FACULTY NEWS
David Bichell, M.D., a nationally regarded pediatric cardiac surgeon, has joined the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt as chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery and co-director of the Pediatric Heart Institute. Bichell hails from Comer Children's Hospital at the University of Chicago, where he served as the director of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery and associate professor of Surgery. He has also previously served as the director of Cardiovascular Surgery and director of the Children's Heart Institute at San Diego Children's Hospital.
Richard Breyer, Ph.D., has been named to hold a professorship in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension. The John B. Youmans Professor of Medicine honors Youmans, a faculty member in the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt from 1927 to 1946 who served as dean and director of Medical Affairs from 1950-1958. He died in 1979. Breyer's lab specializes in basic pharmacology and works in collaboration with physician scientists in medicine to determine how prostaglandin receptors interact with a number of disease systems. Breyer is celebrating his 15th year at Vanderbilt.
*Nancy Brown, M.D., has been named to the new position of associate dean for Clinical and Translational Scientist Development in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. The new position replaces the former associate dean for Physician Scientist Development position, with a goal to expand and enhance educational programs for physician scientists and translational and clinical investigators of all types, including physicians, nurses and degree candidates with backgrounds varying from business to science and engineering.
Michael Cookson, M.D., associate professor of Urologic Surgery, was recently selected as a section editor for Cancer, the interdisciplinary, international journal of the American Cancer Society. Cookson will serve a three-year term as editor for the journal in the area of genitourinary disease.
Bryan Cotton, M.D., assistant professor of Surgery in the Division of Trauma and Critical Care, was recently chosen by Vanderbilt University School of Medicine to receive the CANDLE (Caring, Advocating, Nurturing, Determination, Leadership and Empathy) Award. The honor is given to individuals who have devoted themselves to teaching and mentoring.
*Richard D'Aquila, M.D., director of the Division of Infectious Diseases, has been named a fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (ISDA). This year the ISDA, the nation's leading professional society in infectious disease, is honoring 49 distinguished physicians and scientists from the United States and abroad who were elected to be fellows. Fellowship in the ISDA honors individuals who have achieved professional excellence and have provided significant service to their profession.
Robert Dittus, M.D., M.P.H., has been named director of the new Institute for Medicine and Public Health at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The mission of the institute is to improve personal and public health through discovery, training and service programs designed to protect against threats to health, promote healthier living, improve the quality of health services and prepare leaders to advance health and health care.
Wes Ely, M.D., associate professor of Medicine, Division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care, has been inducted into the American society for Clinical Investigation, a 2,600-physician-scientist member society. Members are chosen based on their records of scholarly achievement in biomedical research.
Randy Farmer has been named executive associate vice chancellor for Vanderbilt University Medical Center Development. He comes to VUMC from Washington University in St. Louis, where he was associate vice chancellor and director of Medical Alumni and Development. Farmer brings a proven track record of development success to VUMC. During its last capital campaign (1995-2003) Washington University raised more than $1.5 billion – $637 million of which came from the medical school.
*Arthur Fleischer, M.D., professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, has been honored for his longstanding commitment and dedication to continuing medical education. He was given a plaque commemorating his 30 years as course director of the Diagnostic Sonography Symposium. Last year, Fleischer was honored with the Frank H. Boehm Award for Excellence in Teaching; Contributions to Continuing Medical Education.
*Steven Gabbe, M.D., dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, has been elected to co-chair the Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME), which is the body charged by the U.S. Department of Education with accrediting all medical schools in the United States and Canada that award the doctor of medicine degree. Gabbe, a committee member for the past three years, became the co-chair on July 1 along with Ronald Franks, M.D., dean of Medicine and vice president for Health Affairs at East Tennessee State University. The 18-member committee includes six members from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), six from the American Medical Association (AMA), two from the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools, two senior medical students and two members of the public.
Peter Giammalvo, Ph.D., a health care organizational learning and leadership development expert, has been appointed to the newly created position of chief learning officer at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Giammalvo, formerly vice president for leadership formation at Catholic Health East in Pennsylvania, will provide overall leadership for organizational development and workplace learning.
