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Alumni News
CONTACT US: If you have news, announcements, or creative works you’d like to share with your fellow alumni, please write to the BUSM Alumni Association at 72 E. Concord Street, L120, Boston, MA 02118 or email us at alumbusm@bu.edu.
To make a gift, please scan. Dear Alumni and Friends,
As many of you know, Jean Ramsey stepped down as associate dean for Alumni Affairs in July 2020 after leading the Alumni Office for 13 years. I am honored to succeed Jean in this role and build on the successes of the Alumni Association.
As a graduate of Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health and the Family Medicine Residency Program at Boston Medical Center, I have committed my entire professional career to teaching and providing inpatient and outpatient care to patients in and around Boston. Along with my clinical duties, I am honored to be a faculty member in our inaugural cohort of BUSM’s Academy of Medical Educators, teaching and advising first- and second-year medical students longitudinally in the doctoring courses. Additionally, my academic and scholarly interests are in interprofessional education and collaborative practice, both in the classroom and clinical learning environments.
New Ways to Stay Connected
The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged us in ways we never imagined, with many of us juggling clinical care, research, and teaching—including the next generation of clinicians—as well our own children. We are discovering new ways to do the work we do while staying connected. Spearheading alumni and student relations in the pandemic setting has provided the alumni team with an opportunity to think outside of the box.
This year, we developed initiatives to bring our community together virtually, not only for social support but also for personal and professional growth. To date, we have hosted nine alumni events, with more events to come before year’s end. These activities have seen alumni participation climb, including among people who ordinarily would not attend or connect with BUSM.
Opportunities for collaboration have been highlighted during the pandemic. Partnering with Student Affairs, we virtually connected students across academic years with alumni and faculty, understanding the long-term impact of social distancing and isolation and the necessity of fostering an inclusive and engaging environment that supports community.
Events were purposely created to place students, alumni, and faculty in small-group breakout rooms, with alumni and faculty sharing why they entered their chosen discipline or what they wish they had known as firstyear medical students. We know firsthand that these interactions between students and alumni have been key to the medical student experience this year.
What will post–pandemic alumni activities look like? Giving all students and alumni a place to belong and return to is a top priority. We know the importance of having a personal connection, and that sometimes it can be done well virtually and other times, in-person is preferable. Whether clinical shadowing, mentoring, or connecting alumni within and across years, we are looking forward to identifying new ideas and ways for our students and alumni to engage with each other and BUSM.
Our community is strengthened through our alumni. The Alumni Association Office and board are investigating how to be more inclusive and further support our alumni, students, and the BUSM community. With your participation, we hope to offer more mutually beneficial and varied programs and activities for students and alumni.
Reunions!
BU Alumni Weekend will be held September 29 through October 3. BUSM looks forward to welcoming back the Classes of 1971, 1986, 1991, 1996, and 2011 for their milestone reunions! At this time, we anticipate a hybrid approach to reunion activities and will keep you posted on any changes. In the meantime, we encourage you to connect with your classmates and consider sponsoring a virtual gathering while we await in-person events. If you’re interested, please contact us at alumbusm@bu.edu.
Since fall 2020, we have had four virtual class reunions, with BUSM class leaders celebrating and sharing virtual toasts with their peers. Alumni feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and as one alum noted, the reunion was “a chance to reminisce with classmates and to be reminded that we were once goofy yet sincere in our quest for our education.” Another commented on “an opportunity to see classmates that I didn’t even know were living! So many are still involved in medicine.”
There is a lot going on. I invite you to stay connected and invested in the BUSM community. Please reach out to me with any questions at alumbusm@bu.edu.
Wishing you the best,
Heather Miselis, MED’04, MA/MPH’00 She/her/hers
Assistant Dean for Alumni Affairs Assistant Professor of Family Medicine Principal Investigator, Boston University Community Health Alliance of Medical Professionals (BU CHAMPs)
BUSM Alumni CLASS NOTES
CLASS NOTES
1952
Alvin Eden of Forest Hills, New York, writes, “COVID year has aged me 5 years so I am now 100. But I still plan to attend our 70th reunion in 2022. I just completed my memoirs and am now working on an obscene joke book to complete my legacy. I very much would like to hear from any and all members of the class of 1952.”
1955
Hugh Miller of Boston, Massachusetts, writes, “If you want to know how we survived the COVID winter, it was in the North End of Boston, hanging out in a neighborhood food store. Otherwise, I continued to build my Great Wall in Ashaway, Rhode Island, with the help of my friend, a 1963 Ford front-end loader. We hope to return to Hawaii in January, where my wife Fran teaches law for the spring term. Yes, I will go with her. Someone has to carry the luggage. Had a recent dinner with Steve Alphas. We both want info on the 70th Reunion.”
