Lung cancer expert to lead cancer center

NOTES

Notes

Thomas Lynch

Lung cancer expert to lead cancer center

Thomas J. Lynch Jr., M.D. ’86, a lung cancer expert at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School, was named director of Yale Cancer Center (YCC) in February. Dean Robert J. Alpern, M.D., Ensign Professor of Medicine, announced the appointment, which was effective April 1. Lynch will also serve as physician in chief of the new Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven.

In accepting the new post, Lynch said that he wants the cancer center to be known for discovery; personalized cancer therapy; the importance of compassionate patient- and family-centered care; and a commitment to quality, safety and outcomes measurement.

“One of the reasons why we’re not curing cancer today is that we need to better understand the biology of cancer,” said Lynch, who served as chief of hematology/oncology at MGH Cancer Center. “Yale is well-positioned for that, with expertise in immunobiology, genetics and tumor biology. At Yale, the scale is right for an integrated cancer program between science and clinical medicine. You have laboratories where fundamental discoveries are being made—within a couple hundred feet of clinics where patients are being treated—and people who are active in the pursuit of both clinical excellence and scientific discovery.”

As part of that integration of science and clinical medicine, Lynch will oversee a new institute for cancer biology at the university’s 136-acre West Campus. He will recruit a director and a team of scientists specializing in cell signaling, cancer immunology, and drug development and target acquisition for the new institute.
Other major plans for YCC and Smilow Cancer Hospital include recruitment of clinicians and translational researchers, a significantly expanded clinical trials network and a program that will provide molecular profiling services to enable targeted therapies.

As director of the MGH Thoracic Oncology Center, Lynch made important contributions to developmental therapeutics and defining the optimal treatment for patients with lung cancer. He has pioneered the use of molecular testing for mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor gene to select patients who can benefit from targeted lung cancer therapies.

Lynch succeeds Richard L. Edelson, M.D. ’70, chair and the Aaron B. and Marguerite Lerner Professor of Dermatology, who became YCC director in 2003. Edelson will continue as chair and professor of dermatology.

Notes

Michael Caplan

Mark Hochstrasser

David Leffell

David McCormick

Scott Strobel

Several faculty members have been named to endowed chairs in recent months. Michael J. Caplan, M.D. ’87, Ph.D. ’87, FW ’89, known for his research on the sorting and function of ion proteins in polarized epithelial cells, was named the C.N.H. Long Professor of Physiology. His laboratory focuses on identifying the proteins that interact with ion transporters to determine their localization and trafficking properties. He is currently the interim chair of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology. Mark Hochstrasser, Ph.D., was named the Eugene Higgins Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry. Hochstrasser’s research, which lies at the intersection of biochemistry and genetics, attempts to understand protein turnover at the molecular level—particularly the ways in which specific proteins are rapidly degraded within eukaryotic cells, even while most proteins are spared. David J. Leffell, M.D., newly designated the David Paige Smith Professor of Dermatology, specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of melanoma and other skin cancers using the Mohs micrographic technique. Leffell, who is also chief executive officer of Yale Medical Group, has served as deputy dean for clinical affairs at the School of Medicine since 2005. David A. McCormick, Ph.D., was named the Dorys McConnell Duberg Professor of Neurobiology. McCormick studies the cellular and network mechanisms of the brain’s cortical function in relation to attention, working memory, sleep-related activity and visual perception. Scott A. Strobel, Ph.D., was named the Henry Ford II Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry. His laboratory employs such technologies as organic synthesis and X-ray crystallography to study reactions catalyzed by RNA.

Angus Nairn

Marina Picciotto

Jane Taylor

Three neuroscientists have been named to endowed chairs funded by an alumnus of the Yale College Class of 1928. Angus C. Nairn, FW ’82, Ph.D., who was named the Charles B.G. Murphy Professor of Psychiatry, is noted for his research on the molecular actions of dopamine in the basal ganglia. Nairn has extensive experience in enzymology, protein chemistry and the molecular biology of signal transduction, particularly with respect to the role of protein phosphorylation in the nervous system. Marina R. Picciotto, Ph.D., was named the Charles B.G. Murphy Professor of Psychiatry. She specializes in molecular neuroscience, behavioral pharmacy, mouse genetics and translational neuroscience. The goal of her research is improved understanding of the role of single molecules in complex behaviors related to addiction, depression and learning. Jane R. Taylor, Ph.D., was named the Charles B.G. Murphy Associate Professor of Psychiatry. She specializes in brain research related to drug addiction and such psychiatric disorders as ADHD, depression, schizophrenia and Tourette syndrome.

Vikki Abrahams, Ph.D., assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences, has received a 2009 Albert McKern Scholar Award for Perinatal Research. The two-year award of $100,000 per year will fund her proposal, “Human Endogenous Retroviruses: A Novel Biomarker for Pre-eclampsia.” The award is funded by a bequest from Albert McKern, M.A. ’13, M.D., an Australian who studied engineering at Yale before entering medical school at the University of Edinburgh.

