BLUEPRINT FOR DISCOVERY The Quest for 21st-Century Cures

ROCHESTER 

MEDICINE 

UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND DENTISTRY • FALL 1999 

BLUEPRINT FOR DISCOVERY 

The Quest for 21st-Century Cures

Cover Photo (left to right) Arthur Kornberg, M.D. (M ’41, HNR ’62), professor, department of Biochemistry, 

Stanford University School of Medicine, 1959 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Medicine; UR President Thomas 

Jackson; Jay Stein, M.D., senior vice president and vice provost for health affairs; and Dean Lowell Goldsmith.

Arthur Kornberg, M.D. 

Days before this issue of Rochester Medicine went to press, our 

institution took a bold step toward the future. 

With the help of hundreds of alumni, faculty, students, luminaries, 

and Nobel laureates, we celebrated the opening of the new Arthur 

Kornberg Medical Research Building. The building will be home to our 

new medical research institute, the Aab Institute of Biomedical Sciences, 

which—for the first time—we present to you in detail in these pages. 

When you read about the extraordinary scientists we’ve recruited to 

head the research centers in the Institute (among them, a Rochestertrained 

M.D.-Ph.D.; a molecular biologist credited with one of our era’s 

most important discoveries in cancer research; and an immunologist 

nominated for the Nobel Prize), one message will become clear: the 

University of Rochester Medical Center intends to continue its tradition 

as a powerhouse in medical science. 

Some alumni have asked us why we’re making this major 

commitment to research. It’s one of the most important—and most 

fundamental—questions our institution has addressed in recent years. 

The University of Rochester has built an outstanding reputation 

for the way we train physicians. (We invented the biopsychosocial model, 

for example, and instilled its principles into a generation of physicians.) 

In national rankings of medical schools, such as the annual ranking 

in U.S. News and World Report, this institution consistently ranks in 

the top echelon of “primary care schools”—those whose focus is on 

training physicians. 

To be counted among the nation’s top medical schools, however, 

an institution must excel in both research and teaching. 

In research, Rochester ranks 29th in the nation in funding 

from the National Institutes of Health—the measure most often 

used to gauge the quality of medical schools’ research programs. For 

Rochester to be truly regarded as one of America’s top medical schools, 

it must maintain an outstanding research program. We need to be an 

institution where students come to learn the art of healing—in an 

environment that is at the cutting edge of medical science. 

And we will. The new research institute is the centerpiece of a plan 

to invest $400 million over 10 years to build new research facilities and 

to recruit 70 scientists—the largest recruitment effort since the medical 

school was founded in 1924. Our planning suggests that this investment 

will elevate Rochester to a rank of 15th among the nation’s medical 

schools in NIH research funding within eight years. And the medical 

school’s overall ranking will ascend with it. 

While we’re growing our research programs, we also are taking 

bold steps to ensure that our medical education program remains 

preeminent. Medical education, in fact, will be the focus of our next 

issue of Rochester Medicine. 

Our efforts to reinvigorate research at Rochester have 

been guided and inspired by one of our own. Arthur 

Kornberg, M.D., a graduate of the medical school 

class of 1941, captured the world’s attention in 

the 1950s, when he unraveled the process of 

DNA replication and became the first scientist 

to synthesize DNA in the laboratory—a feat that 

stands as one of the most significant achievements in 

the history of science. 

This work, for which Dr. Kornberg received the 

Nobel Prize in 1959, helped ignite the biotechnology 

revolution, and has led directly to the development of 

new drugs used in the treatment of cancer, AIDS, diabetes, 

and other diseases. 

Dr. Kornberg represents exactly what we hope to accomplish in 

our new research institute—the pursuit of science that leads to new 

treatments and cures for diseases. Or, to put it more simply, the pursuit 

of knowledge for the benefit of mankind. 

Few people have followed that pursuit as magnificently as Arthur 

Kornberg. We are deeply proud that his name will forever be associated 

with our new research facility. 

Jay H. Stein, M.D. 

Senior Vice President and Vice Provost for Health Affairs 

Medical Center and Strong Health CEO 

Lowell A. Goldsmith, M.D. 

Dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry 

ROCHESTER MEDICINE 1

pioneering scientist 

National Institutes of Health 

University of Rochester 

nobel prize 


4 ROCHESTER MEDICINE

C O N T E N T S 

ROCHESTER 

MEDICINE 

F E A T U R E S 

The Heart of a New Center 6 

An alum returns to Rochester to lead the 

fight against heart disease 

The Long View 8 

Basic research on genes holds the promise of 

a big payoff for treatment of diseases like 

Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and cancer 

When Good Cells Go Bad 10 

Understanding the genetic roots of cancer 

Toward Tomorrow’s Vaccines 12 

Unlocking the secrets of the immune system 

Tooth and Nail 14 

The Department of Dental Research is 

rebuilt as the Center for Oral Biology 

Opening Festivities in Photos 16 

The Arthur Kornberg Medical Research Building 

D E P A R T M E N T S 

Medical Center News 20 

School News 26 

Alumni News 30 

Class Notes 40 

In Memoriam 44 

Rochester Medicine is published by: 

The University of Rochester Medical Center, Department of Public 

Relations and Communications, in conjunction with the Department 

of Medical Alumni Relations and Development 

Teri D’Agostino, Director of Public Relations and Communications 

Kristen L. Wondrack, Editor 

Christopher DiFrancesco, Contributing Writer 

Thomas M. Rickey, Contributing Writer 

Jonathan R. Sherwood, Contributing Writer 

Shirley D. Zimmer, Art Director/Illustrator 

Rita J. Ciarico, Editorial Assistant 

Carolyn W. Hunt, Associate Director, Medical Alumni Relations 

For questions or comments, contact: 

Department of Alumni Relations and Development 

300 East River Road, Rochester, NY 14627 

1-800-333-4428 716-273-5954 FAX 716-461-2081 

E-mail address: alumni@urmc.rochester.edu 


T H E Q U E S T F O R 2 1 S T - C E N T U R Y C U R E S 

‘HBy Jonathan R. Sherwood 

6 ROCHESTER MEDICINE 

THE HEART OF A NEW CENTER 

AN ALUM RETURNS TO ROCHESTER TO LEAD THE FIGHT AGAINST HEART DISEASE 

aving grown up in Rochester and 

trained at the University of Rochester, I have a 

real sense of loyalty to the school and community,” 

says Bradford C. Berk, M.D., Ph.D. (M ’81, 

D ’81), director of the Center for Cardiovascular 

Research, chief of cardiology, and the newly 

named chair of medicine (see page 23). “I 

think Rochester is a great small city, and one 

of its strengths is the Medical Center. This is a 

unique opportunity to return to my hometown 

and participate in the growth and excitement 

of changes in medicine.” 

Since he finished both his M.D. and his 

Ph.D. at the University of Rochester School of 

Medicine and Dentistry, Dr. Berk has become a 

nationally recognized expert on the molecular 

basis of cardiovascular disease. He has also 

been named Paul Yu Professor of Cardiology, 

an endowed position named after a national 

figure in cardiology who was at URMC for 

many years. 

“I got into medicine because I like taking 

care of people,” Dr. Berk explains. “But I 

also like the science of medicine. It’s such a 

perfect way to do something altruistic, something 

that lets you interact with people, and still 

have that excitement of research 

and discovery.” 

Dr. Berk’s love of science goes 

back to his high school years at 

Brighton High in Rochester, 

where he received his first grant. He and several 

friends built a spectrophotometer for his 

chemistry lab with $800 the Rochester Museum 

and Science Center awarded to him. 

“I guess I was a bit of a science freak as 

a kid,” he says, laughing. During summer 

vacations while an undergraduate at Amherst 

College in Massachusetts, Dr. Berk spent two 

summers doing basic research, one summer at 

the California Institute of Technology working 

on mitochondria, and one summer at the 

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute working 

on deep-sea bacteria. However, he didn’t enjoy 

being so far away from people. That’s when he 

realized that the field of medicine could 

fulfill both his love of science and his desire 

to help people. 

“The goal of medicine is to improve human 

health, and complementary approaches are 

frequently the best,” he explains. “For example, 

we’ve been trying to understand why some 

individuals develop hypertension very early in 

life. One way to shed some light on the problem 

would be to find a family that has a history of 

hypertension and try to find the culprit genes 

that the parents have passed to the children. 

Unfortunately, it’s very hard to find enough 

families to examine, and the process takes a 

long time because even in these families, 

hypertension often does not develop until 

the child is in his or her forties. By then, the 

parents may be deceased. 

“As it turns out, a researcher was studying 

the function of a protein prominent in the 

kidney using transgenic mice in an experiment 

completely unrelated to cardiology. He changed 

the DNA of a mouse to see what would happen 

to its cells, and the mouse exhibited symptoms 

of a hypertensive heart disease termed cardiac 

hypertrophy, in which the heart enlarges. 

“The Institute will bring about a different kind of research, so the 

paradigm of how people do research is going to change here.” 

So even though the researcher never set out to 

study cardiology, he brought us one step closer 

to understanding a heart disease.” 

Currently, doctors know of only four single 

genes that cause hypertension, yet there 

are probably more than thirty genes that 

contribute to the most common form of high 

blood pressure, which is called essential 

hypertension. According to Dr. Berk, finding 

the other 26 will require a shift in how medical 

research is done. 

“Basic science can provide huge insights 

into clinical issues,” says Dr. Berk. “The two go 

hand in hand. The best clinical research has 

basic science as a backbone. The goal here 

at the University is to develop very strong 

basic science and to send clinical people into 

those labs to learn what the researchers are 

doing. Then, when they return to their patients, 

these doctors will be familiar with the basic 

science being done and may be able to draw 

connections between clinical practice and 

basic research.” 

The science that blossoms from this two-way 

flow of communication is called “translational 

research.” Areas of translational research that 

Dr. Berk plans to study include hypertension 

and atherosclerosis, which in combination 

represent the major risk factors for heart 

attacks. As chief of cardiology, Dr. Berk will 

expand and develop new clinical services for 

patients with cardiovascular disease while 

establishing basic and clinical research 

programs to advance understanding and 

therapy of the illness. 

“Some people think the NIH should do more 

targeted, focused research, and we’ll be doing 

that too,” Dr. Berk explains. “For example, the 

grant I just received to explore the genetics of 

vascular remodeling was in response 

to an NIH request. The NIH wanted 

more people to work on the genetics of 

blood vessels, and I was actually 

already working along those lines.” 

The NIH recently awarded Dr. Berk $1.7 

million to determine why people with 

hypertension are so much more likely to 

become victims of heart attacks. Hypertensionrelated 

heart attacks are responsible for 500,000 

deaths in the country each year, and though 

doctors have known of the correlation, no one 

knows exactly why hypertension so often leads 

to a heart attack. 

“We suspect there are certain genes that 

make someone more likely to have a heart 

attack if they have high blood pressure,” says


Bradford C. Berk, M.D., Ph.D. (M ’81, D ’81) 

Director of the Center for Cardiovascular Research, Chair of the Department of Medicine, Chief of Cardiology 

Dr. Berk. “We want to find those genes and 

possibly disable them.” 

If Dr. Berk is able to find the linking genes, 

doctors may be able to separate those patients 

at real risk and begin treatment far sooner than 

is practiced today. 

“What we’re hoping to do is find and 

treat the cause of hypertension, not just treat 

the symptoms,” says Dr. Berk. “Even with all 

our treatments today, we still have a significant 

rise in hypertensive heart and kidney disease. 

Merely lowering blood pressure may not 

be adequate.” 

In addition to cardiovascular genetics, 

Dr. Berk is adding three other areas of research 

to the Center for Cardiovascular Research: 

Vascular and Developmental Biology: 

To understand what makes blood vessels grow 

where needed and how tissues “know” the 

number of vessels they require, researchers 

will try a number of tactics, including 

manipulation of genes that regulate vessel 

growth and blood flow. Studies into how the 

vascular system develops may also shed light 

in this area, allowing doctors to control blood 

flow to tumors, or to circumvent blood clots 

with new vessels. 

Ischemic Injury: Researchers will study the 

role of free radicals to understand how a tissue 

deprived of oxygen, or exposed to oxygen after 

being deprived of it, incurs damage. With the 

new knowledge, researchers could reverse or 

prevent the damage done to the heart muscle 

in a heart attack. 

Molecular Pharmacology and Signal 

Transduction: The way that cells sense changes 

in the environment around them is called 

signal transduction. In the cardiovascular 

system, cells respond to many signals, 

including hormones and physical stresses. 

Researchers are studying how cells sense these 

changes, with the hope of someday being able 

to control the cells’ reactions. Careful blocking 

or stimulation of these signals can lead to 

better treatments for a variety of diseases 

and injuries, including stresses created by 

angioplasty procedures. 

“We need to do both basic and clinical 

science because we never know when we’re 

going to need the perspective of one or the 

other,” Dr. Berk notes. “You have this incredible 

clinical insight and a huge clinical momentum 

going, but because the fundamental basic stuff 

isn’t done, you can’t go any further. 

“The Aab Institute of Biomedical Sciences 

will have a real impact on the Medical Center. 

The Institute will bring about a different kind of 

research, so the paradigm of how people do 

research is going to change here. In some areas 

of the Medical Center, the labs are small and 

separated from each other. In the new Kornberg 

Building, there are going to be 70 people 

in the Center for Cardiovascular Research 

working in labs that are wide open, so nobody 

is going to know where one person’s lab ends 

and someone else’s begins. People will move 

back and forth, sharing ideas. I’ve already 

had people in my lab swap spaces as they 

connect with other people they need to work 

with. A small lab doesn’t fit the way I need to 

do research. 

“Ultimately, the real purpose is to discover 

something meaningful, something worthwhile, 

something novel. To do that you have to take a 

risk. A wise person told me once, ‘If it were easy, 

someone would have already done it.’ The 

Institute is going to change the way people view 

how science is done. I think that will be a very 

profound change for the University.” 

Dr. Berk has received several honors, 

including membership in the Alpha 

Omega Alpha honorary society, the 

Robert Kates and Doran Stephens 

Memorial Prizes in Research, the 

American Society for Hypertension’s 

Marion Young Scholar Award, the 

American College of Cardiology’s 

Young Investigator Award, and the 

American Heart Association’s Established 

Investigator Award, and was named a 

Katz Prize finalist from the American 

Heart Association. 



TBy Thomas M. Rickey 

he greatest inventors make tools from the 

strangest things. This is an age when tiny cubes 

of sticky yellow paper serve as the ultimate 

source of reminders, and silicon—the stuff 

of sand—powers our computers. 

For neuroscientist and physician Howard 

Federoff, M.D., Ph.D., invention lies in a 

common cold sore. 

At the root of the everyday malady is the 

herpes simplex virus—the route Dr. Federoff 

has chosen to tease out the secrets of genes, 

learn about the incredible flexibility of the 

brain, and apply those discoveries to better the 

health of men and women. Dr. Federoff’s team 

has pioneered the use of the virus to shuttle 

genetic codes into nervous system cells and 

exert precise control over them. 

One of the most exciting areas of his 

research addresses possible genetic and 

environmental influences of Parkinson’s 

disease. Physicians currently don’t know what 

causes the disease, in which, deep within the 

brain, a tiny group of dopamine-producing 


neurons die. This nervecell 

death leads to the 

tremors, rigidity, and 

slow movement that 

mark the ailment as 

it progresses slowly 

over a period of years 

or decades. 

Dr. Federoff, who 

is the director of the 

Center on Aging 

and Developmental 

Biology and chief 

of the Division of 

Molecular Medicine 

and Gene Therapy, 

is looking for 

so-called 

“vulnerability” 

genes, stretches 

of DNA that may 

make some people 

more vulnerable to the disease than others, and 

how environmental factors conspire with those 

genes to cause the disorder. He has pulled 

together a team that draws on his laboratory’s 

strengths in gene manipulation, along with the 

extensive knowledge of toxins by scientists in 

the Department of Environmental Medicine. 

A link between genes and the environment 

is an idea we readily accept when it comes to 

some other diseases. A family history of heart 

disease—the result of the wrong genes—is 

one of the biggest factors determining a 

person’s risk. While gulping hot dogs, living the 

life of a couch potato, and ignoring high blood 

pressure certainly have a role, genes play a 

critical part in how fast or slow our arteries fill 

and perhaps clog completely. The same is true 

of colon cancer: While a low-fiber diet high in 

red meat certainly contributes, at least half a 

dozen genes also play a part. 

“It’s likely that inherited vulnerability plays 

a large role in many diseases not now thought 

of as ‘genetic,’ ” says Dr. Federoff, who joined 

the University in 1995. “If true, what role does 

the environment play in how or whether that 

disease presents itself?” 

Howard J. Federoff, M.D., Ph.D. 

Director of the Center on Aging and Developmental Biology 

Chief of the Division of Molecular Medicine and Gene Therapy 

THE LONG VIEW — BASIC RESEARCH ON GENES 

The team chose to study Parkinson’s because 

it seems to target certain segments of the 

population more than others. For instance, 

farmers in some parts of the world are more 

likely to get the disease than people in other 

occupations. “But it’s not true of all farmers. 

Maybe some populations have vulnerability 

genes and others don’t,” Dr. Federoff notes. 

