Alumni News

1937
The Medical Research Center for Arthritis at UCSF has been renamed the Rosalind Russell-Ephraim P. Engleman Medical Research Center for Arthritis. Ephraim has been director of the center for more than 35 years and has raised more than $50 million for the center. He still comes to his office three days a week. See the accompanying article about his memoir, “My Century.”

1952
Leslie J. DeGroot, Research Professor at the University of Rhode Island, is one of 15 endocrinologists selected to receive the Endocrine Society’s 2014 Laureate Awards. Established in 1944, the awards recognize the highest achievements in the endocrinology field, including groundbreaking research and innovations in clinical care. Leslie will receive the society’s Robert H. Williams Distinguished Leadership Award, which recognizes leadership in fundamental or clinical endocrinology. The society cited the impact Leslie’s 60-year career as a scientist, teacher, clinician, textbook author, and administrator has had on the field of endocrinology. His research in thyroidology has touched almost every aspect of the discipline, including thyroid hormone synthesis and action, mechanisms of autoimmune thyroid disease, and thyroid cancer. The 2014 Endocrine Society awards will be presented at the group’s annual meeting, held in June in conjunction with the 16th International Congress of Endocrinology in Chicago.

1963
The University of Tulsa rededicated its athletic performance center in 2013 as the George S. Mauerman Sports Medicine Center in honor of longtime team physician George Mauerman. George travels coast to coast with the Tulsa basketball and football teams but made time during 2013 to attend his 50th reunion at P&S.

1966
At age 13, Alfred Muller appeared on the TV show, “$64,000 Question,” for four weeks in January 1956. “The show was live, not pre-recorded,” Al says. “It was an exciting adventure for a young high school student and my classmates. My topic was wild animals of the world, and after answering a total of eight questions—two of the questions were 1) What was the largest animal that ever lived? and 2) Where does the aye-aye live?—I had won $8,000, which seemed a fortune in those days. At that point my parents decided to stop while I had enough winnings for college and before I might give an incorrect answer. (Hard to imagine, but Princeton in those days only cost about $2,000 for tuition and board.)” After appearing on the program, Al was contacted by Dr. Fordyce Barker St. John, an alumnus of both Princeton and P&S (Class of 1909). “He heard me mention that I wanted to become a physician and would like to attend Princeton and P&S (as had my grandfather, class of 1898). Dr. St. John became my mentor and remained so until his death at age 89 in 1973. Next to my parents, he was the most important influence in my life, encouraging me through the challenges of studenthood, residency, and service in Vietnam. He epitomized the best qualities of a physician, which I have tried, not always successfully, to emulate. His friendship, and example, proved far more valuable than the quiz show winnings.” Al has had a long career as an internist in the Washington, D.C., area and is now semi-retired. He hopes to make the move to full retirement later this year. Note: The answers to the questions were 1) blue whale and 2) Madagascar.

1969
The Endocrine Society selected 15 endocrinologists to receive its 2014 Laureate Awards. John P. Bilezikian, the Dorothy L. and Daniel H. Silberberg Professor of Medicine and professor of pharmacology at P&S, will receive the society’s Distinguished Educator Award, which recognizes John’s achievement as an endocrinology and metabolism educator. John has mentored a generation of trainees, been an innovator of new educational programs nationally and internationally, and worked as an advocate to recruit physicians and physician-scientists to endocrinology. He is chair of the Endocrine Fellows Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that has provided competitive research grants to endocrinology fellows for the past 20 years. The awards will be presented in Chicago in June during the society’s annual meeting, held in conjunction with the 16th International Congress of Endocrinology.

1970
See Alumni in Print to read about a new book written by Sally Kasparek Severino. Sally, who also received a psychoanalysis certificate from Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training & Research in 1980, has long built bridges among psychiatry, neuroscience, and spirituality. She is professor emeritus of psychiatry at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center.

Andrew Zimmerman has joined UMass Memorial Children’s Medical Center. He completed his residency in pediatrics at the University of Michigan and a fellowship in neurology at Johns Hopkins Hospital and is board-certified in pediatrics and pediatric neurology. He has a special interest in the causes and treatment of autism. At UMass, he directs clinical trials through the medical school’s autism and neurodevelopment groups.

1974
In September 2013 on Capitol Hill, John Eng was honored with the Golden Goose Award for his research on the poisonous venom produced by the Gila monster, which led to a drug that protects people with diabetes from nerve damage, kidney failure, and blindness. The Golden Goose Award was created in 2012 to celebrate researchers whose seemingly odd or obscure research funded by the federal government turned out to have a significant and positive impact on society. The ceremony was attended by members of the scientific and research advocacy communities.

