News and Highlights
November 2009
Appointments and Honors
Dr. Alvin Mushlin Elected Member of American Clinical and Climatological Association
Alvin I. Mushlin, MD, ScM, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Public Health, has been elected to membership in the American Clinical and Climatological Association. In conjunction with his election, he made a presentation at the Association’s annual meeting in October titled “Comparative Effectiveness Research: a cornerstone of healthcare reform?” In his talk, Dr. Mushlin discussed some of his own comparative effectiveness research (CER) focusing on implantable defibrillators, orthopedic devices, and magnetic resonance imaging. He said that while CER is extremely important, there needs to be development of infrastructure in academia, government, and the private sector to support this type of research and then to use it to facilitate needed changes in our healthcare system. Dr. Mushlin’s work on this presentation was supported by the Weill Cornell Center for Education in Therapeutics (CERT) grant from AHRQ. It will lead to a published paper to be authored by Dr. Mushlin and Hassan Ghomrawi, PhD, Instructor in Public Health in the Division of Health Policy.
Dr. Heather Taffet Gold Receives Outstanding Paper Award From SMDM
Heather Taffet Gold, PhD, Assistant Professor of Public Health in the Division of Health Policy, was this year’s recipient of the award for Outstanding Paper by a Young Investigator from the Society for Medical Decision Making for her article “Correlates and effect of suboptimal radiotherapy in women with ductal carcinoma in situ or early invasive breast cancer” (Cancer, December 2008). Dr. Gold was presented with the award at the Society’s annual meeting in Los Angeles on October 21, 2009.
Dr. Lawrence Casalino Appointed Livingston Farrand Associate Professor of Public Health
Lawrence Casalino, MD, PhD, Chief of the Division of Outcomes and Effectiveness Research, has been appointed the Livingston Farrand Associate Professor of Public Health by the Board of Overseers of Weill Cornell Medical College and Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences. Dr. Casalino was selected for this endowed professorship in recognition of his work as a scholar and leader in health services research and healthcare policy, as well as for his contributions to Weill Cornell’s education mission as a mentor and educator. The appointment is effective as of November 1, 2008, the date Dr. Casalino joined the Medical College and the Department. Dr. Farrand (1867-1939) was the fourth president of Cornell University and a leading public health advocate, a psychologist, and an anthropologist.
The Professorship was established in 1946 by the Cornell University Board of Trustees. Initial funding was provided by a gift from the Milbank Memorial Fund.
Dr. Joseph J. Fins Elected President-Elect of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities
Dr. Carla Boutin-Foster Is Co-Director of Office of Faculty Diversity
Carla Boutin-Foster, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Medicine and Public Health, will serve as the Director of Diversity in Medicine and Science of Weill Cornell Medical College’s Office of Faculty Diversity in Medicine and Science. This new office is dedicated to fostering a culture of inclusiveness, diversity, and equity in academic leadership. Its primary goal is the recruitment, mentoring, promotion, and retention of a diverse faculty. Dr. Debra G. B. Leonard, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, will serve as Chief Diversity Officer, and Dr. Rache Simmons, the Ann K. and Edwin C. Weiskopf Professor of Surgical Oncology, has been named Director of Women in Medicine and Science. More on the creation of the Office.
Dr. Andrew Ryan Appointed Walsh McDermott Scholar in Public Health
Andrew Ryan, PhD, MS, Assistant Professor of Public Health in the Division of Outcomes and Effectiveness Research, has been appointed the Walsh McDermott Scholar in Public Health, effective July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010. The beginning date of the appointment coincides with Dr. Ryan’s joining the Department. (See Welcome New Faculty section of this web news report for more about Dr. Ryan.) The Walsh McDermott Scholarship is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It was established to add strength to the Medical College by encouraging the recruitment and support of new, talented junior faulty members, while also honoring the name and contributions of Dr. Walsh McDermott, Chairman of the Department of Public Health from 1955 to 1972. Throughout his lifetime, Dr. McDermott maintained an interest in guiding and nurturing young scientists so that the work of saving lives through prevention and cure of disease might continue at the highest level of skill. The holder of the scholarship must be a faculty member under 40 years of age who has demonstrated achievement and scientific promise, who is committed to a full-time career in medical education and research, and who has the potential for the excellence and accomplishment possessed by Walsh McDermott.
