Medicine@Ya le
Advancing Biomedical Science, Education and Health Care Volume 2, Issue 2 March/April 2006 $2 million gift will support training of physician-scientists Of all the professions, learning Training Program () each year, the , known on campus as the dency, a step long medicine requires the greatest time these numbers tell only half the story. ../.. program. since completed by commitment. After four years of These students aim to earn both the “Yale has an outstanding pro- peers in their entering medical school, doctors undertake at .. and .. degrees, embarking gram with a long tradition and a fan- class. “There’s a huge least three years of internship and on a long academic journey that tastic success rate in training success- amount you have to residency before beginning their spe- combines the rigors of medical edu- ful physician-scientists,” Dean and learn with clinical cialty training. At least two additional cation with deep research experience Ensign Professor of Medicine Robert James rotations just for the years are required to become a in the basic biology of human disease. J. Alpern, .., says. “This very gen- Jamieson .., and you can’t surgeon; if the career goal is heart The dedication of these students erous gift will allow us to maintain have a half-baked .. in molecular surgery or neurosurgery, add two has received special recognition from and even improve on the program’s biology and expect to do good re- more years. a donor who wishes to remain anony- excellence.” search,” Program Director James D. But for the one out of stu- mous in the form of a $ million All told, earning the ../.. Jamieson, .., .., says. “There’s dents who enroll at the School of bequest to sustain and expand upon takes about eight years, after which no shortcut.” Medicine in the Medical Scientist Yale’s longstanding commitment to most students begin a medical resi- Gift, page 8 Boehringer and Yale Preserving options, sustaining hope combine strengths in Successful new method new research alliance for freezing human eggs We live in an age of instant elec- is now available at Yale tronic communication, but in some arenas there’s no substitute for face- Thanks to a transatlantic col- to-face human interaction. That’s cer- laboration forged by Pasquale tainly the case in science, say the prin- Patrizio, .., professor of obstet- cipals in a new research alliance rics, gynecology and reproductive between the medical school and sciences and director of the Yale Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuti- Fertility Center (), patients in cals Inc. (), the Ridgefield, the New Haven area, including Pasquale Patrizio Conn.-based division of the global women newly diagnosed with explains oocyte German pharmaceutical firm. cryopreservation cancer who wish to preserve fertil- to a patient at Boehringer Ingelheim, a privately ity during chemotherapy or radia- the Yale Fertility held business, is one of the world’s tion, can now reap the benefits of a Center. top drug companies. ’s portfo- new, uniquely successful form of lio of drugs is weighted toward treat- the egg-freezing technique known fresh eggs has a success rate of eight Emre U. Seli, .., assistant ments for cardiovascular, inflamma- as oocyte cryopreservation (OC). or nine pregnancies per eggs. professor of obstetrics, gynecology tory and autoimmune diseases such Although OC has been Patrizio says that because eggs and reproductive sciences, says that as hypertension, asthma and human attempted in various forms for are not fertilized before freezing, preserving fertility is especially immunodeficiency virus (), so the about years, it has had a disap- the OC technique has particular meaningful for women with cancer. expertise of School of Medicine scien- pointing track record—producing appeal for three groups of patients: “Anyone who has had someone tists in the Section of Immunobiology about two babies for every eggs women diagnosed with cancer at with cancer in their family knows and the Interdepartmental Program frozen—because of damage done to reproductive age, those who oppose that quality of life, the way you in Vascular Biology and Transplanta- eggs by freezing. embryo-freezing on ethical grounds spend your day after the diagnosis, tion would be reason enough for The new method, which and those who wish to postpone is dependent on your hope,” Seli ’s drug discovery team to explore involves bathing eggs in protective childbearing for personal or eco- says. “That this procedure gives you partnerships with Yale. solutions, slow-cooling them with nomic reasons but wish to use a hope is very important.” But Mikael Dolsten, ..,.., liquid nitrogen to minus F and future partner’s sperm. In Decem- The OC modifications were head of worldwide research at Boehr- thawing them according to special ber the School of Medicine’s Insti- devised over the course of two inger Ingelheim’s headquarters in protocols, doubles the success rate tutional Review Board () years at Tecnobios Procreazione, a Ingelheim, Germany, says that the to five or six babies per eggs, an approved the use of the new OC private fertility clinic in Bologna, unusually close scientific cooperation enormous advance over traditional method, and by the end ofFebru- Italy, in response to a Italian afforded by Yale’s proximity to Ridge- OC, says Patrizio. By comparison, ary, women from all three groups law that bans the freezing of field sealed the deal. in vitro fertilization () using had already frozen eggs at the . Fertility, page 7 Alliance, page 6
Non-Profit Org. Inside this issue Medicine@Yale U. S. Postage Lifelines Doctors at an exhibition P.O.Box PAID Mark Saltzman assembles the Museum-based training gives new New Haven, CT New Haven, CT biomedical tool kits of tomorrow, p. 2 meaning to “seeing patients,” p. 6 www.medicineatyale.org Permit No. Small is powerful A very good year The fast-moving world of micrornas, For pharmacology chair, a drug is giants of genetic control, p. 3 approved, a prize awarded, p. 8 New wrinkles for Botox Also Neurologists explore lesser-known Advances, pp. 3, 5; Out & About,p.4; uses of a celebrity drug,p.5 Grants, p. 7; Awards & Honors, p. 8
Want to find out more about medicine at Yale? E-mail us at [email protected] or phone (203) 785-5824. CT scanning expert is new leader of Yale radiologists
Following a nationwide search, James A. Brink, .., a Harvard- trained radiologist, has been named chair of the Depart- ment of Diagnostic Radiology at the School of Medicine and chief of diagnos- tic imaging at Yale- New Haven Hospital. James Brink Brink, former vice chair of the department and For Mark Saltzman, the chief of abdominal imaging, came to challenge of biomedical Yale in from the Mallinckrodt engineering is getting Institute at Washington University in “everybody working in sync.” St. Louis. He has served as interim chair since . Brink will lead a department of Mending the human machine more than full-time faculty. The department provides diagnostic graduate days at Iowa State Univer- A fruitful collaboration with Yale’s youngest department imaging services for the Yale Medical sity, where he heard a talk by chemi- Christopher K. Breuer, m.d., assistant Group and Yale-New Haven Hospital, casts a campus-wide net cal engineer Richard C. Seagrave, professor of surgery, is drawing on conducts research in a variety of dis- in search of new therapies ph.d., that was an epiphany.