Graduate student Andrew Brooks has shown 

that the herbicide paraquat can cause precisely 

the same type of brain damage in rats that 

physicians find in the brains of Parkinson’s 

patients—the chemical knocks out the 

dopamine-producing neurons. Now the team is 

looking at the chemical’s effects on mice that 

have been genetically altered to carry extra 

copies of a protein known to shuttle chemicals 

in and out of dopamine cells. 

A key part of the effort is the 

team’s ability to turn on genes in an 

organism’s nervous system precisely 

when and where researchers want, 

opening up a whole new level 

of control in the brain. In one 

experiment, the team equipped mice 

with extra copies of the gene that codes for 

nerve growth factor (NGF), then turned 

the gene on during early adulthood. The 

result? A smarter mouse, with enhanced 

spatial learning capability. 

Such results captivate clinicians who treat 

Alzheimer’s, and they illustrate the power of 

basic science to develop completely new 

approaches to treating disease. To Dr. Federoff, 

who draws sketches of the human brain as 

easily as some people write their own signature, 

an even bigger payoff is our increased understanding 

of that organ. 

“The nervous system is endowed with 

one unique characteristic—its ability to 

communicate with cells, and to have that 

communication ultimately be refined through 

an experience-dependent process,” he says. 

“That reorganization ultimately makes us 

who we are and gives us our ability to think 

and figure out new solutions to problems. 

It’s an incredible capacity. 

“The idea that gene therapy can 

actually trigger a similar rewiring of the 

brain is remarkable.”


HOLDS THE PROMISE OF A BIG PAYOFF FOR TREATMENT OF DISEASES LIKE ALZHEIMER’S, PARKINSON’S, AND CANCER 

Great ideas often start small, and this 

genetic sleight of hand started nearly as tiny as 

they come: in baker’s yeast, which Dr. Federoff 

was studying as a graduate 

student at Albert Einstein 

College of Medicine. He 

developed in the organism a 

gene shuttle system to ferry 

DNA into cells, and, while 

completing his Ph.D. research, entered medical 

school to observe first-hand the process of 

health and disease in patients. Then he boned 

up on neuroscience, spending 12 intensive 

weeks at Woods Hole studying and meeting 

many of the field’s luminaries. In 1988, he 

joined the faculty at Albert Einstein, studying 

the basic properties of the brain’s synapses. 

It wasn’t long before Dr. Federoff wanted to 

deliver a gene to a nerve cell, so he drew upon 

his education in gene shuttle technology— 

that, and his propensity for seeking to understand 

in depth how everything works. (At age 

eight, for instance, he was routinely pulling 

apart his family’s television, stereo, radios, 

and anything else he could get his hands on— 

breaking them down into their smallest bits to 

find out how they operated. The same intense 

curiosity paid off in his career.) 

Dr. Federoff explained: “The vector research 

started to work, and the community at large 

looked at what we were doing and thought we 

were developing therapies for diseases. We were 

identified as a gene therapy group even though 

that was not our initial intent. Then it became 

clear that we could both answer basic questions 

regarding nervous system function, and apply 

these insights to develop gene therapies. And so 

we decided to grow into the label that others 

had already attached to us.” 

The laboratory began devoting a considerable 

amount of time to the basic principles 

of gene delivery and expression. While 

retroviruses and ordinary cold viruses known 

as adenoviruses were the most popular 

gene shuttles, Dr. Federoff chose to develop a 

non-infectious version of the herpes simplex 

virus (HSV). 

The laboratory modified the agent, keeping 

only those portions of the virus necessary to 

introduce DNA into a cell. Dr. Federoff is quick 

“It’s likely that inherited vulnerability plays a large role in many 

diseases not now thought of as ‘genetic.’ If true, what role does the 

environment play in how or whether that disease presents itself?” 

to list the advantages of HSV over other vectors: 

it can carry into a cell large as well as small 

genes; it affects a variety of cell 

types; it doesn’t arouse as 

robust an immune response 

as other methods; scientists 

can easily manipulate the 

number of genes that it carries; 

and several copies of it can be used to introduce 

many copies of multiple genes simultaneously. 

Following Dr. Federoff’s lead, other laboratories 

around the world have adopted this approach. 

Even as people in his own laboratory fan out at 

national meetings to keep abreast of others’ 

research, his students’ own presentations are a 

“must” stop for top scientists. 

Researchers are often surprised by the speed 

of HSV, which introduces new DNA into cells in 

just 20 minutes. That’s an advantage in the 

hunt for cancer vaccines able to provoke an 

immune response that wipes out cancer cells in 

a person already with the disease. Physicians 

hope to use the approach to spur the body’s 

immune system to mount an attack directed 

specifically against cancer cells. Using HSV, 

cells could be modified and put back into a 

patient during the same surgical procedure, 

something not possible with today’s vaccines. 

Together with physicians at Memorial 

Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, 

Dr. Federoff’s team is testing this method to 

target and wipe out cancer cells in the liver. In 

a study using laboratory rats, the majority of 

animals injected with the vaccine remained 

cancer free, while similar animals that did not 

receive the vaccine typically developed dozens 

of tumors. Dr. Federoff is hoping to move this 

work into a trial with local patients who have 

liver cancer. Eventually, he hopes to bring 

gene therapy to bear on neurological diseases. 

“My fondest hope is to do successful gene 

therapy at this institution,” says 

Dr. Federoff, who notes that there 

is already a smattering of human 

trials involving technologies 

created elsewhere. “The resources 

are here, and the people are here, 

for quality science to be translated with our 

clinical colleagues to a patient population.” 

Dr. Federoff earned his bachelor’s degree 

in biology and chemistry from Earlham 

College, then went on to Albert Einstein 

College of Medicine to earn his master’s 

degree and Ph.D. in biochemistry and his 

M.D. He was a house officer, and a clinical 

and research fellow, at Massachusetts 

General Hospital and Harvard Medical 

School, then served seven years on the 

faculty of Albert Einstein before joining the 

University in 1995. In 1997, he received 

the University’s Arthur Kornberg Research 

Award. Besides his role as director of the 

Center for Aging and Developmental 

Biology, Dr. Federoff is professor of 

neurology, of medicine, of microbiology 

and immunology, of oncology, and of 

genetics; chief of the Division of Molecular 

Medicine and Gene Therapy; and 

director of the Interdepartmental 

Neuroscience Program. 


WHEN GOOD CELLS GO BAD • WHEN GOOD CELLS GO BAD • WHEN GOOD CELLS GO BAD • WHEN GOOD CELLS GO BAD 

WHEN GOOD CELLS GO BAD • WHEN GOOD CELLS GO BAD • WHEN GOOD CELLS GO BAD • 

W 

WHEN GOOD 

CELLS GO BAD 

UNDERSTANDING THE 

GENETIC ROOTS OF CANCER 

By Thomas M. Rickey 

hen the word “Fire!” rings out in a movie 

theater, patrons scramble for the exits. But on a 

target range? Same word, different message. 

A variety of cues in the environment— 

the faint smell of smoke in a crowded theater, 

perhaps, or the presence of a bull’s eye 100 

yards away—determines our course of action. 

Our body’s cells behave much the same way. 

Of the approximately 100,000 genes in every 

cell, an elite group of just a few hundred act in 

concert to determine whether the cell grows 

and divides, lives or dies. How these key 

genes interact, and how the cacophony of 

these signals is interpreted, describes the area 

being tackled by scientists in the Center for 

Cancer Biology. 

“Unraveling cell signaling is more or less 

like looking at a chess board and trying to 

figure out how the game is being played. 

What are the important rules? Who are 

the key players?” says Center director 

and Robert and Dorothy Markin 

Professor Hartmut Land, Ph.D., 

who has spent his professional life 

ferreting out the biochemical secrets 

of the games cells play. 

It wasn’t so long ago that 

researchers realized that all cancers are, at their 

root, genetic disorders, and that some people 

are more vulnerable to the disease than others. 

Along the seven-foot string of DNA bases in 

each of our cells, enzymes are continuously 

copying chemical bases, and getting the 

job right 99.99 percent of the time. But 

occasionally, a base is left out, or the wrong 

nucleotide is inserted, or our own DNA repair 



enzymes simply can’t keep up with the latest 

in a series of environmental insults— 

cigarette smoke, perhaps, or red meat, or 

too much sunlight. 

Whatever the reason, the genetic code 

mutates, and from there, if that particular 

stretch of DNA is significant, things go downhill: 

Too much or too little of a vital protein is 

produced or a chemical messenger is wiped 

out completely. The cell may begin dividing 

uncontrollably, growing into a tumor, pushing 

out healthy tissue, and, if left untreated, 

sending out scouts that colonize and kill the 

organism. More than 50 growth-regulating 

genes are now known to play a role in cancer, 

including oncogenes that spur cancer cells 

to grow and tumor suppressors whose task it is 

to stop growth. 

Land was among the first scientists to 

scrutinize oncogenes, determining that for a 

cell to go bad—become cancerous— 

multiple genetic changes are necessary. He 

enjoyed biology while growing up in Germany, 

and he took that love with him into adulthood 

(along with the nickname “Hucky,” partly 

because it springs to the tongue of Englishspeaking 

colleagues much easier than 

“Hartmut”). Land earned his doctorate at the 

University of Heidelberg, where he did some of 

the early DNA cloning work. In 1982, he arrived 

as a postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts 

Institute of Technology, where he turned his 

attention to cancer. He promptly showed that a 

“What we have at Rochester is a really unique opportunity to 

build a program bringing together faculty who are specifically 

interested in how faulty cell signaling results in cancer.” 

single mutation could not cause the disease; 

instead, at least two different mutations in 

different genes are required. 

After completing his work at MIT, Land 

spent the next 14 years as head of the Cell 

Growth Control and Development Department 

at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in 

London, focusing on how a few wayward 

messages transform a cell from trusted intimate 

to intruder. He learned that how specific 

mutations play out depends largely on 

“cooperation” among genes—how different 

genetic signals affect each other, and how the 

combinations are interpreted by the cell. By this 

time, what Land the biochemist beheld went 

far beyond the squishy-looking blob that most 

students see when viewing a cell through a 

microscope. What he perceived was, in 

concept, a lot like O’Hare airport on a busy 

holiday weekend, a production so well 

choreographed that every action prompts a 

cascade of reactions. 

At O’Hare, planes, baggage carts, 

passenger shuttles, and escalators ferry people 

and goods around the facility. A single aircraft 

arriving late from Dallas delays the fuel truck, 

which postpones preparations for the next 

flight, which causes the peanut vendor to 

juggle his schedule and rush to get his goods 

to hungry passengers. The vendor forgets to 

shut his bag, spilling its contents on a runway, 

where a flock of seagulls swoops down, 

engulfing the pavement and delaying 

incoming flights. It’s hard to imagine, but 

fog in Dallas has resulted in a frenzied 

peanut salesman, bloated seagulls, and, most 

important, far-reaching ramifications for the 

nation’s transportation system—a backlog 

of flights in the skies over Chicago. 

Now shrink the hustle and bustle down 

to a cell just a few microns wide, change the 

players to genes and proteins, and it’s clear 

what Land and other cancer 

researchers face every day. The cell is 

an incredibly complex network of 

activity, stuffed with signals from 

genes telling it what to do, with 

proteins carrying out the genes’ 

instructions, and with organelles 

like ribosomes pumping out raw materials 

that make up the backbone of this cellular 

information highway. Messages are 

being swapped by multiple players in all 

directions simultaneously. 

At the new center, Land will focus on 

breaking the code of this cellular network, 

learning how combinations of certain genetic 

mutations start a cell on the road to cancer, 

WHEN GOOD CELLS GO BAD • WHEN GOOD CELLS GO BAD • WHEN GOOD CELLS GO BAD •

WHEN GOOD CELLS GO BAD • WHEN 

while other combinations are harmless. 

Land estimates that to create a cancer cell, 

three to six genetic changes are necessary. 

He describes the consequences of these changes 

as communication breakdowns. 

“The whole approach of the new Center 

for Cancer Biology is to learn about cellular 

communication systems and how they’re built, 

so that we can manipulate them and interfere 

with tumor cell growth,” says Land, who joined 

the University full time this summer. “To 

develop new cancer therapies, we need to 

understand the language of cell signaling.” 

Land’s research laboratory will be one of about 

a dozen in the center he leads; within a couple 

of years, the Center will grow to about 100 

researchers, including faculty members, 

postdoctoral fellows, students, and technicians. 

Land was one of the first researchers to 

realize that the outcome of any one cancerrelated 

mutation is impossible to predict 

without taking into account other happenings 

in and around the cell. An oncogene called 

ras, active in at least one of every five human 

cancers, can actually play a variety of roles. 

“If you activate the ras pathway, the cell may 

start to grow,” he says. “Or it may stop 

growing. The cell may differentiate, or it may 

live, or it may die. What the 

signal means to the cell is 

determined by other signals that 

co-exist at any given time. 

K. Hartmut Land, Ph.D. 

Director of the Center for Cancer Biology 

Cellular signals are a lot like letters 

in the alphabet, which only gain specific 

meaning by assembly into words and 

sentences. Thus far we have deciphered many 

letters, but we have virtually no idea about 

the words, and even less about the grammar. 

“What we have at Rochester is a really 

unique opportunity to build a program 

bringing together faculty who are specifically 

interested in how faulty cell signaling results 

in cancer. The complexity of the problem is 

such that we need a concerted effort to reach 

the next level of understanding, which might 

revolutionize therapy. The University, thanks 

to the foresight of President Thomas Jackson 

and Medical Center CEO Jay Stein, has created 

a platform big enough to try this,” he says. 

Part of the research program will be 

devoted to exploring ways to exploit our 

newfound insights into cell signaling. One of 

the most promising avenues of research is 

cell suicide, or apoptosis. While some of our 

cells, like brain cells, are destined to thrive 

throughout our lives, others perish after just 

a few weeks or months and are immediately 

replenished. All cells have a built-in suicide 

program, and at the appropriate time they 

push the self-destruct button, exploding 

and dying within minutes. Cells are most 

vulnerable to self-destructing when dividing; 

since cancer cells do this virtually non-stop, 

they should be prone to apoptosis. Instead, 

they’re adept at tuning such signals out. 

Center scientists will work on ways to feed 

cancer cells a type of cellular propaganda, 

serving up a steady diet of signals that aim to 

convince them that it’s time to step aside. 

Cell suicide was a virtually unknown 

phenomenon to researchers when Richard 

Nixon declared the “war on cancer” in 1971. 

Since then, more than a quarter-century has 

passed, yet the incidence of the disease and the 

overall death rate have remained largely 

unchanged. Land and other researchers insist 

that a great deal of progress has been made; 

it’s just that the problem has turned out to be 

more complex than anyone imagined. Cancer 

is not a single disease but rather a group of 

dozens of related illnesses, all involving cells 

growing out of control. While there will never 

be a magic bullet, scientists already have 

produced a bevy of new drug candidates and 

ways to detect cancers earlier than ever. 

They’ve also identified many of the molecular 

players involved in the cancer process. 

“The challenge is to understand how 

these signaling pathways are involved in 

creating cancer cells, and to do that, we need 

to learn how all these signals are integrated 

and translated into biological behavior. 

This will be the fundamental issue in cancer 

biology for the next 10 years,” Land says. 

A native of Germany, Land earned his 

doctorate in 1982 at the University of 

Heidelberg, then served as a postdoctoral 

associate at Massachusetts Institute 

of Technology. He was head of the Cell 

Growth Control and Development 

Department of the Imperial Cancer 

Research Fund in London from 1985 

until this summer, when he joined the 

University as director of the Center for 

Cancer Biology. Land has just been 

named the first Robert and Dorothy 

Markin Professor. An elected member 

of the European Molecular Biology 

Organization (EMBO), he has served 

as a reviewer of cancer research programs 

in Germany, Austria, Holland, 

Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and 

the United States. 

ROCHESTER MEDICINE 11 

WHEN GOOD CELLS GO BAD • WHEN GOOD CELLS GO BAD • 

WHEN GOOD CELLS GO BAD • WHEN GOOD CELLS GO BAD • WHEN GOOD CELLS GO BAD • WHEN GOOD CELLS GO BAD

Toward Tomorrow’s Vaccines 

TOWARD TOMORROW’S VACCINES 

UNLOCKING THE SECRETS OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM 

SBy Christopher DiFrancesco 

mallpox, which claimed a half-billion lives 

during this century, has vanished. Polio—a 

word that evoked fear in generations of parents—now 

visits our vocabulary only in the 

company of the past tense. These and a dozen 

other plagues owe their demise to the single 

greatest advance in medicine: vaccines. 

So, when you talk about the stunning success 

of vaccines with Tim Mosmann, Ph.D., one 

of the world’s leading immunologists, you 

naturally expect him to chime in with glowing 

praise. Instead, the conversation falters. He 

wants to politely set you straight. 

“The infectious diseases we’ve conquered 

are the ones that easily succumb to vaccines,” 

he says. “In a sense, we’ve picked all of the 

low-hanging fruit. The diseases that remain 

are too complex to be beaten by traditional 

types of vaccines.” 

