Medicine | Page 27

Jude Deeney, PhD, and Darrell Kotton, MD, Honored as 2018 BUSM Educators of the Year

Congratulations to Jude Deeney, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Section of Endocrinology, and Darrell Kotton, MD, David C. Seldin Professor of Medicine in the Section of Pulmonary, for being honored as BUSM Educators of the Year by the Committee on Faculty Affairs (CFA). They were honored as BUSM Educators of the Year in addition to seven other BUSM faculty members. The awards recognize BUSM educators that provide excellence in teaching and mentoring and are given annually in the areas of pre-clinical sciences, clinical sciences and graduate medical sciences. Jude Deeney, PhD was honored as the Educator of the Year in Graduate Medical Sciences (GMS), Master’s Program and Darrell Kotton, MD was honored as the Educator of the Year in Graduate Medical Sciences, Dissertation Advisors.

March 18 Faculty Appointments/Promotions

Congratulations to the following DOM Faculty Members on their initial appointments and promotions at Boston University School of Medicine:

Initial Appointments:

Abu S. Abdullah, M.B., B.S, Ph.D., M.P.H. – Research Associate Professor of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine

Jocelyn Keehner, M.D. – Instructor of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine

Kathleen E. Quintin, M.S.N., N.P. – Instructor of Medicine, Section of Cardiovascular Medicine

Michael Schwartz, M.D. – Instructor of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine

Promotions:

Deepa M. Gopal, M.D., M.S. – Assistant Professor of Medicine, Section of Cardiovascular Medicine

Poorani N. Goundan, M.B., B.S. – Assistant Professor of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine

Sun Y. Lee, M.D. – Assistant Professor of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine

Yang Jin, MD, PhD and Xiaoling Zhang, MD, PhD Named Recipients of the 2018 Wing Tat Lee Awards

Congratulations to Yang Jin, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine in Pulmonary, and Xiaoling Zhang, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine in Biomedical Genetics, who were selected to receive the 2018 Wing Tat Lee Awards. The awards were created to establish cooperative research programs between BUSM and Chinese universities, with a particular emphasis on those in Hong Kong, while further deepening the friendship and mutual understanding between the institutions. Dr. Jin will study molecular mechanisms of lung inflammation in bacterial pneumonia, which is a leading cause of death. Dr. Zhang will examine how disease severity in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) correlates with retinal and brain neurodegeneration.

February 18 Faculty Appointments/Promotions

Congratulations to the following DOM Faculty Members on their initial appointments and promotions at Boston University School of Medicine:

Initial Appointments

Philip Lederer, M.D. – Assistant Professor of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases

Timothy Wymer, M.D. – Instructor of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine

Promotions

Jai G. Marathe, M.B., B.S., M.S. – Assistant Professor of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases

Kevin Wilson, M.D.- Professor, Section of Pulmonary

Joseph Kaserman, MD, receives John W. Walsh Translational Research Award in Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency

Joseph Kaserman, MD, Instructor in the Section of Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep and Critical Care, received the inaugural John W. Walsh Translational Research Award in Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. The award is named in honor of John W. Walsh, the co founder of the Alpha-1 Foundation, who dedicated his life to finding a cure for Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency and helping those afflicted by it. Kaserman will be using the $225,000 award ($75,000 over three years) to study whether Alpha-1 carriers (individuals who have one normal Alpha1 gene (M) and one mutated gene (Z)), have an increased risk of developing liver disease. Alpha-1 is a genetic (inherited) condition, passed from parents to their children through their genes. It may result in serious lung disease in adults and/or liver disease at any age and up to 2% of the U.S. population could be an Alpha-1 carrier.

Congratulations to Dr. Kaserman!

Flora Sam, MD, Appointed Interim Director of the Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute

Flora Sam, MD, Professor in the Section of Cardiology, has been appointed the Interim Director of the Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute, effective February 1. She is replacing Kenneth Walsh, PhD, who has accepted a position at the University of Virginia. Dr. Sam serves as an advanced heart failure cardiologist and her research is focused in cardiac myocyte biology and mechanistic underpinnings of cardiac remodeling in various disease states including heart failure, infiltrative cardiomyopathies and hypertension with a major focus on heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), also known previously as “diastolic failure heart failure.” Dr. Sam, who is internationally recognized in the HFpEF field, is a physician-scientist and translational researcher whose research is bidirectional, going first from the patient and then to the basic laboratory.

January 18 Faculty Appointments/Promotions

Congratulations to the following DOM Faculty Members on their initial appointments and promotions at Boston University School of Medicine:

Initial Appointments

Luis M. Agosto Vazquez, Ph.D. – Research Assistant Professor of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases

Alexa Diranian, PA-C – Instructor of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine

Marie F. Guerrier, M.S.N., ANP – Instructor of Medicine, Section of Geriatrics

Nicole L. Spartano, Ph.D. – Research Assistant Professor of Medicine, Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Nutrition

Promotions

Christopher S. Huang, M.D. – Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, Section of Gastroenterology

Gene F. Kwan, M.D., M.P.H. – Assistant Professor of Medicine, Section of Cardiovascular Medicine

David Salant, M.D. named as next Vice Chair of Research

David Salant, M.D., has been named as the next Vice Chair of Research effective March 1, 2018. Dr. Salant is the Norman Levinsky Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Section of Nephrology, and has had a very distinguished career as a physician investigator, academic leader, and mentor. His group’s sentinel studies on the immuno-pathogenesis of membranous nephropathy are often cited among the most important findings in nephrology, and he serves as a wonderful role model and colleague. We are extremely fortunate to have Dr. Salant assume this leadership role and to build on the remarkable legacy of Dr. Barbara Corkey. Congratulations Dr. Salant!

Robert Witzburg, MD, named the 2017 recipient of the Jerome Klein Award for Physician Excellence

Congratulations to Dr. Robert Witzburg, Professor of Medicine in the Section of General Internal Medicine, for being named the 2017 recipient of the Jerome Klein Award for Physician Excellence. This award was established in 2010 to commemorate Jerome Klein’s 50 years of service to BUSM/BMC and is presented annually to a physician that shares Dr. Klein’s attributes, which include clinical and research excellence, leadership, and a dedicated commitment to education and mentoring.

December 17 Faculty Appointments/Promotions

Congratulations to the following DOM Faculty Members on their initial appointments at Boston University School of Medicine:

Initial Appointments

Adam Gower, Ph.D. – Research Assistant Professor of Medicine, Section of Computational Biomedicine

Jennifer Howard, M.S.N., APN-BC – Instructor of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine

Arpan Mohanty, M.B., B.S. – Assistant Professor of Medicine, Section of Gastroenterology

Megan R. Whelton, M.D., M.P.H. – Instructor of Medicine, Section of Cardiovascular Medicine