At Brown

Besdine named interim dean of medicine, biological sciences

Richard W. Besdine, M.D., the David S. Greer Professor of Geriatric Medicine, has been appointed Brown’s interim dean of medicine and biological sciences. He will begin his new duties July 1, succeeding Dean Donald J. Marsh, M.D.

As interim dean, Besdine will oversee the University’s programs of instruction in the biological sciences for undergraduate, graduate and medical students. He will lead a research enterprise that attracts more than $100 million in support, and he will be responsible for the oversight of the research and clinical instruction that the Medical School undertakes with its affiliated hospitals. As the senior academic and administrative officer for the Division of Biology and Medicine, Besdine will be part of a group that will work with the provost to advance the University’s overall academic mission.

“Dr. Besdine has a great record of achievement in clinical care, research and medical education,” Provost-designate Robert Zimmer said in a message to biomedical faculty. “I am confident he will be an excellent leader in this important time in the development of the division.”

Besdine, a nationally recognized authority in geriatric medicine, came to Brown in July 2000 as professor of medicine. He was also appointed director of the Center for Gerontology and Health Care Research, director of the Division of Geriatrics in the Department of Medicine, and chief of geriatrics for Lifespan.

Corporation elects new trustees

At its May 25 meeting, the Brown Corporation elected two term trustees – Mark Blumenkranz, M.D., and Thomas Tisch, both graduates of the University. Blumenkranz and Tisch will be sworn in at the next regular meeting of the Corporation in October and will serve six-year terms, from 2002 to 2008.

The Corporation, governing body of Brown University, is composed of a 12-member Board of Fellows and a 42-member Board of Trustees. It is responsible for establishing broad policies for the operation of the University, for selecting a president to carry out those policies, for appointing administrative officers and faculty members, and for managing the funds and holding the real estate of the University.

Blumenkranz has received three degrees from Brown (AB, biology, 1972; M.D., 1975; M.M.S, 1976). He is a vitreoretinal surgeon.

Tisch received an A.B. in religious studies from Brown in 1976 and earned his law degree from New York University in 1979. He is managing partner of Four Partners, a private investment firm.

Brown Card Office relocates temporarily

The Brown Card Office, formerly located at 208 Meeting St., has relocated temporarily to the basement of the Brown Office Building at 164 Angell St. The office will return to its Meeting Street site after renovations to the Emery-Woolley residence halls are completed sometime in August.

East Side neighbor found bone marrow donor

An East Side resident whom Hillel pitched in to help earlier this year had the bone marrow transplant she needed on June 9.

Eileen Rosenberg-Black is now recovering from the surgery, during which she received an infusion of stem cells from an anonymous donor.

Hillel had rallied around Rosenberg-Black’s plight when members of Brown’s Jewish community learned that she needed help finding a bone marrow donor. (See the article in the April 19 George Street Journal.)

The 56-year-old wife and mother of two teens is battling a rare form of leukemia and hopes the stem cell transplant will help her fight the progressive disease.

Although Hillel and other organizations worked this spring to publicize bone marrow registration drives in Rosenberg-Black’s name, it wasn’t through local efforts that Rosenberg-Black found her donor. The 26-year-old man who donated his stem cells to help save her life had registered elsewhere. He was selected as one of three preliminary donors for the East Side resident out of a worldwide bone marrow registry that includes 4.5 million potential donors.

“I feel very fortunate that someone somewhere had registered and was willing to give to make a commitment to a stranger and to share his stem cells to help me survive,” Rosenberg-Black said via e-mail after her transplant at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. “He is my hero!” –

Awards and Honors

Russell M. Church, Edgar J. Marston Professor of Psychology, has accepted an invitation to serve as a member of the Biobehavorial and Behavioral Processes Study Section at the Center for Scientific Review in the National Institutes of Health for a two-year term. Study sections review grant applications submitted to the National Institutes of Health, make recommendations on these applications to the appropriate NIH national advisory board or council, and survey the status of research in their fields of science.

Lingzhen Wang, assistant professor of East Asian studies, is the first recipient of the Wendy J. Strothman Faculty Research Award in the Humanities.

The award, announced by the Office of the Dean of the Faculty, will help support Wang's work on a book, "Self, Gender and History in Chinese Women's Autobiographical Practice during the Twentieth Century."

The Strothman award will enable her to travel to Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing to conduct interviews and complete work on the book, which she expects to submit for publication in the fall.

The award was endowed earlier this year by Wendy J. Strothman '72, member of the Board of Fellows and secretary to the Corporation, to support faculty research in the humanities.

David B. Abrams is the new president of the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM). The group provides health professionals with an interactive network for education and collaboration on common research, clinical and public policy concerns related to disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and health promotion. It is the premiere scientific forum for more than 3,000 behavioral and biomedical researchers and clinicians to study the interactions of behavior, physiological and biochemical states and morbidity and mortality.

Abrams is professor of psychiatry and human behavior and director of the Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine at the Medical School and The Miriam Hospital.

SBM is the premiere scientific forum for more than 3,000 behavioral and biomedical researchers and clinicians to study the interactions of behavior, physiological and biochemical states and morbidity and mortality.

On the Road

David B. Abrams, professor of psychiatry and human behavior and director of the Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine at the Medical School and The Miriam Hospital, recently testified on Capitol Hill about the impact of stress management on reversing heart disease. Abrams spoke to a special hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Service, Education, and Related Agencies.

Abrams said there are proven health behaviors, such as quitting smoking and eating wisely, that Americans can adopt to slow the progression of and even reverse heart disease. Abrams also noted that it is difficult to determine the specific effects of stress on heart disease, but that “stress is one psychosocial factor that is linked to the development of heart disease.” He also offered several recommendations, including the proposal that current knowledge about heart disease prevention be effectively communicated to Americans at every life stage, beginning at a young age.