Newsletter of the Scholars in Clinical Science Program Harvard Medical School

Spring 2008 The Communicator Harvard Medical School Scholars in Clinical Science Program

Inside this issue

Clinical and Translational Science Awards Funded Page 2

Graduation News Page 2

Alumni Spotlight Page 3

Governance Updates Page 6

Curriculum Updates Page 7

Above: Graduate Rhonda Bentley-Lewis, class valedictorian, accepting her diploma from Gordon Williams, Program Director Left: Graduates Janet Lo (left), Karl Yen (center), and Shamsah Kazani This page: James Meigs (left) and his Scholar mentee, Marie-France Hivert (second from left), and Chris Mantzoros (right) and his Scholar mentee, Aoife Brennan (second from right) at the Welcoming Reception Opposite page, left: Barry Eisenstein, program advisor, and Steve Schachter, program advi- sor and Chair of the Committee on Admissions, at the 2007 Graduation Opposite page, right: Graduate Peter Hulick and family

2 Advisory Board Second Round of Clinical and Translational Graduation News Science Awards (CTSAs) Funded The following Scholars received the Master Edward Benz, Jr., MD, Chair In 2007 the National Institutes of Health of Medical Sciences (mmsc) degree from President, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (nih) announced the recipients of its Harvard Medical School in 2007: second round of ctsa funding. Twelve Karl Anderson, MD (12) additional academic health centers Elly Barry University of Texas Medical Branch received the awards, doubling the num- Rhonda Bentley-Lewis ber of centers funded since October of Erica Camargo Nancy Brown, MD 2006: Christine Duncan Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Jeffrey Ellenbogen Case Western Reserve University Peter Hulick Jean Chan, MD, MMSc (Cleveland, OH) Hylton Joffe Beth Deaconess Medical Center Emory University (Atlanta, GA), Shamsah Kazani partnering with Morehouse School of Matthew Kulke R. Bruce Donoff, MD, DMD Medicine Timothy Lahey Dean, Harvard School of Dental Medicine Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD) Janet Lo University of Chicago, (Chicago, IL) Karl Yen Richard Grand, MD University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA) Children’s Hospital Medical Center University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI) Held in the Benjamin Waterhouse Room University of Texas Southwestern Medical of Gordon Hall at Harvard Medical School, Patricia Hibberd, MD, PhD Center (Dallas, TX) our 2007 Graduation Ceremony and Tufts University School of Medicine University of Washington (Seattle, WA) Dinner in June honored twelve (12) new University of Wisconsin (Madison, WI) graduates. Class valedictorian was Dr. Thomas Moore, MD Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN), Rhonda Bentley-Lewis, an endocrinologist Boston University School of Medicine partnering with Meharry Medical College at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Washington University (St. Louis, MO) Edward Benz, President of Dana-Farber Eugene Orringer, MD Weill Cornell Medical College (New York, Cancer Institute and Richard and Susan University of North Carolina School of Medicine NY), partnering with Hunter College Smith Professor of Medicine, delivered the keynote address, speaking eloquently on Janet Schlechte, MD The total funding for these new awards is the importance of mentoring in the clini- University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine expected to be approximately $574 mil- cal research arena. lion over a five-year period. More detailed Daniel Singer, MD descriptions of the 2007 awards can be For the second time in five years we recog- Harvard Medical School accessed at www.ncrr.nih.gov/ctsa2007. nized Dr. E. John Orav, Associate Harvard Medical School submitted its Professor of Medicine and course director James Ware, PhD ctsa in November of 2007, in the third of the introductory and advanced biostatis- Harvard School of Public Health round of applications. The decision on tics courses at the Harvard School of those awards is expected to be made by Public Health. He received the 2007 annu- June of 2008. al Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award, an honor bestowed by the graduating stu- dents. Congratulations again, John! Where Are They Now? Alumni Spotlight retrospective clinical studies in order to 3 Through the end of 2007, we have gradu- The success of the scsp is measured by develop new treatments for patients, so ated seventy-one (71) students from the the achievements of its graduates. In this his work is an excellent example of the program. We try our best to stay in touch section we acknowledge the accomplish- promise of translational research. We with all of our graduates so that we can ments of some of our alumni/ae, espe- wish Arin well as he pioneers his career track their career progress. While some of cially those who are doing innovative path as a surgeon-scientist! our graduates continue their careers as research, have received honors and recog- physician-scientists at Harvard, many have nition for their research, or are “giving Dr. MingMing Ning, Class of 2005, is an branched out to other academic medical back” to the program by participating in Instructor in Neurology at Harvard centers, community hospitals, industry, its activities and courses. Medical School and the Director of the and government. Clinical Proteomics Research Center in Dr. Eva Szigethy, who graduated with our the Department of Neurology at second cohort of graduates in 2003, Massachusetts General Hospital. The Scholars in Clinical Science Program received one of the first nih Director’s recipient of a K23 award, MingMing is co- Status of Graduates (n=71) New Innovator Awards, which support mentoring a current first-year student in Academic FDA/ Industry Fellows/Residents “exceptionally creative early-career scien- the program and also serves as a facilita- Faculty Other 7% 20% 68% 5% tists” in biomedical research. Now an tor during the program’s summer ses- Assistant Professor of and sion. She has inspired a number of fel- Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of lows and residents in her department to Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh apply to the program. We wish MingMing Medical Center, Eva’s award totals $1.5 the best of luck and thank her for keep- million in direct costs over five years. ing her colleagues informed about the She will use her funding to study the clinical research training opportunities at interplay between brain, immune, and Harvard! gastrointestinal systems in the etiology Of faculty, 67% have K23 or equivalent funding. and treatment of depression in pediatric Dr. Basel Ramlawi, Class of 2006, is a inflammatory bowel disease. We congrat- cardiothoracic surgeon in Canada, where ulate Eva on her receipt of this presti- he is completing his surgical residency. gious award! Basel recently received the American Heart Association’s Vivien Thomas Young Dr. Arin Greene, Class of 2003, a surgical Investigator Award, which honors young resident while in the program, is now an investigators in fundamental and applied Instructor in Surgery at Harvard Medical surgical research. We congratulate Basel School, in the Department of Surgery at on receiving this distinguished honor! Children’s Hospital. Upon completing his residency and a subsequent pediatric plastic surgery fellowship, Arin became the Director of the new Department of Plastic Surgery Research Laboratory, where he continues to study pediatric vascular anomalies. He dovetails his angiogenesis-based laboratory work with Images of 2007 Graduation Dinner and Ceremony

