Kaku So-Armah, Ph.D., has accepted the role of Assistant Chair for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA)

We are delighted to announce that Kaku So-Armah, Ph.D., has accepted the role of Assistant Chair for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) in the Department of Medicine’s Faculty Development and Diversity Office effective July 1, 2022.

Dr. So-Armah identifies as a husband, a father, an epidemiologist, and an Associate Professor in the Section of General Internal Medicine, amongst other things.  His lab uses molecular biology coupled with data on health behaviors, risk factors, and disease diagnoses to identify and explain novel epidemiological associations and identify novel intervention targets. His research focuses on substance use and chronic infections like human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and tuberculosis (TB) and how these exposures impact the heart, liver, and lungs. The populations and problems on which his lab focuses have attracted scientists from groups underrepresented in the biomedical research workforce. He recognizes, values, and leverages the power of diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives in solving complex research and clinical problems.

Additionally, Dr. So-Armah currently collaborates with several fantastic teams on the following initiatives:

• The Inclusion Diversity & Equity In Addiction medicine, Addiction health professions, and Addiction research (IDEAAA) program. 
• The Providence/Boston Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) Diversity Equity Inclusion and Belonging Program
• The Grayken Center for Addiction Anti-racist Approach to Substance Use Treatment working group
• The BU School of Medicine Faculty Development and Diversity Committee (FDDC)
• The BU Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST) grant application

Working alongside the Faculty Development & Diversity Office, as Assistant Chair, Dr. So-Armah will focus on:

• Serving as a faculty resource to ensure that all DoM Faculty are recruited using best practices for inclusive searches.
• Meeting with potential Faculty candidates to discuss DEIA in the DoM.
• Advising DoM Faculty Development and Diversity’s Evans Student Scholars Program.
• Working with Vice Chair, Director, and Associate Chair on DEIA initiatives in the DoM.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. So-Armah!

Anthony “Tony” Hollenberg, MD, has been named the John Wade Professor and Chair of the DoM at BUSM, and Physician-in-Chief at BMC

We are pleased to announce that Anthony “Tony” Hollenberg, MD, has been named the John Wade Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine (DOM) at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), and Physician-in-Chief at Boston Medical Center (BMC). Dr. Hollenberg will join BUSM/BMC this fall.

Currently, Dr. Hollenberg is the Chair of the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Department of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and Physician-in-Chief at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City. Prior to this role, he served as Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism and Vice Chair for Mentoring at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Hollenberg, a native of Toronto, received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and his medical degree from the University of Calgary. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, followed by a clinical and research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital.

A leading physician-scientist specializing in endocrinology, Dr. Hollenberg’s work focuses on thyroid disorders, investigating the physiological and molecular mechanisms by which thyroid hormones regulate metabolism, including body weight. Additionally, his laboratory explores the underpinnings of thyroid gland development. He has published more than 98 original studies in journals and contributed 31 book chapters and reviews. Dr. Hollenberg’s extensive research expertise will enhance pre-clinical, translational, and clinical research across the Department.

Under his leadership, the Department will cultivate and attract top talent in academic medicine and research while also fostering and mentoring emerging talent, advancing our core missions, and raising BUSM/BMC’s national profile even further.

We thank David Coleman, MD, who has served as Chief and Chair of the Department of Medicine since 2006, who announced his plans last year to step down from his leadership role. We are grateful for Dr. Coleman’s many lasting contributions to the Department, including the recruitment of outstanding faculty and growing the Department’s research programs in size and scope, and for his exceptional leadership and his many contributions to our health system, faculty practice, medical school, and professional community over his 16 years at BUSM/BMC.

We also would like to thank Jennifer Tseng, MD, MPH, Chief and Chair of Surgery, and Sandro Galea, MD, MPH, DPH, Dean and Robert A. Knox Professor, Boston University School of Public Health, who led the search committee, as well as the committee members for their work that developed a very strong national candidate pool.

Please join us in thanking Dr. Coleman and welcoming Dr. Hollenberg back to Boston.

Check Out PairMe! A New Recruiting Tool for PIs and BU Students!

PairMe is a recruiting tool for PIs and the BU students; using a swipe-match mechanism, the platform aims to match students to the research jobs posted by the PIs. You can access PairMe here. Please find instructions and more information below.

Endocrinology has Moved to a New Location!

2022 DoM Evans Days Abstract Submission Deadline and Guidelines!

2022 Evans Days 

October 13-14, 2022

 Abstract Submissions are now Closed.

