March 2024 Faculty Appointments and Promotions
Congratulations to the following Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine faculty on their recent appointment or promotion.
Professor
John Connor, PhD, Virology, Immunology & Microbiology, studies viruses, the responses they provoke in an infected host, and how infected cells and organisms influence virus evolution. He is recognized for identifying biomarkers that define early stages of severe viral infections and for identifying prognostic biomarkers that predict disease outcome. Throughout his career, his collaborative work with other faculty in the BU community have driven the discovery of small molecules with antiviral activity and new approaches for imaging viruses and virus-infected cells. He not only lectures in the virology curricula, but also in general medical sciences and in biomedical engineering. He is a highly regarded mentor, participating in the mentoring of trainees from several disciplines spanning the medical school, College of Art & Sciences and College of Engineering, and has served on numerous outside examining committees.
Clint Makino, PhD, Pharmacology, Physiology & Biophysics, studies the structure and function of the retinal photoreceptors that capture and convert light into electrical, neural signals so we are able to see. His research has significantly contributed to our understanding of how regulation of a signal transduction cascade enables photoreceptors to change their sensitivity in the face of enormous variations in light intensity impinging on the eye and how genetic defects impair the cascade and cause blinding retinal diseases. Dr. Makino’s findings have provided insights to the many other G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-activated signaling cascades that closely regulate cellular responses to chemical, environmental and hormonal changes in the body. His current work examines a mechanism of sensitivity regulation in photoreceptors that has a circadian rhythm.
Stefano Monti, PhD, Medicine/Computational Biomedicine, integrates systems biology, machine learning and bioinformatics approaches to investigate the molecular drivers of human disease, with the goals of advancing prevention and care. This multidisciplinary effort relies on the development of novel computational methodologies, and on the design of experiments based on the generation and integrative analysis of high-throughput multi-omics data, with the goal of identifying novel therapeutic targets and developing accurate diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. Dr. Monti’s areas of research include the study of the molecular mechanisms of tumor initiation and progression and of the role played in it by environmental exposure, with funded projects in head and neck cancer and breast cancer, as well as the study of the biological factors contributing to healthy aging and extreme longevity. His lab also led the computational studies of genomic events associated with diffuse large B cell lymphoma that could provide prognostic biomarkers for that disease.
Katharine White, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology, studies access to contraception, racial equity in contraception and family planning, and training program evaluation, all linked to optimizing reproductive health choices for pregnancy-capable people and families. She is a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Medical Eligibility Criteria (MEC) and Selected Practice Recommendations (SPR) Guideline Development Advisory Panel, and a technical expert panelist for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Population Affairs Quality Family Planning Guidelines. Dr. White was a critical member of the development and dissemination of the national guidelines for contraception and abortion care for persons with substance use disorder. She is a celebrated teacher and mentor to medical students, residents and fellows, who have made significant advancement as researchers, academic leaders and clinician-scientists, who have positively impacted the field of reproductive health around the world.
Associate Professor
Priya Garg, MD, Pediatrics, is an innovative leader at the school where she has been the driving force behind curricular reform. Her focus on identifying skills needed to respond to changes in our health care system have led to a complete overhaul of the medical school curriculum, with a focus on improving patient outcomes due to inequities in care. Embedded within this revised curriculum are a new health equity course, health equity competencies and multiple changes to the instructional design. A national leader in medical education, she was selected by the AAMC in 2020 to be the founding chair of the Medical Education Senior Leaders Antiracism Taskforce. During her tenure she led the taskforce to draft a new self-assessment tool for the medical education mission. Dr. Garg is an attending on the pediatric hospital medicine service at Boston Medical Center and teaches residents in the Boston Combined Pediatric Residency Program and Family Medicine Residency Program. She also supervises third- and fourth- year medical students during their clerkship and sub-intern rotations on the service.
Clinical Associate Professor
Terrence Li, MD, Neurology, is an attending neurologist who teaches PA and MD students on neurology rotation at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center. He comes to BU from Chicago Medical School (CMS) where he was an associate professor of neurology and served as the neurology clerkship director for six years. Additionally, Dr. Li served as course director for the second-year medical student Neurobehavioral Health course there and the director of the transition to internship fourth year. While at CMS, he was inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha as faculty and received the CMS Dean’s Award for Clinical Excellence, the CMS Champion award and the Outstanding M4 Preceptor Award. Dr. Li received his undergraduate degree in biology from Utica College of Syracuse University (N.Y.), his MD from SUNY Upstate Medical University (N.Y.). He completed a preliminary residency in medicine at United Health Services, Johnson City, N.Y; residency in neurology at SUNY Upstate Medical University (N.Y.) and a fellowship in clinical neurology at University of Illinois-Chicago. While in residency, he received the Arnold P. Gold Humanism teaching award twice.
Charles Williams, MD, Family Medicine, was an inaugural faculty member of the department of family medicine when he joined BU as an instructor in 1997. For over 25 years, he has worked to improve health systems and processes of care in partnership with students, residents, and clinical teams. He has served in a variety of roles, including founding medical director of the East Boston Community Health Center Family Medicine Department, medical director of the department’s practice at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and vice chair for clinical affairs and quality in the department. He currently serves as vice chair for network development for family medicine and medical director of Boston HealthNet, the network of 12 community health centers (CHC) affiliated with BMC, serving over 245,000 primary care patients. Dr. Williams excels at quality improvement initiatives, leadership development and practice redesign activities. He has helped lead practice transformation of the Patient Centered Medical Home efforts at BMC and in the CHCs through the state’s Primary Care Payment Reform Initiative.