Spring/Summer 2024 Alumni News
By Julia Hickey González and Bonita Eaton Enochs
1962
See Alumni in Print to read about a book of poems written by Norbert Hirschhorn. The collection, “Over the Edge,” was celebrated with a launch party last September in the October Gallery in London. Norbert was born in Vienna and with his parents escaped the Nazi regime by moving to London. His five decades as an international public health physician include work during the past decade studying tobacco control, in particular examining once-secret but now publicly available tobacco industry documents. He spends his retirement in Minneapolis writing and publishing poetry and literary book reviews. His poems have won prizes in five UK competitions, and he has been a finalist in several American competitions.
1963
See Alumni in Print to read about a book written by Robert S. Brown, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a nephrologist and former clinical chief of nephrology for over 40 years at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
1964
See Alumni in Print to read about a book by Willard E. Andrews. After retirement from the practice of general surgery in Juneau, Alaska, he went back to his Cape Ann, Massachusetts, roots and spent 25 years studying, researching, and building fine-art models of Essex-built Gloucester fishing schooners, several of which are now in a prominent East Coast museum. Will and wife Linda now reside in the central Idaho Rockies but return to Gloucester every year to be around saltwater and spend time at the cottage built by his grandfather on land that has been in his family since 1803.
Thomas L. Dent introduced the lecturer at the Thomas L. Dent Annual Lectureship in Minimally Invasive Surgery in May. After Yale, medical school, and a surgical residency at the University of Michigan, Thomas became a professor of surgery at the University of Michigan (1974-1984) then chair of the Department of Surgery at Abington (Pennsylvania) Memorial Hospital and professor of surgery at Temple University Medical School (1984-2001). Following his retirement and move to Santa Barbara in 2001, the Abington Hospital Department of Surgery named him emeritus chair and instituted the annual lectureship, allowing him to select from among the best surgeons in the country to give the annual lecture and to return to Abington each year to introduce them to the staff, residents, and students. His current interests are family (artist-wife Joan, six children, 12 grandchildren), golf, and travel.
1965
When Oscar Garfein was interviewed for this issue’s story on RhoGAM, he discussed his work as a research assistant to John Gorman, co-developer of the blood product that prevents Rh disease in at-risk patients. During the summer between his first and second years of medical school, in 1962, Oscar worked with Dr. Gorman, who was exploring the then-unknown role of the small lymphocyte in the immune system. Dr. Gorman thought that by using X rays to obliterate all the small lymphocytes, a new population of small lymphocytes would recognize the red blood cells as foreign substances and produce auto-immunity. Oscar drew blood from mice irradiated on a variety of X-ray dosing schedules and performed a direct Coombs test on each sample to reveal whether the auto-immune response persisted. That effort got off to a rocky start. He recalls the thoughtful and non-judgmental help of Dr. Gorman’s assistant, a former nun named Nancy Treacy, in performing the Coombs test. “There was a technical aspect to it,” Oscar says of what was then a manual technique that required a gentle touch. “Miss Treacy watched me do it and said, ‘You’re banging the test tube too hard.’” Oscar collected the relevant data and drafted a report on what seemed to be groundbreaking findings. “Our paper would have overthrown everything that was known about immunity,” he says. Further consultation with a team of hematologists in Boston, however, revealed that the results were merely an artifact of a reagent. “The positive Coombs test was due to a positive response to a protein on the surface of reticulocytes that went away when the Coombs reagent was adsorbed with reticulocytes, and thus it was not a basic immune response to native red blood cells.” Oscar recalls how Dr. Gorman asked him to accompany him to the labs in New Jersey, where he met some of the leading experts in immunochemistry, and how he attended beach parties with the supplier of the Coombs serum, who was a full professor at Cambridge. He also met other great contributors to the eventual production of RhoGAM, although he recalls questioning Dr. Gorman about administering the vaccine to volunteers. “Why are you wasting your time on this when we are doing the real work in the lab?” he recalls asking him. “It was the first, if not the greatest, of many mistakes I made in my medical career.” Dr. Gorman made Oscar lead author on the Nature paper that resulted from their research. “Dr. Gorman was gracious and caring and made my summer such a joy, and the experience taught me so much about collaboration.”
See Alumni in Print to read about a book published by Michael Glenn. The collection presents stories written over a 60-year period, from college and medical school to his career as a physician, psychiatrist, factory worker, and community activist. Now retired, Michael has written several books since “Trouble on the Hill and Other Stories” was published in 1979, including the non-fiction works “On Diagnosis” (1984), “Collaborative Health Care” (1987), and (with Barry Dym) “Couples: Exploring and Understanding the Cycles of Intimate Relationships” (1993). In the 1970s he founded the journal The Radical Therapist. His stories also have appeared in the Hudson Review, the Antioch Review, and the “Young American Writers” anthology.