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This page, clockwise from above: Paul Conlin, course director and Chair of the Committee on Mentoring, at the 2007 Graduation; Dr. Edward Benz, President of Dana- Farber Cancer Institute, delivering his keynote address; Graduate Christine Duncan and husband with her Harvard diploma Opposite clockwise from top left: John Orav, recipient of the 2007 Outstanding Teacher of the Year award, with his wife and col- league, Lynn Sleeper; Sophia Reaud (left), Lauren Platt (center), and Barbara Smith (right) at the 2007 Graduation; 2007 Scholars Graduates 5

Our Graduates June 2007 This page: Scholars at the 2007 Welcoming Reception at The Savant Project in Mission Hill Opposite page, left: Graduate Erica Camargo (center) with two of her team members at the Harvard Business School (HBS) Project Fair Opposite page, right: Graduate Jeff Ellenbogen at his poster at the HBS Project Fair

6 We thank the following companies for Class of 2009 Governance Updates their donations in providing funding to We are currently supporting sixteen (16) With the submission of the Harvard ctsa educate our students to be the next first-year students who entered the pro- in November of 2007, a new Clinical and generation of future leaders in clinical gram in 2007. Their names, affiliated Translational Science Center (ctsc) has research: institutions, and mentors are listed been created at the Medical School. Dr. below: Lee Nadler, Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Pfizer Professor of Medicine at Dana-Farber Erica Blood (bidmc, Dr. Sandra Burchett) Cancer Institute and Principal GlaxoSmithKline Sherry Chou (bwh, Drs. Steven Feske and Investigator on Harvard’s ctsa, has been MingMing Ning) appointed the Dean for Clinical and Novartis Mark Conrad (mgh, Dr. Thomas Brady) Translational Science, and Dr. Steven D. Christopher Fischer (bidmc, Drs. William Freedman, Associate Professor of Aird and Nathan Shapiro) Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Elizabeth Gerstner (mgh, Dr. Tracy Medical Center and co-PI on Harvard’s Batchelor) ctsa, is the new Associate Dean. The Marie-France Hivert (mgh, Dr. James scsp, which is Harvard’s K30 program, is Meigs) a component of the ctsc and will report Tamara Isakova (mgh, Dr. Myles Wolf) to Drs. Nadler and Freedman. The ctsc Shilpa Jain (bwh, Dr. P. Reed Larsen) is a work in progress, so more informa- Yvonne Lee (bwh, Dr. Elizabeth Karlson) tion will be forthcoming. Beth Leeman (bidmc, Dr. Steven Schachter) Ugwuji Maduekwe (mgh, Dr. Sam Yoon) Curriculum Updates Allan Moore (mgh, Dr. Jose Florez) The required course at the Harvard Tjörvi Perry (bwh, Dr. Simon Body) Business School, Commercializing Science Melanie Pogach (bidmc, Dr. J. Woodrow and High Technology, is now co-directed by Weiss) Professors Lee Fleming and Vicki Sato. The Aditi Saxena (bwh, Dr. Ellen Seely) course Project Fair took place on 26 April Lynda Vrooman (chmc, Dr. Lewis 2007 and was, as always, a rousing success, Silverman) with almost double the number of poster presentations as in the past. The course has The Welcoming Reception, expertly now been moved to the fall semester. organized by Sophia Reaud, was held in November at The Savant Project, a new The summer course in Introduction to restaurant/bar in Mission Hill. We were Human Investigation is now being co-direct- able to boost the turnout of this annual ed by two Scholars graduates, Drs. Munish event as many of the mentors and pro- Gupta and Jonathan Williams. Other gram advisors attended, presumably not Scholars graduates also participate in the just