Mrs. Jane D. Claflin,

Executive Committee on Research

and the Office for Women’s Careers

present the

10th Anniversary Luncheon Celebration

and Program

in honor of the

Claflin Distinguished Scholar / Faculty Development Awards and

Award Recipients

June 21, 2007

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Program

11:30 am Registration

Noon Welcome

Peter L. Slavin, MDPresident, Massachusetts General Hospital

Speakers

Daniel Haber, MD, PhDExecutive Committee on Research

Nancy Tarbell, MDDirector, Office for Women’s Careers

Merit Cudkowicz, MDClaflin Award Winner in 1998

Jane D. ClaflinHonorary Trustee

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The Claflin Distinguished Scholar / Faculty Development Awards wereestablished by the Women in Medicine (WAM) Committee and ExecutiveCommittee on Research (ECOR) with the goal of increasing opportunitiesfor women to advance to leadership positions in academic medicine.

Recipients of the Claflin Distinguished Scholar Awards

2007Aude Henin, PhDRegina LaRocque, MD, MPHAntonia Stephen, MDLynda Stuart, PhDVanessa Wheeler, PhDXu Yu, MD, MSc

2006Emmanuelle diTomaso, PhDMaria A. Franceschini, PhDElizabeth Lamont, MDMadhusmita Misra, MD, MPHKathryn J. Moore, PhDMarielle Scherrer-Crosbie, MD, PhD

2005Paola Arlotta, PhDHadine Joffe, MD, MScCamille N. Kotton, MDPamela J. McLean, PhDLei Xu, MD, PhD

2004Irene Georgakoudi, PhDNelly Pitteloud, MD Laurence G. Rahme, PhD Cathryn A. Sundback, ScD Anne N. Thorndike, MD, MPH Adele C. Viguera, MD, MPH

2003Marylyn M. Addo, MD, PhDPaola Divieti Pajevic, MD, PhDAlice Flaherty, PhDHerminia Diana Rosas, MDSanja Sever, PhDNaomi M. Simon, MD

2002Marie Classon, PhDJudy W. Hung, MDRobyn S. Klein, MD, PhDGina R. Kuperberg, MD, PhDAndrea Reid, MDRochelle Paula Walensky, MD, MPHSabine Wilhelm, PhD

2001Marina Feschenko, MDP. Ellen Grant, MDShyamala Maheswaran, PhDCorrine K. Welt, MD

2000Linda R. Duska, MD (one-timeFaculty Development Award)Christene A. Huang, PhDMary McNaughton-Collins, MD, MPHWilma M. Wasco, PhD (one-timeFaculty Development Award)Janet R. Wozniak, MD

1999Nadia Carlesso, MD, PhDKaren K. Miller, MD

1998Joan R. Butterton, MDMerit E. Cudkowicz, MD

1997Sylvie Breton, PhDElizabeth Hohmann, MDTongwen Wang, PhD

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About Jane D. ClaflinJane Claflin is an extraordinary hospital benefactor and dedicated volunteer leader.She has served as trustee, fund-raiser, friend and cheerleader. She is the force behind the programs that support womenin their professional careers. She is a major reason the MGH opened a backupchild care center.

The MGH met Jane Claflin in the late 1950s, soon after she andher husband, Morton Claflin, and their two sons moved toBoston. One of Mrs. Claflin’s passions has been to ensure thatthe MGH is a welcoming, comfortable, friendly and supportiveplace for women.

In 1993, she helped create the Women in Academic MedicineCommittee, serving as its chair. Her work led to the formation in1997 of the Office for Women’s Careers to support, recruit andretain women faculty members. Also through the committee,Mrs. Claflin focused attention on the difficulty women had insustaining research productivity during their child-rearingyears, which too often limited career advancement. The MGH’sExecutive Committee on Research responded to the call byestablishing funding for junior women faculty to help themthrough this critical period. The awards were named the ClaflinDistinguished Scholar Awards in honor of their greatest champion.

For more than 40 years, Jane Claflin has poured her heart andlove into her hospital. In so many ways, MGH is a vastly richerplace because of the unwavering loyalty and indomitable spiritof this dedicated volunteer, this tireless crusader – this trulybeautiful woman.

