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MD-PhD Program HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL newsletter summer 2007 vol. 18 no. 2 If there is too much introspection dur- ing graduate school, and too little during the clinical rotations of medical school, the end of MD-PhD training is an ideal time to catch our collective breath. With the Scientist peering expectantly over one shoulder and the Physician tapping impa- tiently on the other, an MD-PhD student can be as disoriented as Alice in Wonderland when traveling between the lab and the wards. We squirmed when asked to solve differential equations after two years of medical school (even in HST), and we squirmed again when asked to recall the appropriate antibiotic for pneumonia after N years of graduate school. But even after a crash course with Genes V (or Genes VIII for the younger generation) and a furtive speed-read courtesy of Up-to-date, we realized that the unsettled feeling might have deeper psychological roots. When Nobel Laureate Paul Nurse was invited for lunch with the MD-PhD students, he pointed out that physicians are trained to be confident and certain in their deci- sions, while scientists are trained to be skeptical and self- doubting. One member of the Class of 2007 argues that the psychological difference between scientist and doctor is actu- ally essential, while the MD-PhD training offers a perspective that bridges the gap. SOPHIE CURRIER: “The attitude of each world is appropri- ate for the task at hand. Physicians, especially surgeons, are required to make rapid decisions based on the knowledge available, which will always be somewhat inadequate. However, a scientist [discovers] knowledge and must put each statement that he or she makes through a long series of “qual- 4 2007 GRADUATES 6 SOCIETY OLYMPICS 7 NEW CLASS 8 LEADERS IN BIOMEDICINE 9 CARTOON BY RAPOPORT 10 FOR THE RECORD Contents continued on page 2 Split Personality THE TRAINING OF A PHYSICIAN-SCIENTIST by Irene Chen We are delighted to announce that Dr. Stephen Blacklow has assumed directorship of the MD-PhD Program, succeeding Dr. Christopher A. Walsh, who stepped down as the director to take on new responsibili- ties as the chair of the Department of Genetics at Children’s Hospital. Dr. Blacklow has been devoted to the MD-PhD Program for many years, first as a member of the admissions committee and as the designated faculty advisor for MD- PhD students in the Peabody Society. Since 2004, he has served as a member of the program’s Executive Committee, directed the summer course for entering MD-PhD students, and in 2006 became direc- tor of the Subcommittee of Admissions for the program. He is well-known to the students and enters his new role with enthusiasm and commitment to student mentor- ing and guidance as a top priority. Dr. Blacklow is a board-certified pathologist at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he has Dr. Stephen Blacklow Appointed to Lead the MD-PhD Program Dr. Stephen Blacklow Appointed to Lead the MD-PhD Program continued on page 3

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Page 1: HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL MD-PhDProgram€¦ · MD-PhDProgram HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL newsletter summer 2007 vol. 18 no. 2 If there is too much introspection dur-ing graduate school,

MD-PhDProgramHARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL

n e w s l e t t e rsummer 2007 ■ vol. 18 ■ no. 2

If there is too much introspection dur-ing graduate school, and too little duringthe clinical rotations of medical school,the end of MD-PhD training is an idealtime to catch our collective breath. Withthe Scientist peering expectantly over oneshoulder and the Physician tapping impa-tiently on the other, an MD-PhD studentcan be as disoriented as Alice inWonderland when traveling between thelab and the wards. We squirmed whenasked to solve differential equations aftertwo years of medical school (even inHST), and we squirmed again whenasked to recall the appropriate antibioticfor pneumonia after N years of graduateschool. But even after a crash course withGenes V (or Genes VIII for the younger

generation) and a furtive speed-read courtesy of Up-to-date, we realized that theunsettled feeling might have deeper psychological roots.

When Nobel Laureate Paul Nurse was invited for lunch with the MD-PhD students,he pointed out that physicians are trained to be confident and certain in their deci-

sions, while scientists are trained to be skeptical and self-doubting. One member of the Class of 2007 argues that thepsychological difference between scientist and doctor is actu-ally essential, while the MD-PhD training offers a perspectivethat bridges the gap.

SOPHIE CURRIER: “The attitude of each world is appropri-ate for the task at hand. Physicians, especially surgeons, arerequired to make rapid decisions based on the knowledgeavailable, which will always be somewhat inadequate.However, a scientist [discovers] knowledge and must put eachstatement that he or she makes through a long series of “qual-

42007 GRADUATES

6SOCIETY OLYMPICS

7NEW CLASS

8LEADERS IN BIOMEDICINE

9CARTOON BY RAPOPORT

10FOR THE RECORD

Contents

cont inued on page 2

Split PersonalityTHE TRAINING OF A PHYSICIAN-SCIENTIST

by Irene Chen

We are delighted to announce that

Dr. Stephen Blacklow has assumed

directorship of the MD-PhD

Program, succeeding Dr. Christopher

A. Walsh, who stepped down as the

director to take on new responsibili-

ties as the chair of

the Department of

Genetics at

Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Blacklow has

been devoted to the

MD-PhD Program for

many years, first as

a member of the

admissions committee and as the

designated faculty advisor for MD-

PhD students in the Peabody

Society. Since 2004, he has served

as a member of the program’s

Executive Committee, directed the

summer course for entering MD-PhD

students, and in 2006 became direc-

tor of the Subcommittee of

Admissions for the program. He is

well-known to the students and

enters his new role with enthusiasm

and commitment to student mentor-

ing and guidance as a top priority.

