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Proto: Dispatches from the Frontiers
of Medicine
Massachusetts General Hospital launches
magazine that examines medicine's leading edge
BOSTON - September 23, 2005 - Massachusetts General Hospital
this week is launching a national quarterly magazine that explores
the latest developments in biomedical research, promising clinical
applications and health policy. The magazine, titled Proto: Dispatches
from the Frontiers of Medicine, is being distributed to thought
and opinion leaders representing health care, business, philanthropy
and public policy - people interested in knowing what is going on
today that may change the way medicine is practiced in the years
to come.
Time Inc. Strategic Communications, the custom publishing arm of
the leading magazine corporation, has been working with the MGH
to plan, develop and produce the publication.
Proto, a prefix that conveys progress and discovery, seeks
to travel new ground in its coverage of medical innovation. Unlike
data-laden academic journals or consumer magazines that serve up
the latest health information, Proto describes, reflects
upon and assesses medical advances in a style that is engaging,
colorful and provocative. Each issue includes major features that
have been researched and written by nationally respected science
writers. The magazine also contains regular columns, images, essays
and facts that are designed to amuse, challenge and surprise.
"There clearly is great interest today in biomedical innovation,
and we want to provide context and explanation for some of the incredible
work that is under way in academic medical centers, universities,
research laboratories and business and industry," says Peter
L. Slavin, MD, president of the Massachusetts General Hospital.
"Our purpose is not to focus exclusively on what is happening
at our institution, but rather to sift through and sort out the
most exciting innovations across the country and around the world."
Paul Libassi, Time Inc. deputy managing editor, calls Proto
"an evolution in communicating to the sophisticated reader"
through its blending of intellectual rigor, lively writing and powerful
photography and graphics. "As one of the nation's leading academic
medical centers, Mass General offers an important critical lens
through which to view the frontiers of medical science," Libassi
says. "We are thrilled to be collaborating with such an esteemed
institution as together we move into new territory with this cutting-edge
publication."
The inaugural issue of Proto - featuring articles about xenotransplantation,
stroke, avian flu, medical simulation and genetics - is being mailed
this week to more than 100,000 top-level health care leaders, Fortune
1000 CEOs, other business executives, venture capitalists, philanthropists,
legislators and academics. The magazine includes limited advertising
to help offset its production and distribution costs.
"This magazine is not afraid to provoke or expose readers to
new and unconventional - even unpopular - ideas," says David
Torchiana, MD, CEO and chairman of the Massachusetts General Physicians
Organization. "Proto will discuss successful strides
and medical breakthroughs, but it also will examine setbacks and
failures, controversies and conflicts. Our goal is to deliver solid,
hard-hitting medical journalism in a manner that is informative
and entertaining."
Massachusetts General Hospital, established in 1811, is the original
and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH
conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the United
States, with an annual research budget of more than $450 million
and major research centers in AIDS, cardiovascular research, cancer,
cutaneous biology, medical imaging, neurodegenerative disorders,
transplantation biology and photomedicine. In 1994, MGH and Brigham
and Women's Hospital joined to form Partners HealthCare System,
an integrated health care delivery system comprising the two academic
medical centers, specialty and community hospitals, a network of
physician groups, and nonacute and home health services.
Media Contact: Peggy
Slasman, MGH Public Affairs
Physician Referral Service: 1-800-388-4644
Information about Clinical Trials
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