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About the Award Recipients(listed in alphabetical order, winners who are still at MGH)

Marylyn M. Addo, MD, PhD Department of Medicine/AIDS Research CenterAwarded 2003

I received the Claflin Distinguished Scholar award in2003 as Instructor in Medicine. The award provided mewith the funds to hire technical laboratory assistance and

helped me to devote more time to design and analysis of data, grant writ-ing and preparation of manuscripts, while at the same time allowing formore flexibility and time to spend with my family. As a foreign medicalgraduate I then pursued licensing and clinical (re-)training in InternalMedicine and Infectious Disease at MGH. With the technical support providedthrough the Claflin award I was able to maintain some research productivityduring part of my clinical training, which resulted in more than 25 publicationsin peer-reviewed journals and several contributions to international scientificmeetings. These in turn provided the basis for new NIH grant proposals,which are now funded and will allow me to resume my research activitiesafter completion of ID fellowship. I have now almost completed the ventureback into the clinical arena and will resume my junior faculty position andresearch projects in HIV immunology with special focus on T cell regulationin HIV infection in the summer of 2007. However, beyond financial support,through the years the Claflin award and being part of the “Claflin Family”was a much appreciated support network, source of inspiration and motivationand seemed to represent a banner of the MGH commitment to theadvancement of women in academia. Our yearly reunions often providedthe platform for everything from academic exchange and career advice toplain assistance in finding appropriate childcare or household help. In brief – to me the Claflin award was a wonderful resource for women in science, which I treasure dearly.

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Paola Arlotta, PhD Department of NeurosurgeryAwarded 2005

I was the recipient of one of the prestigious ClaflinDistinguished Scholar Awards in 2005, when I was anInstructor in Jeffrey Macklis laboratory at MGH. These

funds directly enabled me to begin developing an independent research program, which today constitutes the foundation of my own laboratory researcheffort. Thanks to the Claflin award, I was able to hire a technician, whichallowed me to both free some precious time to intellectually develop a newresearch direction, as well as begin some of the pilot experiments of thesenew work. The financial independence guaranteed by this award allowed meto plan and develop an independent curriculum at a time when I was stillin the process of publishing the main articles of my postdoctoral work, andwhile I was also caring for my daughter, Silvia, who was a 2-year old andneeded a lot of attention.

Approximately one year after I was awarded the Claflin award, I had beenable to build enough elements of my independent research direction toapply for faculty positions and, ultimately, be offered extremely well fundedtenure-track positions at several prestigious Universities both in the US andin Europe. These were superb positions, which were offered to me togetherwith very generous and especially competitive “start-up” packages. I veryrecently accepted a faculty position at the Assistant Professor level in theCenter for Regenerative Medicine at MGH, and I am in the process ofbeing promoted to Assistant Professor of Surgery at Harvard MedicalSchool. I started my own laboratory on November 1st, 2006.

I am deeply indebted to the generosity and vision of Mrs. Claflin and themany people that made this award possible.

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Sylvie Breton, PhD Department of Medicine/Renal Unit Awarded 1997

I was one of the first three recipients of the ClaflinAward. At the time, my two daughters were 2 and 12 years old and I was at a critical phase of my career

development. When I applied for this award, I had just been promoted toInstructor of Medicine and I was awaiting a funding decision for my firstNIH grant (a project included in a Program Project Grant). My aim was toset up my own independent group within the Nephrology Division of theMGH. When I received the award, I had just learned that NIH would fundmy laboratory, but for only two years, which meant that I had to resubmitmy grant after one year of funding. The Claflin Award allowed me to hire atechnician and together we worked very hard to generate enough additionaldata to obtain an extra 3 years of funding. The Claflin Award was not onlyof great help financially, but also psychologically. As a women and a mother,it gave me the feeling that I was well accepted within the MGH researchcommunity. Since receiving this award, I obtained two additional RO1grants and I was recently appointed to Associate Professor of Medicine atHarvard Medical School. I feel honored to be part of the successful groupof women who received the Claflin Award.

