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The Bulletin (formerly the Jefferson Medical College Alumni Bulletin) Jefferson Alumni and Faculty
Spring 2010
Jefferson Alumni Bulletin – Volume 59, Number 2, Spring 2010
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Recommended Citation "Jefferson Alumni Bulletin – Volume 59, Number 2, Spring 2010" (2010). The Bulletin (formerly the Jefferson Medical College Alumni Bulletin). Paper 289. https://jdc.jefferson.edu/alumni_bulletin/289
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Haiti in Crisis +FGGFSTPO1IZTJDJBOT5BLF"DUJPO Message from the President costs higher. One demonstration project companies. What works in the homog- under Medicare will test a “bundled-payment enous, relatively rural area covered by the system,” which will provide a flat payment model Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, to cover all services needed by a patient Pa., might fail dramatically in the diverse heading for surgery. Another goes further, and competitive environment of urban encouraging primary-care physicians, special- Philadelphia. The premise of the demonstra- ists, allied health professionals and hospitals tion projects is to identify what works where to form “accountable care organizations” to and the resources – training and funds – that take responsibility for all their patients’ needs, hospitals and healthcare professionals need including prevention; the members will share for the transformations. in the savings they generate. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Accountable care organizations represent just Services and the new Independent Payment one of several programs that will address the Advisory Board will drive the changes. The new nation’s biggest threat – chronic conditions. Just law puts Medicare and Medicaid on a budget for 15 percent of Medicare patients – all suffering the first time. If the federal insurance compa- from multiple chronic conditions – account nies overspend, the healthcare professionals 9VILY[3)HYJOP4+7O+ for 85 percent of the program’s costs. Several comprising the board have the power to insti- programs will focus on aggressive proactive tute reforms without congressional approval. Many Americans reacted with puzzlement care for patients with diabetes, asthma, heart Private insurance companies, if history serves when Congress passed the “healthcare reform” conditions and depression through “patient- as a guide, will quickly follow suit. in March: What happened to the promised centered medical homes,” an area of expertise at What will the practice of medicine look like cost controls? Jefferson, where the Department of Family and a decade from now in the United States? With The legislation included no black-and- Community Medicine has won the National certainty we can say it will look different. white solutions, granted, but the problem of Committee for Quality Assurance’s highest Today, one-sixth of every dollar Americans curbing escalating healthcare costs has no medical home ranking. earn goes to health care; any increase – and cookie-cutter answers. Instead, the legislation Many of these programs have already without change increase is inevitable – will included hundreds of pages of pilot programs produced success in isolated cases. The bankrupt the country. Fortunately for physi- the government will organize to test methods to Community Care of North Carolina – which cians, the new law gives us a strong voice in curb costs and increase quality. And it includes provides care for state residents without signif- determining our own future, and the future, a mechanism to bypass the vitriolic partisan- icant insurance coverage – reports saving at if it embraces quality over quantity, holds ship of Washington and the persuasiveness of least $160 million per year by using proactive benefits for physicians and patients alike. lobbyists to put proven methods into place. care with patients suffering from chronic Many of the pilots involve rewarding conditions. At the behest of the main insurer Sincerely, quality over quantity, holding hospitals and in town, physicians in Grand Junction, Colo., physicians accountable for their results and formed an accountable care organization paying primary-care physicians to work years ago that eventually established a city- with specialists and specialists to cooperate wide system of electronic medical records; Robert L. Barchi, MD, PhD with each other to minimize unnecessary or quality increased while costs plummeted. President conflicting care. Halfway through a unique demonstration Thomas Jefferson University Almost universally, economists and project in Pennsylvania, Independence Blue healthcare professionals believe today’s fee- Cross increased payments significantly to for-service system plays a major role in driving patient-centered medical homes because of their success with diabetics and asthmatics. Behind most of the successes lie large investments in information technology, profound culture changes in health care and revamped payment systems from insurance 0ODPWFS Second-year resident Loukas Koyonos, MD, and Javad Parvizi, MD, repair Haitian patient Wilner Pierre’s femur.
Photo: Michael Bryant/Philadelphia Inquirer Contents FEATURES
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DEPARTMENTS
2 DEAN’S MESSAGE
4 FINDINGS Researchers Decode Powerful Tumor Suppressor
18'"$6-5:130'*-& Edouard Trabulsi: Easing the Burden on Cancer Patients
20 0/ $".164
22 CLASS NOTES George Valko, MD ’86: Alumni Association’s New President
27 IN MEMORIAM
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Jefferson Alumni Bulletin Quarterly magazine published 4QSJOH continuously since 1922 7PMVNF /VNCFS Address correspondence to: .BOBHJOH&EJUPS: Jana Moore Editor, Alumni Bulletin Jefferson Medical College of %FTJHO: JeffGraphics Thomas Jefferson University #VMMFUJO$PNNJUUFF 925 Chestnut Street, Suite 110 William V. Harrer, MD ’62 Chair Philadelphia, PA 19107-4216 James Harrop, MD ’95 215-955-7920 Cynthia Hill, MD ’87 Fax: 215-503-5084 Larry Kim, MD ’91 www.jefferson.edu/jmc/alumni/bulletin.cfm Phillip J. Marone, MD ’57, MS ’07 Alumni Relations: 215-955-7751 Joseph Sokolowski, MD ’62 The Jefferson community and supporters are welcome to receive the Alumni Bulletin on a regular basis; please contact the address above. Postmaster: send address changes to the address above. Periodicals postage paid at Philadelphia, PA. ISSN-0021-5821 THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY JG 10-2411 JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE ALUMNI BULLETIN
5IF QSBDUJDF PG NFEJDJOF is in constant In July 2010, we will expand student flux, with game-changing scientific discovery choices of third-year “selectives” to include and shifting cultural attitudes making diag- not only the surgical specialties but also new nostics and therapeutics of just a decade rotations in dermatology, geriatrics, reha- earlier seem quaint. At Jefferson, we infuse bilitation medicine and radiation oncology. the same dynamism into the medical educa- Starting in 2011, we will move four weeks tion enterprise itself. of internal medicine into the fourth year, As the medical school that pioneered clin- opening up a window of time for third-year ical training at the patient’s bedside, JMC has students to do neurology. In years to come, the impetus to stay at the forefront of medical we will look to expand the selective offerings. education. We continually evaluate what we In addition, we are exploring the option of do and where we need to go, making changes moving up the starting month for the clinical large and small. This coming fall, we will experience by shifting selected basic science initiate the first phase of a multi-year plan topics into the clinical years. to reform our clinical curriculum, starting Curriculum change represents but one with changes that will instantly distinguish us facet of our striving for educational excel- among medical schools. lence. Coming from a different angle, we Starting with the Class of 2014, students will establish this summer the Jefferson will have the option to select among areas of Medical College Academy of Distinguished concentration as part of a new “College within Educators. The academy – compromising the College” track at JMC. Translational educators at the College who have received medicine and population health will be the significant teaching awards – will allow us first offerings, with more choices to follow to honor a skill too often undervalued at in the years ahead. Through workshops and medical schools, outstanding teaching. This seminars laced throughout the four years, community of scholars, constituting our and buoyed by close relationships with faculty “medical education brain trust,” will imple- mentors, these students will gain insights ment professional development opportunities and skills in cross-cutting domains that will for other college faculty and will foster aware- enrich their clinical medicine training – and ness and dialogue on campus regarding the this without having to stay an additional year latest trends in medical training. for a formal master’s degree. The experience Our focus on innovative education has for each student will culminate in a capstone distinguished Jefferson since the day George The scholarly project. For example, in the case of McClellan, MD, founded the college and set population health, this could be tied to direct aside a series of rooms to receive patients in exposure to healthcare delivery in a third- the school’s first home, the old Tivoli Theater Dean’s world country or in an underserved area right on Prune Street. Vigilance, imagination and in our backyard. a willingness to adapt will keep this tradition The second curriculum change addresses of innovation fresh in tune with advances in Column a quandary many fourth-year students face: medical science and evolving societal norms. declaring a specialty without having had any experience in the field that most inter- Sincerely, ests them. Students now spend their entire third year in required clerkships, focusing on internal medicine, surgery, family medi- MarkMkLTkikiMD L. Tykocinski, MD cine, pediatrics, psychiatry and obstetrics and Anthony F. and Gertrude M. DePalma Dean gynecology. They are then asked to designate Jefferson Medical College their chosen specialties for residency training early in the fourth year, often with key elec- tives still down the road. SPRING 2010 3
