Georgia Medicine, Fall 2008 by Augusta University

Georgia MEDICAL COLLEGE OF

EDICINE M SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

VOL. 1

N O. 1

the

TEAM

Approach

Six ‘Discovery Institutes’ Link MCG’s Translational Research Portfolio

FALL 2008

Georgia MEDICAL COLLEGE OF

FALL 2008

VOL. 1

NO. 1

m c g. e d u / s o m / g e o rg i a m e d i c i n e Medical College of Georgia Medicine is produced bi-annually by MCG Division of University Advancement with financial support by the School of Medicine.

MCG President Daniel W. Rahn, M.D. School of Medicine Dean D. Douglas Miller, M.D., C.M. Vice President for External Affairs R. Bryan Ginn Jr. Director of Strategic Communications Caryl Cain Brown

MEDICINE

A Publication of the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine

on the COVER

The Team Approach Discovery Institutes

School of Medicine creates multidisciplinary model to speed translational research

Editor Damon Cline Design P.J. Hayes Design Photographers Phil Jones, Wesley Hobbs

DEPARTMENTS

Writers Toni Baker Damon Cline Amy Connell Sharron Walls

ÂŠ2008 The Medical College of Georgia is the heath sciences university for the University System of Georgia.

Medical College of Georgia Medicine welcomes submissions to the Viewpoints column. Typed essays (approximately 750 words) on health care issues should be submitted to: Damon Cline, Editor Medical College of Georgia, FI-2025 Augusta, GA 30912 dcline@mcg.edu 706-721-4706 phone 800-328-6057 fax

Matthew Rudy Class president also an advocate on a national level.

20 22 26

News at a Glance Looking Back Student Spotlight Faculty Focus D. Douglas Miller, M.D., C.M.

Viewpoints D rs. Darrell G. Kirch and D. Douglas Miller

Georgia Medicine captures MCG spirit, innovation

From the Dean

D. Douglas Miller, M.D., C.M.

Positive Reception Researcher examines the effects of drug on retinal health

Dr. Leila Denmark Alumna now world’s 65th oldest person.

The Ellisons

Pillars

The Ellisons

Generations of Giving Class Notes

PHIL JONES

he launch of the new bi-annual Medical College of Georgia Medicine magazine offers an exciting opportunity to bring our alums, peer institutions and stakeholders “under the tent” on the many happenings at the MCG School of Medicine. You might ask, “In an era of electronic communication, why kill all those trees?” Well, to be fair, the great majority of U.S. and Canadian medical schools regularly publish a magazine – I receive several such glossy paper oeuvres d’art each month, celebrating the people and projects that define these unique medical schools. Although we all share the central mission of preparing students for careers in medicine, these medical schools are each products of long histories, great characters and numerous accomplishments that tell an important story. To date, that story has gone untold from an MCG School of Medicine perspective. Medical College of Georgia Medicine gives us license to delve into present-day accomplishments and future challenges, all linked to the remarkable 180-year history of MCG’s founding school. The Association of American Medical Colleges is the central repository for information on medical education and medical schools in North America. Our school, known simply as “Georgia” to the AAMC, regularly submits data so that we can compare ourselves to our public- and private-sector peers. From class to faculty demographics, from student scores to student debt, from sources of revenue to philanthropic activity… the AAMC sees and knows all about its members. But all that data, that objectivity and comparability, really isn’t the whole story. It is the bones, but not the sinew and fiber nor the guts and brains of a medical school. For that side of our story, you now have an equally definitive but much more colorful source – Medical College of Georgia Medicine. So as you turn these glossy pages, scanning the graphics and smiling at the many photogenic faces, we hope you will feel the richness of what is going on daily at our many medical education campuses and technology-infused classrooms, and what is being translated from our modern research lab benches into multidisciplinary clinics across the state of Georgia. Hopefully, you will also want to lend your support to our outstanding faculty in their efforts to turn out the best doctors anywhere, and our talented students in their search for rewarding personal lives and professional careers in medicine. It is great to be the dean of this exceptional and unique medical school. There are plenty of stories to tell, and lots of great materials for the glossy pages still on the drawing board for our spring 2009 Medical College of Georgia Medicine issue. Tell us what you think – we want your ideas and reactions. And as ever, our goal remains the same – to “Change, Innovate and Educate.” Thanks for your support.

THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

News at a Glance

MCG School of Medicine officials tour the former O’Malley’s building, which is being renovated into a medical teaching facility at the University of Georgia.

The School of Medicine plans to enroll its first students at the Athens campus in fall 2010 as part of the University System of Georgia’s plan to increase its class size by 60 percent to a total enrollment of 1,200 by 2020 to help meet Georgia’s need for physicians.

Athens campus ready for students in 2010 MCG’s School of Medicine is taking a leadership role to meet Georgia’s future physician needs through an aggressive plan to increase its number of medical students 60 percent by 2020. A major component of the plan, developing a four-year campus in Athens through a partnership with the University of Georgia, is on track to enroll its first class of 40 medical students in fall 2010. The University System of Georgia Board of Regents-endorsed plan also recommends simultaneous expansion at MCG’s home campus in Augusta as well as its clinical campuses in Albany and Savannah. “The platform for our expansion is two things: maintaining academic program excellence and accreditation,” Dean D. Douglas Miller said. “We have an academically outstanding program, thanks to the efforts of our faculty and the quality of our students. We have high applicant interest, 2,162 applications for 190 spots, and student pass rates often above national averages on board exams.” Georgia’s governor and legislature earlier this year approved about $13 million for the expansion plan, including $3 million

Fa l l 0 8

Dr. Schuster’s selection follows a national search that began in the spring. Recruiting is under way for 14 additional positions for the Athens campus, including chairs of basic and clinical sciences and an initial cohort of faculty, said School of Medicine Dean D. Douglas Miller.

to design a new School of Medicine education commons building for the Augusta campus.

Ohio medical school administrator named MCG Athens dean Dr. Barbara L. Schuster assumed her duties as dean of the Medical College of Georgia/University of Georgia Medical Partnership Campus in Athens on Nov. 1. The internist and seasoned medical educator was previously chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at Wright State University’s Boonshoft School of Medicine in Ohio. “We are happy to have Dr. Schuster, a proven and passionate educator, physician and administrator, lead this innovative campus that will leverage the significant strengths of Georgia’s health sciences university and the state’s flagship institution of higher education,” said Dr. Daniel W. Rahn, MCG president and senior vice chancellor for health and medical programs for the University System of Georgia.

“Dr. Schuster is exactly the right person to lead this critical initiative to help address the shortage of physicians in Georgia,” said University of Georgia President Michael F. Adams. Dr. Schuster, who just completed a year as a Robert G. Petersdorf Scholarin-Residence at the Association of American Medical Colleges, said she is excited about her new responsibilities. “I think this is a great opportunity and good for the state of Georgia,” Dr. Schuster said. “No partnership exists like this. It’s a wonderful way to think about expansion for other states.”

New medical education facilities planned The recent acquisition of a 15-acre parcel adjacent to the MCG campus will expand the university’s footprint by 20 percent and provide the School of Medicine with an education building and shared space with the MCG School of Dentistry. School officials are consulting with architects to design a facility that will consolidate administrative offices and create new lecture halls and simulation classrooms. The building will sit on part of a parcel formerly occupied by the Gilbert Manor public housing complex. The property, owned by the Augusta Housing Authority, was acquired through a $10 million allocation from the Augusta Commission to the University System of Georgia Board of Regents. Other campus expansion projects include the $2.5 million acquisition of 3.8-acres by the MCG Real Estate Corp. (now known as the Georgia Health Sciences University Foundation), to be developed into new student housing.

An artist’s rendering of new School of Medicine facilities proposed at MCG.

MCG creates new foundation

School receives LCME accreditation

MCG’s new foundation is seeking U.S. Internal Revenue Service approval for 501(c)(3) charitable organization status to begin accepting tax- deductible contributions.

The School of Medicine has received full accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the accrediting body for the country’s medical schools.

The MCG Real Estate Corp. Board of Directors voted Aug. 14 to change its name and reconstitute its bylaws allowing it to serve as the new institutionally related foundation. The new organization, the Georgia Health Sciences University Foundation Inc., will serve as the entity charged to manage, invest and steward charitable gifts to the university and to MCG Health, Inc., the not-for-profit corporation that manages the clinical operations of MCG.

The LCME also said plans for the Athens campus were well-conceived. “Under the most rigorous accreditation standards ever imposed, 133 standards by which we are judged, [our] performance was viewed by the accrediting body as outstanding in almost all respects,” Dr. Miller said. The report cited strengths including Dr. Miller’s vision and leadership and the effectiveness of education administrators and faculty. The dean will provide a status report to LCME by May 2010 on areas including financial aid, debt counseling, self-directed learning, patient exposures and faculty and student diversity. While the 18-month self-study and January site visit by LCME focused on the Augusta campus, the accreditation helps pave the way for the school’s statewide expansion, said Dr. RuthMarie Fincher, vice dean for academic affairs for the School of Medicine and coordinator of the self-study.

Trustee board officers are Clayton P. Boardman, president of Augusta Capital, LLC, chair; Monty Osteen, a retired banking executive from Augusta, treasurer; and Robert C. Osborne, executive vice president of Georgia Bank and Trust of Augusta, secretary. Other members include Bill Bowes, MCG vice president for finance; Dr. William P. Brooks, a 1967 School of Medicine alumnus; Phil Jacobs, retired president of BellSouth Communities Technology; Dr. Samuel B. Kellett, chair and president of SBK Capital, LLC and MCG’s sole honorary doctorate recipient; Elizabeth C. Ogie, director of Synovus Financial Corp.; Dr. Dan Rahn, president of MCG; Dr. Louvenia A. Rainge, a 1990 School of Dentistry alumna; Don Snell, president and CEO of MCG Health, Inc.; and Dr. Betty B. Wray, a 1960 School of Medicine alumna. Bryan Ginn, MCG vice president for university advancement, will serve as an ex officio, non-voting trustee.

“This shows our educational foundation, resources and commitment are sound and sufficient to support an expanded program,” she said.

GEORGIA Medicine

the

TEAMApproach

The Discovery Institutes School of Medicine creates multidisciplinary model to speed translational research BY DAMON CLINE

Fa l l 0 8

WHAT KEEPS

a mother’s immune system from attacking the fetus?

