changing the course of stroke - New Jersey Medical School ...

Prestigious
Fellowship for
Tom Denny
The researcher began his career at New
Jersey Medical School in 1983. He’s now
learning the political “ropes” in Washington
and simultaneously managing a multi-million
dollar federal appropriation to set up a
vaccine reference lab at NJMS.
HOMAS N. DENNY, MSc, assistant professor of pathology,
laboratory medicine and pediatrics at NJMS, was
T one of seven health professionals named Robert Wood
Johnson Health Policy Fellows for 2002–2003 by the Institute
of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies.The fellows are
all midcareer health professionals working in academic and
community-based settings and were chosen on a competitive
basis from nominations.
For three months starting in September, the researcher participated
in an orientation designed to familiarize fellows with the
public-policy process and government health and biomedical
research activities. Denny spent full days learning about current
health issues, federal health and research agencies, principal congressional
committees active in health affairs and major healthinterest
groups.
In December, the fellows moved on to part two of their orientation—organized
by the American Political Science
Association in conjunction with its Congressional Fellowship
Program—to give them a broadened perspective on the range of
public-policy issues and the political process. During this time,
they interviewed for their work assignments in the offices of senators
and representatives in Congress and the executive branch.
Denny began working with the U.S. Senate Committee on
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on January 6. His first
assignment was to work on a global HIV/AIDS bill, followed by
biodefense, and vaccine compensation/liability legislation. As
staff to the committee, he works closely with its members to get
legislation passed.
Denny, who is also director of the Center for Laboratory
Investigation at NJMS, has studied host defense mechanisms in
response to tumors and infectious diseases for 20 years. He has
served on a number of committees for the NIH-NIAID Division
of AIDS as part of the HIV clinical trials program. In
1997, he received a NIH HIV Innovative Vaccine Grant award
to study a new method of vaccine delivery. He has authored and
co-authored more than 70 peer-reviewed papers.
Denny has also been active in his home town, serving on the
Cranford Board of Education, the Cranford Township Committee
and as mayor.
In response to the terror attacks of 9/11, Denny established a
study on UMDNJ’s Newark campus to assess immunologic
memory/responses in individuals who had previously received
smallpox vaccinations. He is currently analyzing interim data
from the study. His next venture will be to set up a reference
laboratory at NJMS to support NIH trials for smallpox vaccine
and potential vaccines for anthrax and other agents. ●
PETER BYRON NEW JERSEY MEDICAL SCHOOL 7