Rochester Medicine | 2021 Special Edition

UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER MEDICAL CENTER | SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND DENTISTRY | 2021 SPECIAL EDITION

Redesigning URMC in a Heartbeat Our COVID Response

On the cover “Down but not out,” is how Clauden Louis, M.D., describes how he was feeling the moment this image was captured. “I felt exhausted but happy to do this work,” the cardiothoracic chief resident says of his participation in URMC’s COVID response.

“I am grateful that I’ve been able to give back to help save this community.”

Photo by Deron Berkhof

POINT OF VIEW In an unforgettable year that brought great loss and struggle, there has been no shortage of heroes in areas that demonstrate the power of our calling—basic and translational science, nimble but steadfast clinical care, teaching in entirely new ways—to bring hope and healing to our community and the world.

Photo by Deron Berkhof

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T

he last 12 months have tested all of us in ways we could never have imagined, drastically changing our lives professionally and personally. Professionals in biomedical fields worldwide have seen loss, struggle, and sacrifice along with much heroism, perseverance, and compassion.

I am enormously proud of how our Medical Center community has met the challenges of this global pandemic, and continues to do so. As COVID cases surged in March 2020, we focused on meeting our region’s urgent needs. In some cases, this meant shifting resources and curtailing certain activities, such as the publication of Rochester Medicine.

In this special edition, you will get a glimpse of some of our extraordinary URMC people and how they answered the call in a time of unprecedented challenge.

• The organization transformed almost overnight to enable online learning, telemedicine, and remote working.

• We redesigned our workplace to care safely for all patients, close to home, in hospital or outpatient settings.

• Our scientists have been at the forefront of COVID research, including vaccine trials.

• Reflecting the best influences of the biopsychosocial model, a cross-functional team came together to create a thoughtful, inclusive approach to ventilator rationing in the event of a shortage.

Mark B. Taubman, MD CEO, University of Rochester Medical Center Dean, School of Medicine and Dentistry Senior Vice President for Health Sciences

What do you think?

Rochester Medicine welcomes letters from readers.

The editor reserves the right to select letters for publication and to edit for style and space. Brief letters are encouraged.

RochesterMedicineMagazine@urmc.rochester.edu

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Along with describing the institution’s COVID response across all our missions, this special issue includes abbreviated versions of popular features such as Medical Center Rounds and Class Notes. We will resume publication of the full magazine later this year, assuming the end of the COVID pandemic remains clearly in sight.

I am grateful to the extended community of faculty, staff, learners, alumni, and donors who have dedicated time, talents, and treasure to support our Medical Center through its COVID response. We emerge from this crisis stronger, more resilient, and with great hope that the lessons of this experience will continue to make us ever better.

Read more Rochester Medicine RochesterMedicine.urmc.edu Submit Class Notes RochesterMedicineMagazine@urmc.rochester.edu

Write to Us Rochester Medicine magazine University of Rochester Medical Center 601 Elmwood Avenue Box 643 Rochester, New York 14642

CONTENTS

Cover Story

4 A Plan for the Unthinkable: Writing the Rules for Ventilator Rationing

14 Our COVID Response: Remembering What We Found

26 In Memoriam

28 Medical Center Rounds

32 Alumni Awards

34 Class Notes

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Rochester Medicine is published by:

Editor Lori Barrette

For questions or comments, contact:

Department of Communications, in conjunction with

Cover Photography

Deron Berkhof

for the School of Medicine and Dentistry

Contributing Writers

Margaret Bogumil Mark Michaud Matthew Moodie Leslie Orr Susanne Pallo Chip Partner

The University of Rochester Medical Center,

the Department of Alumni Relations & Advancement for the School of Medicine and Dentistry

Art Direction & Design Karen Ver Steeg Feature Photography

Assistant Vice President and Director of External Communications, URMC

Matt Wittmeyer

B. Chip Partner

Dept. of Alumni Relations and Advancement 300 East River Road, Rochester, NY 14627 Phone 800.333.4428 I 585.273.5954 Fax 585.461.2081

Comments on this issue, e-mail:

RochesterMedicineMagazine@urmc.rochester.edu

Find us on facebook at:

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Our COVID Response I Cover Story

A Plan for the Unthinkable: Writing the Rules for Ventilator Rationing

By Sally Parker

As a palliative care doctor, Chin-Lin Ching (BA '01, MD '05, Res '08) is no stranger to agonizing life-and-death decisions.

She helps families make them every day at Highland Hospital.

But when the pandemic hit, she felt as if she were living in a dystopian novel.

Like most of her colleagues in the University of Rochester’s Coronavirus Ethics Response Group (CERG), she saw that COVID-19 was unlike anything she had ever encountered. Her job was to come up with a protocol for allocating ventilators in case of a shortage. It meant considering the unthinkable: “Who would get a ventilator, and who would we remove?”

CERG decided right away that any plans around patient care would have to ensure nonbiased access. In a stand unique among its peers around the country, the team insisted community voices have a seat at the table from the start.

As the coronavirus approached, overwhelming medical teams first in China, then Italy and New York City, “it felt probably as close to war as any of us would ever know,” Ching recalls.

“In the spring, I would hear the phrase ‘We’re flying the plane as we’re building it.’ Not only that, we didn’t have instructions, and the plane was nosediving into the side of the mountain.”

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In March 2020, with COVID-19 cases multiplying across the state, University of Rochester Medical Center and its affiliate hospitals quickly formed CERG to develop a triage protocol for allocating mechanical ventilators to patients in respiratory failure, and to do it in a fair and equitable way.

CERG’s goal from the start was to save the most lives and to protect bedside clinicians from making public health decisions. Physicians knew what their colleagues around the world were going through: With not enough ventilators for patients who needed them—and no protocol to support them—overwhelmed frontline providers were forced to choose who would get one and who wouldn’t. In the run-up to the virus’s arrival in the Rochester area, providers had a small window in which to prepare to do things differently.

“My feeling all along was we had to come up with a system that wasn’t going to be random,” says David Kaufman, MD (Flw ’93), director of adult critical care at Strong Memorial Hospital and a CERG member.

“I wanted a system to be in place that would not require a clinician to say, ‘I’m looking at this person right now, and I can tell they’re not going to do well, so I’m not going to put them on a ventilator and I’m going to give it to someone else.’ We wanted a system that would allow for fairness and for equity.”

It felt probably as close to war as any of us would ever know.

Chin-Lin Ching

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Our COVID Response I Cover Story

In Service of Others

URMC physicians started planning for the pandemic in January and February, when the virus arrived in the U.S. By mid-March, with New York City under siege, the hospital was bracing for an onslaught—canceling elective surgeries, redeploying staff, and opening up hundreds of beds.

“We thought our beds would fill up totally, and so we had plans for a field hospital. We thought it was reasonably likely we would run out of equipment or beds or staff,” says Michael Apostolakos, MD (Res ’90, Flw ’93), chief medical officer at URMC. “Why would we think we would be any different from New York City?”

Fortunately, with time to prepare, the hospital averted a crippling onslaught. But knowing the virus can worsen rapidly, providers were concerned patients needing intubation could outnumber ventilators. When CERG started forming, leadership gave its full support.

The group came together under Richard Demme, MD, director of the Program for Clinical Ethics, who recruited co-chair Marjorie Shaw, JD (MA ’04, PhD ’11), associate professor of medical humanities and bioethics. In daily Zoom meetings, 20 core members brought expertise in medical and nursing specialties, bioethics, legal counsel, chaplaincy, diversity and inclusion, translational science, and community impact.

All worked with additional volunteers on subcommittees that met daily.

“These are people who are volunteering their time. This is not in their job description,” Shaw says. “These same people are pulling double shifts because of COVID. Their work epitomizes a commitment to service of others.”

"We wanted to protect providers from the moral distress and burden of bedside decision making."

Marjorie Shaw

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Members built the protocol from every angle: moral distress and staff support, internal (patient) communications, protocol development and assurance, triage, and translational data and informatics. More than 100 staff from across the medical system worked on it, often with colleagues they had never met.