“He both of Saltzman’s areas of exper- ciplines related to clinical radiology gave a stunning lecture, a tour de tise. Since his mit days, Saltzman and imaging science and offers highly With its mirror-like reflection of force, about how the human body is has miniaturized his slow-release rated postgraduate training pro- the grand old houses of Hillhouse just a very complex chemical plant,” polymers into spherical nanoparti- grams. In collaboration with the Avenue and Trumbull Street, the Saltzman recalls. “He explained how cles that can be taken up directly by Department of Biomedical Engineer- sweeping glass façade of the Daniel the tools you have as a chemical cells. By treating tissue scaffolds ing, the radiology faculty also makes L. Malone Engineering Center is one engineer are exactly the right tools with particles that contain mole- important contributions to Yale’s of the most striking sights in New for understanding how this system cules to promote proper cell growth, undergraduate and graduate pro- Haven these days. As the new home works, and designing approaches for Breuer and Saltzman are engineer- grams in imaging science. for Yale’s Depart- helping when the system fails.” ing better, stronger blood vessels Brink is a fellow of the Society ment of Biomedi- Lifelines Saltzman, an Iowa native, soon than has previously been possible. In for Computed Body Tomography and cal Engineering melded his long-standing interest in other projects with medical col- W. Mark Magnetic Resonance and of the (bme), the build- medicine with an affinity for engi- leagues, Saltzman is testing American College of Radiology; he ing’s placement— Saltzman neering that he attributes to the nanoparticles to deliver vaccines for serves on the board of directors of the between the pragmatic outlook of his grandpar- infectious disease, and drugs for Academy of Radiology Research and School of Medicine and Science Hill, ents, all Midwestern farmers. cancer and fertility control. also on the executive council of the a bastion of basic biological research In graduate school at the Mas- Though biomedical researchers American Roentgen Ray Society. A at the northern end of the central sachusetts Institute of Technology at Yale have independently adopted respected educator, Brink has pio- campus—could not be more apt. (mit), Saltzman created drug- engineering approaches for decades, neered technologies for maximizing “Biomedical engineering in the impregnated implants from plastic- the 2003 founding of bme has given resolution in CT scanning while future has to be more intertwined like polymers that slowly and new vigor to interdisciplinary proj- minimizing radiation dosage and risk with basic biological science, steadily release medicines for long ects that team up top-notch biolo- to patients. He has published more because we’re working deeper in the periods. This work is now helping gists and engineers on Yale’s main than original research articles, body, with cells and biological mole- patients in the form of Gliadel, a campus with scientific and clinical reviews and book chapters. cules,” says department Chair W. chemotherapy-infused wafer that experts at the School of Medicine. Mark Saltzman, ph.d., Goizueta neurosurgeons lay on the brain’s Saltzman, who oversees 12 faculty Foundation Professor of Chemical surface to battle the deadly tumors members as chair, says that Yale is Medicine@Ya le
and Biomedical Engineering. “On the known as gliomas. While at mit, an ideal venue to carry out the all- Peter Farley, Managing Editor other side, biomedical engineers Saltzman also worked with Joseph J. encompassing science at the heart Contributors: Susan Cohn, John Curtis, Janet need to be much more involved with “Jay” Vacanti, m.d., of Massachusetts of modern biomedical engineering. Emanuel, Michael Fitzsousa, Andrea Gendrachi, translational research, working in General Hospital, building tubular “Here, success isn’t measured by Maureen Grieco, Jane Hadjimichael, Crystal Neuhauser, Karen Peart, Patricia Pedersen, Amy Rich, unison with clinicians. It’s going to scaffolds that could be seeded with beating the guy in the lab next to Eric Schonewald, Colleen Shaddox, Cathy Shufro, take everybody working in sync.” cells to sculpt new replacement you,” he says. “Yale’s a place that has Marc Wortman, Jacqueline Weaver Saltzman has strived to bridge blood vessels for patients with a history of being collegial—a very Photographs and Illustrations: Maria Baquero, Susan Cohn, Terry Dagradi, Tori Dewey, Ralph DiLeone, these two realms since his under- advanced vascular disease. congenial, collaborative place.” Jerry Domian, Michael Marsland, Peter Morenus/ University of Connecticut, Frank Poole, D. Kim Reid, Harold Shapiro, Graham Warren, S. Mark Williams, Yale-New Haven Hospital Medical historian Warner is appointed to Avalon Professorship Design: Tom Strong, Amanda Damour/Strong Cohen .., Medicine@Yale is published six times each year John Harley Warner, After receiving his doctorate in Warner is the author of numer- by Yale Medicine Publications, P.O. Box , chair of the Section of the History of the history of science from Harvard ous scholarly articles and two books, New Haven, CT -. Editorial offices Medicine at the School of Medicine, University in , Warner was a Against the Spirit of System: The are located at Church Street South, Suite , New Haven. Telephone: () - was named Avalon postdoctoral fellow at the Wellcome French Impulse in Nineteenth-Century Fax: () - E-mail: [email protected] Professor of the Institute for the History of Medicine American Medicine and The Thera- Website: medicineatyale.org
History of Medicine in London. He joined the medical peutic Perspective: Medical Practice, If you have a change of address or do not wish by the Yale Corpora- school faculty as assistant professor of Knowledge, and Identity in America, to receive future issues of Medicine@Yale, tion in December. the history of medicine in and –, which was awarded the please write to us at P.O. Box , New Haven, CT - Warner is an became chair of the section in . William H. Welch Medal from the or via e-mail at [email protected]. expert on the cultural Under Warner’s leadership as American Association for the History John Warner Postal permit held by Yale University, and social history of founding chair in of the newly of Medicine in . Whitney Avenue, New Haven, CT medicine in the United States during constituted Program in the History of Warner is the third Yale faculty Yale School of Medicine the th and th centuries. In his Science and Medicine, Yale College’s member to be named to the Avalon Robert J. Alpern, .., Dean current research, he is analyzing the undergraduate major in the History Professorship, which was established Ensign Professor of Medicine narrative accounts found in historical of Science/History of Medicine, one with a grant from the Avalon Foun- Mary Hu Director of Planning and Communications patient records to illuminate the evo- of Yale’s largest majors, attracts dation, now part of the Mellon Foun- Michael Fitzsousa, Director of Publications lution of modern medical practice. about new students per year. dation, in the early s. www.medicineatyale.org Advances Can micros put the brakes on cancer? Health and science news from Yale The complete sequence of the human genome, with its promise of From petunias to patients: new insights into disease and a host the rapid rise of micrornas of novel drug targets, was announced 1990 to great fanfare in . But a quieter 1990 genetic revolution began a full decade Researchers insert extra rna into earlier, when Dartmouth College sci- petunias to make them deeper purple; instead they are pure white, suggesting entists studying the microscopic the existence of a previously unknown Bullies are no match worm C. elegans discovered the first gene-silencing mechanism. for gene knockout of the powerful genetic switches now known as micros. 1993 After repeated harassment by It’s Biology that genes in Discovery of the lin-4 microrna, which larger, more aggressive members are transcribed into long strands of guides development of the roundworm C. elegans. 