Joshua Copel

Joshua A. Copel, M.D., professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences and of pediatrics, has been named president-elect of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) for the coming year. The appointment begins in February 2010. The SMFM is a nonprofit organization of more than 2,000 members dedicated to improving care for pregnant women and their fetuses. The society’s primary objectives are to promote and expand education in maternal-fetal medicine and to encourage the exchange of new ideas and research concerning the most recent approaches and treatments for obstetrical problems. Copel received the Dru Carlson Award for Research in Ultrasound and Genetics from the SMFM in 2007.

Walter Gilliam

Walter S. Gilliam, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Yale Child Study Center and director of its Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy, received the Priscilla Canny Research Award in December at Connecticut Voices for Children’s 8th annual First for Kids awards ceremony. He was recognized for providing consultation to state and federal decision makers. Connecticut Voices also praised his dedication to research on translating early-childhood policies into effective services and improving the quality of pre-kindergarten and child care services, as well as studying the impact of early-childhood programs on children’s school readiness. Gilliam was a principal investigator of the National Pre-Kindergarten Survey, the first-ever national study of the implementation of state-funded pre-kindergarten programs.

Robert Heimer, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology (microbial diseases) and pharmacology, will work and lecture in Russia this year with support from a 2009 Fulbright Scholarship. Heimer’s project, “Delphi Analysis to Explore the Origins of the HIV Epidemic Among Russian Drug Users,” will be conducted at Kazan State Medical University in Kazan, Russia, from March through July. Heimer’s research efforts include investigation of the mortality and morbidity associated with injection drug use. He is director of the Interdisciplinary Research Methods Core at Yale’s Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS and director of the Yale office of the Connecticut Emerging Infections Program.

Gregory Larkin

Gregory L. Larkin, M.D., professor of surgery (emergency medicine) and associate chief of emergency medicine, has been awarded a two-year American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Distinguished Investigator Award for his study, “Suicide Clusters Across the Globe: Geospatial Trends in America, Ireland and New Zealand.” This award extends a recent grant Larkin received from the New Zealand Ministry of Health to examine suicide clusters in that country. Larkin has also recently formed and been named as chair of the Task Force on Emergency Medicine and Suicidal Behavior of the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

Gil Mor, M.D., and Alessandro Santin, M.D., members of Yale Cancer Center, received more than $5 million in federal and foundation grants in January to improve detection of ovarian cancer and to find a cure for the disease. Santin received $1.7 million, including two grants from the Italian National Institutes of Health and another from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for $346,000 per year for five years. Although Santin’s NCI-funded research is focused on therapeutic vaccination strategies for the treatment of HPV-infected cervical cancer patients, he also studies therapies for the management of chemotherapy-resistant ovarian cancer.

Mor will use an NCI grant of $314,000 per year for the next five years to better understand the mechanism by which ovarian cancer cells resist cell death. Another newly awarded five-year NCI grant totaling $1,715,000 will fund Mor’s research on the ways in which tumors influence the immune system to promote their own growth and progression. Mor also has three foundation grants that include $150,000 per year for three years from the Janet Burros Memorial Foundation; $50,000 per year for three years from the Sand Foundation; and $50,000 from the Adler Foundation.

Pasquale Patrizio, M.D., director of the Yale Fertility Center and professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences, addressed the Italian Parliament in Rome in January on a 2004 Italian law that restricts in vitro fertilization (IVF) practices. According to Patrizio and other experts, the law has led to fewer pregnancies and higher rates of multiple births. The law limits insemination to three eggs per patient—if all three eggs result in fertilization, all three embryos must be transferred for implantation. The law also bars genetic screening to prevent the transfer of embryos with lethal or severely disabling diseases. As a result, fewer Italian women are getting pregnant through IVF on their first try, causing them to go through multiple IVF cycles. Patrizio hopes that he convinced the legislature that the law does a disservice to Italian women and also encourages couples to seek fertility treatments in countries with less restrictive legislation.

Majid Sadigh

Majid Sadigh, M.D., associate professor of medicine, was nominated by medical students for the Humanism in Medicine Award presented annually by the Association of American Medical Colleges. The award recognizes a medical school faculty physician who exemplifies the qualities of a caring and compassionate mentor in the teaching and advising of medical students. The candidate must also possess the desirable personal qualities necessary to the practice of patient-centered medicine. Although Sadigh was not named this year’s recipient, he received a plaque in honor of his nomination. In addition to his duties at Waterbury Hospital, Sadigh directs the Makerere University-Yale University collaboration that sends medical students and physicians to Mulago Hospital in Uganda for rotations. The students wrote in their nominating statement that Sadigh “has been a source of inspiration and guidance to the many medical students he has encountered, both on this continent and on continents far away.”