Hugh Miller, MD (MED’55), with his wife Frances in front of Diamond Head in Hawaii.
1956
Artemis P. Simopoulos of Washington, D.C., writes, “Despite the lockdown and the issues and concerns of the coronavirus, this has been a very good year relative to various aspects in preventing, controlling, and treating COVID-19. Two of my papers have been very well received: ‘Genetic Variation, Diet, Inflammation and the Risk for COVID-19’ was published in Lifestyle Genomics; ‘The Need for Precision Nutrition, Genetic Variation and Resolution in COVID-19 Patients,’ which I wrote with Drs. Charlie Serhan and Richard Bazinet, was published in Molecular Aspects of Medicine and is one of their most downloaded articles since its publication.”
1958
Jerome Waye of Greenwich, Connecticut, writes, “After graduation, I interned and did residency in internal medicine and then gastroenterology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. I was in private practice in New York City for 56 years while on the voluntary staff at Mount Sinai. I served as president of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the American College of Gastroenterology, and the World Endoscopy Organization, while also writing seven books and lecturing worldwide on endoscopy. I joined the full-time Mount Sinai staff in 2014 as a professor and retired in 2019 at age 87. I now am busy as the first person to train doctors remotely on how to do colonoscopy. At the present I am training doctors in Uganda via a Zoom connection.”
1961
Burton White of Hillsborough, California, writes, “Hello to all my classmates, I retired in 2016; medical problems changed my plans somewhat. We did travel to Antarctica, Indonesia, Australia, Norway, Denmark, Alaska, Florida, and the Northwest, and to our timeshare in Mexico annually. Then the pandemic was really limiting, but tolerable with increased reading, Zoom meetings, etc. Help and inspiration from my wife June has made the difference. Hope all of you stay safe and well until next time.”
Burton White, MD (MED’61), with his wife June.
1964
Kenneth Vaughn of Albany, Oregon, writes, “After retirement, I expanded my interests in other physical sciences, as medical knowledge atrophies. After planting 190K seedlings, I sold my 230-acre tree farm (I have included a photo of one of my redwoods). I
now enjoy annual elk hunts, halibut/salmon fishing in Alaska, and cutting, splitting, and stacking homegrown firewood. My vegetable garden is work and a pleasure to tend (200 hills of potatoes). As a volunteer for the US Forest Service, I have been a carpenter, archaeology assistant, and host ranger. Now, I am volunteering one day each week for my local health department vaccinating for COVID-19. Retirement has afforded Linda and me the wonderful opportunity to travel extensively, occasionally with Don Pettit and Pierre Provost’s widow, Lura. I am looking forward to the return of cruising, especially to the South Pacific and Antarctica. There is so much more to see and learn in this world.”
Kenneth Vaughn, MD (MED’64), with one of his redwoods.
CLASS NOTES
1965
Elizabeth Dooling of Boston, Massachusetts, writes, “Enjoyed our pandemic-delayed 55th Class Reunion via Zoom, thanks to the efforts of Howie Ledewitz and John Hermos, and the Alumni office staff! I’m having video visits with some new and old patients once a week at MGH and also trying to convince everyone to get vaccinated now! I am so grateful for all of our essential workers and the resilience of the students and residents during this critical time with its huge impact on their training and lives.”
1967
Peter Glassman of San Antonio, Texas, writes, “An author of 16 published multigenre thrillers, I’ve become a regular writer for the web-based New English Review Press, where my short stories have been featured since December 2019. I wrote a memoirbased story for the April issue titled “The Nose Knows” that is mindful of the difficulty in maintaining a balance of family, medical practice, and time for self-issues. However, the life of a doctor has its satisfying moments, such as when my third-grade elementary school daughter asks her doctor father to address her class. A lesson is also delivered on the importance of getting the COVID-19 vaccine.”
Richard Goldwater of Newton Center, Massachusetts, writes, “I retired from psychiatry a few years ago when I realized that helping people—one, or a few at a time— had lost its charm. I was part of a legal LSD research project in the 1970s with Stan Grof, and decided to spend my remaining days following up on ideas I had then. The results may actually be published in my lifetime, but whatever. More info at our website, profitandentropy.com.”