1995 of their species, mice withdraw messenger that carry the genes’ from social contact, exhibiting instructions to the protein-making behavior that is strikingly similar machinery of the cell. But lin-4, the 1998 to that seen in humans with micro found at Dartmouth, rna interference is discovered in depression, social phobia and post- rewrote the rules. For starters, lin-4 is C. elegans, solving the petunia puzzle. traumatic stress disorder. Using a video system that only genetic letters long, far , creates a map of a mouse’s move- shorter than a typical -letter 2000 ments, Assistant Professor of Psy- message—hence the “micro.” A second C. elegans microrna, let-7, is chiatry Ralph J. DiLeone, ph.d., and But more significantly, lin- doesn’t identified; the presence of micrornas 2000 colleagues found that a normal help to build proteins. Instead, it in human cells is established. mouse (white trail in left panel sticks to messenger and jams up above) will frequently interact with the works, shutting down the expres- 2001 another mouse placed at one side sion of a large assemblage of genes Hundreds of new micrornas are of its enclosure, but a mouse involved in early development and discovered in animals and plants. “defeated” by aggressors (black allowing C. elegans larvae to progress trail) will shy away. toward adulthood. Pleasurable social experiences 2005 activate reward pathways in the It would be seven years before Microrna probes far exceed previous brain that are also stimulated by South African-born Frank Slack, techniques at differentiating human 2005 .., tumor types; suppression of let-7 drugs of abuse, so the team won- showed that lin- was no found in human lung cancer cells. dered whether this socially with- fluke. In , while a postdoctoral drawn behavior might be governed fellow at Harvard Medical School, 2006 by those same circuits. Slack, now associate professor of Preclinical trials of microrna-based As reported in the February 10 molecular, cellular and developmental screening and therapy are launched. issue of Science, when the scien- biology at Yale, identified a second tists selectively shut down the micro, let-, that also governs bdnf gene for a protein known as development in C. elegans. stay on all through life, to keep the target single genes have been disap- in an important brain reward Then the floodgates opened. In a cells from dividing again.” Slack pointing because hundreds of genes center, mice did not develop social withdrawal in response to aggres- series of discoveries that are remark- believes that the uncontrolled cell are faulty in any given cancer and it sion, suggesting that bdnf in the able even in the dizzyingly fast-paced division that is a hallmark of cancer has been difficult to discern which reward pathway may be a fruitful world of molecular biology, it has might be caused when the check on mutations are most important. The target for new psychiatric drugs. been demonstrated over the past five cell growth imposed by micros is excitement surrounding micros, years that hundreds of gene-silencing somehow lifted. “In various cancers she says, stems from their ability to Parasite’s accomplice micros are at work in plants and we’ve looked at, micros have regulate entire suites of genes that in numerous animals, including over been shut off,” he says. “We think that underlie biological pathways. gets genetic mug shot in humans that may regulate causes cells to re-enter their cell divi- A study in the journal more than a third of our genes. sion program and behave like they’re Nature found that measuring the As many as 500,000 people Because half the C. elegans genome in the embryo.” levels of just micros could per year in sub-Saharan Africa con- matches our own, including the gene In a paper in the journal generate clearer genetic signatures for tract sleeping sickness, which can for let-, Slack’s research is having an Cell, Slack showed that let- is tamped tumors than , probes for mes- cause severe, irreversible damage to the nervous system. The illness impact on our understanding of down in human tumors, which senger . Encouraged by these re- is transmitted by blood-sucking human development, aging and unleashes Ras, a cell-proliferation sults, Slack and Weidhaas hope within tsetse flies, but only when they are illness, especially cancer. gene that has long been implicated in two years to perfect a micro- themselves infected by the proto- According to Slack, one of the cancers of the lung and pancreas. based screening device that could zoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei, primary roles of micros is to put “Frank is doing wonderful science help tailor cancer treatments to which is passed into humans when a brake on cell proliferation during relating gene regulation by micro- patients’ tumor types, and they are in the tsetse bites. development. “Initially in the human s to control of cell growth,” says the early stages of testing a let- In addition to T. brucei, the embryo, you’ve got cells just dividing, Philip A. Sharp, .., a Nobel inhalant therapy to rein in uncon- tsetse gut is also host to two so- dividing, dividing—to make as many Prize-winning expert on gene trolled cell growth in lung cancer. called good bacteria that manufac- cells as possible,” he says. “But at silencing at the Massachusetts Insti- In addition, Weidhaas has shown ture nutrients not found in the fly’s some point you want to make an tute of Technology. “His finding that that raising let- levels in C. elegans blood diet but crucial to its sur- vival. In a joint project with col- organ. Micros come on to tell the Ras gene is regulated by let- was makes the worm’s cells more sensitive leagues in Japan reported online in cells to stop dividing and to start dif- one of the first indications that to radiation, leading her to conclude the February issue of Genome ferentiating into organs. And they changes in the levels of small s that a let- treatment could be a pow- Research, Professor of Epidemiology could be critical in erful adjunct to standard radiother- Serap Aksoy, ph.d., sequenced the cancer.” apy. “Some tumors are simply complete genome of Sodalis, a ben- Slack is now col- tougher than normal tissue when we eficial bacterium passed on by laborating with Assistant treat them with radiation,” Weidhaas tsetse mothers to their larvae. Professor of Therapeutic says. “If we could make cancer cells The new sequence will allow Radiology and Yale more sensitive than normal cells, or scientists to better manipulate the Cancer Center even bring them up to the same level, functions of Sodalis to gain researcher Joanne B. we’d have an enormous advantage.” insights into tsetse biology that could lead to novel ways to fight Weidhaas, .., .., When he discovered let-, Slack sleeping sickness, Aksoy says. “If we to develop micro- says, he could not have imagined that get rid of these symbiotic bacteria, based diagnostic tools micros, completely unknown to the flies become sterile. Under- and treatments. Weid- biologists only years ago, could standing what they provide to the haas says that genomic come so far so fast. “I’ve been at it flies is very important from a analyses of tumors and from the ground floor,” he says, “and vector-control point of view.” Frank Slack and Joanne Weidhaas hope to move micrornas from the lab to the clinic. cancer therapies that it’s been a fun ride.” Medicine@Yale March/April 2006 Out & about
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Beverly and Raymond Sackler Gift honors Nobelist, sponsors visits by 2 3 top neuroscientists 2 3 A lecture series established with a gift from the Raymond and Beverly November : A gathering to celebrate the establishment Sackler Fund for the Arts and Sci- of the Kenneth and Georgia ences will bring a leading neuro- in Pathology and Humanities in Medicine was 4 scientist to the School of Medicine held at the Union League Cafe in New Haven. 1. Back each year to speak and to exchange row, from left: Dean Robert J. Alpern, .., Mark E. November : The Great Hall of Dinosaurs at Yale’s ideas with faculty and students. Ludwig, .., Linda Hager, G. J. Walker Smith, .., Peabody Museum of Natural History was the setting for The lectureship, named The Richard N. Eisen, .., Linda Brown, Howard M. Spiro, ’ , hosted by Raymond and Beverly Sackler Visit- .., Marian Spiro, Thomas P. Duffy, .., Suzanne P. Margaret K. Hostetter, .., chair and Jean McLean ing Professor and Lecturer, in Tribute Lagarde, .., A. Brian West, .., and Lynda Tyrrell. Wallace Professor of Pediatrics, and R. Lawrence Moss, to Julius Axelrod, .., honors a Front row, from left: Elizabeth Mulvoy, Georgia Barwick, .., associate professor of surgery and surgeon-in- prolific scientist and Nobel laureate Sarah Barwick, and Lawrence D. True, .. 2. West with chief at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital. 1. Ann whose laboratory at the National Marian Spiro. 3. Sarah and Georgia Barwick. Sherred and Scott A. Rivkees, .., professor of pedi- Institute of Mental Health () atrics and director of the Yale Child Health Research was the site of several seminal discov- Center. 2. Moss with anchor Jocelyn Maminta eries in neuroscience. Most notably, and Gary Doyen. 3. Lauren Tarshis, David Dreyfuss, and Axelrod and his colleagues were the Annick Winokur. 