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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. Greetings,
This year, the Alumni Association board came together virtually to dive into alumni engagement, including how we ought to measure it, how can we make it meaningful for our diverse alumni, and how we can strengthen engagement within our community.
While the main goals are to increase alumni connection—including through readership of the monthly E-News and the school magazine, meaningful volunteer activities with current students, and strengthening our community to further inclusion—our overarching mission is to represent our alumni to the best of our ability and promote a culture that welcomes and engages all alumni, students, and faculty.
We desire a lifelong relationship with our alumni, and we want you to feel connected. We want to be relevant to you and aim to build and provide inclusive programming, events, and digital offerings to connect, support, and engage you. This focus will ensure the school continues to provide meaningful opportunities for you and your fellow alumni. The board developed an alumni engagement survey asking for your feedback. One initiative that came of our work was improving our connections through the use of class notes. We increased the frequency of the “ask” and created different ways of asking. Thank you to those who have shared their news (see page 42).
You’ve helped provide insight into what is important to you, and we learned we can do better by creating opportunities for you to enrich the lives of our current students and your fellow alumni. You also helped us identify several key ways to build and sustain a culture of alumni engagement. A special thank-you to members of the alumni board, who made this work happen.
Looking forward, please save the dates of September 30–October 2, 2022, for MED Alumni Weekend (this is also University Alumni Weekend). Stay tuned and watch your inbox to hear more about the three distinguished alumni we will recognize at an in-person luncheon and ceremony on Friday, September 30: • Gail D’Onofrio, MD (SON’75, MED’87) [Par COM’12, CGS’10] for her outstanding career in emergency medicine • Daniel Rotrosen, MD (MED’78) for his outstanding career in infectious diseases and internal medicine
• Drew Weissman, MD, PhD (MED’87,
GRS’87) for his outstanding career in allergy, immunology, and infectious diseases As part of the celebration, our three award recipients will participate in an interactive panel discussion with alumni, faculty, and students. Engagement requires a mutual commitment. We look forward to continuing to learn from and work with you.
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)
How Scientists Drew Weissman (MED’87, GRS’87) and Katalin Karikó Developed the Revolutionary mRNA Technology Inside COVID Vaccines
It started with a chance encounter, and led to worldwide acclaim for the two researchers
Ting Yu
An astonishing number of worldchanging medical breakthroughs have come to humanity by way of serendipity. Mishaps and lucky breaks gave us X-rays, insulin, and, most famously, penicillin, discovered in 1928, when a Scottish biologist returned from a summer holiday to find the bacteria cultures in his lab destroyed by a peculiar mold. Modern medicine was transformed in an instant.
But the story of how scientist Drew Weissman (MED’87, GRS’87) and his research partner Katalin Karikó developed the revolutionary mRNA technology that powers the world’s most effective COVID-19 vaccines was a much slower burn—one that easily could have flickered out. Their decades-long crusade has been marked by rejection, crushing setbacks, and dogged perseverance. Chance had nothing to do with it. Except, perhaps, for how they met.
It was 1998. Weissman, an immunologist with a PhD in microbiology, had recently accepted a position at the University of Pennsylvania and was trying to figure out how to make a better vaccine. Most traditional vaccines work by injecting an inactive, weakened, or small fragment of a pathogen— called an antigen—to trigger an immune response that the body remembers and can jump-start if the invader returns. But developing such vaccines can take years, and live pathogens pose health risks to those with compromised immune systems.
Weissman was especially intrigued by a single-stranded molecule called messenger RNA, or mRNA, which brings our cells the DNA blueprint for making proteins so that the body can function. If we could manipulate those instructions, could mRNA be harnessed to create an entirely new kind of vaccine— one that could generate immunity without ever bringing a pathogen into the body?
One day, while waiting at the office to photocopy articles from a research journal, Weissman struck up a conversation with Penn biochemist Karikó. The two scientists realized they shared a particular interest. “I had always wanted to try mRNA,” Weissman says, “and here was somebody at the Xerox machine telling me that’s what she does.”
What followed was a partnership that has lasted for more than two decades. During that time, they pioneered the mRNA technology that is fundamentally reshaping the landscape of vaccine development and the future of gene therapies. Not only have the new mRNA vaccines proven to be more effective and safer than traditional vaccines, they can be developed and reengineered to take on emerging pathogens and new variants with breathtaking speed. Using mRNA technology, Pfizer-BioNTech designed its coronavirus vaccine in a matter of hours.
Now, Weissman and Karikó are being hailed for their work. Earlier this year, Brandeis University and the Rosenstiel Foundation honored the scientists with the Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Research. In September, they won a Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences from the Breakthrough Prize Foundation. And Columbia University awarded them the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, bestowed annually for groundbreaking work in medical science. Of the 106 previous Horwitz Prize winners, nearly half have gone on to receive Nobel Prizes.
Drew Weissman (MED’87, GRS’87), left, and Katalin Karikó pioneered the mRNA technology that is fundamentally reshaping the landscape of vaccine development and the future of gene therapies.
Cracking mRNA’s Code
From the start, Weissman and Karikó believed mRNA was the key to unlocking a new generation of vaccines and therapeutics. Theoretically, it could instruct any cell in the body to make any desired set of proteins. But practically, there were many obstacles. Synthetic mRNA was notoriously unstable and tended to break down before it could do its job. The closest attempt came in 1990 when researchers from the University of Wisconsin showed that injected mRNA could generate proteins in mice. Many scientists, however, were skeptical that this process could be replicated in humans.
For her part, Karikó had been captivated by mRNA since the earliest days of her career. She left her native Hungary in 1985, when funding dried up for her lab, taking a low-level postdoctoral position at Temple University. Four years later, Karikó moved to Penn, where she would spend the next decade making sporadic discoveries with mRNA but consistently failing to win grants. She was forced to move from lab to lab, going wherever she could find someone willing to fund her research.
By the time she met Weissman, at the copy machine, Karikó had been demoted and was adrift without funding or a lab. But Weissman didn’t care about her lack of grants or credentials. “I never say no to anything,” he says. “RNA had been tried by others and didn’t work very well, but I wanted to try it.”
Karikó brought her synthetic mRNA to his lab. Weissman injected it into mice. Then he waited to see what would happen. The results were unexpected and discouraging. The mRNA set off a harmful inflammatory immune response in the mice. They grew sick, and some died. “Kati got depressed because it meant that mRNA couldn’t be used as a therapeutic,” Weissman recalls. “You can’t give something that makes people sick.”
But neither scientist was ready to give up on the promise of mRNA. They spent years investigating the cause of the inflammation and years more experimenting with how to prevent it.
In 2005, they had a breakthrough.
By altering one of mRNA’s four building blocks, known as nucleosides, Weissman and Karikó found that their modified mRNA could fly under the radar of the body’s immune system, no longer causing inflammation. It was a game changer, and they both knew it.
With this hurdle cleared, the clinical applications for synthetic mRNA seemed infinite. Custom-tailored mRNA, once injected into the body, could order cells to produce any desired sequence of proteins.
There were “enormous possibilities,” Weissman says. The scientists believed their
technology had the potential to transform medicine, opening the door to countless new vaccines, therapeutic proteins, and gene therapies.
