Honors & Appointments

April 2004

Honors & Appointments

Anesthesiology residents at the McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University won five first-place and three second-place awards at the Midwest Anesthesia Residents Conference held March 19–21. M. Christine Stock, MD, Eckenhoff Professor and chair of anesthesiology at the Feinberg School of Medicine, credited the faculty for “an amazing job helping our novices turn out sound scientific presentations.”

After building the Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences and serving as its chair for the past four years, John D. Brooke, PhD, will retire at the end of April. He and his wife, Terricia, will move to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Dr. Brooke plans to travel, support the environmental movement, and continue scientific collaborations with colleagues at Northwestern University.

The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology presented its Teaching Allergist of the Year Award to Paul F. Detjen, MD, assistant professor of clinical medicine. He received the award during the academy’s annual meeting March 19–23 in San Francisco.

Babette S. Sanders, MS, assistant professor of physical therapy and human movement sciences, will receive the American Physical Therapy Association’s (APTA) Lucy Blair Service Award. Sanders, who has served on the APTA’s board for several years, will be honored during the group’s annual conference slated for June 30–July 3 in Chicago.

Eve M. Veis, coordinator of the Honors Program in Medical Education, was named employee of the year for Northwestern University’s Chicago campus. She received a $1,000 savings bond, plaque, and bouquet of flowers during the 27th annual Staff Service Recognition Luncheon held April 14 at the Drake Hotel. L. Todd Leasia, director of the Office of Research Safety, and Lillian Zeidenstein, admissions assistant in the Office of Graduate Medical Education, were selected as Chicago campus finalists for employee of the year, receiving plaques and $100 savings bonds.

Leon G. Epstein, MD, professor of pediatrics at the Feinberg School of Medicine, has been appointed deputy director for clinical research at Children’s Memorial Institute for Education and Research (CMIER). His goals include expanding the clinical infrastructure to facilitate clinical trials and translating basic research into novel therapeutic strategies. Dr. Epstein is also associate director of the medical school’s General Clinical Research Center.

Philip M. Iannaccone, MD, PhD, professor of pediatrics, has been named deputy director for basic research at CMIER, where he is director of the Developmental Systems Biology Program. Dr. Iannoccone is the George M. Eisenberg Professor of Developmental Pediatrics at the medical school.

Jacqueline A. Pongracic, MD, associate professor of pediatrics, is the new head of Children’s Memorial Hospital’s allergy division.

Second-year medical student Eytan M. Stein of Chicago recently received a Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellowship to support a year of immunology research in the laboratory of Stephen D. Miller, PhD, Congressman John Edward Porter Professor of Biomedical Research and professor of microbiology—immunology.

Alexander V. Uihlein of Milwaukee, a first-year medical student, and Blayne Amir H. Sayed of Chicago, a second-year student, have been named Chicago Area Schweitzer fellows for 2004–05.

Martin S. Lipsky, MD, professor and founding chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the Feinberg School, has been named dean of the Rockford campus of the University of Illinois College of Medicine, effective June 1, pending approval by the university’s board of trustees. Dr. Lipsky, who joined Northwestern in 1997, has been instrumental in building a department that now includes 49 faculty members, multiple sites, and programs in teaching, research, and clinical services. A key accomplishment was developing a three-year family medicine residency program, based at Glenbrook Hospital, that enrolled its first residents in July 2000.

Patrick G. McCarthy, MD, formerly associated with the Cleveland Clinic, will join Northwestern April 12 as professor of surgery and chief of the Division of Cardiac Surgery at the Feinberg Schooland Northwestern Memorial Hospital. A native of Evergreen Park, Illinois, Dr. McCarthy holds a BA degree from the University of Notre Dame and an MD degree from Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine. He completed residency training in general surgery and a fellowship in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at the Mayo Clinic, followed by a cardiopulmonary transplantation fellowship at Stanford University Medical Center.

Laimonis “Lou” A. Laimins, PhD, has been appointed acting chair of the Department of Microbiology—Immunology at the Feinberg School, while a national search is being conducted for the permanent chair. Former chair Patricia G. Spear, PhD, began a one-year sabbatical on January 1 to concentrate on her research. Dr. Laimins, professor of microbiology—immunology, has been a member of the Northwestern faculty since 1994. He holds a BS degree in physics from Case Western Reserve University and a PhD degree in biophysics and theoretical biology from the University of Chicago.

Angela Nuzzarello, MD, MHPE, has been named associate dean for student programs and professional development at the Feinberg School, effective July 1. She will succeed Jack F. Snarr, PhD ’67, who will retire after 28 years as associate dean for student programs. Dr. Nuzzarello currently serves as assistant dean for professional development. Her new office willfocus on the welfare of medical students including academic advising; career counseling; facilitating housing, financial aid, and student health; and developing programs to enhance the professional development of medical students. Dr. Nuzzarello holds an MD degree from Chicago Medical School and a master’s degree in health professional education from University of Illinois at Chicago. She completed a psychiatry residency at what is now Rush University Medical Center.