Faculty
Faculty Notes
Dr.
Lori L. Altshuler, professor-in-residence at the Semel Institute for
Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, received the 2005 Gerald L. Klerman
Senior Investigator Award from the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance for
her lifetime contributions to understanding the causes, diagnosis and treatment
of depressive and bipolar illnesses.
James W. Bisley,
Ph.D., assistant professor of neurobiology, received a 2006 Sloan
Research Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, awarded to outstanding
researchers in the early stages of their careers. Bisley studies the circuitry
in the brain that helps to control what we pay attention to and what we
ignore.
Dr. Gerald Buckberg, distinguished professor of
cardiothoracic surgery, received two 2005 Freddie awards in the category of
Basic and Clinical Science at the International Health andMedicalMedia Awards,
aswell as the Surgeon General’s award for“Best Health Professional Entry”at the
event for his educational DVD on cardiac anatomy entitled,“The Helical
Heart.”
Genhong Cheng, Ph.D., professor
ofmicrobiology, immunology andmolecular genetics, was honored as a Stohlman
Scholar fromthe Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for his work on understanding
how the immune system balances between normal immune and abnormal inflammatory
responses in order to develop novel strategies to enhance the immune
systemagainst pathogen infections and tumor challenges while preventing
autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Dr. Paul
Finn, professor of radiology and chief of diagnostic cardiovascular
imaging, was elected president of the International Society for Magnetic
Resonance in Medicine, a scientific association of more than 5,500 members that
promotes research and continuing education in the field.
Dr. Patricia Ganz, professor of hematology/ oncology and director of
cancer prevention and control at the Jonsson Cancer Center, received the Jill
Rose Award fromthe Breast Cancer Research Foundation and the Pathfinder Award
from the American Society of Breast Diseases. Dr. Ganz is a pioneer in the areas
of quality-of-life for cancer survivors, quality-of-care for cancer patients and
cancer prevention.
Thomas Graeber, Ph.D.,
assistant professor of molecular and medical pharmacology and member of the
Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, received a 2006 Sloan Research Fellowship
from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, awarded to outstanding researchers in the
early stages of their careers. Graeber is measuring signaling events within
cancer cells to better understand how cancer disrupts normal cell growth, which
may help identify new anti-cancer drug targets.
Dr. Alan
Fogelman, executive chair of the Department of Medicine and Castera
Professor of Medicine, received the 2006 Sherman M. Mellinkoff Faculty Award.
Considered the School of Medicine’s highest honor, the award celebrates an
ongoing commitment to patients and medical education.
Dr.
Edward R.B. McCabe, Mattel Executive Endowed Chair in Pediatrics, was
elected president of the American Pediatric Society, the oldest and most
prestigious academic pediatric organization in North America, dedicated to
advancing the study of pediatric diseases, the prevention of illness, and
promoting pediatric education and research.
M. Jeanne Miranda,
Ph.D., professor-inresidence at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience
and Human Behavior at UCLA, was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the
National Academies, a national resource for scientifically informed analysis and
recommendations on issues related to human health.
Michael
E. Phelps, Ph.D., Norton Simon Professor and chair of molecular and
medical pharmacology, received the World Nuclear Association’s Distinguished
Contribution Award and the 2006 UCLA Center on Aging ICON Award, recognizing his
outstanding contributions to society as inventor of positron emission tomography
(PET), which allows the imaging and study of the chemical processes and
metabolism in the living body.
Dr. Antoni Ribas,
assistant professor-inresidence of hematology and oncology, and Jonsson Cancer
Center member, received a Junior Investigator Award from the Melanoma Research
Foundation to study the factors that may improve the response rate and
sensitivity of aggressive skin cancer malignant melanoma tumors to
immunotherapy.
Dr. Khalil Tabsh, professor and
chief of obstetrics, received a 2005 California Immigrant Achievement Award from
The American Immigration Law Foundation for his rich contributions to medicine.
Tabsh specializes in the care of pregnant women with maternal and/or fetal
complications.
Dr. Dennis J. Slamon, professor of
medicine, chief of hematology/ oncology and director of clinical/ translational
research at UCLA’s Jonsson Cancer Center, received the Fifth Aultman Cancer
Center Award from Kent State University and the David A. Karnofsky Memorial
Award and Lecture at the American Society of Clinical Oncology honoring his work
in the development of Herceptin, a molecularly targeted breast cancer
therapy.
