June People Notes

Frank Ackerman, assistant research professor with the Global Development and Environment Institute, had his op-ed article about G-DAE’s work on REACH, the European chemicals policy, published in the April 11 issue of Parliament magazine, which covers the European Parliament and European Union.

Giana Angelo, a graduate research assistant in the Mineral Bioavailability Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA), was one of three students who won an award in the 2005 American Society for Nutritional Sciences’ Procter & Gamble graduate student research oral competition. Her talk, “RNAi-mediated Knockdown of Heat Shock Protein 90 beta (Hsp90ß) Impairs Responsiveness to Vitamin D in Caco-2 Cells,” was presented at the 2005 Experimental Biology meeting in San Diego, Calif., in April.

Nancy Bauer, assistant professor of philosophy, is the 2005 recipient of the Lillian and Joseph Leibner Award for distinguished teaching and advising. The award was created by the late Max Tishler, professor of chemistry at Wesleyan University and a trustee emeritus of Tufts. Bauer received the award at the May 18 meeting of the faculty of Arts, Sciences and Engineering.

Jane A. Bernstein, Austin Fletcher Professor of Music, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is one of 196 new fellows and 17 new foreign honorary members. This year’s new fellows include Nobel Prize-winning physicist Eric Cornell of the University of Colorado, Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Steven Squyres, leader of NASA’s Rover program for the exploration of Mars, sculptor and painter Jeff Koons, Academy Award-winning actor and director Sidney Poitier, journalist Tom Brokaw, Time Inc. CEO Ann Moore and Maya Lin, designer and sculptor of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Bernstein is considered a leading scholar of Renaissance music. Her book, Music Printing in Renaissance Venice: The Scotto Press (1539-1572), won the American Musicological Society’s Otto Kinkeidy Award for the most distinguished musicological work in 1999. But she is equally regarded for bringing attention to the contributions women have made to music, as reflected in her book, Women’s Voices across Musical Worlds (Northeastern University Press, 2004). She has won numerous grants and awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2000.

Sarah Booth, director of the HNRCA Vitamin K Laboratory, gave presentations on “Age-related Bone Loss” and “Vascular Calcification: A Role for Vitamin K?” at the Human Nutrition Research Center in Grand Forks, N.D., on April 19 and at Hebrew SeniorLife in Roslindale, Mass., on May 18.

Kara Brassil is the new development coordinator for the medical school’s Office for Advancement and Alumni Relations. She comes to Tufts from Horizons for the Homeless in Dorchester, where she assisted in event-focused fund-raising as coordinator of special events and corporate relations. Previously, Brassil was a development assistant for the Jimmy Fund in West Springfield, where she worked with volunteers and helped plan events such as the Pan Mass Challenge and the WEEI/Red Sox Radiothon. She holds B.A. in communications and theatre arts/media from Western Connecticut State University, where she also worked in the Student Affairs and Student Life offices. At Tufts, she provides support for the Fund for Tufts Medicine and assists with the annual reunion and the alumni association’s executive council.

Dr. Robert Bridges, professor of biomedical sciences at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, has been awarded a five-year MERIT Award from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The award, which totals $1.025 million in direct costs, will continue funding Bridges’ research on the endocrine and neurobiological basis of maternal behavior in mammals. The MERIT award extends support through the 25th year of the project.

Victoria Byfield, V08, has been selected as a 2005 Agnes Varis Summer Research Scholar at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. Her project is titled “IFNy Secretion from Mucosal Lymphocytes Infected with Cryptosporidium Parvum,” and her faculty mentor is Dr. Brett Leav, assistant professor of medicine at Tufts. The summer research program, funded by Agnes Varis, a university trustee and a member of the Board of Overseers to the veterinary school, provides stipends for three veterinary students to conduct cross-disciplinary work at the university.

Madeline Caviness, professor of art history, is the recipient of the 2004–05 Seymour Simches Award, presented to a senior member of the faculty in Arts, Sciences and Engineering in recognition of a lifetime of outstanding teaching and advising. She will receive the award at the September meeting of the Arts, Sciences and Engineering faculty.

Sing-chen Lydia Chiang, assistant professor of Chinese, has received an Arthur O. Lewis Award for the best conference paper presented by an untenured scholar at the 2004 annual meeting of the Society for Utopian Studies. The conference paper forms the basis of the introductory chapter to her new book project, Fantasies of Order and Orders of Fantasy, a study of textual compilation as a means to empire building in 10th-century China. The book project has been awarded a Fulbright research scholarship for the 2005–06 academic year.