Dr. Blacklow is a board-certified

pathologist at the Brigham and

Women’s Hospital, where he has

Dr. Stephen BlacklowAppointed to Lead the MD-PhD Program

Dr. Stephen BlacklowAppointed to Lead the MD-PhD Program

cont inued on page 3

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SPLIT PERSONALITYc o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1

ity tests” to ensure that the knowledge is as sound as possible.They play different roles in the same assembly line: the scien-tist provides the knowledge and the physician puts it to prac-tice. An overly skeptical physician would never get anyone

treated. And an overly hasty scientist couldfeed the entire system faulty information thatcould result in an amplified disaster for theentire medical community. But as physician-scientists we are trained to understand bothroles... I believe that we have a better appre-ciation for how the entire process works,from basic science to patient care.”

Yet other graduates believe that the cultural divide is not aswide as it may appear. They argue that self-doubt is essentialto medical decision-making, and that confidence in data andresults is a necessary part of scientific life.

JAMES RHEE: ”Even clinicians shouldalways be skeptical and self-doubting. Ithink that’s why they constantly seek advicefrom colleagues and consults on the wards.It is only after very extensive testing, imag-ing, research, and discussion that we canarrive at a clinical diagnosis with near cer-tainty, which is actually very much thenature of basic science, too.”

PHILLIP ERWIN: “While physi-cians must act with confidence,their hypotheses are constantly sub-ject to revision according to thedynamics of a patient’s disease. Iwould say that while physicians aretrained to be confident with eachdecision, well-placed skepticismabout each step is vital to the physi-cian’s decision-making. Similarly, ascientist must be self-doubting, but asense of confidence in one’s hypoth-esis is necessary to be willing to goforward with experiments. Further,once all data are collected and ahypothesis is supported by evidence,scientists show their confidence bypublishing their data. Indeed, whiletreatment decisions may be modi-

fied or even stopped altogether once ahypothesis is disproved, a publication is apermanent statement of one’s confidencein his findings.”

Nevertheless, there is no doubt thatmany cultural differences do existbetween science and medicine. On a per-sonal level, each MD-PhD student is faced with the chal-lenge of adjusting from medical school to graduate school,and then to the clinical wards. Many of the readjustmentsare trivial, such as resetting the circadian clock back a fewhours, but some are not.

BENJAMIN SOMMERS: “For me, thebiggest adjustment going from the HealthPolicy PhD Program to medical schoolwas the change from being treated as acolleague to being treated as a student.Graduate programs in social sciencestend to be much more informal and lesshierarchical than medical school, andclinical rotations in particular. In grad school, you’re on afirst-name basis with leading scholars. In med school, youare at the bottom of a long food chain. Your face-time withattendings is fairly limited, and you rarely call them any-thing other than “Dr.” But I still found that I received greatteaching in both settings - it’s just a difference in cultureand style.”

In addition to changes in the social structure, MD-PhD stu-dents must also adapt to dramatic changes in learning style.

SOPHIE CURRIER: “In research the goal is to identifyeven one tiny new understanding about the world aroundus, to add to the billions and billions of facts collectedthroughout human existence. The pace is slow and the skillsneeded are creativity and skeptical thinking. In medicine,at least initially, the skills needed are pattern recognitionand recalling large volumes of information on human dis-ease and treatment. I would suggest that these skills requirecompletely segregated areas of the brain.”

JAMES RHEE: “I think the hardest adjustment for me wastrying to know a few things in great detail versus manythings in superficial detail. In lab, I was accustomed tospending much time and effort dissecting one particularobservation, and trying to collect all the supporting datasurrounding that observation. On the wards, I was asked tosimply memorize and recite many tidbits of medical knowl-

EditorLinda Burnley

Student WritersIrene Chen, Sarah Hill,

Onyi IwealaCartoonist

Ben RapoportDesigner

Kathleen Sayre

This newsletter is published twice a year since it was first published in 1990.

©COPYRIGHT 2007

BY THE PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE

www.hms.harvard.edu/md_phd

MD-PhDPROGRAMn e w s l e t t e r

PHOTO CREDITS: SUZANNE CAMARATA, AND MOSHE JAKUBOWSKI

2 HARVARD MD-PHD PROGRAM n e w s l e t t e r

JAMES RHEE

PHILLIP ERWIN

SOPHIE CURRIER

BEN SOMMERS

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directed a research laboratory since

1998. Dr. Blacklow’s laboratory focuses

on the relationship between structure

and function in proteins of the low-den-

sity lipoprotein receptor family and in

human Notch proteins, achieving inter-

national recognition as a leader in mech-

anistic and structural studies of these

two classes of receptor proteins.

We welcome Dr. Blacklow to his new

role as director of the MD-PhD Program

of Harvard Medical School, and look for-

ward to the contributions of his leader-

ship, experience, and insight will bring

to our community.

In welcoming the new MD-PhD students

at orientation on July 5, 2007, Dr.