The idea may have been too radical to grasp. Several leading medical journals turned down their report of their findings before it was published, in 2005, by the journal Immunity. The researchers braced for the shock waves their study would generate in the scientific community.
“I told Kati our phones are going to ring off the hook,” Weissman recalls. “But nothing happened. We didn’t get a single call.”
The researchers were deeply frustrated at the lack of interest. Still, they secured patents, and in 2006 launched a company called RNARx that focused on developing mRNA therapeutics for a wide range of diseases. But eventually funding ran out and the company shut down.
The pair forged ahead, and five years after they published their groundbreaking findings, their discovery caught the attention of two biotech newcomers, Moderna of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Germany’s BioNTech. Both companies eventually licensed Weissman and Karikó’s patents. (Karikó was hired by BioNTech in 2013, and the company would later partner with US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on vaccine development. The two companies also now support Weissman’s lab.)
By the time ominous reports of a mysterious virus began emerging from Wuhan, China, in late 2019, Moderna and BioNTech had been working on developing mRNA influenza vaccines and other therapies for years. As soon as China released the genome sequence for the new coronavirus, both companies began racing toward a vaccine.
Would mRNA Vaccines Work in People?
The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines deployed the same clever mechanism. A shot of specially coded mRNA would instruct certain cells to manufacture the notorious COVID-19 spike protein, enabling the cells to briefly masquerade as the virus and teach the immune system to recognize it. Within weeks of injection, the mRNA would break down naturally without a trace, leaving in its wake a powerful immunity against the coronavirus.
Although Weissman was confident in the science—he had worked on 20 different vaccines in animal models with great success—he was anxious to see the results of the human trials. “In science, we know that what works in mice rarely works in humans, and what works in [monkeys] sometimes works in humans,” Weissman says. “So I was very nervous [about] whether it would work in people.”
Results from the human clinical trials showed the vaccines to be remarkably safe, with 95 percent efficacy in preventing COVID-19 infection. Weissman was elated. In December 2020, he and Karikó received their first vaccine shots together at the University of Pennsylvania.
“It was an emotional moment,” he says, reflecting on their long struggle to show the world the promise of this extraordinary molecule. “There were a lot of down times, a lot of soul-searching, a lot of figuring out why things weren’t working. But we never lost hope because we both saw the incredible potential that mRNA had.”
Since COVID vaccines were first granted emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration in December 2020, nearly 219 million Americans have been immunized, with the vast majority receiving either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.
Columbia’s David Ho, one of the country’s leading virologists, calls their research “an
95%
Efficacy of mRNA vaccines in preventing COVID-19 infection is 95%.
essential precursor” to the COVID vaccines “that have made a huge impact on the pandemic.” Others in the scientific community believe Weissman and Karikó deserve the Nobel Prize for their groundbreaking discoveries with mRNA.
Weissman takes it all in stride. “We knew from the beginning that what we were doing had huge potential,” he says, “but every scientist’s work isn’t like that. If RNA had not worked, no one would have heard of Kati and me, and we would’ve retired and gone off to our nursing homes.”
The Future of mRNA Technology
These days, Weissman seems a bit wistful for a time when he could work in relative anonymity. “I was and still am quiet and shy and not very outgoing,” he says. “I’ve always enjoyed working in my lab alone without much attention. The reporters, awards committees, everybody imaginable wanting to talk to me—it’s been the hardest thing.”
With what little leisure time he has, Weissman likes to unwind by engineering more domestic innovations. “When he’s having trouble finding a solution to something, he builds rooms onto our house,” says his wife, Mary Ellen, a child psychologist. The couple has two daughters, Rachel and Allison.
“I build screen porches, kitchens, bathrooms, playrooms,” Weissman says. “I enjoy building. I’m sure I got that from my dad.” His father was an engineer who owned a company that designed optical mirrors for satellites. His mother was a dental hygienist.
Weissman describes a carefree childhood growing up in Lexington, Massachusetts, “playing kickball in the streets and roaming around the neighborhood causing trouble.” In high school, his talent for science came into focus. “I was always interested in biology and took the top science classes,” he says.
He studied biochemistry and enzymology at Brandeis University and earned an MD/PhD in immunology and microbiology from Boston University in 1987. After a residency in Boston, he pursued a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, where he worked closely with Anthony Fauci (Hon.’18), now director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, whom he describes as “one of the great drivers of my research interest.”
Weissman has been dismayed by the partisan vitriol directed at his former mentor. “I see it as very sad. I never imagined that people would attack Tony for trying to save lives and do the right thing,” he says. “The United States is absolutely ridiculous in how they’ve handled this vaccine and the pandemic itself. And the continued politicization of it is terrible.”
His frustration with how the United States is managing the pandemic has led him to focus on vaccine access for the rest of the world. Weissman is currently working with the governments of Thailand, Malaysia, South Africa, and Rwanda, among others, to develop and test lower-cost COVID vaccines.
To Weissman, the new COVID variants present a compelling challenge. The beauty of mRNA vaccines, he says, is that tweaking the code to work against Delta or other new
strains “is a simple thing. It takes a few weeks to make a brand-new vaccine.”
He has set his sights on a more ambitious target: a pan-coronavirus vaccine. “There have been three coronavirus epidemics in the past 20 years,” he explains. “You have to assume there are going to be more. We’re now working on a vaccine that will protect against every variant that will likely appear. Our thinking is that we’ll use it as a way to immunize the world—and prevent the next pandemic from happening in the future.”
So far, the results in mice, which were published in the journal Nature in August 2021, have been promising. But Weissman is hardly stopping with coronaviruses. He’s working on about 20 other vaccines for diseases from malaria to HIV, with several moving into clinical trials. His lab is also exploring new gene therapies to treat immune deficiencies like cystic fibrosis and genetic liver diseases.
One of the most promising projects focuses on curing sickle cell anemia, a chronic genetic disorder that disproportionately affects people of African descent. The existing treatment is a labor-intensive procedure that involves removing bone marrow from the patient, treating it with an altered virus designed to deliver a healthy version of the sickle cell gene, and then putting the marrow back into the patient. “The problem with that is 200,000 people are born with sickle cell in sub-Saharan Africa every year,” Weissman says, “and it’s half a million dollars per treatment.”
Using mRNA technology, Weissman has developed a gene therapy that can treat sickle cell anemia with a single shot. “We’ve taught [the mRNA] how to target bone marrow stem cells, so they fix the gene and cure the disease,” he says. The therapy has been successful in mice and will move into monkey trials soon.
“Once we get the sickle cell therapy working, there are a couple of hundred other bone marrow genetic diseases it can be applied to,” he says, along with liver and lung genetic disorders. In time, he believes mRNA gene therapies can bring hope to research on devastating neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s that have seen disappointingly few advances.
Meanwhile, biotech companies like Moderna and BioNTech are charging forward on a mind-bending spectrum of mRNA applications, including personalized cancer vaccines and autoimmune therapies.
Weissman generally comes across as pragmatic and self-effacing, but as he looks to the future, he sounds genuinely awed by the staggering potential of the technology he and Karikó invented: “It really is exciting. It’s limitless.” n
Drew Weissman
Alumni Stories Three Alums Shine as Medical School Deans
Many School of Medicine alumni have made significant contributions to the fields of medicine and science. Beginning with this issue, BU Medicine will profile some of these alums in the series Alumni Stories as BUSM approaches its 175th anniversary in 2023.
