November 17, 2000

Kenneth Tanabe, MD, recently was selected as the new chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology after a national search. He also will serve as deputy clinical director of the MGH Cancer Center and will provide surgical representation to the Dana-Farber/Partners Cancer Care joint venture. Tanabe was selected after serving as acting chief for one year following the departure of Wiley W. Souba, MD, in August 1999.

John Lester, director of Information Systems for MGH Neurology, recently was honored at a dinner by the international patient advocacy group "People Living With Parkinson's" (PLWP) for his work with online patient communities that support people with Parkinson's disease. Lester is the first recipient of the new PLWP annual "John Lester Domino Award." This award, named in Lester's honor, will be given each year to an individual who has helped provide exceptional support to Parkinson's disease patients.

Martha Gray, PhD, of MGH Biology, recently was elected to the Board of Directors for the National Space Biomedical Research Institute. Gray also is co-director of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology.

James S. Allan, MD, MGH thoracic surgeon, has been awarded a two-year research grant from the Thoracic Surgery Foundation for Education and Research. Allan's research project, conducted at the MGH's Transplantation Biology Research Center, will focus on the therapeutic modulation of nitric oxide pathways in the treatment of obliterative bronchiolitis, a manifestation of chronic rejection and the leading cause of late-mortality in lung transplant recipients.

James Versalovic, MD, PhD, of MGH Dermatology, was one of two researchers to receive the 1999 Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) Young Investigator Award. The award is sponsored by Merck Human Health Division and recognizes outstanding accomplishment and potential in microbiology and infectious diseases research. Versolavic was given this award based on his research into the causes and treatment of gastritis and peptic ulcer disease.