Congratulations are in Order
If you would like to feature the recent accomplishment of someone in your department, please send an email to crtimes@bu.edu.
• Aram Chobanian, MD
• Tracy Battaglia, MD, MPH, et al
• Roberta F. White, PhD, et al
• Ulrike Boehmer, PhD, et al
• Alice Wang, MD, et al
Congratulations to Aram Chobanian, MD. He started here as an intern in 1955; and, after serving more than 56 years here at the Boston University Medical Campus, Aram Chobanian will be giving up his office at the end of this month and will no longer be working here on campus on a regular basis. This does not mean he is “retiring.” He will continue to play an active role at the Medical Campus and the School as well as continuing his work in medical school curriculum reform with the Yerevan State Medical University in Armenia. Aram served as the Dean of the Medical School from 1988 to 2003, and as the Medical Campus Provost from 1996 to 2003. He played a central role in the negotiations that allowed the merger of University Hospital and Boston City Hospital into Boston Medical Center. From 2003 to 2005, he was the President ad interim of Boston University. In 2006, he returned to the Medical Campus, where he has remained active as a mentor and advisor, as well as continuing his work with his Armenian colleagues. He is the recipient of countless awards and honors, and has served on and chaired prominent national committees. Beyond all his personal accomplishments, Aram will be remembered for his sensitive and collegial style of leadership. He has always been an excellent listener. While he could be firm, he was never harsh. He was always excellent at acknowledging and promoting peoples’ successes. Because of these attributes, he remains a highly sought-after mentor and advisor. Though he will continue to be active in the life of the School and Campus in 2012 and beyond, as he closes the door to his office for the last time at the end of this month, it feels like a symbolic closure of his time with us as well. We will miss not having Aram on campus, and we wish him and his wife Jasmine all happiness for years to come.
Congratulations to Tracy Battaglia (Assistant Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, Associate Program Director, Preventive Medicine Residency Program, BUSM) and colleagues on their publication in The Breast Journal, “The Addition of Internists to a Breast Health Program.” With the increases in complexity of care for breast health concerns, there is a growing need for efficient and effective clinical evaluation, especially for vulnerable populations at risk for poor outcomes. Using a triage system previously shown to have high provider and patient satisfaction, and the ability to provide timely care, patients are assigned to either a breast surgeon or internist. From 2007 to 2009, internists cared for 2,408 women, representing half of all referrals. Women served were diverse in terms of race (33% black, 30% Hispanic, 5% Asian), language (34% require language interpreter), and insurance status (51% had no insurance or public insurance). A majority of final diagnoses were made through clinical evaluation alone (n=1,760, 73%), without the need for additional diagnostic imaging or tissue sampling; 9% (n=214) received a benign diagnosis with the aid of breast imaging; 19% (n=463) required tissue sampling. Only 4% went on to see a breast surgeon. Internists diagnosed 15 incident cancers with a median time to diagnosis of 19 days. Patient and provider satisfaction was high. These data suggest that a group of appropriately trained internists can provide quality breast care to a vulnerable population in a multidisciplinary setting. Replication of this model requires the availability of more clinical training programs for non-surgical providers.
Battaglia TA, Howard MB, Kavanah M, Prout MN, Chapman C, David MM, McKinney R, Kronman A, Dumont T, Freund KM. The Addition of Internists to a Breast Health Program. Breast J. 2011 Nov 20. doi: 10.1111/j.1524-4741.2011.01179.x.
Congratulations to Roberta White (Environmental Health, BU SPH) and colleagues for their publication in Neurotoxicology, “Functional MRI approach to developmental methylmercury and polychlorinated biphenyl neurotoxicity.” Prenatal and early childhood exposure to methylmercury (MeHg) or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are associated with deficits in cognitive, sensory, motor and other functions measured by neurobehavioral tests. The main objective of this pilot study was to determine whether functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is effective for visualization of brain function alterations related to neurobehavior in subjects with high prenatal exposure to the two neurotoxicants, MeHg and PCBs. Twelve adolescents (all boys) from a Faroese birth cohort assembled in 1986-1987 were recruited based on their prenatal exposures to MeHg and PCB and underwent fMRI scanning during behavioral task. Boys with low mixed exposures to MeHg and PCBs showed patterns of fMRI activation during visual and motor tasks that are typical of normal control subjects. However, those with high exposures showed activation in more areas of the brain and different and wider patterns of activation than the low mixed exposure group. The brain activation patterns observed in association with increased exposures to MeHg and PCBs are meaningful in regard to the known neurotoxicity of these substances. This methodology therefore has potential utility in visualizing structural neural system determinants of exposure-induced neurobehavioral dysfunction.
White RF, Palumbo CL, Yurgelun-Todd DA, Heaton KJ, Weihe P, Debes F, Grandjean P. Functional MRI approach to developmental methylmercury and polychlorinated biphenyl neurotoxicity. Neurotoxicology. 2011 Dec;32(6):975-80.
Congratulations to Ulrike Boehmer (Social and Behavioral Sciences, BU SPH) and colleagues for their publication in the Journal of Women’s Health, “Applying the Female Sexual Functioning Index to Sexual Minority Women.” The Female Sexual Functioning Index (FSFI) is a widely used instrument which was developed using heterosexual samples. The researchers applied the FSFI to a sample of women who have or prefer women as sexual partners, defined as sexual minority women, and who vary with respect to their sexual activity. Statistical analyses focused on examining associations between FSFI responses of no sexual activity and women's characteristics. The modified wording of the FSFI and its revised scoring allow for the use of this instrument among sexual minority women.
Boehmer U, Timm A, Ozonoff A, Potter J. Applying the Female Sexual Functioning Index to Sexual Minority Women. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2011 Dec 2.
Congratulations to Alice Wang (Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Pediatrics, Molecular Biology, BUMC) and colleagues for their publication in the Journal of Maternal-Fetal Neonatal Medicine, “Circulating anti-angiogenic factors during hypertensive pregnancy and increased risk of respiratory distress syndrome in preterm neonates.” The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that high circulating concentrations of maternal anti-angiogenic factors are associated with increased risk of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). This is a nested case-control study of nulliparous women who delivered less than 37 weeks of gestation within the Calcium for Preeclampsia Prevention (CPEP) trial. The study included 116 women with preeclampsia or gestational hypertension and 323 normotensive controls. Soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt1), placental growth factor [PlGF] and soluble endoglin [sEng] in maternal serum were measured at 21-32 weeks of gestation. Preterm preeclampsia and gestational hypertension, characterized by high circulating levels of sFlt1, are associated with a twofold increased risk of RDS in infants delivered before 37 weeks. Among women with these hypertensive pregnancies circulating sFlt1 concentrations during mid-pregnancy were substantially higher in women whose infants developed RDS.
Wang A, Holston AM, Yu KF, Zhang J, Toporsian M, Karumanchi SA, Levine RJ. Circulating anti-angiogenic factors during hypertensive pregnancy and increased risk of respiratory distress syndrome in preterm neonates. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2011 Nov 18.
Congratulations to each of you for your accomplishments!