“The whole process, including all the terrible aspects of COVID, has made us a tighter community,” Kaufman says. “A lot of the silos that exist in an academic institution have broken down a bit. I think there is just better communication, better understanding of what

"We wanted a system that would allow for fairness and for equity.”

David Kaufman

other people might be going through.”

Within two weeks of the first meeting in midMarch, the group had a plan to activate the adult triage protocol. A separate protocol was developed for pediatric and neonatal patients.

From Theory to Practice

Not long after Ching joined CERG, the gravity of the situation hit her. She had been asked to join in her capacity as co-chair of the ethics committee at Highland Hospital, where she is also medical director of the Palliative Care program.

Shaw and Ching were acquainted through the Rochester Academy of Medicine Health Care Ethics Leadership Consortium, a regional group of medical ethicists who meet quarterly.

Ching’s role on CERG was specific and central to its mission: to analyze the URMC protocol using clinical data from current hospitalizations to ensure any ventilatorallocation protocol at all URMC hospitals and affiliates, in fact, saved the most lives.

With New York State’s existing ventilator guidelines as a starting point, Ching quickly formed a committee to collect and apply the clinical data to different allocation processes and compare potential outcomes. Unlike the state guidelines, the URMC protocol needed to be a practical tool ready to use at a moment’s notice.

“This 280-page document outlined the foundation of how you even begin to think about how to allocate a scarce resource like a ventilator,” Ching says. “I found myself wondering what this actually looks like in real life. The words looked pretty, and the ethics were clear. But we wanted to walk through what it meant for the patient who comes into the ER with life-threatening COVID symptoms and for the physician treating a patient who needs a ventilator.”

Making the protocol workable became the next important step in the process and

is ongoing, Ching says. Collaborations between the Informatics team and the Clinical Translational Science Institute have been groundbreaking.

At the core of the state guidelines is a colorcoded ventilator priority chart based on SOFA (Sequential Organ Failure Assessment). That was a concern for the CERG team; SOFA is increasingly viewed as biased against disadvantaged and underrepresented populations. Some aspects of the system— particularly how the occurrence of sepsis is weighted—give Black people unfavorably higher SOFA scores.

The first step for the Protocol Development Committee was to translate the language in the state guidelines into a flow chart of decision making.

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Our COVID Response I Cover Story terrible because we’re talking about ventilators and lives,” Ching says. “But if your SOFA score is this, and your condition doesn’t improve, this is what happens to your color code.”

Ching and her committee—philosophy and bioethics professor Richard Dees (Flw ’10), director of the UR undergraduate major in bioethics; and pediatric hematologist Jessica Shand, MD (Res ’09), both members of the URMC ethics committee—worked for several hours every day for two months. Their task was to draw out the algorithm for informatics and translational scientists to translate into a computer program. By mid-May they had one in hand.

But Ching wondered how it would play out in practice. After a sleepless night questioning “how this would actually look if we did the protocol right now,” she started mining hospital data the next day. She looked at current adult COVID-19 patients and extrapolated what care they would have received if the algorithm— based solely on the state guidelines—were applied. Specifically, for patients who survived, would they have survived with the algorithm in place?

Right away she saw that the guidelines were not going to work for COVID-19. Designed to treat flu patients, they call for improvement checks every two days after intubation—much too soon to see progress in COVID-19 cases.

“We saw very quickly that if we followed the guidelines to a T, we would not be giving people enough time to improve. We found that five days instead of two made the most sense for treating COVID,” Ching says.

While logistics are paramount,

“These patients need at least two weeks on a ventilator. It’s finding that sweet spot between sitting on a ventilator, creating a parking lot situation by giving them too much time, and not giving them enough time. We were able to change the guidelines to fit COVID better.”

There are five steps to the protocols for both adult and pediatric/neonatal patients (see sidebar).

Invoking the protocol has not yet been needed, and hospital leaders are working hard to avoid the necessity of using it. The decision to invoke falls to the URMC chief medical officer or a designee.

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the plan’s beating heart is a focus on justice.

The protocols for both adult and pediatric/neonatal patients follow these steps: 1 The patient is screened for exclusion criteria (advance directives, very short life expectancy).

2 Patient’s risk of mortality is assessed using SOFA (adult patients) and P-OFS (neonatal/ pediatric).

3 Patient is assigned a color code designating their level of priority in ventilator allocation.

4 Patient eligible for ventilator support receives a trial of intubation to provide an opportunity for health status improvement.

5 Patient is reassessed, using SOFA and P-OFS scores, at predetermined intervals to determine whether the intubation trial will be continued.

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Our COVID Response I Cover Story Work on the protocol continues as fresh data emerges and new treatments take hold. It is constantly being re-evaluated and reimagined. For example, how can ventilators be shared among hospitals in URMC? How can different hospital systems collaborate?

The hope is that knowledge gained with new approaches will not only reduce the need for ventilators altogether but lead to new efficiencies no one has yet imagined.

Fair Allocation

While logistics are paramount, the plan’s beating heart is a focus on justice. Community leaders had a seat at the table from the start, and one of the eight committees was devoted to engaging diverse perspectives. But justice wasn’t the work of just one committee: It permeated every decision at every level.

The Community Engagement Committee met weekly to develop suggestions for building the protocol and brought them to the larger group, says Adrienne Morgan (PhD ’13W), senior associate dean for equity and inclusion at the School of Medicine and Dentistry. Members are community leaders who represent diversity in race, ethnicity, religion, sexual identity, refugee and documentation status, and ability.

“Because COVID was disproportionately affecting people of color, we needed to have those voices at the table. This was assuring equity and inclusion in the process,” she says.

(Read more about Morgan’s role and URMC’s Equity and Anti-Racism Plan on page 28.)

Early benchmarking showed it to be a novel strategy.

“At the time, we were unaware of any other institutions who were recommending or including community members to the degree that we were,” Shaw says. “The decision to ensure a welcoming and inclusive process on such an important community and public health question speaks volumes about the values of our leaders and our institution.”

The URMC protocol guards against the introduction of new bias. While it uses SOFA scores to assign each case to one of the six color-coded “buckets,” it removes all identifying patient information, such as name, race, age, gender, and ZIP code. Patients are all treated the same, moving from one bucket to another, depending on the results of 10

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scheduled SOFA assessments. All patients in need of ventilators are included, not just those with the coronavirus.

Bedside Support

CERG is a timely example of Rochester’s biopsychosocial model (BPS), an interdisciplinary approach that considers equally the biological, psychological, and social facets of patient health. In this case, the BPS mindset was applied to caregivers as well.

“If I’m going to ask my colleagues in the ER and ICU to do this, no matter how ethical we think it might be in a pandemic from a humanity perspective, it’d better be solid, and we’d better be saving the most lives,” Ching says.

“For me, it meant moving away from the philosophies of ethics and away from cerebral arguments very quickly to the bedside— where I belong.”

By taking the allocation decision away from frontline providers, the protocol becomes a kind of institutional life raft. If the plan needs to be invoked, a rotating team of on-call physicians and advanced practitioners skilled in supportive communication steps in to discuss treatment decisions and options with the patient’s family.

“We wanted to protect providers from the moral distress and burden of bedside decision making,” Shaw says. “They have enough of a burden. That is not a burden they should bear.”

Enduring Resilience

Staff are tired after a year long on hours and intense caregiving. Still, they step up when asked, Apostolakos says. During a recent staffing shortage, about 100 workers responded to a call to fill the gap.

“These people have full-time jobs, and they’re willing to come in and work overtime to relieve their colleagues. It’s just tremendous,” he says. “The people we have working here are so dedicated.”

Ching says when she spoke to a pediatric palliative care group about the need to mediate moral distress, she was surprised at first when some members started to cry.

“I had become numb to it because I had been so eyeball-deep,” she says. “When you begin

"Because COVID was disproportionately affecting people of color, we needed to have those voices at the table."

Adrienne Morgan

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Our COVID Response I Cover Story digging below the surface, a lot of us are used to compartmentalizing our emotions while at work. A lot of providers are scared to open that door because it’s almost like a flood.”