That paradox, first articulated in 1953 by Nobel Laureate scientist Sir Peter Medawar, was explained in part in 1998 by an MCG School of Medicine team headed by a pediatric hematologist/oncologist and an immunogenetics researcher. The collaboration between the M.D., Dr. David Munn, and the Ph.D., Dr. Andrew Mellor, resulted in the discovery that a fetus expresses the enzyme indoleamine 2.3-dioxygenase, or IDO, which helps protect it from rejection by the mother. This team later proved that cancer and some viruses, including HIV, also express IDO to short-circuit the body’s immune system. Now, after a decade of experiments, discovery of the IDO mechanism is moving from bench to bedside at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Fla., where cancer patients participating in an early clinical trial are receiving an IDO inhibitor along with chemotherapy. Future studies could lead to new methods of treating chronic infections and reducing organ transplant rejection. As important as IDO is for the field of immunotherapy, the landmark discovery that explained the long-standing immunological paradox might never have occurred if the clinical researcher and the basic scientist worked independently. But Dr. Mellor, a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar and director of the MCG Immunotherapy Center, has been collaborating with Dr. Munn, director of the Cancer Immunotherapy Program at the MCG Cancer Center, since Dr. Mellor’s arrival at MCG in 1995. “One day David was summarizing what he had been learning about IDO and I heard him say, ‘It’s expressed in the placenta.’ When he said that, it clicked in my brain,” Dr. Mellor said. “I wondered if this has something to do with the paradox, and that’s

where the experiments came from. It was a magic moment.” MCG’s School of Medicine aims to create more of those “magic moments” through the recently launched Discovery Institutes initiative, a multimillion-dollar program to speed the process of turning research breakthroughs into medical treatments. “Future progress in patient care can occur only by connecting robust basic science to rigorous clinical trials,” said School of Medicine Dean D. Douglas Miller, who was the impetus behind the initiative. “Our new Discovery Institutes will purposefully place our people into closer programmatic proximity, thereby enhancing the likelihood of future ‘magic moments’ that will translate into better health.” There are six institutes in all. Each will operate under a formal structure encouraging researchers and clinicians to collaborate on translational research. Five are aligned with the School of Medicine’s thematic research priorities to address specific health issues facing Georgians: Brain & Behavior, Diabetes & Obesity, Immunology, Vision Science and Cardiovascular. The sixth, the Education Discovery Institute, will use the same research-focused, multidisciplinary approach to improve medical education. The MCG Cancer Center, though not formally a part of the Discovery Institutes initiative, fills the role of a “Cancer Discovery Institute” because it follows the multidisciplinary, translational-focused clinical research model used by the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institutes. continued on 6

GEORGIA Medicine

Percent Growth

Crucial for future funding Creation of the School of Medicine’s Discovery Institutes dovetails with the National Institutes of Health’s much-publicized Roadmap for Medical Research, the federal government’s vision for a more efficient and productive way to apply laboratory knowledge to the diagnosis and treatment of disease. The plan will shift $2.1 billion in research funding during the next five years to medical centers involved in translational research through the NIH’s Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) initiative. In 2012, when the CTSA program is fully implemented, approximately 60 academic medical centers and clusters of centers will be connected to an annual budget of $500 million. MCG’s 2007 partnership with the Medical University of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina has created the Southeastern Clinical and Translational Research Institute (SECTR), a regional coalition seeking CTSA status. Coalition partners were each awarded an NIH planning grant in 2006, but their CTSA grant application was not funded. Pilot studies among SECTR institutions are ongoing. MCG’s School of Medicine is currently receiving more than $46 million under NIH’s existing research funding mechanism. The school’s growth in NIH funding during the past decade, a cumulative 119 percent, is nearly double the overall growth of NIH extramural funding during the same period. (see graphic below) The new Discovery Institutes will build on this success to help position the school for additional research support as federal funding shifts to translational science during the next decade. Even if MCG is not named a CTSA program site, Dr. Miller contends that the Discovery Institutes will “emulate a CTSA-like environment for MCG scientists.” Dr. R. Clinton Webb, chair of MCG’s Department of Physiology and co-developer of the Cardiovascular Discovery Institute, said the initiative will provide an incentive to scientists who have been working under the NIH’s investigator-initiated RO1 grant program to partner with translational science Cumulative Growth in Total Cost Awards in Research Portfolios teams to receive other types of funding, such NIH Extramural vs. MCG School of Medicine as Program Project grants. “Whoever is getting RO1 funding needs 120 to recognize that big science, translational MCG School of Medicine 115.2 118.9 science, is where were going,” said Dr. Webb, 115.5 National Institutes of Health who is one of two researchers at MCG 90 100.7 overseeing an NIH Program Project grant. Growing the school’s portfolio of large-scale 69.7 69.0 68.7 research projects is crucial to future research 60 67.1 60.9 61.9 success. Consider that last year MCG’s 82 49.7 RO1 awards netted $24.5 million, while the 45.3 program project grant renewal awarded this 30 37.8 year to Georgia Prevention Institute Director 21.5 25.8 Dr. Gregory Harshfield brought in $10.6 13.0 0 million. Dr. Webb’s grant is $11 million. While RO1-type funding is not going ‘98-’99 ‘99-’00 ‘00-’01 ‘01-’02 ‘02-’03 ‘03-’04 ‘04-’05 ‘05-’06 away (it still comprises 90 percent of all NIH awards), scientists have found it more difficult to obtain RO1 grants in recent years as the number of applicants rise while the NIH budget remains flat. The RO1 process will become even more stringent as the

% growth 1998 - 2006

Fa l l 0 8

What makes a memory? Though it is believed brain cells change the way they connect with each other when we learn and remember things, no one has unlocked the secrets of genes crucial to controlling the brain’s most basic function. But Dr. Joe Z. Tsien is getting close. The co-director of the Medical College of Georgia’s Brain and Behavior Discovery Institute will help lead a diverse team of clinicians and scientists charged with translating groundbreaking research in neurogenetics Drs. David Hess and Joe Z. Tsien into therapeutics that could help those with Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia and stroke. “The best way to tackle these big questions is an integrated approach,” said Dr. Tsien, the Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Cognitive and Systems Neurobiology. “It’s no longer just a onelab one-person kind of approach.” Dr. Tsien, whose genetically engineered “smart” mouse, Doogie, landed him on the cover of Time magazine in 1999, sat down recently to talk about the potential of the BBDI. Q: Of all the Discovery Institutes, yours may have the most uncharted territory. A: (Dr. Tsien) There’s certainly a lot of fascination and unanswered big questions in the field. We’re very fortunate to be in this field and are very excited about trying to address those fundamental questions. I believe having (Co-Director and Chair of Neurology) David Hess, Peter Buckley (Chair of Psychiatry), Alleyne Cargill (Chair of Neurosurgery), and other leading clinical scientists working together within the new institute, we can cover a pretty broad range of fundamental questions, yet stay focused. Q: What are some of those areas of focus? A: We are very interested in understanding some basic phenomena, such as learning memory, but we are also tackling diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, and stroke. We want to focus on developing new technologies that have broad implications for the investigation of disease processes. Q: What has you most excited about the BBDI ? A: We’re very excited to bring a lot of various talents to MCG and work toward a common goal. We’re currently trying to recruit maybe a dozen new neuroscientists to the campus, which is a very significant expansion. Q: As a top researcher in your field, explain why multidisciplinary collaboration is important. A: Think about the complexity of the questions. Think about, say, the number of genes in our genome — 30,000, right? Well, it’s not like one gene produces all the effects. It’s really a complex network. How are you going to address those questions? There are so many different levels you can study — the molecular level, the cellular level, the system level, the behavioral level. It’s very complex; that’s why we need all the experts and try to employ various technologies as we can.

GEORGIA Medicine

PHIL JONES

Q&A NIH gives more credence to applications affiliated with a translational science program. “Within NIH, we are reaching out to all the staff who control or administer extramural research initiatives to make sure there is now an understanding of the potential advantages and cost efficiencies in research that CTSA-type institutions can offer,” said Dr. Iris Obrams, acting deputy director of the Division of Clinical Research Resources, the unit of the NIH’s National Center for Research Resources in charge of the CTSA program. Dr. Obrams said other medical schools are creating translational science programs similar to MCG’s Discovery Institutes. “There are many more institutions…that are moving in the way that you are to bridge that gap between basic science and clinical science,” she said. “In many ways, it’s becoming a national goal.” Dr. Irena Tartakovsky, the clinical research program manager for the Association of American Medical College’s Division of Biomedical and Health Sciences Research, said translational research is not a new concept for many medical schools. Several institutions, most notably Vanderbilt University, Duke University and the University of Rochester, have well-established interdisciplinary research programs, she said. “The initiatives might not have been named as ‘translational’ per se, but they were in place,” she said. continued on 8

Brain and Behavior

Vision Science

Q&A

In 2001, Dr. Julian J. Nussbaum was curious to know whether researchers at MCG were interested in collaborating with physicians. So the newly appointed chair of the Department of Ophthalmology put out a call to the vision scientists to meet with him one evening after work. Their overwhelming response to the invitation told him everything he needed to know. “Everybody came. You never know who’s going to show up when you send out an invitation like that, but there was such an interest in collaborating and getting together,” he said. Drs. Julian J. Nussbaum and Sylvia B. Smith That spirit hasn’t waned since. Collaboration should only improve as Dr. Nussbaum, an interim co-director of the newly created Vision Science Discovery Institute, leads the organization with codirector Dr. Sylvia B. Smith, a professor of cellular biology and anatomy. They say the Discovery Insitute concept will bring formal structure to an already highly interactive group of vision scientists and clinicians. “My experience has been that vision scientists are highly collaborative,” she said. “It’s a very collegial group.” We hope to recruit physician-scientists to our team to enhance translational research here at MCG. They sat down recently to talk about their team’s multidisciplinary approach to fighting blindness, the second most-feared medical condition after cancer. Q: What are the research focus areas? A: (Dr. Smith) Initially, the general areas of research emphasis would include infection and inflammation, ocular vascular disease and neuroprotection. The specific clinical areas of emphasis for study are consistent with stated research priorities of the NEI as outlined in the National Plan for Eye and Vision Research. They would include diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of blindness in working-age Americans, and glaucoma, the second leading cause of blindness. (Dr. Nussbaum) And then we have age-related macular degeneration, which is the leading cause of blindness in people over the age of 60. We are also studying herpetic diseases of the eye, one of the leading causes of corneal blindness worldwide. (Dr. Smith) Not even children are spared because of retinopathy of prematurity, which occurs in babies of low birth weight. Those are some of the major focus areas and fortunately at MCG we have people who are working in all of these areas. Q: I’m assuming diabetic retinopathy is of particular concern given the prevalence of diabetes in the South? A: (Dr. Nussbaum) We have a “diabetes belt” that actually comes through Georgia. (Dr. Smith) We have several researchers who are studying diabetic retinopathy. Scientists are approaching the problem from several viewpoints, as a vascular disease as well as a neuronal degenerative disease. I actually spoke to another colleague recently who would like to join our group who has used the pig model, which is a marvelous model. The pig eye is very similar to human eye. Q: With 14 scientists already on staff, it seems there’s real potential for discovery. A: (Dr. Smith) Not every medical school has an eye research group. They are not as prevalent as, say, cardiovascular research centers. I think we have an opportunity, with as many interested vision scientists as we have on campus, to engage in collaborative research that will benefit the citizens of Georgia and beyond.