4. From left: Hostetter, Michael Cap- first to describe the synapse-clearing pello, .., professor of pediatrics and epidemiology process known as neurotransmitter and public health, and director of the Yale Program in reuptake, a mechanism that is tar- International Child Health, Joan R. Halpin, Harold J. geted by many modern psychiatric Halpin Jr., and Harold J. Halpin III. drugs, including Prozac and Zoloft. Visiting speakers in the Sackler lecture series will be sponsored by the interdepartmental program in Cellu- lar Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration and Repair (), a new initiative 1 2 to bring basic science to bear on neu- rological disease that was launched by the School of Medicine in January. “It has been our experience that visiting professors and lecturers 1 enhance the scientific exchange with faculty and students, stimulating creative research,” says Raymond R. 3 Sackler, .., co-founder of Purdue 4 Pharma of Stamford, Conn. “The Sacklers have a long tradi- tion of philanthropy that is really worldwide, extending from the Uni- versity of Cambridge in England all 2 3 the way to Tel Aviv University in November : The opening Israel—not to mention the Metro- reception for politan Museum of Art and the 5 was held at the Yale British Museum,” says Dean Robert J. Physicians Building. Art Place, an Alpern, .. “They’ve also supported November : Supporters of 6 exhibit founded and funded by a number of programs here at Yale, gathered at the Country the Yale Medical Group (), and we’re very appreciative of that.” Club of New Canaan at the invitation of Robert and enriches the experience of Axelrod, who died in , was a Wendy Dewey. Associate Professor of Surgery patients and staff with visual art. 4 productive scientist for more than R. Lawrence Moss, .., surgeon-in-chief at Yale-New This year’s reception also fea- years before he returned to graduate Haven Children’s Hospital, joined colleagues Milissa A. tured readings from the third edition of Caduceus, a school after-hours to receive his McKee, .., ..., assistant professor of surgery, journal of poetry published by Art Place. 1. Caduceus .. degree from George Washing- and Christopher K. Breuer, .., assistant professor of editor Tony Fusco (back to camera) at the poetry ton University at age . He moved to surgery and brother of Wendy Dewey, to present the reading. 2. Exhibiting potter Sally Tomiko (left) with the at about the same time, department’s latest research and state-of-the-art surgi- friends. 3. From left: Art Place Director Lorraine F. and went on to do the work that cal techniques for young patients. 1. Musician Edie Roseman and Artistic and Technical Advisor Terry earned him the Nobel Prize. “F. Scott Brickell. 2. Barbara Breuer, Harriet Dewey and Jennifer Dagradi with Betty Monz, executive director of the Arts Fitzgerald once stated that there are Baxter. 3. Andrea Ingalls, Tim Breuer and Eunice Lynch. Council of Greater New Haven. 4. Professor of Medi- no second acts in American lives,” 4. Tori Dewey and Olivia Tabah. 5. Robert Breuer and cine and Pathology Philip W. Askenase, .., with his Axelrod wrote in a memoir. Robert Dewey. 6. Sarah Grow and Kendra Seth. wife, exhibiting painter Marjorie Askenase. “After a mediocre first act, my second act was a smash.”
www.medicineatyale.org Advances Student-run clinic is a haven for uninsured educational program to provide Health and science news from Yale Yale students across all general information about diseases health professions unite and their management that supple- to serve local community ments the instructions patients receive from the attending physician. When it comes to health care, The clinic’s personnel offer one-on- New Haven’s Fair Haven neighbor- one education on these issues during hood has more than its share of the patient visits, and group classes at Along for the ride underserved and uninsured. Thanks are in the planning stages, when cells divide to a new free medical clinic launched Levine says. by students from the School of Medi- Patients also receive a social work When a daughter leaves cine, the School of Nursing, Epidemi- consultation from students that home, she packs her bags with pro- ology and Public Health and the informs them about agencies that visions she’ll need to strike out on Physician Associate Program, many provide assistance with non-medical her own. A daughter cell—the new residents of Fair Haven, including issues, such as housing. Cynthia cell formed when a cell reproduces some who have never been to a Correll, the clinic’s social work coor- by dividing—does the same, gath- doctor for chronic, life-threatening dinator and a second-year medical ering up copies of its parent cell’s organelles before it separates. illnesses, are getting treatment as well student, says that most patients are One organelle, the Golgi appa- as education to ward off future health unaware that they may be eligible for problems. public health insurance programs. ratus, sorts and modifies proteins Margaret Samuels-Kalow (center) and and packages them to be shuttled The clinic, known as (an The applications for such programs Mallika Mendu (right) consult with a to proper sites in the cell. In most acronym for Health Care, Advocacy, are complicated, she says, and they patient at the new free clinic. animal cells the Golgi comprises Volunteerism, Education and Neigh- are often not available in Spanish, the several hundred stacks stitched borhood), was the brainchild of language spoken by most of the ...., a nurse practitioner and together into a ribbon, but in Try- Karen Archabald and other students clinic’s patients. Interpreters on the graduate of the School of panosome brucei, the parasite that from the medical school’s Class of clinic’s staff help to overcome the lan- Nursing who acts as ’s causes sleeping sickness, there is and Ryan Hebert of the Class of guage barrier. medical director along with Laurie just one Golgi stack. . provides an array of The clinic receives funding from Bridger, .., assistant clinical pro- Professor of Cell Biology Graham B. Warren, ph.d., capital- medical services to uninsured all the Yale health profession pro- fessor of medicine and a medical ized on this simplicity in a study patients free of charge every Saturday grams and is seeking grants from director of the . published in the November 18 issue morning, says Mallika Mendu, who is community sources. works Bartlett says she is impressed that of Science that illuminates how co-director of the clinic with fellow from a list of generic drugs, but the students who work in the clinic new Golgi are formed in daughter member of the Class of Mar- patients still find it difficult to afford have opted to gain this experience cells. When Warren and his col- garet Samuels-Kalow. prescriptions, and the clinic organiz- early in their careers and that they are leagues tagged T. brucei organelles Each patient at is seen by ers have built up a stock of com- learning to work in interdisciplinary with fluorescent labels and a team of students and an attending monly prescribed medicines to give to teams. Bartlett was eager to join the watched through microscopes as clinician who may be a physician or patients at low cost. project because of the well-researched the parasite divided, they discov- nurse practitioner from the Fair Yale-New Haven Hospital is business plan the students presented ered a new, as yet unnamed struc- Haven Community Health Center donating laboratory services to and because of their commitment to ture (lower green form in photo) that orchestrates the duplication of ( ), which houses ,or a , and the students who run the clinic, which she says she finds Golgi (red) in daughter cells. faculty member from the School of the clinic have recruited specialists “revitalizing.” Medicine, the School of Nursing or who have agreed to see patients who For the students, the clinic is a the Physician Associate program. are referred to them on a pro bono way to make a difference the day they Are skin cells guards Getting adequate and healthful basis. Almost students are arrive in New Haven. Rachel Solo- or go-betweens? nutrition is a major issue for the involved in the free clinic, about of mon, the clinic’s phlebotomist and a clinic’s patients, and most come in whom see patients at on any member of the School of Medicine’s Accounting for 15 percent of with multiple unmanaged chronic given Saturday. Class of , says that although our body weight, and with an diseases, such as diabetes and hyper- Working around the constraints many medical students talk about average surface area of 20 square tension, says education coordinator facing low-income patients is a skill traveling abroad to do humanitarian