Two appointed to Cancer Center posts

Psychiatry professor honored with endowed chair

Warner named director of Physician Associate Program

Notes

Two appointed to Cancer Center posts

Two Yale scientists named to new positions at the Yale Cancer Center.

Ira Mellman, Ph.D. ’78, chair and Sterling Professor of Cell Biology and professor of immunobiology, has been named scientific director. Edward Chu, M.D., professor of medicine (medical oncology) and pharmacology, has been named chief of medical oncology.

Ira Mellman

As scientific director Mellman will have a central role in the recruitment of cancer scientists and will collaborate closely with Chu and Jose Costa, M.D., the center’s deputy director. Mellman’s research combines cell biology and immunology to understand fundamental mechanisms of antigen processing and presentation by cells. His leadership skills and familiarity with the Yale research community make him an ideal choice for the new position, said Richard L. Edelson, M.D. ’70, director of the Yale Cancer Center, who announced the appointments.

“His seminal contributions to our understanding of how dendritic antigen-presenting cells trigger immune reactions have profound implications for the field of tumor immunotherapy, a major area of interest in the Cancer Center,” Edelson said.

Chu plans to build on Yale’s strengths in several areas as he recruits new faculty and builds up translational clinical research as well as the cancer clinical program. “My challenge,” said Chu, “is to be able to recruit a large number of new clinical faculty. Their main task, along with the current faculty, is to expand our clinical programs and really work with the scientists here on campus to translate the great discoveries from the laboratories into the clinic to treat cancer patients.”

“Dr. Chu brings a special blend of clinical skills, major accomplishments as an innovative cancer researcher, familiarity with our school and hospital, and demonstrated leadership talents to the Center,” said Edelson.

William Sledge

Psychiatry professor honored with endowed chair

William H. Sledge, M.D., HS ’73, FW ’75, professor of psychiatry and master of Calhoun College, has been appointed the first George D. and Esther S. Gross Professor of Psychiatry.

Sledge is the medical director of the Yale-New Haven Psychiatric Hospital and assistant chief of psychiatry at Yale-New Haven Hospital. He is the editor or co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Psychotherapy, Clinical Challenges in Psychiatry and Core Readings in Psychiatry: An Annotated Guide to the Literature (second edition).

Among his professional interests are research into schizophrenia, aviation psychiatry, community and public-sector psychiatry, the doctor-patient relationship, the education of psychiatrists and medical students and the efficacy of mental health services.

Sledge came to the Department of Psychiatry as a resident in 1972, but upon completion of his residency he served in the Air Force, only to return to Yale as a member of the faculty in 1977. From 1987 to 1994 he was at the Connecticut Mental Health Center, as director of the outpatient division, clinical director and acting center director. Among his numerous honors is a listing since 2000 in “Best Doctors in America.”

The chair was established through the support of the Elizabeth K. Dollard Charitable Trust and the Esther S. Gross Trust. The Gross Trust was established by George D. Gross, M.D. ’36, and Esther S. Gross, M.D. Elizabeth K. Dollard, J.D. ’39, had a lifelong interest in the interactions of psychiatry, law and medicine.

Mary Warner

Warner named director of Physician Associate Program

Mary L. Warner, M.M.Sc., PA-C, interim director since last November, has been named assistant dean and director of the Physician Associate Program. Warner came to Yale in 2000 to oversee curriculum for the program’s first-year courses and was the program’s assistant director for didactic curriculum from 2001 until 2003. She is a 1991 graduate of the Emory University School of Medicine’s Physician Assistant Program and has served in several roles at Quinnipiac University and at Bridgeport Hospital, where she is a clinician in emergency medicine. She was appointed to the Connecticut State Board of Medical Examiners in 1999 and is a member of the Research Institute of the Association of Physician Assistant Programs.

Notes

Nina Kadan-Lottick	Margaret Pisani

Sharon K. Inouye, M.D., M.P.H. ’89, professor of medicine and director of the Yale K12 Mentored Clinical Research Scholar Award Program, announced four award recipients for 2004-2005. The recipients are Karen B. Dorsey, M.D., postdoctoral fellow in medicine (clinical scholars program); Nina Kadan-Lottick, M.D., associate research scientist in pediatrics (hematology/oncology); Peter T. Morgan, Ph.D., M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry; and Margaret A. Pisani, M.D., M.P.H. ’01, assistant professor of medicine (pulmonary and critical care). The K12 Program, funded by the National Institutes of Health National Center for Research Resources, provides a stipend and a research and tuition allowance to physician-investigators pursuing careers in patient-oriented research.