Lynette Gillis, M.D., assistant professor of Pediatrics, has been selected to receive a 2006 Liver Scholar Award from the American Liver Foundation and the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease. The three-year, $225,000 award will support Gillis's efforts to understand the role of fatty acid oxidation in insulin signaling/dysregulation and fatty liver disease.
Jonathan Haines, Ph.D., has received a grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research to search for genes that play a role in Parkinson's disease. Haines, director of the Center for Human Genetics Research, is studying a population of Ohio Amish with more than 15 individuals affected with Parkinson's. In preliminary work, he and his collaborators have identified three novel genomic areas that are linked to the disease. Now, with the support of the $740,000, three-year grant, they will go after the genes in those regions.
George Hill, Ph.D., is ending his two-year term as vice president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) and will assume the role of president-elect for two years before becoming president. *William Schaffner, M.D., was elected in May by members of the NFID board and board of trust to succeed Hill as vice president. He will transition in two years from that role to president-elect, followed by president. This is the first time in the organization's history that two successive board presidents will come from the same institution.
Michael Holzman, M.D., has been appointed to hold the newly established Lester and Sara Jayne Williams Chair in Academic Surgery. Williams, professor of Surgery at Vanderbilt and Chief of Surgery at Saint Thomas Hospital, died in 2002. Holzman, associate professor of Surgery in the General Surgery division, said he hopes the generous gift will serve not only as a memorial but also as a way to foster Williams' lessons and passion for the training of young academic surgeons.
Adrian Jarquin-Valdivia, M.D., is the 2006 recipient of the Grant W. Liddle Award for "exemplary leadership in the promotion of scientific research" at VUMC. Jarquin-Valdivia, assistant professor of Neurology, Anesthesiology and Medicine, received the award from the House Staff Advisory Council during its 24th Annual Research Forum. He also was presented the Thomas E. Brittingham Award for excellence in clinical teaching by the third- and fourth-year medical students.
*Jeremy Kaye, M.D., has been appointed interim chair of the Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences. He succeeds *Martin Sandler, M.B., Ch.B., who was recently named to the new role of associate vice chancellor for Hospital Affairs. Kaye has been vice-chair of the department since 2000. He previously headed two different departments in New York while serving as director of the department of Radiology at the Hospital for Special Surgery, which is part of the Cornell University complex, and also as chairman of Radiology for St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan, which is affiliated with New York Medical College.
*Herbert Meltzer, M.D., former president of the Congress of the Collegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmocologicum (CINP), joined six other Vanderbilt scientists in July in discussing their research at the biennial meeting of the world's largest neuropsychopharmacology organization. An estimated 4,000 psychiatrists, scientists and mental health officials from 30 countries attended. Meltzer chairs the national organizing committee for the meeting. Meltzer discussed the latest research on the action of antipsychotic drugs and guidelines for schizophrenia treatment. He was joined by *P. Jeffrey Conn, Ph.D., professor of Pharmacology, director of that department's Program in Translational Neuropharmacology, and director of the Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology's drug discovery program; Robert Kessler, M.D., Roentgen Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences and director of the Center for Molecular Imaging at Vanderbilt; Patrizia Riccardi, M.D., research assistant professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences; Ronald Salomon, M.D., associate professor of Psychiatry; Richard Shelton, M.D., professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology and director of the Division of Adult Psychiatry; and Monsheel Sodhi, Ph.D., research assistant professor of Psychiatry.
*Robert Miller, M.D., received the Helping Hands Award for his volunteer medical service at the Shade Tree Family Clinic, which is devoted to providing care to the underserved community of Nashville. Miller was also chosen by Vanderbilt University School of Medicine to receive a recent CANDLE (Caring, Advocating, Nurturing, Determination, Leadership and Empathy) Award. The honor is given to individuals who have devoted themselves to teaching and mentoring.
