Temple Medicine, Fall/Winter 2007

TEMPLE

Medicine

A PUBLIC ATION OF TEMPLE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDIC I NE

FA L L / W I N T E R 2 0 0 7

P H I LANT H RO P Y R E PO RT I SSUE

ACCESS TO EXCELLENCE: THE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE ANNOUNCES A COMPREHENSIVE CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

TEMPLE

Medicine Contents A PUBLIC ATION OF TEMPLE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDIC I NE

Features

FA L L / W I N T E R 2 0 0 7

E D I TO R / P R I N C I PA L W R I T E R

Giselle Zayon Director, Alumni Affairs A RT D I R E C TO R

COVER STORY

Access to Excellence: The School of Medicine Announces a Comprehensive Capital Campaign 2

Jacqueline Spadaro Temple University Creative Services [069–0708–07] DESIGNER

Carol Gaines E D I TO R I A L A S S I S TA N C E

Kenneth R. Cundy, PhD C O N T R I B U TO R S

Morton Eisenberg, MD ’44 Matt Naegle, MD ’73 Paul Weidner, MD ’82 Renee Cree Tom Durso Beth Galinsky Eryn Jelesiewicz Robin McDaniel Anna Nguyen Ingrid Spangler Ilene Raymond Laura Wortman

Temple on World Stage 7

page 2

Temple’s New Graduate Program Curriculum 9

P H OTO G R A P H E R S

Ryan Brandenberg Joe Labolito Mark Stehle

Departments

DEAN

John M. Daly, MD ’73

News Notes 11

A S S I S TA N T D E A N , INSTITUTIONAL A DVA N C E M E N T

Alumni and Faculty Honors and Awards 15

P R E S I D E N T, A L U M N I A S S O C I AT I O N

Eric J. Abel

Audrey Uknis, MD ’87 CORRESPONDENCE

Temple University School of Medicine Institutional Advancement 3223 N. Broad Street Suite 413 Philadelphia, PA 19140 215.707.4850 800.331. 2839

Class Notes 19 What Ever Happened to...

John Martin, MD ’58 23

page 9

E-MAIL:

supportmed@temple.edu medalum@temple.edu

Student View 22 Copyright©2007

by Temple University

Philanthropy Notes 24 In Memoriam 27

page 23

Temple University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all in every aspect of its operations.The University has pledged not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, or disability. This policy extends to all educational, service, and employment programs of the University. For more information or to review Temple University’s Affirmative Action Plan, contact the Office of Affirmative Action, 109 University Services Building, 11 215-204-7303 (TTY: 215-204-6772).

AC C E S S TO E X C E L L E N C E : THE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE ANNOUNCES A COMPREHENSIVE CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

SUCCESS STORIES START HERE More than 10,000 alumni of TUSM are making their mark in clinical care, research, policy, and education all over the world. Their success started at TUSM, and today’s students are just beginning to write their own stories — stories that begin with the hallmarks of the Temple experience: personal attention from outstanding professors and a dual emphasis on exceptional clinical training and community involvement.

Now the School of Medicine is about to write an exciting new chapter in its own story with an initiative of transformative power: a $70 million comprehensive capital campaign.

The first comprehensive capital campaign in the School of Medicine’s history, Access to Excellence will help us build a state-of-the-art home for the School of Medicine, increase funding for scholarships and professorships, and create vital new research centers and programs.

“Access to Excellence is a campaign of strategic investment that will elevate TUSM to a higher plane,” says Dean John M. Daly, MD ’73.

2

C O V E R

S T O R Y

T E M P L E

A N EW HOM E , A N ERA OF TRANSFORMATION Central to Access to Excellence is the construction of our new medical education and research building, the first new structure to be built for the School of Medicine in 40 years and the largest capital project in Temple University history.

Ground was broken a year ago for the impressive new landmark, and the steel is rising quickly. We are on schedule for May 2009 occupancy. At a minimum cost of $160 million (it will cost an additional $20 million during Phase II to complete the final two research floors), the 480,000 square foot facility will nearly double the School’s current amount of space, and its flexible design will be the ideal platform for our new curriculum.

The new building isn’t the sole focus of our campus improvement; existing facilities are being upgraded too. We have invested $33 million to renovate classrooms, laboratories, lecture halls, study areas, and other facilities during the past several years.

“By the end of the campaign,” says Dean Daly, “the School of Medicine’s physical plant will be nothing short of transformed.”

TE M P L E RI S I N G In addition to its focus on TUSM’s physical plant, Access to Excellence will also benefit students, faculty and research.

M E D I C I N E

F A L L / W I N T E R

2 0 0 7

School of Medicine Campaign Progress (in millions of dollars) 80 70 60 50 40 30 20

GOAL ACTUAL

10

FY 03

FY 04

FY 05

FY 06

FY 07

FY 08

FY 09

FY 10

Finally, we must invest in research, an enterprise essential not only to the quality of education we provide, but also to advancing patient care and to the school’s overall stature within academic medicine.

These four major campaign objectives—facilities, student scholarship, faculty support, and research funding—constitute Temple’s plan for renewed vigor, building on the excellent momentum we have gained in recent years.

THE GOAL OF EXCEPTION AL TRAINING Most people familiar with Temple are aware that it operates within a community that has considerable challenges. Temple serves more

We must continue to invest in scholarships to ensure that medical education at Temple remains accessible to students of all backgrounds, to compete for top candidates, and to ease the debt burden of our graduates, which now averages more than $150,000 per student.

Although we have increased scholarship funds by an impressive 76 percent in recent years, we still have too few scholarship dollars available.

We must continue to invest in our faculty.

Endowed chairs are essential to the recruitment and retention of superb faculty. We plan to hire at least 60 additional basic scientists and clinicians once the new building opens, and funded positions are key to attracting and retaining the very best scholars.

C O V E R

S T O RY

3

T E M P L E

U N I V E R S I T Y

S C H O O L

o f

M E D I C I N E

Temple Rising

Campaign Progress by Category (in millions of dollars)

Temple’s $160 million Medical School Building project is the most visible sign of our momentum, but we are making other impressive strides as well:

New and Renovated Facilities

25

T O D AT E

5

0

• Entering classes with the strongest test scores and science GPAs in our history

30

GOAL

20

15

10

40

30

25

Other Categories

• Student pass rate on USMLE Step 1 surpassing the national average

7.2

Scholarship

• 9,890 applications for 180 places in the Class of 2011 (17 percent more than the year prior)

11

• 120 new faculty members recruited over the past four years, many with national and international reputations

8.1

Research

11

• New integrated curriculum linking basic science and clinical medicine

2.8

Faculty

8

• A new Institute for Clinical Simulation and Patient Safety featuring state-of-the-art technology and several new multidisciplinary, translational research centers, including the Center for Obesity Research and Education

3.75

Annual Fund

5

3.9

Other Programs

5

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

medical assistance patients than any other health system in Pennsylvania, and provided over $100 million in uncompensated care last year alone.

Despite the challenge, Temple maintains a steadfast commitment to its community. From a practical standpoint, there is much to be gained from the “roll-up-your-sleeves-andget-to-work” environment for which the school is known. Temple students are exceptionally well trained. Moreover, there’s a nearly palpable sense of loyalty fostered among those who teach, serve and learn here.

This is why the Access to Excellence campaign is so important: We provide exceptional training and service today — and want to become even better at fulfilling this mission tomorrow.

The School’s alumni have benefited from the unique experience that Temple offers. Therefore, their involvement is essential for an even stronger TUSM as the future unfolds.

4

C O V E R

S T O R Y

• An ongoing commitment to community service through 14 dedicated student service organizations including a free weekly medical clinic and a gun violence reduction program • More than $100 million in uncompensated healthcare services provided to Philadelphia’s uninsured and underinsured annually • Clinical campuses and clinical teaching affiliates around the state, reflecting the range of urban, suburban and rural populations that students may expect in clinical practice • Graduates who secure residencies at leading institutions all over the United States • Our Neuroscience Center ranks fifth in the nation for NIH funding;Temple Lung Center listed among the nation’s best in U.S.News & World Report; Institute for Clinical Simulation and Patient Safety one of seven nationwide and only in Philadelphia to receive American College of Surgeons Level I accreditation • One of the most diverse and socially-conscious student bodies in the nation, with 46 percent women and 20 percent minority groups under-represented in health professions — fifth in the nation in African American medical school graduates from 1958 to 2004 • The only institution in Pennsylvania and one of only 11 in the nation to be awarded an NIH grant to establish a Center for Minority Health Studies

T E M P L E

Solomon Luo, MD, Res ’86

Sandra Harmon-Weiss, MD ’74

WE ARE ACCESS TO EXCELLENCE In recent years, the support of alumni and friends has set TUSM on a path of progress that is strengthening every dimension of the School. We are proud that there has been a dramatic rise in philanthropy, from $3 million in fiscal year 1997 to $12.8 million in fiscal year 2007. In addition to the overall increase in total dollars donated annually, the number of alumni who have become donors increased from 22 percent in 2002 to 30 percent in 2007.

“These results indicate that alumni and faculty are increasingly proud of TUSM and understand the importance of their investment in the School,” says Dean Daly.

M E D I C I N E

F A L L / W I N T E R

2 0 0 7

E. Ronald Salvitti, MD ’63

“We want to inspire our colleagues to make additional commitments both large and small,” says Dr. Harmon-Weiss, noting that campaign participation gives the TUSM story an exciting new direction—for today’s students and faculty and for those yet to come.

“This campaign is critical to the School’s short-and long-term efforts, so we are asking all alumni to consider the impact the School has had on their careers, and give back appropriately and generously,” says Dr. HarmonWeiss. “We have all benefited from our medical education, and collectively have the power to help strengthen our alma mater.”

As a result of that investment, more of the nation’s best students and most accomplished faculty members are choosing to study and work at Temple.

“The Access to Excellence campaign is as essential to TUSM’s success as TUSM was to our success,” says Sandra Harmon-Weiss, MD ’74, one of the three volunteer chairs of the campaign.

Dr. Harmon-Weiss and campaign co-chairs E. Ronald Salvitti, MD ’63, and Solomon Luo, MD, Res ’86, have pledged more than $1.5 million of their own resources to Access to Excellence.

C O V E R

S T O RY

5

T E M P L E

U N I V E R S I T Y

S C H O O L

o f

M E D I C I N E

OPPORTUNITIES FOR INVESTMENT The campaign goal is to secure $70 million by December 2009 in six different categories: • $30 million for the new building • $11 million for research initiatives • $11 million for student scholarships • $8 million for faculty needs • $5 million for the annual fund • $5 million for related educational purposes As the following examples make clear, opportunities for investment span a broad range.

Suppor t the New Medical School Building

• Make a gift to name a space in the new medical school building — or the building itself. Naming opportunities range from $25,000 to $20 million.

• Make a Gift to the Lachman Auditorium: Join the orthopedic alumni who are closing in on their goal to raise $1 million to fund a 220-seat auditorium in the new building in memory of the beloved alumnus and former chief of orthopedics.

Approximately $800,000 has been raised to date.

• Make a Gift to the Alumni Bridge Challenge: Leverage your gift by accepting the matching grant challenge posed by TUSM’s Board of Visitors to fund the pedestrian bridge that will connect the new school of medicine building to the Kresge building (to be named the Alumni Bridge in honor of all alumni). The Board will match any new gift of $25,000 to $50,000, dollar for dollar.