Blacklow stated, “I look forward to get-

ting to know each of you as your studies

progress, and am delighted to begin

serving you as the new director of the

MD-PhD Program. The program has

never been stronger, thanks to the super

leadership of the two previous directors,

Chris Walsh and Nancy Andrews, and I

hope to build on the foundation they

have put in place over the past several

years. In particular, my top priority will

be to continue to find ways to integrate

the programs of medical and graduate

study to facilitate students in making

progress towards timely completion of

their dual degrees. I would also like to

hear from all of the students to learn

whether you have any suggestions or

ideas about how we can make the pro-

gram even better in the coming years.”

Blacklow Named DirectorC O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 1

3HARVARD MD-PHD PROGRAM n e w s l e t t e r

edge, with sometimes no attention or expectation paid to underlyingmechanisms or explanations. I am sure this will change as I makethe transition from student to resident, and the body of informationbecomes progressively more focused and pertinent.”

Many of us hope that as we continue to grow and learn, we mayeventually combine the depth of scientific inquiry with the breadthof medical knowledge. In Erwin Schrodinger’s famous example ofquantum mechanics, a cat is placed in a box with a canister of poi-sonous gas that is set up such that the radioactive decay of a singleparticle will open the canister. If the decay event occurs, the catwill die; as long as it fails to occur, the cat lives. In the absence ofan observer, the particle and the cat exist as asuperposition of both possible states. An MD-PhD student is much like Schrodinger’s cat, nei-ther scientist nor physician alone, but in a mixedstate of being that cannot be easily categorized.May the cultural differences between science andmedicine be a source of energy and creativity aswe move ahead.

The MD-PhD Program salutes Dr. Joseph B. Martin who

stepped down from his role as Dean of the Faculty of

Medicine for the past 10 years. We are grateful for Dr.

Martin’s active participation in our program and his

generous support of the MD-PhD students during his

decade long deanship. Shown above are students

presenting Dr. Martin with the prize winning cake

baked in his honor during the Society Olympics.

IRENE CHEN

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4HARVARD MD-PHD PROGRAM n e w s l e t t e r

The MD-PhD Program held its annual Spring Dinner in honor of this

year’s 28 MD-PhD graduates on June 5, 2007. The MD-PhD class is

the largest number in the program’s history. Drs. Nancy Andrews

and Joseph Martin gave the traditional champagne toasts to the

graduates following introductions by Drs. Stephen Blacklow and

Allan Brandt. Graduate speakers included Drs. Rita Khodosh, Douglas

Rubinson and Benjamin Sommers. Dr. Christopher A. Walsh also

gave a special tribute to Dr. Martin who stepped down this year as

the Dean. The evening was filled with special moments as grandpar-

ents, parents, students, faculty and staff celebrated the achieve-

ments of the MD-PhD Class of 2007.

Toasting the 2007 Graduates

Page 5: HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL MD-PhDProgram€¦ · MD-PhDProgram HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL newsletter summer 2007 vol. 18 no. 2 If there is too much introspection dur-ing graduate school,

5HARVARD MD-PHD PROGRAM n e w s l e t t e r

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6 HARVARD MD-PHD PROGRAM n e w s l e t t e r

Great battles are waged daily at Harvard medical school, in labs, in clinics,

and even in the classroom. However, none are as legendary as the annual

Society Olympics.

In these yearly games the first year students from each individual society

including Cannon, Castle, Peabody, Holmes, and HST compete against each

other in events such as dodge ball or a pie eating contest for the honor of

“bringing home the pink,” the pink flamingo trophy that is.

According to many of the champion participants,a dynasty was created on May

11 when HST won for an unprecedented second year in a row. Some New

Pathway students may liken this victory to “Revenge of the Nerds 2,” but for the

31 HST students who participated this year, 10 of whom are in the MD-PhD pro-

gram, the friendships and memories forged in the process will never be forgotten.

This year’s theme was “HSTV: The Only Society in High Demand.” The t-shirts

and banner illustrating this theme were designed by Erin Chen, a first- year MD-

PhD known for her artistic talent.

The banner was featured in the procession choreographed by Sarah Hill.

Every student participated in this event, which was a theatrical performance of

five television shows including Scooby Doo, an HST vs. New Pathway Soccer

Match, an animal show, a medical drama, and a final HST themed dance.

Among the day’s staged events, the iron chef style bake-off in which the stu-

dents had to bake a retirement cake for Dr. Martin using only a box of cake mix

and $8 worth of ingredients from the MEC vending machines was a crowd pleas-

er. The MD-PhDs took the lead in this, with Jenny Yang and Erin Chen helping

HST to earn first place points with their stunning retirement cake (see page 3).

As the events came to a close, HST was uncertain as to whether or not they

had won. They knew that had first place in the early events including the volun-

teer drive, thanks to Milena Andzelm, and the clothing drive, thanks to the ingen-

ious ordering of 1400 pairs of socks from Pakistan.

However, when the results were announced, HST students claimed victory not

just for the class of 2010, but for all the classes that have gone before us and for

all of our professors. Years from now when we are on the wards, running our

labs, and teaching classes ourselves, it won’t be the hours of studying we did for

cardiology that we remember, rather it will be the practices on the steps of

Gordon hall at 2 am and the friends we made in this process.