As the medical school that pioneered clinical training at the patient’s bedside, JMC has the impetus to stay at the forefront of medical education. 4 JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE ALUMNI BULLETIN Findings
Researchers Decode Powerful Tumor Suppressor A. When DACH1 is absent or when levels of it are low in cells, Cyclin D1, After a decade of study, Jefferson researchers from growing as well,” Wang says. “It is really a transcription factor, is left unregulated have discovered how a powerful tumor remarkable.” and activates the production of proteins suppressor called DACH1 works – a finding In the new study, the scientists identi- from genes that trigger proliferation of cancer cells. that explains why restoring its lost func- fied the DACH1 binding sequence and then tion in cancer cells pushes them to become used computers and lab work to identify normal again. 1,606 genes with matching sequences. “These In the March 29 online early edition of genes are potentially regulated by DACH1,” the Proceedings of the National Academy Wang says. of Sciences, the Kimmel Cancer Center More work established that DACH1 serves researchers say DACH1 can shut down more as a transcriptional “repressor,” meaning it than 1,500 genes – including some known to inactivates genes when binding to them. promote cancer – by binding to them. The Most tumor suppressors that scientists have absence of DACH1 leaves an empty “slot,” identified activate genes instead. allowing a cancer-promoting protein, fork- The scientists also discovered that the B. When DACH1 protein is present, head box, to slip in and activate the gene. DACH1 binding site resembles the binding it acts as a transcription repressor, “While the study was conducted mainly site for FOXM1, a protein over-expressed in inactivating genes once it binds in breast cancer cells, the beneficial func- breast cancer. FOXM1 is a member of the to them. It not only inhibits both the transcription factors like Cyclin D1 tion of DACH1 is missing in a wide variety FOX, or forkhead box, family of more than and ERα, but levels of a tumor of cancers, and restoring it might offer us 100 transcription factors that regulate genes suppressor, p21C1P1, areare increased.increased. a new clinical strategy for these cancers,” involved in cell growth and proliferation. says Chenguang Wang, PhD, co-leader The absence of DACH1 gives forkhead of the study and an assistant professor in proteins a berth, allowing them to latch on the Department of Stem Cell Biology and and activate the genes, the researchers say. Regenerative Medicine. “If we can find a way to turn this The study is remarkable not only because protein back on in breast cancers, and it describes the molecular function of potentially other cancer types, we DACH1 – a feat that took the research team may be able to reverse the cancer CyclinCyclin D1 10 years to uncover – but because the scien- progression,” Wang says. DACH1DADACACH1 inhibitsinhibibits the tists scanned the human genome to identify Co-authors of the study transcriptionttraransnscripiptioi nfn factorsfactorso the genetic partners of DACH1, says study include researchers from the thatthahattl leadleadad to cellcecell co-leader Richard Pestell, MD, PhD, director National Institutes of Health proliferationprrololifferratition of the Kimmel Cancer Center and chairman and Drexel University in
of the Department of Cancer Biology. Philadelphia. The work was CyCyclinclin D1 Wang, Pestell and their laboratories previ- financed by grants from the ously discovered the DACH1 function was Susan Komen Breast Cancer DACH1DACH1 missing in human breast cancer as well as in Foundation, the National prostate and endometrial cancers. They also Institutes of Health and the showed that DACH1 represses tumor initia- Pennsylvania Department of tion and progression, and when DACH1 is Health. put back into the cancer cell lines in animals, the cells revert to normal. “When tumor cells begin to express this protein again, it not only reverses the cancer progression, but these cells begin to excrete molecules that stop surrounding tumor cells Take your Nucleus Jefferson pride FOXM1 on the road.
Cyclin D1 Cyclin D1 Other transcription factors that regulate the production of proteins
Cyclin D1
Binding site on DNA for FOXM1, one of the transcription factors that activate genes to generate cancerous cells, initiating tumor growth
Amy Austin, MD’04 and Luke Austin, MD’04 with Riley
p21C1P1
Nucleuss
DACH11 incrincreaseseasess tumor ssuppressorsuppressoors like p211C1P1 p21C1P1 Get your Jefferson license plate today at www.jefferson.edu/license_plate or by calling 215-503-7709 6 JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE ALUMNI BULLETIN
Jefferson Physicians Respond to Haiti Earthquake SPRING 2010 7
he first patient Deborah Witt, MD, tions, tools, tents, sleeping bags and even examined after arriving in Haiti on Feb. 22 kitchen utensils. They settled in Croix-des- had been alive for mere hours. The baby’s Bouquet, Haiti, home to more than 10,000 mother had given birth alone at home and displaced citizens, and orchestrated a clinic then elbowed through a crowd of hundreds in a dilapidated church. English-speaking in line to see Witt at a makeshift clinic. Haitians served as translators. Anxious “That my first patient was a healthy patients formed disorderly lines that newborn set a tone of hope for the rest wrapped completely around the building. of the trip,” said Witt, assistant professor A few days later, the team set up additional in Jefferson’s Department of Family and clinics in two nearby cities and within a week Community Medicine. “Through devasta- had evaluated more than 700 patients with tion, life goes on.” complaints ranging from upset stomach to That my first The earthquake Jan. 12 destroyed the rashes and chest pain to labor pains. infrastructure necessary to respond to In addition to providing medical care, disaster, leveling hospitals and transporta- Witt and her group found the only open patient was a tion facilities in and around Haitian capital grocery store in the region and bought Port-au-Prince and leaving millions without enough food to distribute to 200 families. healthy newborn resources for health care. Jefferson physi- They also supplied medication and money, cians stepped in to help. much of it donated by churches and orga- Witt has experience serving disadvantaged nizations in the United States, to Haitian set a tone of populations; three times a year, she travels families, orphanages and ministries. with a faith-based nonprofit organization to “Nobody there is going to school. Nobody hope for the rest Jamaica and runs free clinics in underserved has a safe home or a job. Nobody has any communities. This winter, the group decided income. It’s an emotional place to be,” Witt Haiti needed its services more urgently. said. “But in the Haitian people I saw so of the trip. As the ministry’s medical director, Witt much resilience and determination that – Deborah Witt, MD assembled a crew of medical personnel that it had a calming effect that just made me included five others from Jefferson: two resi- want to do more.” She hopes to coordinate dents from the Department of Family and another mission within six months. Community Medicine; two graduate students from the Jefferson School of Nursing; and a Providing Help at Jefferson Jefferson nurse. Jefferson physicians have also provided care “We didn’t have any surgeons,” Witt said, to earthquake survivors without leaving “but those with major injuries are not the Philadelphia. Relief workers affiliated with only ones who need medical attention. We a budding nonprofit, Doctors United for went to provide general care.” Haiti, called contacts throughout the United States seeking treatment for victims with Filling a Medical Void the worst injuries. When the call for a spinal Clockwise from top: the clinic’s makeshift pharmacy; The team spent more than $400 in extra surgeon came in, Alexander Vaccaro, MD, Witt with a newborn patient; airline fees to cover hefty cases of medica- PhD, answered. long lines at the clinic
Background image: © iStockphoto.com/1001nights 8 JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE ALUMNI BULLETIN
Vaccaro, vice chairman of orthopaedic Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals surgery and co-director of reconstruc- President Tom Lewis offered to cover tive spine services at Jefferson’s Rothman expenses related to the care of Haitian Institute, agreed to operate on Wilner Pierre, patients, but the government granted them a 29-year-old who had been trapped under “humanitarian parole” – a policy allowing rubble for four hours. His broken back and people otherwise inadmissible into the badly fractured leg went untreated for more United States temporarily in cases of than two weeks and left him a paraplegic. emergency. Humanitarian parole provides The procedures he needed should have been medical assistance and extends to one family performed immediately but were unavailable member who can accompany the sick or in Haiti; without them, he would die. injured. Many of these visitors have never Doctors United for Haiti arranged a flight accessed routine medical care – something to Philadelphia. Vaccaro inserted titanium Marc Altshuler, MD, wanted to change. rods to straighten Pierre’s spine the day after he arrived. Javad Parvizi, MD, also of the Extending Help to Families Rothman Institute, and fellow Greg Gebauer, Altshuler directs Jefferson’s Center for MD, repaired his cracked femur. After Refugee Health, a resident-staffed division of surgery, Jefferson’s trauma team treated him the Department of Family and Community for infections, pneumonia and blood clots. Medicine that cares for refugees from all over Two weeks after surgery, Pierre was trans- the world. To ensure that family members ferred to Magee Rehabilitation Hospital to accompanying injured Haitians remained work on regaining use of his legs. healthy, Altshuler set up a special clinic Vaccaro has since accepted additional for them – treating even those whose rela- cases from Haiti, including a middle-aged tives were admitted at hospitals other than man who suffered a dislocated cervical spine Jefferson. His team performed checkups and in a building collapse. After two opera- administered vaccinations and will serve as tions by Vaccaro, he recovered fully. In May, the primary care providers for Haitians in the Vaccaro treated a boy with a severe spinal Philadelphia area until they return home. deformity caused by advanced tuberculosis. “The people at our clinic have been The teen lost both his parents in the earth- mostly healthy, but treating them is no less quake. Paralyzed from the waist down, the compelling than treating their injured chil- patient has begun walking on his own since dren or spouses. The gratitude they show is his surgery, his condition fully incredibly moving,” Altshuler said. “They corrected. know that if they hadn’t gotten out of Haiti, “This boy is a victim of a their loved ones would have died. traditionally depressed medical “It doesn’t matter if someone is system that is now essentially performing a lifesaving operation or giving a nonexistent medical system,” a basic checkup. Everyone affected by the Vaccaro said. “He has no support. I never earthquake needs help, and, as doctors, that’s considered turning him down.” what we’re here for. To help people.” SPRING 2010