• Make a Gift to the Carson Schneck Gross Anatomy Lab: A goal of $1 million has been set to name the Gross Anatomy Laboratory in the new building in honor of the beloved Professor of Anatomy. Gifts of all size are appreciated.

• Fund a term professorship, supporting an outstanding faculty member and his or her work over a set period, up to four years.

• Make a gift to an established chair or faculty fund.

Other Ways , Other Reasons to Give

• Legacy Giving: Are you one of the nearly 2,000 alumni or faculty who belong to a family with two or more members who are also TUSM graduates and/or faculty? Join with your family to create a philanthropic legacy to benefit Temple, by creating a family scholarship, naming a space in the new building, or other opportunity.

• Reunion Class Giving: Are you soon to celebrate a significant reunion of your TUSM graduation? Join with your classmates to select a class gift project to honor that special anniversary of your graduation.

• Planned Giving: Are you familiar with charitable gift annuities and the many vehicles like them? Planned gifts, i.e., annuities, trusts, and estate gifts, along with gifts of insurance and real estate, are just a few of the ways that a “gift of a lifetime” can be made to benefit both you and TUSM.

Suppor t Students

• Establish an endowed scholarship covering full or partial tuition for one or more students. Named funds typically begin at $50,000.

• Fund a term scholarship providing a partial tuition grant to one or more students for one to four years, from $1,000 or more per year.

• Make a gift to an existing scholarship fund, such as the Dean’s Scholarship Fund, or a Class Fund. All amounts are welcome.

Suppor t Faculty

• Endow a faculty chair, allowing the School to attract a nationally recognized researcher and/or clinician educator to our faculty. Chairs require sizeable commitments, beginning at $1.5 million, but are essential to a stronger future.

Many alumni are considering these opportunities in their estate plans.

6

C O V E R

S T O R Y

Making Your Gift The School of Medicine welcomes gifts in a variety of forms and can assist you in developing a plan to suit your needs and wishes. Commitments can be made payable over a period of five years. We can also help you make provisions for the School in your estate. You can make your gift or pledge online today by visiting temple.edu/medicine and clicking “Alumni and Development.” For more information contact Eric Abel, Assistant Dean, Institutional Advancement, at 215-707-3023 or eric.abel@temple.edu

TEMPL E ON TH E WO R L D S TAG E

Keio University School of Medicine,Tokyo—a new educational affiliate

Last year, when she was inaugurated as Temple University’s ninth president, Ann Weaver Hart spoke passionately about the university’s need to reach beyond city, regional, and especially, national borders.

“In this next century, we must confront a simple fact: globalization changes everything,” said President Hart. “If Temple does not internationalize teaching, research, and community outreach, we will be increasingly left behind in a dynamic and changing world and increasingly unaware of the true nature of that world. Our students will be less prepared to excel and prosper.”

President Hart’s call to action underscores the import and relevance of the School of Medicine’s long-established practice of crossing international borders. “Our multi-national collaborations date back to the school’s founding,” says Dean Daly, ticking off names like Chevalier Jackson, MD, who was recruited from France to head up bronchoesophagology in the school’s earliest years.

While not new activities by a long shot, the school’s faculty are being invited to present at international medical meetings in ever-increasing numbers, a growing number of international faculty are visiting Temple, and technological advances are fostering collaborations between Temple faculty and researchers across the world.

“In teaching, too, Temple strives to maintain an international focus — not only in terms of educating students from other countries but also by instilling in all the physicians it trains a respect for cross-cultural diversity,” says the dean. Clearly stated in the objectives the School has for its graduates is “the ability to recognize the cultural differences and belief systems of diverse peoples and how these influence their health and perceptions of well-being.”

Responding to growing student interest in elective experiences outside of the United States, the school’s International Health Program fosters and supports student rotations abroad. In the past five years alone, Temple students have completed international rotations in Africa (Cameroon, Kenya, Senegal, Togo, Uganda); Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan); the Caribbean (Barbados, Haiti); Central America (Costa Rica, Guatemala); Europe (Armenia, England, Spain, Turkey); the Middle East (Iran); and South America (Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru). Additionally, about two dozen fourth-year students annually complete a four-week elective abroad.

Such international exchange programs have existed on an ad-hoc basis at the School of Medicine for many years, and now the school is formalizing many of them. TUSM officials call

F E AT U R E

S T O R Y

7

T E M P L E

U N I V E R S I T Y

S C H O O L

o f

Temple University President, Ann Weaver Hart

M E D I C I N E

Chris Loftus, MD

such sanctioned affiliations pioneering, as relatively few American medical schools have engaged in them up to now.

“What we’re doing is groundbreaking and progressive,” says Christopher M. Loftus, MD, professor and chair of neurosurgery and assistant dean for international affiliations at Temple.

“The students get a first-class rotation in a firstclass medical school, and the cultural experience beyond. It’s an opportunity for anybody who wants to broaden their horizons. I wish I had such opportunity when I was in medical school; it’s an opportunity for students to really learn something,” he said.

As reported in a recent Temple Medicine, Temple signed affiliation agreements last fall with Keio University School of Medicine in Tokyo, Japan, and with Seoul National University College of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea, two of the finest medical schools in Asia. The agreements create a framework for academic and clinical exchange.

In addition to encouraging the development of joint research projects and educational activities, the agreements promote the exchange of information: Instructional and clinical methodologies and results, invitations to lectures, conferences, and symposia, publications and research findings. The university’s Office of the Provost assists students and faculty from Temple and foreign countries in smoothing out bureaucratic wrinkles, allowing them to concentrate on their research and clinical activities instead of paperwork and red tape.

Already six students have applied to spend a month each at the Asian schools. Four will study at Keio, and two at Seoul. “The success of this will undoubtedly inspire us to do more,” notes Dr. Loftus.

8

F E A T U R E

S T O R Y

Kamil Khalili, PhD

Indeed, serious talks are underway for Temple to establish formal affiliations with two schools in Italy, the University of Padua and the University of Salerno, as well as with Hebrew University in Israel and a school in Poland. Students from those schools have already spent time studying at Temple.

Kenneth J. Soprano, PhD, Temple’s former vice provost for research, says “It’s important that our students understand they can’t work in a vacuum.

There’s a tremendous amount to be learned by looking at other countries and how they do things. For an educational institution in the 21st century, it’s absolutely essential.”

“It’s important because it brings new directions to our program here,” says Kamil Khalili, PhD, professor and chair of neuroscience, who is spearheading the Italian affiliations. “The outcome is synergistic. Our faculty and students interact. We’re exposed to new ways of thinking and doing.”

Temple students themselves are taking the initiative in global outreach. The International Health student interest group, for example, pulled together a month-long trip to Tanzania over the summer for a half-dozen students between their first and second years. The students worked in a hospital in Karatu.

“Medicine is an international profession in many different ways,” observes William Schulze, assistant dean for affiliate and liaison activities at Temple. “It’s good for our students to see how medicine is practiced in other countries. There’s a lot of good medicine being practiced throughout the world, in many cases with a lot less in the way of resources than we have in the United States. The students learn service, they learn generosity, and they learn that you can do a lot of good without all the expensive resources we are so fortunate to have at our disposal.”

Temple’s New Graduate Program Curriculum Two years ago, apace with new challenges in biomedical pedagogy and changing conditions in clinical practice and research, Temple rolled out a new curriculum for its MD program.

“And now we are rolling out a new curriculum for our MS and PhD programs as well,” says Barrie Ashby, PhD, associate dean for graduate studies and professor of pharmacology, who led the charge to develop the new graduate studies curriculum.

Separate yet Together Traditionally, biomedical research has been divided into disciplines such as physiology, anatomy, pharmacology and biochemistry.

“When Temple’s graduate studies program was founded in 1949, these were distinct and separate disciplines,” says Dr. Ashby. “But the whole concept of biomedical science today is interdisciplinary. For example, if you’re a cell biologist studying anatomy, your interest in signal cascades in bone cells is paralleled by signal cascades in the neurological system.”

This concept — integration of disciplines — characterizes the new graduate curriculum, and the MD curriculum as well.

“The trick,” notes Dr. Ashby, “was to create a framework that capitalizes on all the interconnections without melding all the components into one indistinct mass.”

Flexible Objectives The goal of the graduate program is to prepare students for careers in academia, government and industry — and “the new curriculum will do a better job of it than ever before,” says Dr. Ashby, explaining the 149 students in the program interact within all disciplines, mixing and matching courses within a curricular layout that “crossfertilizes” disciplines.

Yingxin Li, a PhD candidate, enjoys the flexibility the curriculum provides.

“I like the fact that I can choose from so many courses,” he says. “Even though I am a pharmacology student, I am able to take courses in bioinformatics in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology.”

Mr. Li, whose education has been funded in part by a scholarship donated by alumnus Leonard Jacob, MD ’75, PhD, plans to pursue a career in industry.

Barrie Ashby, PhD

New Structure, Reciprocal Benefits In the new curriculum, MS and PhD candidates spend their first two years taking required coursework in the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences (IBS) Program, which features two tiers.

The lower tier comprises more basic courses under the heading of Foundation of Biosciences, the upper more advanced courses in the integrated biosciences series, which are cross-discipline courses designed to interest students from all eight programs.

Following two years in the IBS Program, students delve into additional discipline-specific advanced coursework tailored to their interests. Each also undertakes an individual research project and must write and defend a thesis.

“The program builds on itself, offering both a broad-based education and a great degree of flexibility,” Dr. Ashby says, noting that the School offers PhDs in eight different areas and master’s in four, as noted at right.

“Both students and faculty are benefiting from the new curriculum, because it fosters collegiality,” says Dean Daly, noting that the sharing of imagination, resources and talent has characterized the Temple medical education from the earliest days.

“Now that all the curricula of the School of Medicine have been redesigned,” says the dean, “we have completely re-imagined the teaching of medicine science the Temple way.”

GRADUATE PROGRAMS AT TUSM

In addition to the combined MD-PhD, Temple offers the following graduate degrees: PhD Programs: • Anatomy & Cell Biology • Biochemistry • Microbiology & Immunology • Molecular Biology & Genetics • Neuroscience • Pathology • Pharmacology • Physiology Master’s Degrees: • Biochemistry • Neuroscience • Physiology • Anatomy & Cell Biology (with a Certificate in Business)

For more information about graduate studies at TUSM, contact Dr. Barrie Ashby at barrie.ashby@temple.edu or 215-707-4404

F E AT U R E

S T O R Y

9

TEMPLE FAMILY TIES More than 2,000 TUSM alumni and faculty have a parent, child, sibling, grandparent, cousin, nephew, or niece who also belongs to the School of Medicine family.

By Paul Weidner, MD ’82 L-R (circled): Lisa, MD ’81; Gregg, MD ’88; Paul, MD ’82; and Norbert, MD ’75

The right fit can make a school feel just like family — and Temple has an especially strong “family feel” for me and my family. Three of my siblings and I went to medical school at Temple: Norbert (MD ’75), Lisa (MD ’81), me (MD ’82), and Gregg (MD ’88). We have three other siblings who did not become physicians, but we’ve talked about Temple and medicine so much, they’re all but honorary.

Norbert, our oldest brother, was the first to be bitten by the doctor bug (highly contagious, apparently). He blazed the trail from our family home in suburban Pittsburgh to Temple. I was 15 when he was a first-year med student in 1971, and absolutely fascinated with his stories.

