News Briefs

(Rich DeThomas, a kidney transplant patient at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, receives a "hug" pillow from Downingtown Junior High School ninth-grade students. The handmade pillows are sewn in the shape of a patient's transplanted organ, and provide support for a patient's incision to reduce the pain from getting in and out of bed. The Downingtown Junior High students in home economics class started making the pillows four years ago, when their teacher received a kidney transplant. The students make enough pillows for the approximately 30 liver and 80 kidney transplant patients each year at Jefferson.)

1997 International Student Identity Cards Now Available
Dermatology awarded $6.5 Million By NIH
Volunteers Needed For Osteoporosis Drug Study
Prominent Microbiologist Presents Potter Lecture
John P. Sullivan Promoted to Vice President for Administration By TJU

1997 INTERNATIONAL STUDENT IDENTITY CARDS NOW AVAILABLE

Purchase your 1997 International Student Identity Card (ISIC) now for a host of great discount opportunities in the United States and abroad. With the purchase of an ISIC card, students are eligible for special reduced airfares, offered exclusively through Council Travel and a network of Council-appointed travel agents. Student cardholders will also receive the International Student Identity Card Handbook, a directory of information on student travel organizations and discounts for cardholders in 70 countries. Save money on travel, accommodations, museums, sightseeing, telecommunications and other services in the United States and abroad.

The card also provides basic sickness and accident insurance coverage when traveling outside of the United States, as well as access to a toll-free traveler's assistance hotline.

You can obtain your International Student Identity card for $19 from the University's Office of International Exchange Services. For more information, call 3-4023.

DERMATOLOGY AWARDED $6.5 MILLION BY NIH

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded the investigators in the Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology, JMC, $6.5 million over the next five years to study heritable blistering skin disease, epidermolysis bullosa (EB). Jouni Uitto, MD, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology, and Director, Jefferson Institute of Molecular Medicine, headed the Department's existing research on EB that enabled the Department to receive the award. This research has been used in performing over 50 DNA-based prenatal predictions on families at high-risk for having a child with severe forms of EB. The Department's long-term goal is to develop gene therapy to effectively treat EB.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR OSTEOPOROSIS DRUG STUDY

The Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, needs female volunteers for a three-year study on new medications to prevent osteoporosis complications. Interested women must be between the ages of 55 and 80, and not have taken Fosamax or another bisphosphonate. In addition to study medication, participants will receive calcium and Vitamin D supplements, and medical exams. Call the Osteoporosis Center at 215-578-3433 for more information.

PROMINENT MICROBIOLOGIST PRESENTS POTTER LECTURE

Stuart B. Levy, MD, Professor of Medicine and Molecular Biology and Microbiology, and Director, Center of Adaptation Genetics and Drug Resistance, Tufts University School of Medicine, will present the 1997 Potter Lecture.

Dr. Levy will speak on "Multiple Antibiotic Resistance: Consequences of Human Imprudence and Bacterial Ingenuity" on Thursday, March 27 at 4 p.m. in Solis-Cohen Auditorium, Jefferson Alumni Hall, according to the Chairman of the William Potter Lecture Committee, Jonathan E. Gottlieb, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine/ Division of Pulmonary Medicine and Critical Care and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, JMC.

The Potter Lecture memorializes William Potter, who was elected to Jefferson's Board in 1894, became President in 1897 and served in that capacity until his death in 1926.

JOHN P. SULLIVAN PROMOTED TO VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADMINISTRATION BY THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY

Thomas Jefferson University has announced that John P. Sullivan has been promoted to the position of Vice President for Administration.

Employed at Jefferson since September 1982, Mr. Sullivan was appointed to his current position on January 1, Paul C. Brucker, MD, President of Jefferson, announced. Previously he had served as Associate Vice President for Human Resources, Director of Human Resources, and Manager of Compensation and Benefits.

In making the announcement, Dr. Brucker said, "During his years of able commitment to Jefferson, John Sullivan has been a very valuable member of our management team. It is a natural step for him to take on more responsibilities. I am delighted that he will now serve Jefferson as a senior officer."

In addition to continuing to oversee Human Resources, Mr. Sullivan's new responsibilities include Facilities Design and Construction, Facilities Services, Materiel Management, Custodial Services, Safety and Security, Accounting and Systems for Physical Resources, and Commuter Services.

In accepting his new role, Mr. Sullivan said he "was looking forward to handling a wider range of responsibilities during this challenging and exciting time for Jefferson and all of health care."