In this issue:

  Retiring Spellman leaves legacy of national and international cooperation

  Thurer joins HMI as Chief Academic Officer for Dubai project

  HMI and Novartis host second cardiology CME, and look ahead to programs for 2005

  As new chair of AAMC, HMI’s Eckhert to bring global awareness to medical education challenges

  Harold M. English fellow investigates origins of heart attacks

Retiring Spellman leaves legacy of national and international cooperation

Before HMI even existed, Mitchell Spellman, MD, PhD was building bridges between Harvard Medical School and the rest of the world. As dean for international projects at HMS, he was the catalyst for the School’s collaborations abroad. “Mike was not only the operating secretary of state of HMS, but also was responsible for the Harvard Medical Center and the relations between HMS and the affiliated hospitals,” said Daniel C. Tosteson, MD, who recruited Spellman during his tenure as dean of Harvard Medical School. “It was my great privilege to work with Mike for more than twenty years. He was an honest, loyal, insightful colleague, who always worked to promote cooperation and resist the fragmentation of HMS.”

Dr. Spellman will be retiring from his position as HMI’s Director of Academic Alliances and Exchange Programs, bringing to a close a career that has spanned half a century and left an indelible mark on HMI and Harvard Medical School. During his tenure at HMI, he has been instrumental in nurturing long-term partnerships with institutions such as Asan Medical Center and Sri Ramachandra Medical College & Research Institute. In collaboration with Asan, he has organized a series of cutting edge scientific symposia. Through Aramco and AMIDEAST, he has served as advocate for numerous medical professionals who have come to Boston for training.

After residency training in surgery at Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital and Freedmen’s Hospital of Howard University, and residency and fellowship training in general and cardio-thoracic surgery at the University of Minnesota Hospital, he began a career in academic surgery as a Markle Scholar at Howard University College of Medicine in 1954. In 1969, he was appointed dean and professor of Surgery at the Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School in Los Angeles, and served concurrently as professor of surgery at UCLA School of Medicine, clinical professor of surgery at the University of Southern California, and assistant dean of the UCLA School of Medicine.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Spellman has served on numerous boards of directors, including those of the National Medical Association Foundation, the Duke University Medical Center, and the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, and on the Board of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Corporation. Some of his memberships in professional and academic societies include the American Surgical Association, American College of Cardiology, American College of Surgeons, and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

Robert K. Crone, MD, HMI’s president and CEO, noted that Spellman has “fostered international understanding not only through his intellectual vigor and hard work, but he has conducted himself with eloquence and grace, serving as a model of collaboration for our partners and the rest of HMI. He has understood that, above all, creating alliances with institutions is about connecting with individuals. His attitude and approach exemplify the HMI mission, and on both a personal and organizational level, I would like to express our deep appreciation for all that Mike has done at HMI.”

Thurer joins HMI as Chief Academic Officer for Dubai project

After an extensive search process, Harvard Medical International (HMI) and Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) have appointed Robert L. Thurer, MD to the position of Chief Academic Officer for the Harvard Medical School Dubai Center (HMSDC), part of the HMI-Dubai strategic collaboration in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Thurer will assume leadership responsibility for the implementation and oversight of all academic activities within Dubai Healthcare City. The HMSDC was launched in May 2004 and will house the Institute for Postgraduate Education and Research.

Joseph B. Martin, MD, dean of Harvard Medical School, said, “We are very pleased with Bob’s appointment. He brings the right combination of leadership, enthusiasm, maturity, and vision to this role that we believe is critical for the success of the academic mission of the HMSDC and Dubai Healthcare City.”

Thurer has been an active member of the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a successful cardiothoracic surgeon and clinical educator at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for the past 25 years. A graduate of Dartmouth College and a member of its governing board, as well as a graduate of Harvard Medical School, he completed his general and thoracic surgical training at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a residency in cardiovascular surgery at Children’s Hospital. Thurer is a recognized expert in the fields of surgery of the lung and thorax as well as blood use in surgery, and he has published extensively on many topics including blood conservation and lung cancer. He is a contributing editor for Cardiothoracic Digest and a reviewer for the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, and many other leading publications.

As Chief Academic Officer, Thurer will lead the development, implementation, and management of postgraduate and continuing medical education programs in Dubai, as well as the development of postgraduate training opportunities at Harvard Medical School-affiliated and other internationally recognized academic healthcare institutions. He will also participate in the implementation of quality management and clinical planning programs within DHCC as they relate to the academic activities of healthcare providers located there. “I'm excited to be part of Harvard's initiative in Dubai,” he said. “By helping to create a sustainable academic medical community, the project has the potential to improve the lives of millions of people in the Middle East.”