Bringing Home the PinkMD-PHDS HELP HST TO VICTORY

by Sarah Hill

Sarah Hill as Scooby Doo and fellow HST classmate.

David E Cohen, MD, PhD associate professor of medicine at HMS and associate professor

in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences (HST) has been named Co-Director of HST.

He will share responsibility for directing HST with Dr. Martha Gray, Professor Edward Hood

Taplin Professor of Medical Engineering and Electrical Engineering at MIT and HST. David

replaces Dr. Joseph Bonventre, who served as HST co-director since 1998.

The MD-PhD Program community wishes to express its gratitude to Dr. Bonventre, one of the

early MSTP graduates of our program, for his many years of outstanding leadership as co-director

of HST. We extend our best wishes to Dr. Cohen, also an alumnus of the MD-PhD Program, in

his new role as co-director role of HST.

Of the new position, Dr. Cohen states, “After a long association with HST, it is a privilege to assume

this leadership role. I look forward to working together with the HST faculty and students on educa-

tional and research programs at the rapidly developing interface between medicine and technology.”

HST Leadership Changes

David Cohen, MD, PhD and

oseph Bonventre, MD, PhD at

the party in celebration of Dr.

Bonventre’s leadership at HST

held in the Benjamin Water-

house Room, Gordon Hall.

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HARVARD MD-PHD PROGRAM n e w s l e t t e r 7

Spring Revisit Yields New Class of Future Physician Scientists

Left, top: Amy Xu stops by

Karolina Maciag's poster during

the program's third annual MD-

PhD Program/ Joslin Diabetes

Center (JDC) poster sympo-

sium held in August.

Left: New students Diane Shao

and Michael Xiang meet Dr.

Keith Blackwell, Associate

Professor of Pathology and

Senior Investigator at the JDC

during the poster symposium.

Below: Newly accepted

students at the program's

revisit and recruitment dinner

held last April: from left to

right: Wataru Ebina, Amy Xu,

Robert Koffie, Gilad Evrony,

David Konieczkowki, Diane

Shao, Jason Zhang, Alexander

Subtelny (not pictured: Joseph

Bell, Luciano Custo-Greig,

Kimberly Sue).

The results: The MD-PhD sub-

committee on admissions

reviewed 557 (64% men; 36%

women) applications from under-

graduates applying for admission to

the MD-PhD Program starting med-

ical school in 2007. Thirteen appli-

cants (8 men; 5 women) accepted

offers to matriculate at HMS: JosephBell (Harvard), Luciano Custo Greig(Yale), Wataru Ebina (Stanford), GiladEvrony (MIT), Robert Koffie (Indiana

University), Diane Shao (Rice U),

Alexander Subtelny (Harvard),

Kimberly Sue* (Columbia), MichaelXiang (MIT), Amy Xu (Harvard),

Yanjia “Jason” Zhang (Yale). Note:

David Konieczkowski (Princeton),

who deferred admission from 2005-

2006, will also matriculate in 2007.

Two students deferred admissions

until 2008: Vineeta Agarwala(Stanford) and Katie Lee (U of

Minnesota). (*social science track.)

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8

PROGRAM

HARVARD MD-PHD PROGRAM n e w s l e t t e r

A Knight to Remember

Who could be better than Harry Potter, David

Beckham, and Sir Paul McCartney? Why the

other Sir Paul, Sir Paul Nurse that is.

Twenty-five lucky MD-PhD students had the

chance to sit with the 2001 Nobel Laureate and

current President of the Rockefeller for an informal

lunch prior to his Leaders in Biomedicine talk enti-

tled “The Great Ideas of Biology” on March 15. All

in attendance were left with a message of hope and

inspiration concerning their futures in science.

If anyone was expecting a stuffy British knight

consumed by science, they were pleasantly surprised

by the jovial Dr. Nurse who walked in wearing a

sweater instead of a tie and easily fell into conversa-

tion with the students on topics varying from his

time at Oxford to the state of scientific funding

today to his becoming “Sir Paul.”

The most amusing story of the afternoon came

when one of the students asked Dr. Nurse what it

was like to be a knight. In the fashion of a great

storyteller, he regaled us with the story of how, with-

out even opening it he had misplaced the letter from

the Queen’s offices informing him of his chance at

knighthood. Out of the blue he received an official

phone call asking him whether or not he would

“accept the honor.” He then was forced to make

the decision in only four hours, and in the truly humble fashion he demonstrated throughout his time with us,

he revealed that he almost didn’t take it.

In the course of the hour, the conversation moved to more serious topics, one of them being the state of

research funding today. In all seriousness, he gave all of the students a hopeful message, and told us that if we

were good and this is what we really wanted to do, that we would make it.

He also talked about what he thought an MD-PhD student ought to focus on in a PhD when asked about

translational research. He was very much in favor of the idea of an MD-PhD, but advised us that we might focus

on medically oriented research instead of strict basic science.

After more stories about his own career path and his youth in England, the hour came to a close. Science is

full of personalities, and we were treated to a meeting with one of the finest. It was a thrill to meet a scientist who

has experienced what we all dream of and in the wake of it all has continued to care about doing science that will

help people, teaching students, and forming science policy that will continue to fund work that is both elegant and

for the good of mankind. We were left inspired and in awe of a true ambassador of Nobel and science.

