BIDMC Awards and Honors

This issue of Awards and Honors highlights accomplishments of the BIDMC community from fall 2018.

Steven Balk, MD, David Avigan, MD, and David Einstein, MD, Division of Hematology/Oncology, were given the Stewart J. Rahr Foundation-PCF Challenge Award of $1 million presented by The Prostate Cancer Foundation. Project teams consist of highly experienced investigators capable of providing unique scientific expertise to the solution of a significant problem in prostate cancer research. Ranging from $300,000 to $1,500,000 per year for 3 years, these awards will cover direct costs of the research. Dr. Balk, Dr. Avigan, Dr. Einstein and team will conduct experimental studies and clinical trials to identify and validate biomarkers that classify prostate cancer patients most likely to respond to checkpoint immunotherapy. 

Rafael Campo, MD, Internal Medicine, will join JAMA in Jan. 2019 as the editor of the journal’s Poetry and Medicine section. Campo plans to build on the excellence of the section by curating poems around specific themes, using commentary to introduce poems, and assembling a diverse collection of poets. While taking on this new role, he will continue his clinical practice and teach at BIDMC and Harvard Medical School. 

Karen Joanie Campoverde Reyes, MD, Department of Medicine, was recognized as a Latino 30 Under 30 honoree by El Mundo Boston at the third annual celebration of Latino achievement. In 2016, Campoverde Reyes graduated as the youngest member of her class from the Principles and Practice of Clinical Research program at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Campoverde Reyes was among 30 honorees that were selected from hundreds of applicants across a multitude of fields, including healthcare, technology, political activism, and the arts. 

Reed Drews, MD, Division of Hematology/Oncology, was honored with the 2018 Mentor Award by the American Society of Hematology (ASH). This award is presented to two individuals who demonstrate sustained, outstanding commitment to the training and career development of early-career hematologists. The ASH Mentor Award was established in 2006 to recognize hematologists who have excelled in mentoring trainees and colleagues.

David Gallo, Department of Surgery, Transplant Division, was awarded the 5th Annual CRITTER Award from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). CRITTER stands for: Conscientious Researcher Involved in Tending to and Treating animals Ethically and Respectfully.

Ionita Ghiran, MD, Department of Medicine, received a NIH Somatic Cell Genome Editing grant for her work on the project titled Bioengineered red blood cells as extracellular vesicle-mediated delivery platforms for gene editing machinery. The grant is aimed to support improvement of therapeutic options for both rare and common diseases through new and more effective genome editing tools, testing centers to validate findings to ensure research results can be reproduced, and the development of a genome editing toolkit. 

Lew Lipsitz, MD, Division of Gerontology, received the 2018 Donald P. Kent Award from the Gerontological Society of America (GSA). This award, established in 1972 in memory of Donald P. Kent, is given annually to a GSA member who best exemplifies the highest standards for professional leadership in gerontology through teaching, service, and interpretation of gerontology to the larger society. The award was presented in November at GSA’s 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting. 

Maria Serena Longhi, MD, PhD, Department of Anesthesia, is the recipient of the 2018 AASLD Foundation Autoimmune Hepatitis Pilot Research Award for her outstanding work in liver disease research. 

Carmelo Nucera, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology at the Harvard Cancer Center, has been presented with the 2018 Van Meter Award by The American Thyroid Association (ATA). The Van Meter Award recognizes outstanding contributions to research on the thyroid gland or related subjects by an investigator who is age 45 or under. Dr. Nucera has served on the ATA Research and Internet Communications Committees and is a member of the Annual Thyroid Congress Program for the ATA. He has been recently nominated basic research Chair of the ATA Research Committee for 2018.

Daniele Ölveczky, MD, MS, Division of General Medicine, has been selected to receive the 2018 Michael Shannon, MD, MPH, Excellence in Mentoring Award, from the Office of Recruitment & Multicultural Affairs and the Consortium of Harvard Affiliated Offices for Faculty Development and Diversity. This award is in recognition of the many years of mentorship that Dr. Ölveczky has provided. The award was presented in early December, and as the recipient, she is invited to give the Harold Amos Mentorship Lecture this spring. Dr. Ölveczky is the Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the Department of Medicine and a hospitalist in the Division of General Medicine.

Pier Paolo Pandolfi, MD, PhD, Director of the Harvard Cancer Center, has been elected to the fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of London. Dr. Pandolfi, was elected based on the endorsement of both national and international fellows who wish to recognize his contributions to medicine. Fellows from all over the world, including Dr. Pandolfi, will be recognized at a series of special admission ceremonies in July and September 2019.

Yuri Quintana, PhD, Director of Global Health Informatics and co-Chief of the Division of Clinical Informatics, has been inducted into the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) during the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) 2018 Annual Symposium. ACMI is an honorary College of elected Informatics Fellows who have made significant and sustained contributions to the field of medical informatics and who have met rigorous scholarly scrutiny by their peers. The symposium presents work from across the spectrum of the informatics field – translational bioinformatics, clinical research informatics, clinical informatics, consumer health informatics and public health informatics.

Lowell Schnipper, MD, Division of Oncology, has received the Massachusetts Society of Clinical Oncologists (MSCO) Oncologist of the Year Award. Dr. Schnipper is recognized for his research and innovations that has had a transforming and lasting impact in areas cancer research, clinical trials, patient advocacy activities, and outstanding long-term service to the field of oncology.