Keith Mitsuo Dan, V07, has been selected as a 2005 Agnes Varis Summer Research Scholar at the veterinary school. His project is titled “Elucidation of Deficient Glucuronidation of Soy Isoflavones as the Mechanism Responsible for the Sensitivity of Cats to the Goitrogenic Effects of Dietary Soy,” and his faculty mentor is Michael Court, assistant professor of pharmacology at Tufts. The summer research program, funded by Agnes Varis, a university trustee and a member of the Board of Overseers to the veterinary school, provides stipends for three veterinary students to conduct cross-disciplinary work at the university.

Dr. Wendy Emerson, V85, received the 2004 Distinguished Service Award from the Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA) during ceremonies on April 9 in Natick, Mass. A former president of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Emerson operates the Putnam Veterinary Clinic and Mobile Veterinary Service in Topsfield, Mass. In 1999, she received the Tufts Veterinary Alumni Association’s Outstanding Alumna Award. The MVMA recognized Emerson “for her long service to the profession, the association and the health and welfare of animals. It is a rare and wonderful thing to find a person so dedicated to the success of organized veterinary medicine and our community.” Also at the awards ceremony, Susan E.M. Brogan, associate director of continuing education at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, and Janice Lennon, who was instrumental in developing the continuing education program before she retired from the veterinary school, were honored as 2004 Merit Award recipients.

Max Felker-Kantor, a junior majoring in history, has been named one of 15 Gilder Lehrman History Scholars, chosen from more than 300 candidates nationwide. The scholars will be in New York City, June 19–July 30 for a six-week program that combines historical research, seminars with eminent historians and behind-the-scenes tours of rare archives. In addition to a $2,400 stipend, each scholar will have the opportunity to produce original research resulting from his or her summer work. “These are the brightest young historians in America,” said Prof. James G. Basker, president of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, which sponsors the program, designed to promote the study and love of American history. “We see them as a kind of Rhodes Scholar elite among history majors. We hope this spurs them all to consider careers as scholarly historians in the future.” Felker-Kantor has already compiled an impressive record of achievement in American history. In his coursework, he has explored topics from Revolutionary America to the history of education and the civil rights movement, and has made the Dean’s List every semester. His interest in making history broadly accessible to students, teachers and the general public has taken him outside the classroom as well. As an intern at the tolerance-teaching organization Facing History and Ourselves, Felker-Kantor conducted research into the American eugenics movement. At Boston’s public broadcasting station, WGBH, he worked on an educational online project about Brown v. Board of Education; he also helped organize a series of panels at Tufts in honor of the 50th anniversary of that landmark Supreme Court decision.

David Hastings, A74, an instructor at the Friedman School, has been appointed executive director of the Massachusetts 9/11 Fund, with responsibility for helping the fund meet the ongoing needs of Massachusetts families who lost loved ones in the tragic events of September 11, 2001. MASS 9/11 Fund President Faith Arter said Hastings “brings a wealth of social service and management expertise to the fund that will enable us to address families’ continuing needs for mental health services, social support networks, health insurance and funding for college. He’ll also be working to assess families’ needs and developing programs to help.” Since being founded in December 2001, the MASS 9/11 Fund has provided support to 250 families of 205 victims. The former executive associate dean of the Friedman School, Hastings also earned an MBA at Boston University.

Dr. Carl Heilman, a longtime faculty member at the School of Medicine, will assume a leadership role in expanding the neurosurgery program at the school and Tufts-New England Medical Center when he becomes chair of the Department of Neurosurgery and neurosurgeon-in-chief on July 1. Heilman is currently associate professor of neurosurgery at the medical school and director of Tufts-NEMC’s Center for Skull Base Surgery. He succeeds Dr. William A. Shucart, who is retiring after nearly three decades in those roles at the medical school and the hospital. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Heilman is board-certified in neurological surgery. He completed his postgraduate training at Tufts-NEMC and the Floating Hospital for Children. His clinical specialties include skull base tumor surgery and pediatric neurosurgery. In making the announcement, Dr. Michael Rosenblatt, dean of the School of Medicine, and Ellen Zane, president and CEO of Tufts-NEMC, also noted that that hospital’s neurosurgical staff has doubled with the hiring of three full-time neurosurgeons from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center: Dr. Julian Wu, Dr. Simcha Weller and Dr. Adel Malek. They join Heilman, Dr. Kevin Yao and Dr. James Kryzanski on Tufts-NEMC’s neurosurgery team. Previously, all six physicians provided neurosurgery coverage at Tufts-NEMC and Beth Israel. Now neurological services will be located exclusively at Tufts-NEMC. The addition of staff for neurological services is a prelude to the creation of a Neurosurgery Institute, specializing in the minimally invasive treatment of neurological disorders, including arteriovenous malformations, brain tumors, aneurysms, spinal disorders, spinal tumors and surgical treatment of seizures. The new program will build upon Tufts’ expertise in caring for patients with diseases of the brain, spine and peripheral nervous system.