1976
M. Philip Luber is professor and interim chair of the Department of Psychiatry and associate dean for graduate medical education at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He is a 1986 graduate of the Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research.

1979
Mary T. Bassett, a member of the faculty in the Department of Epidemiology at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health and program director of the African Health Initiative at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, was appointed in January 2014 as New York City Commissioner of Health. Mary previously served in the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene as deputy commissioner, overseeing programs that addressed non-communicable diseases and maternal and child health. She also led the district public health offices in Harlem, Central Brooklyn, and the Bronx. She was quoted in a press release issued by the mayor’s office: “We don’t believe in a back-seat approach to protecting public health. We will be aggressive and innovative in tackling today’s epidemics. Whether it is protecting a community facing the loss of a hospital or ensuring that all neighborhoods enable healthy choices as people eat, work and play, we will meet New Yorkers where they live and ensure their health—both mental and physical—is protected.” Other P&S alumni who have held New York City’s top health commissioner job are Haven Emerson, an 1899 graduate, who served as commissioner from 1915 to 1917; Israel Weinstein’26, who served from 1946 to 1947; and Thomas Frieden’86, who served from 2002 to 2009 and now heads the CDC.

1980
Alan Engler has become a docent and leads tours of Grand Central Terminal in New York City. The program is under the auspices of the Municipal Art Society of New York, and Alan leads tours a few times a month.

1982
See Alumni in Print to read about a book by Richard Usatine, professor of family and community medicine and dermatology and cutaneous surgery at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center San Antonio. Richard completed his family medicine residency at UCLA Medical Center. He has co-authored six books and is lead author of “The Color Atlas of Family Medicine” and “Dermatological and Cosmetic Procedures in Office Practice.” He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and won numerous teaching awards. In 2000, he was recognized as the national recipient of the Humanism in Medicine Award, given by the Association of American Medical Colleges.

1983
Tim Wang, the Dorothy L. and Daniel H. Silberberg Professor of Medicine at P&S, has been elected vice president of the American Gastroenterology Association, the largest and most prestigious GI organization in the United States. His term as vice president begins in May 2014; in 2015 he becomes president-elect before becoming president in 2016.

1986
See Alumni in Print to read about the latest book by Barron Lerner. Barron, who also has a PhD, is now professor of medicine and population health at New York University.

1988
Scott Campbell is an attending emergency physician at Kaiser San Francisco Medical Center and was recently honored by the Hospital Council of Northern California with the Hospital Hero Award for his work to improve the efficiency of emergency care delivery throughout the city. Scott has served as adviser to the mayor and the City of San Francisco for the past decade on issues related to ambulance diversion and ED overcrowding. Scott partnered with McKinsey & Company to identify root causes and execute solutions, including the creation of a sobering center, a medical respite center, and a fast-track psychiatric field evaluation protocol. He is currently president of the San Francisco Emergency Physicians Association.

1994
See Alumni in Print to read about a book co-edited by Calvin Chou. Calvin, who also has a PhD, is professor of clinical medicine at UCSF and staff physician at the VA Medical Center in San Francisco. As a faculty member of the American Academy on Communication in Healthcare (AACH), he is nationally recognized for his efforts in education and research to enhance communication between patients and physicians. He directs VALOR, an innovative longitudinal program based at the VA that emphasizes humanistic clinical skill development for medical students. He also holds the first endowed Academy Chair in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at UCSF. He has delivered communication skills curricula for providers at medical centers across the country, including Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and Stanford University; he recently returned to NewYork-Presbyterian (and the Hammer building) under the auspices of AACH to help develop a program to enhance communication skills training for faculty to bolster patient experiences of care.

1995
Daren Anderson received the Primary Care Leadership Award at the sixth annual Primary Care Summit, hosted by the Connecticut Center for Primary Care on Nov. 21, 2013. Daren was honored for his leadership in quality improvement in primary care. He is vice president and chief quality officer for the Community Health Center Inc. of Connecticut and director of the Weitzman Quality Institute in Middletown, Conn.

2010 + 2011
During the 2014 Steven Z. Miller Student Clinician’s Ceremony in January, Emily Vail’10 received one of the six Arnold P. Gold Foundation’s Resident Teaching Awards given by the Class of 2015. Emily is a resident in anesthesiology at NewYork-Presbyterian. Other alumni nominated for resident awards were Bryan McColgan’11 (medicine resident) and Moeun Son’10 (obstetrics & gynecology resident). As finalists, Drs. McColgan and Son were noted in the Circle of Excellence at the ceremony.