Today, Norbert is a pediatric anesthesiologist and pain management specialist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. He says he still appreciates Temple for its dual emphasis on academics and patient care.

“Temple faculty practiced a very high quality of medicine, showed a great deal of compassion and caring for those they served,” Norbert recalls. “It was very much family in that regard for me.”

A few years later it was our sister Lisa’s turn to pursue the dream. Already influenced by Norbert’s good experience at Temple, a positive admissions interview really cemented her choice.

“Temple was down-to-earth,” she recalls. “So open to questions, so encouraging. It was like being at home.”

Like Norbert, Lisa became an anesthesiologist. She practices at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh, and is also part of a private pain management practice.

10

T E M P L E

T I E S

A year after Lisa enrolled at Temple, I applied too. I didn’t think of going anywhere else. I was accepted, thankfully.

And my experience turned out to be even better than I expected it to be.

Seven years after I enrolled came Gregg, the youngest. Big surprise: Gregg also enjoyed Temple and also became an anesthesiologist. He is with the same pain management practice as Lisa at Pittsburgh Mercy. I am the odd-man out, having chosen orthopaedics.

“The people in my class were excellent people,” says Gregg.

“We looked out for one another, helped one another. That’s one of the things I look back on at Temple and cherish.

“Medicine allows you to have a big impact on people’s lives,” says Gregg, “a degree of intimacy with individuals that other careers don’t allow you to have.”

That desire to touch people’s lives is at the core of it for all of us — not just for the Weidner physician siblings, but for all of us who pursued the path of medicine, and especially those educated at Temple.

Editor’s Note: Dr. Paul Weidner is an orthopaedic surgeon in Sellersville, Penna., and has just been elected Secretary-Treasurer of the Medical Alumni Association Board of Directors.

News Notes Coico Named Senior Associate Dean for Research “Dr. Coico is a talented leader, educator, and scientist,” says Dean Daly, explaining that he was instrumental in redesigning the basic science curriculum at CUNY and while at Cornell developed an inter-campus infrastructure to support interdisciplinary research and crosscampus collaborations. His research on immunoregulation has been published in numerous journals and he has participated on several editorial boards.

Richard Coico, PhD has joined the faculty at Temple as professor of microbiology and immunology and as senior associate dean for research. He has held faculty and administrative positions at NYU School of Medicine, City University of New York (CUNY) and, most recently, at Cornell University, where he was professor of microbiology and immunology and vice provost for inter-campus affairs.

As senior associate dean for research, Dr. Coico will be responsible for administering, overseeing and expanding all of the School’s research programs.

Dr. Coico’s wife, Lisa Staiano-Coico, PhD, is the new provost of Temple University.

Temple and St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children have signed an affiliation agreement in which St. Christopher’s will cover all in-patient pediatric care, some outpatient services now provided at Temple Children’s, and pediatric training for the School of Medicine.

Affiliating with St. Christopher’s enables Temple to continue providing highquality medical education, research and patient care services, plus helps lessen financial pressures on Temple. Temple Children’s has struggled financially since it opened in 1998. According to a recent Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council report, it lost $18.6 million in fiscal year 2006.

Under the agreement Temple’s pediatric faculty will practice and teach at St. Christopher’s. Emergency pediatric care, neo-natal intensive care and outpatient pediatric care will continue to be provided at Temple, and the facility that houses Temple Children’s will be redeployed. Temple will maintain its close cooperation with Shriners Hospital for Children, located at Temple’s Health Sciences Center on North Broad Street.

Drug Addiction and Relapse Lynn Kirby, PhD, assistant professor of anatomy and cell biology at the School of Medicine and the Center for Substance Abuse Research, has received a five-year, $1.1 million NIH grant to study the role of serotonin circuits in opiate addiction and relapse at the cellular level.

Serotonin, a brain neurotransmitter, is a prime target for stress as well as opiates. Dr. Kirby notes that long-term exposure to stress is known to play a role in psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression. It also plays a role in relapse in subjects with a prior history of substance abuse.“Recovered addicts are vulnerable to relapse that can be triggered by stressful life events,” Dr. Kirby said, explaining that she plans

Temple and St. Christopher’s Affiliation

Temple Children’s opened in part because Temple needed a clinical training site for pediatrics after the nowdefunct Allegheny Health System blocked Temple from continuing its affiliation with St. Christopher’s.

St. Christopher’s Hospital is currently owned by Tenet Healthcare Corporation. to study how serotonin operates at the cellular level during stress and relapse.

Using a combination of electrophysiological, neurochemical, anatomical and behavioral techniques, Dr. Kirby hopes to identify novel targets for the treatment of opiate addiction and prevention of relapse.

N E W S

N O T E S

11

T E M P L E

U N I V E R S I T Y

S C H O O L

Houser Named Chair of Physiology

o f

M E D I C I N E

Potential Advance in Preventing Cervical Cancer Procedure), which removes the diseased part of the cervix. Although effective, it can cause complications such as cervical stenosis.

“While vaccines for human papilloma virus (HPV) — the main culprit for cervical cancer — have shown protection against certain high-risk strains that cause high-grade cervical dysplasia and cervical cancer, they do not eliminate the risk for developing cervical cancer nor provide protection against existing HPV infection,” Dr. Hernandez said.

Steven R. Houser, PhD ’78, professor of physiology, professor of medicine, and director of Temple’s Cardiovascular Research Center, has been named chair of the Department of Physiology at Temple. He has been acting chair since 2006, and has also served as associate dean for research. Richard Coico, PhD, has been recruited to replace him in that capacity.

Dr. Houser is internationally recognized for his research on cardiac cellular control mechanisms that regulate contraction and relaxation of the heart.

His work has been supported by uninterrupted extramural funding from NIH and from other sources since 1984, and he has authored or co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications.

“Dr. Houser is also a skilled and dedicated teacher in the classroom and laboratory, and an experienced administrator who demonstrates an exceptional ability to build multidisciplinary research groups and to recruit talented new faculty members to Temple,” says Dean Daly.

Dr. Houser was awarded a PhD in physiology from Temple and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in cardiology before joining the full-time faculty in 1979.

12

N E W S

N O T E S

Temple is participating in a national phase II multi-center clinical trial to determine the safety and effectiveness of an investigational treatment for cervical dysplasia.

Designed to enhance the immune response to cervical dysplasia, Amolimogene, an immunotherapeutic from MGI Pharma Inc., could offer patients an alternative to surgery, explains Enrique Hernandez, MD, professor and chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Temple.

Approximately 20 million people, mostly women, are currently infected with HPV, with 6.2 million new infections occurring annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While the virus clears itself from the body in most women within two years, about a dozen high-risk strains can lead to more serious problems. According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 500,000 women are diagnosed with high-grade cervical dysplasia annually, with about 10,000 cases progressing to cervical cancer.

The most widely utilized treatment for high-grade cervical displaysia is LEEP (Loop Electrosurgical Excision

Cloning Efficiency Keith Latham, PhD, professor of biochemistry at the School of Medicine and the Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology, has been awarded a fiveyear, $1.1 million NIH grant to study spindle formation in oocytes and early embryos.

When a cell divides, a spindle forms that helps to segregate and divide chromosomes from the nuclei into two identical nuclei. But in cloned animal embryos, researchers have found spindles fail to form or they segregate imperfectly, resulting in cells that no longer are clones of the original. “From a developmental biology view, this creates cloning inefficiency,” Dr. Latham said.

To uncover why this occurs and to improve cloning efficiency, Dr. Latham is turning to proteomics to study how proteins influence spindle formation. Improved efficiency of cloning has a number of benefits, from the creation of better pharmaceutical factors from animals, to development of new patient-specific stem cell therapies.

T E M P L E

Intensive repetition — listening at least 400 times to each heart sound — significantly improves physicians’ skills with the stethoscope, according to a study presented at a recent American College of Cardiology meeting.

400 times in a 90-minute session to five common heart murmurs. In previous studies, physicians’ accuracy rate for heart-sound identification averaged 40 percent. After the session, the average improved to 80 percent.

After demonstrating last year that Temple medical students greatly improved their auscultation skills by listening repeatedly to heart sounds on their iPods, Temple cardiologist Michael Barrett, MD, clinical associate professor of medicine, tested the technique on practicing physicians.

The physicians, 149 internists, listened

At Temple, heart sounds are posted online for students to download on iPods or MP3 players. After repeated listening, students’ skills are tested. The results show an average accuracy rate of 90 percent, compared with the average 20 percent to 30 percent rate for the general population of medical students and residents.

Internists now are tested on this skill for board recertification. “Requirements for residents and other specialists are sure to follow,” Dr. Barrett said.

Through a partnership with the American College of Cardiology, Dr. Barrett’s “Heart Songs” now are accessible online and available on CD. Visit the ACC web site at www.cardiosource.com.

Myeloma Study With the support of a Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation grant, Robert W. Colman, MD, professor of medicine, is developing a treatment for multiple myeloma, C11C1. When directed to the human plasma protein kininogen, C11C1, a patented antibody, inhibits the growth of several different types of cancers, including multiple myeloma, by blocking the blood supply to the tumor.

Collaborating with Dr. Colman is Louis Weiner, MD, vice president of translational research and chair of medical oncology at Fox Chase and professor of medicine at Temple.

Dr. Weiner, who has designed and engineered several new antibodies for treating cancer, will work on converting C11C1 into a format potentially more suitable for human use. Multiple myeloma affects approximately 16,000 people in the United States each year.

F A L L / W I N T E R

2 0 0 7

Bone Marrow Transplant Milestone

Heart Sound Lesson

Michael Barrett, MD, trains a colleague

M E D I C I N E

The Fox Chase-Temple Bone Marrow Transplant Program, now in its 20th year, is rapidly approaching its 1,000th transplant, a major milestone.

The program, which provides autologous and allogenic blood and marrow stem cell transplants for virtually all hematologic malignancies and bone marrow failure states, has twice received approval by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy under the direction of Kenneth F. Mangan, MD, professor of medicine and section chief.

“We continue to attract exceptional faculty and staff with regional and national reputations,” says Dr. Mangan, noting that one recent addition is alumnus James Gajewski, MD ’83, who came from the MD Anderson Bone Marrow Transplant Program in Houston, Texas.

Based at Jeanes Hospital in northeast Philadelphia, the Temple-Fox Chase BMT program is active in clinical trials with the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, the Fox Chase Cancer Center, and the BMT Clinical Trials network and is designated a preferred provider and center of excellence among several insurance carriers.

HIV Compound Shows Promise A new compound has shown promise in halting the spread of HIV by preventing the virus from replicating. Developed

by Temple researchers, 2-5AN6B, a nucleic acid, inhibited up to 80 percent HIV replication in white blood cells of 18 HIV-infected patients, regardless of the patients’ treatment regimens.

“A cure for HIV infection remains an elusive goal, despite the significant impact of current treatments, because of the virus’s ability to adapt and resist and bypass the immune system’s natural defenses,” said Robert J. Suhadolnik, PhD, principal investigator and professor of biochemistry at Temple. “This compound prompts the body to restore its natural antiviral defense systems.”

Current HIV drugs work by blocking one of the steps toward virus replication.

This new compound works by a different mechanism and could potentially be combined with existing antiviral therapies for a more effective treatment.

The new compound is much less likely to be defeated by the ability of the virus to mutate, according to Thomas Rogers, PhD, co-author of the study and professor of pharmacology at Temple.

