April People Notes

Frank Ackerman, research and policy program director at the Global Development and Environment Institute, attended a meeting in Santa Monica about organizing economists working on climate change. Ackerman also addressed an audience of 900 in the Illahee Lecture Series in Portland, Ore. His topic was “Everything You Know about Economics Is Wrong.” At the Eastern Economic Association conference, he presented a paper on “Near-term Benefits from Global Warming: Deep Insight or Dangerous Illusion?,” which critiqued the false optimism of some standard economic analyses of warming impacts.

Marjan Askari, Lauren Castro and Doug Laliberte, all D09, have been awarded scholarships from the American Dental Association in recognition of their academic accomplishments. Askari and Laliberte received the ADA Foundation Dental Student Scholarship and Castro the ADA Foundation Minority Dental Student Scholarship.

Joshua Berkowitz, program coordinator at the Global Development and Environment Institute, participated in a panel on environmental careers at Hebrew College in Newton, Mass., where he spoke about “Sustainable Development Policy and Practice.”

Greg Bettencourt, senior co-captain of the men’s swimming team, swam a Tufts-record time of 16 minutes, 2.85 seconds in the 1,650 freestyle on March 17, the final day of the NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships in Houston, Texas. The time smashed the previous Tufts record of 16:19.76, set 15 years ago by Marc Bonnet-Eymard, A94. It also earned Bettencourt 19th place at the 2007 NCAA Championships. Also at the national meet, he swam a time of 4:33.27 in the finals of the 500 freestyle, earning 12th place in the nation and honorable mention All-American honors along with it.

Dr. Randy Boudrieau, professor of clinical sciences at the Cummings School, received his board certification as a diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons.

Kathleen Camara, associate professor in the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development, and Masami Stampf, who received an M.A. in child development in 2001, gave an invited address to the international conference of the European Council of International Schools in Nice, France, last November. Their paper, “Learning through Music: What Songs, Violins, Fiddles, Accordions, Keyboards, Recorders and Tin Whistles Have to Do with Children’s Development and Achievement,” is based on data gathered in schools in Ireland, England and the United States, and included videotaped segments of children singing and playing at the South Bank International School in London, a country school in Palais Green, Ireland, and the Conservatory Lab Charter School in Brighton, Mass. In their talk, Camara and Stampf discussed a model they are developing for learning through music. Also in November, Camara was an invited participant in a meeting of the ERASMUS-SOKRATES group on music education in the European Union that was held at the Prince Claus Conservatoire in Groningen, Netherlands. She met with faculty and administrators who are developing programs for the mentorship of young musicians and who are working on reforms in music education throughout Europe.

George Cangiano, assistant director for dining operations, reports that Dining Services conducted a day of education, training and team building for all its employees on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The theme for this year’s event was “The Sustainable Future of Tufts Dining.” “We wanted the agenda for this year to reflect the mission of Tufts Dining and the mission of the university,” Cangiano said. “We are constantly trying to address the concerns of the entire Tufts community when it comes to sustainability, environmental stewardship and support for local farmers. We took the opportunity to address these questions and educate our employees as to why these initiatives are important to us and to the community,” he said.

Khristopher Carlson, Dyan Mazurana and Elizabeth Stites of the Feinstein International Center gave a presentation at the Fletcher School hosted by the Boston Consortium on Gender, Security and Human Rights. They discussed their work on livelihoods and protective strategies in the Kitgum District in northern Uganda with an audience that included about 60 students from Tufts and other Boston-area universities.

Julia Carroll, E08, and Emma Francis, E08, students in the bridge design class taught by Brian Brenner, professor of the practice in civil and environmental engineering, are working on a project to prepare an application for National Historic Landmark status for the Choate Bridge in Ipswich, Mass. They are working with the Boston Society of Civil Engineers and have been in contact with several national historic bridge experts. Choate Bridge, built in 1764, is the nation’s second oldest masonry arch bridge. The approval process includes a fairly thorough effort to research the history of the bridge and demonstrate why it is deserving of historic designation. The bridge was one of several that were closed last spring during the North Shore floods, leaving the town of Ipswich cut off for several days. The structure underwent emergency repairs over the last few months.

