medical device company RAM Medical Innovations, founded in 2016, that received $1.7 million in funding to create a device that will help reverse the effects of a stroke by restoring blood flow to the brains of stroke victims. The grant is from the National Institutes of Health’s Small Business Innovation and Research Program, which is administered by the Department of Health and Human Services.

1991 David Druckman of Edina, Minnesota, writes, “I have not written a book, started a nonprofit, got a new job, or been recognized for my work.

However, my wife, Beth, and I travelled to LA in October to visit our son, and had a reunion with Mina Ma and John Timmerman. We had a nice time reminiscing about our time at BUSM and talking about what has happened in the 30 years since then. I also recently reconnected with George Kasparyan. I am totally enjoying my career in OB/GYN, practicing in Shakopee, the most ethnically diverse city in Minnesota.”

Charnjit Singh, MD (MED’91) with wife Dolly Chugh and daughters Maya and Asha.

practice doing GI on Long Island. It was great to see Suneet Mittal, who lives 5 blocks away from me, and Rob Pass recently. I’ve been in touch with Jess Lonner, who was so helpful in connecting me to his former colleagues at NYU when my daughter needed knee surgery from a soccer injury. It was really great to connect with Helen Kim and Rock recently; it was also great to connect with Jean Francois. We are enjoying that city as it slowly and carefully opens up again. We love Broadway, sporting events, museums, and walks along the East River and Central Park. And we are loving our Boston Terrier, Cocoa. It is hard to believe 30 years has elapsed since we graduated. Maybe it’s a sign of age that I reflect a bit on those formative and amazing years. Our class was filled with an amazing cast of brilliant, funny, and kind characters. I am grateful for that time.”

1992

David Druckman, MD (MED’91) standing with wife Beth and fellow alumni Mina Ma, MD (MED’91) and John Timmerman, MD (MED’91).

Charnjit Singh of New York, New York, writes, “Hi everyone, hope you are safe and well. My wife, Dolly Chugh, and my daughters (Maya, 16, and Asha, 15) are fully moved into NYC. We left suburbia for my kids’ schooling. My wife finally has a shorter commute to NYU, where she works as a professor. I am still in private

David Shein of Wayland, Massachusetts, writes, “I want to share news of my recent book publication, Clinical Medicine for Optometrists (Wolters Kluwer, 2020). In addition to practicing primary care/internal medicine in Wellesley, Massachusetts, I am also adjunct associate professor at the New England College of Optometry, where I teach clinical medicine to optometry students. Since I could not find a suitable text for my course, I decided to write one! Together with my coeditor Rachel Druckenbrod (who took my course years ago) and associate editor Thomas Freddo (with whom I taught in South Africa), we completed the book in time for publication in December 2020.”

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1993

1996

1998

Keyvan Nouri of Miami Beach, Florida, writes, “I continue to serve as the chair of the University of Miami Medical Group (1,400 physician members). I have been appointed the incoming assistant secretary treasurer (leading to becoming the secretary treasurer) of the American Academy of Dermatology starting March 2022, lasting for six years. This is the largest and most impactful dermatology organization in the world, with over 20,000 members. My book, Skin Cancer: A Comprehensive Guide, will be published by McGraw Hill. This will be my 13th published textbook.”

Jeffery Lee of Northridge, California, writes, “I was installed as the 150th president of the Los Angeles County Medical Association, which has nearly 7,000 physician members. In my year as president, my priorities are to advance physician wellness through our Medical Practice Makeover Initiative helping doctors improve their office workflows.”

Fatai Ilupeju of Westwood, Massachusetts, writes, “I am currently the chief of anesthesia at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, and I have been involved in various international medical and surgical missions in the last 12 years.”

Deborah Burke of St. Petersburg, Florida, writes, “Hello, everyone. I hope you all are doing great. I remember you as a wonderful group of people, smart, kind, and dedicated. I am working at the University of South Florida in the Movement Disorders/Parkinson’s Center, where I did a fellowship after finishing residency. I have a wide range of patients with movement disorders. I also work for Accel Clinical Research, a private company with multiple sites. I am a PI for clinical trials for neurologic indications such as MS, migraine, ADHD, TBI, DPN, and Alzheimer’s. We were involved in the trials for Aducanumab. I was blessed to be able to adopt a fantastic baby girl almost 20 years ago, just after fellowship. She’s going to school, working, living the life. She comes and goes, was in Boston to see the band 21 Pilots at BU recently. We live in St. Petersburg, Florida, a beautiful, amazing city.”

1995

1997

Frank Christopher of Carthage, North Carolina, writes, “Recently retired (a second time, retired from the Army in 2015) from full-time EM practice and am now the medical director of Pfeiffer University’s new MPAS program in central North Carolina. I’m working locums to keep clinically active and traveling quite a bit with Greer and our 11-year-old son, Logan. Often see several folks from BUSM classes of ‘94 and ‘96 around town…Go Pats!!”

Gayle Ryan of Manheim, Pennsylvania, writes, “It’s been a long time! I think back fondly of my time at BU! I am a general surgeon, completed my active duty and working still with our soldiers now at the VA. My greatest pride is my wonderful family, as my three kids forge their own way in our world. I was nostalgic recently as my son rowed in the Head of the Charles for West Point, remembering watching that race from my Bay State dorm room!”

