Bernard William Agranoff, M.D., Ralph Waldo Gerard Professor of Neuroscience, professor of biological chemistry and senior research scientist in Psychiatry and the Mental Health Research Institute, joined the 2002 class of 177 fellows elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences this past April. The new fellows were nominated and elected by current members of the Academy. Election is based on the members’contributions to their professional fields. Agranoff was selected for his work in neuroscience, cognitive sciences and behavioral biology.

James W. Albers (M.D. 1972, Ph.D. 1970), professor of neurology, is the recipient of the 2002 Distinguished Physician Award of the American Association of Electrodiagnostic Medicine. Albers was selected for the award in a unanimous vote. The award was created to honor members who have provided distinguished service for a number of years as clinicians and/or educators, or in overall support of AAEM’s activities. Albers will receive the award at the AAEM annual meeting in October.

Helen A. Baghdoyan, Ph.D., professor of anesthesiology and pharmacology will chair a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute study section. The section, which will meet in Washington, D.C., next May, will evaluate NIH grant applications focused on the topic “Interrelationship Between Sleep and Heart, Lung, and Blood Disorders.”

Darrell A. Campbell Jr., M.D. (Residency 1978), professor of surgery, was approved in July by the U-M Board of Regents to a three-year term as chief of staff for the U-M Hospitals and Health Centers. Campbell has been serving as interim chief of staff since fall 2001. As chief of staff, Campbell is responsible for the overall quality of care delivered at the U-M Health System, with a special interest in patient safety. He will also produce an annual report of the medical staff activities and consult with the Hospitals and Health Centers Executive Board on professional and administrative affairs.

Christin Carter-Su, Ph.D., professor of physiology and associate director, Michigan Diabetes Research and Training Center, is the recipient of the U-M Medical School Office of Research and Graduate Studies’24th annual Distinguished Faculty Lectureship Award in Biomedical Research. Carter-Su was recognized for her outstanding scientific achievements and her commitment to teaching graduate students and mentoring post-doctoral fellows and faculty. She was also recognized for her leadership and service to the Medical School, the U-M, and professional organizations and journals. Carter-Su’s research on the mechanism of growth hormone receptor signaling has lead to groundbreaking work that is nationally and internationally recognized by endocrine societies, researchers and the National Institutes of Health.

Matthew M. Davis, M.D., has been selected as one of the 2002 recipients of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Generalist Physician Faculty Scholars Awards. His focus will be on the problem of under-insurance for children recommended for preventive health services. Today the RWJF is the largest U.S. foundation devoted to improving the health and health care of all Americans.

John DeLancey (M.D. 1977, Residency 1981), Norman F. Miller Professor of Gynecology and professor of obstetrics and gynecology, has been named president-elect of the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons. The Society of Gynecologic Surgeons is an elected group comprised of distinguished leaders in gynecologic surgery. DeLancey will be presiding over the first meeting between this group and the American Urogynecologic Society in San Diego in 2004. It will be the first time these two important, related societies have had a joint meeting. DeLancey has been active in the group since 1986 and has served on its board.

Jane Deng, M.D. (Residency 2000), house officer, received a research pulmonary fellowship award from GlaxoSmithKline at the annual meeting of the American Thoracic Society in May. GlaxoSmithKline, one of the leading research-based pharmaceutical and health care companies, selected Deng for the award based on her project, “The Role of CpG Oligodeoxynucleotides in the Innate Immune Response to Bacterial Pulmonary Infection.”Deng, along with six other researchers, was chosen for the $35,000 award by GlaxoSmithKline’s advisory board. Since GlaxoSmithKline began its fellowship program in 1991, it has awarded nearly $4.8 million in
fellowships.

N. Reed Dunnick, M.D., Fred Jenner Hodges Professor of Radiology, and Chair, Department of Radiology, was installed as the 101st president of the American Roentgen Ray Society in May at its annual meeting in Atlanta. Founded in 1900, it is the first and oldest radiology society in the United States.

Susan G. Elner, M.D., associate professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, and Donald G. Puro, M.D., Ph.D., professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, were elected to the American Ophthalmological Society, two of only six individuals elected to the Society this year. Elner was elected based on her work exploring cellular mechanisms within the human retinal pigment epithelium, while Puro was elected based on his work examining diabetes-induced dysfunction of retinal Müller cells. Founded during the Civil War, the Society is the first specialty society in the U.S. and its oldest ophthalmological organization.

Timothy R.B. Johnson, M.D. (Residency 1979), Bates Professor of Diseases of Women and Children and Chair, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Central Michigan University where he was the spring 2002 commencement speaker. He was recognized for “outstanding contributions to women’s health both nationally and internationally.”

Paul Kileny, Ph.D., director of Audiology and Electrophysiology and the Hearing Rehabilitation Program, and professor, Otorhinolaryngology Department has been presented with a Career Award in Hearing by the American Academy of Audiology. The award is the highest honor bestowed by the academy, which represents nearly 8,000 audiologists. Kileny, one of the academy’s founders, received the award based on his significant contributions to the advancement of audiology throughout his 24-year career. Some of his pioneering accomplishments include infant hearing screening and cochlear implantation. In 1992, this prestigious award was first presented to the founding director of the Kresge Hearing Research Institute and U-M Professor Emeritus, Merle Lawrence.