Meyer Lifschitz of Jerusalem, Israel, writes, “My wife and I have been fortunate to live in Jerusalem, Israel, for the past 18 years. I retired from the University of Texas Health Science Center of San Antonio as an emeritus professor and then worked part time at Shaare Zedek Medical Center here until a month before COVID arrived in Israel. Since then, I have been able to learn full time in Yeshiva Ohr Somayach. We are fortunate to live within easy commuting distance of our children, grandchildren, and now, a few great-grandchildren. Israel is almost completely out of COVID restrictions as I write this in April 2021. If any classmates come to Jerusalem, I would be happy to get together.”
Stuart Siegel of Pacific Palisades, California, writes, “I have been retired from my academic positions in pediatric hematology-oncology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles since January 2016. Currently, I am chair of the Health Care Foundation of Ventura County, and DNA-SEQ Alliance, Inc., a start-up biotech company in the cancer therapeutics field. I am also chair emeritus of CureSearch for Childhood Cancer and Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California, and serve on the board of Global Ronald McDonald House Charities.”
IN Memoriam
Joel Sender Rankin, MD, of Weston, Massachusetts, died June 3 at the age of 89.
Joel was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, to Daniel and Sophie (Lederer) Rankin on September 13, 1931. Valedictorian for the Brockton High School Class of 1949, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University in 1953 and received his medical degree from Boston University in 1957, where he was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha. After receiving his MD, he enlisted in the US Air Force as a medic, attaining the rank of captain. Returning to Massachusetts in the late 1960s, Dr. Rankin worked at Boston City Hospital before accepting the role of chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Metrowest Medical Center (formerly Framingham Union Hospital) in 1975, where he specialized in infertility.
In addition to providing exceptional care for his patients, for many years he instructed medical students at both Boston University and Tufts University medical schools. Throughout his 60 years in practice, he received many honors and accolades. In 1985, several of his patients threw him a surprise party featuring dozens of their children, dubbed “Rankin Kids,” who celebrated him for his role in bringing them into the world. In 2012, Dr. Rankin was honored by his physician peers of the Middlesex West District Medical Society as Community Clinician of the Year, an award established by the Massachusetts Medical Society. In 2019, the Joel S. Rankin Outpatient Maternal Care Unit was dedicated to him to honor his near-half-century of service at Metro-West Medical Center.
As well as putting his heart and soul into his work, Dr. Rankin led an active life away from the hospital. A lifelong learner with an unyielding curiosity, he continued to take classes throughout his life. In addition to his love for all living things, he enjoyed gardening, travel, music, arts, and theater. Making time for golf and bridge, he was a longtime member of the Wellesley Country Club. Above all, he valued time with his family and friends.
Joel was the beloved husband of Verna Rankin and the late Vicki Nicole Rankin; a devoted father to Jonathan Rankin and Danielle Markovsky and her husband Ronald; and a loving stepfather to Susan Sidney and David Lacey and his wife Nancy.
CLASS NOTES
1969
Ronald Grant of Southbury, Connecticut, writes, “My privilege to continue my private practice and to be the psychiatrist at a residential treatment center for adult women with eating disorders. I see patients in the office and telephonically, including on Zoom. Monolaurin and the homeopathic remedy Senega are preventions and cures for COVID-19 and can be taken with the vaccines since they are not 100 percent effective. Jungian psychoanalysis, psychiatry, and pastoral counseling continue to be part of my practice.”
Marc Hirsch of Bowling Green, Kentucky, writes, “I gave up waiting for readers to discover my detective fiction, so I started a marketing company with one client, me. Beginning with eBooks & moving to paperbacks, the Alice White Investigator series is set in 1950s NYC with a Raymond Chandler feel.” https://welcome.marchirsch.com/ welcome/
Jerilynn C. Prior of Vancouver, Canada, writes, “Women’s health is about way more than estrogen. This COVID pandemic was good for something! An idea about the importance of progesterone as well as estrogen for women’s cycles and lifelong health— an idea I’ve worked to research, understand, and share for several decades—came together. https://www.sciencedirect.com/ science/article/pii/S174067572030013X. I’ve more recently even been able to provide some translation of those (admittedly a bit complex) ideas for laypeople https:// www.scientificamerican.com/author/ jerilynn-c-prior/.
