May 18, 2001

Proud smiles and inspiring words marked the occasion as the MGH Institute of Health Professions held its 21st commencement on the Harvard Medical School (HMS) Quad May 12.

The Class of 2001 — 153 students — received graduate degrees in a variety of disciplines, ranging from nursing and physical therapy to communication sciences and disorders and clinical investigation.

Greg Koski, PhD, MD, (left) adjunct associate professor in the Graduate Program in Clinical Investigation at the Institute and director of the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP), was the commencement speaker. Koski is the director of the newly formed federal OHRP, which was established to protect the rights of voluntary participants in medical research. Previously, he served as director of Human Research Affairs for Partners HealthCare and as associate professor of Critical Care Medicine at the MGH and HMS. In his remarks, Koski emphasized the need for responsibility, integrity and professionalism in human research — qualities that he cited as cornerstones of the Institute.

The 2001 Nancy T. Watts Teaching Award was presented to Lesley Maxwell, MS, CCC-SLP, director of the Language Lab of the Graduate Program in Communication Sciences and Disorders.

For more information about the Institute, call Lillian Johnson at (617) 726-4276.