1994

Eva Pickler of Upperville, Virginia, writes, “On August 28th, 2021, my husband Stirling and I summited Mt. Kilimanjaro. I first got the idea to do this trek while I was at BU and finally had the opportunity to make it a reality. We trained for many months for this challenge and had an adventure of a lifetime.”

Eva Pickler, MD (MED’98) with husband Stirling at the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Frank Christopher, MD (MED’95) with son Logan.

Go Pats!!

Richard Romero of Somerville, Massachusetts, writes, “Collaborated with East Boston Neighborhood Health Center and BMC in 2021 to run the COVID vaccine site at the Revere Wonderland Ballroom to vaccinate the underrepresented residents and combat racial inequality.”

Gayle Ryan, MD (MED’97) with her family.

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1999 Selene Parekh of Durham, North Carolina, writes, “Dr. Selene Parekh (CAS’94, MBA’99, MED’99) developed a 3D printed total talus replacement implant that can be used for motion sparring options for patients with failed total ankles, avascular necrosis of the talus, and associated adjacent joint arthritis.”

2002 Amy Fogelman of Needham, Massachusetts, writes, “Amy G. Fogelman, MD, founded MED LAW Consulting in 2018 to help find qualified medical experts for attorneys’ litigation needs.

Attorneys hire her to find the right medical experts for their cases. Amy also discovered that while many medical professionals were interested in serving as medical experts in theory, they were unsure how to actually do that. So, in 2020, Amy began formally advising medical professionals on the ins and outs of performing medical expert work. She also created a course for medical experts who are just starting out.”

Paul Ko of Carmel, Indiana, writes, “Paul Ko, MD, MEd, is currently associate dean for curricular development & oversight at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, Indiana. In this role, I oversee the medical school curriculum across nine campuses

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throughout the state at the largest allopathic medical school in the country. In addition to being busy adjusting the curriculum due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been incorporating DEI and health disparities competencies and topics into the med school curriculum to better prepare future physicians. I have also served on several LCME accreditation site visit teams and had the recent opportunities to work alongside Dean Antman and Associate Dean Goodell on two different LCME site teams over the last year.”

Meet Kane, beautiful son of Dallas Reed (MED’10).

2010

Michelle Magid of Eastham, Massachusetts, writes, “Dr. Michelle Magid was awarded the 2021 Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians Distinguished Service Award.”

Dallas Reed of Boston, Massachusetts, writes, “We welcomed a baby boy named Kane 13 weeks early, in June. He was in the NICU at Tufts Children’s Hospital for 74 days and is now thriving at home! I was also featured in the Candy O’Terry podcast, The Secret to Her Success.”

2007

2019

Jamin Brahmbhatt of Clermont, Florida, writes, “In 2021, I had the privilege of serving as the president of the Florida Urological Society. The society represents the over 1,000 urologists and APPs in the state of Florida. I will be one of the youngest to serve in this elected role. I still remember the day I got inspired to pursue a career in urology—walking into the OR at BMC, watching Dr. Babayan and Dr. Wang use the robot to remove a prostate. The light bulb went off and now the rest is history.”

Amir Gilad of Boston, Massachusetts, writes, “A lot has changed in the three years since graduating from BUSM, though I am still right at home completing my IM residency at BMC. In addition to becoming a physician, I became a husband and a father, and after a long 18 months of the pandemic, we were finally able to return to Toronto to visit our families. Next year I will be staying at BUMC as one of the internal medicine chief residents, and afterward I plan to pursue a fellowship in cardiology!” n

Henry Spring (MED’81) A BEQUEST INTENTION For Henry Spring, Boston University School of Medicine provided more than an excellent education. It also gave him a community: a place of support and companionship where all participants—students, faculty, and staff— worked together to bring top-notch healthcare to everyone, particularly the underserved.

“From the time I walked through the double glass doors into the students’ lounge to wait for my interview, I felt this incredible energy,” he says. “People were interacting, happy. I knew this school was for me.”

My years at Boston University School of Medicine were some of the best of my life.”

Education is a gift. Pass it on.

To learn more about how you can make a charitable gift in your will to support BU, contact Boston University Planned Giving at 800-645-2347 or opg@bu.edu, or visit bu.edu/plannedgiving.

Three “pillars” grounded him there: his love of the Gross Anatomy Lab; his gratitude to mentors Phyllis Stevens, then director of the Office of Minority Affairs, and William F. McNary, Jr., PhD, former associate professor of anatomy and dean of Student Affairs; and the social interaction with his classmates. “We were there for each other,” he says.

Spring wants other aspiring doctors to experience what he did, so he has established a bequest intention to endow a scholarship fund, with a preference for students of color, and secondarily to support the needs of the Gross Anatomy Lab. “Higher education in our country has evolved, and the pendulum has swung back toward privilege,” he says. “If you have the means, you are entitled to go.”

Born in Harlem and raised in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, Spring knows what it’s like not to come from privilege. “I don’t come from money so I don't really need money—it’s not really part of my genetic makeup, my heritage,” says Spring. “I know that I won't spend the money I have before I die, but I plan to die broke. What better way than through planned giving to ensure that my money will go someplace that means so much to me—a place that can mean so much to someone else as well?”

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Calendar 2022

APRIL 28

Keefer Society Dinner

APRIL 29

Dean’s Advisory Board Meeting

MAY 2

Class of 2024 White Coat Ceremony Talbot Green

MAY 19

GMS Class of 2022 Commencement BU Track & Tennis Center MD/PhD Class of 2022 Commencement BU Track & Tennis Center