Hospitals in UR Medicine have set up safe spaces and special rounds, in which staff can share concerns. Shaw predicts the kind of support mapped out in the protocol for frontline staff will only become more crucial in the months and years to come. Ching agrees.

“The PTSD that providers are going to experience with this is going to be astronomical,” she predicts. “I think we as a society need to be prepared to deal with this.”

Regional Collaboration

CERG built on and accelerated efforts led by URMC to take a regional approach to ethics in the delivery of care. In late 2018, Shaw convened the bioethicists consortium at Rochester Academy of Medicine to cement the role of ethics in the delivery of health care in the region. It provided some of the juice that made BPS central to the protocol—and connected UR to kindred efforts in the local health care community.

By the time CERG took shape, consortium members were working closely together and discussing policies and cases. One member, Carl “Chris” Reynolds, MD, medical director of Rochester General Hospitalist Group and co-chair of the hospital’s ethics committee, served on CERG. URMC and Rochester Regional Health are working on ways to offer as much continuity as possible in their ventilator protocols so community members receive consistent care no matter what hospital they go to, Shaw says.

In a wider geographic reach, talking to peers at health systems across upstate N.Y. gave Kaufman a sense of the bigger picture. He held weekly calls with intensivists in Buffalo, Syracuse, and Albany, many of them former URMC colleagues and fellows. The group became a kind of brain trust for sharing ideas and discussing cases.

“These were worthwhile, complex conversations, and they were playing out in the international community,” he says.

The COVID-19 Task Force of the New York State Bar Association Health Law Section 12

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cited URMC’s protocol in its final report, including it in the appendix. Task force members felt the URMC work was an exemplar for the state for its thoughtful approach to using data to inform adaptation of the 2015 state guidelines, Ching says.

Changed for Good

The pandemic has forced tradition-bound health care systems to become nimble and creative, to be open to new ways of thinking and working. At URMC, specialty silos have broken down, and collaboration is up. Greater efficiencies developed during the first surge have helped teams continue to cope through the second.

Tested under pressure, the work behind CERG will have an impact long after the crisis is over, Apostolakos says.

“It’s just been an extraordinary year. Everything is just interconnected and has caused a lot of stress for everyone,” he says. “We’re going to look back at the resilience of the community.

It’s going to be a story of heroes and workers who put themselves out there.”

As the vaccination rollout continues, CERG is helping community leaders tout the benefits of vaccines to a population with historical reasons to distrust it.

“I think our committee will have a huge role in that,” Morgan says.

“We have a small and mighty committee made up of trusted leaders in our community. There are many, many groups working on this to engender trust to get people to step up and get the vaccine.”

The protocol is a living document that brings a mindful approach to managing the unthinkable—no matter what that might be down the road. Equity will be embedded in every decision.

“We want to have a solution for any therapy that might have to be rationed,” Kaufman says.

“We want to approach it rationally and logically and fairly. The thought that goes into ventilatorallocation protocol will be useful for thinking about any limited resource going forward.”

Michael Apostolakos

“We’re going to look back at the resilience of the community.

It’s going to be a story of heroes and workers who put themselves out there.”

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Our COVID Response

Our COVID Response I

Remembering What We Found

Remembering What We Found In just two weeks, Match Day 2020 was transformed

from a highly anticipated envelope-reveal celebration in the School of Medicine and Dentistry’s Class of ’62 Auditorium to a log-on-from-home livestream event

during which soon-to-graduate medical students clicked open an email to discover their next career steps.

That hasty evolution is a fitting metaphor for the nascent days of the University of Rochester Medical Center’s COVID response. It’s one of a myriad of examples illustrating how an exploding global pandemic triggered a rapid remake across education, research, and patient-care missions.

What seemed unfathomable in 2019, despite reports of a deadly virus emerging in China and Europe, became all too real on March 1, 2020, when the first case of coronavirus was confirmed in New York state.

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Eight days later, URMC launched a command center to address the approaching threat. And on March 21, Strong Memorial Hospital reported its first COVID case.

The past year has challenged URMC in ways no one could have imagined.

Although our response mirrors the actions of academic medical centers across the country, there’s no denying the Rochester-strong courage, tenacity, and teamwork that got us through an unforgettably challenging year. A year that brought great loss and struggle, but also demonstrated the power of our calling—basic, translational, and clinical science; nimble and innovative clinical care; teaching future providers and researchers in entirely new ways—to reduce fear and bring healing to the Rochester community, our region, and the world.

It’s impossible to capture every contribution in a few magazine pages.

Here are some highlights that reflect the commitment, talents, and resilience witnessed across our campus (and via Zoom) every day.

Learning Curve On the heels of their virtual Match Day, with in-person learning halted and clerkship requirements met, the School of Medicine and Dentistry’s Class of 2020 received their medical degrees one month early in a virtual ceremony. In May, virtual commencement ceremonies were celebrated across the university.

Celebrations took creative turns—from online toasts to front-lawn serenades—and the new MDs had options for their unanticipated free weeks before starting their residencies. Some who stayed in Rochester chose to roll up their sleeves and fill temporary assignments bolstering Strong Memorial Hospital’s staff as COVID cases surged.

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Our COVID Response I

Remembering What We Found

For trainees not ready to graduate, a sudden shift to online learning created many new challenges for faculty and students. Then came word that travel and gathering restrictions eliminated the possibility of in-person visits for residency and fellowship candidates—a vital part of recruiting the best and brightest talent to our programs. A multi-pronged approach helped people visit Rochester virtually through enhanced websites, video tours, and engaging social media strategies.

The Next Best Thing to Being There

(See box at left for a virtual tour and a sampling of social media accounts.)

Many residency and fellowship programs bolstered their recruiting efforts with virtual tours and social media engagement.

Graduate Education and Post-doc Affairs (GEPA) faced similar challenges. Unable to

Take a virtual tour of the School of Medicine and Dentistry here:

into interactive online events. The new platform had a side benefit; no longer

http://md.urmc.edu/tour

And check out a sampling of Instagram accounts: @urmc_familymed_residency @urmc_neurology_residency @urmc_pathology_residency @urmc_pccm_fellowships @urmc_pharm_phys @urmc_toxicology

host applicants at in-person interview weekends, GEPA officials tapped a versatile conferencing platform and ingenuity from the enrollment team to transform visits

restricted by domestic travel, interview weekends opened up to an international audience.

Research Reimagined Throughout the pandemic, URMC has played a lead role in the Coronavirus University Response Team, which closely monitors the evolving situation and develops policies to keep everyone safe. Research operations adopted specific precautions and made policy adjustments to assure safety in human-subject studies. Research faculty initiated new processes to manage laboratory work in the COVID era, leveraged changes in funding opportunities and resources, and made adjustments for students to work remotely when possible.

These changes did not delay or diminish the ability of URMC scientists and clinicians to help lead the national response to COVID. URMC has been engaged in research on vaccines, treatments, immune responses, testing innovations, and disease patterns, as well as the virus's impact on nursing home residents, underrepresented populations, and nursing mothers.

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Our COVID Response I

Remembering What We Found

By the Numbers

Some Fast Facts from Our COVID Response Days between first case in N.Y.S. and first case reported in Rochester:

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Average number of COVID tests conducted each week: (March 16, 2020–Feb. 28, 2021):

15,000

COVID patients discharged from Strong Memorial Hospital through February 2021:

1,917

PPE usage March 1, 2020–Feb 28, 2021 Procedure masks:

6,184,122 N95 masks:

324,485 Gowns:

2,210,636 Vaccine doses distributed by URMC as of March 1, 2021:

43,000

Community-based organizations helped by URMC mobile vaccination clinics:

220+

Bottles of hand sanitizer compounded in-house monthly:

1,200+

Clinical studies participated in:

87

Volunteers registered for studies:

5,036 20

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Our COVID Response I

Remembering What We Found

URMC’s COVID research includes investigations of: • Vaccines, including clinical trials of the Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca products • Related outreach with community partners to encourage participation in vaccine trials by people of color • Treatments, including remdesivir and convalescent plasma • Immune responses and the potential for previous colds to provide a measure of protection • Nursing home impacts • Testing, including phase 3 trials of a $5 test that gives results in 15 minutes • Nursing mothers and the safety and potential benefits of breast milk • Effects of COVID on child and adult lungs • Disease patterns, through the New York State Emerging Infections Program

Caring in a Crisis Around the world, images of overcrowded health care facilities and PPE-clad clinicians struggling to care for their patients dominated media coverage.