Joan R. Butterton, MD Department of Medicine/Infectious DiseaseAwarded 1998Update unavailable

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Marie Classon, PhD Department of Medicine/Cancer Center Awarded 2002

During the past 20 years, our understanding of themolecular basis of cancer has changed dramatically, inpart through the isolation of oncogenes and tumor

suppressor genes and the recognition that tumor development proceedsthrough multiple discrete molecular changes. The retinoblastoma gene (RB)was the first tumor suppressor to be cloned. In addition to pRB-loss, alterationsin several genes that encode proteins that participate in the regulation ofpRB function (p16, cyclinD, cdk4) are commonly observed in a broad spectrumof tumor types, suggesting that deregulation of this pathway is a common andimportant event in tumorigenesis. In addition to the loss of tumor suppressorgenes, human tumors arise from the accumulation of gain-of-functionmutations in proto-oncogenes. Activating mutations of the Ras family ofproto-oncogenes have been implicated in approximately 30 percent ofhuman cancers and the encoded Ras proteins function as molecular switches,transducing signals in response to a variety of extra-cellular stimuli.

RB pathway mutations (p16 loss, cyclin D amplification, or cdk4 mutations)are commonly found in tumors with activating mutations in the Ras pathway.However, the vast majority of tumors that harbor Ras mutations retainhigh expression of the pRB protein. This puzzling phenomenon may beexplained by our observation that the pRB tumor suppressor is in fact requiredfor the maintenance of proliferation in these tumor cells. This observationhighlights the context-dependent nature of oncogene and tumor suppressorfunction and suggests that there are situations in which the pRB tumor suppressorhas a pro-oncogenic function. Furthermore, our experiments suggest a noveltumor suppressive role for the RB related protein, p107, in human tumor cellsthat harbor an activated Ras pathway. Taken together, our findings suggesta model in which it is necessary to revisit the role of pRB itself, proteins inthe pRB pathway as well as the pRB family of proteins in tumorigenesis.

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Merit E. Cudkowicz, MD Department of Neurology Awarded 1998

I received the Claflin award early on in my academic career.I had two children under the age of 2 and was just startingmy career in experimental therapeutics in amyotrophic

lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Huntington’s disease. The award allowed me toactively continue my research during this busy home time. It is a very uniqueaward and came at a critical time. The additional funding was instrumentalin supporting my research in the early years. I currently direct a NationalALS clinical trial consortium and have two R01 multicenter grants to testnovel therapies in ALS and Huntington’s Disease. I continue also to conductstudies to identify diagnostic and surrogate biomarkers for these disorders.A warm thanks to Mrs. Claflin and the Office of Women’s Careers at MGH!

Emmanuelle di Tomaso, PhDDepartment of Radiation Oncology Awarded 2006

After obtaining a Claflin Award, my main achievementhas been my promotion to Assistant Professor in theDepartment of Radiation Oncology. Also, I have been

developing a project on angiogenesis in neurofibromatosis-related tumors,which was recently submitted to the Department of Defense for funding.The preliminary work was accepted for presentation at ASCO 2007 and theNeurofibromatosis conference. Finally, one of our collaborative clinicalstudies was published in Cancer Cell earlier this year.

Paola Divieti Pajevic, MD, PhDDepartment of Medicine/Endocrine Awarded 2003

My research focuses on the actions of the parathyroidhormone (PTH) on bone cells, particularly osteocytes.Osteocytes are the most abundant cells in bone and yet

their properties and functions remain elusive. We have gathered compellingevidence that osteocytes express two different classes of receptors for PTH:the type 1 PTH receptor, or PPR, and the carboxyl-terminal PTH receptor(CPTHR). The PPR is a G-protein coupled receptor, and it is responsible forthe classical action of the hormone (calcium and phosphate homeostasis).

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The CPTHR has yet to be cloned and appears to be involved in cell survivaland cell-to-cell communication.

We have recently established transgenic mice in which the expression ofCre recombinase is under the control of the promoter for dentin matrixprotein-1 (DMP1), a protein expressed exclusively in osteocytes. My maingoal is to specifically ablate PPR in osteocytes by mating these mice withmice in which the PPR gene is flanked by lox-P sites. Use of this modelpromises to greatly enhance understanding of PTH action in osteocytesand possibly lead to the development of novel therapeutic agents for osteoporosis or other osteopenic diseases.