It doesn’t matter if someone is performing a lifesaving operation or giving a basic checkup. Everyone affected by the earthquake needs help, and, as doctors, that’s what we’re here for. To help people. – .BSD"MUTIVMFS .%
.BJOQIPUP Haitian patient Pierre is assessed before surgery. *OTFUTUPQUP CPUUPN Vaccaro and Gebauer during Pierre’s surgery; the patient; Gebauer and Vaccaro review Pierre’s X-rays; the patient’s mother; screws used to repair Pierre’s spine Photos on this page: Michael Bryant/ Philadelphia Inquirer JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE ALUMNI BULLETIN
Student Blog: Exploring Health Care in Uganda SPRING 2010
-FGU children watch a drama at Rakai; 3JHIU Plumb with Ugandan students
his winter, fourth-year JMC student Ellen Plumb traveled to Uganda through an elective that offers Jefferson students the chance to study abroad in one of dozens of programs. Plumb chose East Africa because as a teenager she traveled there extensively with her father; she also conducted research there as an undergraduate student at Boston University. Since the Uganda program began in 1992, 100 Jefferson students have visited. Plumb, who begins a residency in Jefferson’s Department of Family and Community national aid for the program exist, and the exam. The work is not as clinical as I had Medicine in July, chronicled her journey Ministry of Health is refusing to distribute hoped, but I still think it has been a valu- in a blog, http://ellieplumb.blogspot.com. ART without a three-month supply of able week. For most of the week, we sat Condensed excerpts follow. drugs. There are hundreds of patients on stuffed into a small examination room with waiting lists for free treatment. four Ugandan medical students, learning MONDAY, FEB. 8 I am slightly surprised to see at least 100 the principles of ART. It was a crash course Arrived in Kampala, Uganda, late Saturday patients sitting on benches waiting for us in antiretroviral drugs, side effects and night. The drive in the darkness was an assault to arrive. We set up space in a consultation management of side effects. to the senses … dust and darkness punctuated room, a physician and I sitting on one side Yesterday, our instructor saw patients by the lights of erratic taxis and the pulse of of a desk and the patients on the other. Our and taught us at the same time. The physi- club music, the chaos of a Saturday night. first patient is a 29-year-old woman in tears. cian-patient interaction is very different We are spending the first two weeks She tells us her story – she lost her husband here, and sometimes it is as if the patient working at the Infectious Disease Institute three months ago and was ostracized by his were invisible. (IDI) in Kampala and staying at the clan because of HIV. Her care was trans- After the exam today, the Ugandan medical Makerere University Guest House with six ferred to another part of the country, but students present cases from home visits other American medical students. she was having difficulty accessing her ART. with patients from the IDI clinic. I am quite Today, our first day, we are almost imme- The physician looks at her with pity – there impressed by the emphasis on the psycho- diately taken to the IDI clinic, where at least is not much he can do for her. social and environmental determinants of 80 patients are waiting on benches on each The clinic morning ends with a cold health among HIV patients that are presented. side of a long hallway. None of the patients chapatti, a warm orange soda and a lot of is talking to each other – they all sit staring. questions about the feasibility of delivering MONDAY, FEB. 15 It is a place of serious business. ART in a clinic like Kawaala without a Last Friday, we toured the wards of Mulago massive influx of foreign money. Hospital in Kampala. Mulago has more than WEDNESDAY, FEB. 10 1,000 beds and is almost filled to capacity. We hop into van heading to Kawaala Health FRIDAY, FEB. 12 You can see and smell death everywhere, Center, an IDI clinic designed to improve Friday. Exhausted. Feel like I have been hit and I wondered how patients emerge alive. I access and tracking of antiretroviral therapy, by a ton of bricks. The heat is oppressive think that I found the gynecologic-oncology or ART. Although research shows ART here. I don’t remember it ever being this hot. ward the most upsetting. Women, young dramatically reduces death and suffering Finish our first week at the IDI with an and old, lying side by side – 90 percent of from HIV, questions about continued inter- examination, truly my last medical school them dying of cervical cancer. JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE ALUMNI BULLETIN
The morning walk to Mulago Hospital
TUESDAY, MARCH 2 Yesterday was the first day of our one-week in-depth tour of the different facets of the Rakai Health Sciences Program. We started with the Rakai Community Cohort Study and a team conducting annual census evalu- ations of households. We were taken to the first home, made of cement with a corru- gated metal roof. It was dark inside, the sound of the rain on the metal roof making it difficult to hear the interview being conducted with the head of the household, a 50-year-old man who had six other house- hold members, all younger than 27. The entire home was caked in a layer of red dirt, dust and animal feces despite the presence of a cement floor. We tried not to look around us in disbelief while knowing that a cement home with cement flooring WEDNESDAY, FEB. 17 of a family medicine physician in resource- signified a great (and expensive) improve- The pollution here is suffocating. I never poor settings. ment over traditional mud thatch homes. remember there being so many people, After completing the census, the inter- so many cars, such bad smog in Kampala. THURSDAY, FEB. 25 viewer handed the paperwork to the editing What I do remember about Kampala from The second part of my rotation is at the Rakai team, which combed through each and every 15 years ago are all of the coffin shops that Health Sciences Program in Rakai, about 120 question looking for errors. It is the first level lined the roads – coffin shops that filled miles southwest of Kampala. Established in of quality control in this research process. the needs of millions who were dying from 1988, the Rakai program focuses on HIV/ Later, I spent several hours with the coordi- AIDS. It was a much more sober city. Today, AIDS research and community services. We nators of the voluntary testing and counseling there is a chaotic, palpable energy. start by touring each department and learning department, which provides counseling for about the many research studies, and then circumcision patients, discordant couples and THURSDAY, FEB. 18 we travel to one of the local clinics where the children with HIV. I focused my questions on Spending this morning in the Department of project provides free ART. The clinic is quiet, child counseling. Prior to ART, HIV-positive Family Medicine, interviewing a young family with about 75 patients. children in Uganda would spend their short practice resident. It is refreshing and exciting The morning starts with an education lives fighting death one opportunistic infec- to find that we speak the same language of session about maternal-child transmission. tion at a time. It is very different now…with medicine after a week with infectious disease We are then guided through the research life-extending drugs, these children must physicians. There are 30 family medicine paperwork that must be completed during learn to process the meaning of their lifelong physicians in the country of Uganda – that each patient encounter – pages of paper- disease through different developmental and is 30 family med docs for 30 million people. work that condense the life histories of these life stages. They must learn to negotiate a According to the resident I speak with, the patients into a series of boxes and codes. It is very adult world in which there are unspoken “science” of family medicine is rooted in a meticulous, impressive and I would argue expectations and rules about disclosure of patient-centered and community-centered somewhat dehumanizing process. HIV status. Most importantly, during adoles- care with an emphasis on understanding how After lunch, we head out in the field with cence, they must learn to understand their communities impact health. I am the education/community organizing team for sexuality in the context of their disease. elated by his description of the a drama focused on the benefits of circumci- science of family medicine and sion as a barrier to contracting HIV, voluntary SUNDAY, MARCH 7 feel such a kinship with him as he HIV testing and ART. When we arrive, at I feel I must write a brief goodbye post, but I describes his interest in qualita- least 100 villagers are gathered under a tree. will not try to process the ending of Uganda tive, community-based research. Although we cannot understand a word of – not yet. I know that the meaning of the One of the things that really frustrate me what is being said, the audience is captivated experience in Uganda will surface, revealing is the global lack of recognition of the role and engaged. The drama lasts for hours. itself slowly and carefully. SPRING 2010 13
Physicians Use Robotic System to Examine Patients from Afar In the dead of night, a middle-aged man walks into a Philadelphia-area commu- nity hospital with classic stroke symptoms – numbness in his right arm, a loss of balance, confusion. In less than five minutes, one of the region’s top neurosci- entists begins his evaluation and quickly orders the clot-busting drug tPA.