In March 2020, as New York City hospitals became the global epicenter of the crisis, URMC leaders prepared for a surge in critically ill patients that could similarly overwhelm Rochester-area hospitals.

It began with a Grand Rounds on March 4, as clinicians met to comprehend the approaching risk, and infectious disease specialists shared the latest guidance on how to evaluate and treat COVID patients. Within days, a multidisciplinary COVID response team formed. At twice-daily command center meetings, they plotted how to brace for the imminent threat and protect frontline caregivers.

Within a week, the virus reached Rochester, as the area’s first COVID-positive patient was tested at Highland Hospital. Cases increased exponentially at first,

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straining every facet of the UR Medicine clinical operation to

staff and standardize health requirements for safely

address unique new pressures. Amid fears of ventilator, bed,

reporting to work.

staff, and PPE shortages, teams across the Medical Center

• A tent was erected outside the Emergency Department,

joined forces to expand capacity and provide patient care

later replaced with a larger engineered structure with

while keeping everyone safe.

climate controls, expanding ED capacity with improved privacy and physical distancing of patients.

Significant infrastructure changes and staff ingenuity

• As demand for testing surged, a dedicated team of

helped create an exceptional environment to care for

scientists and collaborators brought URMC’s Laboratory

critically ill patients in highly infectious disease units.

from zero to 1,000 tests a day in just two months. By

• Thanks to extraordinary work by Facilities Engineering,

January, capacity had increased to 4,000 tests per day.

entire units were converted to negative pressure to facilitate intubation and extubation without relocating

These measures and a strong community response caused

patients, helping to preserve PPE.

COVID hospitalizations to plateau in May, then decline

• In early April, a “Dr. Chat Bot” self-screening online tool was launched to help review and track symptoms among

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surge came in early fall, quickly doubling

stepped out of their comfort zones and

exposure. And patient-care spaces

the peak hospitalization numbers

eagerly trained for deployment where

were redesigned to support physical

from the spring, then tripling and

help was most needed. A team from

distancing and promote

quadrupling them. Armed with COVID

Emergency Medicine spent a week

safety as patients were urged to seek

care experience and proven treatment

in April supporting staff downstate at

care for urgent and chronic non-COVID

regimens, clinical teams doubled

Northwell Health, returning with valuable

health issues.

down to maintain care for all patients,

insight and reassurance that the proper

with minimal reductions in elective

measures had been put in place in

So many talented and tireless people

procedures.

Rochester. Innovation led to the in-

sacrificed to put patients first, even

house manufacturing of face shields and

when it meant extended time away from

Countless examples of heroism

hand sanitizer, and a decontamination

their loved ones. With a vast majority of

emerged along URMC’s COVID journey,

process to extend the life of N95 masks.

patient-facing staff fully vaccinated, we

from the first cases in spring to the

A majority of providers quickly adopted

can look toward the future with gratitude

launch of vaccine clinics at the end

telemedicine, whenever possible, to

and hope—while remembering what

of the year. Physicians, APPs, and

continue caring for patients with non-

we discovered in ourselves and our

nurses—including recent retirees—

COVID issues while minimizing risk of

institution during the COVID pandemic.

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,

Let s do this.

It’s about everyone pitching in.

It’s about helping our students and graduates find internships and jobs. It’s about promoting equity and access. And it’s about communicating how important our network of alumni, volunteers, and friends is to our future. This year, we hope to raise $100 million to fund scholarships, research, faculty projects, and other critical initiatives.

Together for Rochester rochester.edu/together

#TogetherForRochester

Together for Rochester is a one-year campaign to make life better for the University of Rochester community and for the world.

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IN MEMORIUM

IN MEMORIUM

Surgery Icon Seymour Schwartz Dies at 92 As one of America’s most distinguished surgeons, Seymour I. Schwartz, MD (Res ’57), edited and co-wrote the textbook used to teach generations of young doctors. He led the surgical societies that shaped the profession and remained influential well into his later years by continuing to write, teach, and commit his time to physicians in Rochester and across the globe. Schwartz, 92, died August 28, 2020, at the home of his son in St. Louis, Mo. His storied career began at the University of Rochester, where he finished residency in 1957 after serving in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War, and then joined the faculty.

For the next 60 years he cultivated expertise in hepatobiliary surgery and other complex operations and rose through the ranks of academic medicine. He served as chair of Surgery at the University from 1987 to 1998 and director of Surgical Research for 20 years.

Most notably, he edited and co-authored Schwartz’s Principles of Surgery during the years in which his own career was advancing.

Known as “the surgeon’s Bible,” it was unique for being rooted in basic science.

The first edition—1,850 pages, 52 chapters, and written in a single voice—was published

by McGraw-Hill in 1969; it is now in its 11th edition.

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“Holding the Seymour Schwartz Distinguished Professorship in Surgery is the most important honor any surgeon could receive,” said David Linehan, MD, URMC Chair of Surgery. “For leaders in our field, Sy is the aspirational mentor we all want to emulate. His towering intellect, spirit of collegiality, indefatigable work ethic, unending curiosity, and enduring relevance set the bar so high. We may never achieve his heights but, based on his embodiment of excellence, we will all keep trying.”

Although Schwartz retired from the operating room at age 72, he, over the next 20 years, was often found in his office at the Medical Center, usually writing and reading.

Colleagues visited to learn from his vast experience and intellect, joking that their brilliant mentor had “flunked” retirement.

Recent years were filled with accolades, including the American College of Surgeons (ACS) naming him, in 2017, an Icon of Surgery.

He received the University’s Eastman Medal in 2018.

“When the American College of Surgeons honored Dr. Schwartz, they provided yet another national affirmation of what we here at URMC have always known,” said Mark Taubman, MD, CEO of URMC and dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry. “Dr. Schwartz was quite simply a giant in both his field and in the life of our institution, where he was an approachable, gracious, and insightful guide to generations of physicians who drew on the deep experience and knowledge that he so willingly shared. I count myself among those he mentored. We will miss him dearly!”

Schwartz is remembered fondly by those who worked with him over the years. He was an important catalyst in the career of Craig Smith, MD, who trained as a surgical resident at URMC and went on to become chair of Surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/ Columbia University Medical Center.

Schwartz and Smith co-authored several papers during Smith's research gap year in the late 1970s; as a mentor, Schwartz was "very outspoken, candid, and just so intelligent that it was always worth it," Smith said. "He was just a very multi-talented person and sharp as a tack."

Schwartz served as president of the country’s three most important surgical societies: the Society of Clinical Surgery, the American Surgical Association, and the American College of Surgeons. He was editorin-chief of Contemporary Surgery for 28 years, the Yearbook of Surgery for 22 years, and the Journal of the American College of Surgeons for 10 years.

In his later years, Schwartz became more deeply interested in the humanities and was committed to capturing the best things about the practice of medicine. Fascinated by physicians who had become literary figures, he profiled some of the nation’s finest in his book From Medicine to Manuscript, published in 2018.

The son of Jewish immigrants, Schwartz grew up in the Bronx and attended public schools. Yale University accepted him for undergraduate studies, but he could not afford to go there, instead attending the University of Wisconsin on a scholarship. He completed his degree in just two years and went on to medical school, earning his degree at New York University.

Professional achievements aside, Schwartz said that his “biggest contribution in life” was his family. His three sons are Richard, director of aviation operations at Enterprise Rent-A-Car; Kenneth, founding director of the Phyllis Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking at Tulane University; and David, MD, PhD, a cardiologist and associate professor at Washington University School of Medicine. His wife, Ruth, who died in 1999, was a pioneer in obstetrics and gynecology. They married while in medical school and, as interns, moved to Rochester and chose to stay.

