NOTES AND NOTABLES
Seventeen USC faculty were listed in the March 1996 issue of American Health magazine's "Best Doctors in America" article. The specialist were nominated by department heads and chosen by more than 3,200 peers at some 350 academic medical centers. The USC doctors are Loren Laine, gastroenterology; Daniel Mishell, infertility; Steven Giannotta, neurosurgery; Martin Weiss, neurosurgery; Paul Morrow, oncology/gynecologic; Ronald Smith, ophthalmology; Lawrence Dorr, orthopaedics; Robert Beart, surgery/colorectal; Thomas DeMeester, surgery/gastrointestinal; Donald Skinner, urology; and Childrens Hospital Los Angeles faculty: Joseph Church, allergy/immunology; Robertson Parkman, allergy/immunology; Francine Kaufman, endocrinology; Gordon McComb, neurosurgery; Vernon Tolo, orthopedics; Bram Bernstein, rheumatology; and Vaughn Starnes, surgery/cardiothoracic. American Health has a circulation of more than 1 million.
Six USC doctors appear in the March 1996 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine as part of a list of the country's best heart and stroke doctors. Selected from a survey of 260 department chairs and section chiefs at major medical centers across the U.S., the USC doctors are David Faxon, interventional cardiology; Mark Fisher, stroke; Steven Giannotta, neurovascular surgery; Arno Hohn, pediatric hypertension; Shahbudin Rahimtoola, heart failure and valve disorders; Vaughn Starnes, adult heart and lung transplants and pediatric transplants; and Martin Weiss, neurosurgery. The monthly circulation for the magazine is more than 5 million.
Loren G. Lipson, M.D., USC chief of geriatric medicine, donated a collection of rare medical volumes to the Norris Medical Library. The gift includes a 1796 tome by Charles Darwin's grandfather, as well as a seven-volume edition of the complete works of Louis Pasteur.
In recognition of 40 years of distinguished service, friends, colleagues and family of Peter V. Lee, M.D., presented the USC School of Medicine with a sculpture by artist Simon Toparovsky. The sculpture, "Icarus Flying," has been installed in the atrium of the Norris Medical Library to honor Lee's outstanding contributions to the school, where he has served as chair of the Department of Family Medicine, and also professor of family medicine, medicine, and pharmacology, and as associate dean.
John Hisserich, Dr.P.H., associate vice president for health affairs at USC, was the recipient of the "Outstanding Citizen of the Year" award at the East Los Angeles Community Scholarship Foundation (ELACF) ninth annual awards dinner. ELACF is a grass-roots organization that raises money from the community to provide scholarships to Latino students from the east L.A. area.
Sam Romeo, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO, University Affiliates IPA, and senior associate dean for clinical affairs, USC School of Medicine, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). Romeo has been active in MGMA since 1984.
The MGMA is a 70-year-old organization for professionals in the field of medical practice management. It has 19,000 members and 7,000 member organizations representing nearly 150,000 physicians.
Phil R. Manning, M.D., professor of medicine, and associate vice president for health affairs at USC School of Medicine, has been appointed to the American Medical Association's Expert Consultation Panel-Physician Performance Assessment Program. The main task of the panel will be "to develop a tool for assessing physician performance that can be used by many different organizations."
Harvey Kern, director of public affairs, LAC+USC Medical Center, retired after more than 30 years of service to Los Angeles County. He is beginning a career as director of news and public affairs for KNJO-FM radio in Thousand Oaks, where, for the last 17 years, Kern has spent his Sunday mornings moonlighting as an on-air personality.
Aside from serving as the primary spokesman for the Medical Center, Kern's responsibilities have included marketing, governmental relations, all volunteer services, auxiliaries and chaplain services.
Sammy Lee, (M.D. '47,) the first Asian American to win an Olympic gold medal, was honored by the USC General Alumni Association at its 64th annual awards dinner. Lee won a gold medal in swimming at the 1948 Olympic Games and won another gold medal at the 1952 Olympics. Lee is retired from medical practice.
William P. Strippoli, associate dean for administration and faculty affairs, and special assistant to the interim dean of the School of Medicine, received the USC President's Award for Staff achievement. According to USC President Steven Sample, the award recognizes Strippoli's "effectiveness, dedication, ability, and above all, a 'can do,' caring spirit."
