• Social Services celebrates 100 years of caring and support
  In the early 20th century, when Richard Cabot, MD, first began working in the MGH's outpatient clinics serving the poor, many of his patients suffered from more than just illness and disease. Although they sought treatment for medical ailments, Cabot realized that their physical health problems often were exacerbated by poverty, lack of resources and other unmet social needs.

• Pediatric patients have a spooktacular time
  On Oct. 28, the hallways of the MGH were full of princesses, firemen, action figures and cartoon characters, all taking part in the annual trick-or-treating for MassGeneral Hospital for Children patients and their families. The nurses and staff who accompanied the children also were dressed in their own Halloween costumes, as were many of the people who handed out candy to the trick-or-treaters.

• Women's health research event celebrates collaboration
  In her Oct. 21 talk initiating a weeklong celebration of women's health research, Elizabeth Ofili, MD, MPH, below, described how trends in cardiovascular disease are diverging between men and women, with rates of death dropping significantly among men in recent
  years while remaining steady for women.

• New chief of Molecular Biology
  Bob Kingston, PhD, has been named chief of the Department of Molecular Biology, formalizing the role as interim chief he assumed a year ago. He succeeds Howard Goodman, PhD, who retired last July after leading the department since its inception in 1981.

• HapMap project helps simplify the search for disease-related genes
  Last week's completion of the first phase of the Haplotype Map (HapMap) Project marked a turning point in the application of genomic information to understanding and treating common diseases. A central paper describing the project's work was published in the Oct. 27 issue of Nature, with David Altshuler, MD, PhD, of the MGH Center for Human Genetic Research (CHGR), Molecular Biology and the Diabetes Unit, as co-corresponding author.

• CarePages help family and friends stay in touch
  Labor Day proved far from festive for the Mannion family of Pittsfield, N.H. Instead, a terrible car accident left 18-year-old Lucas Mannion with severe head trauma that brought him to the MGH for emergency surgery and treatment. For the past two months, his entire family has traveled back and forth from New Hampshire to Boston to look after Luke during his recovery.

• Spotlight on domestic violence
  In recognition of October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the MGH Domestic Violence Working Group (DVWG), MGH Men Against Abuse and the Partners Employee Assistance Program (EAP) joined together to offer a series of educational events throughout the month.

• United Way starts off strong
  The 2005 MGH United Way campaign — which began Oct. 25 and runs through Nov. 18 — has reached its halfway point. So far, the campaign has achieved 55 percent of its goal, raising more than $191,000. The goal of this year's campaign is $350,000.

• What's Happening

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