Now, in my late 70s, I am holding the scientific door open for the younger of you to start testing these hypotheses in large, controlled, or randomized studies. The potential to prevent women’s symptomatic and difficult menstrual cycles and later-life risks for osteoporotic fracture, myocardial infarction, and breast and endometrial cancers is worth the hard scientific effort that is still needed. Meanwhile, I have no intention of retiring from my job as a professor of medicine/endocrinology at the University of British Columbia.” Michael Salcman of Baltimore, Maryland, writes, “At 74, I have been almost totally housebound during the pandemic. Because of unsteadiness from my left polio leg, even with my cane, I am loath to walk on the uneven city pavement circling our house in Baltimore. In warm weather, I sit in the back yard and all year, I have been doing virtual workouts two or three times a week with the trainer I used to see at my downtown athletic club. I closed my medical office after a 50-year career on September 30, 2019, and my last real trip out of town occurred on January 23, 2020, when I gave a lecture on “The Brain as a Metaphor Making Machine” in New York; you can see it on YouTube. Being housebound has given my literary side the new experience of how most writers live.
My fourth and most recent poetry collection, Shades & Graces: New Poems (Spuyten Duyvil, New York) is the inaugural winner of the Daniel Hoffman Legacy Book Prize. Dan Hoffman was US Poet Laureate (1973) and a good friend, so the award means a great deal to me. In addition to the poems, the collection includes two essays by other poets on my literary career. Unfortunately, it was published in June 2020 when the pandemic really got going, and the few public readings I have done have been virtual. But I have plenty of time to write and have spent 10 years on my memoir, Living in My Head, a Memoir of Art, Medicine & Poetry. I just finished giving a four-week virtual course at Towson University on the place of women artists in western art history, continue to lead a poetry group in New York with virtual meetings, and participated with almost 1,000 artists in a worldwide internet project called “TELEPHONE.” I enjoy doing virtual poetry readings. Unfortunately, I probably will need surgery soon on my right knee after a lifetime of doing 12-hour brain surgeries, dancing, sailing, and scuba diving, mostly on that one leg. At least it will get me out of the house, my first escape since getting vaccinated.”
1971
John Dundas of Williamstown, Massachusetts, writes, “1971–1972, medical intern at Rhode Island Hospital; a deeply valued growth experience. 1972–1975, psychiatry resident at BU Medical Center; likewise. 1975–1977, fellowship in outpatient psychotherapy at Faulkner Hospital Adams House clinic; more growth. End of schooling—I ran out of options. I always liked being a student. 1975–2007, 12 different jobs with the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health; amazing experience. 1977–2012, outpatient solo private practice in Needham; equally amazing and a wonderful and instructive match with public sector work. BU Medicine and residency gave me wonderful exposure to psychoanalytic psychiatry. Heartfelt thanks to Paul Kaufman and Bob Goldman, and to all the faculty. I learned psychopharm pretty much on the fly and have spent the last nine years writing in an effort to integrate psychotherapy and psychopharm. Very puzzling. Personal life largely good. I read widely, if not deeply, and like casting a fly rod for smallmouth bass, stripers, and bluefish. I love cross-country skiing (curse you, global warming). Warm regards to all, John.”
Jane Morton of Portola Valley, California, writes, “Quasi-retired after many decades in full-time general pediatrics in Palo Alto. For five years, I sidestepped across the street and joined the faculty at Stanford. I was asked to start a program in breastfeeding medicine; the unexpected surprise was the outcome of some research we did with mothers of very low birth weight infants. If anyone is interested or has a friend about to have a baby, please visit our website, firstdroplets.com. Bet you’ll learn something you never knew. Can’t imagine a more fun career. All the best! Jane.”
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1972
Russell Jaffe of Vienna, Virginia, writes, “Since 1972, I am grateful to BU and Norm Levinsky for internal medicine. I’ve served the United States Public Health Service and National Institutes of Health, followed by a modestly successful career in biotechnology and personalized medicine. May we all be well and happy.”
1974
Tom Gould of Wilbraham, Massachusetts, writes, “Hi to the Class of 1974 from western Massachusetts. I’ve been out in this part of the state since finishing my residency in 1979 and spent my entire full-time pathology
CLASS NOTES
practice career at Holyoke Medical Center, where I served as department chief for almost 35 years before retiring in 2018. I now enjoy doing part-time clinical pathology consulting. Connie and I have been married for almost 43 years and love being papa and nana to our three grandchildren, who all live in the Boston area. Looking forward to seeing my classmates at the big 50th in 2024!”