feet, the skin is the body’s largest Corinna Levine, a second-year that can only be learned in practice, work, “there’s a real need in our own organ. In addition to providing a medical student. The students run an according to Mary Bartlett, ..., community.” rugged protective sheath, the skin is studded with immune system cells. Langerhans cells (LCs) in the epidermis have long been thought to spur the immune system into The power of Botox, a drug with many faces action when we encounter patho- A “life-changing” symptoms in a been “life-changing.” According to gens, and overactive LCs have been number of serious Jabbari, Engar’s enthusiasm is not implicated in autoimmune dis- treatment that’s medical conditions, unusual, because botulinum can dra- eases of the skin. more than skin deep including multiple matically relieve symptoms in chronic But an unexpected result reported on the cover of the sclerosis, cerebral conditions that are otherwise difficult December 15 issue of Immunity by For those of us who first learned palsy and chronic to treat. New uses for the drug con- Daniel H. Kaplan, m.d., ph.d., assis- of Botox from the frothy pages of Bahman Jabbari muscle spasms. Bot- tinue to evolve at Yale, where Jabbari tant professor of dermatology, and People and Entertainment Weekly, it ulinum is also useful is testing its effectiveness in pain Mark J. Shlomchik, m.d., ph.d., pro- might come as a surprise that a drug in treating migraines management and other applications. fessor of laboratory medicine and that rose to fame in the s as and excessive saliva- Clinical interest in botulinum immunobiology, may force a wrinkle-eraser to the stars now makes tion or sweating. dates back to the s, when Alan B. rethinking of these ideas. regular appearances in the venerable More than Scott, .., of the Smith-Kettlewell When the researchers engi- Annals of Neurology. But Botox is patients with a wide Eye Institute in San Francisco showed neered mice that lacked LCs at serious medicine, “one of the biggest range of symptoms that the toxin could successfully treat birth, they expected the animals to breakthroughs of the last years,” visited ’s Botu- disorders of eye muscles. In collabo- be resistant to allergic skin reac- Jonathan tions. Instead, these mice have skin says Yale Medical Group ( ) Goldstein linum Program last ration with biochemist Edward J. that is far more sensitive than physician and Associate Professor of year. One, H. Stuart Schantz, .., of the University of normal mice. Neurology Jonathan M. Goldstein, Engar, suffered neck pain from an Wisconsin, Scott developed a botu- “We now view these cells not .., a member of ’s Botulinum undiagnosed neurological disorder linum treatment for humans that was just as sentinels or stimulators of Program. for years before enrolling in a approved by the Food and Drug immune reactions, but as peace- Botox is a trade name for botu- botulinum study conducted by Pro- Administration in . keepers with the environment,” linum toxin type A, the highly potent fessor of Neurology Bahman Jabbari, Ten years later, Allergan pur- says Shlomchik.“Failure of this bacterial substance that causes botu- .., who was one of the first re- chased the rights to pursue other mechanism could result in chronic lism poisoning. Botulinum makes searchers to establish the drug’s effec- medical applications of botulinum inflammatory skin conditions like wrinkles less obvious by relaxing tiveness in treating pain. Engar says from Scott, and gave the drug the lupus and psoriasis.” facial muscles, but the drug also eases the relief provided by botulinum has now-famous Botox brand.
Medicine@Ya le March/April 2006 Yale innovation in the art of observation extends its reach Museum training And educators in professions from law enforcement to business are fol- gets a closer look from lowing suit, putting to work Braver- medical schools, police man and Friedlaender’s art-based approach to refining powers of You might expect a seen-it-all observation. New Haven police detective to be Yale School of Management skeptical about the professional bene- Dean Joel M. Podolny, .., fits of looking at Victorian paintings. thought business students also could But when Lt. Herman Badger recently learn how to size up a situation by tried an exercise that hones observa- looking at art, so as part of their ori- tion skills by viewing fine art, he was entation last August newly arrived eager for more. Badger called the Yale business students paid a visit to experience “fascinating.” the . Along with Yale University Police With Friedlaender’s advice, Amy Chief James A. Perrotti and several Herman, .., .., head of educa- other police supervisors, Badger, chief tion at the Frick Collection in New of detectives for the New Haven York, is offering a variation on the police department, carefully exam- program, using her museum’s por- ined slides of paintings, including a traits to teach observation skills to portrait of two women. He says the about medical students a year group then gave what they believed drawn from Weill Medical College of Irwin Braverman and Linda Friedlaender absorb the details in a painting by J.M.W. Turner were exhaustive descriptions of the at the Yale Center for British Art. Cornell University, Albert Einstein picture. “The main focus of our job is College of Medicine of Yeshiva Uni- to be trained observers,” Badger thanks to a program developed in obvious signs that the patient was versity, Mount Sinai School of Medi- explains. at the School of Medicine when agitated. Friedlaender told this story cine and New York University School But then they looked again. Professor of Dermatology Irwin M. to her friend Braverman, and the of Medicine. “Upon looking at it closer,” says Braverman, .., and Linda K. Fried- program, called Enhancing Observa- Two years ago, Herman invited Badger, a -year veteran of the New laender, .., the ’s curator of tional Skills, was born soon after. members of the New York City Police Haven force, “we would find so many education, arrived at the same idea The , the final work of Department to take similar training, other details that would change our from opposite directions. acclaimed architect Louis I. Kahn, and city cops attended sessions at perception of the object we were Worried that observational skills houses the largest collection of British the Frick last year. The resulting pub- looking at.” that are best honed in direct doctor- art outside the United Kingdom. Each licity, including a front page story in Badger now believes that study- patient interaction might be waning spring, Yale medical students visit the The Wall Street Journal, brought an ing and describing paintings can help in an era of laboratory tests, elec- museum for three hours to study and invitation to Herman to deliver a him and his colleagues do better tronic monitors and medical imaging, describe paintings, and they then presentation on the method at Scot- police work, so later this month, Braverman wondered if looking apply their enriched observational land Yard. many of the supervisors at the closely at art might help young physi- vocabulary to images of human skin According to Friedlaender, the New Haven department will join cians be better observers in the clinic. lesions they are likely to encounter in New Haven police will apply their from the Yale force at the Yale Center “Physicians were losing this ability the clinic. new descriptive skills to photos of for British Art () in a program that they all had, and all used, The program, now required of all street scenes, not skin lesions. designed to sharpen their attention to years ago,” he says. first-year students as part of the Pre- “This exercise may encourage fine visual details. At about the same time, Fried- clinical Clerkship course directed by officers to consider how the museum The phenomenon isn’t confined laender had a disappointing experi- Professor of Medicine Margaret J. Bia, looking experience might impact to New Haven: police from New York ence at the hospital when she saw that .., has proven so successful that their professional duties,” Friedlaen- City to London’s Scotland Yard are a resident examining a friend of hers two dozen other medical schools have der says, adding, “I’m sure they could looking at art to become better cops, prior to surgery failed to notice adapted it to fit their own curricula. teach me a thing or two.”