Ronald K. St. John is serving on a technical advisory panel for the World Bank and World Health Organization to assess member states’ applications for funding to enhance preparedness for the next pandemic. Over $300 million was distributed in the first round. He continues to consult with WHO on managing emergency responses to infectious disease outbreaks and pandemics, and a second round of $500 million in funding is in progress. Early in his public health career, Ron was a staff physician for the Peace Corps, working toward tuberculosis control in Bolivia (1966-68) and malaria control in the Philippines (1968-70). He was the medical adviser to the U.S. Embassy in Thailand during the Khmer refugee crisis. He has held posts with the CDC and the Pan American Health Organization. He retired as Canada’s first director-general of the Federal Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response in its federal Department of Health.
1972
Bruce Kessler, an internist who practiced in Humboldt County in California from 1978 until his retirement in 2018, received the California Medical Association’s most prestigious award, the Frederick K.M. Plessner Memorial Award. The award honors the California physician who best exemplifies the ethics and practice of a rural country practitioner. Bruce completed his residency in internal medicine at Stanford University Hospital after an internship at Presbyterian Hospital. In retirement he has been involved in starting a family medicine residency in Eureka, California.
Ken Tomecki is president of the American Dermatologic Association, the oldest dermatology group in the United States comprised of “the movers and shakers” within the specialty. Ken is still at the Cleveland Clinic, working part time and traveling whenever possible, invariably with Eileen, still his better half.
1973
See Alumni in Print to read about a book written by Fred Southwick. An expert in infectious diseases, he has also created innovative approaches for preventing medical errors that result in patient injuries and deaths. His former wife, Mary, nearly died as a consequence of distracted care and delayed treatment, and Fred lost his leg during a repair of an Achilles tendon tear. He has practiced medicine for over 30 years, giving him rich clinical experience and deep insight into how to practice effectively on the front lines of hospitals and clinics.
1974
William H. Theodore began his term as president of the American Epilepsy Society in December at the end of the society’s annual meeting in Orlando. Bill is professor of neurology at the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine of the Uniformed Services University and senior investigator at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
1979
Anne B. Curtis received the 2024 Dr. Carolyn McCue Award for Woman Cardiologist of the Year from Virginia Commonwealth University. Anne is SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University at Buffalo’s Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. The award was presented Feb. 3 at the Heart Health in Women Symposium hosted by the VCU Health Pauley Heart Center. She delivered a keynote speech about disparities in cardiac care, including that advanced cardiac therapies are either offered to women at a later stage in their disease than men or not at all. Anne has been at the University at Buffalo since 2010 and was the Charles & Mary Bauer Chair of the Department of Medicine in the Jacobs School from 2010 to 2022. She cares for patients and conducts research in clinical cardiac electrophysiology. She is president of the Association of Professors of Medicine and past president of the Heart Rhythm Society, the Cardiac Electrophysiology Society, and the Association of University Cardiologists. She received the Heart Rhythm Society’s Distinguished Service Award and President’s Award. She is on the editorial boards of many academic journals in the fields of cardiology and electrophysiology and is an associate editor of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. After a residency at Columbia, she completed fellowships in cardiovascular disease and clinical cardiac electrophysiology at Duke University.
1988
See Alumni in Print to read about a book written by Sharon Malone. Sharon is a Washington, D.C.-based OB/GYN and certified menopause practitioner. As chief medical adviser at Alloy Women’s Health, a telehealth company that focuses on women over 40, she is on a mission to empower women to take charge of their health. “Throughout my professional career, I have been active in advocating for reproductive rights, reducing teen pregnancy, and eliminating health care disparities,” she notes. She and her husband, Eric Holder Jr., live in Washington, D.C., and have three children.
1993
James McKiernan became president of the American Board of Urology in March. ABU promotes competency in the practice of urology by certifying urologic physicians who have core competencies that allow them to treat all patients with urological disorders. Jim is the John K. Lattimer Professor of Urology and Chair of the Department of Urology at VP&S. He also is senior vice dean for clinical affairs and CEO of ColumbiaDoctors, Columbia’s faculty practice organization.
Paul Thesiger has been named to the Board of Directors of the Kennedy Krieger Institute, a nonprofit in the greater Baltimore-Washington, D.C., region that conducts research and treats children, adolescents, and adults with diseases, disorders, and injuries that impact the nervous system. After an internship at Columbia, Paul studied general surgery at Howard University College of Medicine. He completed a residency in plastic surgery at the University of Miami and was named a Jerome Webster Fellow in Pediatric Plastic Surgery by Interplast, a California-based philanthropic organization. He worked in a private practice outside of Cleveland, Ohio, and in 2006 opened his own specialized center, Thesiger Plastic Surgery, in Washington, D.C.