for the hors d’oeuvres and drinks! course by facilitating the irb workshops in the various affiliated institutions. We are grateful to all of them for their continued involvement in the program. Association for Clinical Research Training (ACRT) Program Office News Association for Clinical Research Training (ACRT) 7 The acrt now allows current k30 Dr. Gordon Williams, Program Director, Officers and Board of Directors trainees the benefit of participating in its spent much of his time this past year lead- activities free of charge through institu- ing, organizing, writing, and editing Kurt Kroenke, MD, President tional membership. The mission of acrt Harvard’s ctsa application, with a bit of Indiana University School of Medicine is “to improve the health of the public by help from his friends. Gordon also serves as increasing the amount and quality of Chief of the Cardiovascular Robert Dittus, MD, MPH, President-Elect clinical research through expanding and Section and Director of the Center for Vanderbilt University continually improving clinical research Clinical Investigation (cci) at Brigham and training.” Through its institutional dues, Women’s Hospital, all while doing his own Paul Marantz, MD, MPH, Past-President which are $1,000 annually, current scsp clinical research, mentoring and advising Albert Einstein College of Medicine trainees are eligible for free membership. our students, and continuing to see Benefits include (1) active participation in patients. In addition, Gordon is the recipi- Marian Limacher, MD, Secretary-Treasurer the planning of acrt meetings with con- ent of the Robert Tigerstedt Award from the University of Florida tent appropriate for trainee members, (2) American Society of Hypertension for his opportunity to collaborate in evaluation outstanding work in the field of hyperten- Wishwa Kapoor, MD, MPH and planning of curriculum content rec- sion. One of the Society’s Distinguished University of Pittsburgh ommendations, (3) participation in advo- Scientist Awards, it carries a monetary prize cacy activities, (4) reduced registration of $10,000. He will receive the award in Morey W. Haymond, MD fees for the annual meeting, and (5) May at their annual scientific meeting. We Children’s Nutrition Research Center receipt of the acrt newsletter. Lauren congratulate him on receiving this Dewey Platt serves on the editorial board prestigious award! Shanta Layton of acrt’s quarterly newsletter, Clinical University of Pennsylvania Research Perspectives, and wishes to Dr. Paul Conlin, Associate Program encourage all trainees to become involved Director, recently accepted the position as Doris M. Rubio, PhD in this national organization. Its annual Interim Chair of the Department of University of Pittsburgh meeting is in Washington, dc, in March Medicine at the va Boston Healthcare of each year. Please contact the program System. The System encompasses three David F. Ransohoff, MD office for more details. campuses (Jamaica Plain, West Roxbury, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Brockton) and six community-based outpatient clinics; Paul’s office is based at James Crapo, MD the West Roxbury campus. In addition to University of Colorado Health Science Center this new leadership position, he continues to participate in the scsp by directing the Karl Anderson, MD longitudinal clinical research seminar, University of Texas Medical Branch chairing the Committee on Mentoring, and serving as a program advisor. Congratulat- Julio Licinio, MD ions on your new appointment, Paul! University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

