Notes

1960s

Lionel M. Nelson, M.D. ’69, writes from Camp Stryker in Baghdad, where he is a colonel in the Army and the brigade flight surgeon with Task Force 449: “I have been here a month now, and have fallen into the routine. The day starts at 0 dark 30 with my usual exercise routine. ... no different than home. I get to fly about once a week, usually something to attend to at one of our forward operating bases where we keep air crews, and a good excuse to get outside the wire and see some green fields. Parts of the Iraqi countryside along the rivers are quite beautiful. Otherwise, most of the day is a combination of staff duties (coordination, reports, briefs, etc.), supervising medical care for the task force personnel and overseeing the medical portion of our medevac operations. I have a staff of 25, with several physicians to help me with this. Operational tempo remains quite heavy, but threat level is relatively low at this time. I came out of retirement (21 years in, mostly as a reservist, and retired for five years) to do this. The need for flight surgeons with experience is significant. The Army asked, and I volunteered. I will be here about 90-120 days, and have temporarily closed my ENT practice in San José, Calif., for that time. Although I have had other deployments in the past, this is my first time in Iraq. It is great to be back around the aviators. Helicopter crews, particularly the Apache and medevac folks, are full of bravado and practical jokes. I am glad to have the opportunity to be here and help take care of these very dedicated and brave Americans.”

Martin Wand, M.D. ’67, was elected vice chair with succession to chair of the American Board of Ophthalmology. Wand is also the chair of the council and trustee of the 27,000-member American Academy of Ophthalmology. He specializes in glaucoma and remains in full-time practice with an eight-physician subspecialty group in Connecticut.

1970s

Laura M. Finkelstein, M.P.H. ’79, and Lawrence N. Rothbart were married on November 17, at the River Café in Brooklyn. Finkelstein is a quantitative and qualitative market research consultant based in Brooklyn, where she works with financial service companies, advertising agencies and consumer packaged-goods companies. Rothbart is a lawyer in Manhattan specializing in matrimonial and family law.

1980s

Juanita Merchant, M.D. ’84, Ph.D. ’84, professor of internal medicine and of molecular and integrative physiology at the University of Michigan Medical School, was named to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in October. She was also named an Outstanding Woman in Science for 2008 by the American Gastroenterological Association Foundation for Digestive Health and Nutrition, in honor of her contributions to digestive disease science.

1990s

Michael A. Coady, M.D., M.P.H. ’97, has been named cardiac surgeon at The Miriam Hospital in Providence, R.I. He is also chief of surgery at Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket, R.I.

2000s

James M. Kessler, M.D., M.P.H. ’01, was married to Jessica A. Bassik in Kings Point, N.Y., in November. Kessler is a third-year radiology resident at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. He graduated summa cum laude from the American Jewish University in Los Angeles. He received a master’s degree in public health from Yale and a medical degree from Johns Hopkins. His wife is a third-grade teacher at Public School 75 in Manhattan.

John Strasswimmer, M.D., Ph.D., HS ’03, was part of a group that traveled to Malawi in September to assess the surgical needs of albino patients and to determine how dermatologic surgeons can help. Strasswimmer is a Mohs surgeon in Delray Beach, Fla.

Send alumni news items to Claire M. Bessinger, Yale Medicine Publications, 300 George Street, Suite 773, New Haven, CT 06511, or via e-mail to claire.bessinger@yale.edu.