Kira Bacal (assistant professor, Preventive Medicine and Community Health) was named a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow for 2004–2005. The program, administered by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, is designed to develop the capacities of outstanding mid-career health professionals in academic and community-based settings. Bacal was one of only seven fellows selected nationwide and will spend a year in Washington, D.C.

Kathryn A. Cunningham (professor and vice-chairman, Pharmacology and Toxicology, and director, Center for Addiction Research) was chosen chair-elect of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) in May 2004. CPDD is the longest standing group in the United States addressing problems of drug dependence and abuse and serves as an interface among governmental, industrial, and academic communities to maintain liaisons with regulatory and research agencies as well as educational, treatment, and prevention facilities.

Jerry C. Daniels, SOM Class of ’70 (associate chairman, Internal Medicine; professor, Microbiology and Immunology; and assistant dean, School of Medicine) and Ben Raimer ’74 (vice president, Office of Community Outreach) each received a 2004 Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumnus award from UTMB’s School of Medicine Alumni Association. The award recognizes outstanding service to the medical profession and to humanity. Other 2004 recipients were William W. McGuire ’74, of Wayzata, Minnesota; William B. Roman Jr. ’54, of Fayetteville, Arkansas; and Joe P. Tupin ’59, of El Macero, California.

Daniel H. Freeman (professor, Preventive Medicine and Community Health, and director, Office of Biostatistics) was reappointed as a member of the Institute of Medicine’s Board of the Medical Follow-up Agency (MFUA). His term will expire in March 2006. The MFUA does epidemiological research on the veteran population.

Mahendra N. Gohil (professor, Radiology) was inducted as a fellow in the American College of Radiology.

John P. Heggers (professor, Plastic Surgery) was awarded the 2004 Robert B. Lindberg Award for his poster presentation “Therapeutic Efficacy of Three Silver Dressings” at the 36th annual meeting of the American Burn Association in March 2004.

Vincent Hilser (associate professor, Human Biological Chemistry and Genetics, and member, Sealy Center for Structural Biology) has been selected to receive the Biophysical Society’s 2005 Michael and Kate Bárány Award for Young Investigators. The society chose Hilser in recognition of his development of an innovative technique for predicting protein structures from amino acid sequences, a critical step toward “rational” drug design. The award is given to researchers who have made outstanding contributions to biophysics before attaining the rank of full professor. Hilser accepted it at the Biophysical Society’s February 2005 meeting in Long Beach, California, where he presented his work in a public lecture.

Stanley M. Lemon last October became the first director of UTMB’s new Institute for Human Infections and Immunity. Simultaneously, the former dean of medicine and an internationally recognized hepatitis C researcher became the inaugural holder of the new John Sealy Distinguished University Chair in Human Infections and Immunity, supported by a $2 million endowment provided by The Sealy & Smith Foundation and UTMB. Lemon’s mission with the new institute is to coordinate, integrate and enhance infectious disease research across a broad range of specialties and specific interests. The institute embraces the proposed Galveston National Laboratory (GNL), the UTMB Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, the Sealy Center for Vaccine Development and the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Tropical Diseases. It also includes management of the McLaughlin Endowment, which supports training in infections and immunity.

Robert L. McCauley (professor, Plastic Surgery) was elected as a fellow in the American Surgical Association in May 2004.

William E. Mitch (professor, Internal Medicine) received the 2004 National Torchbearer Award from the American Kidney Fund. The award honors his extensive work in nephrology that has improved the quality of life for kidney patients.

Shawn D. Newlands (chairman, Otolaryngology) received the Edmund Prince Fowler Award from the Council of the Triological Society. The award was given in recognition of his basic research, “Relationships of Static and Dynamic Mechanisms in Vestibular Compensation.”

William A. O’Brien (professor, Internal Medicine, Pathology, and Microbiology and Immunology, and chief, AIDS Pathogenesis Research Program) is serving a three-year term as a member of the AIDS Immunology and Pathogenesis Study Section of the Center for Scientific Review.

C.J. Peters, (professor, Microbiology and Immunology, and Pathology) has been elected to the American Clinical and Climatological Association, joining veteran ACCA members Stanley M. Lemon (professor, Microbiology and Immunology), Don W. Powell (professor, Internal Medicine) and David H. Walker (professor and chair, Pathology). Organized in 1884, the association presents and critically discusses progress in research, teaching, and clinical aspects of internal medicine. Members are selected based on leadership and excellence in their chosen field.  Active membership is restricted to 175 physicians.

Linda G. Phillips (chief, Plastic Surgery, and senior associate dean, Academic Affairs) was appointed as a member of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Institutional Review Committee for a three-year term from 2004–2007.

G.S. Raju (associate professor, Internal Medicine, and director, Endoscopy) has been elected to the Royal College of Physicians, London. Established in 1518, the Royal College of Physicians is the oldest medical institution in England and is among the most active of all medical professional organizations.

E. Brad Thompson (professor, Internal Medicine and Human Biological Chemistry and Genetics) received the 2004 Distinguished Educator Award at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in New Orleans in June 2004. This award was presented in recognition of exceptional achievement as an educator in the discipline of endocrinology and metabolism.

Barry F. Uretsky (professor, Internal Medicine, and chief, Cardiology) will be installed as president of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention on May 6, 2005, at the society’s national meeting in Ponte Verde, Florida. The SCA&I is the largest professional society dedicated to cardiovascular interventions.

Robert R. Wolfe (professor, Surgery) and Arny A. Ferrando (professor, Surgery) received separate grants totaling $525,000 from the National Space Biomedical Research Institute in May 2004. They will conduct joint research to determine the optimal mix of exercise and nutrients that will help astronauts maintain muscle mass during space flight.

Ping Wu (assistant professor, Marine Biomedical Institute) was the first recipient of the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Erica Nader Award at the ASIA’s annual meeting in May 2004. The award is an unrestricted grant to an investigator doing breakthrough research in the field of spinal cord regeneration.

Fred “Fritz” Zaunbrecher (assistant professor, Galveston Family HealthCare Center) received the 2004 Rabbi Henry Cohen Humanitarian Award for embodying the spirit exemplified by the long-time spiritual leader of Galveston’s Temple B’Nai Israel, who served from 1988 to 1952. In 1980, Zaunbrecher co-founded the Luke Society, which provides medical care to thousands of people in Mexico as well as free medical care to the poor and homeless in Galveston. He currently serves as its volunteer medical director.

In Memory

John R. Calverley (professor of neurology and chair for 32 years) died Oct. 30, 2004, in Galveston. He received his M.D. from Oregon Health Sciences University. After a year of internal medicine residency at the State University of Iowa, he trained at the Mayo Clinic in both internal medicine and neurology. He joined UTMB in 1963, following service as a physician in the Air Force. He won numerous teaching honors, including “Best Teacher of the Year,” bestowed by the UTMB School of Medicine Alumni Association. After stepping down as chairman, Calverley continued to serve as neurology residency director. Among his many national leadership positions in academic medicine, he chaired the Residency Review Committee for Neurology, served as a director of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, was a member of the Executive Committee for the American Academy of Neurology, and served as president of the Association of University Professors of Neurology. He repeatedly was listed in Best Doctors in America and in Outstanding American Medical Specialists. He received the 2004 John P. McGovern, M.D. Award in Oslerian Medicine because he epitomized the integration of scientific and humanistic principles in the practice and teaching of medicine. A moving eulogy by his successor as department chair, Tetsuo Ashizawa, appears on the Department of Neurology web site, http://www.utmb.edu/neuro/