Alliance continued from page 1
“As a global company, we need to broad spectrum of pathways be successful in reaching out to net- involved.” works on an international basis, but In the alliance, which was for- innovation is also happening to a very malized last July, will provide large extent in clusters,” Dolsten says. funds of approximately $ million per “The cluster is the more ‘vertical’ year toward research projects at Yale, innovation where you can go in five of which are already under way. depth into biological processes. And Like Dolsten, Carolyn W. Yale, with its excellence in immunol- Slayman, .., the medical school’s ogy and cardiovascular research, deputy dean for academic and scien- offers a real opportunity for mutual tific affairs, believes that both parties benefit.” stand to gain by the new partnership. In recent years there has been a “ will draw upon Yale’s superb growing realization that cardiovascu- research strengths in immunology, lar diseases, inflammatory processes inflammation and cardiovascular and immune disorders are tightly biology,” Slayman says, “while Yale Dean Robert Alpern with the steering committee that oversees the Yale-bipi alliance. linked, and Uwe Schoenbeck, .., investigators will have access to (Standing, from left) Carolyn Slayman, Mikael Dolsten, Alpern, Paul Anderson, Richard Flavell, vice president for cardiovascular expertise and research materials from Kim Bottomly and William Sessa. (Seated, from left) Jordan Pober and Uwe Schoenbeck. disease research at , says that one of world’s most outstanding research may reveal many other new pharmaceutical companies.” , says of . “It’s very impor- ship, which are the hallmarks of a disease relationships. has been a loyal ally of Yale’s tant for us to support students in the successful organization. From my “If you drive your drug discovery Science, Technology and Research biological and physical sciences, experience with many universities, process in a very limited fashion Scholars () program, which because they’re the lifeblood of our I’m very impressed.” toward the compound you’re looking provides academic support and future research.” Schoenbeck agrees. “If you don’t for, you’re lacking on what’s left and research opportunities to minorities, Dolsten is pleased with the have the communication, things will right of the path,” Schoenbeck says. women and physically challenged present progress of the alliance. “The thin out over time and disappear,” he “It’s always very important to see undergraduates majoring in the interaction with Yale has been very says. “If you keep your communica- what other pathways are affected. natural sciences or engineering. “The open and trustful and has already had tion going—and that’s one of the That’s something we can explore in most important resource we have is a quick jump-start,” he says. “Yale has strengths we have with the people this collaboration, where we have the people,” Paul Anderson, .., a very positive spirit on sharing of involved in this alliance—you’ll have expertise on the Yale side about the senior vice president for research at information and building on partner- a long run.” www.medicineatyale.org Grants and contracts awarded to Yale School of Medicine September/October Federal Behaviors Across the Continuum of Use, years, Foundation, Murine Succinate Semialdehyde Research Institute, Determining the Role of IL-7 Nadia Abdala, nih, Identifying hiv-Bridge- $, • Thomas McMahon, nih, Parent Dehydrogenase Deficiency, and Epileptic Disor- Signaling in Memory CD8 T-cell Development Population in sti Clinics in Russia, years, Intervention for Drug-Abusing Fathers, years, der with Elevated cns gaba, year, $, During Acute and Chronic Viral Infection, $, • Ronald Braithwaite, nih, Defining $,, • David Morris, nih, High Through- Zubin Bhagwagar, National Alliance for years, $, Daniel Kaplan, The Lupus the Threshold for Alcohol-Induced Nonadherence put Molecular Screening for Compounds that Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, Research Institute, Involvement of Plasmacytoid in hiv+ Patients, years, $, • Catalin Alter TGFb1 Signaling, year, $, • David Serotonin and Vulnerability to Bipolar Disorder, DCs in the Development of LE (Lupus Erythe- Buhimschi, nih, Mechanisms of Myometrial Musto, nih, Previous American Drug Experi- year, $, • Walter Boron, Regents of the matosis), years, $, • Michael Kashgar- Healing and Regeneration, years, $, ence and Future Perspectives, years, $, University of California, Bicarbonate Transport ian, University of California-San Diego, Kathleen Carroll, nih, Clinical Trials Network: Nazih Nakhoul, Tulane University, Membrane in Neurons and Astrocytes in Hypoxia, year, Hypoxia in Development: Injury in Adaptation New England Node, years, $,, • Gary Transport of NH3 and NH4+, months, $, • Yung-Chi Cheng, National Founda- Mechanisms, years, $, • Steven Kendell, Cline, nih, Metabolic and Mitochondrial $, • Marina Picciotto, nih, Nicotine tion for Cancer Research, National Foundation National Alliance for Research on Schizophre- Defects of Islet Beta-Cell of mody-, years, Addiction in Mice Lacking the Neuronal nAChR, for Cancer Research Fellowship, years, nia and Depression, Measurement of Riluzole $,, • James Comer, Dept. of Education, years, $,, • Marc Potenza, nih, fmri $, • R. Todd Constable, Pfizer, Inc., Impact Upon Cortical Amino Acid Neurotrans- Integrating Instructional Strategies with Systemic of cbt and CM for Cocaine Dependence, Validation of Next Generation and Analysis mitter Levels in Treatment-Resistant Major Reform, years, $,, • Joseph Craft, nih, years, $,, • Carrie Redlich, nih, Tools for Brain Perfusion, year, $,; Depressive Disorder, years, $, • James cns Lupus: Mechanistic Dissection, years, Program for Patient-Oriented Environment Pfizer, Inc., Test-Retest Variability of fmri Mea- Mazer, Whitehall Foundation, Inc., The Neural $, • Francesco D’Errico, nih, Health Research and Training, years, $, sures of Working Memory in Healthy Volunteers, Basis of Natural Vision, years, $, Chemotherapy with Injectable Microdroplets, Richard Schottenfeld, nih, Improving Efficacy months, $, • Larry Davidson, State of Godfrey Pearlson, Meharry Medical College, year, $, • Sabrina Diano, nih, Learn- of Drug Abuse Treatment, . years, $, CT Dept. of Mental Health and Addiction Ser- Meharry Alcohol Research Collaborative, year, ing and Memory in the Melanocortin System, Peter Schwartz, Health Resources and Services vices, Connecticut Mental Health Transforma- $, • Jordan Pober, Boehringer Ingelheim years, $,, • Ronald Duman, nih, Administration, Yale Ovarian Cancer and Early tion State Incentive Grant, year, $, Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Endothelial Cells and Profiling Gene Expression in Major Depression, Detection Program, year, $, • Robert Michael DiGiovanna, The Breast Cancer Cardiac Myocytes, year, $, • Alan Sar- years, $,, • James Duncan, nih, Sherwin, nih, Islet Transplantation and cns Research Foundation, Activated her2 as a Pre- torelli, National Foundation for Cancer Image Analysis for Adaptive Prostate Radiother- Metabolism in Hypoglycemia, years, $,, dictor of Therapeutic Response and as a Target in Research, Role of Transcription Factor Scl in apy, years, $,, • Jack Elias, nih, Stefan Somlo, nih, Yale Center for the Study of Novel Combination Therapies, year, $, Sensitivity of Leukemia Cells to All-trans amcase and brp-39 in Th2 Inflammation and Polycystic Kidney Disease, years, $,, Ralph DiLeone, National Alliance for Research Retinoic Acid/LiCl Induced Differentiation, Asthma, years, $,, • Donald Engel- Sandra Springer, nih, Opiate Dependence, on Schizophrenia and Depression, The Role of year, $, Gerald Shadel, Ohio State Uni- man, nih, A High-Capacity Screen for hiv and Adherence Interventions, year, Nucleus Accumbens mch Signaling in Modulat- versity, Induction of Inflammation by Mitochon- Membrane-Active Compounds, year, $, $, • Tami Sullivan, nih, The Temporal ing Mood and Depression, year, , drial Proteins, year, $, • Gordon Shep- Paul Falzer, nih, Image Theory in Disseminat- Relationship of Partner Violence and Drug Use, Naomi Driesen, Pfizer, Inc., The Effect of Keta- herd, Weill Medical College of Cornell Univer- ing Evidence-Based Practices, years, $, years, $, • Ning