Kelly D. Horton, a graduate student in the Friedman School’s Food Policy and Applied Nutrition program, had her article, “Personal Change and Food Insecurity in Washington State,” published in the spring issue of the Hunger and Environmental Nutrition Newsletter, produced by the American Dietetic Association. The article was based on Horton’s graduate internship experience in Seattle last summer. Washington State is ranked as the fifth worse state for food insecurity, according to the ERS State of the States 2004 report. During her internship, Horton completed an evaluation of food stamp participation barriers for the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Washington State and also taught a teen nutrition class through Operation Frontline’s Share Our Strength organization.

Paul F. Jacques, senior scientist and director of the HNRCA Nutritional Epidemiology Program, is the first recipient of the HNRCA Director’s Scientific Recognition Award for his work on “Determinants of Plasma Total Homocysteine Concentration in the Framingham Offspring Cohort,” published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2001 (73:613-21). This award is given to an HNRCA scientist for a primary research paper cited most often during 2002–04.

Eric Johnson, a 17-year member of the university fund-raising team, has been promoted to executive director of development in the Advancement Division. In his new position, Johnson has overall responsibility for leading the school-based development teams and for the management and implementation of the upcoming $1 billion-plus capital campaign. He will retain his current responsibilities, including oversight of the university’s principal and leadership gift activities and the office of prospect management and research.

Alana Kapust, V08, has been selected as a 2005 Agnes Varis Summer Research Scholar at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. Her project is titled “Assessment of the Impact of Land Management on the Health and Biodiversity of Freshwater Fish,” and her faculty mentor is Richard Vogel, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Tufts School of Engineering. The summer research program, funded by Agnes Varis, a university trustee and a member of the Board of Overseers to the veterinary school, provides stipends for three veterinary students to conduct cross-disciplinary work at the university.

Yuri Kim, a graduate research assistant in the HNRCA Nutrition and Cancer Biology Laboratory, is the 2005 recipient of the Irwin H. Rosenberg Predoctoral Research Award for her work on “The Protective Effect of Combined Antioxidants (b-carotene, a-tocopherol and ascorbic acid) Supplementation against Chemical Carcinogen (NNK)-induced Lung Carcinogenesis in Smoke-exposed Ferrets.” The Rosenberg Award, named after former HNRCA Director Irwin H. Rosenberg, is given annually to a graduating student who receives a Ph.D. during the academic year. Candidates are selected on the basis of outstanding scientific research, based on a written manuscript or manuscripts, conducted in collaboration with or under the mentorship of an HNRCA scientist.

Richard M. Lerner, Bergstrom Chair in Applied Developmental Science in the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development, attended a meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development in Atlanta in April, where he gave the keynote address, “Applying Developmental Science in Textbooks and Teaching to Promote Civic Engagement among College Students: The Sample Case of Positive Youth Development.” In addition, he and colleagues and graduate students from the Institute of Applied Research on Youth Development presented several papers and posters. Lerner and his colleagues’ work on the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development was featured in the April 25 issue of Newsweek magazine. In May, Lerner attended the 4-H Board of Trustees meeting in Chevy Chase, Md. He spoke at the Medical Institute’s national meeting May 28 in Washington, D.C.

Alice H. Lichtenstein, director of the HNRCA Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory and Gershoff Professor of Nutrition Science and Policy, discussed the “New USDA Pyramid/Dietary Guidelines” at the Longwood Nutrition Conference at the Harvard Medical School on April 5.

Larry Link, executive director of development for the past two years, left the university in May. During his tenure, the university Advancement Division has emerged a stronger organization that is better prepared to spearhead a successful campaign and support the academic goals of the university.

Dr. Ronald Pies, clinical professor of psychiatry, has had the second edition of his book, Handbook of Essential Psychopharmacology, a guide to vital information in psychopharmacology for residents and experienced clinicians, published by the American Psychiatric Press.

Sharon Ray, assistant professor of occupational therapy, and Mary Alicia Barnes, fieldwork coordinator for the Department of Occupational Therapy, presented a workshop, “Addressing the Needs of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders in School-based Practice,” at the 85th annual conference of the American Occupational Therapy Association May 14 in Long Beach, Calif. The department also hosted an alumni reception for alumni and affiliates from around the world.

Dr. Robert M. Russell, director of the HNRCA, was invited to represent the National Academy of Sciences as he discussed “Learning from the DRI Experience: Framework for Ongoing Revisions, 2005” at the Workshop on Strategies for Micronutrients in Jerusalem, Israel, May 23-24.