The traditional vaccines Mosmann refers to 

are those made from weakened or inert viruses 

that, when injected, alert the immune system 

and spark the development of antibodies that 

help fend off a future infection. Though the 

precise mechanism wasn’t known until the 

1950s, the principle was understood a thousand 

years ago: The ancient Chinese inoculated 

healthy people against smallpox by crushing 

scabs from the lesions of an infected person 

and applying the crude vaccine to the mucous 

membranes of the nose. “Fundamentally, 

many of today’s vaccines work the same way,” 

says Mosmann. “In order for us to tackle the 

diseases that still plague us, we need to develop 

new types of vaccines that work in new ways.” 

Mosmann has come to Rochester to do just 

that. The former chair of immunology at the 

University of Alberta has been named director 

of Rochester’s new Center for Vaccine Biology 

and Immunology, where he will lead a 

vigorous research program aimed at unlocking 

the secrets of the immune system—and using 

that knowledge to find ways of developing 


new vaccines 

and making 

existing ones 

more effective. 

Accordingly, he 

is busy recruiting 

the 10 scientists 

and some 40 

technicians and 

other support 

personnel who will 

occupy the Center’s 

quarters on the top 

floor of the Arthur 

Kornberg Medical 

Research Building. 

Rather than 

setting out to develop 

new vaccines, Mosmann 

stresses, his center will pursue basic research 

aimed at understanding how the immune 

system works—in particular, how it regulates 

the myriad activities involved in the body’s 

defense against infections. “If we can learn 

to regulate aspects of the body’s immune 

response,” he says, “we can make progress 

toward treating or preventing a variety 

of diseases.” 

If researchers could learn to boost the 

body’s immune response—rev it up, so to 

speak—they could help it defeat diseases 

such as malaria and AIDS that typically win 

the battles in our blood. They could also enlist 

the immune system to fight non-infectious ills 

such as cancer. “Cancer vaccines are promising 

because with cancer you’re dealing with a 

slow-growing disease,” says Mosmann. “This 

may make it possible to develop vaccines that 

are administered after the patient has been 

diagnosed. It would be similar to the way we 

administer vaccines against rabies—we give 

you the vaccine after you’ve been exposed to 

the infected animal.” 

While the ability to boost the body’s 

immune response may prove useful in treating 

some diseases, the opposite may also be true. 

Tim R. Mosmann, Ph.D. 

Director of the Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology 

If researchers could learn to dampen the 

immune response or prevent it from occurring 

altogether, they could open the door to 

new treatments for asthma, allergies, and 

rheumatoid arthritis—disorders in which 

the body mounts an immune response that is 

either too powerful or not needed at all. 

Mosmann was well chosen to lead the 

University’s new effort to probe the immune 

system: He is an internationally acclaimed 

researcher credited with one of our era’s most 

important discoveries in immunology. 

In the mid-1980s, while working as a 

senior scientist at the DNAX Research Institute 

in Palo Alto, Mosmann made a fundamental 

discovery about the way the immune system 

responds to various types of infections. 

As harmful pathogens such as bacteria, 

viruses, and parasites enter the body, the 

immune system must identify the invader, 

choose how best to respond, and then marshal 

the agents that will participate in the defense. 

Mosmann discovered that there are two types 

of helper T-cells—master cells that give orders 

to all other cells involved in an immune 

response—and that each type of helper T-cell 

is responsible for coordinating specific types 

of responses. 



One set of helper T-cells, called Th1 cells, 

regulates two types of immune responses. 

During an infection, they 

urgently signal the immune 

system to begin producing 

“killer” cells that destroy 

invading pathogens. In 

addition, they send signals that dispatch 

infection-fighting fluid, cells, and proteins to 

the area under attack. 

The other set of helper T-cells, called Th2 

cells, regulates two other types of immune 

responses—allergic reactions and the 

production of antibodies that enable the 

immune system to mount a more rapid and 

intense response should an invading pathogen 

revisit the body in the future. 

Mosmann’s discovery of Th1 and Th2 

cells—and their role in orchestrating the ways 

our immune system responds to infections— 

earned him several nominations for the 

Nobel Prize. And it’s a prime example of the 

type of research that Mosmann wants to foster 

at Rochester. 

“The next generation of vaccines 

will emerge from discoveries about the immune 

system that we have yet to make,” Mosmann 

stresses. 

The basic-science orientation of 

Mosmann’s center was chosen to complement 

the University’s existing program in 

immunology, which has earned one of 

academia’s most impressive track records 

in vaccine development. 

The first vaccine against human 

papillomavirus, believed to cause nearly all 

cases of cervical cancer, was developed and 

has entered its first human trials at the Medical 

Center, Mosmann points out. The University 

is also one of six sites in the nation currently 

testing potential AIDS vaccines. 

“This program has the potential to emerge as one of the top three 

vaccine programs in the nation. That’s why I came to Rochester.” 

Perhaps even more impressive, during the 

mid-1980s, when their future colleague was 

teasing apart the subtle differences between 

groups of T-cells in his Palo Alto lab, Rochester 

researchers David H. Smith, M.D., and Porter 

Anderson, Ph.D., were developing a vaccine 

against Haemophilus influenzae type b 

(“Hib” for short), the deadly bacterium 

responsible for nearly all cases of bacterial 

meningitis in children. 

In 1990, the Hib vaccine was approved 

by the Food and Drug Administration and 

recommended for universal use in children— 

the first vaccine to receive such approval in 

more than 20 years. 

Epidemiologists at the Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention recently announced 

that use of the vaccine has cut the incidence 

of Hib infection in children under five by a 

stunning 99 percent—from about 20,000 

cases a year to only 81 in 1997. 

The Hib vaccine’s development “put 

Rochester on the map in the field of vaccines,” 

says Jay H. Stein, M.D., the University’s senior 

vice president and vice provost for health affairs 

and Medical Center and Strong Health System 

CEO. “We want to capitalize on it by making a 

long-term investment in basic research that 

will yield similar successes for us in the future.” 

Dr. Stein led an aggressive recruitment effort to 

bring Mosmann to Rochester. 

Mosmann believes that combining his 

center’s basic-science focus 

with the Medical Center’s 

existing strengths in vaccine 

development will make Rochester 

a vaccine research powerhouse. 

“This program has the potential to emerge 

as one of the top three vaccine programs 

in the nation,” he says. “That’s why I came 

to Rochester.” 

Mosmann earned undergraduate 

degrees in chemistry and physiology at 

the University of Natal (South Africa) and 

in microbiology at Rhodes University 

(South Africa). After earning a Ph.D. in 

microbiology at the University of British 

Columbia (Canada), he held faculty 

appointments at Glasgow University 

(Scotland) and at the University of Alberta 

(Canada). From 1982 to 1990 he worked 

as a senior scientist at the DNAX Research 

Institute in Palo Alto before returning 

to the University of Alberta as chair of 

the Department of Immunology in 

1990. His many honors include the Avery- 

Landsteiner Prize from the German 

Society for Immunology and the William 

B. Coley Award from the Cancer Research 

Institute. He served as a Howard Hughes 

International Research Scholar from 1991 

to 1998 and has been the Fogerty Scholarin-Residence 

at the National Institutes of 

Health since 1996. 

Tim R. Mosmann, Ph.D., confers with Shey-Shing Sheu, 

Ph.D., senior associate dean for graduate studies. 



Tooth and Nail 

THE DEPARTMENT OF 

DENTAL RESEARCH IS 

REBUILT AS THE 

CENTER FOR ORAL BIOLOGY 

M 

By Jonathan R. Sherwood 

ost of us prefer not to think about the 

hordes of organisms that live and breed in our 

mouths, but the members of the Center for 

Oral Biology are focusing a lot of attention on 

those busy bacteria. 

“Dental caries, the disease of tooth decay, is 

the single most prevalent infectious disease on 

the planet,” explains Lawrence Tabak, D.D.S., 

Ph.D., director of the Center for Oral Biology. 

“Some people have proclaimed that 

we’ve won the fight against caries, but 

that’s ridiculous. We’re down to about a 

fifty-percent infection rate in children. 

I don’t know of any other disease that 

would be 

called ‘licked’ when 

half the population 

is still affected.” 

Tabak and his 

Center colleagues 

plan to continue 

and expand the 

work of the former 

Department of 

Dental Research 

with the resources 

the new center 

provides. His own 

primary research 

focus will be to understand diseases of the 

mouth and the malformation of the face— 

work that will be aided by interaction with 

other researchers in the other centers. 

“We’ve designed the Institute in a way that 

includes everyone in every department who 

wants to participate, ensuring that interactions 

are seamless. That wasn’t by chance; that arose 


from a group of folks recognizing that 

everyone can play together in the sandbox. 

“Instead of being an isolated dental 

school—a stand-alone unit, as is the case in 

most campuses—here we’re one of the centers 

of the Institute. We’re right in the middle of 

the Centers for Cancer and Cardiology, as we 

should be. That enriches what we’re able to 

achieve because I can talk to experts from the 

other centers whenever I need to. And hopefully 

it enriches their experiences as well, because 

we may be able to look at their research from 

new angles.” 

If a researcher in another center needs to 

develop a way to test fluids in a patient, for 

example, it’s far easier to sample saliva in the 

mouth than gastrointestinal or urogenital 

secretions, so that researcher could tap the 

expertise of a researcher in the Center for 

Oral Biology. New evidence suggests that dental 

disease has an impact on systemic bacterial 

“We’ve designed the Institute in a way that includes everyone in every 

department who wants to participate, ensuring that interactions 

are seamless . . . everyone can play together in the sandbox.” 

diseases, including some cardiovascular 

diseases. Again, the flow of information among 

centers would be instrumental in attacking 

such a problem on all fronts. 

“The University of Rochester is one of the 

very few places in the country where dentistry 

is fully integrated into an academic health 

center,” Tabak says. “It’s my opinion that it 

is essential—not only to the survival, but to 

the forward movement of the profession of 

dentistry—to become fully integrated with 

medicine. That’s what makes Rochester 

unique. This is the only place in the country 

where academic dentistry is a full partner with 

academic medicine.” 

The move to the Center for Oral Biology 

has proven to be easy for the members of the 

former Department of Dental Research, as the 

researchers of the department already worked 

closely with each other and with those within 

the rest of the Medical Center. One key, in fact, 

opens all the research labs in the Center, so 

everyone can use everyone else’s equipment. 

Dental caries is one of the major areas of 

research that Center members William H. 

Bowen, D.D.S., Ph.D., D.Sc., Robert A. Burne, 

Ph.D., and Robert G. Quivey, Jr., Ph.D., are 

exploring. Streptococcus mutans is the 

organism that underlies tooth decay. The 

bacterium produces enzymes that form a kind 

of glue present on your teeth—commonly 

called dental plaque. The enzymes are essential 

for the plaque to form, constructing a kind of 

house in which the bacteria that produced 

them thrive. Once inside their house and 

anchored to the surface of a tooth, the bacteria 

begin dissolving the tooth. Researchers in the 

Center have found, however, that when they 

removed the enzymes responsible for this 

glue formation from engineered strains of 

S. mutans, these modified bacteria produced 

much less decay in laboratory rats. Most 

dental researchers around the country are confronting 

this bacterium by probing its 

characteristics while 

it is suspended in a 

liquid, but researchers 

of the Center for Oral 

Biology are watching 

the way the bacteria 

act when living inside their glue. They have 

shown that the enzymes act very differently 

when adhered to a tooth than when drifting 

in a solution. If researchers can understand 

the enzymes from which the glue is built, 

they may be able to prevent the plaque from 

forming at all, possibly reducing or stopping 

plaque diseases like caries and gingivitis. 

Center investigators Burne and Quivey are 

studying how plaque microorganisms survive 

the highly acidic environment created when 

dietary sugars are converted into acids. 

Center members James E. Melvin, D.D.S., 

Ph.D., and David J. Culp, Ph.D., are learning 

how the salivary glands create saliva. More 

than three million people in the United 

States alone have salivary glands that don’t 

produce proper amounts of saliva. Besides 

suffering from rampant dental decay and 

the difficulty of swallowing, these people 

(especially the elderly) may become malnourished 

as they select their food for how easy it is 

to swallow instead of on its nutritional value. 

Damage from head and neck radiation


Lawrence A. Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D. 

Director of the Center for Oral Biology 

George Eastman understood that when he 

founded the school. It just took a little longer 

than he anticipated.” 

Tabak is looking forward to seeing the 

current research projects come to fruition in 

the new center. 

“As I’ve said before, this is a very, very 

special place for dentistry. It’s like hallowed 

ground. We have an opportunity here that is 

unparalleled anywhere in the country. So 

often, the limitation is the environment, not 

the person. But not here. We are the only 

dental unit that I can think of where the only 

limitation is ourselves.” 

treatments, side effects of prescription drugs, 

and diseases such as Sjögren’s disease, which 

affects nearly a million postmenopausal 

women, contribute to the decline of salivary 

gland function. By picking apart the 

salivary glands to uncover how they produce 

saliva when healthy, Tabak hopes to either 

resuscitate the glands or create an effective 

saliva replacement. 

A third area of research is cranio-facial 

disturbance. By forming strong partnerships 

with the Eastman Department of Dentistry, 

the departments of Biology, of Pediatrics, and of 

Surgery, as well as the new Center for Aging and 

Developmental Biology, Center investigators 

Rulang Jiang, Ph.D., Fred Hagen, Ph.D., and 

Tabak expect to uncover how the complex 

human face develops and ages, possibly 

detecting a way to prevent birth defects in the 

near future. Discoveries in this area will likely 

have a broad impact because the most common 

birth defects are those of the lips and palate. 

“People who are deaf have a high 

proportion of cranial-facial disturbances,” 

explains Tabak, “and Rochester has a very 

large deaf community. That makes this the 

perfect place to conduct such research.” 

The University of Rochester has a history of 

training some of the best dental academicians 

in the world. Tabak is proud to point out that 

there isn’t a single dental school in the country 

that doesn’t have at least one Rochester dental 

school graduate. 

“That’s why it was so important and 

significant to have the Eastman Dental Center 

formally merge with the University of Rochester. 

Tabak, a recipient of a NIH merit 

award, earned his D.D.S. degree in 

dentistry from Columbia University 

and his Ph.D. in oral biology and his 

certification in endodontics from SUNY 

Buffalo. He won the International 

Association for Dental Research 

Distinguished Scientist Award for his 

work on salivary gland secretions, 

and the University of Rochester School 

of Medicine and Dentistry Manuel D. 

Goldman Prize for Excellence in First Year 

Teaching. Last February, Tabak became a 

full fellow of the American Association for 

the Advancement of Science, the world’s 

largest science federation. 


Discovery 

Architectural highlights of the 

new Arthur Kornberg 

Medical Research Building 

and the School of Medicine 

and Dentistry’s new façade. 

Highlights of the School’s new Double Helix Curriculum include 12 Problem- 

Based Learning rooms, which feature patient examination areas. 


The William D. Ryan (’49) and Joan A. Ryan Case Method Room is 

a state-of-the-art instructional room seating 105 students. 

The Sarah Flaum Atrium 

(foreground), and the Sokol 

Bridge (background) as 

seen from the Dr. Gilbert B. 

Forbes (M ’40), Mezzanine 

during opening festivities. 

Research laboratories (right) have been named in honor of 

U of R alumni through generous gifts from their families: 

Dr. Frank W. Lovejoy, Jr. (M ’40) Research Laboratory; 

Dr. Bruce W. Moskowitz, (R ’77) Medical Research Laboratory; and the 

Roger Friedlander (’56) and Carolyn Friedlander Research Laboratory. 

An outstanding 

architectural feature of 

the Arthur Kornberg 

Medical Research 

Building is the 

triangular breakroom 

located on each floor.

The new entrance to the School of Medicine and Dentistry is an impressive view 

from Elmwood Avenue. 

The School’s new reception area, the Harold and 

Joan Feinbloom Resource Area, is named in honor 

of a generous gift from the Feinbloom family. 

The 1959 Nobel Prize 

in Medicine, given 

as a gift to the 


Medical Center 

by its recipient 

Dr. Arthur Kornberg 

(M ’41, HNR ’62), 

is on permanent 

display in the Sarah 

Flaum Atrium. 

The School’s new second floor corridor takes students 

from the William D. Ryan (’49) and Joan 

A. Ryan Case Method Room past three seminar 

rooms to the Problem-Based Learning rooms. 

The 250-seat medical education auditorium 

has been named in honor of generous 

contributions from the Class of 1962. 

The fundraising effort has been 

led by Drs. Robert G. Newman 

and Ernest A. Bates (right). 

If you would like 

additional information 

on the Campaign for 

Discovery, please contact 

Peggy Martin, Medical 

Center Development, 

1-800-333-4428. 

17

18 ROCHESTER MEDICINEDiscovery 

Grand Opening Festivities 

Arthur Kornberg Medical Research Building 

and Aab Institute of Biomedical Sciences 

University of Rochester Medical Center 

Patricia M. Hinkle, Ph.D., professor of 

Oncology in Pharmacology and Physiology, 

receives an Arthur Kornberg Research Award 

from Dean Lowell Goldsmith. Thomas W. 

Clarkson, Ph.D. (F ’58), professor of 

Environmental Medicine, Arthur J. Moss, M.D. 