Leslie Bernstein, Ph.D., professor of preventive medicine, and director of the Los Angeles County Cancer Surveillance Program, was appointed senior associate dean for faculty affairs.
Bernstein's research focuses on the epidemiology of breast cancer, and she is principal investigator of one of the largest case-control breast cancer studies in the U.S. She has recently begun an offshoot study designed to investigate potential connections between breast cancer and pesticide residues in the blood of African-American women.
Gary L. Dunnington, M.D., associate professor of surgery and director of the USC/Norris Breast Center, was appointed senior associate dean for academic affairs.
Dunnington is a major force in surgical education. He is one of five surgeons in the U.S. to teach a week-long course for the American College of Surgeons to a select group of department chairs and program directors on the subject of improved surgical education.
EunDuck P. Kay, D.D.S., Ph.D., USC research associate professor of ophthalmology, and senior scientist at the Doheny Eye Institute, was selected to serve a four-year term on the Visual Sciences A study section of the National Institutes of Health's Division of Research Grants.
The Visual Sciences A Section evaluates applications submitted to the National Eye Institute covering the areas of "cornea, lens, vitreous humor and glaucoma research."
Bruce E. Zawacki, M.D., director of the Burn Center at LAC+USC Medical Center, associate professor of surgery, USC School of Medicine, and associate professor of religion, USC School of Religion, received the Harvey Stuart Allen Distinguished Service Award at the 28th annual meeting of the American Burn Association. The award is presented to an outstanding U.S. scientist for contributions in the field of burn care. Zawacki received the award for his contributions to the statistics and pathophysiology of burns, and for his work in "championing the ethical dimension of burn care as worthy of serious critical scholarship."
Philipp Novales-Li, Ph.D., has been appointed chair of the Southern California Branch of the Oxford Society. He will serve for two years.
The society was founded in England more than a century ago to bring together academics and students with ties to the University of Oxford. Its Southern California chapter was established in the 1960s.
Novales-Li works as a clinical project manager in the Department of Preventive Medicine and the Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research at the School of Medicine. He obtained his Ph.D. in neuropharmacology from Oxford in 1990.
Robertson Parkman, M.D., head of research immunology and bone marrow transplantation at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, and professor of pediatrics and microbiology at the School of Medicine, is the 1996 recipient of the H. Russell Smith Award for Innovation in Pediatric Biomedical Research.
The award was established in 1988 to recognize the scientist at CHLA who has made the most significant contributions toward the field of pediatric research. Smith, the award's namesake and first recipient, is an honorary member and former chair of the CHLA Board of Directors who, with his wife, has been active with CHLA for more than a decade.
Mr. and Mrs. Gary A. Robb and family have established an endowment at the USC/Norris Cancer Center in honor of Gary's uncle, Lyndon E. Robb. The endowment will support a post-doctoral fellowship and provide ongoing support for cancer research at the Norris.
W. French Anderson, M.D., director of the Gene Therapy Laboratories and USC professor of biochemistry and pediatrics, was honored by the Pacific Center for Health Policy and Ethics at its 1996 Genesis Award Gene Therapy Symposium.
Since 1993, the Pacific Center has recognized outstanding contributions in the field of bioethics with the Genesis Award.
Judith Saunders, R.N., DNSc, FAAN, assistant professor of nursing, is one of 10 nurses nationwide chosen to receive Nurseweek's RN Excellence Awards. Nominated by the publication's readers, the nurses were selected based on their accomplishments as well as their commitment to the profession. Prior to coming to USC in 1995, Saunders was an assistant research scientist at the City of Hope Medical Center. For the past five years, her research has focused on people who are HIV positive and their families.
Michael L. J. Apuzzo, M.D., the Edwin M. Todd-Trent H. Wells, Jr. Professor of Neurological Surgery, delivered the 17th Annual Sixto Obrador Lecture at a joint conference of the World Health Organization and the World Federation of Neurological Societies at the El Escorial in Madrid, Spain. The lecture was "Factors in Mankind's Dichotomy of Purpose in the Emergence of Advanced Surgery of the Human Cerebrum duringthe Third Millennium." While there, Apuzzo received a gold medal from Her Majesty Sophia, Queen of Spain. He was selected to deliver the lecture and to be honored based on his innovative and pioneering work related to stereotactic and minimally invasive neurosurgery at USC.