The rapid response spares the patient permanent damage.
Was the patient in the right place at the right time? Yes, but not because the local hospital had a top neuroscientist on duty. He was at the right place because the hospital is part of a network that allows Jefferson physicians to examine patients many miles away through a new robotic system.
Introduced this spring, Jefferson Expert Teleconsulting, or JET, involves robots that will be placed in more than two dozen community hospitals in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey. Through cameras and microphones attached to the robot and laptops operated by physicians from the Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience, the patient and physician can talk as if they were in the same room. The patient Robert Rosenwasser, MD, consults with Michael M. Moussouttas, MD, sees the physician in the robot’s “face,” and the physician has the ability to focus on and Lauren Dougherty, RN, via the JET system. everything in the room down to a close-up of the patient’s pupils.
Logging in to JET takes about five minutes, less time than on-site physicians often need to get to a patient in person. Quick access to expertise is imperative because “JET puts a specialist at a the effectiveness of the clot-busting medication tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, patient’s bedside almost wanes with time. The American Stroke Association reports that 38 percent of eligible stroke instantly, enabling most patients fail to receive tPA within the critical timeframe – a figure Jefferson patients to remain in their neuroscientists want to change. “Many community hospitals want to provide high-end neurovascular care to own communities. The inter- stroke patients quickly and accurately,” said Pamela Kolb, vice president for action is so personal that neuroscience service at Jefferson. “JET puts a specialist at a patient’s bedside almost instantly, enabling most patients to remain in their own communities. patients forget a robot is The interaction is so personal that patients forget a robot is even in the room.” even in the room.” Stroke is the third leading cause of death and the first cause of major disability in the United States, killing more than 137,000 people each year, according to the American Stroke Association. Physicians at JHN created the program, the Jefferson Neuroscience Network, as an effort to advance neurological care throughout the region. Jefferson provides the JET system to community hospi- tals without charge.
“JET serves as an educational program,” said Robert H. Rosenwasser, MD, chair of Jefferson’s Department of Neurological Surgery. “As a teaching center, JHN will use JET to share our clinical protocols with participating hospitals so that they can enhance stroke care within their communities.”
Eight JHN neuroscientists have been trained on the JET system by California-based InTouch Health, which manufactures the robots and provides technical support 24 hours a day. JHN has committed to placing 26 robots in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.
“We hope to apply the system to other areas in the future; we see plenty of possible applications for time-critical diseases other than stroke,” Kolb said. Archival image courtesy of Thomas H. Keels. SPRING 2010
ries of rage outside the courthouse at 7th and Chestnut streets on Dec. 5, 1882, echoed for blocks as an irate mob waved razors and pistols in the air. Police held back the hordes as they rushed the building, demanding the execution of the four men facing charges inside. Their crime? Stealing corpses from a local graveyard – reportedly for a professor at Jefferson Medical College. The robbers implicated William S. Forbes, Jefferson’s chief of anatomy and a JMC alumnus, as the mastermind behind their operation. They claimed that Forbes had been paying them to steal and deliver bodies for more than three years. Authorities promptly detained him. Forbes’ arrest jeopardized both his reputa- tion and Jefferson’s. A prominent figure in the Jefferson community, Forbes was consid- ered one of the most skilled anatomists and surgeons of his time. He devoted much of his career outside of the operating room to drafting bills giving scientists access to cadavers for dissection, but only after his arrest did he finally succeed in changing the ways medical schools obtained bodies. JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE ALUMNI BULLETIN
The Evening Telegraph, Dec. 14, 1882
SHORTAGE OF CADAVERS Anatomy instruction became central to medical education in the early 1800s, and a shortage of cadavers left professors desperate. Religious beliefs kept people from willingly donating their bodies to science, and corpses of condemned murderers provided the only legal resource for human dissection. By 1850, medical students were flocking to Philadelphia, which boasted four char- William S. Forbes (courtesy of Thomas Jefferson University Archives) tered medical schools and numerous private anatomy schools. More than 1,000 students needed cadavers in this city alone. An anonymous tip on Dec. 4 led five news reporters and a private Pinkerton detec- tive to intercept the four thieves late at night near South Philadelphia’s Lebanon Cemetery, where they had unearthed six bodies. Lebanon contained graves of African- American and low-income citizens, making the site an easy target with its absence of well- built coffins and security guards.
BODY-SNATCHING PROTESTS Protesters rallied outside the school and swarmed Forbes following his release on bail. The protests came as no surprise – body The Philadelphia Press, Dec. 15, 1882 snatching had caused furor throughout the United States for more than a century. As friends and students testified on Forbes’ that required coroners to pass all unclaimed early as 1788, demonstrators held an anti- behalf and raised funds for his defense. bodies to a board that would oversee distri- dissection rally in New York City, convinced Forbes admitted paying to receive corpses bution to medical institutions. The law that physicians and students were practicing but insisted that he never questioned their passed in June 1883. While most schools on stolen bodies. In 1807, just before the source, saying he assumed his deliverymen today obtain bodies through willful donation founding of the University of Maryland had obtained them from a prison. programs, which became common in the School of Medicine, rioters destroyed a “It did not occur to me to inquire,” he said early 20th century, anatomy students still use building where physicians taught anatomy. in an interview with the Philadelphia Press, unclaimed bodies as well. In 1824, a crowd pelted the Yale School of then one of the city’s largest newspapers. He Forbes continued teaching anatomy and Medicine with rocks after a young woman’s convinced jurors of his innocence, and they surgery at Jefferson until he died in 1905, less body disappeared from a nearby grave. acquitted him. than a week after delivering his last lecture In 1852, when a woman’s body was found The thieves had less luck with the legal to students. Despite his 1882 arrest, Forbes is outside a medical clinic in Cleveland, her system – all four received 10-year sentences. remembered primarily for his contributions father led a mob in setting the clinic on fire. After his release, Forbes set out to amend to the field of anatomy and the legislation Despite the anger of protesters in existing laws to give medical schools access governing it. Philadelphia, many esteemed colleagues, to cadavers. He and his peers drafted a bill SPRING 2010
The New York Times, Dec. 6, 1882
REFERENCES Bazelon, Emily. “Grave Offense,” Legal Affairs Magazine, July–August 2002.
Diseroad, Ann. “Cages on graves explained,” Columbia County Historical and Genealogical Society Newsletter (date unknown).
Engers, Rachel. “Anatomy of an insurrec- tion,” Yale Medicine, Spring 2002.
Wagner, Frederick B. and J.W. Savacool, eds. Legend and Lore: Jefferson Medical College. Keys to Jefferson Medical College used as evidence during the trial of the body snatchers. One was carrying them at the time of his arrest. Devon, Pa.: William T. Cooke Publishing (Courtesy of Thomas Jefferson University Archives) Inc., 1996.
“The press capture: graveyard ghouls arrested with cargo of corpses.” The Philadelphia Press, Dec. 5, 1882.
“More ghouls caught: the superintendent of Lebanon Cemetery in custody.” The Philadelphia Press, Dec. 6, 1882.