Tian, nih, nmda mine and Glycine on Working Memory in sity, Neuroinformatic-based Neuroscience Infor- David Fiellin, nih, Counseling for Primary Receptor and Synaptic Plasticity in Retina, Healthy Subjects, months, , • Barbara mation Framework, year, $, • Warren Care Office-Based Buprenorphine, years, years, $, • Mary Tinetti, nih, Need Ehrlich, Robert Leet and Clara Guthrie Patter- Shlomchik, Medarex, Inc., Novel Immunotoxins $,, • Erol Fikrig, nih, Immune Func- for Tailored Clinical Trials: Hypertension and son Trust, A New Role for the Anti-Cancer Drug for Depletion of Dendritic Cells, year, $, tion and Biodefense in Children, Elderly and Fall Risk, years, $, • Vinzenz Unger, Taxol on Calcium Signaling and Peripheral Neu- Norman Siegel, University of California-San Immunocompromised Populations, years, nih, Structure and Function of Copper Trans- ropathy, year, $, • Jack Elias,Amrad Diego, Renal Tolerance to Anoxia/Ischemia, $,, • Brian Forsyth, nih, Promoting porters, years, $,, • John Wysol- Corporation Ltd., Role of IL-11 in Asthma, years, $, • Albert Sinusas, Juvenile Resilience in Young Children of hiv-Infected merski, nih, Recovery of Bone Mass After Lac- . years, $, • David Fiellin,Robert Diabetes Research Foundation International, Mothers in South Africa, years, $,, tation, years, $, • Heping Zhang, nih, Wood Johnson Foundation, Evaluating Medic- Targeted Imaging of Angiogenesis and Angiogenic Shawn Fultz, nih, Markers of Alcohol Toxicity Data Management, Statistics and Informatics aid and Public Funding for Buprenorphine Therapy in Type 1 Diabetes, year, $, in hiv-Infected Veterans, years, $, • Ya Core, years, $,, • Tongzhang Zheng, Treatment of Opioid Dependence, years, Stephen Strittmatter, The Amyotrophic Lateral Ha, nih, The Structural Basis for app Cleav- nih, Occupational Exposure and nhl Risk, $, • Tony George, National Alliance for Sclerosis Association, Nogo and Nogo Receptor ability, years, $,, • Theodore Holford, year, $, Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, in Transgenic als, year, $, • Michael Tal, nih, Modeling Interventions for Lung Cancer Effects of Galanthamine on Neurocognitive Pfizer, Inc., Pancreatic Beta Cell Mass and Func- Mortality, years, $,, • Tamas Horvath, Deficits in Smokers and Non-Smokers with tion Quantification by Means of Perfusion nih, Central Peptidergic Circuits in Metabolism Schizophrenia, years, $, • Frank Gior- Imaging, years, $, • Nadia Ward, State Regulation, years, $, • Hetal Kocinsky, Non-Federal dano, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, of CT Dept. of Higher Education, Maximizing nih, The Role of Phosphorylation in the Regula- Serap Aksoy, World Health Organization, Inc., Pharmacological Manipulation of hif, Adolescent Academic Excellence, year, tion of nhe3, years, $, • Michael Glossina Developmental-Stage-Specific est years, $, • Nora Groce, unicef New $,; University of Connecticut, Maximiz- Kozal, nih, Hepatitis C Microarrays to Detect Project, year, $, • Luis Anez, State of CT York, unicef Violence Against Children Con- ing Adolescent Academic Excellence, year, Drug Resistance, years, $, • Diane Dept. of Mental Health and Addiction Services, sultation, months, $, Steven Hebert, $, • Robert Weiss, Interstital Cystitis Krause, nih, Yale Center of Excellence in Mo- Connecticut Co-Occurring State Incentive Grant, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Association, Signaling Pathways in the Urothe- lecular Hematology, years, $,, • Paul year, $, • Abdallah Badou, Boehringer Mouse Kidney Physiology, years, $, lium of IC Patients Causing Decreased Urinary Lizardi, nih, Global dna Methylation Profiles Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Th Cells, Richard Hochberg, Wake Forest University Cyclic gmp, year, $, • Kimberly of Head and Neck Cancers, year, $, year, $, • Samuel Ball, National School of Medicine, Androgen Receptor-Medi- Yonkers, National Alliance for Research on Steven Marans, Center for Mental Health Ser- Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and ated Detection of Cancer Using pet, year, Schizophrenia and Depression, A Controlled vices, samhsa Childhood Violent Trauma Depression, Psychotic Spectrum Personality Dis- $, • Beth Jones, University of Miami, Study of ssri Exposure in Neonates, years, Center, years, $, • Sherry McKee, orders in Homeless Persons, years, $, Psychosocial Factors, Race, and Cancer Survival, $, nih, Investigating Tobacco and Alcohol Use Kevin Behar, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh months, $, • Susan Kaech, Cancer
Fertility continued from page 1 human embryos for and allows house of facilities to study subtle only three eggs per patient to be fer- changes in success due to small tilized by donor sperm. The law changes in the protocols,” says permits OC, because it employs Patrizio, who is joining Dagan Wells, unfertilized eggs that have not devel- .., assistant professor of obstet- oped into embryos. rics, gynecology and reproductive sci- “Those two years have been very ences, in molecular analyses of frozen difficult for our patients and for us,” oocytes to better understand the basic explains Tecnobios Director Andrea biology of OC. Borini, .. “I have had the honor to Borini says that the collaboration Postgraduate Associ- ate Veronica Bianchi lead a team of very strong people with Yale is “the result of a strong perfoms oocyte expending a great deal of energy to friendship between Dr. Patrizio and cryopreservation at get better and better results after the me that started almost years ago the Yale Fertility law was passed.” when we were at the beginning of our Center. The modifications to OC pio- careers in infertility. I am very happy are offering a service to the commu- who can now offer their patients a neered at Tecnobios clearly give supe- that Yale started this program, and I nity that was not available, we are new option to preserve fertility. rior results to older techniques, but hope that more advances will be doing it with the best people in the “We didn’t feel comfortable there is much to be learned about achieved.” world, and we are following the offering this service even a year ago why they work so well. Because of The American Society for Repro- guidelines,” he says. “The patient has because the results were dismal, fluc- Yale’s research prowess in human fer- ductive Medicine, which classifies OC the benefit of having the latest tech- tuating between a and percent tility, Borini shared the methods with as an experimental procedure because nology, but in an academic center success rate,” Patrizio explains. “But Patrizio, an Italian native, who will of its historically low success rate, rec- overseen by an .” once there was improvement, which pursue further refinements. ommends approval for all OC Patrizio and his colleagues are is remarkable in terms of the “It’s an advantage having this services, a policy that Patrizio believes busy spreading the word about OC, numbers, we wanted to jump in and program at Yale, which is a power- is in the best interest of patients. “We particularly among local oncologists, do it right.” Medicine@Ya le March/April 2006 Awards & honors Yale scientist shares $1 million Dan David Ronald R. Breaker, .., prize for work on cell signaling and cancer Henry Ford II Professor of Mo- Though is not even half known as gastrointestinal stromal lecular, Cellular over, it’s already a year to remember tumor, or . According to the and Developmen- for Joseph Schlessinger, .., chair American Cancer Society, , tal Biology, pro- and William H. Prusoff Professor of Americans are diagnosed with fessor of molecu- Pharmacology. In late January, a new advanced kidney cancer each year, lar biophysics and biochemistry and drug based on Schlessinger’s research and there are , new cases of Howard Hughes Medical Institute was approved by the U.S. Food and . With January’s approval in investigator, has received the National Drug Administration () for hand, Pfizer is now marketing the Academy of Sciences () Award in advanced kidney cancer and a rare drug under the tradename Sutent. Molecular Biology, one of awards type of stomach cancer. A month In , Schlessinger co-founded given annually by the to honor pathbreaking research in a range of later, Schlessinger learned that he Berkeley, Calif.