—Sarah Hill, MD-PhD (HST) II

Sir Paul Nurse (left) and Athar Malik, MD-PhD student (right)

at the luncheon held on March 15, 2007 for MD-PhD students

to meet with Dr. Nurse on the same day as his lecture “Great

Ideas of Biology.”

Page 9: HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL MD-PhDProgram€¦ · MD-PhDProgram HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL newsletter summer 2007 vol. 18 no. 2 If there is too much introspection dur-ing graduate school,

notes

Students Travel to High PlacesONYI IWEALA attended the 13th International Congress of Mucosal Immunology: “Not All Quiet on the Frontlineof Mucosal Immunology” this past July in Tokyo, Japan.She reports “It was an action packed meeting with presen-tations from many heavyweights from the field of mucosalimmunology.

The meeting provided superb coverage of the field of mucosal immunology, including various sessions on the development of mucosally delivered vaccines, a newlyemerging global strategy for improving vaccine efficacyand vaccine coverage. I had the opportunity to presentsome of my thesis work on the impact of parasitichelminth infections on the efficacy of oral vaccination.

Talks of note included a standing room only lecture by Maria Rescigno on role of intestinal epithelial cell anddendritic cell mediators in maintaining the immunoqui-escient environment in the GI tract in the face of constantexposure to microbial products and foreign dietary pro-teins; a lecture by T-regulatory cell maven ShimonSakaguchi that introduced folate receptor 4 as a newmarker for identifying activated T regulatory cells; and alecture by Nobel Laureate Barry J. Marshall in which hedescribed in detail his notorious self experiment—drinking

H. pylori to induce gastritis in order to demonstrate that H. pylori was apathogen and a causative agent of gastric ulcers.

EIGHT SECOND-YEAR MD-PhD students presented posters at the 22nd AnnualMD-PhD Student Conference held July 27-29, 2007 in Keystone, Colorado host-ed by the MSTP at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences. The conference offers a forum for MD-PhD students from around the countryto share research, meet and hear distinguished speakers and enjoy the RockyMountains. This year’s featured speakers were Peter Agre, MD, Huda Zoghbi,MD, David Baltimore, PhD, Mark Saltzman, PhD, and Polly Matzinger, PhD.Students attending were Jonathan Abraham, Milena Andzelm, CameronSadegh, Erin, Chen, Yin Ren, Jenny Yang, Stephen Huffaker, andKarolina Maciag.

Left: Onyi Iweala at Asakusa

Kannon Temple, the oldest

Buddhist temple in Tokyo.

Right: From left to right, Milena

Andzelm, Jonathan Abraham,

Yin Ren, Karolina Maciag and

Cameron Sadegh.

9HARVARD MD-PHD PROGRAM n e w s l e t t e r

Page 10: HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL MD-PhDProgram€¦ · MD-PhDProgram HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL newsletter summer 2007 vol. 18 no. 2 If there is too much introspection dur-ing graduate school,

For the RecordPhDs completed

Milan Bajmoczi, Cannon, BBS-Biological Chemistry and

Molecular Pharmacology (DMS) at Harvard University. [David E.

Golan, M.D., Ph.D.] Internalization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

by Non-polarized and Polarized Epithelial Cells: a CFTR- and

Caveolin-1-dependent Process (5/07).

Brinda Balakrishnan, HST, Medical Engineering and Medical

Physics at MIT. [Elazer R. Edelman, M.D., Ph.D.] Computational

Modeling of Local Intravascular Drug Delivery (3/07).

Kyle K-H. Farh, HST, Biology at MIT. [David P. Bartel, Ph.D.]

Targeting and Function of Mammalian MicroRNAs (6/07).

Adam A.L. Friedman, HST, BBS-Genetics (DMS) at Harvard

University. [Norbert Perrimon, Ph.D.] Genomic dissection of

receptor tyrosine kinase activation of extracellular signal-regulated

kinase in Drosophila (5/07).

Lilit Garibyan, Holmes, BBS-Pathology (DMS) at Harvard

University. [Raif S. Geha, M.D.] The Role of TACI Mutations in

Common Variable Immunodeficiency (7/07).

Raj K. Gopal, Castle, Neuroscience (DMS) at Harvard University.

[Bruce A. Yankner, M.D., Ph.D.] Regulation of DNA Double-

Strand Break Repair by Parkin (6/07).

Clara Y. Han, Holmes, Medical Anthropology at Harvard

University. [Arthur M. Kleinman, M.D.] Life in Debt: Depression

and Survival in Chile’s Market Democracy (5/07).

Todd M. Herrington, HST, Neuroscience

(DMS) at Harvard University. [John A. Assad,

Ph.D.] Attentional Shifts in Parietal Cortex and

Behavior (6/07).

Arindel S. Maharaj, Peabody, BBS-Pathology

(DMS) at Harvard University. [Patricia A.

D’Amore, Ph.D.] Vascular Endothelial Growth

Factor is Required for Vascular and Tissue

Homeostasis (6/07).

Anthony A. Philippakis, HST, Biophysics at

Harvard University. [Martha L. Bulyk, Ph.D.]

An Integrated Computational Approach for the

Determination of Metazoan Cis Regulatory

Codes and Cis Regulatory Modules (5/07).

