Drexel University College of Medicine Names Joseph D. Bloom, MD, Dean ===================================================================== ![Figure1](/https://d3hme472k3gd2d.cloudfront.net/content/jim/53/1/1/F1.medium.gif) [Figure1](/content/53/1/1/F1) Joseph D. Bloom Drexel University has announced the appointment of Joseph D. Bloom, MD, to the position of vice president for medical affairs and dean of Drexel University College of Medicine. Previously, Dr. Bloom served as dean of the School of Medicine at Oregon Health Sciences University, where he was a professor of psychiatry for 20 years, serving 8 years as department chair. Dr. Bloom earned his medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. After completing his residency at Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Dr. Bloom became one of the first full-time psychiatrists in the Indian Health Service. Dr. Bloom spent 10 years in Alaska, first in the public health service and then in private practice, before moving to Oregon Health Sciences University as head of a community psychiatry-training program. Through his work with Eskimos in transcultural psychiatry, Dr. Bloom became interested in the intersection of law and mental health and gravitated toward forensic psychiatry—an area in which he is an acknowledged expert. He focused his research on the interface of the criminal justice and civil legal systems for managing and treating the very seriously mentally ill. Dr. Bloom has published more than 100 papers. He is a member of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, the American College of Psychiatrists, and the new International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services, among other organizations. ## David A. Schwartz, MD, Named Director of NIH'S National Institute of Environmental Health Science National Institutes of Health Director Elias A. Zerhouni, MD, announced the appointment of David A. Schwartz, MD, as the new director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Toxicology Program. Dr. Schwartz is currently the director of the pulmonary, allergy, and critical care division and vice chair of research in the Department of Medicine at Duke University. At Duke, Dr. Schwartz played a principal role in developing three interdisciplinary centers in environmental health sciences, environmental genomics, and environmental asthma. Dr. Schwartz will replace Kenneth Olden, PhD, who stepped down last year after successfully leading NIEHS since 1991. Dr. Olden will remain at NIEHS as a researcher in the intramural program. Dr. Schwartz will join the National Institutes of Health on April 4, 2005. As NIEHS director, Dr. Schwartz will oversee a $711 million budget that funds multidisciplinary biomedical research programs, prevention, and intervention efforts that encompass training, education, technology transfer, and community outreach. NIEHS is located in Research Triangle Park, near Durham, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. NIEHS currently supports more than 850 research grants. Dr. Schwartz's research focuses on the genetic and biologic determinants of environmental lung disease and host defense. These efforts have provided new insights into the pathophysiology and biology of asbestos-induced lung disease, interstitial lung disease, environmental airway disease, and innate immunity. Dr. Schwartz received his BA degree in biology from the University of Rochester, his MD from the University of California-San Diego, and his MPH from Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Schwartz is a coauthor of more than 150 research papers, 38 book chapters, and a textbook. He has served on numerous study sections, is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of the American Physicians, and, in 2003, received the American Thoracic Society Scientific Achievement Award. NIEHS has supported Dr. Schwartz's research since 1990. ## Dr. N. Lynn Eckhert Begins Term as AAMC Chair The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has announced that Lynn Eckhert, MD, MPH, DrPH, director of academic programs for Harvard Medical International (the international division of Harvard Medical School), began her 1-year tenure as chair of the organization in November 2004. Dr. Eckhert succeeds Donald Wilson, MD, dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Eckhert joined Harvard Medical International last year after serving on the faculty of the University 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, as well as an adjunct professor at the UMASS School of Public Health. An active member of the AAMC Executive Council, Dr. 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 US graduate students in the health professions. Dr. Eckhert, a pediatrician, is also chair of the board of the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates and immediate past president of the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine. After earning a master of nursing degree from New York Medical College, she graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine. She also earned her master's and doctorate of public health degrees from Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. Thomas M. Priselac, president and chief executive officer of Cedars-Sinai Health System, was named AAMC chair-elect. He will succeed Dr. Eckhert as chair of the association next year. Mr. Priselac has been associated with Cedars-Sinai Health System for more than two decades, serving as executive vice president until 1994, when he took over in his current role. He is a member of the American Hospital Association Board of Directors and chairs the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce Health Committee. He is former chair of the AAMC Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems and serves as an adjunct faculty member of the University of California, Los Angeles School of Public Health. Mr. Priselac earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Washington and Jefferson College in Pennsylvania and a master's degree in public health and health services administration and planning from the University of Pittsburgh. ## In Memoriam: Dr. John E. Chapman John E. Chapman, MD, former dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, died October 13, 2004, of complications from Parkinson's disease. He was 73. Dr. Chapman, who served as dean for more than 25 years, conferred degrees on two-thirds of the School of Medicine's graduates (more than 3,000 students). By the end of his tenure as dean, he had presided over the graduation of two generations of medical students, many of them from the same families. He retired in 2001 to serve as associate vice chancellor for medical alumni affairs. Dr. Chapman received his medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine, where he also was a resident in internal medicine and a postdoctoral fellow in clinical pharmacology, psychopharmacology, and toxicology. He served as assistant professor of medicine and pharmacology and then as assistant dean at University of Kansas before joining the faculty at Vanderbilt. ## Medical School Professors Killed in Missouri Plane Crash Several medical educators and university faculty members were among the 13 people killed when an airplane crashed just outside an airport in Missouri. The passengers were en route to an Arnold P. Gold Foundation conference on humanism in medicine. Among the deceased are Steve Z. Miller, MD, director of pediatric medical education at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Richard T. Sarkin, MD, professor of clinical pediatrics at the University at Buffalo State University of New York School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Drs. Miller and Sarkin have made significant contributions to the field of medical education.