Joshua Wynne, Steven Berk, and Robert Golden earned medical degrees in the 1970s from Boston University School of Medicine. Today, they head medical schools.
Berk (MED’75) has led the Texas Tech University School of Medicine and its Health Sciences Center since 2006, the same year Golden (MED’79) was appointed to lead the University of Wisconsin’s School of Medicine and Public Health. Wynne (MED’71, CAS’71) has served as dean of the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences since 2009.
According to Golden, longevity has its advantages. “I’ve always felt that if one is … going to have a major impact on an institution, population, or constituency, then you have to be in it for the long game,” he says.
These alumni have demonstrated that they are committed to the long haul.
Steven Lee Berk (MED'75) Dean, School of Medicine Executive Vice President for Clinical Affairs, Health Sciences Center Texas Tech University
“If you want to be a good dean—or one who really understands what’s going on—have your son go to medical school where you are,” says Steven Lee Berk of the Texas Tech University School of Medicine. “He taught me a lot about my own medical school—half of which I can disclose to people and half of which I can’t.”
Their chats prompted Berk, an infectious disease specialist who joined the Lubbockbased university system in 1999, to expand his conversations to all medical school students. He now invites all third-year students to meet with him, share feedback, and talk through career plans. About half of the 180 students in each class take him up on his offer.
While impressed with their diligence and sense of purpose, Berk urges students to strive for a sense of balance as well. “They’re so dedicated and ambitious and always wanting to do better,” he says. “I’d like them to figure out how to enjoy the ride more.”
Under his leadership, the medical school has increased from 140 students per class to 180, and he has also boosted the size and number of residency programs. “That’s really important to us,” he says, “because there are tremendous manpower needs in West Texas.”
Roughly 60 percent of Texas Tech’s doctors stay in the state, but only about 15 percent practice medicine in rural areas such as West Texas, which is dotted with small towns of 25,000 to 50,000 people and needs family physicians. Berk is especially proud of the school’s accelerated family medicine track, which graduates students in three years eligible to enter a family medicine program. Although the percentage of students choosing a career in family medicine increased from 10 to 18 percent during his tenure, graduates still can’t keep pace with the demand for small-town doctors.
A New York City native, Berk took what he calls “a leap of faith” at age 32 to become chief of medicine and the infectious disease specialist at East Tennessee State University’s Quillen College of Medicine. Because he’d already spent several months on a Native American reservation in Kings Canyon, Arizona, as a fourth-year School of Medicine student, he credits his BU education for preparing him to succeed in that “very challenging environment.”
In 1999, Berk was named regional dean at Texas Tech’s Amarillo campus, a role he learned about from friend and classmate Ed Sherwood (MED’75), who headed the Amarillo VA Health Care System. Appointed dean in 2006, Berk is also the executive vice president for clinical affairs of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, which includes the School of Medicine, School of Nursing, School of Pharmacy, School of Health Professions, and the Graduate School of Health Professions. He oversees the main campus in Lubbock as well as satellites in Amarillo, Odessa, and Midland.
Berk’s 15-plus years as a dean have given him the experience to envision and advance ambitious projects, such as opening a branch campus for third- and fourth-year students to train in communitybased clinical settings. “Having a broadrange picture and the ability to make things happen over the longer term is very helpful,” he says.
Robert N. Golden (MED’79) Dean, School of Medicine and Public Health Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs University of Wisconsin-Madison
Since he was planning a career in psychiatry, Robert Golden didn’t see much value in visiting public housing residents during his “visiting home health” rotation; back then he thought his efforts would be better spent studying neurology, endocrinology, and the biological roots of depression.
Now, decades later, Golden says those in-home visits taught him the importance of community outreach— especially for people who were not adept at navigating a healthcare system—as well as the public health aspects of keeping people and communities healthy. “I didn’t realize that I would be so grateful for that at the time,” he says.
Golden continues to draw on that experience as dean of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. The school’s name reflects its commitment to integrating medicine and public health in its service mission, as well as in its approach to education and research, and reaching underserved rural and urban populations across the state.
When he became dean in 2006, Golden encountered what he calls “a two-headed monster”: The medical school was affiliated with the university, while the hospital was run separately. “It was clumsy at best when it came to forming partnerships with other healthcare systems or with other entities,” he says. “And at times they didn’t have shared priorities. The next ambitious goal was to integrate the academic faculty practice plan with the health system … as a unified academic health system dedicated to all three missions. That took some time.”
Today, Golden oversees an annual school budget of $720 million and what he calls “a truly comprehensive academic health system, which includes majority ownership of a large and growing health insurance plan as well as community hospitals,” that have a budget of $3.6 billion.
Boosting the number of underrepresented populations in medical school is a priority and remains a challenge. Nearly a third of students admitted to the last two classes are minorities—up from eight percent a decade ago—and healthcare leaders reach out to students of color starting in middle school to encourage interest in health professions. The medical school also aggressively pursues diversity in its out-of-state students, who make up 30 percent of medical school classes.
A New Jersey native, Golden had no plans to become an administrator but drifted into leadership roles while doing neurobiological research at the University of North Carolina. He became a department chair at age 40 and vice dean for the UNC School of Medicine in 2004, moving to Wisconsin two years later.
Throughout his medical and administrative careers, Golden says he has relied on his BU psychiatry training, which emphasized “listening to the person—not simply applying a label as a patient—but really learning how to listen and trying to understand what a person is feeling and why they are feeling that way,” he says. “Those same kinds of approaches are relevant when it’s ... an organization or a population you’re trying to understand at a deeper level.”
Joshua Wynne (MED’71, CAS’71) Vice President for Health Affairs and Dean University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences
University of North Dakota (UND) School of Medicine & Health Sciences, North Dakota’s only medical school, relies on the state for about a third of its funding, so Dean Joshua Wynne (MED’71, CAS’71) makes regular trips to the state capitol in Bismarck to enlist the support of lawmakers. By way of introduction, he tells them, “My name is Joshua Wynne. I’m vice president for health affairs at the University of North Dakota, and I’m proud to be dean of your School of Medicine and Health Sciences.”
Wynne doesn’t mention that he’s a cardiologist who, at 74, still sees patients and holds multiple advanced degrees. Besides, he says with a chuckle, “They all know who I am. And in North Dakota, you don’t pat yourself on the back. Being modest is part of the culture.”
So is maintaining relationships, which is why Wynne asks the assembled lawmakers what the state needs from the school of medicine, rather than inform them what the school needs from them. “It’s important that the people have a right to say what they want from their medical school,” he explains.
What they want, he’s learned, are doctors and healthcare workers who will serve North Dakota’s 780,000 residents. When Wynne drilled down on why newly
minted physicians were taking higherpaying jobs in other states, he discovered that although a UND medical education costs less than other schools, its graduates carry greater debt.
