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EARLY SIGNSAs Robert Rogers sat on hisporch preparing to give a classon saline lung flushing, his 11-year-old son approached himand asked:“What are you doing?”“Preparing a lecture on lungwashing,” Rogers said.The boy disappeared; ahalf-hour later, he handed hisdad a drawing.“My Dad The Lungwhasher”(sic) was the firsteditorial cartoon by Robert“Rob” Rogers, on staff at thePittsburgh Post-Gazette since1993; his work is now syndicatednationwide.When Rob Rogers startedhis professional cartooningcareer in 1984 at the PittsburghPress, his family often servedas muse and model. In themeantime, his father, a Pittprofessor of medicine since theearly ’80s, founded the department’sPulmonary, Allergy,and Critical Care Division, aswell as the clinical pulmonaryphysiology lab at UPMCPresbyterian. Artistry runs inthe family: The elder Rogerspaints. —Meghan HolohanCOURTESY ROB ROGERSAppointmentsThomas Gleason, an expert in aortic surgery, has joined Pitt. The cardiacsurgeon’s proficiency runs the gamut from the mending of aortic aneurysmsto the repair of aortic and mitral valves.Gleason, an MD, comes to Pitt from Northwestern University’sFeinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Here, he has become thedirector of the Center for Thoracic Aortic Disease at the UPMCHeart, Lung, and Esophageal Surgery Institute. He serves as associateprofessor of cardiac surgery in the School of Medicine.In addition to assuming his surgical responsibilities, GleasonGleason will oversee clinical and translational research aimed at treatingthose with thoracic, aortic, and valve-related diseases.In many cases, asthma is a nuisance, making people reliant oninhalers or oral medication so that they can breathe freely. Inother instances, asthma can be debilitating. New Pitt med recruitSally Wenzel focuses on the latter cases.WenzelFormerly a professor of medicine at the National Jewish Medicaland Research Center at the University of Colorado Health SciencesCenter in Denver, the MD plans to continue to develop treatments forsevere asthma at Pitt. Here, she’ll hold the positions of professor of medicinein the Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Division and director ofits Asthma, Allergy, and Airway Research Center. Wenzel explores geneticfactors contributing to severe asthma. She also hopes to further delineatethe physiological differences that separate severe asthmatics from thosewith mild and moderate cases.While at the Cleveland Clinic, obstetrician Stephen Emery wasamong the first to perform a procedure that used a needle andballoon catheter to penetrate a mother’s uterus and restoreblood flow in a fetal heart. Left untreated, the defect preventsEmeryorgan growth and can necessitate a heart transplant. Since coming toPitt, Emery has taught the technique to physicians here and says theyare ready to perform it in Pittsburgh.Emery joins the Pitt faculty after serving as cofounder and codirectorof the Fetal Care Center at the Cleveland Clinic and assistant professor atthe Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western ReserveUniversity.At Pitt, Emery serves as assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology,and reproductive sciences. He is pulling together a multidisciplinary teamof surgeons, radiologists, and other specialists to join Magee-WomensHospital of UPMC’s Center for Fetal Medicine, which he leads. He plans todevelop a comprehensive program for fetal intervention. —JM6 PITTMED
CLOSERCLOSERPRE PITT MEDAlexis Chidi doesn’t know if shewants to get her MD immediatelyor after earning a master’s degreein public health. She’s captivatedby basic neuroscience, yeteconomics, French, and politicalscience intrigue her as well.As a University of Pittsburghrising junior, the Rancho PalosVerdes, Calif., native has sometime to make her decision. Chidiknows that if she finishes herundergrad years with a 3.7 GPA orhigher and participates in appropriatemedicine-related extracurricularactivites, she’s guaranteedadmission to the School of Medicine.The “freshman guarantees”program attracts top high schoolersto Pitt by promising them aplace in the University’s graduateand professional schools. Theprogram accepts about five premedstudents a year.Chidi has a relaxed mannerwhich belies her drive. Afterher freshman year at Pitt—shematriculated at 16—Chidi did asummer undergrad research fellowshipat the California Instituteof Technology, during which shestudied language generation asit relates to defects of the corpuscallosum, the structure that connectsthe brain’s hemispheres.She developed and led theproject and, as she says jokingly,“Got a team of grad students topush around.”This summer, she may investigatestem cell research througha National Science Foundationprogram. Or, maybe, land a publichealth internship in GovernorArnold Schwarzenegger’s office.Perhaps she’ll work on a servicelearningproject in Tanzania. Orshe might just take some morecourses in organic chemistry.Chidi says she’ll figure it allout between classes, sorority soccerteam games, and her dutiesrelated to serving in the studentgovernment, as vice presidentof her sorority, and on the PittProgram Council.—Joe Miksch—Photo by Derek WahilaSUMMER MONTH 2007 2005 75
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Page 11 and 12: COURTESY J. OCHOAJuan Ochoa started
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Page 15 and 16: COVER STORYA BETTER LIFE FOR THEIR
Page 17 and 18: OPPOSITE PAGE AND BELOW: Pediatrici
Page 19 and 20: OPPOSITE PAGE: Dustin Hahn, who has
Page 21: FEATUREWHOSE LAST WISHES DO WE HONO
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Page 36 and 37: ATTENDINGRuminations on the medical
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Page 40 and 41: ROBERT BASFORDAUG. 21, 1923-MAR. 11
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