(R ’62), professor of Medicine (Cardiology), 

and Fred Sherman, Ph.D., professor of 

Biochemistry and Biophysics and member of 

the National Academy of Sciences, also received 

the award. 

Touring the Center for Cardiovascular Research with 

Center director and alumnus Bradford Berk, M.D., 

Ph.D. (M ’81, D ’81). 

Arthur Kornberg, M.D. (M ’41, HNR ’62), 

professor, Department of Biochemistry, 

Stanford University School of Medicine, and 

1959 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Medicine. 

NASA Astronaut Ellen S. Baker, M.D., 

M.P.H., spoke to medical and graduate 

students at the Dean’s Picnic. 

She is pictured her with her mentor, 

Jay Stein, M.D. 

Dr. Jay Stein, Dr. Alejandro Zaffaroni (D ’49), 

Richard T. Aab, Dr. Arthur Kornberg and 

President Thomas Jackson at the opening festivities. 

President Thomas Jackson speaks 

with guest lecturer and alumnus 

Joseph B. Martin, M.D., Ph.D. 

(D ’71), dean of the Faculty of 

Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

During the “Evening of Appreciation,” Campaign for Discovery 

co-chairs Robert H. Gutkin, University of Rochester Medical 

Center Board Chairman, and Robert H. Hurlbut, president of 

Hurlbut Trust, celebrate with donors. 

“A Celebration of Scientific Discovery” 

Guest Lecturers (left to right): Hugh A. D’Andrade, vice chairman and chief administrative officer, 

Schering-Plough Corporation; Alejandro Zaffaroni, Ph.D. (D ’49, HNR ’72), founder and director 

emeritus, ALZA Corporation; Arthur Kornberg, M.D. (M ’41, HNR ’62), and recipient of the 1959 Nobel 

Prize in Medicine; Paul Berg, Ph.D., 1980 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Cahill Professor of 

Cancer Research (emeritus), director, The Beckman Center, Department of Biochemistry, Stanford 

University School of Medicine; Joseph L. Goldstein, M.D., 1985 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology 

or Medicine, professor and chairman, Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Texas 

Southwestern Medical School; Har Gobind Khorana, Ph.D., 1968 recipient of the Nobel Prize in 

Physiology or Medicine, Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Biology and Chemistry (emeritus), Massachusetts 

Institute of Technology. 

Richard T. Aab and his mother, Agatha Aab, 

pause at the plaque for the Aab Institute of 

Biomedical Sciences. 

Jay Stein, M.D., senior 

vice president and 

vice provost for health 

affairs, during the 

ribbon-cutting ceremony. 

Mildred and William Levine, along with Dean Lowell A. Goldsmith, cut 

the ceremonial ribbon to the William and Mildred Levine Pavilion – 

the new gateway to the School of Medicine and Dentistry and the Arthur 

Kornberg Research Building. 


M E D I C A L C E N T E R N E W S 

State-of-the-art scientific equipment 

FAMILY OF LOCAL ENTREPRENEUR GIVES $5 MILLION TO 

ESTABLISH NEW MEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE 

Rochester entrepreneur Richard T. Aab and 

his family recently announced that they will 

donate $5 million—one of the largest private 

gifts in the history of the Medical Center— 

to help establish the Medical Center’s new 

research institute. In accepting the donation, 

Jay H. Stein, M.D., senior vice president and 

vice provost for health affairs, and Medical 

Center and Strong Health CEO, announced 

that the new research institute will be named 

the Aab Institute of Biomedical Sciences at 

the University of Rochester Medical Center. 

The Institute will be located in the Arthur 

Kornberg Medical Research Building. 

“The tremendous generosity of the Aab 

family virtually guarantees that this will be 

one of the world’s premier institutions for 

medical research,” Dr. Stein said. The $5 

million gift will be used to recruit top medical 

researchers from around the world, and to 

build and outfit the Medical Center’s new 

research building with state-of-the-art 

scientific equipment. 

In describing his family’s desire to make the 

multimillion-dollar donation, Aab cited the 

potential benefits the new research institute 

holds for the Rochester community. 

“We are convinced that the researchers in 

this institute will make important advances in 

our understanding of a variety of diseases— 

such as heart disease, cancer, and 

Alzheimer’s—that touch every family in the 

Rochester community,” Aab said. “In addition, 

the extraordinary expertise of these researchers 

will strengthen the Medical Center’s ability 

to provide the most advanced health care to 

our community.” 

Richard Aab and his wife, Jackie, are lifelong 

Rochesterians. They have been married 

Richard T. Aab, center, with daughter Melissa, left, wife Jackie and son Richard—the family behind the 

Aab Institute of Biomedical Sciences. 

for 29 years and have two children, Melissa, 

age 22, and Richard, age 18. 

Jackie Aab earned a B.A. in English from 

the State University of New York at Potsdam, 

and an M.S. in education from Nazareth 

College. She worked as an elementary 

school teacher for six years in the Fairport 

School District, then spent five years as a 

regulatory analyst for an environmental 

software company. 

Richard Aab earned a B.S. degree in 

economics from Clarkson University. In 1982, 

he co-founded ACC Corp., a publicly owned 

telecommunications company in Rochester, 

where he served as chairman and CEO. By 

1998, Aab had built ACC into a company of 

more than 1,000 employees with revenues 

approaching $500 million annually. Last year, 

ACC was acquired by a subsidiary of AT&T for 

$1.1 billion. 

During 1996, Aab founded a second 

company, US LEC Corp. (NASDAQ: CLEC), a 

telecommunications company headquartered 

in Charlotte, N.C., that provides voice and 

data communication services to customers in 

the mid-Atlantic and southeastern United 

States. US LEC employs 300 people and has 

revenues approaching $100 million. 

Both Richard and Jackie Aab remain actively 

involved in the Rochester community. Aab 

serves on the University of Rochester Medical 

Center Board, as well as the University’s 

Technology Transfer Advisory Board. 



UR Receives $4.8 

Million from Mary 

Whipple Clark Estate 

The University of Rochester received a 

bequest totaling $4.8 million from the estate of 

Mary Whipple Clark—gifts primarily directed 

to the School of Medicine and Dentistry and to 

the Memorial Art Gallery. 

The bequest crowns a long-time tradition of 

generosity to the University by Mrs. Clark and 

her late husband, Donald Clark, including 

support to the Department of Orthopaedics, the 

Pulmonary Lab at the Medical Center, the 

Memorial Art Gallery, and the Donald R. Clark 

Endowment for the Humanities. 

Approximately one-third of the University’s 

allocation will be used to endow the Ralph 

W. Prince Chair in Internal Medicine at the 

School of Medicine and Dentistry. A dedicated 

internist, Dr. Prince was Mrs. Clark’s personal 

physician until his retirement in 1987. In 

addition, significant funds were designated 

to the Musculoskeletal Research Fund at 

the Medical Center. 

Strong’s Programs Rank 

in U.S. News & World 

Report’s 1999 List of 

America’s Best Hospitals 

clinics in upstate New York. Perifax, the 

department’s weekly case conference and 

review on obstetrics, is subscribed to by several 

hundred labor and delivery units nationally. 

The department includes a highly respected 

team of board-certified gynecological 

oncologists and perinatologists, as well as 

experts in geriatric gynecology, incontinence, 

and gynecological pain. 

Strong’s Neurology Program, led by 

chair Robert C. Griggs, M.D. (R ’68), has 

consistently placed in the U.S. News survey. 

Its faculty participates in both national and 

international studies, and ranks 16th 

nationally among neurology departments 

in federal research funding. In addition, 

neurology department members partner 

with neurosurgeons and interventional 

neuroradiologists to care for over 250 stroke 

patients a year at the Strong Health Stroke 

Program. Strong neurologists also team with 

other health professionals to offer the Strong 

Epilepsy Program, one of 100 comprehensive 

diagnostic, monitoring, and treatment centers 

for persons with epilepsy. 

The Department of Neurosurgery, under 

the leadership of chair Robert Maciunas, M.D., 

has vaulted to national prominence for its use 

of computer-imaging techniques that help 

neurosurgeons carefully navigate around the 

brain’s delicate structures during surgery. In 

the Center for Image-Guided Neurosurgery, 

stunning 3-D computer images let Dr. 

Maciunas and other surgeons “see” deep 

into the brain as they operate, enabling 

them to remove tumors and repair damaged 

blood vessels that, just a few years ago, were 

considered inoperable. They’re also using 

revolutionary surgical techniques to treat 

stroke, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, chronic 

pain, and complex disorders of the spinal cord. 

Over the past year the department has grown 

from three neurosurgeons to eight full-time 

faculty members who, in five years, have 

authored a combined total of 10 books on 

various aspects of neurosurgery. 

Strong Memorial Hospital departments of 

Gynecology, Neurology, and Neurosurgery have 

been rated by U.S. News & World Report as 

among the nation’s best. The magazine’s tenth 

annual America’s Best Hospitals issue rates 

Strong’s Department of Neurology and 

Department of Neurosurgery as the 26th best 

(the magazine’s rankings for Neurology 

and Neurosurgery are combined) and our 

Gynecology Department as the 49th best in the 

country. Strong is among 188 hospitals in the 

country to land a position in the rankings of 

16 distinct specialties. 

“This ranking is further evidence that 

Strong’s clinical and academic credentials 

are respected throughout the country,” said 



Center and Strong Health CEO. “The 

ranking of these departments shows that 

the Medical Center has earned national 

preeminence as a center for 

clinical care, as well as 

education and research.” 

Strong Memorial’s Ob/Gyn 

department ranks 11th in 

the nation for NIH funding, 

conducting studies into issues as 

varied as HIV transmission from 

mother to fetus and the genetics 

of autism, polycystitis ovarian 

syndrome, infertility, and gynecologic 

cancer. A recent report by the Centers 

for Disease Control documented Strong’s 

In-Vitro Fertilization program as having 

pregnancy rates that top the national 

average 

Gynecology 

and surpass all other fertility 

Neurology • Neurosurgery 


Emergency 

A New Emergency 

Department by 

Fall 2000 

Strong Memorial Hospital broke 

ground in May to begin construction 

of a two-story, 105,000-squarefoot 

building to house a new 

Emergency Department (ED)and 

Cardiac Catheterization Labs. It will be 

located on the Elmwood Avenue side of 

the facility next to the main entrance. 

The ground floor will have 57 

exam rooms—10 more than the ED 

currently has—arranged in a series of 

horseshoes. The rooms surround a 

central nursing station that is raised 

up three steps. Each patient room will 

have sliding glass doors to provide greater 

patient privacy. 

A world-class trauma room is designed to 

accommodate up to 14 patients in a disaster 

situation. Each of the seven bays in the trauma 

room will have overhead X-ray capabilities so 

these most acute patients don’t have to be 

moved. A CT scanner will be located adjacent 

to the trauma room for quick, easy access. 

The relocation and renovation of the trauma 

unit, and purchase of the medical 

equipment upgrades, was made 

possible by a $1 million donation 

from brothers Laurence and 

Dennis Kessler—owners of 

multiple Burger King restaurants 

in upstate New York— for whom 

the trauma unit is named. 

A separate pediatric area will be built with its 

own waiting room, designed to provide care in 

a child-friendly environment. 

The Psychiatric Emergency Department will 

be expanded to allow psychiatric emergency 

programs—such as the Comprehensive 

Psychiatric Emergency Program—to be 

consolidated into one area. 

The ED will also include a nine-bed Clinical 

Decision Unit, where patients can be evaluated 

for up to 36 hours before deciding whether they 

should be admitted to the hospital. 

The new facility’s lower level includes two 

additional cardiac catheterization labs, for a 

total of five. 

A quiet room is also planned, providing an 

area where physicians can speak privately to 

patients’ families, plus an area where patients 

can stay until they are ready to return home. 

Technology Transfer 

Advisory Board Established 

The University of Rochester has formed 

a board to advise the institution in its efforts 

to commercially develop high-tech inventions 

and innovations made by researchers in the 

University’s laboratories. 

Chaired by Paychex founder and CEO 

Thomas B. Golisano, the nine-member 

Technology Transfer Advisory Board is 

comprised of area business leaders with 

broad expertise in starting new companies. 

The members bring experience in areas 

such as developing business plans and 

finding venture-capital funding for new 

companies, assessing the market value of 

new technologies, and negotiating contracts 

and licensing agreements. 

“In addition to educating students, part 

of the University’s mission is to create new 

knowledge that benefits society,” said José 

J. Coronas, special assistant to the president 

for corporate relations at the University of 

Rochester. “When that new knowledge takes the 

form of an invention, people don’t benefit from 

it until it becomes a commercial product that is 

manufactured, marketed, and sold. The people 

who have agreed to serve on this advisory board 

are all entrepreneurs who have a wealth of 

expertise in shepherding new inventions and 

innovations into the marketplace.” 

Several companies in the Rochester area 

were originally established to commercially 

develop inventions and innovations made by 

researchers at the University of Rochester— 

among them vaccine-maker Wyeth-Lederle 

Vaccines and Pediatrics, and the optical design 

and manufacturing company Rochester 

Photonics, both located in Rochester. 

Other members of the Technology Transfer 

Advisory Board are Samuel T. “Tom” Hubbard 

Jr., formerly of Alling & Cory; Mike Jones of 

Clover Capital Management; William J. Stolze 

of Harris Corporation; David A. Lovenheim 

of Harris, Beach & Wilcox; Doug Stark of 

Stonehurst Capital; Robert W. Loss, Jr., M.D. 

(M ’78, R ’81), of Dermatology Associates 

of Rochester; E. Philip Saunders of Sugar 

Creek, and Richard T. Aab, formerly of ACC. 



F.F. Thompson / 

Strong Health Alliance 

F.F. Thompson Health System and Strong 

Health are collaborating to build a new 

cancer center on the campus of F.F. Thompson 

Hospital, a facility that will be jointly financed, 

managed, and staffed by F.F. Thompson Health 

System, Interlakes Oncology and Hematology, 

and Strong Health. The new 10,000-square-foot 

center will be housed on the first floor of a fourstory 

facility. The facility will house radiation 

and medical oncology programs as well as 

complementary therapies for cancer patients. 

The joint cancer center is a major step in 

a growing alliance between the two health 

systems. Strong Health physicians already 

consult with F.F. Thompson staff on infectious 

disease cases and for patients with sleep 

disorders, as well as neonatal intensive care. 

The two systems recently began sharing 

responsibility for physician recruitment. In 

addition, many of F.F. Thompson’s medical 

staff are faculty members at the University of 

Rochester Medical Center. 

Jay Stein, M.D., 

Receives 

Prestigious 

Medical Award 

Jay H. Stein, M.D., 

senior vice president and 

vice provost for health 

affairs and Medical Center 

and Strong Health CEO, 

was presented with the 

Association of Professors of Medicine (APM) 

1999 Robert H. Williams, M.D., Distinguished 

Chair of Medicine Award, recognizing Dr. 

Stein’s past work as chair of the department of 

medicine at the University of Texas Medical 

School at San Antonio (1977-92). Dr. Stein 

accepted the association’s highest honor 

at the APM winter meeting in February in 

Pasadena, Calif. 

APM is a national organization of chairs 

of departments of internal medicine at U.S. 

medical schools and several of their affiliated 

teaching hospitals. The association addresses 

issues of importance to internal medicine in 

the areas of clinical care, medical education, 

and research. 

The Williams Award is presented annually 

by the organization to a physician who has 

demonstrated outstanding leadership as the 

chair of a department of internal medicine. 

In selecting the recipient, predominant 

attention is given to progress made by 

the candidates in the administration of a 

department of medicine. Overall contributions 

to academic internal medicine made by 

candidates in the areas of education, research, 

and patient care are also considered. 


Alumnus Appointed 

Chair of Medicine at URMC 

After a year-long national search, the 

University of Rochester Medical Center has 

found its new chair of medicine— 

among the ranks of its medical 

school graduates. Bradford C. Berk, 

M.D., Ph.D., a 1981 alumnus of the 

University of Rochester School of 

Medicine and Dentistry, will chair 

the Medical Center’s Department 

of Medicine and occupy one of 

the school’s oldest endowed chairs 

as the Charles A. Dewey Professor 

Jay H. Stein, M.D. 

of Medicine. 

The Medical Center 

recruited Dr. Berk from the 

University of Washington in Seattle a year ago 

to serve as its chief of cardiology and director 

of the Center for Cardiovascular Research, a 

division of the Aab Institute of Biomedical 

Sciences. Dr. Berk is a nationally recognized 

expert on the molecular biology and genetics 

of cardiovascular disease and is one of 

the country’s leaders in federally funded 

cardiovascular research. As chair of medicine, 

Dr. Berk will continue to direct the Center for 

Bradford C. Berk, M.D., Ph.D. (M ‘81, D ‘81) 

Cardiovascular Research, and the Medical 

Center will begin the search for a new chief 

of cardiology. 

“Dr. Berk is a brilliant researcher, a 

gifted teacher and a skilled clinician,” said 

Jay H. Stein, M.D., senior vice president 

and vice provost for health affairs, and Medical 

Center and Strong Health CEO at the University 

of Rochester Medical Center. “It is especially 

gratifying to appoint one of our own 

graduates to this pivotal position within the 

Medical Center.” 