It was Ruth who introduced Schwartz to cartography as a hobby. He became an avid collector of rare and historically significant maps and was a noted international expert on the mapping of the New World. He wrote six books on cartography, declaring during an interview that he had “developed a life of schizoid scholarship.” He served on the Board of Trustees of the Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution and was a member of the Advisory Board of the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress. Some of his maps are housed in the Dr. Ruth W. Schwartz and Dr. Seymour I. Schwartz Collection in the Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation on the River Campus.

He learned to play the accordion while in the Navy, wrote lyrics for the UR School of Medicine and Dentistry’s annual student musical production, and composed special limericks for each graduate of the surgical residency program.

In addition to his beloved sons and grandchildren, Schwartz is survived by his sister, Lynn Rosen, EdD, of Rochester, and devoted companion, Lyn Kayser, also of Rochester.

Alumnus Robert L. Brent, MD, remembered for his generosity, distinguished career Robert L. Brent ('48, MD '53, PhD '55, Hnr '88), renowned researcher and generous alumnus, passed away on February 24, 2021, at the age of 93.

“We have lost a brilliant man and a true visionary,” said Mark B. Taubman, MD, CEO of URMC and Dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry (SMD). “Bob was a world leader in environmental toxicology research, and his work changed the field of pediatrics. He and his wife, Lillian, were also incredibly committed to giving back and to helping students begin their medical careers unencumbered by debt. Their generosity will impact our students forever.”

For 30 years, Brent was chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at The Jefferson Medical College; his was one of the lengthiest pediatric chairmanships in the U.S. He was the leading authority on the effects of radiation on embryos and on the environmental causes of birth defects and cancer, and had the unusual record of receiving continuous federal research funding as a principal investigator for his entire career.

In 2005, the Brents, who met as undergraduates at the University, established the Alumni Tuition Free Program Fund, which creates a scholarship in the name of each graduating SMD class. Their vision was for alumni to give to their class fund over the years, creating increasingly larger scholarships, with the long-term goal of completely endowing tuition for the school. In recognition of their generosity, the Robert L. & Lillian H. Brent White Coat Ceremony, during which incoming medical students are formally inducted into SMD, is named in their honor.

An active and enthusiastic volunteer for the school, Brent served on the SMD National Council, the SMD Alumni Council, and multiple campaign committees. In 2008, he received the University’s Distinguished Alumnus Award, in recognition of the national and global impact of his research.

Brent was predeceased by Lillian, who died in 2020. He is survived by their children David Brent, Lawrence Brent, and Deborah Foster, several grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and extended relatives.

Lillian and Robert Brent To learn more about the Alumni Tuition Free Program, visit uofr.us/smdtuitionfree.

Word has reached us of the passing of the following alumni and friends.

The School of Medicine and Dentistry expresses its sympathy to their loved ones.

(August 1, 2019, to October 30, 2020) Bobby R. Adcock (MS ’64) H. Vasken Aposhian (MS ’51, PhD ’54) Lawrence Dennis Aronson (MD ’66) Richard E. Behrman (MD ’60) Robert L. Beilman (Res ’56) Timothy G. Benson (MD ’00) Neil J. Boger (MD ’53, Res ’58) Douglas G. Boyden (MS ’60) Bolek Brant-Zawadzki (MD ’65) Stephen J.A. Bruny (Res ’56) Richard Arthur Cockington (MS ’79) Frank Chafel (Res ’59) Gordon Comstock (Res ’80) Guerdon J. Coombs (MD ’58) Morris S. Dixon (MD ’51) John Henry Drexler (PhD ’60) David Eisenberg (Res ’56) Neil J. Elgee (MD ’50) Herman L. Falsetti (’57, MD ’60) Harold James Forbes (MD ’69, Res ’76) William Foresman (Res ’98)

Irwin N. Frank (’50, MD ’54, Res ’59) Frank Michael Ganis (’49, PhD ’56) Harold H. Gardner (MD ’65, Res ’66) Donald M. Garland (MD ’60) Arthur Leonard Golding (MD ’59) Bernard L. Haertjens (MS ’61) James B. Hanshaw (Res ’58) Erwin Lee Hoffman (Res ’57) Joel B. Holland (’73, MD ’77) William E. Jackson (MD ’58) Kathryn (Eustance) Kern (MD ’56) Joan Evelyn Kinlan (Res ’73) Michael T. Lategola (PhD ’56) Hobart Abraham Lerner (Res ’49) Archie A. MacKinney (MD ’55) William Norwood Michal (Res ’62) George R. Miller (’41, MD ’43) Masako (Morimoto) Nakae (MS ’53) Michael Francis O’Hara (MD ’75) David Austin Ohlwiler (MD ’54) Michael J. Perley (Res ’64)

Ralph A. Pincus (Res ’63) Alan Paul Poland (MD ’65, MS ’66) Donald Rankin (MD ’66) Jan A. Riegl (MD ’62) Scott Lee Rosenfeld (MD ’92) Nasser Sabokbar (Res ’62) Albert P. Scheiner (Res ’58) Raymond A. Schneider (’48, MD ’52) Seymour Ira Schwartz (Res ’57) Walter L. Seibyl (MS ’56) Melinda Anne (Borrello) Sharma (’91, MD ’93, PhD ’96) Burton Siefe (MD ’56) Theodore R. Simon (Res ’76) Philip H. Smith (MS ’53) Richard L. Stieg (MD ’63) James MacDonald Stormont (Res ’56) Henry Armstrong Thiede (’45, Res ’56) Robert A. Watson (MD ’53) Stanley Willner (MD ’54) ROCHESTER MEDICINE

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MEDICAL CENTER ROUNDS

URMC Unveils Equity and Anti-Racism Action Plan under New Leadership In naming Adrienne Morgan (PhD ’13) as senior associate dean for Equity and Inclusion at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, URMC reinforced its commitment to build an anti-racist culture. On Oct. 7, 2020—within months of Morgan’s appointment in July—the Medical Center released its Equity and Anti-Racism Action Plan, a five-year effort to strengthen diversity and inclusion, address inequities in patient care, and reduce health disparities in the Rochester community.

Morgan added the role to her existing responsibilities as associate vice president in the University’s Office of Equity and Inclusion, which supports increased integration of the Medical Center into broader efforts across the organization.

“I am thrilled that Adrienne agreed to take on this role and has launched comprehensive and inclusive action planning,” said URMC CEO Mark Taubman, MD, dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry.

“She’s a proven, energetic leader who knows our challenges and is trusted by faculty and learners. And by serving as the link with the University, she ensures that policies,

interventions, and approaches are consistent across the enterprise.”

URMC’s Equity and Anti-Racism Action Plan is the product of a process begun in June 2020, when Taubman, after participating in the Medical Center’s White Coats for Black Lives demonstration, acknowledged “the imperative for leadership to move immediately from rhetoric to action in supporting people of color.” Taubman and University of Rochester President Sarah Mangelsdorf joined other community leaders in signing the “Racism Is a Public Health Crisis” declaration by the Greater Rochester Black Agenda Group.

“Our intent is to lift everyone up to become their best and healthiest selves, regardless of their identity or the challenges they face,” said Taubman. “These have long been goals of the Medical Center, but now we’ve put a leadership structure and accountability measures in place to ensure we make progress.”

To gather input for the plan, Morgan and Medical Center leaders met with students, trainees, faculty, and staff and with organizations such as the Alliance for Diversity in Science and Engineering, Association of Minority Residents and Fellows, Black Physicians Network, Diversity

Adrienne Morgan

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and Inclusion Executive Committee, Student National Medical Association, and White Coats for Black Lives.

“We want to express our gratitude to everyone who stepped forward, shared their truths, and offered candid counsel,” said Morgan, one of the chief architects of the plan. “Their collaboration and input has shaped this action plan. Moving forward, these groups and many others will be at the table to help us improve our efforts and hold us accountable.”

The Equity and Anti-Racism Action Plan outlines clear strategies and actions that will strengthen diversity across the Medical Center, identifies accountable leaders, sets metrics for measuring progress, and assures transparency through regular reporting mechanisms.

Its objectives and actions are organized under five goals: • Build the infrastructure through creation of department- and program-level diversity and inclusion plans, with annual progress reports; designation of trained and certified diversity officers to support the departmental plans; and extensive leadership training.