Eric J. Chaisson, director of the Wright Center for Science Education, is the recipient of the 2007 Walter P. Kistler Book Award, a prize awarded by the Foundation for the Future to recognize authors of science-based books that increase the public’s knowledge and understanding of subjects that will shape the future of our species. Chaisson, research professor of physics and of education, was selected for his book, Epic of Evolution: Seven Ages of the Cosmos (Columbia University Press, 2006). The book “very effectively traces for the reader the thread of knowledge linking the processes by which primal energy evolved into elementary particles, then particles into atoms, atoms into stars and galaxies, stars into heavy elements, and those elements into the molecular building blocks of life—all of which led to the life, culture and technological society on Earth today,” said Sesh Velamoor, deputy director of the Foundation for the Future. Chaisson received the award, which included a $10,000 cash prize, on March 29 at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Royce Chen, M08, has received a $30,000 Medical Student Eye Research Fellowship from Research to Prevent Blindness, a New York-based foundation that is the world’s leading voluntary organization supporting eye research. The grant will enable Chen to take a year off from medical school to conduct research under the mentorship of Dr. Jay Duker, professor and chair of ophthalmology at Tufts, ophthalmologist-in-chief at Tufts-New England Medical Center and director of the New England Eye Center. Chen will use a high-speed, ultra-high-resolution imaging device to obtain cross-sectional images of the retina to better understand the mechanisms and pathology of various eye diseases.

Beth Conant, the dental school’s budget and fiscal officer, has been promoted to director of finance and administration. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Babson College and an MBA from Bentley College. Prior to coming to the dental school last May, she held positions of increasing responsibility in the high-tech sector, most recently as senior financial analyst with OpenPages Inc.

The Tufts women’s track foursome of senior tri-captain Sarah Crispin and juniors Kaleigh Fitzpatrick, Katy O’Brien and Cat Beck set a New England record for all divisions in the distance medley relay on February 23 at the Open New England Championships hosted by Boston University. The Tufts team finished in a time of 11 minutes, 39.08 seconds to win the race by almost 13 seconds over Williams College. The time obliterates the previous Tufts record of 11:59 set in 2005, and stands to be one of the fastest times in the country this year.

Dr. Richard Doff, D72, assistant clinical professor of periodontology, and Dr. Vincent Mariano, D82, assistant clinical professor of prosthodontics and operative dentistry, were named 2006 Volunteer Heroes by the Massachusetts Dental Society.

Kevin P. Gallagher, senior researcher at the Global Development and Environment Institute (GDAE), represented GDAE at the annual congress of the International Studies Association in Chicago on March 2-3. He discussed GDAE’s globalization work on a panel titled “The Role of Scholars Informing Alternative Globalization,” and he delivered a formal paper titled “The Political Economy of the Doha Round: Shrinking Gains and Real Costs.” His article, “Understanding Developing Country Resistance to the Doha Round,” has been accepted for publication later this year in the Review of International Political Economy. Gallagher and economists Ha Joon Chang of Cambridge University in the United Kingdom and Bina Agarwal of the Institute of Economic Growth in India have agreed to edit a new book series for Zed Press in London titled The New Economics. The series will feature short policy books that apply alternative economic approaches to global issues. He also wrote a chapter titled “Toward a Theory of Innovation and Industrial Pollution: Evidence from Mexican Manufacturing” for a new book, Industrial Innovation and Environmental Regulation (United Nations University Press). He gave an address titled “Three Challenges for Mexico’s New President” at WorldBoston’s Great Decisions Lecture Series on March 20 at the Boston Public Library.