Kumagai

Shea

Arno Kumagai, M.D., assistant professor, Department of Internal Medicine, and Michael Shea (M.D. 1975, Residency 1982), professor, Department of Internal Medicine, are this year’s winners of the Kaiser-Permanente Awards for Excellence in Teaching. Two awards are given each year to honor physicians for their dedication to quality teaching, enthusiasm for students and their continuing effort to improve the knowledge and experience of each medical student. Kumagai received this year’s honor for preclinical teaching, and Shea was honored for clinical teaching. The awards are made possible by a gift from the Kaiser Foundation.

Margaret I. Lomax (Ph.D. 1964), senior research scientist at the Kresge Hearing Research Institute, is the recipient of the coveted 2002 Research Scientist Achievement Award presented by the Office of the Vice President for Research. Lomax is also senior research scientist in the Departments of Cell and Developmental Biology and Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

David M. Markovitz, M.D., professor, Department of Internal Medicine, has been appointed to the Food and Drug Administration Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee for a five-year term. The Committee, consisting of experts in infectious diseases and other related disciplines from around the country, meets five or six times a year in the Washington, D.C., area and advises the FDA as to whether new vaccines, or new indications for existing vaccines, should be approved for market in the U.S.

Sofia D. Merajver (M.D. 1987, Residency 1993), associate professor of internal medicine and director of the U-M Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk Evaluation Program, was recognized this spring with two awards for her exceptional leadership and research at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center. In April, Ford Motor Company presented Merajver with the 2002 Ford Leadership in Health Award. The award, which is the first of its kind, was established by Ford Motor Company to acknowledge a U-M faculty member’s exceptional leadership and service in research, patient care and/or teaching each year. Merajver also received the 2002 Arvon Women of Achievement Award, which is now presented annually to a Michigan woman who has served as a role model in the fields of leadership and service. Last year, Michigan’s First Lady, Michelle Engler, was the first to receive this award. The organization specifically selected Merajver for her volunteer work throughout Michigan, which its says reflects her dedication to patient-centered research and medical care.

Sean J. Morrison, Ph.D., assistant professor of internal medicine and cell and developmental biology, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute assistant investigator, was one of 100 young innovators profiled in the June issue of Technology Review. The honorees, all under age 35 at the beginning of 2002, work in “hot spot”research areas with the potential to transform existing industries and create new ones. Morrison has made fundamental discoveries that explain the workings of stem cells. Stem cells give rise to all other cells in tissues, thus playing key roles in development and regeneration.

Debabrata Mukherjee, M.D., assistant professor, Department of Internal Medicine, was honored with this year’s national Keating Award from the American College of Cardiology. The award is given to a single young investigator who shows promise in the area of research surrounding vascular diseases. It is designed to foster the early research career development of junior cardiovascular faculty in the research area of hypertension and peripheral vascular disease.

Virginia S. Nelson, M.D., clinical professor, Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, has been awarded the third annual Jeanne Cady Solis award for Outstanding Mentorship by the American Medical Women’s Association. She received this honor for her participation in the Association’s mentorship program. Nelson was recognized for being an enthusiastic and accessible mentor to medical students who wish to share their concerns and seek advice about life as a female physician.

Mark R. Opp, Ph.D., associate professor of anesthesiology and physiology, was elected secretary/treasurer of the North American Sleep Research Society. The Society works to promote understanding of the processes of sleep and its disorders through research, training and sharing its efforts with the scientific and medical communities as well as the general public.

Daniel G. Remick (Residencies 1983 and 1986), professor of pathology, has been appointed assistant dean for admissions, effective September 1, 2002. Remick received his B.S. in chemistry from the University of Minnesota in 1978 and his M.D. from the Mayo Medical School in 1982. Following a residency and post-doctoral fellowship in immunopathology, both at the University of Michigan, he joined the U-M faculty in 1984. Remick is actively involved in teaching medical students in both the first and second year pathology laboratories and has served on the Executive Admission Committee. He also serves on a study section for the NIH and is on the editorial board of the Journal of Immunology and Shock. His research interests include sepsis, cytokines, reactive oxygen and nitrogen intermediates, and asthma.

Caroline R. Richardson, M.D., lecturer in family medicine, received the Gender Equity Award from the American Medical Women’s Association for her Domestic Violence Sequence. Medical students who are Association members give the award annually to recognize teaching, mentoring and the promotion of gender equity in the medical school environment. Richardson teaches the Interpersonal Violence and Abuse course in the Medical School, which focuses on child abuse, elder abuse, domestic violence and sexual assault.

John A. Williams, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Physiology and professor of physiology and internal medicine, has been named president-elect of the American Physiological Society. Williams, a member since 1973, will serve as the Society’s 76th president during 2003-04. As president, Williams will chair the Society’s council, executive cabinet and business meetings. He will also be responsible for making all official appointments within the Society, which currently has more than 10,000 members who are professionals in science and medicine.

David M. Wu (M.D. 1990, Residency 1993), a doctoral student at the Kellogg Eye Center, has received the Fields Neurosciences Institute Award from the Society for Neuroscience (Michigan chapter) for the most outstanding poster presentation at the Society’s annual meeting. Wu also was selected by the National Eye Institute as one of 20 students to attend a prestigious two-week vision research course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. In June he was awarded a Medical Student Eye Research Fellowship from Research to Prevent Blindness to support his scholarly efforts. Wu has been working with Donald G. Puro, M.D., Ph.D., professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, since 1998 on research projects dealing with the physiology of retinal pericytes and information processing within the retinal microvasculature network. Their work together enabled them to receive a three-year Physician-Scientist Training Award from the American Diabetes Association. Wu is one of the founders of the U-M Life Sciences Orchestra and its principal clarinetist, as well as an accomplished carillon player.