continues on page 8 Estela Estapé, MT, PhD University of Puerto Rico continued from page 7 As we strive to become more conscious of the environment and increase efficiency, the program office has worked hard to develop a new approach to its admissions proce- dures. In 2007 Sophia Reaud, Manager of Student Services, initiated a new stream- lined process that is now completely paperless. All applications are completed electronically, and all supporting docu- mentation is gathered via e-mail and dis- seminated via a weblink to the Committee on Admissions, which is chaired by Dr. Steven Schachter. Thanks so much, Sophia, for your valiant and successful efforts in helping us to Go In Memoriam The Communicator Green! The sudden passing of Dr. Judah Folkman earlier this year was a shock to newsletter of the During 2007, the merit (Medical the clinical research community, especial- Scholars in Clinical Science Program Research Investigator Training) Program ly here at Harvard where he spent most 8 Harvard Medical School offered cme courses on human genetics of his career. Judah was a true friend of and clinical trials. In 2008 we are launch- the program–he taught our new first- Spring 2008 ing a course on clinical research, in part- years every summer, mentored our stu- nership with the University of São Paulo dents, and served as our graduation writing (usp) in Brazil, which will be co-directed keynote speaker in 2006. Known by Lauren Dewey Platt by Drs. Ajay Singh and Felipe Fregni, many as the “father of angiogenesis,” he who is a Scholars graduate. In May of spoke often of the need for young physi- photography 2007, Dr. Lauren Dewey Platt was in cian-scientists to maintain tenacity and Commencement photographs are by George Delianides. Brazil to participate in the first Harvard/ perseverance in the face of adversity–he All other photographs by Lauren Dewey Platt unless Brazil Symposium organized and spon- himself was an exemplar of these quali- separately credited. sored by the David Rockefeller Center for ties. We were honored by his many con- Latin American Studies (drclas) at tributions to our program. design and typography Harvard and the drclas office in São Jim Hood, Hood Design Paulo, Brazil. Her participation in the symposium allowed for collaborative Save the Date! www.scsp.med.harvard.edu opportunities to emerge, and drclas was The Graduation Dinner and Ceremony instrumental in fostering these opportu- this year will be on Monday, 9 June 2008. nities. The course with usp will have a Details and invitations will be arriving by distance-learning component and an on- mail soon! site component. We hope that this effort will translate into a lasting relationship and additional opportunities to train clin- ical researchers in Latin America. Scholars in Clinical Science Program Harvard Medical School

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