PeopleNotes

Dean Gonnella Receives Italian Order of Merit

Joseph S. Gonnella, MD, senior vice president for academic affairs and dean, Jefferson Medical College, was honored with the title, "Grande Ufficiale," of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy. The honor was bestowed upon him by Italy's President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro and presented by Philadelphia's Consulate General of Italy at a ceremony in June. The title is given to individuals who have achieved special merit in the fields of science, art or economy, and whose activities fulfill social, philanthropic or humanitarian goals.

Postdoctoral Fellow of the Year Award Goes To Dr. Satoshi Kubota of Infectious Diseases

Satoshi Kubota, DDS, PhD, a senior post-doctoral fellow in the Center for Human Retrovirology, division of infectious diseases, has been awarded the 1996 "Postdoctoral Fellow of the Year Award." The award is given each year by the department of medicine for the research fellow who best demonstrates novel findings in biomedical research.

Roger J. Pomerantz, MD, professor of medicine, chief of infectious diseases and director, Center for Human Retrovirology, notes this is the second straight year that a research fellow from the division's laboratories received this important honor. Hui Zhang, MD, PhD, received the award last year.

Winning the award two consecutive years suggests strong progress in meeting the dual mission of the division and center, Dr. Pomerantz asserts. The dual mission is to develop novel molecular therapies to fight human viral diseases while training future medical scientists and researchers.

Dr. Kubota's research findings generated four publications in prestigious journals during the 1995-96 academic year. Basically his studies seek ways to design gene therapies that inhibit the growth of HIV-1, the virus leading to AIDS.

Two dermatology residents have won awards and scholarships. Stacy Katchman, MD, a second-year resident in the department of dermatology and cutaneous biology, was selected a recipient of an American Academy of Dermatology Award at the society's annual meeting. The award highlights outstanding research by young dermatologists and the institutions supporting their work. Dr. Katchman's award-winning submission is entitled, "Development of a Transgenic Mouse Model for Biological Assay of Topical Glucocorticoidsteroid Potency." Sabatino Ciatti, MD, also a second-year resident in the department, was selected by the American Academy of Dermatology's Committee on International Affairs to receive a traveling scholarship to attend the annual meeting of the Italian Society of Dermatology, in Rimini, Italy, in July.

Gerald J. Herbison, MD, professor of rehabilitation medicine and director of research, has been selected as one of the 1996 recipients of the Distinguished Clinician Award from the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

In nationwide competition, Mark Schweitzer, MD, associate professor of radiology, recently won the prestigious Scholar Award of the Radiological Society of North America to pursue his research, "The Cost-effectiveness of MRI for the Diagnosis, Evaluation and Management of Osteomyelitis." Presented annually to only four radiologists, this award provides $90,000 in salary support over two years during the course of the research.

Joseph L. Seltzer, MD, professor and chairman, department of anesthesiology, has been elected president of the Pennsylvania Society of Anesthesiologists for a one-year term.

Brian G. Swift, PharmD, manager of Jefferson Home Infusion Service, has been elected to a one-year term as vice chair of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) Home Care Professional and Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC). As vice chair of the PTAC, Dr. Swift will also serve as a voting member of JCAHO's Standards and Survey Procedures Committee, which guides the development of practice standards for health systems. The committee, one of the four standing committees of the JCAHO Board of Commissioners, is responsible for the review and approval of new or revised standards and scoring guidelines, new indicators for inclusion in JCAHO's performance measurement system, and survey procedures for each accreditation program.

Richard C. Wender, MD, has been appointed to the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 3 Computer-based Case Simulation Test Material Development Committee. Dr. Wender is clinical associate professor and vice chairman of the department of family medicine at Jefferson Medical College.

JMC Establishes Scholarship in Name of Late James Bryce Templeton, Class of 1996

Jefferson Medical College has established a scholarship in the name of James Bryce Templeton, who would have received his MD degree with his classmates in June had not a tragic and needless auto accident snuffed out a life of promise at age 33.

In making the announcement of the scholarship in a ceremony opening the annual JMC Class Day, Joseph S. Gonnella, MD, senior vice president for academic affairs and dean, JMC, said:

"Establishing this scholarship will help ensure that the humanist principles of caring and service that guided James Templeton's life can help other students in the future."

At the Class Day ceremony, Dean Gonnella presented a Jefferson bowl in Mr. Templeton's memory to his parents, Bryce Templeton, MD, and Dorothy Templeton. Dr. Bryce Templeton was professor of psychiatry and director of medical student education in psychiatry at JMC from 1985 to 1991.

James Templeton was known and remembered by his teachers and peers as finding in medicine a career that captured all his enthusiasm. Evaluations portrayed him as a motivated student, an excellent communicator and a highly principled man. He was noted for his extremely high levels of enthusiasm, energy and communication and for building relationships with "even the most difficult patients."

By his fourth year, James Templeton had decided to enter family medicine and to practice in a rural area to combine his love of the outdoors with a career in medicine. Ironically, he was killed when returning in January from an interview for a residency in rural Lancaster County when a drunk driver crashed headon into his auto. The other driver died also.

Since the tragedy, his father, Dr. Bryce Templeton, has dedicated himself to bolstering public education efforts against drunk driving, particularly through the organization MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

As Dean Gonnella noted, James Bryce Templeton will be sorely missed by his family, friends, classmates, teachers ­p; and by countless patients forever denied the benefits of his boundless caring and competence. How You Can Contribute to the James Templeton Scholarship Fund Many contributions to the James Bryce Templeton scholarship fund have already flowed in from friends of the Templeton family and from Jefferson faculty and students. Any member of the Jefferson community who wishes to participate may do so by directing contributions to the JMC Alumni Office, M41, Jefferson Alumni Hall, 1020 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19107. Tel. 215-955-7750.