“Body-snatchers held: Dr. Forbes, of Jefferson College, on the witness stand.” The Philadelphia Press, Dec., 9, 1882. The Medical Profession Appealed to to Pay for His Trial.
The Philadelphia Press, Feb. 11, 1884 JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE ALUMNI BULLETIN Jefferson Faculty
Edouard Trabulsi:
Edouard Trabulsi, MD, considers minimizing stress for cancer Health Congress 2nd Annual Middle East Urology Update in Dubai patients his duty. and the 21st Annual Saudi Urological Association Conference in As director of the Genitourinary Multidisciplinary Cancer Center Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. at the Kimmel Cancer Center, Trabulsi oversees an organization that Trabulsi recently shared his thoughts on Jefferson and his field. allows patients with prostate, bladder, kidney or testicular cancer to Q: What drew you back to Jefferson? consult with surgeons, radiation oncologists, radiologists, patholo- A: I sincerely missed Jefferson after my residency and fellowship. The gists, medical oncologists, social workers and cancer nurses during a multidisciplinary focus of the Kimmel Cancer Center was a major single visit – a rare convenience. draw. Cancer will be cured with a team approach, with experts in Trabulsi also serves as director of clinical trials in Jefferson’s many disciplines contributing. The structure here is well-suited Department of Urology as well as director of minimally inva- for professional development and academic growth; I learn some- sive urologic oncology. His current research focuses on minimally thing from colleagues outside of my field every day. My ability to invasive and robotic surgical procedures for patients with urologic rely on other specialists not only helps me, but it also helps my cancers as well as improved diagnostics for prostate cancer detection. patients. The “the luck of the match” brought Trabulsi to Jefferson for a surgical internship in 1995; he then completed residencies in general Q: How involved are you in teaching at Jefferson? surgery and urology before leaving to pursue a fellowship in New A: Very involved, though not necessarily in the classroom setting. For York. He returned in 2004 when a position opened in Jefferson’s four years I co-directed the C.R. Bard Fellowship in Endourology Department of Urology. and Minimally Invasive Urologic Oncology. I devote the majority The author of nine book chapters, 31 manuscripts and close to 50 of my time to direct patient care, and medical students, residents abstracts on urology and urologic oncology, Trabulsi travels nation- and fellows are right there beside me in the clinic and the oper- ally and internationally to speak. Last year, he presented at the Arab ating room, so I am able to teach by example. SPRING 2010
Easing the Burden on Cancer Patients
Q: What inspired you to choose urology? Q: What advances do you hope to see in your field over the next A: I like the balance of surgery and continuing care. That’s a rarity in few years? most surgical subspecialties; continuing care often falls to a non- A: I hope to see a reduction in the urinary and sexual side effects that surgeon. I enjoy seeing the same patients both inside and outside often result from prostate cancer treatment. These quality-of-life of the O.R. and forming a long-term relationship. side effects are the biggest impediment to any of the common Q: Are there any current clinical trials you’re particularly treatments for prostate cancer, be it surgery or radiotherapy. excited about? Q: What has been your proudest achievement? A: I’m working with primary investigator Ethan Halpern, MD, of A: Professionally, I am most proud to lead the KCC’s Genitourinary the Jefferson Prostate Diagnostic Center – which I co-direct – on Multidisciplinary Cancer Center. Traditionally, there is insuffi- an NCI-funded phase III clinical trial aiming to improve prostate cient collaboration across disciplines in medicine – and sometimes biopsy techniques by making biopsies more targeted. We’re inves- even outright antagonism, especially when it comes to prostate tigating the use of contrast-enhanced ultrasound to visualize and cancer. The absence of competition among physicians here is not target prostate areas with increased blood flow, which have shown the case at every institution and benefits both patients and faculty increased likelihood of cancer. Diagnosing prostate cancer can be members. difficult, because standard methods can turn up false negatives, Personally, I am most proud to be a husband and father. I love my and screening studies can’t always determine a cancer’s exact loca- job but am just as passionate about going home to my wife, Karen, tion. Cancerous tissue often has more blood vessels than healthy and my three sons, 6-year-old John and 17-month-old twins Marc tissue, and we think that we can target these areas of increased and Michael. The only thing that could possibly make me as blood flow to diagnose cancer more accurately. happy as they do would be the discovery of a cure for cancer. 20 JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE ALUMNI BULLETIN
Feldman Brody Gomella PestellAlnemri Rui
People Headlines
Feldman Writes New Textbook and physicians and is editor-in-chief of the Researchers Discover Weakness Arthur Feldman, MD, PhD, chair of Jefferson’s Five-Minute Urology Consult as well as lapa- in Deadly Bacteria Department of Medicine, reviews the roscopy section editor for Glenn’s Urologic Research at Jefferson has uncovered a economic, demographic and cultural trends Surgery. He also wrote Recovering from strategy to protect humans against the deadly threatening academic medical centers and Prostate Cancer, the first book for the public bacteria Francisella tularensis, which causes provides a framework for improvements in a dedicated to prostate cancer. tularemia, also known as rabbit fever. new book, Pursuing Excellence in Healthcare: The study, led by Emad Alnemri, PhD, a Preserving America’s Academic Medical Pestell Honored by University Thomas Eakins endowed professor in the Centers, published by Productivity Press. of Melbourne Department of Biochemistry and Molecular “If academic medical centers are to fulfill Richard G. Pestell, MD, PhD, director of the Biology, and published online in Nature their responsibilities to society, then they Kimmel Cancer Center, recently received Immunology, pinpointed a single molecule, will need to restructure, because the current the R. Douglas Wright Medallion and deliv- AIM2, that can sense the bacteria and elicit model is simply flawed,” Feldman said. “These ered the R. Douglas Wright Lecture at the an immune response alerting the body to its changes are not going to be easy, but to contin- University of Melbourne in Australia. The presence. Found within specialized immune ually ignore them puts the future of medical medallion is awarded for excellence in cells called macrophages, AIM2 also kills the education, research and patient care at risk.” science, literature, economics or politics. In infected macrophages to limit the spread of his talk, Pestell reviewed the two decades of infection to other tissues. Brody Receives Prestigious Grant work from his laboratory and outlined the Because of its extreme virulence, low Jonathan Brody, PhD, assistant professor history of the understanding of cancer. infectious dose, ease of aerosol dissemination in the Department of Surgery, received a and capacity to cause severe illness and death, 2010 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network- WOMEN AT JEFFERSON Francisella tularensis is considered a Class A American Association of Cancer Research Fifty years ago, the board of Jefferson bioweapon. “By now knowing that AIM2 can Career Development Award. The two-year Medical College voted to admit women sense the bacteria and ratchet up an immune grant provides $200,000 for Brody’s study of for the first time, and the following year response, we can think about ways to activate a stress-response protein called Hu antigen Nancy S. Czarnecki, MD ’65, and eight that key receptor in humans,” Alnemri said. R, which acts as a biomarker to determine others became the College’s first whether a pancreatic cancer patient is likely female students. JMC will mark the Pituitary Hormone Blocks to respond to treatment. milestone next year with a series of Aggressive Breast Cancer events and celebrations, and the Prolactin, a pituitary hormone that stimulates Gomella Appointed Journal Editor Bulletin will look back and ahead at breast development and milk production, Leonard Gomella, MD, chair of Jefferson’s women in medicine. blocks an oncogene that makes breast Department of Urology and associate Women with stories they want to tell cancer more aggressive, researchers from the director for clinical affairs at the Kimmel about their years at Jefferson are Kimmel Cancer Center reported in Cancer Cancer Center, has been appointed