• Recruit a more diverse faculty, student body, and workforce through the enhancement of pipeline programs for students considering a career in health and science; creation of a central recruitment function to increase diversity in candidate pools for faculty and leadership positions; and development of career tracks and support programs to increase retention.

• Nurture a respectful environment where everyone feels welcome and supported, through development of a new University antiracism statement; building awareness of different cultures, ethnicities, and

traditions; and teaching equity and inclusion across Medical Center classrooms and labs.

• Exemplify inclusion through diversity in artwork and displays in common areas; improving accessibility of diversity and inclusion resources on the URMC website; and converting the former office of Dr. George Hoyt Whipple—a Nobel prize winner and first dean of URMC’s medical school, who engaged in exclusionary hiring and admissions practices—from a museum space to a multicultural space used by today’s students.

• Engage in equitable health care by taking steps to treat every patient the same, regardless of identity or zip code; working with community partners to identify and address barriers to care; and using research in health disparities to inform and improve the way URMC delivers services.

Taubman cites numerous studies demonstrating that health care and research institutions that embrace diversity generate more impactful science, are more innovative, and deliver better care to their communities.

“Over the next five years, the Medical Center will become a more diverse and inclusive institution, composed of students and faculty from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences,” said Taubman.

“By improving access to care and preventive services for those who need it most and providing culturally sensitive care to patients of all racial, ethnic, or gender identities, we will improve the health of our community as a whole and make significant and measurable progress in addressing the health disparities in our community.”

Alumnus Harvey J. Alter Wins Nobel Prize

Harvey J. Alter (’56, MD ’60), a senior scholar at the NIH Clinical Center’s Department of Transfusion Medicine, along with British scientist Michael Houghton and Rockefeller University scientist Charles Rice, won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus. As a result, “highly sensitive blood tests for the virus are now available, and these have essentially eliminated post-transfusion hepatitis in many parts of the world, greatly improving global health,” according to the Nobel committee.

Alter is the 13th Nobel Laureate with ties to the University.

“We’re proud that Dr. Alter’s distinguished medical career began here and hope his accomplishments provide inspiration to the young physicians and scientists to-be who are studying and training within the same walls,” said Mark Taubman, MD, URMC CEO and dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Lynne Maquat, the J. Lowell Orbison Distinguished Service Alumni Professor and director of the Center for RNA Biology at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, said Alter’s efforts to reduce the dangers caused by the virus hold important lessons for how medical science can improve human lives.

“In these days of COVID-19, Dr. Alter’s dedication to eliminating problems caused by another virus—hepatitis C infections transmitted by blood transfusions—engenders hope for us all,” Maquat said. “Dr. Alter is a gentleman and a scholar who, through science, has dedicated a large portion of his life to bettering the health of mankind.”

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$24M Award Bolsters Continued Translational Science Efforts

University of Rochester Medical Center has been awarded an additional $24.3 million from the National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS) at the National Institutes of Health to continue its work in turning scientific discoveries into health benefits more quickly. This brings URMC’s total NCATS funding to $132 million, dating back to 2006 when it became one of 12 inaugural award recipients in the nation.

“The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the clear and urgent need for biomedical research—especially translational research,” said University of Rochester President Sarah Mangelsdorf. “As one of the nation’s leading research universities, we are devoted to advancing scientific understanding and promoting health, and this award will help us continue those efforts.”

This award supports the University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI), which provides funding, training, and resources to help researchers rapidly translate discoveries into therapies. The UR CTSI was one of the first institutions to be accepted into the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program—the largest single grant program at the NIH. As a testament to its leadership in translational science, the UR CTSI was selected in 2017 as the coordinating center for the CTSA Program.

“The UR CTSI has been a leader in translational science since its inception,” said URMC CEO Mark Taubman, MD. “In those years, the Institute has brought nearly $132 million to the university, which it used to build a research infrastructure that is helping our researchers move quickly at a time when the entire world is experiencing a shared crisis and desperately awaiting solutions.”

The development of the UR CTSI was the catalyst for the construction of the Saunders Research Building, completed in 2011 through $50 million in New York State funding. Built as a home for clinical and translational research, the building was named in recognition of E. Phillip Saunders, whose long-standing commitment to medical research at URMC and generous $10 million gift has been instrumental in fostering research into muscular dystrophy, cancer, and translational biomedicine.

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help researchers conduct studies remotely, integrate research with clinical practice, and break down barriers to diversification of the research workforce.

“Long before COVID-19 began spreading around the globe, the UR CTSI was working to address critical issues that slow or impede research,” said Nancy Bennett, MD, co-director of the UR CTSI and director of the Center for Community Health & Prevention at URMC. “The current crisis highlights just how amazing and important the work of our faculty, students, and staff is.”

Before a global pandemic forced the world to stay home, the UR CTSI was working on ways to bring research to the community, cutting travel and parking from the equation.

To help more people—and a more diverse set of people—participate in health research, the UR CTSI plans to improve the university’s capability for remote research and to build a research bus that can bring the clinic to participants.

“These remote research efforts are just a few of the ways we hope to ensure that our studies reflect the diversity of our communities,” said Martin Zand, MD, PhD, who is UR CTSI co-director and senior associate dean for Clinical Research at URMC. “Being virtually and physically present in the community will help us address health disparities—like those seen in COVID-19— and ensure that therapies work for everyone.”

With continued funding for these efforts, the UR CTSI will ramp up efforts to connect with communities that experience health disparities and are typically underrepresented in health research, including Black, Latinx, Deaf, pediatric, elderly, and rural communities.

Over the next five years, the UR CTSI will build a “learning health care system” connecting researchers, clinicians, and diverse community members. Working together, they will identify health challenges and build solutions that are responsive to community and health-system needs and can be easily adopted.

Beyond connecting the people behind research and medicine, the UR CTSI is also actively integrating the data from each of those realms. The recently launched COVID-19 Biobank is just one example of this work. The Biobank provides researchers with access to blood samples that are COVID-19 positive and COVID-19 negative and links those samples with relevant laboratory and de-identified patient data. This saves time and effort for researchers and will give them a broader view of the COVID-19 situation, helping them find connections they might not have otherwise seen.

In addition to ensuring diversity among research participants, the UR CTSI is renewing its commitment to diversifying its workforce. The Institute will work to break down the “walls” that keep members of the Black and Latinx communities, women, and people with disabilities from advancing in biomedical research careers. The UR CTSI vows to, in the coming years, recruit more faculty and students from underrepresented groups. By encouraging our existing workforce to recognize and address the inborn biases inherent in all people, the Institute hopes to create a more inclusive and welcoming environment in which a diverse workforce can thrive.

Designation Advances URMC’s Leadership in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research In 2020, the University was designated an Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC) by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Accompanied by more than $6 million in NICHD funding, this award affirms URMC’s national leadership in research for conditions such as autism, Batten disease, and Rett syndrome. It will help translate scientific insights into new ways to diagnose and treat these conditions and give patients and families access to cutting-edge care.

The IDDRC at the University of Rochester is led by John Foxe, PhD, director of the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, and Jonathan Mink, MD, PhD, chief of Child Neurology at Golisano Children’s Hospital.

“The new center will span research from molecule to mind and elevate and accelerate the pioneering work that our scientists and clinicians are undertaking in this field,” said Foxe. “This recognition will enable us to not only strengthen and expand the scope of research, but also attract new scientists, clinical researchers, and students and will accelerate the process of moving discoveries from the laboratory bench to the clinic in the form of new therapeutics and interventions.”

Mink noted that “Improving the health and wellbeing of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities has long been one of the core missions of URMC and is woven into our history, dating back to the founding principles of the School of Medicine and Dentistry and the creation of the biopsychosocial model, which revolutionized the approach to complex physical and mental conditions. This designation will build upon this foundation and help improve the lives of patients with these conditions.”

URMC is one of 14 NICHD-designated IDDRC institutions in the U.S. Combined with its previous awards as a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service (UCEDD) and in Leadership Education in

Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND), this designation places URMC among a small group of institutions recognized for leadership in IDD research, training, care, and community partnership.