“Quite frankly, we had less scholarship support available, and we have a pretty solidly middle-class medical student class,” he says. “So in our philanthropic efforts, we made debt mitigation our priority. We were able to double the number of scholarships we gave and, as a consequence, our cumulative medical school debt fell from the 75th percentile down to about the 30 or 35th percentile— from way above average to way below average.” The medical school has also increased its class size and added statefunded residencies to bolster the number of healthcare providers across the state.
The first doctor in his Long Island, New York, family, Wynne received his undergraduate and medical degrees through BU’s six-year program. After teaching at Harvard Medical School, he joined the faculty at Wayne State University School of Medicine in 1984 as chief of cardiology, then transitioned into administrative roles to further impact policy.
He honed his skills in managing an institutional budget in a team environment by earning an MBA from the University of Chicago in 2000, and an MPH from the University of Michigan in 2002 helped him broaden his healthcare perspective from the doctor-patient relationship to include the entire system.
Wynne took a second-in-command role at the University of North Dakota in 2004. “I finally figured out that for the rest of my career, I wanted to be a medical school dean, but I didn’t really have any of the qualifications to do it,” he says.
Despite administrative duties and appearances before the state legislature, Wynne makes time to see patients once a week and, with a colleague, runs North Dakota’s only adult congenital heart disease clinic, an interest that dates to his days as a cardiology fellow in Boston.
His passion for academic medicine was “largely incubated at BU,” he says. “It was being in that environment of inquiry and excitement about learning new things, in addition to taking care of patients, that was awakened at BU. The excitement of combining the intellectual aspects with the patient-care aspects hasn’t gone away in 50 years.” n
Distinguished Alumni Awards
The BUSM Alumni Association announces the Distinguished Alumni Award recipients.
The awardees will be recognized at an in-person ceremony and luncheon on Friday, September 30, as part of MED Alumni Weekend.
Congratulations to the honorees!
Gail D’Onofrio, MD (SON’75, MED’87) [Par COM’12, CGS’10] for her outstanding career in emergency medicine
Daniel Rotrosen, MD (MED’78) for his outstanding career in infectious diseases and internal medicine
Drew Weissman, MD, PhD (MED’87, GRS’87) for his outstanding career in allergy, immunology, and infectious diseases
Historical Alumni Spotlight: William Lane Watkins
“We present a class of thirty-one, whose names are before you, upon whom is to be conferred the medical degree of the University….They all go forth bearing the respect of the faculty and earnest wishes for their prosperity and success…” —I.T. Talbot, Dean of the Faculty, Boston University School of Medicine, March 1876
William Lane Watkins enrolled in the inaugural class at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) in November 1873, shortly after Boston University merged with the New England Female Medical College to become the first accredited, coeducational, medical school in the United States. All records about Watkins’ life as a medical student have been lost, except an 1876 catalog entry listing his thesis topic, “Jaborandi.”
His intense study of the medicinal properties of an herb was conducted as part of a mandatory, two-year preceptorship under the supervision of Dr. Henry B. Clarke, a professor of clinical medicine. In keeping with the practice of early Boston University medical faculty like Dr. Talbot, the school’s first dean, BUSM was an explicitly homeopathic school from its founding until 1918. While controversial, homeopathy, which emphasized hydration and bathing, was seen by many as an equally valid alternative to bleeding, purging, and medical concoctions that were then standard for classically trained physicians. Course catalogs show that Watkins and his classmates studied anatomy, surgery, and pathology as they would have in any contemporary medical school, but also learned the principles and philosophical approach of homeopathy. Over the years, as mainstream medicine became more focused on evidence and developed more effective techniques and therapies, homeopathy and other sectarian medical practices fell out of favor and were gradually abandoned by BUSM and other schools that had taught them.
On March 2, 1876, Dr. Watkins became the first Black male graduate of BUSM and returned to his hometown of New Bedford, Massachusetts, described by Ishmael in Melville’s Moby Dick as “perhaps the dearest place to live in all New England.” His father, William H. Watkins, was white and his mother, Susan M. Bowie Watkins, was biracial. They had settled in New Bedford, where William became a city messenger, in the mid-1800s to start a new life after fleeing Maryland, where their marriage was illegal.
Sadly, Susan Watkins died in childbirth on September 27, 1874, shortly before her son began his second year of medical school.
Watkins anticipated that New Bedford, a city with a rich tradition of history and culture, intellectual prowess, economic vibrancy, and innovative spirit, would be the ideal location to establish a flourishing medical practice. Instead, he faced racial discrimination and found himself pasting broadsides on fence posts and barn sidings to make a living.
Subject to active and passive discrimination as a medical professional in Massachusetts, the educated and ambitious Watkins migrated to Baltimore, where he worked at the US Customs Office before being hired as the first teacher at the Mt. Nebo School near Queen Anne Town, a port on the Patuxent River established in 1704. George Washington frequently lodged there as he traveled between Virginia and Annapolis.
Housing in the Queen Anne Town area was very limited when Watkins arrived in 1877, and because the school year and teacher salaries were determined by the agricultural calendar, teacher salaries were lower than those offered in urban settings.
By September 1878, Watkins had set up a medical practice in addition to teaching, and married Jane Ellen “Jennie” Turner. When the couple decided to move from the countryside to within city limits, they were met with threats and disparaging remarks from white city officials. Watkins was not dissuaded, and despite the initial ostracism, in the years that followed he gained considerable respect in the community as physician, teacher, principal, social worker, recording clerk in the Prince George’s County Circuit Court, and civil rights advocate.
A republican, Watkins was a loyalist to the “Party of Emancipation” and thanks to the 15th Amendment, a voter. By the late 1880s, he had established a solid reputation as a political activist, winning leadership roles within the county and with the state republican party central committee. At the 1887 county convention, he was nominated for a seat in the Maryland general assembly house of delegates. Following the Supreme Court’s Plessy v. Ferguson decision, the institutionalization of “separate but equal” ideology motivated him to continue to work even more fervently within the Maryland republican party structure to advocate for quality education, equity in medical care, human rights, and against disenfranchisement measures.
Tragically, while Dr. Watkins provided medical care to immigrants, indigent patients, and Black soldiers returning home at the end of World War I, the second wave of the Spanish Flu killed thousands of Americans in their prime, including his daughters, Blanche and Maud, who died within days of each other in Baltimore in the fall of 1918. In November 2022, Watkins’ life and achievements will be commemorated both at BUSM and at Greater Mt. Nebo African Methodist Episcopal Church in Bowie, Maryland, to honor the 170th year of his birth. n
CLASS NOTES
1951
Bennett Miller of Atlantis, Florida, writes, “I continue to look back at my years at BUSM as some of the best memories of my life! To be able to talk to faculty, rather than listen to them on a podium, greatly enhanced my years at BUSM. My undergraduate years (Harvard) did not have the intimacy and emotional connection I had at BUSM (contrasted with my war years in WWII)!! Thank you, faculty. Franz Ingelfinger, Henry Bakst, pharmacologist Dr. Mason, Alice Marsdon, Dr. Conel, and many others!!”
1952
Alvin Eden of Forest Hills, New York, writes, “At age 95 I have recently published two more books, my memoirs A Look Back and An Anthology of Filth, a joke book and more, both via Amazon. Looking forward to our 70th reunion in 2022.”
