Pathology: Protein Predicts Heart Disease Better than Cholesterol Nutrition: Enzyme Implicated in Insulin Resistance Microbiology: Worms Teach Lesson on Mechanism of Fungal Infection Faculty Advancement: Symposium Addresses Advancement Barriers for Women and Minority Faculty   Pain Relievers May Explain Some Hypertension in Women Diet Guidelines Predict Disease Risk Better Cardiology Visits Improve Survival After Heart Attack Clinical Exam Scores May Predict Future Performance on Boards   Halamka Named Chief Information Officer at HMS New Appointments to Full and Named Professorships Fu Fellows Luncheon Allston School Receives Children's Health Award BioMed Central: Peer-reviewed Articles Published Online for Free CommuteWorks Offers Rapid Rail Program In Memoriam: Arthur Solomon Honors and Advances   Program Fills Early Mental Health Needs Among Students   Balancing Drug Markets Toward Leveling World Health   Front Page

BULLETIN Halamka Named Chief Information Officer at HMS Eric Buehrens, HMS executive dean for administration, has announced the appointment of John Halamka, HMS associate dean of educational technology, to the new position of Chief Information Officer. In this position, Halamka will oversee and foster collaboration among all the information technology groups at HMS, including research computing, administrative computing, educational technologies, continuing medical education IT support, and library computing in conjunction with Countway Librarian Judith Messerle. As associate dean of educational technology, Halamka directed the successful implementation of MyCourses, the Web-based curriculum resource, and as chief information officer at CareGroup since 1998 (a position he will retain), he has built an award-winning IT group. One of Halamka's top priorities will be to determine how to better serve the needs of faculty researchers. He plans to establish a customer advisory board to ensure that the School's IT needs are being met.   New Appointments to Full and Named Professorships These faculty members were appointed to a full professorship in October. Neil Feins Clinical Professor of Surgery Children's Hospital Feins was formerly a professor of surgery at Tufts University School of Medicine and surgeon in chief of the Floating Hospital for Children at New England Medical Center. His main interest is in general and thoracic pediatric surgery with emphasis on clinical problems in pediatric urology. He also has a major clinical and research interest in the surgical management of lymphedema. David Louis Professor of Pathology Massachusetts General Hospital Louis is a neuropathologist and the director of the Division of Molecular Pathology and Research at Massachusetts General Hospital. His research interests focus on the molecular basis of human brain tumors and on the application of molecular genetics to patient management in neuro-oncology. His major clinical work is in the neuropathological diagnosis of human brain tumors. John Mulliken Professor of Surgery Children's Hospital Mulliken is a pediatric plastic surgeon, a specialist in the fields of cleft lip and palate, craniofacial deformities, and vascular anomalies. His research focuses on the genetics of craniofacial and vascular malformations and the etiology of infantile hemangioma. He is director of the Craniofacial Center and codirector of the Vascular Anomalies Center at Children's Hospital. Paul Ridker Professor of Medicine Brigham and Women's Hospital Ridker directs the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at Brigham and Women's Hospital, where he holds appointments in both the Cardiovascular and Preventive Medicine divisions. His major research interests include molecular and genetic epidemiology with a focus on inflammation, thrombosis, and the early detection and prevention of vascular disease. These faculty members were appointed to a named professorship in October. Kenneth Anderson Kraft Family Professor of Medicine Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Anderson is chief of the Division of Hematologic Neoplasia and director of the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. His studies of growth and survival of multiple myeloma cells in their microenvironment have led to development of novel targeted therapeutics. As medical director of the Kraft Family Blood Donor Center and vice chair of the Joint Program in Transfusion Medicine, he has defined mechanisms and strategies for prevention of the immunohematologic complications of transfusion. He is a Doris Duke distinguished clinical research scientist. Mark Gebhardt Frederic W. and Jane M. Ilfeld Professor of Orthopedic Surgery Children's Hospital Gebhardt is an orthopedic oncologist with an expertise in pediatric bone and soft tissue sarcomas at Children's Hospital and adult and pediatric tumors at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He chairs the orthopedic committee of the Children's Oncology Group, and his research interests include limb salvage of bone sarcomas and the molecular biology of sarcomas. He is president of the Connective Tissue Oncology Society and past president of the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society. He directs the core curriculum for the Harvard Combined Orthopedic Residency program, is vice chair of the residency review committee (orthopedics), and a senior director of the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery. Charles Vacanti Vandam/Covino Professor of Anesthesia and Chief of Anesthesia Brigham and Women's Hospital Vacanti founded the International Tissue Engineering Society and is founding editor of the journal Tissue Engineering. His research involves the generation of new functional tissue using a combination of living cells and synthetic biodegradable polymer scaffolds. He is especially interested in spinal cord regeneration.   Third-year PhD students Can Cui (Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology) and Lei Xu (Microbiology and Molecular Genetics) were among the 17 current Fu fellows attending a luncheon on Oct. 16 that gathered them together to meet with Mr. and Mrs. Z.Y. Fu, whose foundation supports their studies, and to hear presentations on the work of some of the fellows. Each year since 1999 the Fu fellowships have provided support for four Chinese students pursuing PhDs in the HMS Division of Medical Sciences. The program provides funds to facilitate the establishment and continuation of collaborative interactions among HMS faculty and leaders of Chinese medical schools, universities, and emerging biotech companies. (Photo by Liza Green, HMS Media Services)   Allston School Receives Children's Health Award The Gardner Extended Services School in Allston, which offers students and their parents a variety of programs to enhance their quality of life, has won the 2002 Mayor's Award for Excellence in Children's Health, sponsored by HSPH, Children's Hospital, and the Boston Mayor's Office. The award and a $10,000 prize were presented at a ceremony on Oct. 16. The Mayor's Award recognizes community-oriented programs that improve the health of children and adolescents living in Boston. The selection this year focused particularly on efforts to address mental health. The Gardner Extended Services School has mounted a comprehensive effort to bring mental health services to the school's children and their parents. So far, staff members have conducted mental health screenings of all of the approximately 450 students. The school also offers adult education, health and dental care, and after-school programs to both students and their families. The extended services school is a collaboration involving Allston's Thomas Gardner Elementary School, Boston College, the YMCA of Greater Boston-Oak Square Family Branch, and the Allston-Brighton Healthy Boston Coalition.   