Fa l l 0 8

Translational and transformational The Discovery Institute initiative has the potential to raise MCG’s stature as a translational research powerhouse. The school, which is already in the top 10 for annual sponsored research expenditures among medical schools where full-time faculty number fewer than 500, stands to gain even more funding simply by involving more clinical faculty in research projects. MCG’s basic science departments, for example, received $22.1 million in direct research sponsorships, which is the equivalent of $312,154 per faculty member – the second-highest among its peer institutions. Its clinical departments, however, brought in $10.5 million, or less than $24,000 per faculty member – ranking MCG No. 21 among its peers. If the clinical ranking were to reach parity with the basic science ranking, the result would be a $39.3 million increase in annual funding. “You can see there is a gap,” Dr. Miller said. “Part of the Discovery Institute concept is to close that gap by attracting clinician scientists to the basic science in those disciplines.” MCG researchers have long had a collaborative spirit. In addition to Drs. Munn and Mellor’s advances in immunology, for example, Dr. David Hess, a neurologist, and Dr. Cesario V. Borlongan, a neuroscientist, have blazed new trails in stroke research by operating outside of what Dr. Miller refers to as the historical “silos” of academic medical centers. The Discovery Institutes’ structure eschews these autonomous silos to create a more horizontal organizational linkage. Each institute will be headed by two co-directors, one M.D. and one Ph.D. (see box on 9) The co-directors will jointly oversee a team whose members include clinicians, clinical investigators, basic scientists and research staff. Translational science infrastructure provides essential core capabilities - such as research

Discovery Institutes at

a Glance

Brain & Behavior (BBDI) Co-directors: Joseph Z. Tsien, Ph.D, and David Hess, M.D. (interim) Research focus: Stroke, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s

Vision Science (VSDI) Co-directors: Sylvia B. Smith, Ph.D, and Julian J. Nussbaum, M.D. (interim) Research focus: Diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, macular degeneration, retinopathy of prematurity

Diabetes & Obesity (DODI) Co-directors: David Stepp, Ph.D, and Yanbin Dong, M.D. Research focus: Biological and behavioral triggers of youth obesity and diabetes

Each institute will be co-directed by a basic scientist (Ph.D) and a clinician (M.D.) Immuno (IDI) Co-directors: Andrew L. Mellor, Ph.D, and David H. Munn, M.D. (interim) Research focus: Chronic inflammatory disease, vaccinology, immune tolerance mechanisms, autoimmunity

Cardiovascular (CVDI) Co-directors: Stephen M. Black, Ph.D and Gaston Kapuku, M.D. Research focus: Atherosclerosis, hypertension and resulting cardiovascular conditions

Education (EDI) Co-directors: Peggy J. Wagner, Ph.D, and Ruth-Marie Fincher, M.D. Research focus: Establishing best practices for medical education

training, data coordination and outcomes assessment - will enhance the interoperability of the academic departments, centers and institutes. The co-directors, along with their key internal and external advisory groups, will analyze the Discovery Institutes’ performance to guide effective translation of the findings. Fortunately, MCG is less silo-oriented than many of its peer institutions. “That’s a big positive for a relatively small academic medical center,” said Dr. Miller, who was named School of Medicine dean in 2006. “What I saw when I came here was there was not enough gravitational force between basic and clinical research universes. There was not enough infrastructure to link them together. The Discovery Institutes are a proactive intervention to bring people and programs close enough to feel each other’s gravitational field and appreciate the reason to be closer. We’re trying to show people a side of the scientific planet that they’ve never seen.”

“

“The Discovery Institutes are a proactive intervention to bring people and programs close enough to feel each other’s gravitational field and appreciate the

Committed to discovery The institutes are receiving $5.7 million in annual recurring funding from the University System of Georgia because the concept is aligned with the system’s strategic goal of research and economic development through technology transfer. MCG President Daniel W. Rahn is fully supportive as well. “Advancing the breadth and depth of this institution has been one of my highest priorities,” he said. “The Discovery Institutes really give us a significant opportunity to improve our research.” The infusion of funding from the state will help the Discovery Institutes key personnel overcome two historical barriers to translational science: time and money. “There is tremendous pressure on basic scientists to keep their science program funded, and that takes time away from interacting with clinicians,” Dr. Miller said. “The clinicians are under tremendous pressure to take care of patients and generate clinical revenue. The time that used to be available to interact with scientists or read scientific journals is diminishing. The problem that exists is one of limited interaction. Everything works better when you have scientists who are in contact with clinicians on a regular basis.”

reason to be closer. We’re trying to show people a side of the scientific planet that they’ve never seen.” DR. D. DOUGLAS MILLER , Dean

”

continued on 10

GEORGIA Medicine

Diabetes and Obesity

Q&A

Dr. David Stepp and Dr. Yanbin Dong are tasked with leading the Medical College of Georgia’s efforts to fight what many believe is the greatest health threat to the Western world: obesity. “We’re living large, in more ways than one,” said Dr. Stepp, an associate professor in the Department of Physiology at MCG’s Vascular Biology Center. He and Dr. Dong, a professor in the Department of Pediatrics at MCG’s Georgia Prevention Institute, have been named co-directors of the Diabetes & Obesity Discovery Institute, Drs. Yanbin Dong and David Stepp which aims to unlock some of the biological and behavioral markers of obesity and diabetes – two conditions that often lead to a host of other adult diseases. Strengthening collaboration between basic scientists and clinicians may create interventional therapies that go a step beyond traditional treatment options, which so far have been unable to keep up with the growing epidemic. “The effort put into reducing weight in obese individuals has been enormous, but the returns have not been optimal,” Dr. Dong points out. “We acknowledge it’s difficult to lose weight once you get big, but there are things that can be done to improve or maintain your cardiovascular health and your pancreatic function.” The team will draw on biomarker data from the GPI and other clinical resources to run genetic tests in mice in the pursuit of identifying new mechanisms of disease and new pathways for intervention. The co-directors recently sat down to talk about their multidisciplinary team, which will focus on the causes and complications of type 1 and 2 diabetes and the non-diabetic causes and complications of obesity. Q: Give some insight into your team-building strategy. A: (Dr. Stepp) What we want to do is identify young investigators in their early stages that still have that hunger and energy and partner them with established scientists. The mentoring will be targeted to transition them from a clinician to a clinician scientist. We want people who can create synergy. We’re looking to make sparks into flames A: (Dr. Dong) We’re hoping there will be an educational component at this institute where we can expose young residents and fellows to research. Some fellows who are interested but don’t know where to start. Q: You’re also trying to get more community exposure for diabetes and obesity outside the laboratory, right? A: (Dr. Dong) We are interested in supporting community research activities such as a neighborhood-based exercise intervention program, a church-based program or a school-based program. Q: Between the GPI, VBC and other centers at MCG, there’s plenty of work already devoted to diabetes and obesity. Why do we need a Discovery Institute? A: (Dr. Stepp) There is state-of-the-art research here on cutting-edge therapies that isn’t effectively communicated because there is no avenue to communicate. Ten years from now what we’d like to see is human data, clinical trials and basic science all culled from collaborative MCG resources. Right now we have two or three pieces of an eight-piece puzzle.”

Fa l l 0 8

Medical school faculty will be asked which Discovery Institute best suits their research interests. Membership in a Discovery Institute won’t impact MCG’s existing departments, centers and institutes. Funding will be built into each institute’s budget to recruit essential faculty and staff and create translational cores and training programs. In organizing the Discovery Institutes, Dr. Miller relied in part on the 2000 report of the MCG Biomedical Research Council, which identified the institution’s top strengths in medical research. Conventional wisdom might suggest that organizing the Discovery Institutes along broad areas of focus would dilute resources and make medical breakthroughs more scattershot. But Dr. Munn, who will co-direct the new Immuno Discovery Institute along with Dr. Mellor, said multiple researchers with narrow fields of focus are required to solve bigpicture health problems. “Clinically, the world is divided into oncology and infectious disease and autoimmunity and all these various syndromes. But in terms of basic science, the same mechanisms often have a role in different diseases; that’s why these Discovery Institutes need to be themed around mechanisms and not around traditional departmentalor disease-related entities,” said Dr. Munn, who also directs the Cancer Immunotherapy Program at the MCG Medical Center. What makes the Discovery Institutes unique among translational initiatives around the country are the number of faculty involved in the planning process, more than 100, nearly one-quarter of the school’s full-time faculty, Dr. Miller said. All of the institutes will be operational in fiscal 2009, starting with the BBDI, co-directed by Dr. Joseph Tsien, a brain scientist recently recruited from Boston University who studies learning and memory, and Dr. Hess, a practicing neurologist and stroke researcher who chairs the Department of Neurology.

Q&A As with the other institutes, the BBDI group will focus on the common pathways that multiple diseases share. For example, Dr. Tsien’s research of synaptic plasticity and other mechanisms that control learning and memory could have therapeutic potential. “Some of the work in basic cognition could really provide a lot of insights into Alzheimer’s and would even have implications on stroke or head injury,” Dr. Hess said. “There’s so much merging and cross-fertilization between them all.” continued on 12

“

Immuno

No one needs to tell Drs. David H. Munn and Andrew L. Mellor the importance of collaborative research -- they’ve been doing it for nearly 13 years. The result of applying Dr. Munn’s clinical cancer research to genetically manipulated mice in Dr. Mellor’s laboratory led to the groundbreaking discovery of the role indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase, an enzyme known as IDO, plays in fetal survival. “It wasn’t until Andy brought his sophisticated tools to campus in 1995 that that we found the Drs. David H. Munn and Andrew L. Mellor presence of this IDO mechanism,” said Dr. Munn, a professor of pediatric hematology/oncology. Their discovery that the immunosuppressant IDO enzyme is also expressed by tumors is a classic example of an “outside the box” scientific approach that could one day help doctors fight cancer. “To get to the answer in cancer, you need to understand how cancers take over and grow,” said Dr. Mellor, an immunologist and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar. As co-directors of the Immuno Discovery Institute, their team will focus on new therapies for cancer, organ-transplant rejection and infectious and autoimmune diseases. Q: You were doing translational science long before it became a buzzword. Describe the thought process that existed early in your partnership.

“Clinically, the world is divided into oncology and infectious disease and autoimmunity and all these various syndromes. But in terms of basic science, the same mechanisms often have a role in different diseases; that’s why these Discovery Institutes need to be themed around mechanisms and not around traditional departmental- or disease-

A: (Dr. Mellor) When I came in 1995 and talked to David, we spoke the same language of immunology. At the time, no one else was doing that here. (Dr. Munn) I was very enthusiastic about recruiting Andy because of the potential for collaboration. We found the questions arising out of the human studies could best be answered in a mouse model and, as it turned out, could be quickest answered in a mouse model of pregnancy, even though neither of us has a major focus on reproductive immunology. So this was inherently multidisciplinary from the start. Q: The fact that inroads have been made into cancer by researching pregnancy certainly seems cross-disciplinary. A: (Dr. Munn) There are shared mechanisms. In both cases the immune system lets something alone that you wouldn’t think it would let alone. Why does it let the fetus alone? Why does it let the tumor alone? Why doesn’t it attack? Pregnancy is also an example of a perfect organ transplant. You don’t need to suppress the mother’s immune system. The fetus is allowed to implant and vascularize without all the immunosuppressants that you have to give after a heart transplant or a kidney transplant. The transplanters would love to know the trick the fetus uses for creating that spontaneous acceptance. Q: It seems as though you’re looking at many diseases through the same lens.

related entities.” DR. DAVID H. MUNN

”

A: (Dr. Mellor) If you have the vision that stays true to the mechanism, it is perfectly rational and logical that studying those mechanisms can give you potential impact in a huge range. The best thing to do is focus on the underlying theme that relates to many diseases, not to one specific aspect of a particular disease. The better bang for your buck is if you try to thematically unite the science that underlies multiple diseases. For me, that’s what the Discovery Institutes are all about.