Alice Rothchild of Seattle, Washington, writes, “I am fortunately mostly as well as can be expected at 72, bubbling with my husband, daughter, son-in-law, and fiveyear-old grandchild, who is a big source of joy and sanity. The hunkering down has allowed me to deepen my relationships with family and a small number of (virtual) friends, to pay attention to what is existentially important, and to deepen my writing and activism. I am almost finished with a young adult novel and deep into a young adult memoir in verse that is focused on growing up female in the 1950s and 60s, facing the sexism of college and med school, and my commitment to a feminist life.”
1976
Mark Goulston of Los Angeles, California, writes, “Along with former hospital CEO Diana Hendel, coauthored Trauma to Triumph: A Roadmap for Leading Through Disruption and Thriving on the Other Side (Harper Collins Leadership, 03/23/21).”
Barry Zamost of Long Beach, California, writes, “After 40 years in gastroenterology private practice in Long Beach, I will be retiring in 2021. Despite the pandemic, we celebrated our good health, a wedding, and the birth of our fourth grandchild. Looking forward to more travel, golf, and sleeping in.”
1977
Stephen Vance of Napa, California, writes, “Oh, boy—it’s been a year, that’s for sure. And I’m (for once) NOT talking about COVID-19! As it turns out (by coincidence), at the millisecond the very first cases of the coronavirus in Wuhan were reported, I woke up at 3 am at my desk (finishing charts, no less—gotta love this work) with a left MCA stroke. Mind you, I’m a neurologist and dual-trained psychiatrist whose area of expertise is aphasia. Some irony. By the time I got out of the hospital, no one could care less about my stroke, as all attention was focused on the growing pandemic. A year and a half of rehab later, my right hemi is much improved, but I’m left with a positively crippling pure apraxia of speech so rare that my case has been presented to two national conferences already. I’m thrilled. Ahem.
In the meantime, I got an MS in Health Care Administration just before my stroke and have gone back to work doing largely administrative work with Medi-Cal. My wife Margaret is still suffering 13-hour days in private practice neurology. My daughter, Anjelica, is starting her senior year at UC Berkeley (pre-med) and my son, Sebastian, also is heading to Berkeley this fall as a freshman.
I spend some time as an amateur astronomer and engaging in historic photographic processes. The included photo is a 2013 wetplate collodion “selfie” (I don’t look like that anymore). I sincerely hope all is well with my classmates and their families as we climb (hopefully) out of this godforsaken pandemic. Cheers.”
Stephen Vance, MD (MED’77), 2013 wet-plate collodion “selfie.”
1978
Tom Higgins of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, writes, “Just concluded a 10-month assignment as interim chief medical officer (CMO) at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, Massachusetts. As CMO at the Center for Case Management in Natick, consult nationally on case management, utilization review, and training physician advisors. Currently serve on the board of directors for the American Association for Physician Leadership and maintain a part-time clinical practice in the ICU at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.”
1980
Andrew Wexler of Pacific Palisades, California, writes, “For those of us who routinely work in low-resource countries, COVID-19 has restricted our ability to travel. I was scheduled to spend two months working in Malawi just prior to the shutdown. However, the Plastic Surgery Education Foundation has instituted the SHARE program (Surgeons in Humanitarian Alliance for Reconstruction, Research and Education), which allows us to virtually share knowledge, lecture, and consult on cases with African surgeons. Many of their cases are extremely complex and their resources for dealing with them very limited. In coordination with the College of Surgery of East Central and South Africa, as a SHARE educator I have been able to webinar lectures into nine African countries and mentor a young reconstructive plastic surgeon in remote western Tanzania. As travel restrictions lift, we hope to be working again face-to-face with our African colleagues in their home countries.”
1984
David Sherer of Chevy Chase, Maryland, writes, “My recent novel, a thriller titled Into the Ether, and my book, What Your Doctor Won’t Tell You, an expose of American medicine, healthcare, and health, have both been nominated in two different categories for the National Book Award.”
Jim Parker of Sudbury, Massachusetts, writes, “Retired two years ago after practicing interventional radiology at MetroWest Medical Center (formerly Framingham Union Hospital) for 25-plus years. Many of you will remember rotating through Framingham Union Hospital for surgery and OB-GYN
CLASS NOTES
Andrew Wexler, MD (MED’80). Specialty: Abdominal Surgery.
rotations in med school. After retiring, all my travel plans and some volunteer activities were cut short due to the pandemic. However, I have been able to pursue interests in architecture, woodworking, hiking, and gardening. I demoed and redesigned a fix-me-upper 57’ cape in which I am now living in Sudbury, and more recently built a board and batten, postand-beam, 12x16 cabin/shed.”