Audrey Girouard, a Ph.D. student in computer science, has been awarded a postgraduate scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council (NSERC), which provides support to high-caliber scholars who are pursuing master’s or doctoral degrees in the natural sciences or engineering. The scholarship allows these students to fully concentrate on their studies and to seek out the best research mentors in their chosen fields.

Nancy E. Glass, J77, president of Nancy Glass Productions in Bala Cynwyd, Pa.; Shelley R. McCarthy, J75, A07P, of Los Angeles; Lance West, E82, senior managing director of Centerbridge Partners, L.P., in New York City; and Lisa Halle West, J82, have been appointed to the Board of Overseers to the School of Arts & Sciences.

Dr. Andrew Greenberg, director of the obesity and metabolism research program at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA), gave a talk on “Obesity and the Role of Adipose Tissue Inflammation in Metabolism” at the International Life Sciences Institute’s annual North American Scientific Session in Cancun. He also spoke at Endocrine Grand Rounds at Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons. His presentation was titled “The Role of Perilipin, Genetics and Sex in Metabolism.” He gave a presentation at the Dartmouth College of Medicine on “Adipose Tissue and Its Role in Obesity-associated Complications.”

Barbara Grossman, associate professor and chair of the Department of Drama and Dance, has been appointed vice chair of the Massachusetts Cultural Council by Gov. Deval Patrick. Elyse Cherry, CEO of Boston Community Capital, chairs the council.

Dr. Gulsun Gul, assistant professor of public health and community service at the School of Dental Medicine; Dr. John Morgan, director of the Tufts Dental Facilities Serving Persons with Special Needs; and Justin Au, D07, along with former members of the Tufts Dental community Patricia Campbell and Kerry Maguire, were in Zambia for the month of December, providing dental care and oral health education at orphanages, community schools and villages. The team was also involved in socioeconomic development in the village of Muchila, bringing in infrastructure for wells, farm cattle, seeds and crops to create a sustainable farm project.

Jonathan Harris, director of theory and education at the Global Development and Environment Institute, presented a paper on “Teaching Ecological Economics” at the annual conference of the Eastern Economic Association in New York in March, as part of a panel on “Environmental and Ecological Economics in the Classroom.”

Dr. Thomas L. Higgins, professor of medicine and chief of the critical care division at Baystate Medical Center, a Tufts-affiliated hospital in Springfield, Mass., was the lead author of the study, “Assessing Contemporary Intensive Care Unit Outcomes: An Updated Mortality Probability Admission Model (MPMo-III),” published in Critical Care Medicine (2007, 35:827-835).

A new book, Globalization and Health (Oxford University Press, 2007), features a chapter by Raymond R. Hyatt Jr. , an assistant professor at the Friedman School and a research associate at the John Hancock Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition. The book analyzes some of the most serious global threats to health, the tools that can be used to evaluate them and the international agencies established to respond to them. Hyatt’s chapter, “Military Spending: Global Health Threat or Global Public Good,” examines the cost to population health as governments choose between allocations to the military versus allocations for other public goods.

Robert Jacob, associate professor of computer science, gave the keynote address at the IEEE Symposium on 3D User Interfaces 2007, which was held in conjunction with IEEE Virtual Reality 2007 March 10-11 in Charlotte, N.C. In his talk, he described the notion of Reality-Based Interaction (RBI) as a unifying concept that ties together a large subset of the emerging generation of new user interfaces. RBI attempts to connect current paths of research in human-computer interaction and to provide a framework that can be used to understand, compare and relate these new developments. Jacob’s research interests are new interaction media and techniques and user interface software. He is a member of the editorial board of Human-Computer Interaction and the ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction.

Dr. James Kraus, D06, and Dr. Mario Lucca, D02, first-year oral and maxillofacial surgery residents at the dental school, were profiled in the Saint Michael’s College alumni magazine in an article titled “The Art, and Heart, of Health Science: Alumni Go Above and Beyond in the Oral Health Care Field.” Both received their undergraduate degrees from the Vermont college.