Published in AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, this work will continue under a recently awarded NIH grant. Studies will include the molecular mechanisms of 2-5AN6B, and a new therapeutic approach involving gene therapy.

N E W S

N O T E S

13

T E M P L E

U N I V E R S I T Y

S C H O O L

o f

M E D I C I N E

In Brief

L-R: Dean Daly with Stephen Permut, MD, Chair of Family and Community Medicine; Joel Richter, MD, Chair of Medicine; and Michael Madaio, MD, Chief, Nephrology

Update:Temple University Physicians “Excellent progress is being made by and for Temple University Physicians (TUP),” says Dean Daly, referring to the group of approximately 400 full- and part-time physicians who are School of Medicine faculty.

In addition to adopting a number of administrative and organizational efficiencies, TUP is expanding and improving its clinical sites on the Health Sciences Campus, on the university’s Main Campus, and in the Philadelphia region. Now completely renovated and modernized, the old skin and cancer building on Broad Street is now a multispecialty site for TUP, with onsite facilities for endocrinology, rheumatology, family medicine, nephrology, and select surgical specialties.

“It’s an integrated clinical practice and research site,” says the dean, noting that the center will serve both basic and clinical research needs.

TUP will soon open a new medical office center in Philadelphia and is planning additional locations as well.

Robert McNamara, MD, chair and professor of emergency medicine at Temple, is chief medical officer of TUP.

14

N E W S

N O T E S

Chris Platsoucas, PhD, resigned his post as chair and professor of microbiology and immunology at Temple (a role he had since 1993) to become dean of the College of Sciences at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, where he will also serve as professor of biological sciences and director of the Center for Molecular Medicine. His wife Emilia Oleszak, PhD, associate professor of anatomy and cell biology at Temple, will join him as a tenured faculty member.

John Daller, MD, PhD, expert in kidney, liver and pancreas transplantation, has joined Temple’s Abdominal Organ Transplant Program, and has been appointed associate professor of surgery at the School of Medicine. His research interests include mechanisms of immunosuppression, organ preservation, physiology of hepatic failure, and hormonal stimulation and control of hepatic regeneration.

James McClurken, MD ’76, professor and vice-chair of surgery, surgical subspecialties and director of perioperative services, cardiothoracic surgery, has been elected vice president of the Pennsylvania Association for Thoracic Surgery.

Dimitrios Mastrogiannis, MD, PhD, has re-joined the faculty as associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology and director of maternal-fetal medicine. He was an assistant professor at Temple from 1991 to 1994, then became director of maternalfetal medicine and obstetrics at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffolk, New York, and from 2004 to 2005 was recruited to establish perinatal services at Democritis University of Thrace, Greece. Active in professional affairs, he was recently chair of District II, Section 4, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists.

Temple received a one-year NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award, a planning grant to help move research faster from bench to bedside. The $225,000 grant targets translational work in cardiovascular and pulmonary disease and substance abuse, as well as programs in gestational diabetes, women’s health, and telemedicine in the community. Also targeted are ways to increase research opportunities and mentoring for young investigators.

John Rombeau, MD, a colorectal surgeon who is widely recognized as a leader in his field, has joined the faculty as professor of surgery. Prior to joining Temple, he was professor of colon and rectal surgery at the University of Pennsylvania, and held positions at other leading institutions prior. His areas of clinical practice and research include colorectal cancer, colonic diverticulitis, inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal fistulae, and anorectal conditions.

Dr. Rombeau has published widely and lectured internationally. He has received numerous honors and awards during his career, including the 2007 Physician of the Year of the Chrohn’s and Colitis Foundation, Philadelphia area chapter. He is a fellow of both the American College of Surgeons and the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons.

Vikas Khurana, MD, a gastroenterologist, has joined the faculty as associate professor of medicine. He specializes in general gastroenterology, therapeutic endoscopy and gastrointestinal malignancies. His research is focused on the role of statins as chemoprotective agents. Prior to joining Temple, he was program director for the gastroenterology and hepatology training program at Philadelphia’s Graduate Hospital and prior was an attending at the Overton Brooks Veterans Administration Medical Center in Shreveport, Louisina. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians.

Ala Stanford Frey, MD, assistant professor of surgery at Temple, has been named director of Temple’s recently established Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities.

ALUMNI AND FACULTY

Honors and Awards FINE N AMED TEMPLE’S 2007 ALUM NUS OF THE YEAR

Renowned pediatric nephrologist Richard N. Fine, MD ’62, dean of Stony Brook University School of Medicine and immediate past president of the American Society of Transplantation (AST), has been named TUSM’s 2007 Henry P. Laughlin Alumnus of the Year.

Internationally recognized for his expertise in the management of children requiring renal transplantation, Dr. Fine is an educator, clinician, researcher, and leader in professional affairs. He is renowned for his pioneering efforts to adopt dialysis and renal transplantation for pediatric patients; for establishing peritoneal dialysis as an alternative for children with end-stage renal disease (ESRD); and for using recombinant human growth hormone to treat chronic renal insufficiency and ESRD and to improve growth retardation in renal allograft recipients.

He is beloved by patients, families, colleagues, and trainees.

A fellow of the American Board of Pediatrics and Pediatric Nephrology, Dr. Fine has eleven textbooks to his credit, is editor-in-chief of Pediatric Transplantation, and is a current or past editorial board member of 20 different journals, including the American Journal of Nephrology.

In addition to his role as immediate past president of AST, Dr. Fine is president elect of the International Pediatric Transplant Association, an organization he helped found. He has served numerous professional organizations as president or board member, including the American Society for Pediatric Nephrology, and has provided expert consultation to the FDA and NIH. In 1967, Dr. Fine initiated the dialysis and transplant program at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles. Forty years later, his first patient is still doing well. In 1980 he established the division of pediatric nephrology at UCLA. He was professor of pediatrics at the University of Southern California and the University of California Center for Health Sciences prior to moving east to join Stony Brook as chair of pediatrics in 1991, and was named dean there in 2005.

“It’s an honor to be recognized by my medical alma mater,” said Dr. Fine, who has received many awards, including the 2003 American Academy of Pediatrics Henry L. Barnett Award for Outstanding Teaching and Clinical Care. “I came to Temple with certain intentions, and my ideals were matched,” says Dr. Fine. “My experience there has helped carry me throughout my career.”

Dr. Fine’s father, Raymond Mann Fine, MD ’32, a family practitioner, was also a TUSM graduate.

T W O T E A C H I N G AW A R D S F O R R U B I N

Ronald N. Rubin, MD ’72, professor of medicine and chief of hematology at Temple, has received two major honors: the 2007 Great Teacher Award of Temple University and the 2007 Honored Professor Award of the School of Medicine.

In his three decades of service to Temple, he has established a reputation as an outstanding clinician and scholar in internal medicine and hematology. It is in his role as an educator, however, that he has made his most impressive mark on thousands who have graduated from TUSM and its internal medicine residency and hematology-oncology fellowship programs.

Students and faculty have recognized Dr. Rubin’s contributions with multiple teaching awards, including seven Golden Apples and the Christian and Mary Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1997. Nationally, he is recognized as an outstanding educator in his role as course director for the American College of Physicians Internal Medicine Board Recertification review.

“Dr. Rubin is often mentioned as one of the people who make Temple so special. I was amazed by his ability to make the incomprehensible seem perfectly clear,” said a former student.

“This is a man who was born to teach.”

“Something this important had better be done right, and I have tried to do it right over the decades,” says Dr. Rubin.

H O N O R S

A N D

A W A R D S

15

T E M P L E

U N I V E R S I T Y

S C H O O L

o f

M E D I C I N E

BRENN AN GETS 2007 ALUMNI AC H I E V E M E N T A W A R D

CLOSE AND P ERM UT GET ALUM NI S E R V I C E AWA R D

Patrick J. Brennan, MD ’82, professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and chief of healthcare quality and patient safety at the Penn Health System, has received a 2007 Alumni Achievement Award from Temple.

A nationally known infectious diseases specialist and expert in infection control and patient safety, Dr. Brennan chairs the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee and serves as one of 14 infectious disease experts to advise the federal government regarding infection control. He also chairs the Sentinel Event Advisory Group of the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. In 2008 he will become president of the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

For the past 15 years, Dr. Brennan has been involved in public health efforts to treat tuberculosis and related conditions.

He was director of the Tuberculosis Control Program of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health and served as a tuberculosis consultant for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

A fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and the Society of Healthcare Epidemiologists of America, Dr. Brennan has won several awards, including the University of Pennsylvania Class of 2001 Outstanding Teacher Award. He is an editorial board member of the Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management, and is widely respected for his leadership and expertise.

FPO Dr. Close

FPO Dr. Permut

Class co-chairs Richard Close, MD ’72, and Stephen Permut, MD ’72, have been awarded TUSM’s 2007 Alumni Service Award for exemplary generosity and service to the school.

For 35 years, both have given generously of the time, financial resources, and expertise. They have both been leaders of the Alumni Board (Dr. Permut is a past president), and both are benefactors of longstanding.

In addition to naming facilities in our new school of medicine building with major gifts (the Harvey Watts, MD, Memorial Room and the Richard Close, MD ’72 and Anne Close, ’09 Study Room), they have individually and collaboratively supported dozens of programs and projects, such as the Class of 1972 Endowed Scholarship Fund; the Dean’s Endowed Scholarship Fund; and the Annual Fund.

Dr. Permut is chair of family and community medicine at Temple and assistant dean for affiliations. A leader in school, professional and community affairs, he is chair of the Delaware Delegation to the American Medical Association.

A neurosurgeon in Berks County, Pennsylvania, Dr. Close is past president of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American College of Surgeons. His daughter Anne is a second-year medical student at TUSM.

2 0 0 7 S K U L L D E D I C AT E D TO K A P L A N

“When asked to choose a professor to whom we would dedicate our yearbook, the Class of 2007 chose Lawrence Kaplan, MD ’86, associate professor of medicine, general internal medicine section chief, and internal medicine clerkship director,” said Lindsay Weinstein, MD ’07, yearbook editor. “He exemplifies the kind of doctor and teacher we’d all like to be.

Seemingly destined to be a Temple physician, Dr. Kaplan’s mother graduated from Temple in 1954 with a degree in education. His father, Alvin, graduated from TUSM in 1955, and Larry was born at Temple University Hospital.

A faculty member at Temple since 2002, Dr. Kaplan is the former director of the New Jerseybased Cooper University Hospital Primary Care Residency Program.

“Dr. Kaplan believes that people work and learn better when they are cared for, respected, and treated as equals,” says Dr. Weinstein. “Therefore, he treats students as valued colleagues who can teach as well as learn.”

16

H O N O R S

A N D

A W A R D S

T E M P L E

KUN A P U L I G E T S U N I V E R S I T Y R E S E A R C H AW A R D

M E D I C I N E

F A L L / W I N T E R

2 0 0 7

C U N DY S G E T C O N W E L L A W A R D

Temple platelet activation researcher Satya P. Kunapuli, PhD, professor of physiology and pharmacology received Temple’s 2007 Paul W. Eberman Faculty Research Award, the university’s highest honor in recognition of excellence in research. His list of publications features 20 book chapters and he has served on numerous study sections at NIH. Dr. Kunapuli, who is also co-director of the Sol Sherry Thrombosis Research Center, came to Temple in 1990 as a research assistant professor, having earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry and his doctorate in biochemistry in India. He says that “Jim Daniel, PhD, professor of pharmacology, and Barrie Ashby, professor of pharmacology and dean of graduate studies, encouraged me every step of the way.”