BioMed Central: Peer-reviewed Articles Published Online for Free A growing online publishing venture, BioMed Central, allows Harvard researchers and others from member institutions the opportunity to publish peer-reviewed scientific articles in an open-access venue at no charge to the author, who retains the copyright to the paper. Articles are published immediately on acceptance, indexed in PubMed, and available to all in the scientific community free of charge. All Harvard faculty are invited to an information session on BioMed Central at 10:00 a.m. on Nov. 26 in the Forum Room of Lamont Library in Cambridge. Besides Harvard, other member institutions include Rockefeller University, the National Institutes of Health, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Columbia University. For information on submitting research papers to BioMed Central, visit its website. CommuteWorks Offers Rapid Rail Program CommuteWorks' "Rapid Rail" program offers employees of MASCO's member institutions who drive to work a chance to try the MBTA commuter rail service at a reduced rate for three months. Employees must be registered parkers in or around the Longwood area and be willing to put their parking spaces on hold temporarily during the three-month trial period. The program subsidizes $65 of the monthly cost of the MBTA commuter rail pass, pays the entire cost of parking at a commuter rail station, and picks up the tab on a one-year membership in Zipcar, which offers access to cars in the Longwood area at an hourly rate for personal and professional errands.The program allows employees the opportunity to try the MBTA commuter rail service with the security of knowing they can get their parking space back at any time. To register for the program, contact Melissa Marantz at 617-632-2796 or register online at www.masco.org/commuteworks and click on "new transportation alternatives."   In Memoriam Arthur Solomon, HMS professor emeritus of biophysics, died Nov. 5 at the age of 89. Solomon earned a PhD in chemistry at Harvard before going on to Cambridge University to receive a PhD in physics and an ScD. He came to HMS as a research fellow in biological chemistry in 1940 and was appointed an assistant professor of physical chemistry in 1946. Colleagues credited Solomon with helping to lay the groundwork for an understanding of how molecules move into and out of cells. His contributions helped toward an understanding of how cells communicate, conduct nerve impulses, and absorb nutrients while getting rid of waste. He was the director of the HMS Biophysical Laboratory, which was established to provide training and facilities for the use of radioactive and stable isotopes in biological and medical research. He also founded the graduate program in biophysics and served as its chairman from 1959 to 1981, when it became the premier program of its kind and trained several generations of leading scientists. In 1997, he was invited to serve on the HMS cell biology advisory committee. Solomon was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the American Chemical Society, American Physiological Society, Biophysics Society, and the Society of General Physiology. He is survived by his wife, Mariot; a son, Mark of New York; and a daughter, Susanna Van Leuven of California. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, 32 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138.   Honors and Advances Richard Blumberg, HMS associate professor of medicine and chief of the Gastroenterology Division at Brigham and Women's Hospital, has been selected as the 2002 Humanitarian of the Year by the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America. The foundation's mission is to cure and prevent Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis through research and to improve the quality of life of those afflicted by these digestive diseases through education and support. Blumberg is being recognized for his service to the foundation and his research contributions to understanding inflammatory bowel disease. The American Association for Vascular Surgery has awarded its first Distinguished Service Award to John Mannick, the Moseley distinguished professor of surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital. The award honors members who make exceptional contributions to the association through leadership, initiative, and service. Mannick served as the association's president from 1990 to 1991. Philip Holzman has been awarded the Alexander Gralnick Research Investigator Award by the American Psychological Association. Holzman, HMS professor emeritus of psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at McLean Hospital, will use the $20,000 award to fund pilot studies in his lab. The American Medical Women's Association has honored JoAnn Manson, HMS professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, with its Woman in Science Award. The award honors Manson's achievements in women's health and preventive medicine. The National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression awarded Stephen Heckers, HMS assistant professor of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, with a Klerman Award honorable mention for his research project "Assessment of Hippocampal Function in Schizophrenia." He received a NARSAD Young Investigator grant for this research in 1998. Susan Saidman, HMS assistant professor of pathology and director of the histocompatibility lab at Massachusetts General Hospital, has been appointed the histocompatibility committee chair for the United Network for Organ Sharing, a nonprofit organization linking all members of the organ procurement, transplantation, and histocompatibility communities. Leston Havens, HMS professor of psychiatry, has been honored by the Department of Psychiatry at Cambridge Hospital, with the establishment of the Leston L. Havens Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching. Havens has been in the department since 1982 and served as its director of residency training in general psychiatry from 1987 to 1996. This summer the Belmont Historic District Commission nominated the McLean Hospital campus to the National Register of Historic Places. The Massachusetts Historical Commission approved the nomination and has now forwarded it to the National Park Service for approval. The hospital is also offering some of its buildings to parties willing to pay to have them relocated. For more info, contact Cathie Bowen at 617-855-3450.