Ana-Cristina Vasilescu of Belmont, Massachusetts, writes, “Hi, hope all are well and vaccinated against COVID-19. Still doing locum work as an OB-GYN laborist mostly, but also some clinic work here and there. Just started working at Nantucket Cottage Hospital and am helping out in New Hampshire as well. Keeping busy and likely to be at five different hospitals by August. Hope to get together, for real or virtual, with some of my classmates.”
1985
Bart Hayes of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, writes, “I retired from the air force in 2018 and joined the ophthalmology faculty of Wake Forest in Winston-Salem. The residency here has four residents per year, as well as two retina fellows and one cornea fellow. It is an honor to be in a position to help educate and mentor the next generation of eyecare specialists. I feel so grateful to all of the faculty who educated us at BUSM. I remember how excited I was to embark on this path, which has taken many interesting turns, starting almost 40 years ago!”
1986
Scott Afran of Scarsdale, New York, writes, “Warmest regards to my classmates. I continue to practice Pediatric Ophthalmology in Westchester County and still teach residents in two programs in the area. My spouse Rhonda and I cherish our life in Westchester with our four children and are delighted that our oldest child Aaron is a proud member of the BUSM Class of 2022! Like me, Aaron is participating in the accelerated medical program. We are so very proud of Aaron and all of our children. Wish everyone from those days at BU the very best. It was a transformative experience, and I have had the unique privilege of being able to return to campus and relive some of those memories.” Ziv Haskal of Charlottesville, Virginia, writes, “I’ve been an interventional radiologist and professor at the University of Virginia since 2013 and just completed a decade as the editor of my society’s journal, The Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology (doubling submissions, raising impact factory, and launching initiatives), gave the annual Charles T Dotter Lecture (virtually), and am enjoying a break. I’m editing a new book, launching a podcast, and climbing Mt. Rainier in late May, along with some other technical climbs after that. So much for sitting still. Family is healthy; dog is old. Where have the years gone?”
1988
Carl Rosen of Anchorage, Alaska, writes, “I am still Alaska’s only oculoplastic surgeon, working half time and acting CEO of CallDR, the company I founded a few years ago that leverages the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act to connect hospital stakeholders with the on-call physician. We are deployed throughout Alaska and about to launch outside. On the home front, two kids are out of the house, one is at Bowdoin, and the other four are still on the launch pad. So far, so good.”
1990
Joan DiMarzio (DeSantis) of Canaan, New Hampshire, writes, “Hi! All is good these days. Three kids, one granddaughter, all healthy and independent. I’m enjoying working part time in my practice and doing a bit of per diem for Dartmouth-Hitchcock. I hope you all are well. Stop by for a visit if you’re ever up in the Hanover area!”
1991
Matthew Blomquist of Niwot, Colorado, writes, “Enjoying a vigorous and rewarding private practice position here in beautiful Colorado with Boulder Radiologists, Inc., where I’ve been since completing my fellowship training at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in 1997. Married to the love of my life, Ashley, and we have three wonderful children! Hope all of my classmates are doing well!”
CLASS NOTES
Lori Miller of Boca Raton, Florida, writes, “Wow—30 years already since med school graduation! Working hard through COVID-19 at my pediatric practice in Boca Raton. Same place for 27 years and seeing two generations of families already—rewarding. Very proud of my own sons; the oldest is starting medical school and the younger, his second year of college, both at University of Miami. I stay in touch with Julie Dong, Leah Lefcourt, Monica Puri, and Christine Nagy. I see Alex To in my office as a dad with triplets! Wish you all health and happiness this year.”
1992
Keith Miller of Bowie, Maryland, writes, “Hello, everyone! I certainly hope that everyone is well. I am currently residing in Maryland and am employed at the National Institutes of Health as a staff anesthesiologist. Hope to see you soon.”
Tina Carroll-Scott of Coral Gables, Florida, writes, “I was featured in The Miami Herald for my work in reducing barriers in communities of color with the COVID-19 vaccine. I held a pop-up event on March 20 to provide access, health assessments on-site, and critical education/public health messaging.”
Joseph Sidari of Sudbury, Massachusetts, writes, “Chief of otolaryngology at Reliant Medical Group and practicing at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester. Recently named chair of surgical specialties at Reliant.”
