BARBARA ALVING APPOINTED ACTING DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL CENTER FOR RESEARCH RESOURCES
Barbara M. Alving, MD, was announced as acting director of the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) on March 25, 2005. The announcement was made by Elias A. Zerhouni, MD, National Institutes of Health (NIH) director. Dr. Alving received a medical degree cum laude from Georgetown University School of Medicine, where she also completed an internship in internal medicine. She completed her residency in internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins University Hospital and then earned a fellowship in hematology. Before being appointed as acting director of the NCRR, Dr. Alving had served as the deputy director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) since 2001, as director of the Women's Health Initiative since 2002, as acting director of NHLBI from 2003 to 2005, and as director of the extramural Division of Blood Diseases and Resources when she joined NHLBI in 1999. Before working at NIH, she served as director of the Department of Hematology and Vascular Biology at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, director of the Hematology/Medical Oncology Section at the Washington Hospital Center, and a research investigator in the Division of Blood and Blood Products at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Alving is a co-inventor on two patents, has edited three books in the areas of thrombosis and hemostasis, and has published more than 100 papers. She is a professor of medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, as well as being a master in the American College of Physicians. She is a former member of the Subcommittee on Hematology of the American Board of Internal Medicine, in addition to being a former member of the FDA Blood Products Advisory Committee.
ROBERT STAR APPOINTED NCRR SENIOR ADVISOR ON CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL SERVICES
Robert A. Star, MD, will be the senior advisor on clinical and translational sciences for the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR). Dr. Star will be responsible for integrating initiatives from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) roadmap theme of “Re-engineering the Clinical Research Enterprise” into NCRR programs. The NIH roadmap focuses on transforming the nation's medical research capabilities and hastening the progression of medical discoveries from research into practice. Dr. Star holds a BA summa cum laude from Harvard College and an MD cum laude from Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Joint Program in Health Sciences and Technology. His internship was completed where he received his residency in internal medicine at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. He then received a fellowship in renal physiology at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Later, he became a professor of internal medicine at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and received the Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Nephrology and the American Heart Association. In 1999, Dr. Star joined NIH and became a senior scientific advisor in the Division of Kidney, Hematologic and Urologic Diseases in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). He has been a senior advisor for clinical research in the Office for Science Policy and Planning, Office of Science Policy, Office of the Director, NIH since 2002. Currently, he is a co-chairman for the Roadmap Trans-NIH Clinical Research Workforce Committee and a clinical professor of medicine at George Washington University in Washington, DC.
ZACK HALL APPOINTED INTERIM PRESIDENT OF THE CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE FOR REGENERATIVE MEDICINE
Zack W. Hall, PhD, has announced his resignation from the Keck School of Medicine. He has been appointed interim president of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The agency was formed when the stem cell initiative, Proposition 71, passed last November in California. Over the next 10 years, the agency will distribute $3 billion for stem cell research to universities and institutions in California. His experience with research institutions includes his positions as vice chancellor at the University of California at San Francisco from 1997 to 2001 and as director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, which is one of the National Institutes of Health, from 1984 to 1987. After joining the Keck School in 2002, he served in many different positions, including director of the Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute and associate dean for academic development.
PAULETTE GRAY APPOINTED DIRECTOR OF NCI DIVISION OF EXTRAMURAL ACTIVITIES
Paulette S. Gray, PhD, has been appointed by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as director of the Division of Extramural Activities. The appointment became effective on April 17. Dr. Gray holds a BS in biology from Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama, as well as an MS in mycology and a PhD in cellular and developmental biology from Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia. As a Josiah Macy, Jr. Fellow, she completed postdoctoral studies at the University of Kaiserslautern in the Federal Republic of Germany. She is an advocate of the participation of women and minorities as investigators and enrollees in cancer research. In 1984, Dr. Gray joined the NCI as the first special review officer for the division. Dr. Gray has been the acting director of the Division of Extramural Activities since 2003 and has been the deputy director for the division since 1997. The Division of Extramural Activities is responsible for coordinating all NCI extramural programs and grants; it provides guidance to potential grant applicants, provides peer review and oversight of extramural research, coordinates advisory organizations, and establishes policies and procedures for extramural research, research integrity, and grant applications. The division works closely with the National Cancer Advisory Board and the Board of Scientific Advisors.
THEODORE J. CICERO TO STEP DOWN AS VICE CHANCELLOR AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
Theodore J. Cicero, PhD, vice chancellor for research at Washington University in St. Louis, will return to his previous position as vice chairman for research in the Department of Psychiatry. After attending Purdue University, he became a postdoctoral fellow in neurochemistry in the Department of Psychiatry in 1968. He became an assistant professor of psychiatry in 1970 and a full professor in 1978. In 1982, he became a professor of neurobiology in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology. In addition, he was appointed associate vice chancellor for animal affairs and associate dean at the School of Medicine in 1991. He has been the vice chancellor for research since 1996. Dr. Cicero is a life fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, as well as being past president of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, a member of the steering committee of the Group on Research Advancement and Development, and a steering committee member of the Association of American Universities Senior Research Officers. In addition, he serves on the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Institute for Drug Abuse and is a field editor for the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. While serving as the vice chancellor for research, Dr. Cicero was credited for greatly expanding Washington University's research enterprise from $244 million of research funding in 1996 to $535 million in 2004 and tripling the patent applications to 117 in 2004. While serving in his new position as vice chairman for research in the Department of Psychiatry, Dr. Cicero plans to continue his own research. He currently has active grants from the National Institute of Drug Abuse and has authored more than 170 publications related to the neurobiologic substrates of drug abuse.
DANIEL MISHELL RESIGNS AS CHAIR OF KECK SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, DEPARTMENT OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY
Daniel R. Mishell Jr, MD, has announced that he will resign as chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Keck School of Medicine effective June 30. He has held the position since 1987. Dr. Mishell has served as chair and chief of professional services at LAC+USC Medical Center's Women's and Children's Hospital, president of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology from 1986 until 1990, and chair from 1990 until 1994. In 2003, he was elected as a fellow ad eundem of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. After his resignation, he will continue to teach obstetrics/gynecology residents at the LAC+USC Medical Center and students at the Keck School of Medicine; function as an editor-in-chief for the journal Contraception, editor-in-chief of the quarterly Dialogues in Contraception, and editor of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine; lecture at medical education events; and see patients at the Women's and Children's Hospital. He will also continue to serve as principal investigator on three active grants. As a consultant on women's reproductive health around the world, his interests include the fields of contraception, infertility, and reproductive endocrinology in the area of menopause. Dr. Mishell is credited with leading the development of various birth control pills, the copper intrauterine device, and Norplant, as well as pregnancy tests and clomiphene citrate, which induces ovulation in infertile women. He is also credited with recruiting more female physicians to obstetrics/gynecology. In addition, he was one of the four authors of the textbook Comprehensive Gynecology and has coauthored a number of other gynecologic textbooks.