Alice H. Lichtenstein, the Stanley N. Gershoff Professor of Nutrition Science and Policy and director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at the HNRCA, and co-investigators Sarah Booth, professor of nutrition, and Nirupa Matthan, an HNRCA scientist, have been awarded a Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) grant from the National Institutes of Health. They will study whether selected plasma markers of nutrient intake, alone or in combination, are better predictors of death from coronary heart disease than standard measures of food intake. The WHI program is intended to improve knowledge about the predictors and prevention of some common diseases affecting older women, including cardiovascular disease and specific cancers. Lichtenstein also gave a talk on “Soy Protein and Soy-derived Isoflavones, Plasma Lipid Levels and Cardiovascular Disease Risk” at the Women’s Health Forum: Navigating Health Information, sponsored by the American Nurses Association and National Consumers League in Washington, DC.

Paul J. Luppino, manager for University Information Technology Support Services, has been elected to the NorthEast Regional Computing Program’s Board of Trustees. The organization works to enhance the communication and dissemination of information related to the use of computers, networks and information technology in education, academic research and educational administration throughout the northeastern United States.

Gilbert E. Metcalf, professor of economics, was interviewed on the topic of climate change legislation on the cable TV show “NECN NewsNight.” His research was cited in an article, “U.S. House Takes on Big Oil,” in The Christian Science Monitor.

Claire Moore, professor of molecular biology and microbiology; Dr. David Adler, professor of psychiatry; John Castellot, professor of anatomy and cell biology; and Dr. Mary Lee, associate professor of medicine and associate provost of Tufts, are the recipients of this year’s Distinguished Faculty Awards from the School of Medicine. Established in 1991, the awards recognize those who have made outstanding contributions to the medical school through their teaching, scholarship and service.

Dr. Herbert W. Mower, assistant clinical professor of radiation oncology at the School of Medicine and director of radiation oncology physics at the Lahey Clinic, is serving as chair of the American College of Medical Physics (ACMP), one of two national professional societies serving the professional and educational needs of the clinical medical physicist. In his position with the ACMP, Mower is involved with the evaluation and upgrading of physics curriculums for radiology residency programs, radiation oncology residency programs and medical physics training programs and the RadCARE bill, an initiative by 19 professional societies involved with the clinical use of radiation. The goal is to assure the public that professionals involved with their diagnosis and treatment using ionizing radiation have been properly trained, have appropriate clinical experience and maintain their training through continuing education programs.

Julie Nelson, senior research associate at Tufts’ Global Development and Environment Institute, attended the Allied Social Science Association meetings in Chicago, where she presented papers at sessions of the International Association for Feminist Economics and the International Network for Economic Method and attended various board meetings. Nelson’s 1996 article, “The Masculine Mindset of Economic Analysis,” has been translated into Polish and made available as part of “Feminist Think Tank,” an online course in feminist economics created by feminist economists in Poland.

Colin Orians, associate professor of biology, gave an invited talk on “From Local to Systemic Induction: Advantages of a Whole Plant Perspective” at the Gordon Research Conference on Plant Herbivore Interactions in Ventura, Calif., on February 19. At the conference, Orians was elected vice chair for the 2010 meeting and chair of the 2013 meeting.

Dr. Carole Palmer, professor of public health and community service at the School of Dental Medicine, is the editor of a new textbook, Diet and Nutrition in Oral Health (Prentice Hall, second edition). The book is a comprehensive text that encompasses nutritional implications for dental practice.

Judy Ribaya-Mercado, a scientist in the HNRCA Antioxidants Laboratory, gave an invited lecture on “Stable Isotope Techniques to Assess Body Pools of Vitamin A” at a regional training course on the use of isotopic techniques for combating the double burden of malnutrition. The event was organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency Nobel Peace Prize Fund Schools in Nutrition in Vienna, Austria, and took place at the Instituto de Nutricion de Centro America y Panama in Guatemala City, Guatemala. The attendees were from health ministries, research institutes and universities in 21 countries in Central and South America and the Caribbean.

