In the News

Lisa J. Goldstein, MD Clinical Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine has been named the recipient of the 2013 Charles C.J. Carpenter, MD, Outstanding Physician of the Year Award at The Miriam Hospital. Recognized by her peers for her clinical expertise, dedication to The Miriam Hospital and commitment to training the next generation of pathologists, Dr. Goldstein was honored during the hospital's annual medical staff association meeting on June 19th. To read more.

Athena Poppas, MD Associate Professor of Medicine at Alpert Medical School, Director of the Echocardiography Laboratory at Rhode Island Hospital, and Director of Cardiovascular Imaging at the Cardiovascular Institute of Rhode Island and The Miriam Hospitals, has been appointed chair of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Annual Scientific Session, effective 2015. To read more.

Amy S. Gottlieb, MD Associate Professor of Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology (Clinical) was recently elected co-chair of the national Society of General Internal Medicine's Women and Medicine Task Force. To read more.

Michele G. Cyr, MD, FACP Professor of Medicine at Alpert Medical School was recently presented with the Milton Hamolsky Lifetime Achievement Award by the RI Chapter of the American College of Physicians. The award which recognizes her outstanding contributions to the field of Internal Medicine and to the Rhode Island Chapter was presented during the Governor's Welcome and Awards Presentation at the American College of Physicians, Rhode Island Chapter Scientific Meeting held May 9th.

Joan Teno, MD, MS Professor of Health Services, Policy, & Practice, Professor of Medicine and Associate Director of the Center for Gerontology and Health Care Research received the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization's Inaugural Quality Leadership Award. The honor recognizes her work as a researcher and a clinician dedicated to understanding how to measure and improve the quality of care for people at the end of life. To read more.

Lynn E. Taylor, MD Assistant Professor of Medicine at Alpert Medical School and Director of Miriam Hospital's HIV/Viral Hepatitis Coinfection Program, will receive up to $300,000 over the next three years from the Rhode Island Foundation as the winner of the 2013 Innovation Fellowship. To read more.

Anne Hart, PhD Professor of Neuroscience, has identified a new potential mechanism for developing an SMA treatment. The research published in the Journal of Neuroscience, reports that the drug Riluzole advanced neural cell development in a mammalian model of SMA and restrored neuromuscular function and mobility in a Caenorhabditis elegans worm model of the disease. To read more.

Amy Nunn, ScD Assistant Professor of Medicine (Research), recruited a community-based coalition to address an unmet need for testing and treatment in a Philadelphia neighborhood with one of the nation's highest rate of HIV/AIDS infection. Their "Do One Thing" campaign has tested more than 3,000 people for HIV and recently also began testing for hepatitis C. To read more about "Testing 19143", please visit.

Elizabeth "Libby" Nestor, MD receives the 2012 Annual Milton Hamolsky Outstanding Physician Award
Elizabeth "Libby" Nestor, MD, Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine, has received the 2012 Annual Milton Hamolsky Outstanding Physician Award from the Rhode Island Hospital medical staff. Dr. Nestor was honored for her dedication to ethical practice, outstanding clinical skills and her commitment to medical education. The award is the highest honor the medical staff bestows on one of its own. To read more, please visit.

Penelope Dennehy, MD receives Distinguished Service Award from Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society

Penelope Dennehy, MD, Professor of Pediatrics at Alpert Medical School and Director of Pediatric Diseases at Hasbro Childen's Hospital, has been awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS), the world's largest organization of professions dedicated to the treatment, control and eradication of infectious diseases affecting children. The PIDS Distinguished Service Award recognizes a Society member who has made an outstanding contribution to the specialty of pediatric infectious diseases and to the Society. To read more, please visit.

Brown launches Executive Master of Healthcare Leadership program
Brown University has launched an Executive Master of Healthcare Leadership program, to begin in August 2013. This is Brown’s first executive education program and is part of a University initiative to develop programs in executive and professional education. The Executive Master of Healthcare Leadership has been approved by the Brown Corporation. The Executive Master of Healthcare Leadership is a 16-month program that combines online learning with two 10-day and two six-day sessions on the Brown campus. It is targeted toward clinicians, executives, and senior administrators who have significant responsibility in the healthcare industry and will continue working while pursuing this degree. The Healthcare Leadership program, to be administered by Brown’s Office of Continuing Education, was designed around concerns of leaders in clinical care, insurance, product and device manufacturing, and those in legal and regulatory settings. For more information, please visit.