The IDDRC’s research will be closely integrated with the Medical Center’s clinical programs in Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Child and Adult Neurology, Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health and Wellness, and the Complex Care Center.

These provide care for children and adolescents with a variety of neurodevelopmental and neurobehavioral conditions.

The IDDRC consists of five research clusters that collectively will enable a better understanding of the genetic, environmental, nutritional, social, and molecular mechanisms of these conditions.

These clusters comprise 105 investigators with 197 current or pending research projects. Researchers will work in collaboration the URMC Clinical and Translational Science Institute to move new discoveries into clinical trials.

While the IDDRC will encompass research on a wide range of conditions, one of its key projects will focus on Batten disease. URMC is home to the University of Rochester Batten Center (URBC), one of the nation’s premier centers for the study and treatment of the condition. With several potential gene therapies in advanced stages of development, URMC will focus on identifying biomarkers to help evaluate the effectiveness of these experimental treatments. URBC is designated a Center of Excellence by the Batten Disease Support and Research Association (BDSRA).

The IDDRC award is the culmination of a five-year expansion of the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience. That growth included the recruitment of 40 new scientists, many of whom work in the field of IDD; investments in complex-care clinical infrastructure; more than $20 million in investment in new research facilities and capabilities; and the development of new research initiatives across basic, translational, and clinical research for these conditions.

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ALUMNI

Humanitarian Award

Holly G. Atkinson, FACP, FAMWA (MD ’78, Res ’79) Holly G. Atkinson is a clinical professor and medical student advisor at the CUNY School of Medicine in New York City. Her research focuses on the links between human rights violations and health outcomes, especially as it applies to the wellbeing of women and girls. Atkinson has served on the board of Physicians for Human Rights/PHR for more than 16 years. She is a medical advisor to the organization and a member of PHR’s asylum network. In addition, she is a fellow of the American Medical Women’s Association/AMWA. Atkinson received the Esther Pohl Lovejoy Award from AMWA and was recognized as one of New York’s “New Abolitionists” as a leader in antitrafficking work.

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Alumni Achievement Award

Timothy G. Benson (MD ’00) Timothy G. Benson was a successful psychiatrist, author, and motivational speaker. He was a clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School for more than 10 years. Benson believed in building a strong mental foundation in younger elite athletes so that their personal development kept pace with their professional development. His book, Surviving Success, opened up a dialogue about the challenges of being in the spotlight as a professional athlete. In 2018, he became the assistant medical director for the NBA/NBPA Player Assistance/ Anti-Drug Program, in which he worked with NBA teams across the nation. Benson passed away in August 2019 from an aneurysm at the age of 47. His wife and twin boys survive him.

Distinguished Alumnus Award

Lowell A. Goldsmith, MD (MPH ’02) Dr. Lowell A. Goldsmith is dean emeritus of the School of Medicine and Dentistry. He was a member of the Food and Drug Administration Dermatologic Drugs Advisory Committee and on the board of directors of the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing at Johns Hopkins University. Goldsmith was also on the board of directors of the American Dermatology Association. Additionally, he was involved in multiple NIH review groups, including the advisory council of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

Goldsmith received multiple awards for his work, including the Martin Carter Mentoring Award from the American Skin Association and the Distinguished Service Award from the American Board of Dermatology.

Alumni Service Award

John T. Hansen, PhD John T. Hansen is professor emeritus of neuroscience at the Medical Center, where he has served in multiple roles over the last 35 years.

Hansen’s research investigated the role of dopamine neurons in the peripheral and central nervous system and in Parkinson’s disease.

He also collaborated on studies of neuroplasticity following brain injury.

He is the recipient of a coveted NIH Research Career Development Award.

Hansen served for 10 years as coeditor of the journal Clinical Anatomy.

In 2010, he was the first recipient of the University of Rochester campuswide Presidential Diversity Award for his “advocacy, support, mentoring, planning, and leading the Medical Center’s initiatives to increase the recruitment, retention, excellence, and graduation of candidates from diverse backgrounds.”

John N. Wilder Award

Kathleen Landers (’82) and Peter Landers (MS ’83)

Raymond John Mayewski, MD (Res ’76, Flw ’79)

Kathleen and Peter Landers are longtime philanthropists to URMC. They have been benefactors of the James P. Wilmot Cancer Institute for more than 20 years and also have supported the Golisano Children’s Hospital, Eastman School of Music, Memorial Art Gallery, UR Ventures Technology Development Fund, and University of Rochester athletics.

The Landerses are advocates for the Medical Center and feel strongly that the community should be aware of the importance of cancer research and treatment. Both serve on the Rochester Philanthropy Council, and Peter serves on the UR Technology Development Fund Executive Committee. Peter is a board member at the Medical Center and at the Memorial Art Gallery, while Kathleen is on the board of the Wilmot Cancer Institute.

Raymond John Mayewski is a professor of medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. He has proudly served the Medical Center, the medical school, and the Rochester community for nearly 50 years. As a recipient of an endowed professorship, Mayewski became interested in beginning a program to help educate physicians on how to collaborate with advancement professionals to develop philanthropic skills. This interest, coupled with a strong partnership with the Medical Center’s advancement leadership, led to the development of the Philanthropy Champions program. This program has enrolled nearly 60 senior clinicians, has resulted in several million dollars in philanthropic gifts, and serves as a model used by other medical centers throughout the country.

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CLASS NOTES

MD ALUMNI 1962

Ronald Cole was honored as the Distinguished Alumnus at Henry Ford Hospital’s 2019 Ophthalmology Alumni Day. Cole finished his residency program at the Detroit-area hospital 50 years ago. He was also recently presented the inaugural Briggs Award for Distinguished Service in Ophthalmology by the Society for the Blind.

If you see any alumni whom you would like to contact, please email us at SMDalumni@rochester.edu.

Submit class notes to your class agent or to RochesterMedicineMagazine@urmc. rochester.edu.

Note: MD alumni are listed alphabetically by class. Resident and fellow alumni follow in alphabetical order, and graduate alumni are listed separately in alphabetical order.

Charles Halsted recently published his second book of poetry, Extenuating Circumstances. The subjects include recollections of World War II, becoming a doctor, surviving an earthquake, adjusting to aging, and more. Halstead began taking poetry classes as he approached retirement and published his first poetry chapbook, Breaking Eighty, in 2018. Now retired, Halsted held faculty appointments at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and University of California Davis School of Medicine.

1966

Warren Zapol is researching the effectiveness of high-dose nitric oxide gas as a therapy for COVID-19 patients with respiratory problems—particularly for pregnant women, for whom effective therapeutics are lacking.

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1983

Paul M. Bleicher (MS ’83, PhD ’83) worked with a team of data scientists and engineers at the University of California San Francisco to turn his U.S. county analytics into an interactive real-time tracker of the COVID19 pandemic at the county level across the U.S. The site, covidcounties.org, was used in the early days of the pandemic by thought leaders and policy makers to understand the local dynamics of the pandemic. A publication in Scientific Data (www.nature.com/articles/ s41597-020-00731-8) discusses the novel aspects of the site.

1984

Edward D. Lewis (Res ’81) was selected to a second term as president of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ New York Chapter 1.

Lewis owns a general pediatrics practice in Rochester.

1979

1986

Tamar Barlam was named the section chief of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Medicine at Boston Medical Center (BMC).

Barlam is also director of antimicrobial ROCHESTER MEDICINE

Mark Levine appeared on the Editor’s Podcast with Dr. Lloyd F. Novick in November 2019, a podcast that coincides with each new issue of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. Levine was featured in an episode focused on a new case study that chronicled the events of a near-miss mass school shooting in Vermont in 2018. Levine is Commissioner of Health for the Vermont Department of Health. He recently served as a professor of medicine and associate dean of graduate education at the University of Vermont College of Medicine.

Lewis Zulick divides his time in clinical practice between Carthage Area Hospital in Carthage, N.Y., and in the Finger Lakes area at both Clifton Springs Hospital and Newark Wayne Community Hospital. He served as chief of surgery for the eastern region of Rochester Regional Health until July 2019.