Abstract Submission Guidelines:

Instructions for Completing the Online Abstracts Form

1. In order to submit an abstract, we request some information about you. Please provide the following.
   1. Your name
   2. Section/Department
   3. Your Mentor
   4. Research Collaboration
   5. Preferred email and phone number
   6. Home mailing address
   7. Recent Headshot
   8. Include a brief bio of yourself (where did you go to school, research interest, etc.)
   9. Is this research Basic Science or Clinical?
   10. 3 Keywords

Once step one is complete and reviewed you will then be able to submit your abstract(s). Abstract must be submitted by Friday, July 15 by 11:59pm EST.

2. Evaluation of abstracts will be based on the following considerations. You will be asked to address each of these items in separate text boxes. The total character limit is 1470 for the four boxes combined.
   1. Objective: Clearly state the objective of the research project
   2. Methods: Concisely note the methods used to obtain the results
   3. Results: Clearly describe the results of the research
   4. Conclusions: Briefly state the conclusions of the research project
   5. Image Size: No larger than 2in high x 4in wide for publication purposes.

3. The abstracts receipt deadline Friday, July 15 by 11:59pm will remain firm and any abstracts received after the deadline will not be accepted.

Submission Rules

1. Abstracts may be submitted Wednesday, June 15 and will not be accepted after Friday, July 15 at 11:59 PM, EST
2. Character Count: Abstracts are limited to 1470 characters, not including spaces. Image size should be no larger than 2in high x 4in wide for publication purposes.
3. Make abstracts as informative as possible, including a brief statement of the purpose of the study or why it was done, the methods used, the results observed, and the author(s)' conclusions based upon the results. Actual data should be summarized. It is inadequate to state "the results will be discussed" or "the data will be presented." Abstracts must be written in English.
4. You will be asked to partition your abstract into four section: Objective, Methods, Results and Conclusions. The total limit for all four sections combined is 1470 characters.
5. NO REVISIONS to abstracts will be allowed after the deadline.
6. Authorship on multiple abstracts permitted (1^st authorship is permitted on one abstract only).
7. All Department of Medicine faculty, fellows, housestaff, post-docs and graduate students may submit abstracts.
8. Submissions are accepted from any BUMC member but ONLY DOM Trainees, Students, and Post docs will be eligible for competitive awards.
9. Work done at another institution can be accepted as long as It was done in collaboration with a DOM faculty member.
10. Upon completion of your submission you will receive an email confirmation.
11. Please be prepared to submit a poster in PDF or Powerpoint format to accompany your abstract. We will reach out to you once the abstract submission deadline has closed with more information on how to prepare your poster. The deadline for poster submissions will be September 12^th.

If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to Christine Choi at choikp@bu.edu.

Installation of the inaugural David J. Salant, MD, Professor of Nephrology

You are cordially invited to join us for the installation of Laurence H. Beck, MD, PhD as the David J. Salant, MD, Professor of Nephrology

Program: Installation Ceremony and Celebratory Reception

Date: Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Time: 6 p.m. EST

Place: Hiebert Lounge, BUSM, 14th Floor, 72 E. Concord Street, Boston, MA

Register at trusted.bu.edu/Salant

The professorship installation ceremony will feature a program of speakers, and will be followed by a celebratory reception.

The ceremony will also be accessible to a virtual audience, zoom link to be provided upon registration.

Visit the BUSM website to learn more about professorships or to support the Salant Professorship campaign.

Send any questions to busmdev@bu.edu

Laurence Beck, Jr. Named Inaugural Incumbent, David J. Salant Professor of Nephrology

We are delighted to announce that Laurence H. Beck, Jr., MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Nephrology, has been selected as the inaugural incumbent of the David J. Salant Professor of Nephrology. A hybrid installation ceremony and reception will be held on June 15 at 6 p.m. Register here.

Dr. Beck graduated summa cum laude with a BA in Molecular Biology from Princeton University and obtained his MD-PhD from Harvard Medical School in 2000. He completed his medical residency and clinical fellowship in Nephrology at Boston Medical Center and trained as a research fellow with Dr. David Salant. Appointed to the faculty in 2006, he was promoted to Associate Professor in 2015.

Dr. Beck’s research accomplishments include the seminal 2009 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine with Drs. Salant and colleagues that the M-type phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R) is the major antigen in idiopathic membranous nephropathy (MN), an organ-specific autoimmune kidney disease and a common cause of nephrotic syndrome in adults. The discovery was awarded international patents and led to licensing and approval by the United States FDA (2014) of two commercial immunodiagnostic assays for MN that are used by nephrologists around the world.