1958
Jerome Waye of Greenwich, Connecticut, writes, “Medical School Class of 1958. Internship, residency, and GI fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital, NYC. Written over 200 papers in peer review journals, and 10 books, including the most widely read, Colonoscopy Principles and Practice. Past president of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), and the World Endoscopy Organization (WEO). Recently delivered the keynote lecture at the ACG annual meeting; requested to deliver the presidential lecture of the WEO in Kyoto next year. Retired at age 87, but still working. Recent publication in Video GIE on a new era of Remote Training in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, where I am training doctors in Uganda via Zoom, the first in our field of GI. Every day is great.”
1966
Peter Schwartz of Port Saint Lucie, Florida, writes, “Really enjoyed our recent class virtual get-together! Currently serving on the American Medical Association’s Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs and doing some virtual teaching/learning sessions. Have done several presentations on the ethics of vaccine distribution, noting that thus far, the entire continent of Africa has received only 1–2% of the world’s vaccine. I also continue to teach in Ethiopia, though I have not been able to be there since February 2020.”
IN Memoriam
Dr. James Matthew Dargin, MD (MED‘04), 43, of Nashua, New Hampshire, died unexpectedly at his home on October 31, 2021.
Born in Nashua on April 16, 1978, Jim received his BS and MD from Boston University (CAS’00, MED’04). He completed his residency in emergency medicine at Boston Medical Center and fellowship in critical care at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center before returning to New England to practice.
A specialist in pulmonary and critical care, Jim was an attending physician at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, Massachusetts. He was deeply committed to teaching and especially enjoyed educating medical students on tending to critical care patients. He had an insatiable desire for learning, whether through reading, conversation, or exploration. He loved fishing and watching Red Sox and Patriots games with friends and relatives and above all else, cherished his wife and children and the time they spent together as a family.
Jim’s loved ones will forever remember him as a strong, warm, and adoring family man. In addition to his parents John and Virginia and his wife Beth, Jim is survived by his two daughters, Paige Marie and Meredith Ann Dargin of Nashua; his brother, John P. Dargin and his wife Kathie of Nashua and his nieces, Brianna and Emma; his sister-in-law, Jennifer Matsis of Milford and his nieces Alexandra and Ashleigh; and many extended family members.
Jim was greatly loved and will be dearly missed.
1967
Richard Goldwater of Newton Center, Massachusetts, writes, “My story is atypical. After psychiatry residency, I spent the next five decades doing psychotherapy in Newton, out of touch with colleagues. I was part of LSD research in the 1970s, leading to my later career as a cofounder of profitandentropy.com. Alas, our work is still unpublished, but pending. We are out to replace alchemical, free market economics with thermoeconomics, and put profit in its place as a waste product, not magically created energy. Definitely a long shot.” Meyer Lifschitz of Jerusalem, Israel, writes, “My wife and I are well, living here in Jerusalem for the past 19 years. I retired from part-time nephrology in the end of 2019, when Corona started here in Israel. I now learn full time in Yeshiva Ohr Somayach and function as an informal MD there for students or staff with questions. We are fortunate to have all our children, grandchildren, and now some greatgrandchildren all living here in Israel. I would be happy to connect with any BUSM alumni who might come to Jerusalem.”
1968
Frederick Fox of Harrisonburg, Virginia, writes, “Class ‘68 congratulates Deeb Salem (BUSM’68) for being awarded the Tufts School of Medicine Dean’s Medal in May 2021 in recognition of his 21 years as Chair of
CLASS NOTES
the Department of Medicine. We all knew our fellow classmate from the six-year program had great promise. There is now a standing challenge from the Class ‘68 for the upcoming 50th reunion class to exceed our recordsetting reunion gift in 2018 of just under $500,000. The new goal is to exceed this figure or to reach $1M by creative use of IRA rollovers and prudent estate planning. The Class ‘68 looks forward to the leadership of our women colleagues in promoting our 55th reunion in 2023.”
1969
Marc Hirsch of Bowling Green, Kentucky, writes, “Hello, Boston University School of Medicine. I graduated in 1969 and retired in 2011. Before I retired, I began writing historical detective fiction set in the 1950s New York City with a female protagonist modeled after my older sister. It was the beginning of the Alice White Investigator series, of which I am writing the fourth installment right now. Discounted copies of The Case, Hard Case, and The Con Case are available for any modern e-reader, including Kindle and Nook, and in paperback at my online store, marchirsch.com.”
Michael Salcman of Baltimore, Maryland, writes, “I closed my medical practice on September 30, 2019, just a few months before the pandemic began. Ilene and I were delighted to attend my 50th class reunion at BUSM in October and see that many of my classmates were easily recognizable. My career as a poet has continued to flourish, even if only on a virtual basis. In May 2019 I was invited to lecture at Newcastle University (UK) at the annual Hippocrates Meeting devoted to Medicine and Poetry on how I had constructed Poetry in Medicine, my anthology of classic and contemporary poems on doctors, patients, illness, and healing. While there, I had the honor of doing a joint reading of my poems with Carolyn Forche, noted poet and activist. My fourth collection, Shades & Graces: New Poems, the inaugural winner of the Daniel Hoffman Legacy Book Prize, came out June 1, 2020, when the pandemic really got rolling and no in-person readings were possible. Nevertheless, it received a glowing review in the spring issue 2021 of the Hudson Review under the heading “Poetry for a Pandemic Spring.” I have already received the page and cover proofs of my forthcoming fifth collection, Necessary Speech: New & Selected Poems. I like to have all the poems in my books first see the light of day in at least one literary magazine; the approval of another editor is always reassuring. In November 2021 I turned 75, but I am still writing, editing, and submitting. Ilene and I have the usual physical complaints of age, but we are getting ready to visit our grandchildren in California for the holidays, our first trip out of state since the pandemic hit. We need the escape and wish all of you well.”
1972
James Brasic of Baltimore, Maryland, writes, “I lead international teams for clinical translational research of neuropsychiatric disorders and welcome opportunities to collaborate with colleagues around the world. I participated in an oral history project on medical education, Brasic J, Goodman J. James Brasic and Jack Goodman. Archive StoryCorps. Interview ID MBY020614. 2021.”
Bob Friedman of Lakeville, Maryland, writes, “After 34 years in primary care internal medicine, I joined a big medical group and that was clearly not for me, as I lasted less than three months in that environment. I kind of retired but have had several jobs since then. I had a house call job, then did some telemedicine. I worked as a jail doctor in the Plymouth County House of Correction; the administration and I did not see eye to eye on proper patient care, but I did last 16 months. They did not respond to my ultimatum on how to fix things, so I left. I then walked into a psych hospital and immediately got a job doing medical care on the psychiatric patients; I felt a lot safer in the prison than I did there, as they basically had no security. They did have several clinics for patients with substance use disorders, so I got the waiver and began working in a clinic right away and did that for over four years. I felt this was some of the most important work I had ever done, but the organization was poorly run and I had to leave, taking a break anyway with the pandemic. I am now working for Recovery Connection, a very well-run organization; my clinic is in Brockton. It is only one day a week and I have a nonmedical job with Automotion International in Middleborough. Basically, I drive beautiful, new, high-end cars out to auto writers in New England, where they keep them for one week to do the reviews. The cars are great, but I generally listen to books all the way. So, I have a driving job on Tuesdays and a drug use job on Thursdays. Plenty of time for my favorite sport of cycling and I completed my 22nd Pan Mass Challenge last August. Our youngest grandchild is four and a half and there is plenty of time for him, family, and more reading and outside work. At 75, I guess I am in my last quarter, but it seems to be going well so far.”