Katie Seyboth, a junior majoring in chemistry, has been awarded a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, a program Congress established in 1986 to encourage excellence in science and mathematics. Seyboth’s research centers on a method for analyzing large amounts of data quickly and accurately. “The field of computational geometry fascinates me,” she said, “and the concept of data depth is particularly interesting because of its uses in many different disciplines.” The Goldwater Foundation awards up to 300 scholarships each year, providing $7,500 to juniors like Seyboth. Tufts celebrated its last Goldwater in 1996. “Having knowledge is a great thing, but there is nothing better than sharing it with others and watching understanding awaken in their eyes,” Seyboth said. “This pleasure has led me to the goal of becoming a college computer science professor and conducting my own computational geometry research.”

Sandra C. Souza, a scientist in the HNRCA Obesity Metabolism Laboratory, was invited to speak on the “Generation and Genetic Characterization of Transgenic Mice Source” at the Cell and Molecular Nutrition Holiday Seminar at the HNRCA on February 23.

Allen Taylor, director of the Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research at the HNRCA, gave a talk on “Roles for the Lens Ubiquitin Proteolytic Pathway (UPP)” March 15 at the Schepen’s Eye Research Institute. He emphasized the importance of the ubiquitin proteolytic pathway on control of protein quality, cell proliferation and differentiation. On April 29-30, Taylor attended ARVO’s U.S.-Indo Workshop on Collaborative Research in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. This was a follow-up workshop based on an initial collaborative research meeting in Hyderabad, India, in February. The U.S. component of the program provided an opportunity to identify collaborative opportunities and hone effective research models that will have an impact on the future of vision research. Taylor and fellow colleagues from the Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research, Fu Shang, Chung-Jung Chiu, Madeleine Zetterberg, Xinyu Zhang and Matthew Gallagher, attended the ARVO 2005 annual meeting, “Global Networking,” in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., May 1-5. The experimental results they presented cover the topics of retinal cell biology, biochemistry and molecular biology, clinical and epidemiologic research and lens/visual. They gave poster presentations on “Ubiquitin-containing Protein Aggregates in Lipofuscin-treated Light-exposed RPE” (Taylor); “Glycation of Ubiquitin May Underlie the Molecular Mechanism of Diabetic Cataract” (Zhang); “Impairment of Ubiquitin-proteasome Pathway in Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells Enhances Expression and Secretion of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor” (Guo/Gallagher); “Dietary Glycemic Index and Carbohydrate Intake in Relation to Early Age-related Maculopathy” (Chiu); “Dual Functions of Ubiquitin-proteasome Pathway in Lens Protein Quality Control” (Shang); and “GSH-modified GammaC-Crystallin Is Selectively Degraded by the Ubiquitin-proteasome Pathway” (Zetterberg). Early in June, Taylor presented a talk at the NIH National Cancer Institute on “Ubiquitin Mutants Compromise Cellular Response to Oxidative Stress.”

Elisa Thomas has been promoted to associate director for stewardship in the medical development office. She has been a key member of the medical advancement team for more than three years, during which time she also completed her master’s degree in visual media at Emerson College. She has fulfilled a number of roles, from providing administrative assistance, to supporting the annual fund and stewardship programs, to webmaster. Prior to working at the School of Medicine, Thomas was a senior project manager specializing in creative strategy for a multimedia design company in Boston and an interactive producer and copywriter for Monster.com. She holds a BA in journalism from UMass-Amherst.

Parke Wilde , assistant professor at the Friedman School, had his article, “Message Under Revision: USDA Speaks Out About Beef, Pork, Cheese and Obesity,” chosen as an honorable mention outstanding article by the American Agricultural Economics Association’s magazine Choices.

Dr. Stephen C. Wright , clinical professor of medicine and chief of medicine at Faulkner Hospital, is the winner of the Milton and Natalie Zucker Outstanding Accomplishment in Clinical Teaching Prize, which recognizes medical faculty who epitomize the best of clinical teaching. Wright joined Faulkner Hospital in 1973, and over the next 20 years established himself as a superior teacher and clinician and directed the Tufts medical student teaching program at the Faulkner. Despite having a busy and active gastroenterology practice, he always makes time for students, meeting with them for daily “Wright Rounds,” when new admissions are discussed, and serving as an important role model and mentor to scores of students and young faculty. Wright has been recognized by medical students and peers through multiple awards for outstanding clinical teaching and received the Distinguished Faculty Mentoring Award in 2004. In addition to his clinical responsibilities, it is Wright’s extracurricular activities that distinguish him as a Renaissance physician. He is an active member of the Longwood Symphony Orchestra and a beekeeper. Holidays at Faulkner Hospital are marked by distribution of his latest honey vintage.

Dr. Brian A. Yeaman , clinical instructor of public health and family medicine and chief resident in the family medicine residency at Tufts School of Medicine, is a recipient of the American Medical Association Foundation’s 2005 Leadership Award, which provides training in developing leadership skills. The AMA Foundation honored 66 individuals during its annual Excellence in Medicine awards ceremony March 13 in Washington, D.C.