GEORGIA Medicine

Cardiovascular

Drs. Gaston K. Kapuku and Stephen M. Black

Q&A

While most health care professionals in the country focus on better treatments for ischemic heart disease, congestive heart disease, hypertension and cardiomyopathies, the Medical College of Georgia’s Cardiovascular Discovery Institute seeks answers that may unlock the root cause of those ailments and many others. “The reality is that many people come to a hospital because of cardiovascular disease,” said Dr. Gaston K. Kapuku, co-director of the Cardiovascular Discovery Institute and researcher at the school’s Georgia Prevention Institute. “If all of the effort that has been put into curing the disease were put into prevention, I think we could put an end to the

epidemic that is cardiovascular disease.” He and co-director Dr. Stephen M. Black, a cell and molecular physiologist in the MCG Vascular Biology Center, will lead what could be the school’s most diverse multidisciplinary team of basic scientists and clinicians as they investigate the mechanisms behind hypertension and other conditions that cause a host of health problems, such as diabetic retinopathy and coronary artery disease. “We’re going to cast a wide net,” Dr. Black said. “We want to be all-inclusive, maybe even encouraging people who hadn’t even thought of working with cardiovascular disease.” The two sat down recently to talk about what will likely be the institute with the largest footprint at MCG. Q: The potential for collaboration appears to be very high because so many diseases have a vascular component. A: (Dr. Black) One of the things we’re hoping to do is leverage some of the money we have into cross-institute collaborations. The cardiovascular aspects of stroke, for example, would have us interact with the Brain & Behavior Discovery Institute, and obviously with the Diabetes & Obesity Discovery Institute because of the endothelial and cardiovascular aspects associated with that. A: (Dr. Kapuku) When you talk about cardiovascular you also include the kidneys because of their role in regulating blood pressure. High blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. A: (Dr. Black) What we’re basically saying is, if your grant can be funded at heart, lung and blood, as far as we’re concerned it’s cardiovascular. The only caveat is you have to have multiple people working together, preferably M.D.s and Ph.D.s. Q: Are you excited about the increased collaboration between basic scientists and clinicians? A: (Dr. Black) Yes, because the clinicians can help keep you grounded. We think differently. We think hypothesis, mechanistic, and with clinicians the focus is ‘how is this going to help make that person better?’ What the NIH wants is basic science that is tied to a clinical program. If we as basic scientists are going to survive in that environment, we need to be tied to that clinical component. A: (Dr. Kapuku) From a clinical perspective, we want the patient to be the focus of all of this activity, but we also want the physician to know about the science to advance patient care. Otherwise, it would just be more of the same, like distributing some more pills.

Fa l l 0 8

Dr. Hess points said it could take years for the Discovery Institutes to fulfill their mission to advance the practice of medicine. He notes, for example, that pharmaceutical companies often spend 10-15 years developing a new drug. However, he said, without the Discovery Institutes, there is a chance the knowledge would never make it to the bedside. “It has been hard to get basic science findings translated to patients,” Dr. Hess said. “That’s one of the reasons we’re excited to

Q&A be taking a team approach. You have to be a collaborator now; you can’t do everything yourself.” Dr. Miller agrees. He said doctors can no longer sit back and wait for the laboratory to produce the next medical advancement, and scientists can no longer expect to find the next breakthrough without help from clinicians. The path to future discoveries will resemble the road taken by Drs. Mellor and Munn. “The era of translation is upon us,” Dr. Miller said.

Education

Though it lacks the research profile of the five science-based Discovery Institutes, the Educational Discovery Institute is just as crucial – if not more – to moving medical knowledge from bench to bedside. As institute co-director Dr. Ruth-Marie Fincher explains it, good teachers create good doctors and, in turn, healthier communities. Dr. Fincher, the vice dean for academic affairs at MCG School of Medicine, and Dr. Peggy J. Wagner, a professor and associate director of the School of Medicine Center for Educational Excellence, will research ways to improve medical education at all levels. The directors hope to expand the educational research alliance between Georgia’s four medical schools to institutions in neighboring states. “I think the development of the EDI is a remarkable opportunity for us to have an impact on medical education and medical education research nationally.” Dr. Fincher recently shared her views on the fledgling initiative:

Dr. Ruth-Marie Fincher

Q: You’re focusing on the very processes that create tomorrow’s clinicians, but also its educators and researchers as well.

Dr. Peggy J. Wagner A: (Dr. Fincher) You’re absolutely right on target. We strive to help faculty be better teachers, whatever their current level is. The next step is becoming a scholarly teacher. If you’re a scholarly teacher, you learn from and apply best educational practices and knowledge. The next step would be to engage in educational scholarship; that is, activity that is reviewed by peers and publicly disseminated via publication or other means Q: Has anything like this been done before? A: The University of Virginia is developing a medical education research institute. That is the closest I have seen to what we’re doing. This is so extraordinary because it really puts us in a position where we certainly hope we can make substantial contributions to help move medical education forward. Q: It seems the EDI is the Discovery Institute with the broadest scope. A: It is no doubt the broadest and it also addresses the domain that is least studied. Q: Why is that? A: We tend to teach the way we were taught. We need to be as methodical about assessing the impact of our teaching strategies as we are about the effectiveness of a new drug. We need to realize that education is open to peer review, just as any form of research is open to peer review. Q: What kind of advancements do you hope the EDI will bring about? A: I think we could get into areas that haven’t been previously studied. For example, we have nearly a unique opportunity nationally as an academic medical center with an extensive communitybased education network to study those two settings in terms of quality and outcomes. I think the work we do could be a model for other medical schools that want to develop extensive community-based teaching sites.

GEORGIA Medicine

A Positive Reception

Receptor activation protects retina from diabetes destruction

BY TONI BAKER

NORMAL

Diabetes can make the beautifully stratified retina look like over-fried bacon. This damage, which can lead to blindness, appears to be prevented by a drug known for its pain-relieving power and ability to stimulate memory,

DIABETIC

PHIL JONES

T R E AT E D

Medical College of Georgia researchers have found. Dr. Sylvia Smith, a retinal cell biologist in the MCG School of Medicine, said diabetic mice treated with this “(+)” form of pentazocine appears to avert eye damage by binding with sigma receptors in retinal cells. “The effects of this drug on retinal health are phenomenal,” and Dr. Smith, who is a co-director of the school’s Vision Science Discovery Institute. The findings of the National Eye Institute-funded study, published in the September issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, suggest such compounds that bind with the sigma receptors in the eye may be good treatments for the top two causes of vision loss: diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma. This cell protection role could help explain the resilience of the retina to function for years despite stresses such as light and high blood sugar. With diabetic retinopathy, nerve cell damage and death is gradual. The condition spurs new blood vessel growth in an apparent attempt to increase blood and oxygen to dying cells, but instead, the vessel proliferation results in further vision loss. Dr. Smith’s lab found cellular stress increased pentazocine’s binding with sigma receptors but the drug did not impact insulin levels. “It does not solve that problem of elevated glucose in diabetes. The findings suggest, however, that neuronal death can be reduced, even if glucose levels are high,” she said. Despite the fact that their roles and what activates them are unknowns, sigma receptors have become a hot topic because of their potential in diseases from Alzheimer’s to depression. There were 2,700 papers published on the topic as of early September. Dr. Smith’s study of sigma receptors’ potential to protect against diabetes-related blindness is pioneering. Her lab is collaborating with other MCG investigators to generate a genetic knockout of sigma receptor to better understand the receptor’s role and whether regular treatment with the drug has a similar dramatic impact in other models of retinal degeneration. “We need to know if we just hit it lucky with the (diabetic) mouse or do we have something that could be of widespread benefit,” she said.

Dr. Sylvia Smith watches as Dr. Ying Dun prepares to load samples onto an agarose gel as part of their studies of the sigma receptor expression in retinal cells.

GEORGIA Medicine

NS & ARCH IVES MCG HISTO RICAL COLL ECTIO

Looking Back s of 1928 Dr. Denmark and the Clas

Renowned alumna now among world’s oldest people BY DAMON CLINE

As of this writing, 78 people in the world are 110 years old or older. Gerontology researchers call them “supercentarians.” The lone medical doctor in this small fraternity can be found on most days sitting on a sofa in the living room of her daughter’s bungalow in the Five Points section of Athens, Ga. This woman – the world’s 65th-oldest person – is also the oldest living physician. She is the oldest person to practice medicine. She is the oldest living graduate of the Medical College of Georgia.

Fa l l 0 8

She is, of course, Dr. Leila Denmark.

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

The renowned pediatrician and MCG’s third female graduate remains one of the institution’s most cherished alumni. “She’s a remarkable lady,” said Dr. Lois Ellison, MCG’s historian-inresidence. “She has just meant a great deal to the medical college. I just wish I could say the words and have them be as meaningful as they should be.” Eighty years after earning her medical degree, MCG still has a special place in Dr. Denmark’s heart. “I never had a bad day in my life there,” she said with a strong and steady voice during a recent interview. “That’s a wonderful school. You couldn’t go to a better school than the Medical College of Georgia.” Long before she helped develop the whooping cough vaccine, long before she earned the title of “America’s most experienced pediatrician,” she was a simple farm girl in rural Georgia at the dawn of the 20th century.