Dr. Lawrence Casalino’s Paper Honored by Swiss Patient Safety Foundation
A paper written by Dr. Lawrence Casalino, the Livingston Farrand Associate Professor of Public Health and Chief of the Division of Outcomes and Effectiveness Research in the Department of Public Health, has been honored as paper of the month by the Swiss Patient Safety Foundation. The study, "Frequency of Failure to Inform Patients of Clinically Significant Outpatient Test Results," was originally published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in June. (See Publications section of this web news announcement.) The selection as "paper of the month" means that roughly 3,000 individuals working in the field of patient safety in Switzerland will be informed about Dr. Casalino's study via an e-mail announcement by the Swiss Safety Foundation, together with a recommendation to study this paper in depth. Readers are also provided a German and French language extended summary prepared by the Swiss Safety Foundation. This alert is also widely distributed in German-language patient-safety mailing lists and national professional journals.
Paper Co-Authored by Dr. Mirella Salvatore Recognized With Certificate
A paper co-authored by Mirella Salvatore, MD, Assistant Professor of Public Health and Medicine, was one of the Top 10 cited papers in the Journal of Hepatology from the years 2006-2008. For this achievement the authors were presented with a Top Cited certificate from the publisher, Elsevier Limited. The paper authored by Bräu N, Salvatore M, Ríos-Bedoya CF, Fernández-Carbia A, Paronetto F, Rodríguez-Orengo JF,
and Rodríguez-Torres M, was titled "Slower Fibrosis Progression in HIV/HCV-Coinfected Patients with Successful HIV Suppression Using Antiretroviral Therapy". J Hepatol. 2006 44(1): 47-55.
Dr. Madhu Mazumdar Appointed Faculty Representative to the General Faculty Council
Madhu Mazumdar, PhD, Professor of Biostatistics in Public Health and Chief of the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, has been appointed the Public Health Department Representative to the General Faculty Council of the Medical College. Previously, the Department did not have its own representative but shared representation with two other departments. The General Faculty Council is one of two faculty governance bodies as provided for in the University Bylaws. It is composed of faculty representatives elected by the academic departments of the Medical College and faculty members elected to represent key affiliated organizations, such as Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the Hospital for Special Surgery. More on the role of the Faculty Councils.
Dr. Ashutosh Tewari Appointed Director of New Prostate Cancer Institute
Ashutosh Tewari, MD, Professor of Urology, Urologic Oncology, and Public Health, has been appointed Director of a newly established Prostate Cancer Institute at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The Institute is dedicated to pursuing aggressive and innovative prostate cancer treatments while providing patient care in a comfortable and compassionate setting. Dr. Tewari is an internationally acclaimed expert on robotic prostatectomy and other minimally invasive robotic surgeries, of which he has performed more than 2,000 in New York. More on the new Institute and Dr. Tewari’s appointment.
Nicholas D. Schiff, MD,and Ashutosh Tewari, MD, Granted Tenure
Dr. Nicholas D. Schiff and Dr. Ashutosh Tewari have been awarded tenure at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Schiff is Associate Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience and Associate Professor of Public Health in the Division of Medical Ethics. Dr. Tewari is Professor of Urology, the Ronald P. Lynch Professor of Urologic Oncology, and Professor of Public Health in the Division of Outcomes and Effectiveness Research.
Dr. Michael Stewart Appointed Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs
Michael Stewart, MD, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Professor of Public Health, and Otorhinolaryngologist-in-Chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, has been appointed the new Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs at Weill Cornell Medical College. In addition to his current duties, Dr. Stewart will oversee all matters relating to clinical organization and patient care, serving as chief liaison among the clinical faculty, Physician Organization, and the Dean's Office. He replaces Dr. E. Darracott Vaughan, who is retiring from the Medical College. More on the appointment.
