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Nancy Angoff named associate dean for student affairs Nancy R. Angoff,
M.P.H. ’81, M.D. ’90, H.S. ’90-93, an Dr. Angoff specializes in treatment of patients with HIV and will continue to see patients at the Nathan Smith Clinic. She joined the faculty in 1993 after completing her residency here. She obtained a degree in public health from Yale in 1981 and her medical degree, also from Yale, in 1990. She has served as course director of integrative clinical medicine, chaired a working group on death and dying, co-chaired a working group on end-of-life care and co-taught a course in medical ethics at the divinity school. She has been an attending physician at Yale-New Haven Hospital and the Nathan Smith Clinic. In 1990 she received the Miriam Kathleen Dasey Award, presented to the student who, by strength of character, personal integrity and academic achievement, gives promise of fulfilling the ideal of the compassionate physician. Highly regarded for her clinical knowledge and compassionate treatment of patients, she has three times received the Meyer Etkind Prize, awarded by house staff to the physician who embodies those qualities. “Like many Yale students her background is not traditional,” said Dean David A. Kessler, M.D., as he announced Dr. Angoff’s appointment at a luncheon for second-year students in September. “She was a working mother when she went to medical school and did her residency. She knows Yale from the inside out, from a number of different vantage points—as a student, as a resident, as a practitioner, as a teacher.” In her remarks after Dr. Kessler’s announcement, Dr. Angoff described her path to medicine. “I grew up,” she said, “at a time and in a family when women didn’t become doctors. They married doctors but they didn’t become doctors. I was told that I should become a teacher, that I would have something to fall back on when my kids were in school.” She graduated from Case Western Reserve University in 1968 and received a master’s degree in education from the University of Cincinnati in 1971. Although she started out in education, her interest in medicine led her into public health in 1981. A few years later a lunchtime conversation with a colleague provided the spark for her career in medicine. When her colleague asked what she truly wanted to do, Dr. Angoff said she wanted to study medicine, then ticked off a list of obstacles. “I was too old. It cost too much money. I had kids. I had never taken a science course in my life,” Dr. Angoff recalled telling her colleague, who answered, “You haven’t told me one reason why you can’t.” Her husband, Ronald Angoff, M.D., a pediatrician on Yale’s clinical faculty, also encouraged her medical studies. Dr. Angoff’s appointment concludes an internal search that began earlier this year when the duties of Robert H. Gifford, M.D., H.S. ’67, then associate dean for medical education and student affairs, were divided into two jobs. Dr. Gifford became the school’s first deputy dean for education on July 1. As associate dean for student affairs, Dr. Angoff handles student needs and concerns. Her duties include counseling, writing recommendation letters for students, organizing events such as Match Day and Commencement, working with student organizations and handling disciplinary problems. “From the moment I set foot here I have been devoted to this place. It’s an incredible institution. It’s home for me,” she told students, who greeted her appointment with a standing ovation. “If I can help any of you to love medicine as much as I do, I will have fulfilled my duty.”
High honors for psychiatric research Mental health awards recognize cutting-edge work. Nine School
of Medicine researchers have been awarded George R. Heninger, M.D., professor of psychiatry, and Robert H. Roth Jr., Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and pharmacology, were awarded the 1998 Distinguished Investigators Award, which supports their work with $100,000 for one year. Dr. Heninger’s research aims to identify the immune abnormalities in some patients with schizophrenia. Dr. Roth is studying the psychiatric symptoms associated with marijuana abuse. Additionally, NARSAD announced in May that Gerald A. Conway and his wife Martine, trustees for The Fairfax Foundation, have pledged to support NARSAD and Yale with a cumulative gift totaling $30,000. The funds are to be applied toward the support of a 1999 Young Investigator conducting research at the School of Medicine. Recipients of the 1998 Young Investigators Award will receive $30,000 for two years to help support their research. The winners and their research projects are: John P. Alsobrook, Ph.D., associate research scientist in the Child Study Center, will analyze genes that may be associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Noboru Hiroi, Ph.D., associate research scientist in psychiatry, will study ways of reducing the side effects of drugs used to improve the voluntary motor skills of schizophrenic patients. Sheena Josselyn, Ph.D., postdoctoral associate in psychiatry, will investigate the neural basis of inhibition of fear and/or anxiety. Karen Y. Mechanic, M.D., postgraduate year IV resident in psychiatry, will examine the relationship between cocaine dependence and depression. Marc N. Potenza, M.D. ’94, Ph.D. ’93, postgraduate year IV resident in psychiatry, will study the link between the response to stress and the onset of mental illness. Alexander A. Stevens, Ph.D., postdoctoral associate in diagnosticradiology, will map areas of the brain responsible for language to gain a better understanding of how schizophrenia affects language processing.