Born Feb. 1, 1898, in the small town of Portal, Ga., near Statesboro, she was the third of Elerbee and Alice Daughtry’s 12 children. That year William McKinley Jr., a Civil War veteran, was president of the 45 states that comprised the United States. A Pennsylvania man purchased the first American-made automobile. Pierre and Marie Curie discovered radium. The Wright Brothers were still making bicycles. Dr. Denmark showed an interest in healing early in life. “All her life she said she wanted to mend things, to fix things,” said daughter Mary Hutcherson, 77. “If an animal got sick on the farm, or if the flowers were wilted, she would want to fix them.” Women doctors were extremely rare at the time, and Dr. Denmark went to work teaching high school chemistry, physics and biology after completing undergraduate studies at Tift College and Mercer University. By the time she applied to MCG at age 26,

continued on 18

Dr. Daniel W. Rahn (left) and Dr. D. Douglas Miller visit with Dr. Denmark

the institution could claim only two female graduates. She was initially passed over for admission and didn’t even receive a rejection letter. However, the admissions committee reconsidered the decision after the diminutive yet stubborn farm girl paid members a personal visit and won them over with her determination. “They were trying to deny her and she said, ‘I will not be denied, I want to do this,’” said grandson Dr. James D. Hutcherson, a primary care physician practicing in suburban Denver and a 1991 School of Medicine graduate. Other than that episode, Dr. Denmark has nothing but fond recollections of the school. She walked to campus every day from the McDowell Street home she shared with her second cousin. She was the only female student in the School of Medicine at that time, but she remembers her fellow students were perfect gentlemen. “The boys were so good to me,” she said. “There was never a nicer group of young men than that bunch.” She recalls that only one student owned a car, and that all of them wore a coat and tie every day, regardless of the weather. She recalled one particularly sweltering day when Dr. Richard V. Lamar, head of the Department of Pathology and Bacteriology, asked if the men could dress down for class. “One day it was so hot that Dr. Lamar said to me, ‘Miss Daughtry, would you mind if the boys just slipped off their coats?’” she said. “I said it was fine.” She married her longtime sweetheart, John E. Denmark, three days after graduating in 1928. The banker and the doctor shared a love of golf but differed on camping, one of her favorite pastimes. “Mr. Denmark wasn’t so fond of the tent business,” she said of her husband, who eventually retired from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. “He always said he camped better in the Waldorf Astoria.” The couple settled in Atlanta, where she interned at Grady Memorial Hospital before

becoming the first staff physician at Egleston Children’s Hospital. She trained in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia before returning to Atlanta to start a private practice out of her home in 1931. When she retired in 2001 at age 103, she was the oldest practicing physician in the nation. She continued to live independently long after her husband died in 1990. She worked in her garden, prepared her own meals and made her own clothes until advancing macular degeneration forced her to move in with her daughter at age 106. Dr. Denmark can see only objects directly in front of her face. She keeps a large alarm clock close to her side. “Mother just likes to know what time it is,” her daughter points out. “It’s just one of those little things.” For most of her career, Dr. Denmark’s practice was successful enough to afford her the ability to provide a substantial amount of charity care, including volunteering one day a week for 56 years at Atlanta’s Central Presbyterian Clinic for the indigent. “It was interesting to hear her talk about how medicine used to be practiced in this country,” said MGC School of Medicine Dean D. Douglas Miller, who met Dr. Denmark during a recent trip to Athens. “She was mostly in an era when house calls were made and people paid for services with goods sometimes instead of money.” Even at the location of her final practice – a 125-year-old farmhouse in Forsyth County – her bill for an office visit was just $10. During her seven decades as a pediatrician, Dr. Denmark dispensed her words of wisdom to an estimated 250,000 patients and their parents. She codified the down-to-earth advice in her 1971 book, Every Child Should Have a Chance, in which she advocates putting children on a schedule from day one, resisting the urge to pick an infant up every time he cries and eschewing daycare centers – which she believes deprives children of parental guidance and subjects them to illnesses. “The standards of life have really changed,” Dr. Denmark said. “Some of it’s for the best, some of it’s for the worse.” Her principles may be considered old-fashioned, but they resonate with legions of disciples who call themselves Denmarkers. One of them, Madia Bowman, has taken all but the youngest of her 11 children to Dr. Denmark during the past three decades. The Cumming, Ga., resident said the doctor’s views have stood the test of time. “Pediatrics is somewhat trendy. One decade they say one thing and the next they recommend something else,” said Ms. Bowman, who in 1998 published Dr. Denmark Said It!, an adaptation of Dr. Denmark’s earlier book. “Her recommendations were just very practical and made sense to me.” More important, Ms. Bowman added, is Dr. Denmark’s philosophy that mothers shouldn’t leave home to enter the workforce. “I think she really built mothers up and helped them realize how critical mothering is,” she said. “Sometimes moms get the impression that staying home and rearing children is a secondary occupation. She still believes mothering is the most important occupation you can have.” Dr. Denmark was never swayed by the popular opinions of her medical peers, either. In the 1930s and ’40s, for example, she abhorred the immobilization therapy most doctors prescribed for polio patients. “They would take a polio patient Dr. Denmark, on her fellow classmates and put them in a cast,” she said. “I took

“The boys were so good to me. There was never a nicer group of young men than that bunch.” 18

Fa l l 0 8

them out of all that and fed them three meals a day and made them use their bodies. I found that most patients would come out all right.” Dr. Hutcherson points out his grandmother “could do things that were outside of the box” because she practiced in a less litigious era. In her later years, he said, she was often dismissive of many new medical treatments and technologies. “She knew everything that was going on, all the new fancy stuff,” he said. “So it wasn’t that she was outdated; she just didn’t find most of it to be particularly helpful.” Dr. Denmark said she is proud of all the children she has personally healed throughout the years, but is equally proud for helping countless others she never met by helping develop a vaccine for pertussis, the respiratory infection known as whooping cough. She included her daughter in the vaccine’s clinical tests conducted in the 1930s through a partnership with Eli Lilly and Co. and Emory University. “Vaccines are the best thing ever created in medicine; they have saved more lives than anything else,” she said. “There’s so much more to learn, so much out there to find out. Just think what we’ve accomplished in these few years I’ve lived. It’s tremendous.” She credits her longevity not to medical science but to the healthy living regimen she espoused as a pediatrician: no smoking, no alcohol, three protein-filled meals a day and no snacking. She drinks only hot water and avoids sugar. She even refused to eat the cake at her 100th birthday party because it was too sweet. The number of years Leila Alice Daughtry Denmark has remaining as a “supercentarian” is anyone’s guess. Aside from age-related trouble with vision, hearing and mobility, she is in perfect health. And when she says she has no regrets about anything during her 110 years, one realizes she is not only healthy of mind and body, but of spirit as well. “Nobody has been blessed more than I have.”

Dr. Leila D. Denmark

Born: Feb. 1, 1898, Bulloch County,

Ga.

Family: Husband John Eustace Den Daughter Mary Hutcherson

mark (1899-1990)

Grandchildren Steven and James H utch

Great-grandchildren Jacob and Hay den

erson Hutcherson

Education: First District Agricultura l and Mechanical School (now Georgia So uthern University), 1918 Bessie Tift College, 1922, Merce r University, 1924 Medical College of Georgia, 1928

Employment: Teaching assistant, 1921-1922, Tift College High school teacher, Acworth, Ga., 1922-23; Claxton, Ga., 1923-24 Henrietta Egleston Hospital for Children, Atlanta, 1928-30 Children’s Hospital, Philadelphia, 1930 Private practice pediatrics, Atlanta and Forsyth County, Ga., 1931-2001 Awards and Recognitions (partial list): Fisher Award, outstanding research in diagnosis, treatment and immunization of whooping cough, 1935 Atlanta’s Woman of the Year, 1953 Distinguished Service Citation, Tift College, 1970 Distinguished Alumni Award, Georgia Southern University, 1978 Distinguished Alumni Award, Mercer University, 1980 Medal of Honor, Daughters of American Revolution Joseph Habersham chapter, 1983 Distinguished Alumni Award, Medical College of Georgia, 1987 Honorary Doctorate, Emory University, 2000

GEORGIA Medicine

Student Spotlight

wa n t e d Activist Student to A dvo

BY AMY CONNELL

n a Saturday night, Matthew Rudy prepares a gourmet meal for classmates Charlie and Becky – porcini

mushroom and scallop pasta with alfredo sauce, one of his favorite dishes.

Cooking usually comes as a welcomed

diversion from his hectic life as a 24-year-old junior medical student. This time, it’s an entree to complement the trio’s discussion about a patient with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, a rare disorder of the body’s coagulation system.

“We had to present a case of an interesting

patient we’d seen and share with the group what we learned and what we’d do differently,” he says, “So to get ready for our presentation, I cooked, and we had fun.”

Considering he routinely whips up

gourmet meals for his friends and even runs at least a mile a day, you might imagine Matthew has lots of free time. You’d be wrong.

Fa l l 0 8

cate for Profession N ationally

And the native Virginian wouldn’t have it any other way. One of his biggest tasks is representing 70,000 medical students at all 126 U.S. allopathic medical schools as chairelect of the Organization of Student Representatives of the Association of American Medical Colleges. He meets with AAMC officials several times a year to discuss health issues and concerns of students. He was encouraged to run for the position by the previous chair after attending an AAMC regional meeting. “I was active in participating at the regional meetings, talking about policies and things we’ve done at MCG. So he pulled me aside after the meeting and said, ‘Matt, we have elections for the chair elect position coming up, and I think you should run,’” Matthew says. His interest in organized medicine began as early as undergraduate school when he was pursuing biochemistry and molecular biology degrees at the University of Georgia and served as president of the school’s Alpha Epsilon Delta Pre-Medical Honor Society.

“It was a chance for me to see what organized medicine was,” he says. “It’s interesting to me; it’s a way for me to be aware of issues and to make other students aware of those issues.” Issues such as medical school debt and malpractice lawsuits discourage students from choosing medical careers, but if those concerns are voiced to the AAMC, then changes can be made, Matthew says. “I want to be able to serve as a catalyst to help change those and be an advocate for fellow medical students, fellow doctors and ultimately for patients because everything comes back to them,” he says. As he ardently fights to make students aware of issues, he says no one has the perfect solution. “It’s easy to say our health care system is broken, but pointing out the problems is much less difficult than actually doing something about them,” he says. “Providing quality patient care that is easily accessible and affordable needs to be our focus, but to do this we have some difficult decisions to make.”

PHIL JONES

REPRESENTATIVE AT HEART In addition to his role with the AAMC, Matthew also is president of the Class of 2010, Southeastern Regional Representative for the American College of Physicians, president of the MCG Internal Medicine Group, active volunteer at the MCG Homeless and Women’s Clinics, and a member of the American Medical Association, Medical Association of Georgia, American College of Physicians and Richmond County Medical Society.

WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS: Matthew doesn’t have his heart set on a specialty, but he has an interest in urology. “It’s still a little early in my third year. I really like urology, I could see myself there, but I don’t want to put blinders on too early and miss something else I had no idea I really liked.” One thing he is sure of is that he wants to stay in academics. BOOKWORM: Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. “This is a fascinating book that has something for everyone. It looks at why things work the way they do. A lot of it is parallel with what we do in medicine and just understanding the foundation – not just knowing that something works, but knowing how it works and why.” ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE: “I go to see Broadway shows when I can,” he says. “That’s my vice. Wicked is coming to the Fox (Theatre in Atlanta) in October, the day after my surgery shelf (exam), so I’m definitely going to try and see that.” COMPUTER NERD: At the age of 14, Matthew became an entrepreneur and started a computer repair business. “Computers came naturally to me, but I think it’s because I grew up as computers developed, so I didn’t have a lot go back and learn,” he says. RESPONSIBILITY AT A YOUNG AGE: With the money he earned repairing computers, Matthew bought a house his first year of medical school when he was 22. GREAT HEIGHTS: Matthew is 6’6”, only two inches shorter than a standard doorframe. “I try not to stand out too much,” he says. When told not to slouch to make himself appear shorter, he replies, “No, never. There’s a balance.”