Dr. Berk’s current National Institutes of 

Health-funded research includes studies on: 

the role of sodium in high blood pressure; the 

mechanisms that make blood vessels sense 

changes in blood flow; and how oxidative stress 

promotes atherosclerosis and ischemic heart 

disease, and conversely, how antioxidants such 

as vitamins E and C protect the vessel. He is 

also studying specific hormones that regulate 

both the structure and function of blood vessels, 

and how genetics influences the structure 

of blood vessels. Earlier this year, Dr. Berk 

accepted an invitation by the National 

Institutes of Health to serve as chair of the 

Experimental Cardiovascular Sciences Study 

Section, Center for Scientific Review, to direct 

20 cardiovascular experts in evaluating 

grant applications submitted to the National 

Institutes of Health. 

Dr. Berk succeeds former chair of medicine 

Raphael Dolin, M.D., who left to accept a 

position with Harvard University. 



Distinguished 

Georgetown 

University 

Surgeon 

Named Chair 

at URMC 

James V. Sitzmann, M.D. 

James V. Sitzmann, M.D., has been 

appointed chair of the Department of Surgery 

and Alumni Distinguished Professor of 

Surgery at the University of Rochester 

Medical Center (URMC), and surgeonin-chief 

of Strong Memorial Hospital. 

Dr. Sitzmann was most recently chair of the 

Department of Surgery, and associate dean for 

clinical research and professor of surgery, of 

physiology, and of biophysics at Georgetown 

University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., 

since 1995. He was previously professor of 

surgery and oncology at The Johns Hopkins 

University School of Medicine, and director 

of the Division of Surgical Oncology at The 

Johns Hopkins Hospital. A nationally respected 

surgeon and researcher, he comes to the 

University of Rochester with significant NIH 

funding. A major current research interest 

concerns the factors that control cell growth in 

cancer and vascular tissues. 

“Dr. Sitzmann is an outstanding surgeon 

and a premier researcher who brings a wealth 

of experience and knowledge to the Medical 

Center,” said Jay H. Stein, M.D., senior vice 

president and vice provost for health affairs, 

and Medical Center and Strong Health 

CEO. “We are very pleased to welcome 

him here.” 

An international authority on surgical 

oncology, Dr. Sitzmann has published more 

than 100 scientific papers and is on the 

editorial board of three major surgical journals. 

A graduate of the University of Minnesota 

Medical School, Dr. Sitzmann served his 

residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, with 

additional training at the American Hospital of 

Paris in Nieully, France, and St. Laurence’s 

Hospital in Dublin. 

Dr. Sitzmann succeeds Seymour I. Schwartz, 

M.D. (R ’57), who retired from the position as 

chair of surgery in June 1998. 

Cyril Meyerowitz, D.D.S., M.S. (MS ’80, R ’93) 

Cyril Meyerowitz, D.D.S., 

M.S. (MS ’80, R ’93), 

Appointed Chair of 

Eastman Department 

of Dentistry 

Cyril Meyerowitz, D.D.S., M.S. (MS ’80, 

R ’93), has been named the chair of the 

Eastman Department of Dentistry for the 

University of Rochester School of Medicine 

and Dentistry. Meyerowitz also succeeded 

Ronald J. Billings, D.D.S., M.S., as director of 

the Eastman Dental Center on January 1, 1999. 

Billings, who held the position for five years, 

is now serving as a special advisor on oral 

health issues to the University’s Division 

of Health Affairs and continuing with his 

research projects. 

In July 1997, Eastman Dental Center merged 

with the University of Rochester, uniting the 

two dental programs into one organization. 

Meyerowitz’ extensive experience as an 

educator, clinician, and researcher makes him 

unusually qualified for his dual position. 

Regarding the appointments, Meyerowitz said, 

“In addition to the educational benefits, I 

believe that finally, after 70 years, we have all 

the dental academic resources in one system. 

We have the unique opportunity to integrate an 

outstanding academic oral health effort into a 

major academic health care center.” He added, 

“The results will be the incorporation of all 

health services into one medical and dental 

care organization. This will allow us to achieve 

our vision to be a national model for the 

integration of dentistry and medicine in the 

areas of education, research, and clinical care.” 

Meyerowitz received his dental degree from 

the University of Witwatersrand School of 

Dentistry in South Africa. He completed his 

residency at Eastman Dental Center’s General 

Dentistry Program in 1975 and spent the 

following year working as a clinical and 

research fellow with the University and 

Eastman. He received his M.S. degree in 

dental research from the University’s School 

of Medicine and Dentistry in 1979. 

Meyerowitz joined the School of Medicine 

and Dentistry in 1976 as the director of the 

General Practice Residency Program. He was 

named associate chair of the Department of 

Clinical Dentistry in 1985 and promoted to the 

chair in 1991. 

In addition to publishing numerous articles, 

book chapters, and abstracts, Meyerowitz has 

been actively involved in dental education, 

having initiated and then served as chair and 

counselor of the section on postdoctoral general 

dentistry in the American Association of Dental 

Schools. He is a consultant to the American 

Dental Association and serves on the 

Commission on Dental Accreditation’s review 

committee for postdoctoral general dentistry. 

Meyerowitz is a fellow of the Academy of 

General Dentistry and a fellow of the American 

College of Dentists. 

In addition, Meyerowitz has served as 

principal investigator or director on a number 

of research and educational grants and 

commercial contracts, including the latest, a 

five-year health and human services grant 

entitled “Rochester Training for Oral Health 

Clinical Trials.” 



William Bowen, D.D.S., Ph.D. 

Dental Researcher 

William Bowen Honored 

William Bowen, D.D.S., Ph.D., Welcher 

Professor of Dentistry, was awarded an honorary 

medical degree in July from Trinity College in 

Dublin. Bowen, considered one of the world’s 

leading authorities on tooth decay, shared the 

dais with such luminaries as Gordon Moore, 

a founder of Intel, former ambassador Jean 

Kennedy Smith, and Garrett Fitzgerald, 

former prime minister of Ireland; the degree 

was conferred by Mary Robinson, former 

president of Ireland and now United Nations 

commissioner for human rights. Bowen was 

also awarded the 1999 E.W. Borrow Memorial 

Award, funded by the Borrow Dental Milk 

Foundation, for his contributions to the oral 

health of children. 

Bowen is best known for his contributions 

to our understanding of the causes and 

prevention of dental caries, or cavities. His 

initial discovery two years ago that lead makes 

rats more susceptible to cavities provoked 

further research by University dentists, which 

showed that lead exposure puts children and 

adults at risk of developing cavities. Researchers 

now estimate that more than 10 percent of 

the tooth decay seen in children today is due to 

lead exposure. 

The awards are the latest in a long string of 

honors to come Bowen’s way. Last year he was 

inducted into the Institute of Medicine, and 

received the University’s Kornberg Research 

Award for excellence in medical research. In 

1997, he was awarded the Yngve Ericsson Prize 

in Preventive Odontology by the Swedish Patent 

Revenue Research Fund. He is also a fellow of 

the American Association for the Advancement 

of Science and the Royal College of Surgeons, 

and he has been awarded five honorary degrees 

from universities around the world. 

Besides his appointment in the University’s 

Center for Oral Biology, Bowen is professor of 

environmental medicine, and of microbiology 

and immunology. 

Robert J. Joynt, M.D., Ph.D. 

Robert J. Joynt, M.D., 

Ph.D., Honored by 

University of Iowa 

College of Medicine 

Robert J. Joynt, M.D., Ph.D., Distinguished 

University Professor and professor in the 

Department of Neurology at the University of 

Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, 

was recently honored with the 1999 University 

of Iowa (UI) College of Medicine Distinguished 

Alumni Award for Achievement. 

This is the second year of the UI College 

of Medicine Distinguished Alumni Awards 

program. The award is conferred upon former 

students and colleagues who have transcended 

their fundamental roles as health care 

providers to become influential participants 

in the advancement of the art and 

science of medicine. Nominations 

for the award were submitted by peers 

and colleagues. 

Dr. Joynt has led a remarkable career, 

including 33 years at the University of 

Rochester, where he was founding chair of the 

School of Medicine and Dentistry’s Department 

of Neurology, dean of the medical school, 

and vice president and vice provost for health 

affairs. In addition to his scholarly research 

and administrative leadership, Dr. Joynt has 

served on editorial boards for numerous 

publications, including having served the 

longest tenure—15 years—of any chief 

editor for Archives of Neurology. Dr. Joynt 

is also a past president of the American 

Academy of Neurology and the American 

Neurological Association. 

Two Alumni 

Named to 

National 

Institute of 

Medicine 

Robert C. Griggs, M.D. (R ’68) 

Robert C. Griggs, M.D. 

(R ’68), and Seymour I. Schwartz, M.D. 

(R ’57), were elected to the prestigious 

Institute of Medicine, a division of the National 

Academy of Sciences. 

Members are chosen for their major 

contributions to health, medicine, and related 

fields. Election to the Institute is both an honor 

and an obligation to work on behalf of the 

organization, its governance, and its studies. 

With their election, members make a 

commitment to devote a significant amount of 

volunteer time on committees engaged in a 

broad range of 

studies on health 

policy issues. 

Dr. Griggs, who 

was elected as a 

new member to 

the Institute of 

Medicine, has 

devoted his entire 

career to the study 

of neurological 

and neuromuscular diseases. In addition to 

being professor and chair of the Department of 

Neurology, he is a professor of medicine, of 

pathology and laboratory medicine, and of 

pediatrics at the University of Rochester. 

Dr. Schwartz, who was elected to the 

Institute’s senior membership, has devoted his 

entire career to surgery and is board-certified in 

both general surgery and thoracic surgery. 

A Distinguished Alumni Professor, Dr. Schwartz 

served as chair of the University of Rochester’s 

Department of Surgery for 12 years until 

retiring in July 1998. 

Seymour I. Schwartz, M.D. (R ’57) 


SCHOOL NEWS 

UR Scholar Selected 

to Participate in 

Howard Hughes Medical 

Institute Program 

Mehdi Nejad-Sattari, a third-year 

student at the University of Rochester School 

of Medicine and Dentistry, was chosen to join 

the 1998-99 Class of the Howard Hughes 

Medical Institute–National Institutes 

of Health Research Scholars Program. 

The University of Rochester scholar was 

selected from 243 applicants representing 91 

medical schools. Forty-two students from 32 

medical schools were chosen. The selection 

process involves a comprehensive review of 

the submitted application and supporting 

references, and individual interviews by senior 

NIH scientists and senior scientific officers of 

the Howard Hughes Institute. 

As a Howard Hughes Medical Institute– 

National Institutes of Health Research Scholar, 

Nejad-Sattari was given the opportunity to 

perform research in any National Institutes of 

Health laboratory of his choice for a one-year 

period. He chose to work for the National 

Institute of Deafness and other Communicative 

Disorders, conducting research into the 

interactions of certain head and neck cancers 

with the immune system. 

In his first year at the University of 

Rochester, Nejad-Sattari was awarded honors in 

histology and physiology courses and received 

an honors grade in genetics and pathology. 

A 1995 graduate of Swarthmore College, 

Nejad-Sattari received honors in his chemistry 

major and participated in a two-year research 

project in physical chemistry. The results of 

that study were published in the Journal of 

Chemical Physics. 

Mehdi Nejad-Sattari 

Nineteen-year-old Tenea Watson is working on her Ph.D. in toxicology. 

Young Graduate 

Student Enrolled in 

Ph.D. Program 

Tenea Watson is beginning her second 

year of Ph.D. work in the toxicology laboratory 

of Barry Stripp, Ph.D., here at the University 

of Rochester School of Medicine and 

Dentistry. At 19 years old, Watson is one of 

the youngest graduate students ever to enroll 

at the University. She graduated with a 

bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Mary 

Baldwin College in Staunton, Va., through 

the Program for the Exceptionally Gifted. 

Her two sisters also entered the College 

at age 14. 

“The Tox Training Program has been 

great this first year,” Watson says. “The 

multidisciplinary nature of the 

program is top-notch, 

and what also 

stands out is 

the cohesiveness 

of the students 

and faculty.” 

Watson expects 

to complete her 

Ph.D. in 2003. 


Left to right: John R. Jaenike, M.D. (M ’48), and Leslie A. Walker, M.D. (M ’48) 

SCHOOL NEWS 

EMERITUS DINNER 

Left to right: George L. Engel, M.D., and Edward M. Hundert, M.D. 

Left to right: Roberta Faloon (Mrs. William), Nancy Barlett (Mrs. James), 

and Manuel DelCerro, M.D. 

On Tuesday, June 22, 1999, 

a dinner was held at 

George Eastman House in 

honor of our esteemed 

emeritus faculty, hosted 

by Dean and Mrs. Lowell 

A. Goldsmith. It was a 

memorable evening for 

all who attended. 


SCHOOL NEWS 

Advisory Council Members Honored 

Dean Lowell Goldsmith, M.D. (far left), 



Center and Strong Health CEO (far right), 

and others recently honored four members 

of the Medical School Advisory Council for 

their years of service to the Medical Center. 

Middle left is Paul L. La Celle, M.D. (M ’59), 

professor of medicine and of radiation 

biology and biophysics, and former senior 

associate dean for academic affairs and 

research; middle right is Thomas W. 

Clarkson, Ph.D., professor of radiation 

biology and biophysics and former chair of 

environmental medicine. 

Missing from the photo are: Charles J. 

Gibson, M.D., professor emeritus and 

former chair of the Department of Physical 

Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Fred 

Sherman, Ph.D., Marie Curran Wilson and 

Joseph C. Wilson Professor of Biochemistry 

and Biophysics, and former chair of the 

Department of Biochemistry. 

Lowell Goldsmith, M.D., 

Receives Distinguished 

Stephen Rothman 

Memorial Award 

Lowell A. Goldsmith, M.D., dean of the 

School of Medicine and Dentistry at the 

University of Rochester Medical Center and a 

professor in the Department of Dermatology, 

has been honored with the 1999 Stephen 

Rothman Memorial Award by the Society for 

Investigative Dermatology. 

The award, the highest honor bestowed by 

the Society, was presented to Dr. Goldsmith on 

May 6 in Chicago during the organization’s 

annual meeting. He received a $1,000 

honorarium and a medal bearing the likeness 

of Stephen Rothman, M.D., who in 1955 

published Physiology and Biochemistry of 

the Skin, which became the primary source of 

information for skin researchers worldwide. 

The prestigious award has been presented 

annually since 1966 for distinguished service 

to investigative cutaneous medicine. The 

recipient is recognized for making major 

scientific achievements, excelling as a teacher 

and recruiter of outstanding dermatologists, 

and as distinctly altering the course and image 

of dermatology or 

related fields. 

Dr. Goldsmith 

joined the 

University of 

Rochester Medical 

Center faculty in 

1981. He has 

served as acting 

Lowell A. Goldsmith, M.D. 


SCHOOL NEWS 

chair and acting physician-in-chief for the 

Department of Medicine, as chair of the 

Department of Dermatology, and as the James 

H. Sterner Professor of Dermatology. He also 

spent six months on sabbatical at the Imperial 

Cancer Research Fund in London. Prior to his 

career at the University of Rochester, he had 

been an associate professor and professor at 

Duke University Medical Center, a research 

fellow, dermatology resident, and assistant 

professor at Harvard Medical School, a fellow 

at Brandeis University, and a research associate 

at the National Institutes of Health. 

During his more than 30 years in the field 

of dermatology, Dr. Goldsmith has published 

nearly 150 journal articles and has authored 

or co-authored numerous books about 

dermatology, including Physiology, 

Biochemistry, and Molecular Biology of the 

Skin, which was influenced by and further 

enhanced Dr. Rothman’s groundbreaking work. 

Marion Anders 

Receives Prestigious 

Bernard B. Brodie Award 

in Drug Metabolism 

Marion W. Anders, D.V.M., Ph.D., chair of the 

Department of Pharmacology and Physiology 

and the Lewis Pratt Ross Professor at the 

University of Rochester Medical Center, has been 

awarded the 1999 Bernard B. Brodie Award in 

Drug Metabolism by the American Society for 

Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 

The award was presented to Anders on April 

18 in Washington, D.C., during the 

Experimental Biology ’99 annual meeting, 

where Anders delivered his lecture, 

“Glutathione-Dependent Bioactivation: 

Detoxication Mechanisms Gone Wrong 

(but in an Interesting Way).” 

The prestigious award, given every other 

year since 1978 by SmithKline Beecham Corp., 

recognizes distinguished original research 

contributions in drug metabolism and 

disposition, particularly those having an 

impact on future research. 

Anders’ most significant contribution 

has been the explanation of the mechanisms 

by which halogenated chemicals produce 

cell damage and death. This research is 

important in assessing the risks to human 

health associated with exposure to chemicals 

in the environment. His work has been 

supported by more than $2 million in funding 

from the National Institutes of Health and 

from corporations. 

Anders, who joined the University of 

Rochester Medical Center faculty in 1982, 

has served as chair of the Department 

Marion W. Anders, D.V.M., Ph.D. 

of Pharmacology, and as a professor in 

the departments of Pharmacology, of 

Anesthesiology, and of Environmental Medicine. 