Russell Jaffe of Ashburn, Virginia, writes, “Lifelong health in the challenging 21st century is the topic of HSC Press’s first book for consumers based on nature’s Alkaline Way, self-assessments and predictive biomarkers. Personalized primary predictive proactive prevention practice protocols are available online through PIH Academy at HealthStudiesCollegium.org. Join us in promoting well-being even as we marinate in a virtual sea of toxins and distress.”
Russell Jaffe, MD (MED’72) overlooking a group of orangutans.
CLASS NOTES
Richard Chung, MD (MED’73) with wife Linda and one of his daughters.
1973
Richard Chung of Honolulu, Hawaii, writes, “As of November, I will be the Medical Director of the Hawaii Health Network, a newly formed clinically integrated network (CIN) of 3 IPAs/ POs and Adventist Castle Hospital in Honolulu/ Oahu, Hawaii. Unfortunately, I will have to tell my wife Linda that I will be unretiring for the 4th time, for one more start-up. I miss Boston and with the COVID situation easing in Hawaii, our family hopes to visit Boston and family soon.”
Michael Feinberg of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, writes, “This picture is from Ari and Kate’s wedding last year. He is a resident in Medicine and she is a resident in Psychiatry. Our older son, Josh, is a psychiatric social worker and Termeh is an epidemiologist; Gabby is eight. Helen is a mostly retired attorney doing courtordered custody mediations, and I am in private practice after 22 years in academia, building and running a small psychiatry department and various other jobs. I was president of the PA Psychiatric Society and spent eight years on the board of the PA Medical Society. And I may be the only member of the American Psychoanalytic Association with a PhD in Pharmacology.”
Michael Feinberg, MD (MED’73), left, pictured at the wedding of son Ari and daughter-in-law, Kate.
1974
David Chronley of Narragansett, Rhode Island, writes, “I’m still working in my hometown, clamming and helping my wife with her oyster farm. Still enjoy practice; three kids healthy and fine. LIFE IS GOOD!!”
Robert Gilman of Ann Arbor, Michigan, writes, “After 31 years practicing plastic surgery in the Boston area, I took an offer and moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and became an assistant professor, director of aesthetic surgery, and member of the full-time faculty at the University of Michigan. I taught residents in the Harvard program at MGH for many years and came to the conclusion that teaching plastic surgery was now the most rewarding aspect of my professional life. The University of Michigan gave me the opportunity to follow that path full time, and it has been a wonderful experience. In February 2022 I will lead my 23rd pediatric reconstructive surgical mission to Colombia under the auspices of Healing the Children, Northeast. To date, our team has operated on 1,190 children with a variety of congenital, traumatic, and disease-related deformities. I have had the privilege to mentor 44 residents over the years who have accompanied us on these mission trips. This experience makes me especially grateful to all those who mentored me during my years at BU as a medical student, dental student, and resident. As many of us approach or have already reached retirement, we can all reflect on our experiences in the BUSM Class of 1974.”
Tom Insel of Pleasanton, California, writes, “Deb and I are enjoying life on our small farm in Northern California with children and grandchildren nearby. My book, Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health, will be out in February 2022. Continuing to work with a number of digital mental health start-ups and nonprofits. Recently came back to BU to receive an honorary degree with the Class of 2020, several months after the Class of 2021 graduation. Amazing to see the changes at BUSM. And so moving to witness the joy of the new graduates who were returning to BU after almost 18 months of pandemic separation.”
Alice Rothchild of Seattle, Washington, writes, “I am currently writing a memoir in verse for young adult readers, The Life and Times of a Rebellious Woman, describing growing up in the ‘50s and ‘60s and becoming a feminist physician at a time when women were just beginning to enroll in medical school and enter careers such as ob-gyn. There is a lot I can say in poetry—cathartic, angry, funny, and meaningful stories that the younger generations need to hear.”
1976
Randy Birken of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, writes, “At 71 years old, continue to do telemedicine for plant-based hormones for men and women from my home. Published a book, The Bio-identical Way: Patient Profiles in Natural Hormone Optimization. Appreciated the medical educational integrity I received at BUSM; those basics remain foundations within my medical acumen.”
Mark Goulston of West Los Angeles, California, writes, “I cocreated and moderated a multi-honored documentary called Stay Alive: An Intimate Conversation about Suicide Prevention, and also was featured in another documentary called Tell My Story, about a father’s search for the reasons behind the suicide of his teenage son.”
Barry Zamost of Long Beach, California, writes, “After 40 years in the private practice of gastroenterology, I fully retired this year. Enjoying time with my wife and grandchildren, volunteer work, golf, and training for and completing my 7th Alcatraz swim.”
CLASS NOTES
Michael Israel, MD (MED’77) with his grandchildren.
1977
Michael Israel of Wainscott, New York, writes, “After 41 years practicing internal medicine I will be retiring in June 2022. I have been an attending physician at Stony Brook/ Southampton Hospital since 1981. I was in private practice until 2008 when I became a hospitalist and also became an attending physician in Stony Brook’s residency program. I had a very rewarding career, but it’s time to retire while I’m still healthy. I want to spend time with my grandchildren, tour Europe on a motorcycle, develop my hobby in photography, and just live! I am forever grateful to BUSM!”
1978
Mitchell Engler of Teaneck, New Jersey, writes, “Retired from pulmonary/critical care/sleep medicine on June 30, 2021. Slowly transitioning to the next phase. Lots of grandchild care, some cautious travel. Embracing the stress-free life!”
Tom Higgins of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, writes, “Recently published a method for benchmarking mortality using electronic medical record data. As chief medical officer for the Center for Case Management (www.cfcm.com), consult on hospital quality issues nationwide, while continuing clinical practice part time in the Baystate Medical Center ICU in Springfield.”
1980
Andrew Wexler of Pacific Palisades, California, writes, “Last month I was honored by being inducted into the ACS Academy of Master Surgical Educators. Additionally, I received the American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons Presidential Honorary Award for ‘countless contributions and service, and your enormous impact on the field of maxillofacial surgery by educating and mentoring generations of plastic surgeons.’ My greatest professional enjoyment has been working with scores of young surgeons both in the US and internationally, and I hope to have a few more years to do so.”
1981
Ira Papel of Lutherville, Maryland, writes, “It is hard to believe that we graduated 40 years ago. Since leaving BUSM I did my training at Johns Hopkins and UCSF, and have practiced facial plastic and reconstructive surgery in Baltimore since that time. While in private practice, I serve as professor in the departments of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery and plastic surgery at Johns Hopkins. I stay busy clinically and am codirector of the Facial Plastic Surgery Fellowship at Hopkins. We have a steady stream of residents and fellows in the office, which keeps me in touch with lots of modern ideas and innovations. I have had the good fortune to lecture in diverse countries all over the world. While the pandemic has interrupted my travels, it has provided more time to practice my golf skills.”