-based Plexxikon, a disciplines. Breaker shares the would share a $ million prize for his drug-discovery firm focused on the $, award, which is supported scientific discoveries from the Dan role of kinases and other enzymes in by Pfizer, with Ohio State University’s David Foundation. diverse diseases, including cardiovas- .., Tina M. Herkin, for their Schlessinger, known to friends as cular disease, diabetes and cancer. He work on novel gene-control elements. “Yossi,” is a leading figure in the field also serves on the scientific advisory of signal transduction by receptor boards of several other companies. Ruslan M. tyrosine kinases, enzymes that are The Dan David Foundation, with Medzhitov, located on the cell surface and func- headquarters at Tel Aviv University in .., professor tion as receptors for growth factor Israel, awards three $ million prizes of immunobiol- proteins. When growth factors acti- annually for cultural, scientific, social ogy, has received the -BD Bio- vate these receptors, their associated or technological impact in three time sciences Investi- tyrosine kinases send out intracellular dimensions—“past,”“present” and Prizewinner Joseph Schlessinger’s studies of gator Award signals that cause cells to divide and “future.” Dan David, a native of tyrosine kinases have borne fruit in a newly from the Ameri- grow. In research spanning more than Romania who invented and marketed approved drug for cancer. can Association three decades, Schlessinger and his a variety of photographic technol- of Immunologists () for his out- standing early-career contributions colleagues have elucidated the mecha- ogies including automatic photo activated and eventually that such to the field of immunology. Medzhi- nism of action of these receptors and booths, inaugurated the prizes in knowledge can lead to new and better tov’s research has advanced our demonstrated how dysfunctions in . Schlessinger shares the drugs,” he says. Since coming to Yale understanding of the immune certain kinases can lead to the award in the Future category with from New York University five years system, particularly in regard to the rampant cell growth seen in cancer. John Mendelsohn, .., president of ago, Schlessinger has overseen the family of toll-like receptors, which play an essential role in the innate In , together with Axel the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at building of new quarters for the immune response. The award, which Ullrich, .., of the Max Planck the University of Texas, who did the pharmacology department and has has been co-sponsored by BD Bio- Institute of Biochemistry in Germany, science behind the kinase-inhibiting recruited six new faculty members. “It sciences since , will be presented Schlessinger formed the pharmaceuti- anti-cancer drug Erbitux. Renowed takes a long time to build science,” he at the ’s annual meeting in cal company Sugen—the “S” and “U” cellist Yo-Yo Ma won in the Past cate- says. “It takes patience.” Boston in May. in the company’s name stand for the gory for preserving cultural heritage Schlessinger says that he will Manohar M. two founders’ last names—to develop through his Silk Road project, and attend the Dan David awards cere- Panjabi, .., drugs that inhibit faulty tyrosine four journalists from around the mony at Tel Aviv University in May, .., pro- kinases. The company was acquired world shared the Present prize. and he adds that he intends to donate fessor of by Pfizer in , and in subsequent Schlessinger says he was a portion of the prize money to orthopaedics and clinical trials, Pfizer showed the “thrilled” when he learned about the further research and education in his rehabilitation and professor of Sugen-developed drug SU to be prize. “It recognizes the idea that department. “This is a recognition of mechanical engi- effective in treating advanced kidney hypothesis-driven research can lead a career,” he says of the prize, “one neering, received cancer as well as a stomach cancer to new understanding of how cells are which I hope is not over yet.” the Wiltse Life- time Achievement Award from the continued from page 1 International Society for the Study of Gift the Lumbar Spine for his “major con- tribution to the advancement of A federal initiative created are faculty members in basic science Jena Giltnane, a knowledge in the field of spinal disor- the to increase the number of departments across the country, and fifth-year student in ders.” Panjabi, an expert on spinal physician-scientists. But despite the almost three-quarters are on clinical the , says that trauma, has been at Yale since . explosion of medically relevant faculty; the remainder work in private she interviewed at He has published over original research articles, two books and knowledge in molecular and cell industry. several institutions, book chapters. biology during the past three decades, The alumni roster includes Susan but was ultimately federal funding for the , admin- J. Baserga, .., .., associate Jena Giltnane attracted by the Yale istered by the National Institute of professor of molecular biophysics and program’s small scale General Medical Sciences (), biochemistry, genetics and therapeu- and open-door culture, which have Kudos from has lagged behind overall funding for tic radiology, and Michael J. Caplan, afforded her close interaction with the National Institutes of Health .., .., professor of cellular School of Medicine scientists. We’ve received many comments (), requiring the - and molecular physiology and cell Now studying protein expression and a slew of e-mails and letters of appreciation since launching Medi- approved programs at medical biology, who administer the program profiles in breast cancer in the labora- cine@Yale last summer for alumni, schools across the nation to rely on under Jamieson’s direction along with tory of Associate Professor of Pathol- friends and patients of the School of other sources to support students for Professor of Medicine Frederick S. ogy David L. Rimm, .., .., Medicine and our neighbors across the duration of their studies. Gorelick, .., and Gerald I. Giltnane says that her combined Connecticut. Yale’s program, now years old, Shulman, .., .., professor of experiences in bench science and Now we’ve begun building our trophy shelf. The judges of one of the has generally only been able to medicine and Howard Hughes patient care in the .. /.. premier communications competitions directly support students for five or Medical Institute investigator. Program will forever inform her in higher education, sponsored by the six years of their training, says Noting that the School of Medi- perspective as both scientist and Council for Advancement and Support Jamieson, who hopes to use some of cine has required research experience physician. case of Education ( ), awarded the the funds generated by the new gift to and a thesis of all its students for “I feel very gratified when I Silver Medal for best newspaper in case ’s District 1 to Medicine@Yale; supplement the training grant more than years, Caplan says that present my research to someone District 1 comprises the New England that provides the bulk of support to Yale provides particularly fertile who’s practicing medicine in the field. states and eastern Canada. The award ../.. students. Also, because ground for training future physician- They understand where I’m coming was given in February at the annual these grants are only available to U.S. scientists. “Yale is unique as a medical from, and they can see the impact it case District 1 conference in Montreal. citizens, the new gift may give the school in its desire to devote a signifi- will have on their day-to-day work,” is a professional organization devoted to alumni relations, communications program the flexibility to consider cant portion of its effort toward says Giltnane. “The questions I’m and development at educational insti- talented foreign-born applicants. training future academic leaders,” asking will affect the way breast tutions throughout the world. About a quarter of the Caplan says, “and I think this pro- cancer is treated, and that’s some- alumni of Yale’s ../.. Program gram stands at the vanguard of that.” thing I’m really passionate about.” www.medicineatyale.org