alumni news

Greetings,

LAST FALL, WE EXPERIENCED A HISTORICAL PHILANTHROPIC COMMITMENT from the Avedisian family to the school, a momentous gift born from a lifelong friendship and decades of connection to Boston University. Their extraordinary generosity will have a long-lasting impact for which we are eternally grateful.

The naming event in September kicked off the return of in-person class reunions, during which we welcomed alumni home for the first time in two years. It was wonderful for current students to hear the Class of 1972 and others reflect on their days as students, and for students to provide glimpses of med school today.

As we continue to move forward, we are learning how best to support alumni, student engagement, and meaningful on-campus activities. We are exploring ways that work for YOU. What medical school affinity resonates with you—Pathway?

Class year? Professional affinity? Please take a moment to share your thoughts by simply scanning the QR code below for our survey. Your feedback will help direct how the Alumni Association reconnects you with classmates, other graduates, and current students.

We are well into celebrating our 175th Anniversary! On the following pages you will read the stories of four alumni who have a few things in common, including receiving the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Distinguished Alumni Award. We learn that what brought them to BU—a passion for medicine and public service—has never wavered, and that the word “retirement” may be defined differently than some may imagine.

Whose story would you like to feature as part of our 175th anniversary celebration? We seek the rising star who is actively championing to improve health and medicine, the one who opted for a nontraditional pathway, and the seasoned professional who left their mark in the world of science and medicine decades ago—and left us all better for it. Each of us has a story. You have a story. Please share!

As always, we greatly appreciate your insights and your steady connection.

Sincerely,

Alumni

Weekend Features Reunions, Dining, Reflection

Alumni Weekend opened on Thursday, September 29, with the surprise announcement of the transformational $100 million gift to the medical school and its formal renaming as the Aram V. Chobanian & Edward Avedisian School of Medicine.

The backstory is especially heartwarming, with Avedisian (CFA’59,’61, Hon.’22), a longtime clarinetist with the Boston Pops and Boston Ballet orchestra and a savvy investor, making the donation to honor his longtime childhood friend Chobanian (Hon.’06), a noted cardiologist, former medical school dean, and University president emeritus.

Friday featured an insightful panel discussion and the Distinguished Alumni Awards luncheon, honoring this year’s recipients Drew Weissman, MD, PhD (’87, GRS’87), Roberts Family Professor of Vaccine Research at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine; Gail D’Onofrio, MD, MS (’87), Albert E. Kent Professor of Emergency Medicine at Yale School of Medicine; and Daniel Rotrosen, MD (’78), director of the division of allergy, immunology and transplantation at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

Heather Miselis, MD, MPH (’00,’04, SPH’00)

Assistant Dean for Alumni Affairs

Held in Keefer Auditorium and also livestreamed, the morning panel discussion with the three award recipients was co-moderated by Assistant Dean for Alumni Affairs Heather Miselis, MD, MPH (’00,’04, SPH’00) and Alumni Association President Amin Ashrafzadeh, MD (CAS’93,

CAMED’97). With two immunologists on the panel, the conversation naturally gravitated toward COVID-19. Weissman was optimistic about the applications of nucleoside-modified messenger RNA platforms.

“It’s going to be applied to a huge number of vaccines,” he said. It was already employed for vaccines headed to human clinical trials for HIV, influenza, and genital herpes, and to develop vaccines targeting noroviruses and malaria.

But it’s also being used for gene therapy, especially in connection with sickle cell anemia.

“What we’re developing will be a single injection that will target the bone marrow and cure the disease,” he told the audience.

Rotrosen said COVID made his agency pivot from mouse to human immunological trials wherever possible. “That set us up for this explosion of research and important findings . . . on how the human immune system works,” he said.

D’Onofrio’s work targets the opioid crisis’ impact on emergency rooms.

“There isn’t any other disease that causes so much death in the emergency room. Probably having a huge heart attack is the only thing that comes close,” D’Onofrio said. Her goals include changing national policies on opioids and introducing new interventions.

“The pandemic has really made all substance abuse disorders go out of control,” she said. “More people are using more drugs and more people are vulnerable than ever before.”

COVID-19 worsened an already escalating opioid crisis. One of the big questions for D’Onofrio is why so many people forgo treatment following a non-fatal overdose, despite statistics showing that five percent of overdose survivors die within a year and would have a much higher survival rate with treatment.

COVID-19 also exposed weaknesses in healthcare, exacerbating existing inequities in treatment and accessibility for marginalized populations. These inequities were something all three panelists witnessed during their medical school training and clinical rotations at the school’s primary teaching affiliate Boston Medical Center (then known as Boston City Hospital, or BCH).

“Equity has always been important and a driving force in my career,” said Weissman.

D’Onofrio said her exposure to urban healthcare through her medical school training and clinical work at BCH was the foundation of her life work addressing addiction and substance use as underlying causes for the emergency room caseload.

“You couldn’t have had better training than we had,” she said.

“I learned so much from the patients,” said Rotrosen, who appreciated that the medical school and hospital encouraged students to participate in patient care. His medical school experience of traveling with physicians to see geriatric patients in their homes moved him, he said.

That experience stuck with him through his career at NIAID, which has an asthma program where physicians do home visits.

“Children, women, in urban areas suffer disproportionately from asthma and we’ve made major advances in our understanding, not just of the biology but of the socioeconomic demographic factors,” Rotrosen said.

The luncheon celebrated the many accomplishments of the award recipients. Each was introduced by Alumni Association President Ashrafzadeh and presented with a crystal pyramid engraved with their name.

At the luncheon’s conclusion, Heidi Abdelhady, MD (’98), was introduced as the incoming alumni association president.

“I’m grateful for this opportunity,” Abdelhady said. “I’m humbled by this community as I look at the alumni in this room. I can’t say it enough that my mind is absolutely blown by the three people (D’Onofrio, Weissman, Rotrosen) getting awards today. They not only contributed to science but they actually changed our lives for the better.

“I’m excited for the year ahead.”

Other special alumni events included reunion dinners, including the Class of 1972 50th Reunion Dinner, and tours of campus landmarks, like the new Instructional building team-based Learning Center on L4 and the newly renovated Gross Anatomy Lab. ●