H A R B I S O N G E T S L I N D B AC K A W A R D

Dr. Harbison with Jenny Chaing, Class of 2008

Sean Harbison, MD ’86, professor of surgery, vice chair for surgical education and director of Temple’s clinical clerkship in general surgery, has won a 2007 Lindback Award for Teaching Excellence at Temple. He credits the honor, in part, to his decision to buck the stereotype of the academic surgeon as caustic or aloof.

The Cundys, joined by Dean Daly and University Alumni Association president Loretta Duckworth on the left and Temple University President Ann Weaver Hart on the right.

Emeritus faculty member Kenneth R. Cundy, PhD, and his wife Elsie, were joint recipients of the 2006 Russell H. Conwell Award of Temple University for outstanding service by non-alumni.

During the past 41 years, Dr. and Mrs. Cundy have established a legacy of extraordinary dedication and generosity to Temple, giving of their time, talent, and personal resources. Dr. Cundy came to Temple in 1965 as a postdoctoral fellow in microbiology/immunology. In addition to becoming an accomplished educator and scientist, he took on a host of volunteer positions and served in several university-wide faculty leadership roles.

He “retired” in 1992 but continues to teach. A career Army nurse, Mrs. Cundy worked at Temple for 20 years until her retirement in 1988 and has been an active Temple University Hospital auxilian ever since. This year, the couple will celebrate 50 years of marriage.

The Cundys are major Temple benefactors, supporting dozens of efforts ranging from scholarship support to capital improvements. They have endowed a classroom in Kresge and the alumni office in the new medical school building.

“The volunteer spirit—and Temple—are in their blood,” says Dean Daly.

To the contrary, Dr. Harbison is known for his warmth and sense of humor and for giving many students their first operating room experience. One former student recalled, “I remember my first case with him. He asked the nurse to pass the scalpel to me, and I thought there must be some mistake. But he readied the surgical field, instructed me how to make the incision, and I made a smooth, even incision into the patient’s abdomen. How amazing that felt.”

Dr. Harbison held appointments at the University of Pennsylvania and MCP-Hahnemann University before returning to Temple in 2003. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in education.

H O N O R S

A N D

A W A R D S

17

T E M P L E

U N I V E R S I T Y

S C H O O L

o f

M E D I C I N E

B E L A S C O S N A M E D TO 2 0 0 7 – 0 8 G A L L E R Y

Each year, two alumni of each of Temple’s schools are inducted into the Gallery of Success, a photo-bio gallery based in Mitten Hall that’s seen by thousands of students, applicants, faculty and visitors each year. Representing the School of Medicine this year are Jean Bello Belasco, MD ’73, and Robert N. Belasco, MD ’73, who met and married while students at TUSM. A professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and a pediatric oncologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), Dr. Jean Belasco specializes in investigational therapies for progressive cancer and has special interest in patients with neurofibromatosis. Her research interests span brain tumors, neurofibromatosis, and investigational therapies for refractory brain tumors and progressive plexiform neurofibromas. She was named a 2007 Master Clinician at CHOP, a peer-nominated honor recognizing exceptional contributions to patient care.

Boarded in cardiology, internal medicine and critical care, Dr. Robert Belasco practices with Cardiology Consultants of Philadelphia, a large group practice with two dozen locations

in the greater Philadelphia area. In addition to managing a busy schedule of cardiac patients, he teaches medical students, interns and internal medicine residents at Mercy Suburban Hospital in Norristown, Penna., where, in recognition of his efforts and talents, he was honored at Mercy as the 2007 Educator of the Year.

Both Belascos have earned a reputation for providing outstanding clinical care. And both have been generous to their alma mater, serving as members of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. Jean’s father, the late Carmen Bello, MD, was a professor in the Department of Pharmacology at Temple.

IN BRIEF

Randall Bertolette, MD ’76, Vero Beach, Fla., has become dean of Florida State University College of Medicine’s new Fort Pierce regional campus. He will oversee the educational programs for third- and fourth-year students. Prior to accepting this post, Dr. Bertolette ran a private pediatric practice in Vero Beach, Florida.

Guenther Boden, MD, professor of medicine and chief of endocrinology at Temple, was named 2007 Father of the Year by the Greater Philadelphia American Diabetes Association and the Father’s Day Council. This award honors men who balance their dedication to family with community service and thriving careers.

Francescso Beuf, MD ’76, Denver, Colo., was recently honored as a pediatrics career teaching scholar at the University of Colorado at Denver, recognizing exceptional accomplishments and commitment to education.

Martin Grabois, MD ’66, Dallas, Tex., professor and chair of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine, is recipient of three recent awards: the Distinguished Academician Award of the Association of Academic Physiatrists, the Distinguished Clinician Award of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and the National Council on Disability’s Leadership Award.

Richard Lockey, MD ’65, Tampa, Fla., an allergist and immunologist, has been named distinguished university health professor at the University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa. He is also professor of medicine, pediatrics and public health at the University’s Health Sciences Center, where he serves as director of the Division of Public Health.

Frederick Simeone, BA ’56, MD ’60, Philadelphia, Penna., received the university’s 2007 Certificate of Honor for the School of Medicine, an award presented annually during the university’s Founder’s Day celebration.

Well known for his integrative, collaborative approach to clinical practice, education and research, Dr. Simeone is clinical director of the Simeone Center for Neurosurgery, based at the Pennsylvania Hospital, and former chair of neurosurgery at Thomas Jefferson Medical College. His book The Spine is now in its fifth edition. Dr. Simeone, center, is pictured here with Paul Hermany, MD ’82, immediate past president of the TUSM Alumni Association and Dean Daly.

18

H O N O R S

A N D

A W A R D S

Earl Norman, MD ’87, Kalamazoo, Mich., an attending in the Department of Surgery at Michigan State UniversityKalamazoo Center for Medical Studies, received a 2007 Faculty Teaching Award.

Alexandra Remakus, MD ’06, Philadelphia, Penna., is the first recipient of the Paul Branca Award for outstanding performance in neonatal intensive care medicine at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children and Thomas Jefferson University.

Class Notes 30s

Clare A. Trueblood, MD ’33, Indianola, Iowa, will celebrate his 101th birthday this year. Since his retirement in 1981, he has pursued interests in gardening, woodworking and local and medical history. In 1939, following his internship and residency in internal medicine at Methodist Hospital in Des Moines, he established a general practice in Indianola and ran it for 45 years.

He also served on the county health board and served as town coroner, plus served on the local school and town planning boards in addition to serving as physician at Simpson College. He has three children, nine grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren.

50s

Bernard Bail, MD ’52, Los Angeles, Calif., has authored two new books: The Mother’s Signature, a psychoanalytic text, and Irmgard’s Flute, a memoir of war (both Masters Publishing Co., LLC, 2007). Dr. Bail has been a professor of psychiatry at UCLA, is a member and training analyst at the Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, and chairs the Infant Mental Life and Dreams in Psychoanalysis groups of the American Psychoanalytic Association. He is a leading proponent of holistic psychoanalysis, an approach embracing mind, body and spiritual considerations.

Bernhard Mittemeyer, MD ’56, Lubbock, Texas, is the interim president of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, and professor of urological surgery. He had been the center’s executive vice president and provost for 10 years, and the medical school dean for three years. His distinguished 28-year Army career included the rank of Lieutenant General, and he retired as Army Surgeon General in 1985. He was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal, Bronze Star, and Distinguished Flying Cross for valor in combat, having served as commander and CEO of Walter Reed Army Medical Center; Division Surgeon and Medical Battalion Commander of the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam;

commander of the Army Medical Command in Korea; and chair of the Department of Surgery and head of the urology residency program at Walter Reed. He has authored or co-authored more than 40 publications and numerous presentations in urology, surgery, and healthcare administration and leadership.

60s

Alan H. DeCherney, MD ’67, Potomac, Maryland, is chief of the Reproductive Biology Medicine Branch of the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development at the NIH, Bethesda. He has held the position for about a year.

70s

Arnold K. Gash, MD ’72, Jenkintown, Penna., is clinical associate professor of medicine at Temple and its affiliate, Jeanes Hospital, specializing in general cardiology, heart failure, valvular heart disease and exercise. He had been assistant professor of medicine and director of cardiac catheterization at Temple, then associate professor in heart failure and transplantation at Hahnemann. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, American College of Cardiology, and American Heart Association Council on Clinical Cardiology.

Peter T. King, MD ’74, Hong Kong, China, is chief of cardiology at Hong Kong Adventist Hospital and clinical director of its Hong Kong Heart Center. He also is chair and CEO of Global HealthCare, Shanghai, a medical/ dental service provider. Fluent in English, Mandarin, Shanghainese and Cantonese, Dr. King is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, American College of Cardiology, American College of Chest Physicians and International College of Angiology.

Barry L. Friedberg, MD ’74, Corona Del Mar, Calif., is clinical assistant professor of anesthesiology at Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

M. Douglas Baker, MD ’78, Dallas, Texas, is director of medical services and interim chief of emergency medicine and general pediatrics at Children’s Medical Center, Dallas. He is also professor of pediatrics at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, where he holds the Sara M. and Charles E. Seay Distinguished Chair in Pediatric Medicine for advancing research and study in pediatric emergency medicine. He previously served as chief of pediatric emergency at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital and as chief of pediatric emergency medicine at Yale. His many awards include the Jean Cortner Divisional Teaching Award for Excellence at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which he received for six consecutive years, and the National Institute of Emergency Care Instructional Excellence Award. He has held faculty positions at Johns Hopkins, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale.

80s

Alexander A. Sapega, MD ’80, Wallingford, Penna., and Michael L. Sidor, MD ’87, Media, Penna., were cited as “Top Physicians of South Jersey – 2006” in South Jersey Magazine, as voted by peer orthopaedic surgeons. Drs. Sapega and Sidor have been in practice together since 1995 formerly served as director and associate director, respectively, of the University of Pennsylvania Sports Medicine Center for the University of Pennsylvania Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. They are currently in private practice in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, and Havertown, Penna.

Letitia O’Kicki-Rosen, MD ’82, Berwyn, Penna., has been selected to the board of directors of breastcancer.org, an internet source for peer-reviewed medical content on every aspect of breast cancer. Inspired by her mother’s successful fight against breast cancer, Dr. O’Kicki-Rosen decided to advance her involvement in the cause by serving on the board. She has held numerous teaching posts, serving as a clinical associate in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and

at Thomas Jefferson University Medical College. She is currently a medical consultant for Meniscus Limited, a medical publishing company, and is a past-board member for The Circle of Care, a nationally recognized program for women, children, youth and families affected by HIV/AIDS. Christopher A. Sanders, MD ’86, North Attleboro, Mass., has been named vice president for medical affairs at Saint Anne’s Hospital, Fall River, a member of Caritas Christi Health Care, the second largest not-for-profit health system in New England. Dr. Sanders formerly maintained a private practice in internal medicine with Attleboro (Mass.) Medical Associates and served as chief of medicine at Sturdy Memorial Hospital there. He has special interest in developing electronic health records and was a member of the original group that created the Massachusetts Health Collaborative.

Martin Freed, MD, Res-Int. Med ’89, Layfayette Hill, Penna., has been named chief medical officer of Adnexus Therapeutics, a company focused on a new class of therapeutics, Adnectins, and is responsible for the clinical development of Adnexus’ pipeline.