The American Psychological Association (APA) honors Rena R. Wing, PhD
Rena R. Wing, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and Director of the Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center at the Miriam Hospital, has received the Lifetime Achievement award from the American Psychology Association (APA) for her pioneering work in obesity research. To read more, please visit.

Erica Larschan, PhD, wins White House Award
Erica Larschan, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biology, has won a highly prized Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering - PECASE, the nation's highest honor for young researchers in those fields. Larschan and the other winners will receive their awards from President Obama on July 31. The award citation applauds her "for studies of coordinate gene regulation during Drosophila dosage compensation." Some of her reserach in the field was published last year in Nature. Now she says she is looking at fighting disease: "The PECASE award will allow my laboratory to explore exciting new research directions such as probing the dynamics of gene regulation in real time. In the future, we plan to translate our insights about how genomes are regulated into therapeutic targets for anti-cancer drugs."

Sohini Ramachandran, PhD named a Pew Biomedical Scholar
Sohini Ramachandran, PhD, Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology is one of 22 young scientists nationwide to be named a Pew Biomedical Scholar. The award comes with a grant of $240,000 during the next four years for her research using mathematical and statistical models and computer simulations to make inferences about human population histories from the genetic variations found in individuals. " To read more, please visit: http://news.brown.edu/shorts

Elizabeth Toll, MD, "The Cost of Technology"
Elizabeth Toll, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, recently authored "The Cost of Technology" which appeared in JAMA's "A Piece of My Mind" section, published in the June 20, 2012 issue. To read Dr. Toll's essay.

Sandra Carson, MD receives the FDA Advisory Committee Distinguished Service Award
Sandra A. Carson, MD has received the FDA Advisory Committee Distinguished Service Award for 2011. Dr. Carson, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, was part of the Brown-Women & Infants research team that in 2010 invented the world's first artificial human ovary. To read more.

Kristi A. Wharton PhD, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry
and former postdoctoral fellow, Takuya Akiyama introduce the new molecule, Gbb38, int he April 3rd edition of the journal Science Signaling. To read more.

RIMWA honors the 2012 Woman Physician of the Year
RIMWA honored the 2012 Woman Physician of the Year, Mary Ann Passero, MD at the RIMWA Annual Meeting & Woman Physician of the Year Celebration being held May 9, 2012 at the Providence Marriott.

Dr. Passero is a Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and is Director, Cystic Fibrosis Center of Rhode Island (Retired).

This annual award recognizes a local woman physician who has demonstrated excellence and a high level of commitment to medicine, family, and the community.

Established in 1981, RIMWA is a network of over 130 women physicians in Rhode Island, including women physicians in training programs, in private and hospital practice, and in academic medicine and research. Among its many goals, RIMWA strives to promote the health and welfare of all patients in Rhode Island and to support the personal and professional development of its members. The Woman Physician of the Year Award, established in 1989, recognizes a local woman physician who has demonstrated excellence and a high level of commitment to medicine and to the community.

E. Jane Carter, MD elected President of The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
Dr. E. Jane Carter was recently elected as the new President of The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease at their October 30th meeting in Lille, France. Dr. Carter will lead the 91-year old organization, which has 14 offices, more than 300 staff and consultants and some 10,000 members and subscribers worldwide. She will also represent the North America Region on the Board.

Dr. Carter is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Brown University and senior consultant at the Rhode Island State TB Clinic. A pulmonologist by training, she is now working on the issue of TB/HIV co-infection and directs the Brown-Kenya Medical Exchange Program, a collaboration with Moi University Medical School (AMPATH) in Eldoret, Kenya. Her work focuses on HIV/AIDS and TB research, training and treatment with emphasis on public health outcomes and case finding in resource-poor settings.  The full news release is available at: http://www.theunion.org/index.php/en/newsroom/item/1963-the-union-elects-new-president-and-board-members


Patricia Flanagan, MD honored by The Rhode Island Chapter of Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition
Dr. Patricia Flanagan, Professor of Pediatrics, was honored by the Rhode Island Chapter of Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition with the 12th Annual Silver Rattle Award. The award is given each year to someone who has “shaken up the system” for mothers and babies in Rhode Island. Flanagan has conducted extensive research on the topics of adolescent parenthood as well as attachment and communication behaviors among children of teen mothers and helped create the state's Teen Pregnancy Coalition.
The full article is available online: www.projo.com/news/content/ Your_Neighbors_06_06-06-11_ 2VOAOU1_v11.2dad8d8.html