Dr. Robert M. Russell, professor of nutrition and director of the HNRCA, gave a talk at the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements on “Setting Nutritional Requirements for Vitamin A and Carotenes: What We Know and What We Don’t Know.” He also chaired a session at the Gordon Research Conference on Carotenoids titled “Carotenoids in Human Health II: An International Perspective on Carotenoid Nutrition/Bioavailability.” He participated in a food forum hosted by the National Academy of Sciences called “Nutritional Risk Assessment: Bridging Perspectives, Sharing Methodologies, Identifying Data Challenges.”

Sharan L. Schwartzberg, professor of occupational therapy and adjunct professor of psychiatry, and Mary Barnes, academic fieldwork coordinator for the occupational therapy department, conducted a workshop on “Group Therapy with Cognitively Impaired Individuals” at the annual meeting of the American Group Psychotherapy Association in Austin, Texas, on March 8.

Kenneth C. Shadlen has joined the Global Development and Environment Institute’s Globalization and Sustainable Development Program as a non-resident senior research fellow. Shadlen is based at the Development Studies Institute at the London School of Economics. He will be developing a research program on the political economy of intellectual property rights in Latin America and the world economy.

Medha Singh, assistant professor of public health and community service at the School of Dental Medicine, has completed the Institute for Teaching and Learning (ITL) in the Health Professions Program for Dental School Faculty. The ITL is a collaborative partnership between the Academy for Academic Leadership in Atlanta and the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry. “The ITL program is designed to help health professions educators who are early in their academic careers become master teachers,” said Dr. N. Karl Haden, president of the Academy for Academic Leadership. “We congratulate Dr. Singh on her success in this challenging program. Both her institution and the profession will benefit from her enhanced effectiveness and commitment to academic dentistry.”

Patrick Skelly, assistant professor of biomedical sciences at the Cummings School, has been elected associate chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences. He gave an invited talk on “The Molecular and Cellular Biology of Nutrient Uptake in the Parasitic Worm, Schistosoma mansoni,” at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine’s Seminar Series in Parasitology.

Dr. Lynn Solomon has joined the School of Dental Medicine as an assistant professor of oral and maxillofacial pathology. She completed her dental degree, a residency in oral and maxillofacial pathology and a master’s in oral sciences at the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine. In 2002, she joined the faculty of SUNY-Buffalo as an assistant professor in the Department of Oral Diagnostic Sciences. During her tenure there, she served as director of the Oral Medicine Clinic, and, most recently, as the director of oral radiology. In addition, she was an oral pathology consultant for the Department of Dentistry and Maxillofacial Prosthetics at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo and the Veterans Administration of Western New York Healthcare System. During her time in Buffalo, the Dental Student Association bestowed upon her the infrequently given William M. Feagans Award for displaying the “finest aspects of academic dentistry, an appreciation of the demands of real-life dentistry and recognition of the many challenges of a student’s life.” Solomon is a diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology. She has conducted research and published on oral diseases diagnosed with immunofluorescence microscopy, the role of p63 proteins in autoimmune disease and immunoassay diagnostic techniques.

Dr. Lokesh Suri, assistant professor of orthodontics at the School of Dental Medicine, has achieved diplomate status with the American Board of Orthodontics.

Guangwen Tang, a scientist at the HNRCA, spoke at the Gordon Research Conference in Ventura, Calif. Her presentation was on “Vitamin A Value of Plant Foods in Humans.” She presented on a similar topic at a Harvest-Plus/USDA Workshop on “Biofortification at the USDA: Maximizing Opportunities and Lessons Learned from a Decade of Collaboration” at the USDA/ARS in Beltsville, Md.