My first RO1 describing this project will be re-submitted in the fall.Meanwhile I was awarded a grant from the MGH ECOR Interim Fund to further expand this project.

Linda R. Duska, MD Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology Service Awarded 2000

I am a Gynecologic Oncologist practicing at theMassachusetts General Hospital. I have a special interestin taking care of young women with cancer who wish

to preserve fertility, as well as a focus on endometrial cancer. In addition tomy clinical practice, I am the Principal Investigator on several clinical trials,ranging from investigator-initiated trials to trials run nationally. Myresearch spans clinical trials, translational research, and basic benchresearch. I was awarded a Gynecologic Cancer Foundation Grant to supportthe study of the effect of progesterone on endometrial cancer in the mousemodel, and continue the work begun several years prior with the assistanceof the Claflin Award. Much of this work has been presented at regional andnational cancer meetings. I am the Principal Investigator on several clinicaltrials related to endometrial cancer that encompass my basic science interest.One of these trials, self-initiated and published, has changed the standardof care treatment of high-risk endometrial cancer at DFPCC. In addition, I am one of the Co-PI’s on a national ovarian cancer trial of a novel compound that reverses chemotherapy resistance in ovarian cancer cells.In addition to all of the above, teaching remains a passion, and I make itmy purpose to guide the residents and fellows in their clinical training aswell as mentoring them with research projects and career guidance.

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Alice Flaherty, PhD Department of Neurology Service Awarded 2003

Alice Flaherty has become the chief neurologist in theDeep Brain Stimulator unit, which this year began electrodetreatment of depression as well as of movement disorders.

She continues research on the neurology of idea generation and artistic creativity, her original Claflin project. Her work has received public as wellas scientific attention: she has been featured on documentaries from theBBC, CBC, PBS, Japan, Germany, 10 other TV appearances, and numerousNPR interviews. She is finishing work on a new book project, on the brain’scontrol of illness behavior. For this she received an interdisciplinary year-long writing fellowship at the Bunting Institute.

Maria Angela Franceschini, PhD Department of Radiology Awarded 2006

Thanks to the Claflin award I am able to continue myresearch using Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) tomonitor infants’ cerebral health and brain development.

In the past year we made substantial progress. In particular, thanks to theClaflin support, I have been able to collect additional data which thereviewers of my NIH grant application asked for. A paper with the resultsis in preparation.

P. Ellen Grant, MD Department of RadiologyAwarded 2001Update unavailable

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Aude Henin, PhDDepartment of PsychiatryAwarded 2007Update unavailable

Elizabeth L. Hohmann, MD Department of Medicine/Endocrine Awarded 1997

The Claflin Award was instrumental in helping meobtain my initial R01 grant from NIH at a time when I had three young children at home, and a husband

working an equally demanding job. It was also an important institutionalrecognition of my work and support of it, in various venues – my division,department and with other investigators. Since that time I have receivedmultiple additional R01 grants and taken on a major leadership role at theinstitutions as physician director of the institutional review boards at MGHand BWH.

Christene A. Huang, PhD Transplantation Biology Research CenterAwarded 2000Update unavailable

Judy Wei Ming Hung, MDDepartment of Medical Services/CardiologyAwarded 2002Update unavailable

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Hadine Joffe, MD, MSc Department of Psychiatry Awarded 2002

Dr. Joffe is the Director of Endocrine Studies in thePerinatal and Reproductive Psychiatry Clinical ResearchProgram at MGH and an Assistant Professor of

Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Joffe is an experienced clinicianand researcher in women’s mental health. Her work focuses on the biologicmechanisms involved in menopausal symptoms of hot flushes, depression,sleep disturbance, and cognitive difficulties. She also studies the impact ofhormones on mood in women with premenstrual mood disturbance andthe reproductive consequences of psychotropic medications.