Katherine Poehling, M.D., assistant professor of Pediatrics, was lead author of the CDC-sponsored, multicenter study on pediatric flu practices nationwide which – based on an advance look at the findings – led the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to expand its recommendations for giving flu shots to children to include giving flu shots to all children ages 6 months to 5 years. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Previously the ACIP had recommended vaccinating children 6 to 23 months old.
*David Raiford, M.D., professor of Medicine, has been named associate dean for Faculty Affairs in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He succeeds the late Tom Hazinski, M.D., who died in January due to sudden cardiac arrest. The associate dean for Faculty Affairs is responsible for administrative issues associated with faculty appointments and promotions, conflicts of interest, orientation and training, special individual faculty issues and faculty development.
*Charles Ross, M.D., has been named director of Endovascular Surgery, and began seeing patients at the Vascular Surgery Clinic in the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute in July. He was previously medical director of the Lourdes Vascular Center in Paducah, Ky., part of Lourdes Medical Center and Western Baptist Hospital. Ross brings to Vanderbilt extensive clinical experience as well as expertise in treating adult patients with vascular disorders of all types. He is a regionally recognized expert in the use of endovascular techniques to manage cerebrovascular, peripheral and aneurysmal disease.
William Richards, M.D., has been named the Ingram Professor of Surgical Sciences, a newly endowed chair in VUMC's Section of Surgical Sciences, allowing the department to explore futuristic medical procedures such as implanting gastric pacemakers as a treatment for obesity and the possibility of performing endoscopic, incisionless surgeries. Richards said the new funding stream will allow him to devote more time and effort to teaching, research and developing programs rather than concentrating solely on clinical practice and funded research projects.
Eric Skaar, Ph.D., M.P.H., has added a Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) Award to his recent Searle Scholar Award and National Institutes of Health R01 grant. Skaar is one of 14 assistant professors selected from a group of 125 nominees to receive a 2006 BWF Investigators in Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease award. BWF will provide $400,000 over five years to support Skaar's research, with few strings attached.
*Norman Urmy, who over 24 years led Vanderbilt University Hospital and its clinical enterprise successfully through an ever-changing landscape of health care changes, has stepped down from that role. The executive vice president for Clinical Affairs at Vanderbilt University Medical Center took a three-month leave and returned to Vanderbilt in October to work with *Harry Jacobson, M.D., vice chancellor for Health Affairs, in a supporting staff role that will focus on key strategic initiatives. Two longtime Vanderbilt leaders have accepted newly created roles atop the University's clinical enterprise. *Martin Sandler, M.B., Ch.B., has been named to the new role of associate vice chancellor for Hospital Affairs. Sandler will oversee all four Vanderbilt hospitals – Vanderbilt University Hospital, the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, the Psychiatric Hospital at Vanderbilt and Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital. He relinquished his chairmanship of Radiology and Radiological Sciences and began the new role in July. *C. Wright Pinson, M.D., M.B.A., leads the Vanderbilt Medical Group and heads up quality improvement efforts across the entire Vanderbilt clinical enterprise. While retaining his current responsibilities as associate vice chancellor for Clinical Affairs and chief medical officer, Pinson assumed a significantly expanded role in July. He will take on oversight of The Vanderbilt Clinic and all off-campus clinical activities, including a growing regional network of physician practices, outpatient treatment centers, Cool Springs Surgery Center and McKendree Village, a retirement community affiliated with VUMC.
*Sten Vermund, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Vanderbilt University Institute for Global Health, has been selected to lead one of six new clinical trial units created by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to combat HIV/AIDS around the globe. The NIAID, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced the roster of principal investigators recently as part of the rollout of its newly restructured clinical trials network. Vermund is also principal investigator of the first-ever grant in Tennessee from the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The $1.4 million grant is slated to support three clinics in Zambezia, the most populous province in Mozambique, where an estimated 18 percent of the adult population is infected with HIV.
Yajun Andrew Yi, Ph.D., has received a five-year, $720,000 award from the National Cancer Institute to support his efforts to identify genes that suppress metastasis in prostate cancer. The Howard Temin Awards, named for the 1975 Nobel laureate who made discoveries related to tumor viruses, aim to bridge the transition from a mentored research environment to an independent research career for outstanding junior scientists. Yi is research assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Genetic Medicine.