Sashank K. Reddy, HST, Biophysics at Harvard University. [Marc W.

Kirschner, Ph.D.] Ubiquitination by the Anaphase-Promoting Complex

Drives Spindle Checkpoint Inactivation (5/07).

Daniel P. Seeburg, HST, Biology at MIT. [Morgan H. Sheng, Ph.D.] The

Role of Polo-like kinase 2 in Synaptic Function and Plasticity (5/07).

Erica Seiguer, Cannon, Health Policy at Harvard University. [Richard G.

Frank, Ph.D.] Innovation and Incentives in Pharmaceutical Research and

Development (5/07).

Elizabeth H. Stover, HST, BBS-Genetics (DMS)

at Harvard University. [D. Gary Gilliland, M.D.,

Ph.D.] FIP1L1-PDGFRalpha, a tyrosine kinase

fusion protein involved in chronic eosinophilic

leukemia (5/07).

Zuzana Tothova, HST, BBS-Genetics (DMS) at

Harvard University. [D. Gary Gilliland, M.D.,

Ph.D.] The Role of Forkhead Transcription

Factors in Hematopoiesis and Leukemogenesis

(5/07).

Marc N. Wein, Holmes, Immunology (DMS) at Harvard University.

[Laurie H. Glimcher, M.D.] Regulation of Immunobiology and Skeletal

Biology by the Zinc Finger Adaptor Protein Schnurri-3 (6/07).

Shannon C. Wieland, Cannon, Mathematics at MIT. [Bonnie Berger,

Ph.D.] Computational, Statistical and Graph-Theoretical Methods for

Disease Mapping and Cluster Detection (6/07).

10 HARVARD MD-PHD PROGRAM n e w s l e t t e r

THIS NEWSLETTER IS SUPPORTED IN PART BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF

HEALTH MEDICAL SCIENTIST TRAINING PROGRAM GRANT T32-GM07753-27.

Lilit Garibyan and her mentor, Raif S. Geha, MD, follow-

ing her PhD defense seminar in July.

Arindel S. Maharaj

at his PhD defense

in June.

Zuzana Tothova at her

PhD defense in May.

Page 11: HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL MD-PhDProgram€¦ · MD-PhDProgram HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL newsletter summer 2007 vol. 18 no. 2 If there is too much introspection dur-ing graduate school,

Publications (after March 7 2007)Begun J, Gaiani JM, Rohde H, Mack D, Calderwood SB, Ausubel FM, Sifri CD.Staphylococcal Biofilm Exopolysaccharide Protects against Caenorhabditis elegans ImmuneDefenses. PLoS Pathog. 2007 Apr 20;3(4):e57 [Epub ahead of print]

Hughes ME, Bortnick R, Tsubouchi A, Baumer P, Kondo M, Uemura T, Schmucker D.Homophilic Dscam interactions control complex dendrite morphogenesis. Neuron. 2007May 3;54(3):417-27.

Jinushi M, Nakazaki Y, Dougan M, Carrasco DR, Mihm M, Dranoff G. MFG-E8-mediateduptake of apoptotic cells by APCs links the pro- and antiinflammatory activities of GM-CSF.J Clin Invest. 2007 Jun 7; [Epub ahead of print]

Enzler T, Gillessen S, Dougan M, Allison JP, Neuberg D, Oble DA, Mihm M, Dranoff G.Functional deficiencies of granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor and inter-leukin-3 contribute to insulitis and destruction of {beta}-cells. Blood. 2007 May 4; [Epubahead of print]

Wernig M, Meissner A, Foreman R, Brambrink T, Ku M, Hochedlinger K, Bernstein BE,Jaenisch R. In vitro reprogramming of fibroblasts into a pluripotent ES-cell-like state.Nature. 2007 Jun 6; [Epub ahead of print]

Garibyan L, Lobito AA, Siegel RM, Call ME, Wucherpfennig KW, and Geha RS. Ligandindependent preassociation is required for the dominant negative effect of a TACI mutantthat disrupts ligand binding. J Clin Invest. 2007 Jun;117(6):1550-7.

Castigli E, Wilson SA, Garibyan L, Rachid R, Bonilla F, Schneider L, Geha RS. Update onTNFRSF13B/TACI mutations in CVID and IgA deficiency. Nat Genet. 2007 Apr;39(4):430-1.

Mitoma J, Bao X, Petryanik B, Schaerli P, Gauguet JM, Yu SY, Kawashima H, Saito H,Ohtsubo K, Marth JD, Khoo KH, von Andrian UH, Lowe JB, Fukuda M. Critical functions of N-glycans in L-selectin-mediated lymphocyte homing and recruitment. NatImmunol. 2007 Apr;8(4):409-18. Epub 2007 Mar 4.

Greenland JR, Geiben R, Ghosh S, Pastor WA, Letvin NL. Plasmid DNA vaccine-elicitedcellular immune responses limit in vivo vaccine antigen expression through Fas-mediatedapoptosis. J Immunol. 2007 May 1;178(9):5652-8.

Greenland JR, Letvin NL. Chemical adjuvants for plasmid DNA vaccines. Vaccine. 2007 May10;25(19):3731-41. Epub 2007 Feb 20.