GEORGIA Medicine

Faculty Focus

Fa l l 0 8

Well

Rounded

Dean stays active in the clinic and the lab BY DAMON CLINE

Many things compete for Dr. D. Douglas Miller’s attention. As dean of MCG’s School of Medicine, he oversees 20 department chairs, 420 residents, 461 full-time faculty and nearly 750 students. Then there is oversight of the five translational science initiatives he has championed to keep tens of millions of federal research dollars flowing to the

WESLEY HOBBS

campus. He’s also under the gun to develop a medical school campus in Athens by 2010 through a partnership with the University of Georgia.

Dr. D. Douglas Miller, dean of the MCG School of Medicine, discusses the results of Greg Hendley’s cardiac stress test during his rounds at the MCG Cardiovascular Center.

And there’s the wife, two kids, two puppies and – when he can find the time – classical guitar lessons. But on this particular Tuesday afternoon, as he walks into an examining room at MCG’s Cardiovascular Center, Dr. Miller is a cardiologist whose attention is focused on one thing – his patient. “So how have you been feeling the last few months?” he asks Greg Hendley, 44. “Getting around fine?” “Yes, fine,” said Mr. Hendley, a south Georgia resident whose cholesterol levels have spiked since undergoing a kidneypancreas transplant. “No evidence of any chest pain?” Dr. Miller follows up. Though Mr. Hendley says he generally feels well, his latest stress test revealed a potentially serious blood flow problem, for which he received a coronary stent. After 20 minutes of examination, Dr. Miller schedules him to return for a nuclear cardiology stress test to follow up on the problem. They shake hands and Dr. Miller leaves the room while Mr. Hendley buttons his shirt, unaware he has just been seen by not only one of the nation’s top cardiologists, but the dean of Georgia’s state medical school. Indeed, few physicians continue practicing duing a deanship. However, those who have known and worked with Dr. Miller him say he wouldn’t have it any other way. “He’s a terrific clinician, and he’s always found time to do clinical work while moving up through management,” said Dr. Coy Fitch, chair emeritus and professor of internal medicine at Saint Louis University, where Dr. Miller served as a department chair before coming to MCG as dean in 2006. “I think that sets a good example.” continued on 24

GEORGIA Medicine

sweetheart Heather Lynn Orr later that year. The couple moved to London, Ontario for Dr. Miller’s internship at a regional medical center before moving back to Montreal to finish his residency and do a year of training in research cardiology at the Montreal Heart Institute, practicing medicine solely in French. “It was interesting because I never had to work in French before or see patients in French or order my meals in French,” said Dr. Miller, who is still fluent in the language. Montreal also marked Dr. Miller’s first foray into research. He had noticed in London that some of his patients with migraine headaches also had Raynaud’s phenomena, a blood circulation disorder in the fingers, or Prinzmetal’s angina, a condition where contracting coronary arteries result in cardiac chest pain. He decided to investigate whether vessel spasms in the head that cause migraines had any relation to the two vasospastic conditions that caused pain in other parts of the body. His paper based on the case study, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1981, was co-authored by Dr. David Waters, then-research director at the Montreal Heart Institute. “Dave just tortured me – he was a very strict editor,” said Dr. Miller, who drew on the experience while editing a textbook on cardiac imaging that was eventually published by McGraw-Hill Co. Dr. Miller has since had scores of manuscripts, abstracts and editorials published on topics ranging from advanced cardiovascular imaging to the effect gender has on cardiovascular treatment and outcomes. Those who have worked on projects with Dr. Miller say his skills go beyond technical writing. “Doug is a thought leader,” said Dr. Leslee J. Shaw, a research scientist who has collaborated with Dr. Miller for more than a decade. “He is visionary, big-picture kind of guy. That’s a very helpful skill in research and in academia. He’s always had good acumen for seeing the whole body of evidence.” Dr. Shaw, who worked with Dr. Miller at Saint Louis University, is a professor of medicine at Emory University, which is where Dr. Miller arrived in 1982 to accept a cardiology fellowship. It was the Millers’ first time living in the U.S., and it was the first time Emory accepted a cardiology fellow without an interview. Emory’s then-chief of medicine and cardiology, Dr. J. Willis Hurst, selected Dr. Miller solely because Dr. Waters vouched for him in a very brief letter of recommendation. “I learned early in my career how to judge letters of recommendations,” said Dr. Hurst, a 1944 graduate of the MCG School of Medicine. “The most telling letters came from people I “The reason I got into knew who were skilled at selecting trainees who had demonstrated a passion for learning, could medicine was to be the think, could communicate, and were kind. Such letters were usually short.” best doctor I could be, but Based on Dr. Hurst’s advice in 1984, the thing that made me Dr. Miller pursued a fellowship in cardiac imaging at Harvard University School of want to stay in academic Medicine before accepting a position (his first “real job,” he says jokingly) in 1986 as a professor medicine is that you can in cardiology and radiology at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio, multitask at all times.” where he spent the next five years. It was during D r . D o u g M i l l e r this point in his career that he and Heather

r. Miller said he doesn’t want to let academic administration completely overtake his work as a clinician and researcher. “The reason I got into medicine was to be the best doctor I could be, but the thing that made me want to stay in academic medicine is that you can multitask at all times,” he said. “If you’re on clinical rounds, you’re educating and taking care of people and thinking up a research protocol to deal with a condition. You don’t have that dynamic range of things going on at a typical private medical practice.” The 54-year-old native Canadian was 51 when he was named dean of MCG’s School of Medicine in early 2006, making him one of the youngest medical college deans in the U.S., a feat he attributes to the help of several key mentors during his career in academic medicine. Dr. Miller doesn’t come from a family of doctors; his father worked as an executive vice president for Charles E. Frosst & Co., a Canadian pharmaceutical firm later acquired by Merck & Co. He was born in the town of Brockville, Ontario, but moved with his family to a suburb of Montreal shortly thereafter. Dr. Miller said he grew up doing “all things Canadian” such as playing hockey. He became interested in medicine after befriending the father of one of his school friends, Dr. Tom Hale, a leading cardiologist at Montreal General Hospital who was also on the admissions committee at McGill University, which is where Dr. Miller attended medical school after a brief stint at a Collège d’enseignement général et professionnel, a type of community college unique to Quebec known as CEGEPs. During summers he worked at Montreal General Hospital as an orderly, doing menial work on the wards while mingling with the staff cardiologists. “They got me even more interested in cardiology,” Dr. Miller said. He graduated medical school in 1978 and married his high school

D 24

Fa l l 0 8

D. DOUGLAS MILLER

at a Glance Title: Dean, MCG School of Medicine Born: Aug. 29, 1954, Brockville, Ontario, Canada Family: Wife Heather, daughter Caroline, 22; son Brendan, 20

MILLER FAMILY

Education: l McGill University, M.D., C.M. (Medicine), F.R.C.P.c (Medicine); Montreal l Emory University, F.A.C.C. (Cardiology); Atlanta l Harvard University, Research Fellowship; Boston l Saint Louis University, Master of Business Administration (International Business); St. Louis

started their family. Daughter Caroline, 22, a costume director in the film industry, was born in Massachusetts; son, Brendan, 20, a sophomore studying business at Augusta State University, was born in Texas. The next chapter in their lives began in when Dr. Miller, who had been considering moving back to Canada to work at the Montreal Heart Institutes, was invited to give a lecture at Saint Louis University’s School of Medicine by its head of cardiology, Dr. Bernard Chaitman, whom Dr. Miller had worked with in Montreal. “Chaitman said, ‘Why don’t you take a look around here,’ ” Dr. Miller recalled. “The rest is history.” Dr. Miller rose through the academic ranks, from an associate professor in 1991 to chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine in 2000 at age 45. “He was obviously ambitious,” said Dr. Fitch, who helped groom him for the position. “His leadership role became obvious early on. I didn’t know where he was going to go, but I knew he was going to be a dean somewhere.” Hard work aside, the 25th dean of the MCG School of Medicine acknowledges he wouldn’t be where he is today without the guidance of his peers and mentors. “A lot of it has to do with being positioned by people who were better informed than I was to influence good career decisions. “I’m very lucky to have worked with very bright people who are as interested in my advancement as their own success,” Dr. Miller said, adding that he has made those philosophies precepts of his own leadership. “Everybody deserves to be supported, but when you see someone who is highly talented or highly motivated, those people can sometimes advance much more quickly than if you hadn’t tried to push them.” As for the people who helped get Dr. Miller here, they are proud of the accomplishment. “I am pleased he is the dean of my alma mater,” Dr. Hurst said.

Academic appointments: l University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio, 1986-91 l Saint Louis University, 1991-2006 l Medical College of Georgia, 2006-present Clinical staff appointments: Audie L. Murphy VA Medical Center, San Antonio (Coronary Care Director), 1989-1991 l University of Texas Health Sciences Center (Nuclear Cardiac Imaging Research director), 1990-1991 l St. Louis VA Medical Center (Acting Chief of Staff), 1997-1998 l Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center (Medical Director of Nuclear Cardiology/Cardiac Stress Lab), 1991-2006 l Saint Louis University (Acting Director of Cancer Center), 2000-2002 l

Trivia: l He was delivered by the same doctor as news anchorman Peter Jennings, a fellow Ontario native. Jennings, who died in 2005 at age 67, got his start in broadcasting working for a radio station in Dr. Miller’s hometown of Brockville, Ontario. l

He is an avid runner, logging several miles a week. He ran in five marathons during his 20s and 30s, including the New York and Boston marathons. His personal best time was in Montreal at 3 hours, 14 minutes. “I ran the second half of that marathon faster than the first half, which is pretty unusual.”

He was the on-call cardiologist in St. Louis for Pope John Paul II and Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. “You don’t get anything for it by the way,” he said jokingly. “I suppose I could have asked (the Secret Service) to send me a certificate, but I resisted.”

He plans to take classical guitar lessons. June Newton, a flute teacher and wife of MCG Vice President for Legal Affairs Andrew Newton, has referred him to an instructor. “I play a little bit and it’s something I sort of amuse myself with,” he said.

GEORGIA Medicine

Viewpoints

NIH funding vital to School of Medicine growth D r s. D a r r e l l G . K i r c h a n d D. D o u g l a s M i l l e r

EVERY DAY we hear about how scientific research improves and saves lives. Because of research, Helen Whitehead of Swainsboro, Ga., became the first person in the nation to receive an intravenous antibiotic called minocycline, not for an infection, but as a novel treatment for stroke. The drug appears to be a powerful adjunct treatment for a clot-buster protein known as tPA, the only FDA-approved drug therapy for strokes. Animal studies have shown the drug reduces stroke damage by up to 40 percent, but studies with volunteers, such as Mrs. Whitehead, are still needed. Because of research, we know that just three months of daily, vigorous physical activity in overweight children improves their thinking and reduces their diabetes risk.

