DoM Highlights of AY23
As we begin the 2023-24 academic year, we continue to celebrate the school’s 175th anniversary with a variety of activities this calendar year. The following are notable highlights of the 2022-23 school year:
Faculty Honors
Emelia Benjamin, MD, ScM, received the American Heart Association’s 2022 Distinguished Scientist award. She also received the 2023 Wenger Award for Excellence in Medical Research from WomenHeart, the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease, for her commitment to improving the lives of women living with or at risk for heart disease as well as her countless peer-reviewed articles on cardiovascular disease that have contributed greatly to women’s heart health, particularly to the knowledge of atrial fibrillation.
David L. Coleman, MD, emeritus professor of Medicine, was elected chair of the ABIM Foundation. The Board oversees the Foundation’s efforts to advance medical professionalism, and members are national health care leaders, several of whom currently serve or have served on ABIM’s Board of Directors. Additionally, Coleman received the 2023 Larry Zaroff Man of Good Conscience Award, which is presented annually to a man who has been a champion and supporter of women in medicine.
Karsten Lunze, MD, MPH, DrPH, assistant professor of medicine, received an honorary professorship from David Tvildiani Medical University (DTMU) in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Joseph P. Mizgerd, ScD, the Jerome S. Brody, MD, professor of pulmonary medicine and director of the Pulmonary Center, received the annual American Thoracic Society’s Recognition Award for Scientific Accomplishments. The honor recognizes outstanding scientific research contributions in basic or clinical arenas to enhance the understanding, prevention and treatment of respiratory disease, critical illness, or sleep disorders, while acknowledging exemplary professionalism, collegiality and citizenship through mentorship and scientific involvement in the ATS community.
Titilayo Omolara Ilori, MD, MSc, assistant professor of medicine, was one of 50 recipients of the young investigators award from the American Society for Clinical Investigation. The award recognizes physician-scientists who are early in their first faculty appointment and have made notable achievements in their research.
Elizabeth N. Pearce, MD, MSc, professor of medicine, received the 2023 American Association of Clinical Endocrinology’s Hossein Gharib Educational Lectureship.
Katya Ravid, DSc, Barbara E. Corkey Professor of Medicine, was elected Fellow of the American Heart Association.
Carl G. Streed, MD, MPH, FACP, FAHA, an assistant professor of medicine, received the 2023 Excellence in LGBTQ Health Award (Physician) from the American Medical Association (AMA) Foundation Board of Directors. This annual award honors physicians who represent the highest values of altruism, compassion and dedication to patient care.
Research Publications
Our faculty continue to receive significant mainstream media coverage for their exceptional published research.
- Dr. Shanshan Sheehy’s research on higher levels of perceived racism linked to increased risk of heart disease in Black women was presented at the 2023 AHA Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle & Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Session.
- Dr. Nicholas Bosch’s study in JAMA Internal Medicine found patients with septic shock benefit from a combination of hydrocortisone-fludrocortisone therapy.
- Dr. Stefano Monti’s study in eBiomedicine found centenarians possess unique immunity that helps them achieve exceptional longevity.
New Research Grants: Here are our Academic Year 2023’s largest new grants:
| PI | $ millions | Title: all NIH funded except two marked Gates & Hughes | |
| Felson & Neogi | 46.0 | Osteoarthritis, pain and function | |
| Perls | 16.4 | Protective profiles in centenarians; preventive and therapies | |
| Palmer & Bertrand | 10.8 | Causes of Cancer in Black Women | |
| Nayor | 5.8 | Proteomic Profiling of Exercise phenotypes | |
| Au | 5.0 | Maximizing interoperability across multiple data types (Gates) | |
| Griffiths & Mühlberger | 4.9 |
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| Lenburg & Beane | 4.6 | BU-UCLA Lung Cancer Biomarkers | |
| TCW | 3.9 | Dysregulation induced by APOE4 (Alzheimer’s ) | |
| Schon | 3.9 | Perceived racism, cardiovascular disease risk, & cognitive aging | |
| Wolozin & Zhang | 3.9 | N6-methyladenosine modified RNA in Alzheimer’s disease |
Foundation awards of note:
- The Howard Hughes Medical Institute awarded $13,649,882 for research to advance RNA-based antiviral therapies to Drs. Elke Mühlberger, Daniel Cifuentes, Anthony Griffiths, and Gustavo Mostaslavsky.
- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded $3,004,907 for infectious diseases research to Elke Mühlberger, PhD
- The American Cancer Society renewed its institutional research grant of $480,000 for pilot grants for 12 early-career cancer researchers to Julie Palmer, ScD, Co-director of the BU-BMC Cancer Center.
- The Rheumatology Research Foundation awarded Assistant Professor of Medicine Reza Jafarzadeh, DVM, MPVM, PhD, $400,000, for research to advance the identification of people with osteoarthritis.
- The American Heart Association awarded $344,000 to Katya Ravid, DSc, Barbara E. Corkey Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Professor of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, to study chronic stress and heart disease in a diverse group of breast and prostate cancer survivors.