In ongoing work, Dr. Joffe examines the impact of hot flushes on sleep andwell-being in women with and without mood disturbance and the mechanismsinvolved in the etiology of hot flushes. Dr. Joffe also conducts studies thatfocus on the hormonal and central nervous system mechanisms that areresponsible for the development of hot flushes related to menopause andbreast-cancer therapies. In other work, Dr. Joffe has examined the role ofhormonal contraceptives on premenstrual depression and determined theimpact of valproate on reproductive function and the polycystic ovariansyndrome in women.

Camille N. Kotton, MD Department of Medicine/Infectious DiseasesAwarded 2005

In the past year, under the mentorship of Dr. ElizabethHohmann, I successfully completed a human trial of ourSalmonella typhimurium-HIV hybrid vaccine, which was

performed in the MGH GCRC and published in Vaccine. We included asubstudy to look at the efficacy of rectal swabs versus stool culture for detection of Salmonella, which was recently published in DiagnosticMicrobiology and Infectious Disease. We plan to start a multi-dosing humanstudy soon. I have recently taken a new position where 70 percent of mytime is dedicated towards clinical infectious diseases in the setting of solidorgan and bone marrow transplant, and 30 percent of my time is spent doingresearch. As part of this position, I started an exciting and very successfulnew outpatient clinic dedicated to the care of transplant patients with infectious

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diseases. Last year I performed a clinical study to look at the efficacy of influenzavaccine in renal transplant patients on different immunosuppressive regimens,which has been submitted for publication. We had an interesting case ofcoccidioidal meningitis after liver transplantation, which was recently publishedin Transplantation, and another case of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virusinfection after solid organ transplant that was described in the New EnglandJournal of Medicine. As a result of the latter case, I have had an increasing interestin zoonoses and had several cards on this topics appear in the latest versionof UpToDate®, had a review in Clinical Infectious Diseases on “Zoonoses insolid-organ and hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients” and havecompleted a chapter with Dr. Arnold Weinberg on zoonotic pneumonias thatwill appear in Fishman’s Pulmonary Diseases and Disorders textbook. I alsohad an editorial on the risk of shingles in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. I havespoken at the American Transplant Congress in San Francisco, served asthe invited speaker for Maine Transplant Day, and given Grand Rounds inInfectious Diseases at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Thesupport provided by the Claflin Award has helped significantly.

Gina Kuperberg, MD, PhD Department of Psychiatry/NeuroscienceAwarded 2002

I remain truly thankful for the opportunity given to me bythe Claflin Award at a crucial stage in my career – thetransition to becoming an Independent Investigator at a

stage when my twins, Annalise and Alon, were just born. Annalise and Alonare now six years old. They have blossomed – as has my career. I now have ajoined lab across the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging (Mass. GeneralHospital) and Tufts University, Department of Psychology. Our questionsfocus on the cognitive neuroscience of thought and language in psychiatricdisorders (particularly schizophrenia) and in healthy individuals. We usemultimodal neuroimaging techniques to address these questions (particularlyfMRI and event-related potentials, ERPs) and our work is supported by myRO1 grant from NIMH. My lab currently consists of two post-doctoral fellows,three graduate students, and two research assistants. I also mentor a K23award recipient and have close collaborators throughout the Boston area.We have published in a wide range of journals in cognitive neuroscience(Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Cognitive Brain Research, Psychophysiology),psychology (Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Psychological Medicine, Language

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and Cognitive Processes), psychiatry (Archives of General Psychiatry, SchizophreniaResearch) and neuroimaging (NeuroImage, Human Brain Mapping). For moreinformation, see http://kuperberglab.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/.

Also, for a recent description of our work, featured in Focus, seehttp://focus.hms.harvard.edu/2007/032307/psychiatry.shtml

Elizabeth Lamont, MD Department of Medicine/Hematology-OncologyAwarded 2006

Elizabeth Lamont, MD, MS is a medical oncologist whosemain academic endeavor is clinical epidemiology andhealth outcomes research in cancer. The Claflin Award

she received in 2006 has allowed her to begin study the extent to whichinstitutional factors may impact the clinical trial outcomes experienced bytrial participants. Specifically, she is studying survival and toxicity outcomesof lung cancer patients treated on National Cancer Institute- sponsored Cancerand Leukemia Group B cooperative group trials. The evaluation of the possibility of “treatment center” factors impacting “patient” trial outcomes is itself a novel contribution to both health services research and clinicaltrial research. Early analyses are currently underway.