In addition to his contributions as a bench scientist, Dr. Beck is a knowledgeable and caring clinician and outstanding teacher. He leads a clinical and translational program in glomerular diseases that has attracted patient referrals from throughout the Northeast and beyond. Dr. Beck’s research has been supported by NIH and several foundations. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed papers and several influential reviews, editorials, guidelines and book chapters in major journals and textbooks. In recognition of his accomplishments, Dr. Beck received the Midcareer Distinguished Researcher Award from the American Society of Nephrology, one of only two recipients of this inaugural award in 2019.

With the establishment of this Professorship, the Department of Medicine honors the remarkable contributions and legacy of David J. Salant, MD, Professor of Medicine and Vice Chair for Research for the Department of Medicine. He received his medical degree from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and completed his clinical training at Johannesburg General Hospital. He received his research training at Boston University with Dr. William Couser and joined the Nephrology faculty in 1979. He rose through the ranks to become Professor of Medicine in 1988 and Chief of Nephrology, a position he held for 32 years before stepping down from the inaugural Norman G. Levinsky Chair in Nephrology in 2019 to serve in his current role. He was most recently named as a Robert Dawson Evans Distinguished Professor of Medicine for his exceptional impact in research and clinical care.

Dr. Salant is an internationally renowned physician-scientist and an acclaimed educator. He has authored over 180 scientific publications, reviews and book chapters, often reporting seminal and groundbreaking findings in kidney disease. His research has explored the immune basis for glomerular diseases and the mechanisms of podocyte injury. He was among the first to identify podocytes as the primary target of injury in antibody-mediated glomerular diseases. In a landmark New England Journal of Medicine paper in 2009, Drs. Salant, Beck and colleagues described their discovery of the target antigen in membranous nephropathy (MN). Due to the translational impact of his research program, Dr. Salant was named the Boston University Innovator of the Year in 2015. Dr. Salant is a past chair of the ABIM Sub-specialty Board of Examiners in Nephrology, and recipient of several national and international awards for his scientific contributions, including election to the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, fellowship in the AAAS, an Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association, the John P. Peters Award from the American Society of Nephrology, the Jean Hamburger Award from the International Society of Nephrology, the Donald W. Seldin Award from the National Kidney Foundation, the Marilyn Farquhar Award at the 11th Annual Podocyte Conference, and the Edward N. Gibbs Award and Lectureship from the New York Academy Sciences.

Dr. Salant’s influence extends beyond his groundbreaking and paradigm-shifting work in the field of membranous nephropathy. In addition to his scientific achievements and accolades, Dr. Salant is a beloved teacher, a caring mentor, and a compassionate physician with exceptional clinical acumen. He has trained several generations of medical practitioners and dozens of physician-scientists, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, many of whom today play leadership roles in distinguished nephrology centers around the world.
The Department of Medicine and Boston University School of Medicine are privileged to be able to recognize the example and the contributions of Drs. Beck and Salant through this professorship. Please join us in thanking and congratulating them on this honor.

DoM Faculty Promotion – May 2022

Congratulations to Dr. Larochelle on his promotion to Associate Professor!

Marc Larochelle, MD, BUSM, Medicine/GIM, is a clinician investigator with nationally recognized expertise in the use of large secondary data sources to study outcomes of individuals prescribed opioid analgesics for chronic pain and the identification and treatment of individuals with opioid use disorder. He serves as associate editor of Alcohol, Other Drugs and Health: Current Evidence, an online newsletter that summarizes important substance use research findings. He recently was named director of the General Internal Medicine Fellowship at Boston Medical Center (BMC), through which he mentors fellows and moderates works-in-progress sessions. Larochelle teaches medical students during their inpatient and ambulatory medicine clerkships and residents while on the inpatient GIM service at BMC.

DoM Faculty Promotions – February 2022

Congratulations to the following faculty on their recent appointment or promotion!

Professor

Sondra Crosby, MD, BUSM, Medicine/GIM and SPH, Health Law, Ethics and Human Rights, specializes in human rights, medical ethics, torture and refugee health. She has worked as a medical expert on torture for the Military Commissions Defense Organization (MCDO) and been an expert consultant on torture evaluation in countries around the world and to the U.S. Congress. She is co-founder of the Immigrant and Refugee Health Program in Primary Care at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and co-chair of BMC’s Immigrant Task Force. Crosby has made significant contributions to trauma documentation and providing care to refugees who have suffered human rights violations. Her scholarship has been fundamental to the development of the academic field of refugee health and human rights, and includes articles in the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA on medical ethics and force-feeding, separation of families at the border, and prisoner abuse at Guantanamo and the CIA black sites.