Dr. Kirch Former dean, MCG School of Medicine; current president and CEO, Association of American Medical Colleges

Fa l l 0 8

WE ALSO KNOW that children with sickle cell disease can have a painless and relatively inexpensive test that identifies unique blood flow patterns in the brain indicating whether they also are at risk for stroke, and that regular blood transfusions can reduce that risk. These remarkable scientific advances can be traced to research conducted by U.S. medical schools, in these cases the Medical College of Georgia, with support from the National Institutes of Health. Over the past 30 years, our nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s investment in medical research through the NIH has amounted to about $44 per American per year. Yet the return on this investment has been truly spectacular. Life expectancy has increased, deaths from heart disease, cancer and stroke are declining, and new treatments have virtually eliminated transmission of the HIV virus from mother to child.

Dr. Miller Dean and chief clinical officer, MCG School of Medicine

Between 1998 and 2003, the federal government doubled the NIH budget. This was a needed boost for medical science. MCG and many schools thrived in this environment, with record increases in funding of scientific pursuits. MCG developed science faculty whose leading-edge research efforts were rewarded with NIH grants, and whose ability to educate the next generation of scientists and physicians was lauded by students days before MCG graduation in May.

FEDERAL SUPPORT for the NIH has been nearly flat for the past five years and has not kept pace with increasing biomedical research costs. This year promises to be no different. The Bush administration’s 2009 NIH budget proposal holds funding flat at the current level of $29.5 billion. The Association of American Medical Colleges has calculated that the purchasing power of the 2009 administration proposal is $3.6 billion less than in 2003.

faculty. The alliance is an engine for novel science that has led to intellectual property that helps improve the health of Georgians, and the economy of Augusta and the state. Expanding research capacity at MCG — requiring an investment in recruitment of new research faculty and construction of new buildings — will improve productivity and the impact the science has on our lives. It also will grow the annual value of commercialization of research findings from $25 million in 2008 to $180 million by 2020 in Augusta alone, according to consultants hired by MCG.

THE SAME report also indicates that, statewide, the annual value of commercializing research discoveries from expansion of medical research at MCG could increase tenfold, reaching in excess of $360 million per year, inclusive of the recommended research partnership with the University of Georgia, one of MCG’s expansion

The Bush administration’s 2009 NIH budget proposal holds funding flat at the current level of $29.5 billion. The Association of American Medical Colleges has calculated that the purchasing power of the 2009 administration proposal is $3.6 billion less than in 2003. At MCG and the nation’s other research-intensive medical schools, the impact of this economic contraction in federal dollars has a real-world effect on scientists, their programs and ultimately all of us. Many strong research proposals that would have been approved for funding by NIH reviewers in years past must now be funded, if possible by the medical school, or they must be shut down. There also is a powerful economic aftershock that follows the initial impact of fewer available federal research dollars being infused through the NIH — the loss of high-technology research jobs and faculty to other universities outside of Georgia and even outside our nation, or to the private biomedical science sector.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, it costs us knowledge that enables us to live healthier and longer lives. Fortunately for Georgia’s research universities, the Georgia Research Alliance, a nationally renowned public-private partnership, has helped keep Georgia and MCG competitive for new research

partners. Expansion planners also assert that research funding awarded annually to both MCG and UGA by the NIH will increase 15 percent more than would be projected if each university worked alone to secure NIH grants and contracts. So there is a positive return on research program synergy and scientific collaboration. Additional federal dollars flow into the Augusta area, enabling a growing cadre of scientists to make more discoveries that improve lives. That positive impact is compounded by the fact that many of these discoveries will lead to commercial ventures that bring still more science and prestige to the community. Looking forward, we will continue to face challenges in expanding our nation’s medical knowledge, and the research capacity at institutions such as the Medical College of Georgia. These challenges can be addressed only if we make a sustained investment in the National Institutes of Health. The health of Augusta, Georgia and the nation depend on it.

GEORGIA Medicine

PILLARS

BY SHARRON WALLS

The Ellisons

Ellison family history at MCG spans nearly seven decades

ELLISON FAMILY

T Bob Sr. and Lois Ellison

he first Ellison to step into a Medical College of Georgia classroom did so in 1939. The latest just joined the Class of 2012. In the intervening years, the Ellisons have sunk their roots and their loyalty into the university as perhaps no other family has. Robert Gordon Ellison received his medical degree in March 1943 and began his internship at University Hospital, then MCG’s teaching hospital and originally located on campus. That fall, when the school’s freshman class was brought in to witness a spinal tap he was performing, a young woman, Lois Taylor, caught his eye. He caught hers as well, and the two were married in 1945. It was the

beginning of a legacy. There was one hiccup early on; Lois’ medical education was interrupted by a case of tuberculosis she contracted just before the end of her junior year. After three years of recuperation, she graduated in 1950. Robert, or “Bob” as he was more commonly known, joined the MCG faculty in 1947 and Lois in 1951. They started a family in 1953 and would have five children, all boys, by 1959. The three oldest seemed destined to become doctors. “We had a wonderful time. The boys saw how happy Bob and I were in our work,” says Lois. “We would come down frequently after church to check on our patients. We’d bring a ball so they could play out in the hallway and they got accustomed to the hospital. They all wanted to attend the Medical College of Georgia.” They received their medical degrees from MCG one after the other, in 1980, ’81 and ’82. Robert Jr. is now a vascular surgeon in

“Bob and I felt very strongly our commitment to the university, always. We’re just a family The extended Ellison family, including School of Medicine freshman Taylor (far left)

Fa l l 0 8

that loves the medical college.”

LOIS ELLISON

Jacksonville, Fla., Gregory a general and vascular surgeon in Augusta and Mark a urologist in Athens, Ga., with a clinical appointment to the MCG School of Medicine. Gregory’s wife, Martha, is an MCG School of Nursing graduate, class of ’81. And now their son, Gregory “Taylor” Jr., is tackling his first anatomy classes, becoming the third generation of Ellison students at MCG , 69 years after his grandfather. “It feels good. It’s exciting and fun following in your family’s footsteps,” 22-year-old Taylor says. “We lived down the street from my grandparents when I was growing up. We would go over there

Standing: Jim, John, Mark, Greg, Bob; Seated: Lois and Bob Sr. in 1985

every Sunday for dinner and we have a family beach trip every year. When the grown-ups got together they could talk about medicine forever. We kids would have to sit there and listen to a lot of doctor talk, and it got my interest. I don’t ever remember wanting to do anything else.” Taylor’s grandparents are an institution at MCG. Robert became world-renowned in cardiothoracic surgery while staying true to his alma mater. He died in 2006. Lois, who specialized in pulmonology, rose in academia to become provost of the university. Today, at 85, she comes to work every day as MCG’s medical historian-in-residence, capturing, restoring and documenting MCG’s past for future generations. Having his grandmother nearby is a plus for Taylor. “It raises my comfort level to have her here,” he says. “She’s a good person to talk to about things.” The family’s attachment to the university goes beyond teaching and receiving degrees. They quietly support numerous funds and encourage others to give. “Bob and I felt very strongly our commitment to the university, always,” Lois says. “We’re just a family that loves the medical college.” In addition, Lois, Robert Jr., Greg and Mark Ellison are lifetime members of the School of Medicine Alumni Association. Lois and Mark have both served as president of the association, the only parent and child to have done so. “I can’t imagine MCG without an Ellison on campus,” says Tony Duva, associate vice president for gift planning and senior director of development for the School of Medicine. “They have been part of the MCG family for over 60 years as faculty, students, residents, philanthropists, supporters, teachers, clinicians and researchers. The family’s dedication to MCG is represented in the breadth of their philanthropic support, the contributions they’ve made to medicine and the roles they have played in MCG history. The Ellison family truly embodies the traditions, vision and spirit of MCG.”

Jim, Mark, John, Bob

Jr., Greg in 1959

Legacy of Giving Funds supported by the Ellison Family: q Robert Ellison, M.D. Distinguished Chair in Cardiothoracic Surgery q Lois Taylor Ellison, M.D. Scholarship Endowment q Edgar Pund Distinguished Chair q Old Medical College Renovation Fund q Class of 1982 Scholarship Fund q Children’s Medical College q Sydenstricker Lecture Fund q Moretz/Mansberger Chair q Rinker Society

GEORGIA Medicine

Generations of Giving

Anthony Duva, Associate Vice President for Gift Planning, Senior Director of Development

Part of my job requires me to travel around the great state of Georgia and its surrounding areas. I am often awestruck when I visit historic towns and see the well-preserved buildings of the old “Main Streets.” I often find myself asking how these buildings have survived through years of inclement weather, industrialization and development. The answer is simple: they were built on a solid foundation.

For more information on making a gift to the MCG School of Medicine, contact Mr. Duva at 1-800-869-1113, 706-721-1939 or aduva@mcg.edu

Like those historic buildings, the Medical College of Georgia was built on a strong foundation. Our foundation is made up of more than concrete and steel; rather, it is the support of dedicated alumni who are the bedrock of our institution. As time passes, we have become more reliant on the support of those who made MCG what it is today: Georgia’s Health Sciences University. State funding and federal grants dwindle every year, so we strive to find other avenues to ensure our students are provided the best educational experience possible and to guarantee that our faculty members receive the funding necessary to continue their groundbreaking research. Our new Discovery Institutes support the national mandate for greater translational research in academic medicine and offer

you a unique opportunity to be involved. Generations of private philanthropy have already helped MCG to advance our mission to discover, disseminate and apply knowledge to improve health and reduce the burden of illness in society. As we enter this exciting new era of academic collaboration, we look to you to help us build for the future. You can support our Discovery Institutes by creating new research endowments ($100,000 is the recommended start-up amount) or contributing to an existing research fund. Your tax-deductible gifts to research endowments may be made with cash, appreciated securities, real estate, or a combination of cash and investments, and naming opportunities are available. You may also choose to include one of our Discovery Institutes in your estate plans. If you have a desire to support groundbreaking research in a specific disease (such as Alzheimer’s or heart disease), our Discovery Institutes offer you a fantastic opportunity to invest directly in research being done right here! If you are interested in supporting our Discovery Institutes or any of the School of Medicine’s philanthropic priorities, I would be happy to discuss these tremendous giving opportunities with you.

Did you know...? A new law lets you allocate a portion of your IRA to charity without incurring an income-taxable distribution. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 allows donors 70 1/2 years old or older to distribute up to $100,000 from their traditional or Roth IRAs to a public charity tax free. The act also allows the distribution to count toward the IRA owner’s mandatory withdrawal amount.

Thank you for your continued support of the MCG School of Medicine. 30

Fa l l 0 8

Class Notes

Awards? Professional Honors? Special Activities? We would love to hear what’s new with you. Call Scott Henson, executive director of alumni affairs, at 800-869-1113 or email shenson@mcg.edu.

1980s

1960s Dr. David N. Harvey

Dr. Harvey is health director for Georgia’s NorthCentral Health District, overseeing the health district’s operational plans. He has been a pediatrician since 1969 with Cornerstone Medical Associates, formerly Pediatric Associates, in Warner Robins, Ga. He is a former chair of the Phoenix Behavioral Center, Hodac and the Houston County Board of Health, where he has been a board member since 1972.