Regina LaRocque, MD, MPHDepartment of Medicine/Infectious DiseaseAwarded 2007

The title of my research project is “Identification of HumanGenetic Variants Associated with Cholera and OtherDiarrheal Diseases.” My research to date has been directed

at the development of an improved cholera vaccine, using high-throughputtechniques to identify virulence factors of Vibrio cholerae that are expressedduring human infection and that are immunogenic. With the support of theClaflin Distinguished Scholar Award, I will begin two pilot studies aimed atunderstanding the role of human genetic variation in susceptibility tocholera and other diarrheal diseases. This work is based on an ongoing fieldstudy of cholera patients and their family members taking place at theInternational Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research in Dhaka, Bangladesh.One study will evaluate the association between variations in candidatehuman genes and susceptibility to V. cholerae infection. The second study willuse a genome-wide scanning approach to characterize genetic diversity in the

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Bangladeshi study population and to search for evidence of positive naturalselection. This work may shed light on the biology of diarrheal diseases oridentify novel targets for the treatment or prevention of cholera. The support ofthe Claflin Award will enable me to expand my research interests in thisfashion while also caring for my twin sons born in September 2006.

Shyamala Maheswaran, PhD Department of Pediatric SurgeryAwarded 2001

The Claflin Distinguished Scholar Award helped protectmy time to write grant proposals and papers. Sincereceiving this award, I have published 14 original

articles and received several grants including a NIH R01.The award cameat a crucial time when it was difficult for me to spend much time at thebench. It provided me with the opportunity to complete ongoing researchwith extra technical assistance and publish our findings. I believe that itwas an important criterion in obtaining my R01 from the NIH/NCI. Inaddition, it also enabled me to spend some time at home with my twodaughters. I am sure that the Claflin award will enable many more womenscientists like me to achieve their goals.

Pamela J. McLean, PhD Department of Neurology/Alzheimer Research UnitAwarded 2005

My research interests continue to be focused on the roleof alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s disease and relatedneurodegenerative diseases. I have recently received

further grant support from the American Parkinson’s Disease foundationand have an R21 pending. In February 2007, I was promoted to AssistantProfessor in Neurology.

Mary McNaughton-Collins, MD, MPH Department of Medicine/MPECAwarded 2000

Dr. McNaughton Collins is the Principal Investigator(U-01) of the Harvard Clinical Center, which is one of 11 clinical centers across North America involved in a

series of treatment trials as part of the NIH/NIDDK-funded Chronic Prostatitis

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Collaborative Research Network (CPCRN). She is also the PrincipalInvestigator of a multi-center NIH/NIDDK-funded outcomes project“Chronic Urologic Pelvic Pain and Primary Care” where the goal is tounderstand the management of chronic urologic pelvic pain conditions,such as chronic prostatitis and interstitial cystitis, from the perspective ofprimary care providers, since most of what is known about these conditionshas come solely from urology practices and tertiary care referral centers. Dr. McNaughton Collins also maintains an active clinical practice at theMGH Internal Medicine Associates where she sees a diverse population of primary care patients 2 half days per week. She was recently promotedto Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Karen K. Miller, MD Department of Medicine/NeuroendocrineAwarded 1999

The Claflin Award was instrumental in enabling KarenK. Miller, MD, to build an academic career by providingsupport for a research assistant at a time of high family

demands in her early career. At that time, Dr. Miller had received a K23NIH grant, which provided 5-years of salary support for the investigatorand a small amount of funds for research supplies but none for additionalpersonnel. The Claflin Award enabled Dr. Miller to continue to be productivedespite two complicated pregnancies and the raising of two small children,which was absolutely necessary for continued academic success. During andsubsequent to winning the Claflin Award, Dr. Miller has published numerousmanuscripts in high-quality peer-reviewed journals in the broad area ofwomen’s health research. Her areas of research include the effects of androgendeficiency and replacement in women, undernutrition on neuroendocrineaxes, and growth hormone on body composition and bone density. She isthe Chair of the Mentoring Committee of Women in Endocrinology, andhas served on the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology andMetabolism. Her research has received several awards, including, mostrecently, the Endocrine Society and Pfizer, Inc. International Award forExcellent in Published Clinical Research in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinologyand Metabolism in 2006. In addition, she has received independent grant support from the NIH, including R03 and R01 awards.