1983
Ronald Lindsay of St. Johns, Florida, writes that he recently retired after over three decades as a developmental-behavioral pediatrician. Received national recognition for research, teaching, healthcare delivery, and program development. In research, he was the lead pediatrician in the National Institutes of Mental Health Research Units of Pediatric Psychopharmacology Autism Network with NIMH on studies on the first FDA approved medication (risperidone) for treating disruptive behaviors in children with autism. He announced the research findings at the Pediatric Academic Societies’ annual meeting prior to publication in the New England Journal of Medicine. Wrote the grant application for, and then successfully directed, the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Program at The Ohio State University for almost five years. He won the 2003 Ambulatory Pediatric Association Health Care Delivery Award. The surgeon general of the US, ADM David Satcher, later personally congratulated Dr. Lindsay and cited his health care model as “Model Program/Creative Program” in his report, “Closing the Gap, Report of the Surgeon General’s Conference on Health Disparities, and Mental Retardation.” Finally, he created significant improvements in the care of children with disabilities in North Dakota, where he won the Air Force Commendation Medal in 1990. He wrote 16 articles in peer-reviewed journals, eight as first or corporate author, 11 book chapters, 33 nonpeer-reviewed articles, reviews, letters to the editor, 24 abstracts to national academic meetings, and 45 invited lectures. He now lives in Jacksonville, Florida, with his wife Kathleen.
1984
Mark Wolozin of Sandy Springs, Georgia, writes, “Continue to practice as noninvasive specialist with Georgia Heart Institute in Gainesville. COVID hit our center hard but family is vaccinated and well. Thirty years living in Sandy Springs. Son finished at UGA this spring and heads to medical school in the fall. Daughter in NYC, recent Cornell Tech MBA, married in spring with wedding next summer. Wife Tina (BU’81) staying well and busy. My side interest has been now 12 years with NC ski area as patroller and instructor (first aid and skiing/toboggan).”
Jack Yu of Porter Ranch, California, writes, “I had my 30-year work anniversary, as associate program director of Adventist health family medicine residency in Glendale, California, near downtown Los Angeles. My wife works in
CLASS NOTES
child evangelism fellowship in administration. My daughter is about to finish an MD/PhD at Loma Linda University, and applying to med peds. My other daughter is a data scientist at Disney Plus.”
1987
Vince Fonseca of El Paso, Texas, writes, “I started a pediatrics residency but quit after the first year. Since I owed the Army for a college scholarship, I went to Germany to do primary care for three years to figure out what I wanted to do. I decided on preventive medicine and did a residency at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. I stayed a total of eight years in the Army, then switched to the Air Force and moved to San Antonio. I did nine years at Brooks AFB there. Then became the first Latino Texas State Epidemiologist during the last pandemic for three and a half years. Back to San Antonio working half time for a software development company developing custom clinical decision support for government clients and consulting with nonprofits; became board-certified in clinical informatics. Then to medical school in San Antonio for three years, developing a home visiting curriculum with a focus on healthrelated social needs and child unintentional injury prevention until that got eliminated from the curriculum. I got board-certified in lifestyle medicine. I went to Loma Linda, CA VA to become the preventive medicine clinic chief as a grant-funded temporary job. Now I’m at the El Paso VA as the whole health medical director.”
Barbarajean (BJ) Magnani of Newburyport, Massachusetts, writes, “In 2019, I stepped down as chair of pathology and laboratory medicine at Tufts Medical Center (Tufts University School of Medicine) to pursue a full-time career as a novelist. My third novel, A Message in Poison, continues the story of Dr. Lily Robinson, a Boston pathologist who has been recruited by the US government as an assassin. Part of the proceeds from my novels helps support free breast and cervical cancer screening through the College of American Pathologists Foundation.”
1989
Mubin Syed of Springfield, Ohio, was featured in a Springfield News Sun story about his medical device company RAM Medical Innovations, founded in 2016, that received $1.7 million in funding to create a device that will help reverse the effects of a stroke by restoring blood flow to the brains of stroke victims. The grant is from the National Institutes of Health’s Small Business Innovation and Research Program, which is administered by the Department of Health and Human Services.
1991
David Druckman of Edina, Minnesota, writes, “I have not written a book, started a nonprofit, got a new job, or been recognized for my work. However, my wife, Beth, and I travelled to LA in October to visit our son, and had a reunion with Mina Ma and John Timmerman. We had a nice time reminiscing about our time at BUSM and talking about what has happened in the 30 years since then. I also recently reconnected with George Kasparyan. I am totally enjoying my career in OB/GYN, practicing in Shakopee, the most ethnically diverse city in Minnesota.”
Charnjit Singh of New York, New York, writes, “Hi everyone, hope you are safe and well. My wife, Dolly Chugh, and my daughters (Maya, 16, and Asha, 15) are fully moved into NYC. We left suburbia for my kids’ schooling. My wife finally has a shorter commute to NYU, where she works as a professor. I am still in private practice doing GI on Long Island. It was great to see Suneet Mittal, who lives 5 blocks away from me, and Rob Pass recently. I’ve been in touch with Jess Lonner, who was so helpful in connecting me to his former colleagues at NYU when my daughter needed knee surgery from a soccer injury. It was really great to connect with Helen Kim and Rock recently; it was also great to connect with Jean Francois. We are enjoying that city as it slowly and carefully opens up again. We love Broadway, sporting events, museums, and walks along the East River and Central Park. And we are loving our Boston Terrier, Cocoa. It is hard to believe 30 years has elapsed since we graduated. Maybe it’s a sign of age that I reflect a bit on those formative and amazing years. Our class was filled with an amazing cast of brilliant, funny, and kind characters. I am grateful for that time.”
David Druckman, MD (MED’91) standing with wife Beth and fellow alumni Mina Ma, MD (MED’91) and John Timmerman, MD (MED’91). Charnjit Singh, MD (MED’91) with wife Dolly Chugh and daughters Maya and Asha.
1992
David Shein of Wayland, Massachusetts, writes, “I want to share news of my recent book publication, Clinical Medicine for Optometrists (Wolters Kluwer, 2020). In addition to practicing primary care/internal medicine in Wellesley, Massachusetts, I am also adjunct associate professor at the New England College of Optometry, where I teach clinical medicine to optometry students. Since I could not find a suitable text for my course, I decided to write one! Together with my coeditor Rachel Druckenbrod (who took my course years ago) and associate editor Thomas Freddo (with whom I taught in South Africa), we completed the book in time for publication in December 2020.”
CLASS NOTES
1993
Keyvan Nouri of Miami Beach, Florida, writes, “I continue to serve as the chair of the University of Miami Medical Group (1,400 physician members). I have been appointed the incoming assistant secretary treasurer (leading to becoming the secretary treasurer) of the American Academy of Dermatology starting March 2022, lasting for six years. This is the largest and most impactful dermatology organization in the world, with over 20,000 members. My book, Skin Cancer: A Comprehensive Guide, will be published by McGraw Hill. This will be my 13th published textbook.”
1994
Fatai Ilupeju of Westwood, Massachusetts, writes, “I am currently the chief of anesthesia at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, and I have been involved in various international medical and surgical missions in the last 12 years.”