Robert K. Crone, dean for international programs at Harvard Medical School, and president and chief executive officer of HMI, said, “As a graduate and longstanding member of the Faculty at Harvard, Bob will serve as an important link between Harvard and the education professionals based in Dubai.”

HMI and Novartis host second cardiology CME, and look ahead to programs for 2005
Their initial collaborations a measurable success, HMI and Novartis Pharma Schweiz, a leading pharmaceutical and consumer health company, will develop continuing medical education (CME) programs in neurology and oncology for 2005.

One hundred and six physicians gathered in Lucerne, Switzerland in November to hear about advances in cardiology. Dr. Gerald Smetana, a general internist and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, directed the course, which featured faculty from both HMS and local institutions. A mix of lectures and interactive case discussions, the program covered the full range of issues surrounding the prevention and treatment of heart disease, including lipid management, hypertension, and atrial fibrillation.

Planning is underway for two CME programs to be offered by HMI in 2005, with support from Novartis. In March, Dr. Paul Goss, professor of medicine at HMS and Massachusetts General Hospital, will lead a course focused on oncology. In April, Dr. Martin Samuels, professor neurology at HMS and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, will join Dr. Julien Bogousslavsky of the University of Vaudois in Switzerland to direct a program on advances in neurology for older patients.

For the 2005 programs, HMI and Novartis have again applied for continuing medical education accreditation from the Swiss Society for General Practitioners, the Swiss Society for Internal Medicine, and the Swiss Society for Cardiology. Program participants will also receive a Harvard Medical International Certificate of Attendance. For more information or questions related to HMI’s CME programs, please contact Peta Gillyatt at peta_gillyatt@hms.harvard.edu.

As new chair of AAMC, HMI’s Eckhert to bring global awareness to medical education challenges

N. Lynn Eckhert, MD, MPH, DrPH has begun a one-year tenure as chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Since joining HMI as director of academic programs, Eckhert has played a key role in programs focused on institutional and curriculum development. She hopes to bring an international perspective to the activities of the AAMC.

As an association of medical schools, teaching hospitals, and academic societies, the AAMC works with its members to set a national agenda for medical education, biomedical research, and health care, and assists its members by providing services at the national level that facilitate the accomplishment of their missions. In pursuing its purpose, the AAMC works to strengthen the quality of medical education and training, to enhance the search for biomedical knowledge, to advance research in health sciences, and to integrate education into the provision of effective health care.

Eckhert joined Harvard Medical International in 2003, after serving on the faculty of theUniversity of Massachusetts (UMASS) Medical School for more than two decades. During her time at UMASS she served as chairman and professor of family and community medicine, associate dean for admissions, and vice chancellor/dean for international and public health programs. She is past president of the medical staff at the UMASS Memorial Medical Center and remains a professor in the medical school’s departments of pediatrics and family and community medicine. An active member of the AAMC Executive Council, Eckhert is former chair of the association’s Council of Academic Societies. She also serves as the current chair of the AAMC Review Committee for the Fogarty International Center program, which provides international clinical research training experiences for U.S. graduate students in the health professions.

Eckhert is also is chair of the board of the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, a non-profit organization that certifies international medical graduates and works to enhance medical education worldwide.

Harold M. English fellow investigates origins of heart attacks
Dr. Fabrice Schneider has completed a little more than half of a two-year fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and his research in cardiology has already yielded some interesting results. Schneider is the most recent recipient of the HMS-Harold M. English Research Fellowship in Cardiology, which is jointly administered by HMI and the Interuniversity Mission for the Coordination of Franco-American Exchanges (MICEFA) to provide postdoctoral career development opportunities for selected French cardiologists. He arrived in November 2003 and has been performing research in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Libby.

Dr. Libby's laboratory has a longstanding interest in vascular biology, particularly regarding the basic mechanisms contributing to human atherosclerosis. Schneider’s work in the laboratory thus far has focused on the biological activities that lead to myocardial infarctions, or heart attacks, particularly the degradation of collagen in the aorta. He is also using mice to examine at the role played by metalloproteins in preventing aortic aneurysms. During the final year of his fellowship, Schneider, who is the first surgeon to be awarded the fellowship, plans to perform bone marrow transplantation in mice models in order to shed more light on the causes of atherosclerosis.

Dr. Mitchell Spellman, HMI director of academic alliances and international exchanges, said, “My hope is that every Harold M. English fellow will become an advocate of the program and help to ensure its continuance.”

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