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Madhusmita Misra, MD, MPH Department of PediatricsAwarded 2006

Dr. Misra is currently Assistant Professor of Pediatricsat Harvard Medical School, Assistant in Pediatrics,MassGeneral Hospital for Children, and Assistant in

Biology, Neuroendocrine Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital. She is primarily a clinical investigator with about 75 percent of her time spent on clinical research. Her research interests lie in unraveling the complexneuroendocrine and bone metabolism alterations that underlie conditionsof under- and over nutrition, and psychiatric disorders such as anorexianervosa and major depression. Anorexia nervosa, which is prevalent in adolescent girls, is associated with markedly low bone density with deleteriouseffects on peak bone mass. Major depressive disorders are associated withthe risk of low bone density in adults, but their association with bonemetabolism has not been investigated in teenagers. Because peak bonemass is an important predictor of fracture risk, poor bone mass accrual inthe teenage years likely predisposes to increased risk of fractures in later life.Dr. Misra is actively involved in studies examining the pathophysiology oflow bone density in adolescent girls with anorexia nervosa and in adolescentboys and girls with major depressive disorders. Her interests also extend tounderstanding neuroendocrine alterations in obesity, the other end of theweight spectrum, and the role of appetite signals in modulating increasedcaloric intake associated with obesity. Dr. Misra is a pediatric endocrinologistat the MassGeneral Hospital for Children, and in addition to her clinicalwork, co-mentors fellows, graduate and undergraduate students.

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Kathryn J. Moore, PhD Department of Medicine/Lipid MetabolismAwarded 2006

I am very honored to be a Claflin awardee. This awardcame at a crucial time in my career – I was applying forthe first competing renewal of my R01 grant and I had

just had my first child. The Claflin Award provided much needed support,both financial and motivational, at this difficult time for me. One year later,I am happy to report that my R01 has been renewed and my research continues to flourish. I am using the funds from the Claflin Award to supporta new project in my lab. We are studying how netrin-1, traditionally considered an axonal guidance molecule, may regulate immune cell migration.These studies may provide insight into the molecular mechanisms ofmacrophage persistence in inflammatory conditions.

Nelly Pitteloud, MD Department of Medicine/Reproductive EndocrineAwarded 2004Update unavailable

Laurence G. Rahme, PhD Department of SurgeryAwarded 2004

My Claflin proposal title was ‘Study Of The Virulence-Associated Pseudomonas aeruginosaTranscriptional Regulator MvfR’. Since 2004 I have

published seventeen original articles and I have received and direct fourresearch grants. Two of these have been based on preliminary findingsobtained during the Claflin Award received in 2004: a five-year NIH R01research grant that began April 2006 and a Shriners Hospital independentresearch grant that began January 2005. In addition, I am co-investigator onfour other grants.

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Andrea Reid, MD Department of Medical Services/GI UnitAwarded 2002

I am an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School,continuing to do research in the treatment of hepatitis Cand the impact of race on access to liver transplantation

in the United States. I am also the program director for the Gastroenterologyfellowship program at MGH. I am doing less research than I thought I woulddo at this stage of my career, but I am doing more administrative work andteaching which I enjoy most of the time. I am integrally involved in thePartners GME2015 strategic planning project, working initially as co-chair of a 20 member task force that developed a vision for graduate medicaleducation at Partners in 2015. We received a Partners in Excellence Awardthis year for this work. I am now a member of a working group that isfocused on new initiatives that will enhance the education and life-workbalance of the trainees, and also serve as a member of the GME2015 SteeringCommittee. This work is stimulating and will surely have a significant impacton the future of graduate medical education at Partners. I am very gratefulto Mrs. Claflin and the Claflin program for their support of my career.