1978

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stewardship at BMC and is an associate professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine.

Michael O’Shea was named medical director and vice president of ambulatory care services at Cheshire Medical Center in Keene, N.H. He previously served as executive medical director at Trinity Health of New England in Hartford, Conn. O’Shea continues his active nephrology practice in the Cheshire community.

1987

Robert Montgomery was appointed chair of the Department of Surgery at NYU Langone

Health. Montgomery joined the faculty at NYU Grossman’s School of Medicine in 2016 and has served as director of their Transplant Institute. Previously, he was part of a team at Johns Hopkins University that engineered a laparoscopic technique for procuring a kidney for live donation, which is now standard practice.

Unite.

Engage.

Empower.

1991

David Morris (’87) was appointed chief medical officer at Enterprise Therapeutics Ltd. Based in the United Kingdom, the biopharmaceutical company is dedicated to the development of novel therapies to improve the lives of those suffering with respiratory disease. Previously, Morris held various leadership roles at Novartis Pharmaceuticals as well as faculty appointments at the University of California San Francisco and Yale University School of Medicine.

1994

Michelle Albert received the 2020 Population Research Prize from the American Health Association. Albert is a professor of medicine, associate dean of admissions, and director of the CeNter for the StUdy of AdveRsiTy and CardiovascUlaR DiseasE (NURTURE Center) at the University of California San Francisco. Her research focuses on social determinants of health, particularly in women, and marginalized racial/ethnic groups.

ASHLEY N. CAMPBELL ’ 09, ’ Cochair of the Black Alumni Network | Photo by Jenny Berliner

BLACK ALUMNI NETWORK UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER

2004

Kristin Hart was named chief medical officer of Northern Maine Medical Center (NMMC).

Hart has worked for NMMC for more than 13 years in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings, along with her work in obstetrics.

She is nationally certified by the American Academy of Family Physicians and a member of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

2005

Jason Klopotowski (’01) joined the faculty of Penn Highlands DuBois and was named director of anesthesiology for the Penn Highlands Healthcare system. Klopotowski previously practiced at Henry Ford Medical Group in Detroit. He completed his residency in anesthesiology at the University of Michigan.

contunued on next page

UNITE. ENGAGE. EMPOWER. The University’s new Black Alumni Network fosters, promotes, and celebrates an inclusive community. Join and expand your personal and professional circles while sharing your life’s experiences, advocating for change, and connecting with students and fellow alumni.

J O I N U S T O D AY

uofr.us/BlackAlumniNetwork

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CLASS NOTES

2009

Ashley N. Amalfi accepted a position with the Quatela Center for Plastic Surgery in Rochester. Highly involved with the American Society for Plastic Surgeons, Amalfi specializes in aesthetic and reconstructive breast surgery and body contouring procedures. She graduated summa cum laude in three years from George Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and art history before earning her medical degree. She completed her residency in plastic and reconstructive surgery at Southern Illinois University.

2010

Joanne Chan (Res ’13) joined Amherst Medical Associates in Amherst, Mass. Chan completed her residency training in family medicine. Before transitioning to a career in medicine, Chan earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and spent several years working on Wall Street.

2011

Shannon L. Andrews joined Albany Med’s Department of Pediatrics. Andrews is a pediatric infectious disease specialist.

Aaron Farney married Marianne Munson in August 2020. Farney is an emergency medicine physician at the University of Rochester Medical Center, and Munson is a physical therapist at URMC. The couple lives in Honeoye Falls.

2015

Alexis Pilato (Res ’19) joined UR Medicine Thompson Health in October 2019. A member of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Pilato graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh with a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience before earning her medical degree.

RESIDENT & FELLOW ALUMNI

Richard Doolittle (MS ’81, PhD ’81, Flw ’82) was named interim dean of the College of Health Sciences and Technology at RIT. Doolittle has been on faculty at RIT 36

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since 1986 and previously served as vice dean of the College of Health Sciences and Technology. He earned his doctor of philosophy in pathology.

Michael “Mick” Krasner (Res ’91) spoke on mindfulness, self-care, and the care of others at the Canandaigua VA Medical Center’s sixth annual Caregiver Appreciation Conference in November 2020. In partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association, St. Ann’s Community, and Lifespan, and with support from a New York State Department of Health grant, the conference focused on how the practice of mindfulness techniques can impact caregiver self-care, ease stress, and improve the relationship between caregiver and the person they are caring for. Krasner is a professor of clinical medicine and a professor of clinical family medicine and dentistry at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.

John Kennedy (Flw ’98) has been named vice president for medical affairs at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, overseeing what is, with a medical staff of 1,354, the secondlargest hospital in the greater Cincinnati area.

Since 2011, Kennedy served as vice president of medical affairs at Mercy Health–Cincinnati Fairfield Hospital. Kennedy completed a fellowship in forensic psychiatry.

Babur B. Lateef (Res ’00) was re-elected as chair of the Prince William County School Board in Prince William County, Va. Lateef is an ophthalmologist at Advanced Ophthalmology, Inc., and assistant professor of ophthalmology at the George Washington University School of Medicine.

Alice Briones (Res ’09) was named director of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System (AMFES). Previously deputy director, Lt. Col. Briones is the system’s first female director.

She will lead an organization of approximately 300 military, civilian, and contractor personnel who provide comprehensive services in forensic pathology, forensic toxicology, DNA technology and identification, and mortality

surveillance for the Department of Defense.

Lt. Col. Briones completed her residency training in clinical and anatomic pathology.

GRADUATE AND PHD ALUMNI

Wendy Cohen (’87, MPH ’88) is senior services director for Duet: Partners in Health & Aging. Duet is a non-profit that provides freeof-charge services to homebound adults, family caregivers, and faith communities in the Phoenix area. Cohen previously served as interim executive director for the Phoenix Girls Chorus and president of Wendy Cohen Consulting.

Brandon Harvey (’96, MS ’00, PhD ’03), a current tenure-track investigator at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, was selected for the National Institutes of Health Intramural Targeted Anti-COVID-19 Program to examine effects of SARS-CoV-2 proteins on endoplasmic reticulum proteostasis.

Jason Purnell (MPH ’09) joined BJC Healthcare as vice president of community health improvement. Purnell will continue to lead Health Equity Works, an initiative of the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. Health Equity Works provides community members with resources, tools, and solutions to accelerate action on the many social conditions influencing health and well-being.

Adrienne L. Morgan (PhD ’13) was named associate vice president in the University of Rochester’s Office of Equity and Inclusion.

Morgan will contribute to the University’s vision for diversity, equity, and inclusion that aligns with the institution’s goals and priorities.

She previously served as the assistant dean for medical education diversity and inclusion in the School of Medicine and Dentistry. (Read more on page 28.)

Karl “PJ” Smith (MS ’14, PhD ’17) announced his engagement to Laura Helene Nelson.

Smith earned his doctorate in biophysics and is self-employed as “Dr. Sparks,” an educational performer, and as a weddingstory writer. Nelson is a third-year medical student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Creating a Lifesaving Legacy for the Generations “The University of Rochester is a vital part of our community. We knew our support could help its mission to provide remarkable medical care and encourage an excellent education rooted in science.

Creating a charitable remainder unitrust was a gift to the University, as well as an investment for our own future. Two generations of our family will receive something back, so it is a win-win situation.

We directed our gift toward creating an endowment that will support the advancement of medical research, as well as the educational experience for residents and research scientists.”

T H E G U P TA FAM ILY Virendra Gupta ’80S (MBA), P’87, P’90, P’91S (MBA) and Uma Gupta P’87, P’90, P’91S (MBA), with son, Dr. Atul Gupta ’87

Rochester, NY

To learn more about charitable remainder trusts and other planned giving methods, contact the Office of Trusts, Estates & Gift Planning (800) 635-4672 • (585) 275-8894 giftplanning@rochester.edu • www.rochester.giftplans.org/trusts University funds and trusts are managed for growth and stability in a highly diversified long-term investment pool, which includes alternative investments. For more information,

Imagine your legacy.

visit www.rochester.edu/endowment.

University of Rochester

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