Hovav AH, Cayabyab MJ, Panas MW, Santra S, Greenland J, Geiben R, Haynes BF, JacobsWR Jr, Letvin NL. Rapid memory CD8+ T-lymphocyte induction through priming withrecombinant Mycobacterium smegmatis. J Virol. 2007 Jan;81(1):74-83. Epub 2006 Oct 18.

Mapelli M, Filipp FV, Rancati G, Massimiliano L, Nezi L, Stier G, Hagan RS, Confalonieri S,Piatti S, Sattler M, Musacchio A. Determinants of conformational dimerization of Mad2 andits inhibition by p31comet. EMBO J. 2006 Mar 22;25(6):1273-84. Epub 2006 Mar 9.

Hanna J, Meides A, Zhang DP, Finley D. A ubiquitin stress response induces altered protea-some composition. Cell. 2007 May 18;129(4):747-59.

Hanna J, Finley D. A proteasome for all occasions. FEBS Lett. 2007 Mar 30; [Epub ahead ofprint]

Hauser AE, Junt T, Mempel TR, Sneddon MW, Kleinstein SH, Henrickson SE, von AndrianUH, Shlomchik MJ, Haberman AM. Definition of germinal-center B cell migration in vivoreveals predominant intrazonal circulation patterns. Immunity. 2007 May;26(5):655-67.

Henrickson SE, von Andrian UH. Single-cell dynamics of T-cell priming. Curr OpinImmunol. 2007 Jun;19(3):249-58. Epub 2007 Apr 12.

Henrickson SE, Hartmann EM, Ott G., Rosenwald A. Gene expression profiling in malig-nant lymphomas. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2007;593:134-46. Review.

Meyer-Lindenberg A, Straub RE, Lipska BK, Verchinski BA, Goldberg T, Callicott JH, EganMF, Huffaker SS, Mattay VS, Kolachana B, Kleinman JE, Weinberger DR. Genetic evidence

implicating DARPP-32 in human frontostriatal structure, function, and cognition. J ClinInvest. 2007 Mar; 117(3):672-82. Epub 2007 Feb 8.

Tkachev D, Mimmack ML, Huffaker SJ, Ryan M, Bahn S. Further evidence for alteredmyelin biosynthesis and glutamatergic dysfunction in schizophrenia. Int JNeuropsychopharmacol. 2007 Feb 12;:1-7 [Epub ahead of print]

Koduri V, Blacklow SC. Requirement for natively unstructured regions of mesoderm devel-opment candidate 2 in promoting low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 6 matu-ration. Biochemistry. 2007 Jun 5;46(22):6570-7. Epub 2007 May 9.

Cavalieri D, Castagnini C, Toti S, Maciag K, Kelder T, Gambineri L, Angioli S, Dolara P. Eu.Gene Analyzer a tool for integrating gene expression data with pathway databases.Bioinformatics. 2007 Jun 28; [Epub ahead of print]

Molyneaux BJ*, Arlotta P*, Menezes JR, Macklis JD. Neuronal subtype specification in thecerebral cortex. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2007 Jun;8(6):427-437.

Nissim S, Allard P, Bandyopadhyay A, Harfe BD, Tabin CJ. Characterization of a novel ecto-dermal signaling center regulating Tbx2 and Shh in the vertebrate limb. Dev Biol. 2007 Apr1;304(1):9-21. Epub 2006 Dec 9.

Sarpeshkar R, Wattanapanitch W, Rapoport BI, Arfin S, Baker M, Mandal S, Fee M,Musallam S, Andersen R. Low-Power Circuits for Brain-Machine Interfaces. Proceedings ofthe International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (May 2007).

Reddy SK, Rape M, Margansky WA, Kirschner, MW. Ubiquitination by the anaphase-pro-moting complex drives spindle checkpoint inactivation. Nature 2007 Apr 19; 446 (7138):868-9.

Newhouse JP, Seiguer E, Frank RG.: Was Part D a Giveaway to the Pharmaceutical Industry?Inquiry Vol. 44, No. 1, pp. 15–25.

Farris W, Schutz SG, Cirrito JR, Shankar GM, Sun X, George A, Leissring MA, Walsh DM,Qiu WQ, Holtzman DM, Selkoe DJ. Loss of Neprilysin Function Promotes Amyloid PlaqueFormation and Causes Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy. Am J Pathol. 2007 May 18; [Epubahead of print]

Shankar GM, Bloodgood BL, Townsend M, Walsh DM, Selkoe DJ, Sabatini BL. Naturaloligomers of the Alzheimer amyloid-beta protein induce reversible synapse loss by modulat-ing an NMDA-type glutamate receptor-dependent signaling pathway. J Neurosci. 2007 Mar14;27(11):2866-75.

Li W*, Schulman S*, Boyd D, Erlandson K, Beckwith J, Rapoport TA. The Plug Domain ofthe SecY Protein Stabilizes the Closed State of the Translocation Channel and Maintains aMembrane Seal. Mol Cell. 2007 May 25;26(4):511-21.

Saparov SM, Erlandson K, Cannon K, Schaletzky J, Schulman S, Rapoport TA, Pohl P.Determining the Conductance of the SecY Protein Translocation Channel for SmallMolecules. Mol Cell. 2007 May 25;26(4):501-9.