1995
Frank MacMillan Jr. of Stratham, New Hampshire, writes, “Missing seeing my classmates during our 25th medical school graduation anniversary. I’m still practicing GI, most recently on the New Hampshire seacoast. It’s been a tough year for all, but with my youngest twins missing their graduation from high school because of COVID19, we had a productive summer at scooter school (as you can see from the photo). Riding the coasts from Massachusetts to Maine searching for the perfect lobster roll while on two wheels has been the antidote to oxymoronic “social distancing”! Dana Sachs of Ann Arbor, Michigan, writes, “After 20 years practicing general and cosmetic dermatology, I decided to go back into training and completed an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education fellowship in Mohs micrographic surgery in 2020. I loved the experience despite the disruption due to the pandemic and am now a practicing Mohs surgeon at the University of Michigan.”
1996
Fletcher Reynolds of Cape Coral, Florida, writes, “I’ve been practicing shoulder, hip, and knee surgery at Orthopedic Specialists of SW Florida in Fort Myers for almost 20 years. There were four of us when the practice started, and now we have 13 surgeons and are in the process of building a new, larger office and surgery center since we’ve outgrown our current facilities. I just submitted the research project ‘Clinical Outcomes with Surgicel Powder in Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty’ for presentation at the American Association for Hip and Knee Surgeons and publication in The Journal of Arthroplasty. I’m most proud of my daughter Blake, who just graduated with high honors with a major in microbiology and immunology from the University of Miami and is planning to attend medical school (hopefully BUSM) after a year of research at Arthrex in Naples, Florida.”
1997
Andrew Breuder, of Bedford, New Hampshire, writes, “I have continued as the co-chair of the Joint Military Task Force of the New Hampshire Governor’s Commission on Alcohol and Other Drugs, and as vice president of St. Gianna’s Place, a homeless shelter for pregnant women in Hudson. In addition, I continue part time at Southern New Hampshire University College of Engineering, Technology, and Aeronautics in the aviation section, teaching aerospace.”
David Weinreich of Tarrytown, New York, writes, “I began my career destined to be a surgeon, but during my time at the National Cancer Institute, I was drawn to the idea of reaching more patients globally and shifted my career to research and the biopharmaceutical industry. Today, as executive vice president and head of global clinical development at Regeneron, I lead the team responsible for translating our incredible pipeline of research candidates into important new medicines. I entered industry to impact patients on a larger scale, but could have never anticipated that my team and I would find ourselves in the middle of efforts to address a global pandemic. When COVID-19 hit, we went to work. We rapidly pushed forward clinical trials for a novel antibody cocktail homegrown in Regeneron’s
CLASS NOTES
labs, all while managing the personal and logistical difficulties of pandemic life. Working quickly, but thoughtfully, to help patients—just as I was trained to do as a physician—we contributed an important new treatment to those most at most risk for COVID-19 complications. My time at BUSM prepared me for a career full of split-second life or death decisions made on behalf of patients, and I’ve carried these skills with me to this day. They have proven to be critical in our fight against COVID-19. It’s been an honor to do our part.”
1998
Stephen Thomas of Houston, Texas, writes, “In the nearly quarter-century since being at BU, time has moved swiftly. Great memories from Boston, and my daughter is hearing all the stories such that she cannot wait to go to the Hub herself!”
2003
Andrew Hsing of San Diego, California, writes, “It has been a crazy 15 months. In private practice in San Diego my group provides 24/7 pulmonary/critical care for Scripps Encinitas in San Diego. We have run the COVID-19 unit and lead the COVID-19 response and management program at our hospital, which fortunately has been very supportive and never ran out of PPE. Also running a 90 percent sleep practice and opened a sleep lab, so keeping busy. I see Sue Lahey regularly, as she is my sister-inlaw now, and am in touch routinely with Jason Hinman. Pam Rejendron and I share some patients as well. Looking forward to a reunion sometime soon! I do have a stash of PPE in my storage unit if anyone needs it; I hope to never have to utilize my own stash in the future. I have extra TP as well!”
Alyson McGregor of Warwick, Rhode Island, writes, “I have practiced emergency medicine at Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University since graduating BUSM and have just been promoted to professor of emergency medicine—teaching scholar tract. I recently published a book called Sex Matters: How Male-Centric Medicine Endangers Women’s Health and What We Can Do About It.”
2004
Jessica Amorosino of Jupiter, Florida, writes, “The pandemic experience for my husband Mark (MED‘00), our four children, and me has been challenging, yet also a time of discovery. Prior to the pandemic, we figured out how to grow an effective and profitable medical weight loss and management program in our Massachusetts hometown with a physician partner. We discovered how critically important this service is—and continues to be—as we emerge from this pandemic. Pre-pandemic, our medical weight loss service was immensely rewarding for our patients and helped our practices grow. During the pandemic, public demand for the outcome(s) achieved from the medical weight loss and management protocol accelerated significantly and kept our staff very busy. Not surprisingly, the pandemic has exacerbated the obesity epidemic and demand for our services is unprecedented. I’d be happy to share our experiences as lifestyle medicine physicians. Proud to be a part of the solution in getting the community to a healthier state during these uncertain times.”