He has been actively engaged in research on 

chemical metabolism and toxicology for 

more than 30 years, has published about 

180 peer-reviewed research articles in major 

journals, is the author and co-author of more 

than 60 review articles and book chapters, and 

has edited or co-edited four volumes on drug 

and chemical metabolism. In addition, about 

40 pre- and postdoctoral students have trained 

in his laboratory. 

Buswell Fellowships 

Three faculty members have been awarded 

Buswell Fellowships for the 1999-2000 

academic year: 

Jun-ichi Abe, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant 

Professor, Department of Medicine, 

Cardiology 

Carl T. D’Angio, M.D., Assistant Professor, 

Department of Pediatrics 

Patricia J. Sime, M.D., Assistant Professor, 

Department of Medicine, Pulmonary; 

Department of Environmental Medicine 

Buswell Fellowships are intended to 

assist young faculty in their research 

interests and help them prepare for careers 

in academic medicine. 

Kohn Teaching 

Fellowships 

Six physicians have been awarded 

Lawrence A. Kohn Senior Teaching Fellowships 

for the 1999-2000 academic year: 

(Reappointed) 

Margaret M. Bergin, M.D. (M ’86, R ’90) 

Assistant Professor 

James M. Haley, M.D. (M ’85, R ’88) 

Associate Professor 

Robert M. Kerper, M.D. (R ’87) 

Associate Professor 

(First Appointment) 

Joseph F. Kurnath, M.D. 


David R. Lambert, M.D. 


Robert Leschingski, M.D. (R ’90) 


The fellowships honor the memory of 

Lawrence Kohn, M.D., a well-known and 

greatly respected Rochester physician who, in 

1925, was the first chief resident of medicine at 

Strong Memorial Hospital and the first clinical 

professor of medicine at the School of Medicine 

and Dentistry. The fellowships were established 

in 1966 by Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert J. McCurdy. 


ALUMNI NEWS 

New Alumni Directory 

A new University of Rochester School of 

Medicine and Dentistry alumni directory, 

with the most up-to-date and complete 

reference on more than 8,000 of our alumni, 

will be published in the year 2000. This 

comprehensive volume will include current 

name as well as name when a student (if 

applicable), class year(s), address and phone 

number, plus business information and 

more—all bound into a classic, libraryquality 

volume. 

The Alumni Office has contracted the 

Bernard C. Harris Publishing Company 

to produce our directory, and has begun 

researching and compiling data for it by 

mailing a questionnaire to all alumni. 

If you prefer not to be listed, please 

contact the Alumni Office in writing 

as soon as possible at 300 East River Road, 

Box 278996, Rochester, NY 14627-8996. 

A Diamond 

Anniversary 

Celebration 

A planning committee 

has been working 

for the past year to 

prepare for the 75th 

anniversary celebrations 

of the Medical Center. 

The committee, 

co-chaired by Robert 

J. Joynt, M.D., Ph.D., and 

Jules Cohen, M.D. (M ’57), includes 

representatives from the schools 

of Medicine and Dentistry and of Nursing, 

and Strong Memorial Hospital, which 

share in this important milestone in the 

life of the institution. 

The anniversary celebrations began this fall 

at Reunion ’99 of the medical school, and 

will continue through October 2000, which 

marks the 75th anniversary of the schools 

and hospital, and, coincidentally, the 150th 

anniversary of the University of Rochester. 

The celebrations will bring distinguished 

alumni, as well as other nationally renowned 

speakers, to Rochester to give lectures and 

participate in major symposia. 

Events began with reactivation of the 

Eastman Memorial Lecture Series this fall. 

Donald A. Henderson, M.D. (M ’54), director 

of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian 

Biodefense Studies, spoke on bioterrorism, 

based on his work with a presidential 

commission charged to recommend the U.S. 

response to this threat to national and world 

health. Dr. Henderson is the recipient of both 

the Albert Lasker and Albert Schweitzer awards, 

plus many others, for his role in the worldwide 

eradication of smallpox. 

In May 2000, Gail R. Wilensky, Ph.D., 

noted health care economist and former 

administrator of the federal Health Care 

Financing Administration, will give the second 

Eastman Lecture. Wilensky will speak on 

a rational approach to the organization and 

financing of health care in the United States. 

In mid April 2000, the Medical Center and 

the Rochester Academy of 

Medicine will jointly sponsor a 

symposium examining the role 

of health care professionals 

in solving urgent problems 

affecting the health of the 

public. This joint symposium, 

which celebrates both the 75th 

anniversary of the Medical 

Center and the 100th of the 

Academy, will be an important 

component of the effort to 

make Rochester the nation’s 

healthiest community by 2020, 

a goal articulated by Lowell A. Goldsmith, M.D., 

dean of the University of Rochester School of 

Medicine and Dentistry. 

On October 12, 2000, the Medical Center 

will sponsor a Dean’s Symposium entitled “The 

Role and Responsibilities of Academic Medical 

Centers as We Enter the New Century.” Jordan 

Cohen, M.D., president of the Association of 

American Medical Colleges, will be the keynote 

speaker. Participants, all alumni of the 

University of Rochester, include: C. McCollister 

Evarts, M.D. (M ’57, R ’64), vice president and 

dean of Pennsylvania State College of Medicine; 

Catherine L. Gilliss, R.N., D.N.Sc. (F ’79), dean 

of the Yale School of Nursing; Joseph B. Martin, 

M.D., Ph.D. (D ’71), dean of Harvard Medical 

School; Edward D. Miller, M.D. (M ’68), dean of 

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; and William 

A. Peck, M.D. (M ’60), dean of Washington 

University School of Medicine. 

On October 13, 2000, the Medical Center 

will host a symposium on aging. Senator John 

Glenn, Apollo astronaut, has been invited to be 

the keynote speaker. David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D. 

(R ’72), U.S. Surgeon General, also has been 

invited to participate. Other participants will 

include Howard J. Federoff, M.D., director of our 

Center on Aging and Developmental Biology; 

John W. Rowe, M.D. (M ’70), president of the 

Mt. Sinai/NYU Medical Center; Thelma Wells, 

R.N., Ph.D., former University of Rochester 

faculty member and currently Helen Denne 

Shulte professor at the University of Wisconsin; 

and T. Franklin Williams, M.D., former director 

of the National Institute on Aging. 

Later that day, the School of Nursing will 

sponsor an interdisciplinary symposium that 

will deal with issues at the other end of the 

life spectrum—the health and health care of 

infants and children. Harriet Kitzman, Ph.D., 

R.N., associate professor at the School of 

Nursing, is chairing the committee organizing 

that symposium, now in the planning stages. 

Finally, a publication is planned 

that will feature the University of Rochester’s 

major achievements in medical and nursing 

education, clinical services, and research over 

these past 75 years. The book should be ready 

for distribution at Reunion 2000. 

We hope that all of the medical school’s 

alumni will be as excited as we are about 

these speakers and events. We look forward 

to seeing you! 

For more detailed information on 

75th events, you may consult 

http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/events.html. 

Alumni will also receive mailings in the 

coming months that will provide more 

details about the events listed above, and 

Reunion 2000. 


ALUMNI NEWS 

U NIVERSITY OF R OCHESTER S CHOOL OF M EDICINE AND D ENTISTRY 

C LASS OF 1999 HOUSE O FFICER A PPOINTMENTS 

Arizona 

Yan Shlimak, M.D. 

Good Samaritan Medical Center, Phoenix 

Internal Medicine 

California 

Bradley Berg, M.D. 

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles 

Pediatrics 

Julie Fuller, M.D. 

UC Irvine Medical Center, Irvine 


Tooraj Gravoori, M.D. 

UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles 

Neurosurgery 

Deirdre O’Reilly, M.D. 

UC San Francisco Medical Center, 

San Francisco 

Primary Pediatrics 

Rebecca Poage, M.D. 

Sutter Medical Center, Santa Rosa 

Family Practice 

Kristen Rathbun, M.D. 

University of California at Davis Medical Center, 

Sacramento 

General Surgery 

Alice Roberts, M.D., Ph.D. 

UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles 

Pathology 

Janet Wilson, M.D. 

Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, Santa Barbara 


Connecticut 

Simone DeVito, M.D. 

Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven 

Primary Medicine 

Jason Fung, M.D. 



Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri 

Dermatology 

Davis Nguyen, M.D. 


Preliminary Surgery 

Otolaryngology 

Illinois 

Aleda Jacobs, M.D. 

McGaw Medical Center, Chicago 

Plastic Surgery 

Imran Qureshi, M.D. 

Catholic Health/St. Joseph Hospital, Chicago 

Transitional 

Emory University School of Medicine, 

Atlanta, GA 

Diagnostic Radiology 

Thomas Valvano, M.D. 

Children’s Memorial Hospital, Chicago 

Pediatrics 

Leah Wendell, M.D. 

University of Chicago Hospital, Chicago 

Emergency Medicine 

Won-Sam Yi, M.D. 

Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Hospital, Chicago 

Preliminary Surgery 

Indiana 

Anupama Kurup, M.D. 

Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis 


Louisiana 

Young Kang, M.D. 

Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans 


Maryland 

Gary Noronha, M.D. 

Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore 


Massachusetts 

Kerri Aaron, M.D. 

Children’s Hospital, Boston 

Pediatrics 

Geetanjali Davuluri, M.D. 

B I Deaconess Medical Center, Boston 

Obstetrics/Gynecology 

Christopher Jalbert, M.D. 

Baystate Medical Center, Springfield 

Medicine/Pediatrics 

Rakhi Kohli, M.D. 



Rebecca Kuhns, M.D. 



Gregory Lewis, M.D. 

Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 


Jason Merola, M.D. 



Thuy Phung, M.D., Ph.D. 

Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston 

Pathology 

Jacqueline Rendo, M.D. 

University of Massachusetts Programs, Worcester 


Rose Shorter, M.D. 



James Tate, M.D. 

Boston University Medical Center, Boston 


Ziggy Yoediono, M.D. 

Harvard Longwood Psychiatry, Boston 

Psychiatry 

Michigan 

Jason Kahn, M.D. 

University of Michigan Hospitals, Ann Arbor 


Zachary Lewton, M.D. 

St. Joseph Mercy, Ann Arbor 

Preliminary Medicine 

Salvatore Pacella, M.D. 

University of Michigan Hospitals, Ann Arbor 


Missouri 

Jim Hsu, M.D. 

Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis 

Orthopaedic Surgery 

New Jersey 

Gina Zuniga, M.D. 

St. Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston 



ALUMNI NEWS 

New York 

Niteen Andalkar, M.D. 

SUNY Buffalo, Buffalo 

Neurosurgery 

Nydia Arzola, M.D. 

Memorial Sloan-Kettering, New York 


New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York 

Anesthesiology 

Garrett Bennett, M.D. 

New York University Medical Center, New York 

Otolaryngology 

Ericka Berger, M.D. 

Highland Hospital, Rochester 

Family Medicine 

Anthony Bibawy, M.D. 

Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester 


Sandra Bruno, M.D. 

Long Island Jewish Medical Center, 

New Hyde Park 

Pediatrics 

Stanley Bykov, M.D. 


Ophthalmology 

Jill Cholette, M.D. 



Karen Corrigan, M.D. 


Pediatrics 

Halana Dudock, M.D. 

Long Island Jewish Medical Center, 

New Hyde Park 

Psychiatry 

Ida Fox, M.D. 



Gwenda Goldman, M.D. 

North Shore University, Manhasset 



Anesthesiology 

Luke Handy, M.D. 



Mary Hartman, M.D. 


Pediatrics 

Bryan Henry, M.D. 



Ralph Jeudy, M.D. 

Stony Brook Teaching Hospital, Stony Brook 


James Kim, M.D., Ph.D. 



Debora Klein, M.D. 

SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse 

Pediatrics 

Junnie Mark, M.D. 

Beth Israel Medical Center, New York 


Kevin McGrody, M.D. 



Deborah Mulford, M.D. 



Michael Nead, M.D., Ph.D. 



Cathy Nguyen, M.D. 


Preliminary Medicine/Neurology 

Ophthalmology 

Louis Profenno, M.D., Ph.D. 


Psychiatry 

Alexander Rogers, M.D. 


Pediatrics 

Barry Ross, M.D. 



Phillip Ross, M.D. 

Memorial Sloan-Kettering, New York 

Research 

Michael Rossen, M.D. 



Nicholas Schmitt, M.D. 

St. Mary’s Hospital, Rochester 



Ophthalmology 

Timothy Shiuh, M.D. 



Lu-Ann Sortore, M.D. 

St. Joseph’s Hospital, Syracuse 


Hans Stohrer, M.D. 

Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, Elmhurst 


Andrew Swiderski, M.D. 


Pediatrics 

William Tew, M.D. 



Robert Thompson, M.D. 

Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York 


Patti Tingue, M.D. 



Ian Wilson, M.D. 

New York Hospital/Medical Center, Queens 

Transitional 



Brenda Wittman, M.D. 


Pediatrics 

Nasrene Yadegari, M.D. 

Albany Medical Center Hospital, Albany 


North Carolina 

Cynthia Johnson, M.D. 

Duke University Medical Center, Durham 


Oliver Medzihradsky, M.D. 

University of North Carolina Hospital, 

Chapel Hill 



ALUMNI NEWS 

Ohio 

Susannah Briskin, M.D. 

University Hospitals, Cleveland 

Pediatrics 

Sarah Coleman, M.D. 

Metrohealth Medical Center, Cleveland 


James Finigan, M.D. 

University Hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland 


Anthony Harris, M.D. 

University Hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland 


Oregon 

Nancy Schwartz, M.D. 

Oregon Health Science University, Portland 


Pennsylvania 

Shervondalonn Brown, M.D. 

University of Pittsburgh 


Erika Gaines, M.D. 

Lakenau Hospital, Wynnewood 


UMDNJ Robert Wood Johnson, Camden, NJ 

Dermatology 

Denise Lawe, M.D. 

Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia 


Leonard Levine, M.D. 

Children’s Hospital, Philadelphia 

Pediatrics 

Nina Phatak, M.D. 

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 

Philadelphia 


David Provenzano, M.D. 

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia 


Texas 

Louis Ramos, M.D. 

Baylor College of Medicine, Houston 


Utah 

Joseph Rasband, M.D. 

LDS Hospital, Salt Lake City 

Transitional 

University of Utah Affilitated Hospitals, Salt Lake City 


Vermont 

Hemant Sarin, M.D. 

University of Vermont/Fletcher Allen Health Care, 

Burlington 


Virginia 

Heather Evans, M.D. 

University of Virginia, Charlottesville 

Surgery 

Gayle Fischer, M.D. 

University of Virginia, Charlottesville 

Pediatrics 

Washington, DC 

Sepideh Chegini, M.D. 

George Washington Hospital 


Terri Holmes, M.D. 

Howard University Hospital 


Washington 

Tasha Taylor, M.D. 

University of Washington Affiliated Hospitals, Seattle 

Pediatrics 

S CHOLARSHIPS A WARDED 

We congratulate the following students, who 

received named scholarships during the 1998- 

99 school year. 

Charles R. Barber Scholar 

Jeffrey Chen (’00) 

Lucy R. Burne Scholar 

Isca Beswick (’01) 

Heather Kalejs (’01) 

Harvard Castle Scholar 

John Filippone (’01) 

Ophira Silbert (’01) 

Class of 1954 Scholar 

David Ozog (’00) 

Wilmot R. and Jean C. Craig Scholar 

Thomas O’Brien (’02) 

Sidney Feyder, M.D., Scholar 

Blake Yerman (’00) 

Jacob David Goldstein Memorial Scholar 

James Boehmler (’01) 

William B. and Phyllis H. Hawkins Scholar 

Alice Vestner (’00) 

Marvin J. Hoffman, M.D., Scholar 

Matt Basirico (’01) 

Brad Berg (’00) 

Heather Hall (’02) 

Shane Reeves (’02) 

Erik Thingvoll (’01) 

Dr. Helen Kingsbury Scholar 

James Tate (’00) 

Erika Weiss (’00 ) 

Carl and Leah Lichtman-Lubin Scholar 

Christina Eadie (’02 ) 

Light Family Medical Scholar 

Tamar Smith (’00) 

Helene E. and Arthur M. Lowenthal Scholar 

Kenya McIntosh (’02) 

William C. Manchester Scholar 

John Lovier (’00) 

William W. Stiles Scholar 

Trinh Bang (’02) 

Frances Hulbert White Scholar 

Catherine Rahilly (’02) 

Jean D. Watkeys, M.D., Scholar 

Lu-Ann Sortore (’00) 

Alvin L. Ureles, M.D., Scholar 

Chris LaChance (’00) 

Margaret MacMillan (’00) 


Robert Caldwell, M.D. (M ’61), chair of the Medical Alumni Council (center), and Elethea 

Caldwell, M.D. (R ’69) (right), chat with Jeremy Hirst (’02) and his parents at the Medicine 

and Music reception. 

Families and 

Friends Weekend 

April 9-10, 1999 

Kellijane Harding (’02) chats with her dad, 

Bruce, at one of the Friday afternoon sessions. 

Each year, the Medical Alumni Association hosts a 

weekend for parents and friends of first-year medical students— 

giving a glimpse into medical education. 