1995
Frank Christopher of Carthage, North Carolina, writes, “Recently retired (a second time, retired from the Army in 2015) from full-time EM practice and am now the medical director of Pfeiffer University’s new MPAS program in central North Carolina. I’m working locums to keep clinically active and traveling quite a bit with Greer and our 11-year-old son, Logan. Often see several folks from BUSM classes of ‘94 and ‘96 around town…Go Pats!!”
1996
Deborah Burke of St. Petersburg, Florida, writes, “Hello, everyone. I hope you all are doing great. I remember you as a wonderful group of people, smart, kind, and dedicated. I am working at the University of South Florida in the Movement Disorders/Parkinson’s Center, where I did a fellowship after finishing residency. I have a wide range of patients with movement disorders. I also work for Accel Clinical Research, a private company with multiple sites. I am a PI for clinical trials for neurologic indications such as MS, migraine, ADHD, TBI, DPN, and Alzheimer’s. We were involved in the trials for Aducanumab. I was blessed to be able to adopt a fantastic baby girl almost 20 years ago, just after fellowship. She’s going to school, working, living the life. She comes and goes, was in Boston to see the band 21 Pilots at BU recently. We live in St. Petersburg, Florida, a beautiful, amazing city.”
1997
Gayle Ryan of Manheim, Pennsylvania, writes, “It’s been a long time! I think back fondly of my time at BU! I am a general surgeon, completed my active duty and working still with our soldiers now at the VA. My greatest pride is my wonderful family, as my three kids forge their own way in our world. I was nostalgic recently as my son rowed in the Head of the Charles for West Point, remembering watching that race from my Bay State dorm room!”
1998
Jeffery Lee of Northridge, California, writes, “I was installed as the 150th president of the Los Angeles County Medical Association, which has nearly 7,000 physician members. In my year as president, my priorities are to advance physician wellness through our Medical Practice Makeover Initiative helping doctors improve their office workflows.”
Eva Pickler of Upperville, Virginia, writes, “On August 28th, 2021, my husband Stirling and I summited Mt. Kilimanjaro. I first got the idea to do this trek while I was at BU and finally had the opportunity to make it a reality. We trained for many months for this challenge and had an adventure of a lifetime.”
Richard Romero of Somerville, Massachusetts, writes, “Collaborated with East Boston Neighborhood Health Center and BMC in 2021 to run the COVID vaccine site at the Revere Wonderland Ballroom to vaccinate the underrepresented residents and combat racial inequality.”
Frank Christopher, MD (MED’95) with son Logan. Go Pats!! Gayle Ryan, MD (MED’97) with her family. Eva Pickler, MD (MED’98) with husband Stirling at the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
CLASS NOTES
1999
Selene Parekh of Durham, North Carolina, writes, “Dr. Selene Parekh (CAS’94, MBA’99, MED’99) developed a 3D printed total talus replacement implant that can be used for motion sparring options for patients with failed total ankles, avascular necrosis of the talus, and associated adjacent joint arthritis.”
2002
Amy Fogelman of Needham, Massachusetts, writes, “Amy G. Fogelman, MD, founded MED LAW Consulting in 2018 to help find qualified medical experts for attorneys’ litigation needs. Attorneys hire her to find the right medical experts for their cases. Amy also discovered that while many medical professionals were interested in serving as medical experts in theory, they were unsure how to actually do that. So, in 2020, Amy began formally advising medical professionals on the ins and outs of performing medical expert work. She also created a course for medical experts who are just starting out.”
Paul Ko of Carmel, Indiana, writes, “Paul Ko, MD, MEd, is currently associate dean for curricular development & oversight at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, Indiana. In this role, I oversee the medical school curriculum across nine campuses throughout the state at the largest allopathic medical school in the country. In addition to being busy adjusting the curriculum due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been incorporating DEI and health disparities competencies and topics into the med school curriculum to better prepare future physicians. I have also served on several LCME accreditation site visit teams and had the recent opportunities to work alongside Dean Antman and Associate Dean Goodell on two different LCME site teams over the last year.”
Michelle Magid of Eastham, Massachusetts, writes, “Dr. Michelle Magid was awarded the 2021 Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians Distinguished Service Award.”
2007
Jamin Brahmbhatt of Clermont, Florida, writes, “In 2021, I had the privilege of serving as the president of the Florida Urological Society. The society represents the over 1,000 urologists and APPs in the state of Florida. I will be one of the youngest to serve in this elected role. I still remember the day I got inspired to pursue a career in urology—walking into the OR at BMC, watching Dr. Babayan and Dr. Wang use the robot to remove a prostate. The light bulb went off and now the rest is history.”
Meet Kane, beautiful son of Dallas Reed (MED’10).
2010
Dallas Reed of Boston, Massachusetts, writes, “We welcomed a baby boy named Kane 13 weeks early, in June. He was in the NICU at Tufts Children’s Hospital for 74 days and is now thriving at home! I was also featured in the Candy O’Terry podcast, The Secret to Her Success.”
2019
Amir Gilad of Boston, Massachusetts, writes, “A lot has changed in the three years since graduating from BUSM, though I am still right at home completing my IM residency at BMC. In addition to becoming a physician, I became a husband and a father, and after a long 18 months of the pandemic, we were finally able to return to Toronto to visit our families. Next year I will be staying at BUMC as one of the internal medicine chief residents, and afterward I plan to pursue a fellowship in cardiology!” n
My years at Boston University School of Medicine were some of the best of my life.”
Education is a gift. Pass it on.
To learn more about how you can make a charitable gift in your will to support BU, contact Boston University Planned Giving at 800-645-2347 or opg@bu.edu, or visit bu.edu/plannedgiving.
Henry Spring (MED’81)
A BEQUEST INTENTION
For Henry Spring, Boston University School of Medicine provided more than an excellent education. It also gave him a community: a place of support and companionship where all participants—students, faculty, and staff— worked together to bring top-notch healthcare to everyone, particularly the underserved.
Three “pillars” grounded him there: his love of the Gross Anatomy Lab; his gratitude to mentors Phyllis Stevens, then director of the Office of Minority Affairs, and William F. McNary, Jr., PhD, former associate professor of anatomy and dean of Student Affairs; and the social interaction with his classmates. “We were there for each other,” he says.
Spring wants other aspiring doctors to experience what he did, so he has established a bequest intention to endow a scholarship fund, with a preference for students of color, and secondarily to support the needs of the Gross Anatomy Lab.
Born in Harlem and raised in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, Spring knows what it’s like not to come from privilege. “I don’t come from money so I don't really need money—it’s not really part of my genetic makeup, my heritage,” says Spring. “I know that I won't spend the money I have before I die, but I plan to die broke. What better way than through planned giving to ensure that my money will go someplace that means so much to me—a place that can mean so much to someone else as well?”
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Calendar 2022
APRIL 28 APRIL 29 MAY 2 MAY 19
Keefer Society Dinner
Dean’s Advisory Board Meeting
Class of 2024 White Coat Ceremony
Talbot Green
GMS Class of 2022 Commencement
BU Track & Tennis Center
MD/PhD Class of 2022 Commencement
BU Track & Tennis Center