Angiocept, Adnexus’ first drug candidate, is in Phase 1 trials.

Preclinical studies show that it blocks VEGFR-2, part of a key angiogenesis pathway involved in the growth of new blood vessels that support tumor growth.

Prior to joining Adnexus, Dr. Freed was chief medical officer at Vitae Pharmaceuticals, and prior to that he was vice president for clinical development at GlaxoSmithKline, where he led clinical development of Avandia®, a leading drug in the treatment of type II diabetes.

90s

Guy Nee, MD ’90, an internist in private practice in Pennington, New Jersey, recently met up with Gary Vogin, MD ’90, a medical editor with WebMD based in Atlanta, at Temple’s medical school reunion. They were excited to see the progress made under Dean John Daly’s leadership and look forward to seeing more

C L A S S

N O T E S

19

T E M P L E

U N I V E R S I T Y

S C H O O L

o f

M E D I C I N E

PROFILE: Lydia Vaias, MD ’96 — A Triple Threat For Lydia Vaias, MD ’96, Santa Monica, Calif., medicine means unceasing advocacy on behalf of physicians and patients.

As a medical student at Temple in the 1990s, she organized a conference called “Physician Activism: The Call Beyond Call,” which drew 500 of her peers from across the region and featured such speakers as then-Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders and Patch Adams. It was a harbinger of things to come. She went on to serve as president of the School’s chapter of American Medical Student Association (AMSA) and after graduating from Temple, became president of AMSA at the national level.

While completing her general surgery residency at the University of California at Los Angeles, Dr. Vaias earned an MPH with a concentration in health policy. She then joined the staff of Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Bellflower, Calif., and was soon thereafter named to the board of the Permanente Medical Group, where she helps to oversee a $5 billion business that includes 11 hospitals and 130 medical office buildings and pharmacies.

“Lydia Vaias is dynamic and boundless,” says her classmate Hoangmai (Mai) Pham, MD ’95, MPH, adjunct assistant professor in the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins and senior health researcher at the Washington, D.C.based Center for Studying Health System Change. She says that Dr. Vaias is making national waves as the founding leader and president of a new organization called the National Physicians Alliance (NPA) — an impressive group of 10,000 plus members poised to transform organized medicine by balancing the AMA’s traditional guild-focused agenda with an agenda to restore the core values of medicine: service, integrity, and advocacy.

A progressive physician-activist, Dr. Vaias is deeply committed to public health and patient-centered care. She attributes much of her commitment to those who taught her. “A lot of it started with the mentoring I got when I was a student at Temple,” says Dr. Vaias. “The physicians there are 100 percent dedicated to the communities they serve. I’m extraordinarily grateful to my university.”

“Dr. Vaias is one of the most talented, dedicated physicians I have ever known,” says Dr. Pham, noting that what makes her especially impressive is that she was once a homeless street kid who has worked hard for everything she’s accomplished.

“Dr. Vaias is a ‘triple threat’,” says Dr. Pham. “A compassionate clinician, effective executive, and a respected community leader.”

20

C L A S S

N O T E S

of their classmates at future reunions. Robert Nee, MD ’94, is a nephrologist and assistant professor at George Washington University Medical School. Both have been named fellows of the American College of Physicians.

ment and colposcopy. She serves on the maternal and child-care committee for the Medical Society of Delaware, and on the Board of Directors for the Sickle Cell Disease Association of Delaware.

Juan A. Cordero, Jr., MD ’93, Richland, Wash., joined Cardiothoracic Surgery Associates, PC, of the Kadlec Medical Center, Richland, Wash. He had formerly practiced in upstate New York.

Dr. Cordero completed a HarvardLongwood NIH vascular research fellowship at Harvard Medical School-Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a general surgery residency at Albany Medical Center, and a cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at the University of Rochester Medical CenterStrong Memorial Hospital.

Sherri Shubin Cohen, MD ’99, Philadelphia, Penna., is medical director of the pediatric feeding and swallowing center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She served a pediatric residency at the University of Maryland and a preventive medicine residency at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, and holds a master’s in Public Health from Johns Hopkins. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Jason Foster, MD ’94, Omaha, Neb., is assistant professor of surgery at Creighton University Medical Center, Omaha. He completed his residency in general surgery at University Hospitals of Cleveland, as well as fellowships in gastrointestinal and mixed tumor oncology, and surgical oncology.

Asif R. Rizvi, MD, FEL ’94, Fayetteville, North Carolina, is a private practitioner running two endocrinology offices in North Carolina: in Fayetteville since 1998, and Apex since 2004. He is an attending at Cape Fear Valley Health System in Fayetteville.

He graduated from Rawalpindi Medical College, Pakistan, and is a fellow of the American College of Endocrinology.

Rajeev Prasad, MD ’95, Moorestown, New Jersey, former assistant professor of surgery at Tuft’s University School of Medicine, has joined the staff at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. He completed his postgraduate training at Thomas Jefferson, the University of Tennessee and Pediatric Surgical Services in Springfield, Mass. His work has been published in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery.

Melissa M. Tribuiani, MD ’96, Newark, Del., is medical director of the St. Francis Center of Hope, in Newark, where she sees a predominantly Spanish-speaking population. Her areas of interest include family-centered maternity care, pediatrics, diabetes manage-

00s

Trisha Acri, MD ’00, Philadelphia, Penna., is assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Temple. She had been an instructor in family medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where she also was a research fellow and a master’s student in clinical epidemiology.

Joseph F. Urban, Jr., MD ’00, Las Vegas, Nev., has joined Desert Radiologists, Nevada’s largest medical imaging company. Dr. Urban completed his residency in diagnostic radiology at the University of California, San Francisco, in 2005, as well as a fellowship in diagnostic neuroradiology in 2006. Dr. Urban serves on the American Society of Neuroradiology Clinical Practice Committee. His special interest is minimally invasive treatment of spine disorders.

Taryn Draxler, MD ’03, Elmira, New York, is an attending in medicine at St. Joseph’s Hospital, in Elmira, and practices with Arnot Medical Services, also in Elmira.

She completed her residency in internal medicine at Temple.

Sarah R. Goodyear, MD ’03, Lansdale, Penna., is a hospitalist in medical oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia.

She completed her residency in medicine at Temple.

Whatever happened to…

John Martin, MD ’58

by Matthew Naegle, MD ’73

Many of us fondly remember John Martin, MD ’58, who taught internal medicine and rheumatology at Temple in the ’60s through late ’70s. I have known him as a teacher, mentor and friend since my freshman year at Temple in 1969, and have always considered him an example of what we should all aspire to be as physicians: competent, compassionate and collegial.

association with Temple that has seen him fill a variety of roles: beloved professor, dedicated alumni leader, unyielding supporter.

Dr. Martin has always had a great respect for the practice of medicine. He demonstrates what an honor and responsibility we share as practitioners.

To me, Dr. Martin is truly a doctor’s doctor. That is the phrase that he would use when talking about a physician to whom he would refer colleagues and their families — a phrase affirming the utmost respect and confidence. Hats off to you, John, for so aptly modeling all that phrase means, in word and in deed.

Yet as seriously as he takes our profession, he has a great sense of humor and never takes himself too seriously. He was as approachable a professor as he was astute. Students and patients loved and respected him. Nearly 30 years after he left Temple, alumni and patients still ask for him fondly. Dr. Martin accrued a lot of fans, me included. He was a big reason that I went into rheumatology.

“Temple was very inspiring to me,” says Dr. Martin. “A student of modest means with ambition and talent could come there and excel.” (There are a lot of alumni who can relate to that.)

The traits that he brought to the classroom and clinic—directness, compassion, and a dry, easy wit—helped him build a varied and rewarding career. In 1978 he left Temple to run the medical residency program at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he also served as vice chair of the Department of Medicine. In 1986 he went into private practice with his wife, Martina, a rheumatologist who trained at Temple, and in 1997 he was named vice president for medical affairs at Main Line Health System in suburban Philadelphia.

Dr. Martin retired from practice and administration in 2000, but remains active by volunteering at Bryn Mawr Hospital, playing bridge and tennis, and collaborating on an electronic chronology of the American Civil War. Though he left Temple nearly three decades ago, he has remained closely connected. In the early 1990s he served as president of the School of Medicine’s Alumni Association, and continues to contribute to the School’s fundraising efforts. From the 1950s to today, Dr. Martin has enjoyed an enriching, five-decade Editor’s Note: Dr. Naegle is an internist based in Phoenixville, Penna.

W H AT E V E R

H A P P E N E D

T O . . .

21

Student View SERVIC E LEAR N I N G At 21 percent, the poverty rate in Temple’s North Philadelphia service area is more than double the national average, and at 48 percent, Temple serves more inpatients on Medical Assistance than any other institution in Pennsylvania. The statistics in Temple’s service area reflect higherthan-average incidence of treatable, preventable disease.

“Add to this the unusual and refractory cases from far-flung locales referred to Temple’s specialists, and you get a range of pathology that few students of other medical schools get to see,” says Ronald Rubin, MD ’72, professor of medicine.

“Temple is an incredible place to train.”

But does this make Temple students and faculty a cold bunch, looking at a wrenching situation opportunistically?

“Hardly,” says Zoe Maher, of the Class of 2008. “Out of necessity, and heart, we are drawn here to make a difference.”

More than half of the most recent graduating class worked in professional service capacities even before coming to Temple. One class member was a victim’s advocate with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office, another a biology teacher for troubled youth.

“We attract practically-minded, socially conscious physicians,” says Alumni Association President Audrey Uknis, MD ’87, associate dean for admissions and associate professor of medicine, “People who want to give back to society, to use the knowledge and skills they’ve acquired here to make the world a better place.”

22

S T U D E N T

V I E W

THE DECIDING FACTOR

CLOSE TO TEMPLE AND FAR AWAY

Second-year student Amy Hosmer says that she chose Temple over other medical schools specifically for its commitment to service. After being active in service as an undergraduate at Wake Forest, she searched for a medical school where she could follow suit.

Movement is afoot to extend Temple’s medical students presence in North Philadelphia to other parts of the country and the world.

“I looked at a number of schools,” she says, “but Temple’s reputation for community service was a deciding factor for me.”

“Our students have the initiative and the drive for change already inside them,” says Paul Lyons, MD, the associate professor of family and community medicine who helped students start the Temple CARES program a decade ago. “The programs here simply provide avenues for them to take action.”

Zoe Maher believes that service is essential to medical education. “It’s one thing to study situations, but quite another to engage directly,” she says.

ANOTHER PART OF THE SILVER LINING

Another opportunity afforded by Temple’s neighborhood pertains to research.

Historically, minority populations have been overlooked in clinical research.

But now that it is being recognized that we need to involve ethnic and cultural subgroups, Temple is having great success with grant applications that assess the newest approaches, treatments and medications for use by these communities. Temple currently has five such grants totaling $10 million. The $1 million grant we received from the NIH to establish our Center for Minority Health Studies is one of only 11 in the United States.

Three different groups of students have gone to New Orleans to help in Katrina’s aftermath, Ms. Maher among them. The first trip was financed by grants from the TUSM Alumni Association Board and the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. The students traveled to New Orleans during the holiday break to work with a small clinic in Algiers, with first- and second-year students providing triage, and thirdand fourth-year students helping to treat patients.