*John Zic, M.D., succeeds *Hal Helderman, M.D., as associate dean for Admissions. Zic, a 1991 VUSM graduate and one of the school's first Canby Robinson Scholars, is an assistant professor of Medicine and has served on the Admissions Committee since 2000.
*Mary Zutter, M.D., director of Hematopathology and Ingram Professor of Cancer Research, has been selected to participate in the 12th class of the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Program for Women. The ELAM Program brings together women who hold faculty positions around the country at various academic health centers (AHCs).
* Indicates CRS member |
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Sarah Sell receives VMAA's Achievement Award
When *Sarah Sell was a young pediatrician at Vanderbilt, some of her sickest patients suffered from meningitis caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib). Most of the patients were under 5, and many would suffer long-lasting effects – blindness, deafness, mental retardation, learning disabilities or even death – no matter how quickly they were diagnosed and treated.
"By the time we got them, they'd be burned already," said Sell, affectionately called "Sally" by friends and colleagues. "I like to compare them to young trees growing in a forest, and a forest fire goes through and you put out the fire but you still have all that charred stuff left on those young trees. And that's what we had left, what the fire had left behind."
So Sell, professor of Pediatrics, Emerita, "set about trying to work on that," and was one of the key players in the development of the childhood vaccine to protect against Hib. Her initiatives led to the licensure of several conjugated Hib vaccines in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These vaccines have been so effective that they have virtually eliminated this devastating disease in young children in the United States.
In 1972, Sell, who graduated from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1948 and joined the faculty in 1954, organized a gathering of 38 investigators on the cutting edge of Hib research, in order to gain a better understanding of the Hib bacteria.
The meeting, held at Vanderbilt, was paid for with a $10,000 donation from one of Sell's former roommates, and was the stimulus for the development of the vaccines. Sell recalls addressing the group about their mission. "A lot of these people were pretty egocentric, and I said, Ôwe're all here together for a purpose, to find a way to prevent this meningitis. I beg you while you're here, put your egos aside, and instead of trying to outdo each other, let's really try to find a way to prevent this thing.'"
In a 1986 study, Hib was found to be the most common cause of meningitis, responsible for 45 percent of meningitis cases. Before the widespread use of Hib vaccine – which children currently receive four times between 2 months and 15 months of age – about 20,000 children under 5 in the U.S. got severe Hib disease each year, and nearly 1,000 died.
Sell, who is also known for her work with the bacteria associated with otitis media (middle ear infections), recalls sleepless nights when the Hib vaccine was being developed. "I just lived with it. It's great having something larger than you to think about."
She was honored by VUSM in October with the Vanderbilt Medical Alumni Association Achievement Award, one of many honors she has received in her career. Last year, she was awarded with a lifetime achievement award by Vanderbilt's Department of Pediatrics.
The awards are nice, she says, but she doesn't understand why she's been chosen. "Why? I haven't done anything except what I wanted to do," she said. "I never felt like a pioneer. I was just doing what there was to be done. Everybody would do something like this if they had the opportunity. I never felt that special."
But there are many who would argue that point.
Kathryn Edwards, M.D., professor of Pediatrics, and director of the Pediatric Clinical Research office, has worked with Sell since she came to Vanderbilt 26 years ago. She says Sell has an ability to see good in everyone, to see the positive aspects of all people. "I found through the years that her counsel was enormously important, as well as her insight and her untiring optimism."
This summer, Edwards attended a meeting that included annual data about the various infectious diseases in the United States. There were only 32 cases of meningitis from Hib in the United States last year, compared to the 20,000 before the Hib vaccine.
"I used to teach medical students about the bad effects of Haemophilus influenza b, but it's virtually gone," Edwards said. "That's in large measure to Sally's work, her ability to bring people together and to collaborate in a selfless way that made everyone a winner. And certainly children were the greatest winners of all."
- Nancy Humphrey |
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