Terri Fried

Terri R. Fried, M.D., associate professor of medicine (geriatrics), received the Outstanding Scientific Achievement for Clinical Investigation Award in May at the annual meeting of the American Geriatrics Society in Las Vegas. Fried studies the preferences for care of older persons who are acutely and terminally ill.

Diane M. Gallo-VanEss, M.D., clinical instructor of pediatrics at Yale and a senior staff member at Bridgeport Hospital, was elected to the board of trustees of the Fairfield County Medical Association (FCMA) at its 212th semi-annual meeting. Gallo-VanEss has been a member of FCMA, a professional membership organization devoted to a healthier Fairfield County, since 1986.

Ami J. Klin, Ph.D., the Harris Associate Professor of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Fred R. Volkmar, M.D., the Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Psychiatry, Psychology and Pediatrics, are principal investigators for a $2.6 million grant that will establish a new laboratory at the Yale Child Study Center for infants at risk for autism. The grant was made by James and Marilyn Simons of The Simons Foundation, a private family foundation based in New York City. In this new project, babies at increased risk for autism will be examined monthly from birth through their first two years of life. The grant, said Volkmar, “will enable us to study infants with autism at a time when there is the greatest potential for change of behavior and brain development. We hope this will lead to more effective interventions.”

Akira Kugaya

The Department of Psychiatry announced this year’s winners of the Seymour L. Lustman Research Award, which recognizes individuals who have achieved distinction in research and scholarship during their residencies. The first- and second-place winners, Akira Kugaya, M.D., Ph.D., resident in psychiatry, and Peter T. Morgan, Ph.D., M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry, presented their papers at departmental grand rounds in June.

Nita J. Maihle, Ph.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology, was elected in June to a one-year term as the chair-elect of the Women in Cancer Research Council of the American Association for Cancer Research. Maihle, a cancer biologist, will lead the council in promoting and increasing the professional development and achievements of women in the field of cancer research.

Bruce McClennan

Bruce L. McClennan, M.D., professor of diagnostic radiology, has been named deputy editor of RSNA News (Radiological Society of North America) and vice-chair of the RSNA News Editorial Board. McClennan has been a member of the RSNA since 1975 and is currently chair of the public relations committee for the RSNA Research and Education Foundation.

Curtis L. Patton, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology and public health and head of the Division of Global Health, received the Edward A. Bouchet Leadership Award at the Graduate School’s May 23 Convocation. The Bouchet Leadership Award, established in 2002, honors Edward Bouchet, the first African-American graduate of Yale College. The son of a Yale porter, Bouchet graduated sixth in his class in 1874, and in 1876, when he earned his Ph.D. in physics, he became the first African-American in the United States to earn a doctorate. The Bouchet Leadership Award is a national award given to leaders in academia who have played a critical role in diversifying higher education, who are outstanding in their own fields of study and who serve as role models to students of all ages.

Sara C. Rockwell, Ph.D., professor of therapeutic radiology and pharmacology, was honored in May as the second Virginia Logan Lecturer at the Department of Radiation Oncology and Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Medical College/Thomas Jefferson University. The award recognizes her contributions to the field of tumor biology. She presented two lectures, “Micro-environmental Heterogeneity in Solid Tumors: Problems and Targets for Therapy” and “Adverse Microenvironments in Solid Tumors: Their Role in Tumor Resistance, Tumor Evolution and Tumor Progression.”

Clarence Sasaki

Clarence T. Sasaki, M.D. ’66, HS ’73, the Charles W. Ohse Professor of Surgery and director of the Yale Head and Neck Unit, received the Broyles-Maloney Award in April from the American Broncho-Esophagological Association at its annual meeting in Phoenix. He was honored for his accomplishments in broncho-esophagology and laryngology.

Hui Zhang

Hui Zhang, Ph.D., associate professor of genetics, received the Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program Idea Development Award in June for a study of a mouse model of prostate cancer progression. Zhang and his colleagues created a genetic mouse model that will allow them to study pathways of tumor progression and the relationship between dietary and genetic contribution factors.