Clinical Professor

Robert Eberhardt, MD, BUSM, Medicine/Cardiovascular Medicine and Surgery, directs the vascular medicine service and non-invasive vascular imaging laboratories at Boston Medical Center (BMC), positioned critically between medical and surgical service lines. He has served key roles on national credentialing and accrediting organizations involved in vascular medicine and vascular laboratory testing. His expertise is recognized in practice guidelines documents and clinical training standards. Eberhardt has mentored 12 fellows in vascular medicine, including many active in academic medicine, and trained numerous physicians in vascular diagnostic imaging. An attending on BMC’s inpatient vascular medicine consult service, cardiac intensive care unit and general cardiology inpatient services, he also supervises both cardiology fellows and internal medicine residents through his outpatient continuity clinics. He has been recognized annually as one of the best cardiovascular clinicians in Boston magazine’s Best Doctors since 2016. In addition, he lectures locally and nationally, and co-authored more than 70 articles and book chapters on vascular related topics.

Associate Professor

Jennifer Beane-Ebel, PhD, BUSM, Medicine/Computational Biomedicine, applies computational methods to characterize molecular alterations associated with smoke exposure and lung disease. She has characterized the molecular and cellular response to chronic smoke exposure and smoking cessation in the airway field of injury and developed a clinicogenomic biomarker for early lung cancer detection. She also studies the molecular alterations associated with development and progression of bronchial premalignant lesions, precursors to lung squamous cell carcinoma and markers of increased lung cancer risk. She uses integrative analyses of genomic, spatial proteomic, and pathology imaging data to identify mechanisms of early immune suppression in premalignant lesions.

Francesca Seta, PhD, BUSM, Medicine/Vascular Biology, focuses on the biology of vascular smooth muscle and its contribution to maladaptive vascular remodeling associated with arterial stiffness and aortic aneurysms/dissections, two vascular conditions with no current therapies. She has identified novel vascular smooth muscle-specific molecular mechanisms, which could be targeted therapeutically to prevent vascular diseases and established methods to assess arterial stiffness in experimental animals. Seta directed the BUMC Metabolic Phenotyping and IVIS Core since 2018 and has mentored undergraduate and graduate students and postdocs. She serves as an advisor for the MSc program in Bioresearch Core Technologies and on the admissions committees for MSc/PhD programs.

Kaku So-Armah, PhD, BUSM, Medicine/GIM, is an epidemiologist with expertise in analyses of cohort studies and use of electronic health record data for research. His lab uses data on health behaviors, risk factors and disease diagnoses coupled with molecular biology to identify and explain novel epidemiological associations and identify novel intervention targets. His research focuses on substance use and chronic infections like human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and tuberculosis (TB) and how these exposures impact the heart, liver and lungs. So-Armah is committed to making his lab, GIM and BU leaders in inclusive excellence, such that all who work in these spaces can be who they are, rather than who they think they need to be to fit in.

Clinical Associate Professor

Lisa Caruso, MD, MPH, BUSM, Medicine/Geriatrics, specializes in improving care for older adults and developing innovative geriatrics clinical education models, particularly in dementia and diabetes in older adults. She received a Geriatric Academic Career Award in 2002 to study an older, underserved and frail population with diabetes and cardiovascular disease using evidence-based skills. She co-developed the Chief Resident Immersion Training Program in the Care of Older Adults, which has been disseminated nationally. She directs quality and patient safety for the Department of Medicine, to transform Boston Medical Center into an Age-Friendly Health System using the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s 4M framework. Caruso also leads the Quality Improvement elective for the fourth-year medical students, and co-leads the yearly Quality Improvement and Patient Safety curriculum for internal medicine residents in their PGY1 and PGY2 years.

Frederic Little, MD, BUSM, Medicine/Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care Medicine, studies airway inflammation in allergic asthma, and translational approaches to diagnostics of allergic disease. He was PI of a clinical study to develop a rapid saliva diagnostics platform to determine the causes of deterioration in asthma control. Little directs the Allergy/Immunology Fellowship Training Program and was medical director of the Pulmonary, Allergy and Sleep Clinics. He has directed several clinical care improvement initiatives including antibiotic stewardship and Boston Medical Center's COPD Readmission Reduction Program and serves as an Allergy/Immunology subject matter expert for the CDC Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment program.