Dr. Christopher Cates

Dr. WillieNell Bryant-Pitts

1970s Dr. Keith Parmer

Dr. Parmer, a Floyd Primary Care family medicine physician in Rome, Ga., is included in the 2008-09 edition of the Cambridge Who’s Who Registry of executives, professionals and entrepreneurs. A Floyd physician for 15 years, he is board-certified in family medicine.

Dr. James Potts

Dr. Potts retired in December after 30 years with Shelby, N.C. Surgical Associates, then signed on as hospice medical director for Hospice Cleveland County. His first wife of 19 years, Anne Gilbert, died in 1988 after a long battle with cancer. He has been married to Fern Douglass for 20 years. He attends Christ Covenant Church and has three children and four grandchildren. He enjoys yard work, hunting, fishing, golf and cooking.

Dr. Cates, an interventional cardiologist and director of vascular intervention at Emory University in Atlanta, has been elected secretary of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention. He is also director of the Emory Angiographic Simulation Training Center and holds a heart clinic each Monday in the small Georgia towns of Hiawassee and Blairsville.

Dr. Pitts received the second Annual Dennis Bean Quality Service Award for Area I at the 2007 Developmental Disabilities Service Division Fall Conference. The award honors excellence, creativity and commitment in supporting those with development disabilities. She is director of medical services at the Northern Oklahoma Resource Center and is a board-certified pediatrician and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Her husband, the Rev. Cornelius Pitts, is the pastor of Zoe Bible Church in Enid.

Dr. Michael V. Smith

Dr. Smith, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Emory Crawford Long Hospital, has been named one of two Physicians of the Year by the Atlanta Medical Association, the nation’s oldest African-American physician organization. The honor recognizes longtime service to the Atlanta community. Dr. Smith specializes in open-heart surgery, minimally invasive heart bypass surgery and lung cancer surgery. He completed surgical training at the University of Kentucky, Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the University of Massachusetts. He is a Harvard University Alley-Sheridan Fellow.

Dr. Samuel Boles

Dr. Boles, medical director and ophthalmologist for the Anne Arundel Eye Center in Annapolis, Md., completed an internship at Yale University, a cornea research fellowship at Harvard University and a residency at George Washington University. He worked as a glaucoma fellow and clinical instructor for the University of California, San Diego, before going into private practice nine years ago in Baltimore and opening the eye center in 2007. He focuses on glaucoma and cataract care. Dr. Boles enjoys windsurfing and racquetball.

Dr. Daniel T. Purdom

Dr. Purdom of the Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center in Kansas City has been named the Missouri Academy of Family Physicians 2008 Family Physician of the Year. He helped University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine students found the Sojourner Health Clinic, a free clinic in downtown Kansas City that serves the homeless and under-insured. He volunteers at the clinic every Sunday and has donated over 470 hours of his time since the clinic opened in 2004.

Dr. Robert H. Rosengart

Dr. Rosengart has been named a fellow in the American College of Radiology. He is a board-certified diagnostic radiologist with Radiology Associates of Macon, Ga.

Dr. Daryl Wiley

Dr. Wiley, a family physician in Thomson, Ga., and a clinical associate professor of family medicine in the MCG School of Medicine, was recently inducted into the Georgia Chapter of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the American Medical Directors Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians. He chairs the McDuffie Regional Medical Center Performance Improvement Committee.

Dr. Patricia DuPuis Scherer

Dr. Scherer retired in May after serving as an urgent-care physician with Washington County Emergency Medicine Physicians in Maryland. She and a friend enjoyed a six-week RV trip to the West Coast to celebrate. Dr. Scherer earned MCG degrees in radiological technology and nuclear medicine before earning her medical degree. Her son, Jason, is married to the former Lisa Howard and they live in the Augusta area. Her daughter, Kateri, lives in Arizona and is married to Sgt. Brandon Terrette, currently deployed in Iraq.

GEORGIA Medicine

1990s Dr. Jennifer Garst

2000s 90

Dr. Garst has joined the Regional Cancer Care oncology center in Durham, N.C. She was previously a professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center where she was involved in the study and treatment of lung cancer, specifically serving as a principal investigator on the first study to use genomic information from a tumor to customize treatment for each person’s specific cancer. In early 2008, the Triangle Business Journal named her a Healthcare Hero, the publication’s annual spotlight on the Triangle’s most notable healthcare providers. Dr. Garst was given the Professional Excellence Award in the physician category. One of her key areas of interest is lung cancer as a women’s health issue.

Dr. Marion O. Lee Jr.

Dr. Lee has been appointed to the State Board of Medical Examiners by Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue. He specializes in interventional pain management with the Affinity Health Group. He has served as attending anesthesiologist, director of respiratory therapy and chief of staff at Crisp Regional Hospital. He is a member of the American Society of Anesthesia, the Society of Ambulatory Anesthesia and the American Association of Pain Management. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Auburn University. He and wife Denah reside in Cordele. Ga. and have four children.

Dr. John Blankenship

Dr. Blankenship is a urologist on the staffs of Athens Urology Surgery Center, Athens, Ga. Regional Medical Center and St. Mary’s Hospital. He completed residencies in urology and surgery at the University of Tennessee.

Dr. Leslie Stevens

Dr. Stevens has been named Physician of the Year by the California Association for Healthcare Services at Home. Dr. Stevens began a career in hospice care in 2001 so she could devote ample time to her patients. She joined the Ramona Visiting Nurses Association and Hospice in Hemet, Calif., in 2006. She and a team of nurses, social workers and volunteers provide multi-dimensional service to patients. “You see the beauty and tenacity of the human soul” in working with dying patients, she says. “You’d be surprised, but people live with all the grace and dignity even in their final time.”

Dr. Daniel A. Mullis

Dr. Mullis has joined the Department of General Surgery at The Longstreet Clinic PC’s Gainesville, Ga., office. The Rome, Ga., native was previously in private practice in South Carolina. His affiliations include the Southeastern Surgical Congress and the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons. He and his wife, Casey, have one daughter, Alyssa.

Fa l l 0 8

Dr. Greg. J. Matechak

Dr. Matechak has joined the staff of Floyd Urgent Care in Rockmart, Ga. He completed Atlanta Medical Center’s Family Practice Residency Program in Morrow, Ga. A board-certified family medicine physician, he is a member of the American Medical Association and the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Dr. Stacey Parker

Dr. Parker has joined the Neighborhood Healthcare Center in Cleveland, Ga., as a primary care physician. She completed her residency at Atlanta Medical Center Department of Family Practice. Dr. Parker is a member of the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American Academy of Family Practice.

Dr. Charles F. Jackson III

Dr. Jackson has completed the J. Willis Hurst Internal Medicine Residency Program at Emory University School of Medicine and was named the 2008 Resident of the Year in Internal Medicine. Dr. Jackson will begin a cardiology fellowship at Emory University in July.

In Memory Dr. Louis LeGarde Battey

Dr. Battey, a lifelong Augustan, died April 23 at age 84. He followed into the healing profession his great-great uncle, Dr. Alexander Dugas, a founding MCG faculty member, and hisgrandfather, uncle and brother. After graduating from MCG, he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, then completed a residency at Emory University before establishing Cardiovascular Associates of Augusta. He published research on cerebral blood flow and opened Augusta’s first high blood pressure clinic in cooperation with MCG, where he served as a clinical professor. He helped establish the region’s first coronary care unit at St. Joseph’s Hospital and served as president of the Georgia Heart Association. He established the state’s first office-based echocardiography lab and received the 1993 American Heart Association Heart of Gold Award and the 1996 Georgia Chapter of the American College of Physicians Laureate Award. Survivors include wife Mary Mell Battey, four children and their spouses and 11 grandchildren.

Dr. James Henry Brown

Dr. Brown died May 3 at age 84. He served honorably in the U.S. Navy during World War II and the Korean War and practiced psychoanalysis in New Orleans for over 39 years. He was chief of staff of DePaul Hospital, chief of psychiatric services at Baptist Hospital, a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a founding member of the Louisiana Psychoanalytic Association. After retiring in 1994, he moved back to his hometown of Rossville, Ga. Survivors include wife Carol Elizabeth Olson Brown, a daughter, two sons and 11 grandchildren.

Dr. James Michael Hosford

Dr. Hosford died April 24 at age 65 after a courageous battle with cancer. He had practiced pediatrics in Gainesville, Ga., since 1976. He also was a board-certified addictionist, sharing hope and strength with many addicts. He sang in the First Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir for 30 years. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy presented him with the National Science Fair Award in biology, setting in motion a lifelong commitment to science. Survivors include wife Susan Smith Hosford, three daughters and their husbands and seven grandchildren.

Dr. Chris Waites

Dr. Waites died April 15 after a long, hard-fought battle against cancer. Dr. Waites, who practiced obstetrics/ gynecology in Abingdon, Va., is remembered as “a great guy who loved life and was loved by all he touched.” Survivors include wife Angee and two young children, Andrew and Brenna. Wachovia Bank maintains a trust fund for his children under the name, Angela Kay Waites. To donate, call 276-676-3413.

MEDICAL COLLEGE OF GEORGIA

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

By the Numbers 739 732 431

Students

54 419 176 823

Basic Science Faculty

Students from Georgia Residents

Clinical Science Faculty Principal Investigators (including clinical trials) Faculty Publications

$304.2 m $75.9 m $35.6 m 114 7,291 53.4 $3.8 m 40 75 30

Expenditures Sponsored Research Dollars NIH Research Grant Dollars NIH Research Grants Current Alumni Percentage of Alumni Living in Georgia Philanthropic Giving (cash and pledges) Endowed Chairs and Professorships Scholarship Funds Dedicated Research Funds

Sources: Figures are from latest available data from the Medical College of Georgiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Office of Decision Support, University Advancement and School of Medicine; National Institutes of Health.

Administration Dean D. Douglas Miller Vice Dean for Academic Affairs Ruth-Marie Fincher Athens Campus Dean Barbara Schuster Senior Associate Deans John D. Catravas Joseph Hobbs Walter J. Moore Anthony L. Mulloy Associate Deans Andrew T. Albritton Kathleen M. McKie Linda Boyd Peter F. Buckley Andria Thomas Christopher White Geoffrey H. Young Assistant Deans Iqbal M. Khan Kathryn Martin Wilma Sykes-Brown Executive Associate Dean for Administration Michael A. Herbert Chief of Staff Donna Dauphinais Director of Operations Joel Covar

MEDICAL COLLEGE OF GEORGIA

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE next issue Not Your Run-of-the-Mill Med School...

The historic three-story property, located on the Oconee River, was occupied by milling operations as early as 1829, but, after renovations, will house the first classes of the Athens campus of MCG until the school can move to its permanent home at the Navy Supply Corps base.

MCG School of Medicine Office of the Dean Augusta, Georgia 30912 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

Krista Coleman-Silvers (from left), Dr. Doug Miller, Dr. Daniel Rahn and Tony Duva tour the historic O’Malley’s building near the UGA campus.

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage

PAID

Atlanta, GA Permit No. 552

w w w . mcg . edu / som / georgiamedicine