Notes

Gary Abrams, MD, professor and chair of ophthalmology, has been appointed to the board of The Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology.

Hassan Amirikia, MD, assistant professor of family medicine, has been re-elected president of the Detroit Medical Center medical staff.

Agustin Arbulu, MD, professor of surgery, has been re-elected secretary-treasurer of the Detroit Medical Center medical staff.

Ramon Berguer, MD, PhD, professor of surgery, is principal investigator for a study to compare the effectiveness of carotid endarterectomy with stents.

Seemant Chaturvedi, MD, associate professor of neurology, has been asked to serve on the adjudication committee of the Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy vs. Stenting Trial (CREST), a NIH-funded study.

Yong Chen, PhD, associate professor of pathology, helped coordinate a symposium about prostate cancer and race. The symposium, which was sponsored by the Office for Research on Minority Health, was held at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Michael Diamond, MD, professor of obstetrics and gynecology, coordinated 160 round table discussions at the annual meeting for the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

Jerry Feldman, MD, PhD, associate professor in the Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, is director of clinical genetics services at Wayne State University and the Detroit Medical Center.

Richard Gallagher, PhD, professor of family medicine, began his term as president of the American Association for Cancer Education in November. He is also serving as the honorary co-chairperson of the European Association for Cancer Education Year 2001 conference in Antwerp, Belgium, in May 2001.

Morris Goodman, PhD, professor of anatomy and cell biology, has been awarded a National Science Foundation award to host a meeting of leading scientists on the topic of biocomplexity.

Anuja Gupta, MD, former pediatric resident at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, presented “Recurrence of Arrhythmias After Radiofrequency Ablation in Children and Young Adults” at the meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Section of Cardiology. Dr. Peter Karpawich was Dr. Gupta’s mentor.

Peter Karpawich, MD, professor of pediatrics, was appointed to the Committee on Congenital Cardiac Defects of the American Heart Association, Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young, for the term 2000-2002. In addition, he gave a presentation on “Performance of Chronic Pacing Leads After Insertion Through Intravascular Stents” to the International Congress on Cardiac Pacing and Electrophysiology. The proceedings were published in New Trends in Electrocardiography.

Peter LeWitt, MD, professor of neurology and psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences, has been invited to lecture on Wilson’s disease at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square. He is also the organizer of an international conference on neurological aspects of Wilson’s disease to be held next year at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. LeWitt’s text, Parkinson’s Disease: The Treatment Options, has been released by Martin Dunitz Publishers.

Robert Lisak, MD, professor and chair of neurology, has been appointed chair of the newly formed Research Committee of the Medical Advisory Board of the Guillain-Barre Foundation, International.

Jeanne Lusher, MD, professor of pediatrics, is participating in a Phase I gene therapy trial and recently infused the first hemophilic patient in the Midwest with a retroviral vector containing the gene for normal F VIII. The patient, who has severe hemophilia A, is doing well. Dr. Lusher’s lab is also serving as the central laboratory for this multicenter gene therapy sponsored by Chiron Corporation, and she serves on boards for two other gene therapy trials for people with hemophilia. Dr. Lusher gave a plenary address at the XXIV Congress of the World Federation of Hemophilia on “Women’s Bleeding Disorders.” Her presentation was considered a conference highlight and received media attention and posting on Medscape.

Kamran Moghissi, MD, professor of obstetrics and gynecology, chaired a symposium on hormone replacement therapy at the annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

Richard Santucci, MD, assistant professor of urology, has been named chief of the division of urology at Detroit Receiving Hospital and the University Health Center.

Michael Shy, MD, associate professor of neurology and member of the Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, has been appointed to the editorial board of Muscle and Nerve, the official journal of the American Association of Electrodiagnostic Medicine.

Kimberly Campbell-Voytal, PhD, assistant professor of community medicine, received a Women of Wayne Research Grant.

John Waller, Jr., DrPH, associate professor and chair of community medicine, has been elected chair of the Greater Detroit Area Health Council Board of Directors. Dr. Waller is also director of the Institute for Maternal and Child Health and the Division for the Prevention and Control of Interpersonal Violence.

Francis Wilson, MD, professor of internal medicine, has been named interim president and chief executive for St. John Health System.

David Womble, PhD, associate professor in the Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, has been appointed graduate officer for the graduate training program in molecular biology and genetics in the Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics.

Jiri Zemlicka, PhD, professor of internal medicine (cancer), published an article in the August 25 Journal of Organic Chemistry on “Approaches to Unsaturated Analogues of Nucleosides Comprising Four- and Six-Membered Rings.” Co-authors included Hui-Ping Guan and Mohamad Ksebati.