1993 PhD
Anna K. Batistatou has been elected rector and presiding member of the governing council of the University of Ioannina in Greece. Rector is the highest leadership position at the university. Anna, who also has an MD degree, previously was dean of the Faculty of Medicine and director of the Department of Pathology at the university. She received her PhD in pathobiology in the VP&S Department of Pathology & Cell Biology and the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior. She was a pathology resident at NY-Presbyterian Hospital for a year before continuing her residency at the University Hospital in Patras, Greece. She joined the faculty of the University of Ioannina in 2002 and became a full professor in 2013. Anna has published papers on the burden of disease, cancer, humanities, health sciences education, research, policy implementation, and guideline development. Over the past five years, her leadership positions have included serving as president of the Hellenic Society of Pathology, member of the European Union of Medical Specialists (Section of Pathology/European Board of Pathology), and member of the Educational Committee and the Advisory Board of the European Society of Pathology. She also sits on the Hellenic Universities Rector’s Conference and is a member of the Regional Council of Research and Innovation. She is the author of a literary book titled “Life in Stone,” published in 2016.
1999
Kristin Russell is now chief medical officer of Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island, an HMO founded in December 1993 in partnership with Rhode Island’s Community Health Centers. Board-certified in both psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry, Kristin completed her residency at Brigham & Women’s and Beth Israel Deaconess and her fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. She previously was associate vice president of enterprise outcomes management at Humana, a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, and an attending psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital. She has served on the National Committee for Quality Assurance Committee on Performance Measurement and held leadership positions at startups focused on clinical analytics and behavioral health.
2008
Irene J. Lo is now chief medical officer for the Contra Costa Health Plan in the county east of San Francisco. She specializes in surgery and resides in Orinda, California. She is also president-elect of the Alameda Contra Costa Medical Association. Her presidency will begin in November 2024.
2011
See Alumni in Print to read about a book written by Austin Chiang. Austin is a gastroenterologist and chief medical officer for the endoscopy arm of Medtronic, a health technology company. He practices interventional and bariatric endoscopy as an assistant professor of medicine at an academic medical center in Philadelphia. He also is director of the endoscopic weight loss program. As a health educator with multiple social media platforms, he was named one of the top leaders in innovation in gastroenterology. His expertise has been included in New York Times, CNBC, BBC News, and Men’s Health stories in addition to reports in medical journals.
2013
Eric Tang was named to the 2023 de Beaumont Foundation’s 40 Under 40 in Public Health list. The de Beaumont Foundation’s 40 Under 40 in Public Health is the first list of its kind to recognize and elevate leaders changing the face of public health. Eric is a public health medical officer and chief of the Medical & Scientific Affairs Section at the Sexually Transmitted Diseases Control Branch of the California Department of Public Health.
2014
Zeena Audi-Saba will receive the 2024 Margaret S. Lindsay Courageous Provider Award from the nonprofit organization Courageous Parents Network. The award recognizes a pediatric palliative care provider wh0 models both tenacity and empathy while working with children and their families. Zeena is clinical assistant professor of pediatrics and an attending physician at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital, NYU Langone Health. Her nomination said she “understands how necessary it is to be an advocate for our patients who do not have voices, especially when parents are having difficulty advocating for the needs of their children.”
Honoring a Mentor
A symposium and celebration in August 2023 in New Jersey brought together 100 oral and maxillofacial surgeons to honor the 80th birthday of former Columbia faculty member Steven M. Roser. The symposium also honored Dr. Roser’s 50-year academic career. Dr. Roser chaired oral and maxillofacial surgery at Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian from 1981 to 2001. He developed one of the premier oral and maxillofacial surgery training programs in the United States. During the six-year residency program, the dental school graduates received training in general surgery, anesthesia, and oral and maxillofacial surgery before receiving MDs from VP&S. After serving as dean of graduate medical education at Columbia and NYP from 2001 to 2004, Dr. Roser became chief of oral and maxillofacial surgery at Emory University. Several residents trained by Dr. Roser attended the symposium and dinner. From left: Christopher Bonacci’95, Robert Memory’04, Maria Dourmas’98, Jack McCabe’91, Marty Kaminker (retired faculty member), William McMunn’90, Christine Hamilton-Hall’91 (seated), Matthew Brown’92, Dan Farr’89, Joseph Napoli’88, William Pochal’88, Brian Lambert’95, Dr. Roser, Martin Dominger’97, Shahid Aziz’99, Chang Han’05, Angelo Ostuni’05, Linda Huang’03, Aaron Park’09, Sara Runnels’00, Vincent Carrao’96, and Reza Miremadi’98.