Dr. Karol Watson, assistant professor of
cardiology, received a 2006 Wenger Award from the National Coalition for Women
with Heart Disease for her significant efforts to help reduce heart disease in
women.
Dr. H. Rodney Withers, professor of radiation
oncology and Jonsson Cancer Center member, received the Gold Medal from
Radiological Society of North America in recognition of his studies on the
radiation responses of stem cells in normal tissues and tumors and their
relevance to the treatment of cancer.
Dr. Lonnie
Zeltzer, professor of pediatrics, anesthesiology, and psychiatry and
biobehavioral sciences and director of the pediatric pain program, has been
selected as president-elect of the Pediatric Special Interest Group for the
International Association for the Study of Pain.
Grants
The National Cancer Institute
awarded a five-year $10-million grant to the UCLA In Vivo Cellular and Molecular
Imaging Center to develop non-invasive quantitative real-time imaging techniques
such as positron emission tomography (PET) and optical imaging. The center
applies these methods to laboratory studies to track the initiation and spread
of cancer and to study new cancer therapies, which then translate to new
clinical imaging techniques to help diagnose and treat patients.
Dr.
Harvey Herschman, Ralph and Marjorie Crump Professor of Molecular
Imaging and distinguished professor of biological chemistry and molecular and
medical pharmacology, is the director.
The National Institute on Aging
awarded a five-year $7.1-million grant to UCLA researchers to study a new
brain-chemical marker used with positron emission tomography (PET) to measure
the abnormal proteins that build up in the brain due to Alzheimer’s disease and
other forms of dementia. Scientists also will gauge the genetic risk and
neuropsychological measures of patients with Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive
impairment and people with normal memory ability.
Dr. Gary
Small, Parlow-Solomon Professor on Aging and a professor at the Semel
Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, is the principal
investigator.
The Department of Health Services awarded the
UCLA-administered IMPACT (Improving Access, Counseling & Treatment for
Californians with Prostate Cancer) program with a three-year state contract for
$9.75million. IMPACT is the first and only programof its kind nationwide to
provide low-income uninsured patients with prostate cancer treatment. The
program provides access to free, high-quality treatment through medical
providers located throughout the state.
Dr. Mark Litwin,
professor of urology and health services and a researcher with the Jonsson
Cancer Center, is the program director.
UCLA received $4 million
from The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the
National Institutes of Health, for work in developingmicrobicides, products that
can be applied to vaginal or rectal mucosa in order to prevent or reduce the
transmission of sexually transmitted infections like HIV. Researchers at UCLA
and the University of Oxford, UK, are working with aptamers, sequences of RNA
molecules known to bind with proteins to reduce a biological response such as
viral infection.
Dr. Ian McGowan, principal investigator and
associate professor of medicine, will evaluate several aptamers for their
ability to inhibit infection with the hope that this could lead to development
of a microbicide.
In Memoriam
Dr. Marcel
Krauthammer, a pulmonologist and adjunct professor of medicine for 23
years at UCLA and the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System,
died on Jan. 17, 2006. He served as director of the medical intensive care unit
at the VA Medical Center at Sepulveda for 17 years, and received many awards for
his commitment to excellence in teaching, patient care and
academics.
Douglas Yale Longshore, associate
director and principal investigator at the UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse
Programs and adjunct senior behavioral scientist at Rand, Corp., died Dec. 30,
2005. His research interests included interventions for drug-using criminal
offenders and motivation for drug abuse and recovery. He evaluated California’s
Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000, also known as Prop. 36, which
gives adults arrested for nonviolent drug-related offenses the option of
treatment as opposed to incarceration.
Charles H.
Sawyer, distinguished emeritus professor of neurobiology and member of
the National Academy of Sciences, died June 20, 2006. An influential pioneer of
neurobiology, his research was among the first to pinpoint how the brain
controls the secretion of hormones from the pituitary gland and link it to
reproductive function. His findings laid the groundwork for the development of
the birth control pill and infertility treatments.
Dr.
Marvin Weiner, an associate clinical professor of radiology and a
member of the radiology faculty for 27 years, died on Nov. 1, 2006. An
undergraduate at UCLA, he remained a Bruin fan throughout his life, joining the
UCLA faculty in 1964 after serving with the U.S. Army in Korea. He was the first
section chief of gastrointestinal radiology.