Eric Chang (’02) and his parents attended the sessions giving a first-hand look at the life of a first-year medical student. 


ALUMNI NEWS 

The School of Medicine welcomed five M.D./Ph.D. 

program alumni to its ranks. The Medical-Scientist 

Training Program is funded by the National Institutes 

of Health. Standing left to right: Louis Profenno, M.D., 

Ph.D., is completing his residency in psychiatry at New 

York Presbyterian Hospital; Alice Roberts, M.D., Ph.D., 

is a pathology resident at UCLA Medical Center; Michael 

Nead, M.D., Ph.D., A.O.A., is a resident at Strong Memorial 

Hospital in internal medicine; Thuy Phung, M.D., Ph.D., 

will complete a residency in pathology at Brigham and 

Women’s Hospital; and James Kim, M.D., Ph.D., is a 

resident in internal medicine at Strong Memorial Hospital. 

Class of 1999 

Commencement 

Michael M. Finigan, M.D. (M ’59), celebrates with his son, James H. Finigan, 

M.D. (M ’99), at the School of Medicine and Dentistry’s commencement, May 

23, 1999. James will serve his residency at University Hospitals of Cleveland 

in internal medicine. 

President Thomas H. Jackson confers an honorary degree on 

Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., while Edward M. Hundert, M.D., senior 

associate dean of medical education (far right), hoods him at the 

School of Medicine and Dentistry commencement ceremony. 

Dr. Fauci, a world-renowned AIDS researcher and director of the 

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a component 

of the National Institutes of Health, was the keynote speaker. 

Correction: Rochester Medicine regrets a photo identification error in the 

last issue. University of Rochester graduate Nancy Hamlin (M.B.A. ’80) was 

misidentified in the photo with her son, James Harris, M.D. (M ’98). 


ALUMNI NEWS 

Ph.D. Recipients 1998-1999 

ANATOMY 

Stephanos D. Kyrkanides, D.D.S., Ph.D. 

Postdoctoral fellow 

Center for Aging and Developmental Biology 

University of Rochester, 

Aab Institute for Biomedical Sciences 

Caroline W. Little, M.D., Ph.D. 

Psychiatry resident, Standford Health Services 

Deborah R. New, D.D.S., Ph.D. 

Dentist, private practice, Canandaigua, NY 

BIOCHEMISTRY 

Maged G. Ayad, D.D.S., Ph.D. 

Dentist, private practice, New York, NY 

Michael S. DeMott, Ph.D. 


Department of Cancer Cell Biology 

Harvard School of Public Health 

Jin Kyung Kim, Ph.D. 

Fourth-year medical student 


Medicine and Dentistry 

Yong Kim, Ph.D. 

Research fellow 

Department of Oral Medicine 

Harvard School of Dental Medicine 

Kirsty A. Lapan, Ph.D. 

Cubist, Inc., Boston, MA 

Kyu-Min Lee, Ph.D. 


NCI, National Institutes of Health 

Jeffrey A. Rumbaugh, Ph.D. 


University of Rochester School of Medicine and 

Dentistry 

Sherry L. Spinelli, Ph.D. 


Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics 


Xinping Zhang, Ph.D. 


Department of Rheumatology 


Zhang (Eric) Zhang, Ph.D. 

Graduate student 

Department of Computer Science 

Duke University, 

BIOPHYSICS 

Irene Georgakoudi, Ph.D. 


Massachusetts Institute of Technology 

Spectroscopy Laboratory 

Michael T. Milano, Ph.D. 


University of Rochester School of Medicine 

and Dentistry 

Matthew N. Rasband, Ph.D. 


Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, 

SUNY Stony Brook 

HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH 

Sharon Kay Palmiter, Ph.D. 

Consultant, Rochester Health Commission 

MICROBIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY 

Katherine Anne Clancy, Ph.D. 


Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, Division 

of Infectious Diseases, Seattle, WA 

Shekema Hodge, Ph.D. 

Research scientist 

Wyeth-Lederle Vaccines, Rochester, NY 

Jungeun Lee, Ph.D. 


Vaccinex, L.P., Rochester, NY 

Evangelia Morou-Bermudez, D.D.S., Ph.D. 

Assistant professor, Eastman Department of 

Dentistry, Pediatric Dentistry Clinic 

Rochester, NY 

Michael Nead, M.D., Ph.D. 

Internal medicine resident 

University of Rochester, Strong Memorial Hospital 

James T. Pearson, Ph.D. 


Protein Design Labs, Inc., Freemont, CA 

Ernest S. Smith, Ph.D. 

Director of molecular immunology 

Vaccinex, L.P., Rochester, NY 

Eugene Storozynsky, Ph.D. 



Medicine and Dentistry 

NEUROSCIENCE 

Tracy A. Callahan, Ph.D. 


Loyola University Medical Center, Department 

of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy 

Michael Gordon, Ph.D. 


Georgetown University, Georgetown Institute 

for Cognitive and Computations Science 

Alice A. Roberts, M.D., Ph.D. 

Pathology resident 

UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 

PATHOLOGY 

Ronshan Li, Ph.D. 


Tufts University, New England Medical Center, 

Boston, MA 

Thuy Linh Cao Nu Phung, M.D., Ph.D. 


Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA 

PHARMACOLOGY 

Lee Ann Higgins, Ph.D. 


Department of Medicinal Chemistry 

University of Seattle 

Vinita P. Uttamsingh, Ph.D. 


Astra Arcus USA 


ALUMNI NEWS 

PHYSIOLOGY 

Rebecca Parman Jaworski, Ph.D. 

Postdoctoral fellow, Department of 

Pharmacology 

University of California at San Diego 

TOXICOLOGY 

Edward G. Barrett, Ph.D. 


Lovelace Respiratory, Albuquerque, NM 

Clarice W. Chen, Ph.D. 


University of Pennsylvania School of 

Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 

Research Institute, Albuquerque, NM 

Jennifer L. Ingram, Ph.D. 


Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology 


Amy L. Lavin, Ph.D. 

Toxicologist 

Mitretek, McLean, VA 

Matthew R. Yudt, Ph.D. 


National Institute of 

Environmental Health Sciences, 

Research Triangle Park, NC 

Andrew D. Wallace, Ph.D. 


National Institute of 

Environmental Health Sciences, 

Research Triangle Park, NC 

ALL 

ALUMNI RECEP TION 

Left to right: Philip P. Bonanni, M.D. (M ’64, R ’71), 

Stuart E. Herlands, M.D. (R ’95), and Nicole Herlands 

Left to right: Kathryn Kern, M.D. (M ’56) and William A. Kern, M.D. (M ’56) 

An all-alumni reception during 

the American College of Physicians 

Conference in New Orleans was 

held in April. William Hall, M.D. 

(M ’64), chief of the general 

medicine/geriatric unit, and 

director of geriatrics programs at 

the University of Rochester Medical 

Center, hosted this popular annual 

alumni event. 


ALUMNI NEWS 

Barry Rifkin, D.D.S., 

Ph.D. (R ’69, D ’74), 

Named SUNY 

Stony Brook Dean 

Barry R. Rifkin, D.D.S., Ph.D. (R ’69, D ’74), 

former director of the Division of Basic Sciences 

at the University of Rochester School of 

Medicine and Dentistry, has been named dean 

of the School of Dental Medicine at the State 

University of New York at Stony Brook. 

Rifkin joins Stony Brook after steering the 

Division of Basic Sciences at the University of 

Rochester through many changes, including a 

dramatic increase in federally funded research. 

During his tenure at the University of 

Barry R. Rifkin, D.D.S., Ph.D. (R ’69, D ’74) 

Rochester, Rifkin also implemented extensive 

course restructuring that gained the division a 

reputation of excellence in both teaching and 

research. 

In addition to his accomplishments as an 

administrator, Rifkin has stayed active in the 

research community, maintaining a laboratory 

devoted to understanding bone resception and 

osteoclast biology. 

Rifkin is senior editor of the book The 

Biology and Physiology of the Osteoclast. He 

is also on the editorial board of the Journal 

of Dental Research and an ad hoc reviewer 

for numerous biomedical journals. He is a 

member of the American Association for 

Advancement of Science and the American 

Association for Dental Research, among other 

professional societies. 

Jules Cohen, M.D. (M ’57), 

Receives the 

Albert David Kaiser Medal 

Jules Cohen, M.D. (M ’57), professor of 

medicine (cardiology) and former senior 

associate dean for medical education at the 

University of Rochester Medical Center, was 

honored with the Albert David Kaiser Medal 

by the Rochester Academy of Medicine. 

The honor, the Academy’s highest, was 

awarded to Dr. Cohen for his distinguished 

service in medicine, public health, and 

community welfare. The honor was initiated 

in 1939 to recognize the work of Rochester 

pediatrician Albert David Kaiser, M.D. 

Dr. Cohen’s recent scholarly work focuses 

on medical education and its outcomes, 

determinants of institutional education 

change, and public policy related to 

undergraduate and graduate medical 

education. His current work in cardiology 

relates principally to clinical service. Research 

funded by the National Institutes of Health 

has involved studies of cardiomyopathy, 

the role of endocrine factors in control of 

cardiac protein synthesis and development of 

cardiac hypertrophy, and the influence of 

hemoglobin function on oxygen transport. 

Jules Cohen, M.D. (M ’57) 

Irwin N. Frank, M.D. (M ’54) 

Irwin N. Frank, M.D. (M ’54), 

Appointed President-Elect 

of American 

Urological Association 

Irwin N. Frank, M.D., professor emeritus 

of urology at the University of Rochester 

Medical Center, has been appointed 

president-elect of the American Urological 

Association (AUA). 

With over 13,000 members, the AUA is 

the largest urological organization in the 

world. Its mission is to promote the highest 

standards of urological clinical care through 

education, research, and the formulation 

of health care policy. 

Dr. Frank will assume the AUA presidency 

in May 2000, and will serve on its board as 

president-elect, president, and past president. 

Dr. Frank has enjoyed a distinguished career 

that includes 38 years at the University of 

Rochester Medical Center, where he was chair 

of the Department of Urology, senior director 

and medical director of Strong Memorial 

Hospital, senior associate dean for clinical 

affairs at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, 

and professor of health services. He has 

authored or co-authored over 50 journal 

publications and numerous textbook chapters. 


ALUMNI NEWS 

Fund Established to 

Support the Daniel Latchney 

Memorial Lecture and Prize 

A memorial fund has been established in 

honor of Daniel P. Latchney, M.D. (M ’82, 

R ’86), who died suddenly on July 3, 1998, 

at the age of 42. 

Dr. Latchney’s passion was to provide 

quality medical care and meet the complex 

needs of the elderly patient population. This 

passion was actively reflected in his career. 

Whether working as medical director at The 

Highlands at Pittsford, teaching medical 

residents at Strong Memorial Hospital, or 

developing programs for the outpatient 

geriatric patient population, he embodied 

personal and professional integrity and 

dedication to quality clinical care. 

A memorial fund in his name will support 

an annual education lecture for the 

Department of Medicine at the University of 

Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. 

The Daniel Latchney Memorial Lecture will be 

presented annually at a Strong Memorial Hospital 

Grand Rounds by an outstanding clinician whose 

work advances the field of primary care or geriatrics. 

The Daniel Latchney Memorial Prize will be 

awarded to a third-year resident who demonstrates 

the highest level of quality and compassionate 

care in the field of primary care or geriatrics. 

The planning committee is comprised of: Mrs. 

Lisa Latchney, Mary C. Labanowski, M.D. (M ’83, 

R ’86), Lynn S. Bickley, M.D. (M ’82), Joseph M. 

Serletti, M.D. (M ’82), Donovan O. Holder, M.D. 

(M ’82), Steven D. Lasser, M.D. (M ’82), Karen E. 

Mead, M.D. (R ’84), Joyce Chu, M.D. (R ’86), Paul 

C. Levy, M.D. (R ’85), Dave R. Lambert, M.D., and 

Michelle Freemer, M.D. (M ’95). 

Contributions to the fund in memory 

of Dr. Latchney are being accepted. For 

more information, or to make a contribution, 

contact the University of Rochester, 

Office of Annual Giving, R.C. Box 278996, 

300 East River Road, Rochester, NY 14627, 

or call (716) 273-5945. 

Daniel P. Latchney (M ’82, R ’86) 

Author! Author! 

University of Rochester alumni who have 

written books are welcome to submit a copy 

and any additional information to the Medical 

Alumni Relations Office for mention in future 

issues of Rochester Medicine. We will gladly 

return your books, or donate them to the Edward 

G. Miner Library upon your request. 

Here’s one alumni who has recently published: 

Nicolas Cohen, Ph.D. (D ’66) 

Drawing upon the insights of numerous 

current and former graduate students, this book 

presents a rich portrayal of the intellectual and 

emotional challenges inherent in becoming a 

scientist, and offers the informed, practical 

advice a “best friend” would give about each 

stage of the graduate school experience. 

This book prepares students for each 

stage of the experience. They will learn 

what to expect—socially, psychologically, 

and academically. 

The authors—Dale F. Bloom, Ph.D., 

Jonathan D. Karp, Ph.D., and Nicholas 

Cohen, Ph.D. (D ’66)—provide students 

with valuable insight and reveal the 

generally unspoken “rules of the game.” 

One reader wrote: “From choosing a 

graduate school to tying up the loose ends of 

your dissertation, this book explains just 

what you can expect from this exhilarating, 

unnerving, and sometimes overwhelming 

experience. I wish this book had been 

available when I was applying to graduate 

schools! I highly recommend it to anyone, 

whether they are simply considering going to 

graduate school or are weeks away from a 

defense date.” 

For more reviews, go to amazon.com. 


CLASS NOTES 

1944 

Paul R. Schloerb, M.D., professor of surgery 

and director of the Nutritional Support Service 

at the University of Kansas Medical Center, has 

posted a computer-assisted nutritional support 

algorithm on the Web at cansa.kumc.edu. 

1949 

William O. Robertson, Jr., M.D., was 

awarded the prestigious 1998 American 

Academy of Pediatrics Medical Education 

Lifetime Achievement Award. He lives in 

Seattle, WA. 

1957 

Richard F. Bakemeier, M.D., 

recently received the Margaret Hay 

Edwards Achievement Medal of the 

American Association for Cancer 

Education for Outstanding Contributions 

to Cancer Education. Dr. Bakemeier 

currently serves as chair of the University 

of Colorado Health Services Center 

Faculty Assembly. 

Jules Cohen, M.D. (BA ’53), professor of 

medicine and former senior associate dean 

for medical education at the University of 

Rochester, was awarded the Albert David Kaiser 

Medal by the Rochester Academy of Medicine. 

C. McCollister Evarts, M.D., was honored 

when the Pennsylvania State College of 

Medicine established a faculty chair in his 

honor. Dr. Evarts was also appointed vice 

president for health affairs and dean of the 

Pennsylvania State University College of 

Medicine, as well as serving as senior vice 

president of clinical operations for the Milton S. 

Hershey Medical Center and chief academic 

officer of the Pennsylvania State Geisinger 

Health System. 

Class of ’59 

Frank C. Cegelski, M.D. (R), retired 

in 1999 and is living in Rochester and 

Naples, FL. 

Michael B. Sporn, M.D., the Oscar M. 

Cohn ’34 Professor at Dartmouth Medical 

School, was awarded the Bristol-Meyers 

Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement 

in Cancer Research. 

1960 

William A. Peck, M.D., executive vice 

chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the 

Washington University School of Medicine, 

was elected to the Institute of Medicine. Dr. 

Peck also became chair of the Association of 

American Medical Colleges last November. 

1962 

Arthur Moss, M.D., and other researchers 

at the University of Rochester Medical Center 

linked defects in three specific genes directly 

to the progress of a form of heart disease, 

coupling for the first time the presence of 

defective genes to the course that patients can 

expect the disease to take throughout their 

lifetime. The work on Long QT Syndrome, a 

heart-rhythm disorder that afflicts an estimated 

25,000 Americans and kills at least 3,000 of 

them without warning each year, was reported 

in the October 1 issue of the New England 

Journal of Medicine. Go to 

http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/urmc/PR/news/ 

Moss2.htm for more information. 

1964 

Jan A. Fawcett, M.D. (R), is the director of 

the Rush Institute for Mental Well-Being, where 

people from religious communities can receive 

mental health services. 

Thomas G. Pretlow, M.D., professor of 

pathology at Case Western University School 

of Medicine, is researching prostate cancer with 

the goal of designing a model environment 

in which most prostate cancers will grow and 

can be tested. 

1965 

Harvey D. Preisler, M.D., was awarded 

a $10 million grant to study preleukemic 

bone marrow disorders and the resulting 

acute leukemias. 

1969 

Norman P. Spack, M.D., returned full time 

to Children’s Hospital in Boston, where he is 

the director of clinical operations for the 

Endocrine Division. 

Lee A. Witters, M.D., the Eugene W. Leonard 

Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at 

Dartmouth Medical School, is co-chairing 

the Gordon Research Conference on second 

messengers and protein phosphorylation. The 

Dartmouth Council of Student Organizations 

also named Dr. Witters Faculty Advisor of the 

Year for his service to the premedical Nathan 

Smith Society. 

