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New Research Funding Improves US News Rank By Leslie Ridgeway
A Quick Look at news from the Keck School of Medicine and honors for Keck faculty, students and alumni.
Dean's Research Scholars, from left, are Jackie Weinstein, Daniel Liebertz, Ashanti Franklin, Akash Gupta, Lloyd Cuzzo, Shabnam Khashabi, Lily Tung and program director Robert Decker, Ph.D. Keck School research program energizes young physician-scientists By Jon Nalick
NEW LEADERSHIP
Max Nikias named next USC president
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KECK MEDICINE | Summer 2010 Issue
Photo by Jon Nalick (top); Photo by Bill Youngblood (right)
C. L. Max Nikias, Ph.D., USC executive vice president and provost, will become the 11th president of USC on Aug. 3. His appointment was announced in March. Nikias will succeed Steven B. Sample, Ph.D., who has led USC since 1991. In November 2009, Sample announced his decision to retire Aug. 2, 2010. As President Sample’s second-ranking officer since 2005, Nikias is credited with accelerating the university’s recent academic momentum, recruiting new leadership, strengthening the academic medical enterprise, helping attract a series of major donations to the institution, creating innovative cross-disciplinary programs, enhancing the university’s globalization efforts and increasing support for students at the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels. Vaughn A. Starnes, M.D., chairman of the Department of Surgery at the Keck School of Medicine and a member of the search committee, says, “Max Nikias has proven to be an able administrator, a visionary leader and a key factor in the success that the univer“ This incredible, sity has achieved in recent years. He has excelled in his service to the university wide-ranging university represents as provost, and we believe that no other person is better suited by experience, an electric environtemperament or drive to assume the mantle of president.” ment, one remarkably Nikias says, “This incredible, wide-ranging university represents an electric skilled at producing environment, one remarkably skilled at producing new ideas and new leaders new ideas and new leaders to strengthen to strengthen our society. Moving USC forward, and accelerating its breathtakour society.” ing momentum, strikes me as the most rewarding endeavor in American higher education today.” After being named provost in 2005, Nikias worked with faculty and deans to develop a number of new programs to create a distinct academic environment at USC. Nikias launched several initiatives, including a quintupling of funding for Ph.D. fellowships to $20 million per year and a program to recruit leading interdisciplinary scholars as Provost’s Professors. He recruited new leadership to the Keck School of Medicine, spearheaded the integration of the school’s 19 Faculty Practice Plans, and oversaw the acquisition of USC University Hospital and USC Norris Cancer Hospital from Tenet Healthcare Corporation by the University. He established an Office of Research Advancement in Washington, D.C., that has been directly responsible for helping faculty win more than $140 million in federal research funding in the past 30 months.
Photo by Veronica Jauriqui
C. L. Max Nikias, Ph.D.
Fourth-year medical student Ashanti Franklin is not just absorbing medical knowledge this year – she’s adding to it. As part of a program designed to immerse interested Keck School medical students in basic and clinical research, Franklin and six of her peers are adding an entire year to their studies, in which they are paired with faculty mentors and focus exclusively on biomedical research. For example, Franklin is spending her year working with Henri Ford, M.D., vice dean for medical education at the Keck School and surgeonin-chief, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, to study possible ways to mitigate the effects of necrotizing enterocolitis – death of intestinal tissue in infants with the disease. Franklin says the Dean’s Research Fifth Year Scholars Program, created by Keck School Dean Carmen A. Puliafito, M.D., M.B.A., in 2008, plays a role in building a foundation in the careers of future physician-scientists. Robert Decker, Ph.D., director of research education and training, says, “The fifth year program is developed to provide Keck students an opportunity to take a complete year off to hone their research skills,” he says. Decker noted that summer research experiences and the second-year required student project provide an important introduction for medical students to gain some familiarity with the medical research process, but the fifth year-long immersion in research provides a much deeper perspective into how biomedical research leads to new clinical treatments. In addition to Franklin, the 20092010 Dean’s Research Scholars are: Lloyd Cuzzo, Akash Gupta, Shabnam Khashabi Daniel Liebertz, Lily Tung and Jackie Weinstein.
The Keck School of Medicine moved up a dramatic five points in rank for the category “Best Medical Schools,” as reported in the 2011 U.S. News and World Report’s Annual Guide to Best Graduate Schools. The Keck School now ranks 34th in research and was listed in a three-way tie with Boston University and Dartmouth Medical Center. The school’s recent success in obtaining record research funding was the key contributing factor. Keck’s numbers for National Institutes of Health research grants spiked, from $144 million in federal FY08 to $177.5 million in federal FY09, the period reported for the 2011 ranking. The grants number includes Keck School affiliates Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, Doheny Eye Institute and House Ear Institute. “Moving up five places in this ranking of American medical schools is a strong indication that the significant accomplishments of our faculty, staff and students are attracting national attention,” said Keck School Dean Carmen A. Puliafito, M.D., M.B.A.
BEST SINCE 1981
Keck School achieves full LCME accreditation By Bryan Schneider
The accreditation committee praised a commitment to the Keck School’s educational program.
The K eck S ch o o l o f M edicine has received t he ma x imum eigh t- y ear
full accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the best results achieved since 1981. The nationally recognized accrediting authority for U.S. medical education programs gave the Keck School the maximum period of accreditation based on a full survey visit conducted by an LCME survey team at the Keck School in November. “The full accreditation and praise received from this important committee that sets national standards for medical schools is a testament to the quality of our medical education program and our dedicated faculty,” says Keck School Dean Carmen A. Puliafito, M.D., M.B.A. Puliafito was credited with creating an energizing institutional spirit of commitment to teaching and the educational program, with resources from university leadership. The LCME commended Puliafito for significantly increasing funding for educational leadership, infrastructure and innovation. Education, research and community service opportunities offered through the school’s proximity and affiliation with Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center, USC University Hospital, USC Norris Cancer Hospital and Childrens Hospital Los Angeles were also noted in the letter.
www.usc.edu/keck
KECK MEDICINE
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