Pathology chair becomes department’s first Yesner Professor Jon S. Morrow, M.D., professor and chair of pathology, and professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology, has been named the Raymond Yesner Professor of Pathology. Dr. Morrow has led pioneering studies to define the structure and function of the membrane-associated cytoskeleton. His work led to an understanding of the origin of several inherited blood diseases of children. In addition, his studies on the regulation of cell-cell adhesion receptors have revealed molecular mechanisms fundamental to an understanding of fetal growth and development, as well as cancer causation and metastasis control. Other research he has conducted has implications for understanding brain disorders and for treating neonatal brain injury, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease and AIDS dementia and other disorders. Active in the field of medical informatics, Dr. Morrow has been an advocate of the early translation of basic science advances to clinical medicine. He headed the team that designed the pathology department’s computerized patient information system, and established the medical school’s Critical Technologies Program, which facilitates physicians’ access to basic science advances and assists basic scientists in the extension of their studies to problems of human relevance. Richard J. Antaya, M.D., an authority in skin disorders affecting children, joined the faculty of the departments of Dermatology and Pediatrics in September. Dr. Antaya received his B.S. degree in chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1985, and received his M.D. degree at Tufts University in 1989. He completed his residency training in pediatrics at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu in 1992, and spent the following three years practicing general pediatrics in the Army at Fort Polk, La. There he served as chief of the pediatrics service and chief of the department of medicine. Dr. Antaya completed a second residency in dermatology at Duke University, where he worked closely under the direction of the internationally recognized pediatric dermatologist Neil S. Prose. Michael B. Bracken, Ph.D., M.P.H. ’70, professor and head of chronic disease epidemiology and professor of neurology, obstetrics and gynecology, gave the keynote speech at the 37th annual meeting of the International Medical Society of Paraplegia in June in Brazil. The theme of the talk was current and future prospects for the pharmacologic treatment of acute spinal cord injury. Erol Fikrig, M.D., associate professor of internal medicine, was a recipient of a $750,000, five-year grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The Clinical Scientist Awards were given for the first time this year and went to 10 U.S. and Canadian researchers to foster the transfer of knowledge between basic research and the treatment of patients. Heidi L. Gaspary, M.D., Gilbert Glaser Fellow in Epilepsy and chief resident in neurology at Yale-New Haven Hospital, has been named the 10th annual winner of the Hugh Dwyer Award. The award, presented by Dr. Dwyer’s widow, Dorothea Peck, M.D. ’43, is given each year to a senior resident who consistently demonstrates characteristics exemplified by Dr. Dwyer: dedication, sound judgment, sharp diagnostic skills, compassion, the pursuit of continuing education and achievement in practicing the art and science of medicine. An international, multicenter study headed by Roberto J. Groszmann, M.D., F.R.C.P., professor of medicine at Yale and chief of the digestive disease section at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, will be funded by a $2.5 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The five-year grant will support continuation of a study of the prevention of esophageal varices by beta-adrenergic blockers. Co-investigator for the project is Guadalupe Garcia-Tsao, M.D., assistant professor of medicine (digestive diseases). Robert Makuch, Ph.D., associate professor of public health (biostatistics) and a Cancer Center member, is in charge of statistical analysis for the study. Joseph F. Hoffman, Ph.D., Eugene Higgins Professor of Physiology and a member of the faculty since 1965, was honored for his work studying membrane transport and cellular physiology in April with the Yale Science and Engineering Association Award for the Advancement of Basic and Applied Science. Peter J. Hotez, M.D., associate professor of epidemiology and pediatrics (infectious diseases), was named visiting professor at the Peking Union Medical College in Beijing in February. In 1996 he was also named visiting professor at the Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine. Dr. Hotez, an expert on hookworm infection, is working to develop a vaccine against the parasite, which is prevalent in China. Dean David A. Kessler, M.D., has accepted an invitation from the Mayday Fund to serve as honorary chair of its newly formed National Advisory Committee. Mayday, a New York-based philanthropy, is dedicated to reducing the profound human problems associated with pain and its consequences. In his role as honorary chair, Dr. Kessler will advocate increased attention to the undertreatment of pain in the United States by working with medical professionals and public policy leaders whose intervention could help alleviate unnecessary pain for millions of Americans. Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine Siegfried J. Kra, M.D., F.A.C.P., was a guest lecturer at the Trumbull College Fellows Luncheon in April. His talk entitled Ill and Deranged Leaders That Changed Our World, is also the subject of his 13th book which is in preparation. He also toured the country in late 1997, discussing his book What Every Woman Must Know about Heart Disease, published in 1996 and now available in paperback. Marc I. Lorber, M.D., professor of surgery and chief of the section of organ transplantation and immunology in the Department of Surgery, was elected in June to serve a two-year term on the board of directors of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). A private, nonprofit organization, UNOS unifies transplantation activities nationwide by establishing policies to govern organ procurement, distribution and transplantation. Dr. Lorber also serves as treasurer of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons. Frederick Naftolin, M.D., D.Phil., professor and chairman of obstetrics and gynecology, and director of the Center for Research in Reproductive Biology, was admitted to Britain’s Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists in September. Dr. Naftolin was also elected president of the North American Menopause Society in September. Eric J. Nestler, Ph.D. ’82, M.D. ’83, HS ’83-87, the Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Psychiatry, Pharmacology and Neurobiology, was one of three recipients of the 1997 Robert J. and Claire Pasarow Foundation Medical Research Award. Recipients received a $35,000 prize from the Beverly Hills-based foundation and delivered a lecture at a ceremony and scientific symposium held at the University of Southern California’s health sciences campus in June. Dr. Nestler was recognized for his research into neuropsychiatric disorders. In a talk entitled Towards a Molecular Psychiatry, Dr. Nestler spoke about his current research into the connection between neurobiology and behavior. Two Yale researchers, Robert Rosenheck, M.D., clinical professor of psychiatry and Rani A. Hoff, M.P.H. ’91, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow in the Child Study Center, received the 1997 Excellence in Women’s Health Research Award from the National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health (NCEWH), for a series of studies on how women veterans use Veterans Administration mental health services. Carolyn Mazure, M.D., director of research for the women’s health program and the NCEWH at Yale, presented the awards. The Society for the Advancement of Women’s Health Research gave Professor of Pediatrics Sally Shaywitz, M.D., the 1998 Clinical Service Award for her work in the science of reading and for her advancements in the scientific understanding of gender differences in brain organization and function. Dr. Shaywitz is co-director of the National Institute of Child Health and Development-Yale Center for the Study of Learning and Attention and founder and director of the Yale Learning Disorders Unit. The award was presented at a ceremony in Washington in June. Stephen G.
Waxman,
M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology and pharmacology and chair
of the Department of Neurology, was elected a member of the Connecticut
Academy of Barry L. Zaret, M.D., the Robert W. Berliner Professor of Medicine, professor of radiology and chief of cardiovascular medicine, received the 1998 Solomon A. Berson Medical Alumni Achievement Award in Clinical Science from his alma mater, New York University School of Medicine. The award ceremony was part of the school’s April alumni day celebration. In February, Dr. Zaret was a guest lecturer at the 25th anniversary of the Egyptian Society of Cardiology in Cairo. He spoke on Clinical Relevance of Myocardial Perfusion Imaging and Mental Stress and Myocardial Ischemia. Dr. Zaret was also a guest speaker at the XVII Congress of Nuclear Cardiology which was held in June in Rosario, Argentina. Daniel Zelterman, Ph.D. ’83, professor
of medicine (EPH), was elected a Fellow of the American Statistical
Association in August. This honor recognizes his development
of models of human longevity and his continuing service to the
statistical profession. Fewer than one third of one percent of
all members of the American Statistical Association can be elected
fellows in any year. |