Vo Van Toi, associate professor of biomedical engineering, has been appointed executive director of the Viet Nam Education Foundation (VEF), a congressional initiative that seeks to build Vietnam’s capacity in science and technology through educational exchange, thus strengthening the relationship between the United States and Vietnam. Toi has dedicated his expertise to helping Vietnam, which he left in 1968 to study science and engineering in Switzerland, by co-founding the Vietnamese North American University Professor Network. He also created the Biomedical Engineering Consortium of Viet Nam-International Universities and the Vietnamese Association of Biomedical Engineering. As its flagship activity, the VEF fellowship program has placed nearly 200 fellows at more than 50 top U.S. graduate institutions, mostly for doctoral degrees. VEF fellows are required to return to Vietnam after completing their academic programs in the United States.

Paul Waldau, director of the Center for Animals and Public Policy at the Cummings School, gave one of the keynote addresses at the Brown Symposium at Southwestern University in Austin, Texas, on March 4-5. The title of his talk was “A Species of Humility—The Animal Invitation to Be Our Fuller Selves.”

Lara Weaver, assistant director of the Division of Teaching and Research Resources at the Cummings School, has been awarded a grant from the Edna H. Tompkins Trust for her research proposal titled “Humane Endpoints and Rodent Euthanasia Methods in the U.S.: A Working Group and Continuing Education Conference.” She also received a grant from Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing for her research proposal titled “The Use of Operant Conditioning to Acclimate Sheep and Goats to Commonly Performed Research Procedures.”

Timothy A. Wise, deputy director of Tufts’ Global Development and Environment Institute, gave a presentation on “Preserving Policy Space for Agricultural Development in the Doha Round” at a seminar in Paris on January 15. It was the fourth in a series of meetings sponsored by a working group on the Governance of Agricultural Commodity Markets and the High Council for International Cooperation, a coalition of governmental and non-governmental organizations trying to analyze the causes of chronically low commodity prices, their impact on development and the ways in which trade can be managed to address the problem. Wise is quoted extensively in an article in Food Systems Insider on debates over the next U.S. Farm Bill, which is currently being negotiated. Drawing on his research into U.S. agricultural subsidies, farm income and the ways in which U.S. agribusiness, not farmers, benefit from current farm programs, Wise argues that neither subsidies nor the withdrawal of government support are viable solutions. The article can be found on GDAE’s website at: http://ase.tufts.edu/gdae/policy_research/WiseInsider.PDF.

Dona Yarbrough, director of the LGBT Center and a lecturer in women’s studies, won an Exemplary LGBT Program Award from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators for the Tufts University Queer History Project, which promotes undergraduate research in queer studies. An ongoing collaboration, the Queer History Project has produced an interactive website (http://ase.tufts.edu/lgbt/tqhp) that allows students, faculty, staff, alumni and others easy access to the rich history of queer activism and community at Tufts. The Queer History Project started as a Tufts Summer Scholars research project in 2006. Elena Mead, A08, was awarded the research scholar grant and worked with Yarbrough on the project. The website is the culmination of Mead’s work.

Kyung-Jin Yeum, a scientist in the HNRCA Antioxidant Laboratory, has been named an “honorary scientist” of the Rural Development Administration in Korea, the equivalent of the USDA in the United States. She will collaborate with and provide scientific advice to the scientists in Korea.

Dr. E. Kent Yucel has been appointed professor and chair of radiology at the School of Medicine and radiologist-in-chief at Tufts-New England Medical Center. He comes to Tufts from the Boston VA Healthcare Systems, where he was chief of radiology. Prior to that, he was director of cardiovascular imaging, co-director of cardiac MRI and associate director of the Noninvasive Vascular Laboratory at Brigham & Women’s Hospital. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, Yucel completed his postgraduate training at Yale-New Haven Hospital, Tufts-NEMC and Massachusetts General Hospital. He is board-certified in diagnostic radiology and vascular and interventional radiology.