editor- encouraged to write the Bulletin editor, Research. in-chief of The Canadian Journal of Urology. Jana Moore, at Jefferson Foundation; A study led by Hallgeir Rui, MD, PhD, Gomella has significant editing experi- 925 Chestnut Street, Suite 110; professor of cancer biology and medical ence: He has written or edited 54 editions Philadelphia, PA 19107; or at oncology, showed that prolactin reduces of 17 books for medical students, residents [email protected]. levels of BCL6, a protein involved in poorly Hyperbaric unit at the Jefferson Vascular Center First Segal Professor Before a standing-room-only crowd of relatives, friends and colleagues, Howard Weitz, MD ’78, director of cardiology (center), was invested as the first Bernard L. Segal Endowed Professor in Clinical Cardiology on April 13. A gift from Dr. Segal, who served as director of cardiology for a decade, and matching funds from the differentiated breast cancer, which carries Thomas Eakins Fund financed the endowed professorship. The two men are pictured a grim prognosis. Prolactin’s role in breast with University President Robert L. Barchi, MD, PhD. cancer is largely carried out by a protein pathway called Stat5. The findings may lead to better diagnostic tests and new treatments New Facility Promotes Fitness for breast cancer. The Jefferson-Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine has opened a fitness “We think that prolactin plays an impor- training center to offer a range of personalized programs to Jefferson patients and tant role in preventing aggressive breast the general community. Services include one-on-one and group training sessions, cancers and that there is a connection sports massages and specialized classes, including yoga, Pilates and tai chi. between the loss of Stat5 and the increase of BCL6 in making breast cancer more aggres- sive,” Rui said. Medical Frontiers
Jefferson Vascular Center Opens Patients with vascular diseases and throm- botic disorders now have the convenience of getting diagnostic, surgical and clinical services at one location, the new Jefferson Vascular Center. “This unification of surgery and medicine under one center will provide a much easier experience for our vascular patients,” said Geno Merli, MD, co-director of the center. Rehabilitation Programs Accredited The inpatient rehabilitation program and stroke specialty program of the Comprehensive Acute Rehabilitation Unit in Jefferson’s Department of Rehabilitation Medicine have received the highest level of accreditation avail- able from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities International. 22 JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE ALUMNI BULLETIN
’46 ’53 ’61 ClassNotesHarold Meyer retired three years Edward West reports that he is James A. Lehman Jr. has been teaching in the medical school is ago and is a volunteer at the still blessed with good health at the volunteering as a surgeon in Chile the highlight of his work. Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, age of 84. He lives in State College, for 12 years and was there during Robert E. Rinaldi has retired from most recently working in the Body Pa., and continues to operate a the major earthquake in February, his obstetrics and gynecology prac- Worlds exhibit, where his knowl- general practice out of the home in which he reports was “a real tice in Boonton, N.J. He is enjoying edge of anatomy came in handy. which he was born. adventure.” He made it home to a new medical endeavor in Naples, He and his wife, Eleanor, live in Fairlawn, Ohio, safely. Fla., working at a weight-loss Philadelphia. ’54 clinic. He and wife, Cindy, are John M. Patterson reports that his ’64 enjoying their “new home in para- ’48 wife, Maxine, passed away on Jan. Lawrence Green is medical dise.” Clermont S. Powell is clinical 4. Patterson lives in Pontotoc, Miss. director at the Crozer-Chester professor emeritus of pathology Medical Center’s School of Clinical Lawrence R. Schiller is program at the University of Washington Philip Woolcott Jr. is retired after Neurophysiology. He lives in director for the gastroenterology School of Medicine, where he has serving as professor of psychiatry Swarthmore, Pa. fellowship and chair of the insti- been teaching on the volunteer at the University of Illinois Medical tutional review board at Baylor faculty for more than 50 years. School, Chicago, for 25 years. He Leroy S. Clark loves to golf but University Medical Center in Powell lives in Seattle. and his wife now live in northern still works regular 10-hour days. Dallas. He is a founding partner Michigan. He lives in Tarzana, Calif., and has of Digestive Health Associates of seven grandchildren. Clark sends Texas and serves as vice presi- ’50 Alfred G. Scottolini is still prac- his best to all surviving members dent of the American College William H. Winchell has been ticing medicine at least 20 hours of the Class of 1964. of Gastroenterology. Schiller retired for 20 years. He keeps busy per week at age 85. He believes also works with the World with travel and medical confer- they should call these years the ’66 Gastroenterology Organization. ences. He lives in Aptos, Calif. “rusty years” instead of the “golden His greatest joy, though, is his Richard A. Ulrich is still prac- years.” Scottolini lives in Spokane, 2-year-old granddaughter, Sasha. Wash. ticing ophthalmology four days a ’51 week. He and his wife, Angelia, Andrew J. Barger has been retired live in Bonaire, Ga., and have four ’73 for 17 years. He and his wife live in ’56 sons and nine grandchildren. Philip S. B. Fuller is board certi- Wheeling, W.Va. Stephen Kerr Williams reports fied in pulmonary, critical care that his “Williams Maneuver,” ’67 and sleep medicine and practices an alternative to CPR, is close to in Virginia. He serves as chief of ’52 Robert G. Mahan practiced family being fully documented by the medicine at Mary Washington Robert A. Ebersole and his wife medicine for 10 years, then worked American Heart Association. In Hospital and Stafford Hospital spent a week this winter visiting in emergency medicine until June the Williams Maneuver, instead Center. He and wife Connie live in in Florida with his classmate John 2008, when he developed a slipped of pressing down hard on the Fredericksburg, Va., and have three Grasse and his wife in Orlando. disk. He lives in Salisbury, N.C., sternum, you press on a spot about children and one grandchild. Ebersole has been retired since three to four inches to the left and and has 10-year-old twins. 1996. He lives in Archbold, Ohio. eliminate mouth-to-mouth resus- ’74 Miles D. Harriger is still golfing citation. This squeezes a patient’s ’70 John J. Brooks Jr. is chair of and enjoying good food near his left ventricle to feed blood and Sarah S. Long is chief of infec- pathology at Pennsylvania Hospital home in East Petersburg, Pa. oxygen to the brain. Williams lives tious diseases at St. Christopher’s in Philadelphia and enjoys being in in Lansdale, Pa. Hospital for Children. She lives in Philadelphia and interacting with Gabriel Tatarian calculates that Gladwyne, Pa., and has five grand- faculty in Jefferson’s Department of during his 38 years practicing ’57 children. obstetrics and gynecology, he Pathology. He lives in Media, Pa. C. Theodore Rotz Jr. is enjoying delivered approximately 6,000 Richard L. Bernini has spent 36 golf and retirement on the beach in William J. Gibbons is chair of babies, “at least half of whom years practicing emergency medi- Myrtle Beach, S.C. the Department of Medicine arrived in the middle of the night.” cine in the San Francisco Bay Area. at Holy Redeemer Hospital in He and his wife, Virginia, live in He lives in Sonoma, Calif., and has Meadowbrook, Pa. He is excited Moorestown, N.J., at a continuing ’58 two daughters and three grand- about his daughter’s wedding in care facility where Tatarian serves Marvin A. Rotman is chair of children. October. He lives in Southampton, as chair of the health services the Department of Radiation Pa. committee. Tatarian’s son, Gabriel, Oncology at SUNY Downstate ’72 PG ’92, is a neurologist at Medical Center in the New York Philip C. Hoffman continues to Jefferson. City borough of Brooklyn. He lives practice hematology/oncology at ’85 in Kings Point, N.Y. Gary E. Fishbein is in his sixth the University of Chicago. He says year as senior medical director at PharmaNet Development Group SPRING 2010 23