Students were able to go back to New Orleans with additional funds from the TUSM Alumni Board, and again with the Temple Emergency Action Corps (TEAC), a new student-run project funded by the Greenfield Foundation, to which alumnus and TUSM Alumni Association Board member William S. Greenfield, MD ’69, belongs.

TEAC is training first- and second-year students to become first responders to natural disasters. Students will learn wound care and suturing techniques, and learn about psycho-social factors affecting trauma victims.

During the past five years, TUSM students have traveled to more than 20 countries on five continents to complete international rotations or volunteer with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and Doctors without Borders.

T E M P L E

Fourth-year student Monica Dhand and fellow students traveled to El Salvador in June to volunteer at a free health clinic. Others traveled to Venezuela with Habitat for Humanity. And last summer, students involved in Temple’s International Health Organization traveled to a clinic in rural Karatu, Tanzania. The students hope to establish a tradition for medical students to continue visiting Karatu during the summer after their first year and as an elective rotation during the fourth.

M E D I C I N E

F A L L / W I N T E R

2 0 0 7

Each year,Temple medical students participate in hundreds of activities aimed at helping, programs like Temple CARES, a student-run health clinic that provides medical care and health screenings on a weekly basis at a local church, and the Community Service Outreach Group, which, among many other activities, holds an annual health fair at a local elementary school.

“We’d like to return each year to focus on a new area of need,” says Rachel Altork, student director of the International Health Organization.

MORE SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

Neil Rellosa, MD ’06, now doing his residency in pediatrics at Thomas Jefferson University, says, “What makes the Temple experience meaningful is the reciprocal benefit. You come here to learn, but you’re actually making a contribution to the community. The people you are serving are your teachers. Everyone’s part of the learning experience.”

Education, and University Athletics promote academics and athletics in primarily minority and inner-city organizations

These are just a few of many service programs with which Temple students and faculty volunteer: • Partnership Schools, a program in which Temple faculty and students in education, psychology, social work, medicine, and dentistry help children and families in four Philadelphia public schools • Cradle-to-Grave, a program that addresses Philadelphia’s epidemic of youth violence through a highly interactive two-hour experience in the emergency room and morgue, emphasizing the value of life and permanence of death

• Pipeline, a community outreach program that teaches local public school students about public health and health careers to begin building a pipeline for minorities to the health professions. Approximately 175 students from two Philadelphia elementary schools and one high school participate yearly. Early findings are encouraging: the longer students are in the program, the more likely they are to go on to college

• The International Student Athlete Academy, a program in which faculty and students of the Department of Neuroscience, the Department of

• Opportunities in Health Care, a program designed to familiarize high school students with the multiple career options in healthcare

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT:

www.temple.edu/medicine/education/student_affairs_organizations.htm www.temple.edu/templecares/navigate.htm www.templeiho.blogspot.com www.templevoad.org

S T U D E N T

V I E W

23

*

PHILANTHROPY NOTES

In this section, we highlight recent and longstanding benefactors.

* W.W. Smith Charitable Trust A benefactor of Temple University and the School of Medicine for 30 consecutive years, the Philadelphia-based W.W. Smith Charitable Trust was established in 1951 by the late Philadelphia industrialist and philanthropist William Wikoff Smith.

His widow, Mary Smith, and daughters, Louise Havens and Debbie McKenna, manage the Trust today. Last November they visited the School of Medicine to meet with Dean Daly and several faculty grant recipients who described their research and the impact that funding from W.W Smith has had on their careers.

“W.W. Smith and the School of Medicine have sustained a long-lasting partnership that is helping Temple become a world-class research institution,” says the dean.

In addition to medical research funding, W.W. Smith also awards grants for college scholarships and food, clothing, and shelter for children and the elderly.

W.W. Smith grants serve as a bridge to securing NIH funding, since NIH funds only fund relatively established concepts.

Moreover, as NIH funding continues to decrease nationwide, private foundations are filling the void of sponsored research.

“The philosophy of the trust has been to identify and fund unique basic medical research projects,” says Mary Smith.

“Projects which will help researchers pursue breakthroughs that will open new doors and eventually improve people’s lives.”

Michael Autieri, PhD, associate professor, physiology, attests to the Trusts’ generosity.

“I have been fortunate to have received two W.W. Smith Foundation research grants,” he says. “The first was directly responsible for establishing my career.”

Moreover, the technician whom Dr. Autieri hired to work under that grant later entered graduate school at Temple.

Christopher Carbone, PhD, received his degree earlier this year.

“That single W.W. Smith grant enabled me to establish my research career as faculty at Temple and launch the career of a future scientist,” says Dr. Autieri.

Over three decades, Temple has benefited from over $12 million in scholarship and research support from W.W. Smith, with funds targeted primarily toward heart disease, cancer, and AIDS. Two recently funded researchers are Dan Liebermann, PhD, professor of biochemistry, and Satoru Eguchi, MD, PhD, associate professor of physiology. Dr. Lieberman’s two-year grant will use novel mouse models to examine how deficiency of gadd45 expression modulates breast carcinogenesis. Dr. Eguchi’s three-year grant will focus on the mechanism of endothelial dysfunction in endothelial cells to determine the exact cause of cardiovascular diseases.

24

P H I L A N T H R O P Y

N O T E S

L-R:Amy Lyons, MD ’07,Wilbert Lyons, MD ’48, Daniel L. Lyons, MD ’76 and and Clifford Lyons, MD ’83.

*Lyons Family Gift First came Wilbert (Bill) Lyons, MD ’48. Then came Bill and his wife Nancy’s three sons — all of whom went to Temple.

Timothy received an EdM from the College of Education, and the other two, like dad, pursued their Temple MDs: Daniel graduated in 1976 and Clifford in 1983. Then, in 2007, Daniel’s daughter Amy joined the legacy as a third generation Temple MD. “We are all very proud of our Temple education and continue to encourage people (especially family members) to apply,” says Bill, explaining that, appropos to their sentiment, the Lyons family got together this year to name the Lyons Family Admissions Conference Room in the new medical school building.

A psychiatrist, Bill Lyons, MD ’48, works locums tenens for the state hospital in Danville, Penna., having retired from his post as Director of Medical Services at Prudential Insurance Corporation. As Senior Vice President of Government Programs for Independence Blue Cross (IBC), Daniel Lyons MD ’76, is responsible for IBC’s government and social mission programs. These programs include Medicare, CHIP, AdultBasic, and the Caring Foundation. In addition to his role at IBC, Dr. Lyons is a member of the Board of Visitors at TUSM.

T E M P L E

M E D I C I N E

F A L L / W I N T E R

2 0 0 7

Timothy Lyons EdM ’81, is a school psychologist in Perkasie, Penna., Clifford Lyons, MD ’83, is a family practitioner in Hamburg, Penna., and Amy Lyons, MD ’07, is doing her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Temple.

“I very much enjoyed my medical school training at Temple, and when I finished the program, I clearly had a much better exposure to traumatic injuries than anyone in my internship class at the University of Minnesota,” Dr. Bert recalls.

“Temple University School of Medicine is an institution where our entire family has grown intellectually for over fifty years,” say Bill and Nancy.

“Temple remains very dear to my heart, as do Drs. Lachman’s and Torg’s accomplishments in the field of orthopedic surgery.

I consider it an honor to join my name with Drs. Lachman and Torg, who have given so much to the orthopedic community nationally.”

The Lyons enjoy thinking about the TUSM applicants that will pass through the Admissions Office room they’ve endowed, knowing that the brightest and best among them will join them as members of the Temple family some day.

Dr. Bert says he also admires Dean Daly — they were classmates. He says he is proud to witness the construction of the new school of medicine, proud to be part of such a transformative time for Temple.

“Accomplishment is a combination of ambition, hard work, and a great institution,” says Dr. Bert. “Temple was my great institution, and for that I’m truly appreciative.”

Joseph S. Torg, MD ’61, professor of orthopedic surgery at Temple and former team physician for the Flyers, Eagles and 76ers, has also made a leadership gift to support the Lachman Auditorium campaign.

Dr. Torg remarks, “Simply put, it’s payback time for the very positive effect that the medical school and particularly John Lachman have had on my life and career. Latch’s integrity, commitment to teaching and excellent patient care serves as a model for all.”

Dr. Bert

Dr.Torg

*Lachman Auditorium Receives Leadership Gifts Jack M. Bert, MD ’73, an orthopaedic surgeon based in St. Paul, Minn., and incoming President of the Arthroscopy Association of North America, reflects on his education at Temple. One faculty member he remembers especially fondly is John W. Lachman, MD ’43, former chair of orthopaedics.

When Dr. Bert learned that an auditorium in the new medical school building would be dedicated in Dr. Lachman’s name, he was eager to support the effort with a generous gift.

“I have always admired Dr. Lachman and was on his service as a medical student,” says Dr. Bert, noting that he almost went to Temple for orthopaedic training, but interned at the University of Minnesota and met his wife in Minnesota, so ended up doing his residency at the Mayo Clinic and has been in St. Paul ever since.

Twenty-nine years ago, Dr. Bert founded and now heads the largest orthopaedic practice in eastern St. Paul, Summit Orthopaedics, a 30-physician, full-service practice. He specializes in disorders of the shoulder, knee and hip, with six book chapters in orthopedics to his credit and five patents for devices related to arthroscopic surgery and total joint replacement. He’s also a clinical professor at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine and teaches and lectures nationally and abroad.

Renowned in the field of sports medicine, in the 1960s, Dr. Torg pioneered the changes from the old style football cleat to the present soccer-type of shoe, saving many thousands of athletes from serious knee injuries. In 1974, he co-founded the country’s first outreach sports medicine clinic at Temple.

He also lobbied for injury-prevention measures that resulted in a ban on “spearing” in college football, significantly reducing the number of cervical spine injuries resulting in paralysis. He has numerous honors to his credit, including the 2002 National Athletic Trainers Association President’s Challenge Award.

Dr. Torg says that contributing to the Lachman Auditorium is one way to remember one of the “great ones.”

Joining Drs. Torg and Bert in having made sizeable gifts to the Lachman Auditorium fund are: Daniel Bethem, MD ’70; Barry Boden, MD ’90; John Casey, Jr., MD ’84; Timothy Garvey, MD ’84; John Gottlieb, MD ’74; Michael Gratch, MD ’76; David Junkin, MD ’66; Michael Kalson, MD ’79; Stephen Longenecker, MD ’86; Charles Parsons, MD ’62; Glenn Perry, MD ’78; Anthony Salem, MD ’62; Joseph Scornavacchi, Jr., MD ’73; Joseph Thoder, Jr., MD ’82; Paul Weidner, MD ’82; and Steven Wolf, MD ’84.

For more information, contact Eric Abel at eric.abel@temple.edu or (215) 707-3023.

P H I L A N T H R O P Y

N O T E S

25

T E M P L E

U N I V E R S I T Y

S C H O O L

o f

M E D I C I N E

A Legacy of Access

By Morton Eisenberg, MD ’44

When I gave him my food budget figure, he put his pen down and said: “What! Do you want to come down with tuberculosis? Let’s double that amount.” He wrote a check, handed it to me, and asked me to report back in three months. I told him I did not know how to thank him. “Someday you will be in a position to help others. Don’t hesitate,” he said.

From the time I was eleven, I had a passionate desire to become a physician. And now someone I had never even met before was financing my dream. This gentleman was Manny Rosenfeld, one of the founders of The Pep Boys, Manny, Moe and Jack.