1971 

Ralph G. Walton, M.D., has been named 

acting chairperson of the Department of 

Psychiatry at Northeastern Ohio Universities 

College of Medicine. 


CLASS NOTES 

1974 

Richard A. Aronson, M.D., M.P.H., chief 

medical officer for Family and Community 

Health for the State of Wisconsin Department of 

Health, received two awards. The Wisconsin 

Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics 

selected him as the 1999 Wisconsin 

Pediatrician of the Year and the Wisconsin 

Public Health Association awarded him the 

Special Achievement in Public Health Award 

for “outstanding contributions to public 

health.” Also this year, he was appointed to 

the Editorial Board of the journal Pediatrics. 

Timothy J. Kinsella, M.D., professor and 

chairman of the Department of Radiation 

Oncology at Case Western Reserve University 

School of Medicine and University Hospitals 

of Cleveland, is involved in the introduction 

of the Gamma Knife, a new treatment 

option for patients with tumors and vascular 

malformations in the brain. 

1975 

Dwight Davis, M.D., assistant dean of 

admissions and professor of medicine in 

cardiology at Pennsylvania State College of 

Medicine, was named associate dean for 

admissions and student affairs. 

1976 

Michael Pichichero, M.D. (R ’79), was 

published in the Journal of the American 

Medical Association in an editorial that calls 

for physicians to more accurately diagnose 

acute otis media (ear infections) and to 

substantially shorten the course of antibiotic 

treatment. His editorial appeared with a study 

that challenges the way physicians treat ear 

infections in children. 

1977 

Nagendra Nadaraja, M.D. (R), 

chairman of the Department of Surgery at 

Unity Health System, received an Award of Merit 

from the Rochester Academy of Medicine. 

1978 

Richard S. Constantino, M.D., appeared 

on the cover of the Genesee/Finger Lakes 

Region Edition of M.D. News for September/ 

October 1998, highlighting his dedication to 

patient-focused care in a time of managed 

care. Dr. Constantino, president of Rochester 

General Hospital, also maintains a practice 

in internal medicine. 

Randy Rosier, M.D., Ph.D. (Ph.D. ’79), 

of the University of Rochester was awarded a 

$1.1 million grant by the National Institutes 

of Health to determine what causes the 

deterioration of cartilage, a condition that 

leads to an estimated 20-30 million Americans 

seeking treatment for osteoarthritis every year. 

1979 

Susan M. Stine, M.D., Ph.D., assistant 

professor of psychiatry and director of the 

Opiate Treatment Program at Yale University 

College of Medicine, edited the book New 

Treatments in Opiate Dependence. 

1980 

Donald R. Bordley, M.D., associate chair 

for education, residency program director, and 

associate professor of medicine at the University 

of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, 

has been appointed to the U.S. Medical 

Licensing Examination Step 2 Test Material 

Development Committee for Medicine. 

Karl L. Insogna, M.D., associate professor 

of internal medicine (endocrinology) at Yale 

University School of Medicine, was elected as 

a fellow of the American Association for 

the Advancement of Science. Dr. Insogna is 

currently working to explain the underlying 

mechanisms of osteoporosis. 

1981 

Bradford C. Berk, M.D. Ph.D., a nationally 

recognized expert on the molecular biology and 

genetics of cardiovascular disease, has 

been appointed chief of cardiology at 

the University of Rochester Medical 

Center and director of the Center for 

Cardiovascular Research, a component of 

the Aab Institute of Biomedical Sciences. See 

article, page 6. 

1982 

Harold L. Paz, M.D., dean of the Robert 

Wood Johnson Medical School, was involved 

with the creation of RWJMS’s “mini-medical 

school.” The purpose of the school is to educate 

members of the community about topics such 

as women’s health, heart disease, and sports 

medicine, so they can be better prepared if they 

ever become a patient of the hospital. 

1983 

Karen Carroll, M.D. (R), associate 

professor of pathology and adjunct professor 

of internal medicine at the University of Utah 

School of Medicine, received the Gender Equity 

Award from the Utah Chapter of the American 

Medical Women’s Association. Dr. Carroll 

was presented the award last summer for her 

efforts to promote a gender-fair environment 

for physicians’ education and training. 


CLASS NOTES 

Marin N. Kollef, M.D., associate professor of 

medicine and director of the medical intensive 

care unit at Washington University School of 

Medicine, was the leading recipient of 

Innovations grants for investigating new 

ideas for improving health care. Dr. Kollef 

was principal investigator for three of the five 

studies in which he participated. He researched 

the dilemma of when a patient should be 

weaned from the ventilator and developed 

a new weaning procedure, consisting of a 

step-by-step protocol. Dr. Kollef tested his 

procedure with Innovation grant money and 

had successful results. 

Wayne J. Sebastianelli, M.D., was granted 

tenure as associate professor of orthopaedics 

and rehabilitation at Pennsylvania State 

University College of Medicine. 

1984 

Scott L. Mader, M.D. (R), received a 

$25,000 grant from the Oregon Health 

Service Foundation to study mechanisms of 

age-impaired vasorelaxation. Dr. Mader is an 

associate professor of medicine (gerontology) 

and associate chief of staff of gerontology at 

Oregon Health Systems. 

David Schechter, M.D., is practicing 

cardiology in Jerusalem. Dr. Schechter, his wife, 

Zehava, and their three children live in Efrat. 

1985 

Steven Schechter, M.D., is a colon and 

rectal surgeon and a clinical assistant professor 

at Brown University. Dr. Schechter and his 

wife, Naomi, live in Providence, RI, with their 

four children. 

1986 

Jeffrey M. Lyness, M.D., director of the 

Laboratory of Depression and Medical 

Comorbidity in the Program in Geriatrics and 

Neuropsychiatry at the University of Rochester, 

is conducting a study to determine whether 

Prozac relieves the mild depression often 

experienced by older people. 

1987 

Richard A. Marottoli, M.D., M.P.H. (R), is 

developing ways at the Yale University School of 

Medicine to assess and improve driving skills in 

older persons at risk for having accidents. 

1989 

Christopher J. Cove, M.D. (R), 

returned in October to the University of 

Rochester Medical Center, where he is assistant 

director of the Cardiac Catheterization 

Laboratory. 

Steven D. Hanks, M.D. (R), has 

become the chief medical officer for the 

Rochester Community Individual Practice 

Association, Inc. (RCIPA). In this capacity, 

Dr. Hanks is responsible for providing medical 

administrative oversight to the RCIPA family 

of health care products. 

1992 

Bernie J. Plansky, M.D., is married, 

healthy, and has a new home. Dr. Plansky, 

who recently finished an academic sabbatical 

in the neurosciences, hopes to become more 

involved in teaching over the next few years. 

1993 

Christopher Janowski, M.D., is on the 

consulting staff at the Mayo Clinic and on the 

faculty of the Mayo Medical School. 

1995 

B. Douglas Smith, M.D. (R), joined the 

faculty at The Johns Hopkins University School 

of Medicine following a three-year fellowship 

in medical oncology. Clinical interests include 

acute leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, 

and autoimmune diseases. Laboratory studies 

evolve around improving our understanding 

of drug resistance and developing approaches 

to circumvent pan-drug resistance in cancer. 

Dr. Smith married Mary Bubala in 1996, and 

they had a son, Nathan, in December 1998. 

The Smiths live in Baltimore. 

1996 

Paula J. Busse, M.D., has begun a 

fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital in 

allergy/immunology. 

Susan Robinson, M.D., is chief resident at 

Strong Memorial Hospital for 1999-2000. 

David W. Toth, M.D., is beginning a 

three-year fellowship in endocrinology and 

metabolism at the University of Virginia. 

1998 

Gregory P. Conners M.D., (M.P.H.), 

assistant professor of emergency medicine and 

pediatrics at the University of Rochester, was 

awarded the Kluge Trauma and Emergency 

Medical Services Award by the Rochester 

Academy of Medicine. 


The New Double Helix Curriculum Needs Your Support 

asic science 

Continuing a long-recognized 

tradition of excellence and 

innovation in medical education, 

the University of Rochester School 

of Medicine and Dentistry has 

launched a comprehensive new 

curriculum, the “Double 

Helix”—so called because it 

weaves the learning of basic 

science and the learning of 

clinical medicine through all four 

years of medical school, like the 

two strands of a double helix. 

The principles underlying this 

innovative curriculum, which 

began with the entering class of 

1999, provide a response to the 

changing demands of medical 

education for the 21st century. 

“This new concept integrates a 

truly interdisciplinary curriculum 

focused on launching a lifetime of 

learning medicine,” says Edward 

M. Hundert, M.D., senior associate 

dean for medical education. 

In addition to integrating basic 

and clinical sciences, the new 

curricular design is based on 

competencies, objectives, outcomes, 

adult learning principles, 

modern assessment techniques, 

and continuous improvement. 

Each element of the curriculum is 

meant to strengthen and enhance 

Rochester’s biopsychosocial 

tradition by combining cuttingedge, 

evidence-based medical 

science with the relationshipcentered 

art that has been 

medicine’s distinctive trademark 

through the ages. 

The Double Helix Curriculum 

Fund has been established 

to help meet the significant 

transitional costs associated 

with such a fundamental 

curriculum reform. 

To make a contribution, or to 

receive instructions on giving 

appreciated securities, you may 

complete the giving envelope in 

this issue of Rochester Medicine 

and write “Double Helix Fund” 

on the envelope and on your 

check, or contact: 

The Medical Center 

Development Office 


School of Medicine and Dentistry 

300 East River Road 

R.C. Box 278996 

Rochester, NY 14627-8996 

1 (800) 333-4428 

E-mail: 

alumni@urmc.rochester.edu 

medical education 


IN MEMORIAM 

Harry W. Fischer, M.D. 

In Memoriam 

In 

Harry W. Fischer, 

Memoriam 

M.D. (R ’55) 

Harry W. Fischer, M.D., former chair of the 

Department of Radiology, died on November 1, 

1998. He was 77. 

In the course of his teaching career at 

the universities of Iowa, Michigan, and 

Rochester, Dr. Fischer was a pioneer in the 

research of diagnostic techniques. At the time of 

his retirement in 1991, he was known 

as one of the world’s foremost experts on 

the use of contrast material. 

Memorial contributions may be made to 

the H.W. Fischer Research Fund, c/o University 

of Rochester Medical Center (Box 648, 601 

Elmwood Avenue, Rochester, NY 14642). 

Emanuel (Manny) Goldberg 

(B ’32, M.S. ’35) 

Emanuel (Manny) Goldberg, founder 

of Nalge Co. and staunch friend of the 

University of Rochester’s School of Medicine 

and Dentistry, died on January 3, 1999. 

Goldberg graduated from the University of 

Rochester with a bachelor’s and master’s 

degree, both in chemistry. 

Along with his wife, Nathalie, and their son 

and daughter, Goldberg established the 

Emanuel Goldberg Family Lecture in 1985. 

The purpose of this annual lecture is to 

enhance knowledge of the neurological 

sciences and bring both researchers and 

funding into the field. 

Goldberg had many connections to the 

University outside of the lecture. He was a 

life member of the President’s Society, a life 

trustee of the school, and served on the 

board of directors of Eastman Dental School. 

He also made numerous other contributions to 

the school. 

The University wasn’t the only benefactor 

of Goldberg’s goodwill. He and his wife 

also supported numerous other charitable 

foundations in the Rochester area and abroad. 

Lawrence J. Radice, M.D. 

(M ’34) 

Lawrence Radice, M.D., died on January 4, 

1999, at 91. He practiced neuropsychiatry for 

65 years and established a neurological clinic 

at Millard Fillmore Hospital in Buffalo. 

Dr. Radice taught at the University of Buffalo 

Medical School, was a staff member of several 

Buffalo area hospitals, and was a pioneer in 

the use of the drug Dilantin. 

He was a member of the American 

Medical Association, the Erie County Medical 

Association, the American Neurological 

Association, and the American Psychiatric 

Association. 

In Me 

Emanuel Goldberg 

In Memoriam 


IN MEMORIAM 

In Memoriam 

the Hib vaccine. The award is one of the 

moriumat Praxis. 

In Mem 

Children’s Research Center. “He 

David H. Smith, M.D. (M ’58) 

Former chief of pediatrics David H. 

Smith, M.D., who co-invented a vaccine 

that has saved the lives of thousands of 

children, died February 23. He was 67. 

Dr. Smith helped invent a vaccine that 

has almost eradicated childhood bacterial 

meningitis in America, Australia, and 

several European countries. 

“David made our world a safer place 

for our children and for generations of 

children to come,” said Jay H. Stein, M.D., 

senior vice president and vice provost of 

health affairs and Medical Center and 

Strong Health CEO. 

Dr. Smith and co-inventor Porter 

Anderson, Ph.D., worked on the vaccine 

while both were at the University of 

Rochester. Dr. Smith spun off a local 

company, Praxis Biologics, in the former 

St. Agnes High School on East River Road, 

to continue work on the vaccine. 

After the vaccine went on the market, 

cases of Haemophilus influenzae type b 

infection plummeted—from 20,000 in 

1987 to 81 in 1997, according to federal 

statistics. “Hib” is a bacteria that can cause 

childhood meningitis, paralysis, blindness, 

deafness, mental retardation, and death. 

“The impact on a major childhood 

disease has been astounding,” said Peter 

Paradiso, M.D., who worked with Dr. Smith 

The technology used in the vaccine is 

now being used to develop vaccines against 

other types of bacteria, he said. Colleagues 

described Dr. Smith, who died of a form 

of skin cancer, as a visionary who always 

found a way around obstacles. “He formed 

his own company because no drug companies 

would manufacture the vaccine,” 

said Richard Insel, M.D., director of Strong 

mortgaged his own house to start it.” 

Dr. Smith was a talented businessman. 

He got others to invest in his company, ran 

it himself from 1983-89 and negotiated its 

sale in 1989 to American Cyanamid for 

$232 million. The original company, 

now called Wyeth-Lederle Vaccines, is still 

in Rochester. 

Dr. Smith was born in Canton, Ohio, 

and graduated from Ohio Wesleyan 

University in 1953. He received his 

medical degree from the University of 

Rochester in 1958 and went on to train at 

Children’s Hospital in Boston and at 

Harvard Medical School. From the late 

1960s to 1976, he was chief of infectious 

diseases at Children’s Hospital in Boston 

and from 1976-83 chaired pediatrics at 

the University of Rochester. He left in 1983 

to found Praxis. 

His honors were many. In 1996, he and 

Anderson received the Lasker Clinical 

Medical Research Award for their work on 

most prestigious in the country. The same 

year, Dr. Smith received the Pasteur Award 

from the World Health Organization. 

Dr. Smith is survived by his wife, 

Joan, of New York and Rochester; three 

daughters, Andrea and Rachel of New York 

City and Jennifer of Takoma Park, Md.; 

two stepdaughters, Jody Leader of 

Brookline, Mass., and Kristin Leader of 

Rome, Italy; a brother, Richard of 

Delaware, Ohio; and five granddaughters. 

In Memoriam 

Source: Adapted from the Democrat and 

Chronicle, February 25, 1999. 


IN MEMORIAM 

1933 1942 1951 

Lloyd C. Miller, Ph.D. Charles Gaylord, M.D. Lloyd J. Filer, Jr., M.D. 

Escondido, CA Edwards, CO Iowa City, IA 

In Memoriam 

1934 1944 David Linder, M.D. 

Harold A. Cole, M.D. Thomas B. Lawley, M.D. Portland, OR 

Pomona, CA 

Tacoma, WA 

1954 

Lawrence J. Radice, M.D. Frank D. Ruhstaller, M.D. Douglas R. Hill, M.D. 

New York, NY Stockton, CA South Portland, ME 

Philip Berton Wasserman, M.D. 1945 1956 

Cincinnati, OH Orlando J. Andy, M.D. John S. Wiberg, M.D. 

Madison, MS 

Pittsford, NY 

1935 

Francis B. Carroll, M.D. Herbert A. Lautz, M.D. 1960 

Hopkinton, NH Munster, IN Charles R. Angel, M.D. 

Sun City Center, FL 

1936 1946 

Donald H. Kariher, M.D. Albert O. Daniels, M.D. 1962 

Venice, FL Tempe, AZ Joseph R. Shaeffer III, M.D. 

Lexington, MA 

Charles D. Kochakian, M.D. 

James A. Rafferty, M.D. 

Birmingham, AL Studio City, CA 1974 

Richard F. Engert, M.D. 

1939 Frank D. Ruhstaller, M.D. Webster, NY 

Arthur E. Merz, M.D. 

Stockton, CA 

Baldwin, NY 1980 

In 

1948 

Memoriam 

Richard Lawrence Baker, M.D. 

1940 David Wheelock Alling, M.D. Quitman, GA 

Robert J. McManus, M.D. 

Bethesda, MD 

Auburn, NY 

1949 

J. Thomas Payne, M.D. 

Seattle, WA 

Memoriam 


George Hoyt Whipple, Instructor (standing) 1950 



Laboratories, 1957 

Carl Mason, Instructor, (standing) 1950


School of Medicine and Dentistry 

Box 643 

601 Elmwood Avenue 

Rochester, New York 14642 

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Rochester, N.Y.

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