JMC Plays Ball! ’91 Inc., where he oversees develop- Dean Mark L. Tykocinski, MD, and Phillip J. Marone, MD ’57, MS ’07, Pamela T. Johnson (formerly associate dean for alumni relations and former team physician for ment plans for new oncology Tecce) has relocated with her two the Phillies, hosted a spring training outing in Clearwater, Fla., for 60 drugs. He lives in Bala Cynwyd, Pa. children, ages 10 and 11, after “five alumni, friends and family March 13. A storm pounding the gulf cold years in Maine.” They now live coast just 24 hours earlier cleared for a perfect day, with the Phillies in Baltimore, and she is on staff in beating Minnesota 5-4. Herb Kean, MD, PG ’60, (pictured with his ’86 William J. West Jr. is celebrating the radiology department at Johns wife, Joyce, and the dean) threw out the first ball. Walter Conlan, Hopkins. MD ’92, and his wife, Kristin, also thoroughly enjoyed the day. the birth of his first granddaughter, Kensi, on Sept. 12. West lives in Steven P. Woratyla is practicing Carlisle, Pa. vascular surgery in Lancaster, Pa. He and his wife, Elizabeth, live in ’87 Lititz, Pa., and have three sons. David M. Johnson works as Woratyla would enjoy hearing regional medical director for from his JMC classmates. Premera Blue Cross in Washington State. He is co-founder and presi- ’93 dent of Vivacity, a subsidiary of Eileen R. Conti and her husband, Premera, encouraging employers Vincent J. Hoye, MD, still practice to create and sustain a culture of ophthalmology in New Jersey. worksite wellness. Johnson lives in They are happy to report that their Spokane, Wash. daughter, Beth, is recovering from a stem cell transplant and want to ’89 thank their JMC friends for their Andrew Sirotnak was promoted love and support. to professor of pediatrics at the Walter Edwin Lewis is opening a University of Colorado School of private family medicine practice Medicine, where he also serves as in his hometown of Media, Pa. He interim section head and execu- has been working for himself since tive director of the Kempe Center 2000. for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect. Sirotnak also was appointed to ’96 the American Board of Pediatrics, Joseph James Murphy III and Child Abuse Pediatrics Sub-board his wife live in Glenside, Pa., with for a six-year term. He lives in their three children, Kate, Anna Denver. and Joseph IV. Murphy practices obstetrics and gynecology at Charles D. Tullius is hoping for Abington Memorial Hospital. a larger turnout for the next JMC reunion and wants to make class- mates aware of the JMC Class of ’98 1989 Facebook page. He practices Vicki H. Rapaport is practicing anesthesiology in Pittsburgh, where dermatology in Beverly Hills, he and his wife are raising two Calif., and is still married to teenagers and two show dogs. classmate Matt Torrington, who is practicing addiction medicine. ’90 They live in Culver City, Calif. Catherine Florio Pipas is vice chair of community and family ’00 medicine at Dartmouth Medical Elizabeth Godfrey completed School and is currently working a residency at St. Christopher’s on her master’s in public health at Hospital for Children and is now Dartmouth College. She lives in in private practice at Meadowbrook Lebanon, N.H., with her husband Pediatrics. She is mother to three and two daughters. daughters, a 5-year-old and twin 3-year-olds. She, her husband and the girls live in Philadelphia. JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE ALUMNI BULLETIN
’05 Christine and Jonathan Stallkamp Daniel DeJoseph III has joined welcomed their second son, the clinical faculty at the Greater George Valko, MD ’86: Jameson Barrett Stallkamp, a Lawrence Family Health Center in year ago. Jonathan is director of Lawrence, Mass. academic hospitalists at Lankenau Alumni Association’s Hospital, and Christine is in ’07 private practice in family medi- New President cine in Narberth, Pa. They live in Meghan Frances Raleigh will complete her residency in family Wynnewood, Pa. The pull of Jefferson proved too strong for George Valko, MD ’86. medicine at DeWitt in June and is headed to Fort Carson, Colo. Valko grew up in Dunlo, a rural southwestern Pennsylvania ’01 farming town of just 160 residents today. The family doctor made Gregory L. Freimer is practicing house calls, and Valko keenly remembers the visits. “I always emergency medicine in Tyler, Post Graduate enjoyed how the doctor made me feel,” he said. “I wanted to Texas. He and his wife, LeAnn, Marion L. Brown, ’82, has been make others feel like that.” active in the field of global medi- have a daughter, Abigail, and are He intended to get his degree at Jefferson Medical College, expecting a son. cine since retiring from private practice eight years ago. Brown has serve his residency in family medicine and then return to his small hometown outside Johnstown. Instead, he discovered he enjoyed Daniel Patrick Tomlinson is helped to train medical students, teaching at an academic medical center and collaborating with working in Middletown, N.Y., as nurses and physicians in Africa the “dynamic group” of physicians in the Department of Family an orthopaedic surgeon in sports and Haiti to help reduce rates of Medicine led by chair Paul Brucker, MD. “I was lucky to be asked medicine. He lives in Monroe, N.Y. maternal mortality. to stay.”
Steven Wing is practicing emer- Irving S. Danesh, ’86, is starting Valko – the Gustave and Valla Amsterdam Professor of Family gency medicine in Toledo, Ohio. his second season as associate and Community Medicine, vice chair for clinical programs in the He and his wife, Rebekah, recently producer/medical consultant for Department of Family and Community Medicine and medical welcomed their sixth child, a the USA Network’s production of director of Jefferson Family Medicine Associates – is a “lifer,” daughter, Breslin, who joins two “Royal Pains,” a program about a a physician who arrives at Jefferson to earn a medical degree and never leaves. He brings institutional knowledge, respect for brothers and three sisters. The physician to the rich and famous. tradition and excitement about Jefferson’s future to his newest family lives in Perrysburg, Ohio. He also is associate director of position, president of the Jefferson Medical College Alumni emergency medicine at Lawrence Association. General Hospital in Lawrence, ’02 Mass. He lives in Marblehead, Valko plans to spend much of his two-year tenure reaching out Rita Margaret Pechulis works Mass. to the vast middle ground of alumni who remain only moderately with Pulmonary Associates, which engaged with Jefferson. Fundraising also plays a role in his plans. provides pulmonary critical care Masahito Jimbo, ’96, is an asso- Noting that foundations and rating organizations pay close atten- services across the Lehigh Valley. ciate professor of family medicine tion to alumni contributions, Valko said he hopes to increase the She lives in Macungie, Pa., and and urology at the University of number of Jefferson graduates giving annually. About 20 percent has a son, Samuel, and a daughter, Michigan. Jimbo lives in Ann Arbor, contribute to the annual fund, double the average for medical Emilia. Mich. His son, Masaya, is finishing schools but far below the percentages reported by the nation’s his second year in the combined highest-rated colleges. MD/PhD program at JMC. ’04 With experience in all areas of Jefferson, Valko said he knows Ann Jennings Maley lives in New Ric A. Bradford, ’99, focuses on the advantages of helping the university prosper. He cited the Haven, Conn., and works as a emergency radiology and muscu- College’s foresight 40 years ago when it become one of the pediatrician in private practice. loskeletal, body and neurological first to embrace family medicine, recruiting Brucker and giving him resources to develop the department. The support appears MRI imaging. He is developing a prophetic today as healthcare reform promises to place increasing collection of 15th- to 18th-century demands on the field. Spanish pottery and lives in Houston. The department has solidified its reputation under Valko and chair Richard C. Wender, MD. Eight years ago, Jefferson Family Medicine Associates became one of the first academic medical clinics in the country to adopt a scheduling system that gives patients appointments within 24 hours of calling. Valko played a pivotal role in the complex transformation from paper to electronic records throughout Jefferson’s clinic system. He also has made Jefferson Family Medicine Associates an academic leader in the “patient-centered medical home” movement.
“I feel very privileged to have helped build this department within Jefferson,” he said. “I’m very proud to be able to say that I’m a doctor at a world-class institution.” SPRING 2010 Charitable Gift ANNUITY PROGRAM
At Jefferson a charitable gift annuity can provide you For more information, with payments for life, while supporting the mission of please contact Jennifer Welsh Thomas Jefferson University and Hospitals. at the Jefferson Foundation at +&''(*'5 (toll free) The income from a charitable gift annuity is fixed at or (local). the time of the gift, and will not vary over your lifetime. With the volatility of the economy and interest rates, this type of gift assures you of an annual income that will not change. Jefferson Foundation recommends that you consult with your financial adviser on the best way to take advantage of this giving opportunity.
THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY AND HOSPITALS SPRING 2010
’31 ’52 InMemoriamEdward Gipstein died Jan. 9 in the military after his internship. Elmer E. Mears Jr. died Feb. 7 at Education Foundation, which New London, Conn., at Lawrence After his discharge, he joined the his home in Key Colony Beach, Fla. raised funds for student activi- & Memorial Hospital, where he staff of Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital A longtime resident of Levittown, ties. He completed residencies in practiced cardiology and internal in Darby and opened a family Pa., and one of the first family surgery and orthopaedic surgery medicine for more than 50 years. practice in Havertown. In the early physicians in that community, in Pittsburgh and in the Panama After graduating from JMC, he 1960s, he completed residencies in Mears made house calls carrying Canal Zone and joined his father studied the emerging field of physical medicine and rehabilita- his black bag and wearing a bowtie. in private surgery practice in cardiology in London and Paris tion and eventually established a He was past president of the Lower Washington, Pa. He moved to and then returned home to New practice in the specialty in Upper Bucks Medical Society and team Jacksonville, Fla., and opened a London. He served in several Darby. In the 1970s, Dr. Boyle was doctor for the Pennsbury High private practice in general surgery leadership roles at Lawrence & head of physical medicine and School football team. He is survived in 1965. He was a pioneer in fiber- Memorial, including chair of cardi- rehabilitation at Mercy Fitzgerald by his wife of 62 years, Betty, three optic gastrointestinal endoscopic ology, chief of medicine and chief Hospital. From the 1960s until he daughters, seven grandchildren and surgery. Corwin served as chief of of staff. He is survived by his wife retired, he was medical director a great-granddaughter. staff and board member at Beaches of 62 years, Fuzzy; two sons; and of Villanova University Campus Public Hospital from 1969 to 1973. two grandchildren. Health Services. ’56 He also served as chief of general surgery at Memorial Hospital and Sheldon G. Gilgore, 77, died After an accident in 1995, doctors was on the attending staff at St. ’45 of pancreatic cancer at home in told Boyle that his injuries were Luke’s Hospital in Jacksonville. In Joseph F. Ziemba died at home Naples, Fla., on Feb. 12. A leader so severe he would never make 1971, he organized a group of physi- in Santa Maria, Calif., March 22. in the pharmaceutical industry and it to rehab. Boyle proved them cians to conduct free preseason Ziemba practiced anesthesiology in champion for patients’ rights and wrong. He spent a year in therapy physicals for every public high Wilkes-Barre, Pa., before moving product integrity, Gilgore was one at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital, school football player in Duval to Santa Maria, Calif., for a posi- of very few industry leaders trained where he was on staff, and County, the first group of its kind tion at Our Lady of Perpetual Help as a physician. As president of regained the use of his arms. He in the nation. He was a fellow of the Hospital, where he served as chief Pfizer Pharmaceuticals from 1971 could no longer practice medicine, American College of Surgeons and of medical staff for two years. He to 1986, he oversaw a period of but he participated fully in the president of the Florida Society of joined the staff at Marian Medical growth and innovation. He became lives of his 12 children and many General Surgeons, which established Center in 1965 and stayed until chairman, president and CEO of grandchildren. Boyle’s wife of 57 an award in his honor. Corwin was his retirement in 1992. He was a G.D. Searle in 1986 and remained years, Barbara, died in 2004. He is predeceased by three sons. He is member of the Marian Medical with the company until his retire- survived by seven daughters, five survived by his wife, Jean; two chil- Center Foundation Board and in ment in 1995. An art enthusiast, sons, 35 grandchildren and six dren; and four grandchildren. 2006 was given the Distinguished great-grandchildren. Gilgore assembled an art collection Service Award by Marian Medical with his wife of 53 years, Irma. Center. He was preceded in death Stanley Edward Zeeman, 86, Housed in a private museum, the ’57 by his wife, Marjorie, and a son, of Longboat Key, Fla., died Feb. Gilgore Collection is widely viewed Richard H. Keates, 77, of Bobby. He is survived by five chil- 10. Formerly of Allentown, Pa., as the most important collection Philadelphia, died Jan. 26 of an dren and five grandchildren. Zeeman served as a captain in of 19th-century Italian painting embolism at Thomas Jefferson the U.S. Army Medical Corps. He and sculpture outside of Italy. University Hospital. Keates ’46 founded Cardiovascular Associates Gilgore served as a board member completed residencies at the Inc. in Allentown in 1963 and for JMC, where he was honored Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital David G. Simons died at home established the first cardiac cathe- with the annual Distinguished and Harvard Medical School. He in Covington, Ga., April 5. terization unit in the Lehigh Valley. Alumni Award in 1986. Gilgore was awarded fellowships to study Simons enjoyed a career as a He also developed the first para- was a past chairman of PHARMA corneal surgery in London and clinical professor in the rehabilita- medic cardiac response team for (the pharmaceutical industry New York and became a pioneer tion medicine department of emergency medical technicians in trade organization formerly in developing laser techniques for Emory University and as a physi- the area. Zeeman served as chief of known as PMA) and of Applied cataract surgery. Keates served on cian at Dekalb Medical Center cardiology at Allentown Hospital Microbiology. In addition to his the faculty of Ohio State University in Decatur, Ga. and Lehigh Valley Hospital Center wife, he is survived by three sons, Medical Center for 24 years. While from 1974 to 1980 and as presi- Lance, Laurence and Lloyd. there, he developed a laser for cata- ’48 dent of the medical staff of Lehigh ract surgery. After retiring from Denis A. “Scotty” Boyle, 89, died Valley Hospital Center from 1980 James H. Corwin II, 81, of Neptune Ohio State in 1990, he became of a heart attack at home in Devon to 1982. Zeeman is survived by his Beach, Fla., died of complications of chairman of the ophthalmology March 23. Boyle’s family immi- wife, Bonnie, and five daughters. Alzheimer’s disease at the McGraw department at the University of grated to the United States from Center of Caring of Community California Medical School. In 1996, Scotland when he was 8 years old. Hospice of Northeast Florida Feb. he moved back to Bucks County to During World War II, he served 18. A surgeon and former chair of be near family, and for a decade he in the U.S. Army and returned to the Duval County School Board, commuted to New York to serve as Corwin founded the Duval Public professor of ophthalmology at New York Medical College. From 2007 to 2009, he was professor emeritus at the Ohio State University Medical Center. He was founding partner of Intelligent Biocides, a developer of antimicrobial prod- ucts. Keates is survived by his wife of 21 years, Mary; a son and daughter; three stepchildren; and one granddaughter. ’58 Love F. Paul DiGiacobbe, 78, a retired Delaware County family physician, died of heart failure Feb. 19 at his Bulletin home in Clearwater, Fla. After his The ? residency, DiGiacobbe opened an office in Folsom, Pa., where he practiced until retiring in 1992. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Hate Clutter? Patricia, one daughter, five sons, a sister and 13 grandchildren. Sign up to get the Bulletin online ’61 Our Flash version lets you “thumb” through the magazine Jack DeWayne O’Neil, 74, of electronically, zooming in for a closer look, zooming out Corning, N.Y., died Dec. 14. O’Neil for the full effect. Visit www.Jefferson.edu/jmc/alumni to maintained a private practice in Corning, N.Y., as a general get the details. practitioner for nearly 30 years and practiced surgery at Corning Hospital from 1968 through 2000, serving in the later years as director of medicine at the hospital. O’Neil is survived by two daughters and one granddaughter. His wife, Jacqueline, died in 2008. ’63 Joseph T. Curti, 71, died Jan. 12 at home in Kenilworth, Ill. He is survived by his wife, Anne; two daughters; a son; and five grand- children. Post Graduate Morton G. “Gerry” Murdock, ’64, died from complications related to Alzheimer’s disease Jan. 4 in Las Vegas. Murdock was a clinical professor of radiology at Jefferson. He served two years in the U.S. Air Force at Patrick Air Force Base in Eau Gallie, Fla. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Racine; two sons; a daughter; and five grandchildren. SPRING 2010
By THE Numbers
JJefferson’sefferson’s I nInternationalternational P rProgramsograms Jefferson collaborates with institutions worldwide to give students and faculty experience unavailable at other academic medical centers. The University also welcomes professionals and students from around the globe to work, study and research on our campus. Most student trips are supported by Foerderer Grants for International Study, which cover up to 70 percent of the estimated costs. Figures from the Office of International Affairs:
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HIGHLIGHTS THIS YEAR: t Alumni reception and dinner at the National Constitution Alumni Center, America’s most interactive history museum t “Taste of Philadelphia” luncheon hosted by Jefferson’s dean, ’ Mark L. Tykocinski, MD Weekend10 t Reunion class dinners at the Doubletree Hotel t Discounted overnight hotel rates at three area locations: 'PSJOGPSNBUJPO DBMM –Doubletree Hotel 215-893-1600 PSUPMMGSFF+&''(*'5 –Union League 215-563-6500 FNBJMFWFOUT!KFGGFSTPOFEV –Holiday Inn Express 215-735-9300 t 7th Annual Alumni Weekend CME Symposium 7JTJUPVS8FCTJUFGPSEFUBJMFEJOGPSNBUJPO Friday, Oct. 8. For more information please call www.jefferson.edu/alumni 1-888-JEFF-CME