Ann Marie Lam of the Class of 2009, recipient of the Class of 1944 Scholarship, with Bernie Eisenstein, MD ’44, and Morton Eisenberg, MD ’44

Last May my friend and classmate Bernie Eisenstein, MD ’44, and I had the pleasure of giving the keynote address at the annual scholarship recognition dinner at Temple, an event that brings together donors to, and recipients of, medical student scholarship funds.

Bernie and I have been friends since we met at Temple as undergrads in 1937, and we have done a great many things together over the years. One of the most meaningful things we do today is support the Class of 1944 scholarship fund and the fund for the new medical school building.

“When our classmates created this fund many years ago, what we were really doing was creating a legacy of access: access to superior medical education for superior students who could not afford it otherwise,” explains Bernie.

Bernie and I were once in that otherwise category. We financed our undergraduate education at Temple with a lot of hard work. Bernie washed dishes, sold magazines, and worked at a shoestore. I worked three jobs at a time all through undergraduate school. In 1940, when we received our acceptances to Temple University School of Medicine from Dean Parkinson, tuition was only $500 dollars a year — but we didn’t have it. Scholarship money was scarce in those days, and there were no government-backed loans.

Bernie scraped the tuition money together by working and from the U.S. Army Armed Services Training Program.

I searched for someone willing to lend me the money.

Eventually a Philadelphia businessman, a total stranger, agreed to meet with me. I told him that I needed a loan that I would not be able to pay back for quite a few years. I minimized my anticipated expenses, fearful of discouraging him.

26

P H I L A N T H R O P Y

N O T E S

Thanks to Mr. Rosenfeld, I met exceptional teachers like W. Emory Burnett, MD, professor of surgery. In 1951, at my suggestion, he became my sister-in-law’s surgeon. She had been admitted to Temple with acute ulcerative colitis. In those pre-cortisone days, the only treatment that could save her was a bowel resection. When my brother Ted, a struggling young lawyer, asked Dr. Burnett his fee, Dr. Burnett quoted a very nominal number. He looked Ted in the eye and said, “Mr. Eisenberg, I don’t want you to worry. Your wife will receive the best care possible. The quality of care my patients receive has nothing to do with my fees.”

Another professor who made a great impression on me was Dr. John Kolmer, chair of microbiology. For 63 years I’ve had a copy of a book he authored and signed for me when it was newly published. “Dear Mr. Eisenberg,” he wrote, “Please remember: the practice of medicine is not a God-given right; it is an honor and a privilege. It requires devotion and sometimes sacrifice. In future years may you look back upon your journey here as a model for your ideals as a physician.”

Bernie and I feel a deep bond with Temple. We look back on our undergraduate and medical school years as some of the most fascinating and significant of our lives. Manny Rosenfeld’s injunction to me made a profound impact on both of us — and that’s why I repeated it to everyone at the scholarship dinner: “In future years when you are in a position to be helpful to young medical students, don’t hesitate,” I said, ending my remarks to the 200+ scholarship donors and recipients attending the dinner.

As I walked back to my table, I could see it in her eyes: The young medical student who is the current recipient of the Class of 1944 scholarship fund has decided that she, too, will become a scholarship donor one day.

When those who get become those who give, says Bernie, we perpetuate the legacy of access — and give access to legacy.

In Memoriam John W. Lachman, BA ’40, MD ’43, former chair of orthopaedic

surgery at Temple, died on September 22, 2007. He was 88.

John W. Lachman, BA ’40, MD ’43

Known for his sharp intellect, impeccable integrity, exemplary dedication, and subtle sense of humor, “Latch” followed John Royal Moore as department chair and brought Temple Orthopedics to the fore. A great clinician and educator, he held his trainees to high principles and taught them the significance of meticulous attention to detail. His own attention to detail led to the observation that ACL insufficiency can be determined by stressing the knee in extension rather than in the manner of the classic anterior drawer test. Recognized throughout the world as the most sensitive clinical determinant of ACL injury, the ‘Lachman Test’ is firmly engraved in the contemporary orthopaedic vocabulary.

For information about the John W. Lachman Auditorium Fund for the new School of Medicine building, contact Eric Abel, Assistant Dean, at 215.707.3023 or eric.abel@temple.edu.

James G. McElligot, PhD

James G. McElligot, PhD, professor of pharmacology, 68, died February 20, 2007, following a year-long battle with metastatic melanoma. During his 35-year tenure at Temple, he taught, conducted research and service, served numerous tours as course director for the pharmacology and neuroscience graduate programs, and mentored many pre- and postdoctoral students. He made meaningful contributions to the field of motor control, published extensively, and received numerous NIH/NSF awards.

He was a pioneer in developing chronic microelectrode techniques for neurophysiological studies in alert mammals, and became quite interested in exploring the role of monoamines in cerebellar function. A neuroscience lecture series fund has been established at TUSM in Dr. McElligot’s name. To contribute, contact Dan Schulster at daniel.schulster@temple.edu or 215-707-3598.

John Hall, MD ’41, former professor of surgery at Temple, 91,

John Hall, MD ’41

died on May 17, 2007, of pulmonary fibrosis. A long-time Temple supporter, Dr. Hall was an emeritus director of the TUSM Alumni Association Board. A founding member of the American Trauma Society, Dr. Hall began teaching at Temple as an associate in surgery in 1942, and was promoted up the ranks to full professor. From 1959 to 1982 he also served as chair of surgery at Philadelphia General Hospital. In 1982 he became chief of surgical services at Veteran’s Administration Hospital, Wilmington, Del., and professor of surgery at Thomas Jefferson, retiring in 1986. Dr. Hall made provisions in his will for any donations in his memory to be made to the TUSM Class of 1941 Endowed Scholarship fund. Please contact Laura Wortman at laura.wortman@temple.edu or 215-707-9459.

I N

M E M O R I A M

27

In Memoriam continued Board member, benefactor and friend C. Hilyard Barr, 83, La Canada, Calif., died on September 4, 2007, after a courageous battle with cancer. Mr. Barr had been a member of the School of Medicine’s Board of Visitors and was an exemplary advocate of the School for decades, giving generously of his wealth and wisdom.

In addition to endowing two scholarship funds for medical students, he supported a wide range of programs and projects and made a number of significant gifts anonymously. Mr. Barr ran five successful medical therapeutics companies and was a pioneer in freeze-dried human blood processing. Dubbed a tycoon at 19 by the Philadelphia Inquirer in 1943 when he was running a 20person company as a freshman at TUSM, Mr. Barr said that he “washed out [of school] fair and square.”

Although he never graduated from Temple, he never let his connections disappear. In fact, the late Professor John Kolmer helped launch Mr. Barr’s success by turning one of Mr. Barr’s products into a blood test for syphilis, and classmate Clyde McAuley, MD ’48, served as Barr’s company medical director for over 40 years.

In 2002 Mr. Barr was honored with TUSM’s Service Award.

C. Hilyard Barr ’48

Tod Mikuriya, MD ’62, Berkley, Calif., 73, died on May 20, 2007, after a long battle with cancer. A psychiatrist and leader in the movement for the legalization of medical marijuana, Dr. Mikuriya self-published in 1972 the landmark book Marijuana Medical Papers 1839–1972, and helped construct the state ballot measure that legalized doctor-recommended marijuana for seriously ill patients. He also was a founder of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians, whose members have issued more than 160,000 approvals. Limiting his private psychiatric practice to cannabis consultation, Dr. Mikuriya approved medical marijuana for over 9,000 patients. Legal complexities drew him into conflict with the Medical Board of California, which put him on five years’ probation in 1994 while practicing under the supervision of a state-appointed monitor. In his final days, Dr. Mikuriya’s sister and fellow alumna, Beverly Mikuriya MD ’73, cared for him.

30s Edith W. Sechler, MD ’38 James G. Zaidan, MD ’38

2.18.07 5.4.07

40s Leona K. Dean, MD ’41 John Handy Hall, MD ’41 John D. Bonzer, MD ’42 Frank R. Boyer, MD ’42 James R. Goodson, MD ’42 Francis A. Ambrose, MD ’43 William K. Goodspeed, MD ’43 Howard E. Pratt, MD ’43 Alston C. Twiss, MD ’44 Roy C. Swingle, MD ’45 Edwin Lauterbach, MD ’46 Morton, Leach, MD ’47 Warren A. Nafis, MD ’47 Nicholas F. Viek, MD ’48 28

I N

M E M O R I A M

2.27.07 5.17.07 4.20.07 5.14 .07 05.02.07 10.10.06 8.11.06 10.6.05 1.13.07 4 .11.07 12.30.06 3.2.07 11.2.06 11.20.06

70s

50s Harlan B. Huskey, MD ’50 Miyoko I. Bassett, MD ’51 George E. Allen, MD ’52 Edward W. Ciriacy, MD ’52 George W. Hess, MD ’53 George R. Hewlett, MD ’53 Charles R. Smart, MD ’55 Herman S. Garey, MD ’57 G. Richard Jones, MD ’57 Richard R. Ryan, MD ’57 John T. Tredennick, MD ’57

1.8.05 5.26.07 8.3.05 6.21.06 8.29.06 5.2.07 1.28.06 5.1.07 2.27.07 1.7.07 7.15.06

60s Tod H. Mikuriya, MD ’62 Gustavus C. Bird, IV, MD ’62 John Incarvito, Jr., MD ’67

5.20.07 6.27.06 5.16.07

Robert Raszkowski, MD ’72 Loris O. King, MD ’76 Ben Zimmer, MD ’78 Joel D. Shockman, MD ’79

11.21.05 1.7.07 8.5.06 4.23.07

80s Richard A. Gervasio, MD ’83 Christine S. O’Donnell, MD ’83 Robert M. Vale, MD ’87

1.9.06 11.2.05 7.20.03

90s Ashley K. Wilson MD ’98 RESIDENTS AND FACULTY Jeffrey Weiss, MD, Faculty James G. McElligott, PhD, Faculty John Joseph Chiarenza, MD, Res ’65

2.2.05 10.30.06 2.20.07 10.20.06

NON-PR OFIT ORGANIZATION US POSTAGE PAID PHILADELPHIA PA P E R M I T NO . 1 0 4 4

Office of Institutional Advancement 3223 N. Broad Street, Suite 413 Philadelphia, PA 19140

Invest Wisely Earn up to 11.3% on your investment and support generations of students with a Temple University charitable gift annuity.

Today’s low interest rates on CDs and other investments offer great incentive to open a charitable gift annuity (CGA) with Temple University. For as little as $5,000, a Temple CGA will pay you an excellent rate of return, and the proceeds will provide for generations of Temple students in your favorite college or program.

For a confidential illustration and a copy of our brochure on charitable gift annuities, contact the Office of Planned Giving: 1938 Liacouras Walk Philadelphia, PA 19122 800-822-6957 http://plannedgiving.temple.edu

One-Life Annuity Age Rate 60 . . . . . . . . . . . 5.7% 65 . . . . . . . . . . . 6.0% 70 . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5% 75 . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1% 80 . . . . . . . . . . . 8.0% 85 . . . . . . . . . . . 9.5% 90 & Over . . . . . 11.3%

Two-Life Annuity Age 60 & 60 65 & 65 70 & 70 75 & 75 80 & 80 85 & 85 90 & 90

....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... .......

Rate 5.4% 5.6% 5.9% 6.3% 6.9% 7.9% 9.3%