Taniguchi CM, Aleman JO, Ueki K, Luo J, Asano T, Kaneto H, Stephanopoulos G, CantleyLC, Kahn CR. The p85alpha regulatory subunit of phosphoinositide 3-kinase potentiates c-Jun N-terminal kinase-mediated insulin resistance. Moll Cell Biol. 2007 Apr;27(8):2830-40.Epub 2007 Feb 5.

Thierman JS, Clement GT, Kalish LA, O’Kane PL, Frauscher F, Paltiel HJ. Automated sono-graphic evaluation of testicular perfusion. Phys Med Biol. 2006 Jul 21;51(14):3419-32. Epub2006 Jun 26.

Tothova Z, Mercher T. FoxO: stress or eternal life. Med Sci (Paris). 2007 May;23(5):466-467.French

Klose R, Yan Q, Tothova Z, Yamane K, Erdjument-Bromage H, Tempst P, Gilliland DG,Zhang Y, Kaelin WG. The retinoblastoma binding protein RBP2 is an H3K4 demethylase.Cell. 2007 Mar 9;128(5):889-900. Epub 2007 Feb 22.

Wieland SC, Brownstein JS, Berger B, Mandl KD. Density-equalizing Euclidean minimumspanning trees for the detection of all disease cluster shapes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007May 29;104(22):9404-9. Epub 2007 May 22.

HARVARD MD-PHD PROGRAM n e w s l e t t e r11

Page 12: HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL MD-PhDProgram€¦ · MD-PhDProgram HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL newsletter summer 2007 vol. 18 no. 2 If there is too much introspection dur-ing graduate school,

TOSTESON MEDICAL EDUCATION CENTER

260 LONGWOOD AVENUE, ROOM 168BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02115-5720

[email protected]/md_phdTEL 617-432-0991FAX 617-432-2791

H A R V A R D M E D I C A L S C H O O L

MD-PhDPROGRAMn e w s l e t t e r

For the Record

Class of 2007 Internship/Residency and Postgraduate Appointments

PresortedFirst-Class Mail

U.S. Postage PAIDPermit 250

Mailed from 01842

Save the Date

Waterville Valley Conference CenterWaterville Valley, New Hampshire

Weekend Highlight:Eva Neer Memorial Lecture presentedby Dr. Nancy C. Andrews, George MinotProfessor of Pediatrics and Dean forBasic Sciences and Graduate Educationat HMS – Title: “Serendipity”

The retreat includes research presenta-tions by senior students, student/facultyposter session, panel discussions,recreational hikes, music and dancing.

25th Annual Student/Faculty Retreat

October 12-14, 2007

Andrew James Aguirre, Internal Medicine,Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.

Jakob Begun, Internal Medicine, Brigham andWomen’s Hospital, Boston, MA.

Irene Ann Chen, Bauer Fellow, Harvard Faculty ofArts & Sciences, Cambridge, MA.

David M. Cochran, Adult and Child PsychiatryResidency, University of Massachusetts, MemorialMedical Center, Worcester, MA.

Sophie Christine Currier, Pathology, MassachusettsGeneral Hospital, Boston, MA.

Phillip A. Erwin, Internal Medicine, MassachusettsGeneral Hospital, Boston, MA.

Jean-Marc Gauguet, Radiology, Beth Israel DeaconessMedical Center, Boston, MA.

Robert Stewart Griffin, Anesthesiology,Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.

Ashutosh Prabhakar Jadhav, Neurology,Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.

David Hyun Jung, Otolaryngology, Mass Eye and EarInfirmary, Boston, MA.

Rita Khodosh, Dermatology, Stanford UniversityPrograms, Stanford, CA.,

Andrew David Levin, Genzyme Corporation,Cambridge, MA.

Bradley John Molyneaux, Neurology, MassachusettsGeneral Hospital, Boston, MA.

Sahar Nissim, Internal Medicine, Brigham andWomen’s Hospital, Boston, MA.

Michael Abram Ohliger, Radiology, UCSF, SanFrancisco, CA.

James Rhee, Anesthesiology, Massachusetts GeneralHospital, Boston, MA.

Douglas A. Rubinson, Internal Medicine, Brighamand Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA.

Safa Sadeghpour, Associate, McKinsey & Company,Florham Park, NJ.

Erica Seiguer, Internal Medicine, MassachusettsGeneral Hospital, Boston, MA.

Jay Ashok Shendure, Assistant Professor of GenomeSciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

Benjamin Daniel Sommers, InternalMedicine/Primary Care, Brigham and Women’sHospital, Boston, MA.

David Yoshio Takeda, Internal Medicine, Brighamand Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA.

Jonathan Sidney Thierman, Emergency Medicine,Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD.

Vesselin T. Tomov, Internal Medicine, Hospital ofUniversity of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.

Griffin M. Weber, Chief Technology Officer, HarvardMedical School; Director of the BiomedicalInformatics Core and Instructor in Medicine, BethIsrael Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA.

Ernest Nanjung Yeh, Radiology/Scholar Track, BethIsrael Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA.

Lisa Maher Zakhary, Psychiatry, MassachusettsGeneral Hospital, Boston, MA.

v i s i t o u r w e b s i t e a t w w w. h m s . h a r v a rd . e d u / m d _ p h d