Waleska Pabon-Ramos of Durham, North Carolina, writes, “I was appointed vice chair of Quality and Safety in the Department of Radiology at Duke University School of Medicine.”
David Furman of Manchester Center, Vermont, writes, “I have joined the staff of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington as the chief of gastroenterology and endoscopy services.”
2005
Lily Talakoub of McLean, Virginia, writes, “Currently residing in Washington D.C., with my husband and three children. Before opening my practice at McLean Dermatology and Skincare Center in 2009, served in the Office of the US Surgeon General. Assistant Professor of Medical Education at the University of Virginia and serve on the D.C. Board of Visitors for the Children’s National Medical Center. Serve as Allergan’s national trainer for all aesthetic injectables and teach other physicians how to properly inject Botox and soft tissue fillers such as Juvederm, Voluma, Volbella, and Vollure.
Also founder of Derm to Door (dermtodoor. com), a new app launched in 2021 offering product recommendations based on AI technology that diagnoses and treats all skin types and concerns with dermatologist-approved products. Hand-selected and tested every product recommended to create an algorithm identifying more than 1,000 products based on an individual’s unique skin care needs. Additionally, offer app users medical advice and/or tips for the ultimate customer service/ telederm experience.”
2014
Stephanie Feldman of New York, New York, writes, “After finishing a cardiology fellowship at Boston Medical Center in 2020, I am completing a cardio-oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and will be starting on faculty at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School’s Division of Cardiology as the director of cardio-oncology this summer. Excited to finish training and embark upon this next adventure!”
Kristine Karkoska of Cincinnati, Ohio, writes, “David Robinson (MED’14) and Kristine Karkoska welcomed their daughter Maura in October 2020. In addition, both will finally finish training this June in neurocritical care and pediatric hematology/oncology, respectively!”
2015
Charles Gruver of Glendale, California, writes, “After finishing an anesthesiology residency at the University of Southern California in 2019, I completed an Interventional Pain Medicine Fellowship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Now I am a private practice interventional pain medicine physician at Beverly Hills Advanced Pain & Spine. I am truly grateful for the education I received at Boston University School of Medicine, as it gave me the necessary foundation to provide excellent and compassionate patient care.”
2018
Aileen Souza of Fall River, Massachusetts, writes, “I’m graduating from the Brown University Family Medicine Residency this summer.” n
Sarkis J. Kechejian (MED’63) was born and raised in Queens, New York. His parents were immigrants and survivors of the Armenian genocide who worked hard, were involved with their church community, and were happy with their new life in America.
“I have memories of cracking and preparing walnuts for 100 trays of my mother’s baklava donations to the church,” recalls Dr. Kechejian. His parents’ hard work and dedication to others would be instilled in his way of doing things, and ultimately, his inspiration for giving. After attending NYU, Dr. Kechejian made his way to Boston University for medical school. He worked summer jobs, received financial aid, and ended up graduating with only $10,000 in debt. In the ‘90s, Dr. Aram Chobanian invited him to be a member of the School of Medicine Board of Visitors to provide guidance and support for students and the school. “I couldn’t believe how much tuition costs had risen. Dedicated students shouldn’t be burdened with a mountain of debt.” By the 2000s, Dr. Kechejian made two generous $1 million donations. Recognizing the significant need for student financial assistance, he established the Kechejian Family Scholarship Fund—the first of its kind for BUSM students. “We all stand on the shoulders of others—we didn’t get here alone. I have always been very grateful for the excellent education I received at the medical school. It truly is one of the many shoulders I still stand on today. I hope my scholarships, in turn, will inspire students to do the same when they are able,” he said. Students who receive funds from Dr. Kechejian are encouraged to write to him about themselves so he can learn more about their background and journey to becoming a doctor. Today, Dr. Kechejian is a cardiologist, president of K Clinics, located in North Texas, chief executive officer and chair of the board of Alliance Health, Inc., and president of the Kechejian Foundation. At 81 years young, Dr. Kechejian has a few words of advice for his peers who may be on the fence about donating: “Don’t give until it hurts . . . give until it feels good. Also remember, the last suit we wear doesn’t need any pockets.”
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