Herminia Diana Rosas, MD Department of Neurology ServiceAwarded 2003Update unavailable

Marielle Scherrer-Crosbie, MD, PhD Department of CardiologyAwarded 2006

The Claflin award has allowed a unique opportunityfor me to broaden my research, from a basic scienceenvironment to the clinical arena by initiating a real

translational research project. It has permitted me to better understand theprocesses involved in clinical research, and forge new and exciting collaborations with large cancer and cardiology centers. During this year,we have gotten approval for our project at MGH, have started patient

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recruitment, have gathered enthusiastic support at the Jewish Hospital(McGill University) in Montreal and MD Anderson in Houston. Having the Claflin Award has makes this project possible by supporting its personnel and supplies needs.

Sanja Sever, PhD Department of Medicine/RenalAwarded 2003Update unavailable

Naomi M. Simon, MD Department of Psychiatry ServiceAwarded 2003

I remain active in clinical research in the Department ofPsychiatry at MGH as Associate Director of the Center forAnxiety and Traumatic Stress Disorders and recently also

as Director of the Complicated Grief Program where I oversee numerous ongoing research studies. My major clinical and research interests include thephenomenology of and treatment approaches for anxiety disorders, refractoryanxiety disorders, anxiety comorbid with mood disorders, and complicatedgrief. I have also been working on an exciting project examining the impact ofchronic stress related to mood and anxiety disorders on measures of aging, suchas telomere shortening, and have received funding from NARSAD and anR01 from NIMH to further pursue this work in bipolar disorder and inmajor depressive disorder, respectively.

As a direct result of my Claflin Award examining the impact of anxietycomorbidity on suicidality and other clinical features in 120 individuals withbipolar disorder, I have published 4 manuscripts, and have received investigatorinitiated industry funding to study a pharmacotherapy intervention foranxiety comorbid with bipolar disorder.

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Antonia Stephen, MDDepartment of Surgical OncologyAwarded 2007Update unavailable

Cathryn A. Sundback, ScD Department of SurgeryAwarded 2004

I joined the Laboratory for Tissue Engineering andOrgan Fabrication as an Instructor in 2000, with significantcorporate engineering experience and with a PhD in

Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Atthe time, my twins were babies and I was struggling to continue my researchstudies, publish manuscripts and successfully compete for additional fundingto support my research involving peripheral nerve regeneration. In 2004, I received the Claflin Distinguished Scholar Award from the MassachusettsGeneral Hospital to pursue studies involving the role of physical and cellularcues in an in vitro peripheral nerve regeneration model. The funds fromthe Claflin Award enabled me to employ a full-time technician during atime when I had significant time constraints attempting to balance workand family. With this additional technical assistance, I was able to remainproductive and publish several manuscripts, which ultimately helped meto obtain additional funding. In 2005, I became Associate Director of theLaboratory of Tissue Engineering and Organ Fabrication. In 2004, I receiveda CIMIT grant to engineer a biodegradable elastomeric scaffold for soft tissue engineering applications, such as peripheral nerve. In 2006, Ireceived a larger CIMIT grant, as co-principal investigator, to expand myperipheral nerve regeneration work to tissue engineer innervated skeletalmuscle and a Ester B. Kahn charitable foundation grant to incorporate vascularization into the innervated skeletal muscle model. This work isnow a critical technical building block for a large multi-institutional Armygrant proposal for limb replacement and facial reconstruction. I am mostgrateful for the support that I received from the Claflin Award.

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Lynda Stuart, MBBS, PhDDepartment of PediatricsAwarded 2007

Lynda Stuart is a physician-scientist and received hermedical degrees from Universities of Cambridge andLondon and PhD from University of Edinburgh, UK. She

currently is an instructor in Pediatrics at MGH/Harvard Medical School.She has just had her first child and received a Claflin Distinguished Scholaraward for a project entitled “Dissecting the Mechanism and Consequences ofApoptotic Cell Phagocytosis Using a Systems Biology Approach in theModel Organism, Drosophila Melanogaster.” Her interest is developingand utilizing systems based approaches to understand the cell biology ofphagocytosis and its role both in tissue remodeling and host defense.

Anne N. Thorndike, MD, MPH Department of Medicine/General Medicine UnitAwarded 2004

Over the past year, I have begun to focus my research onlifestyle modification for weight loss and prevention ofchronic disease. I am currently the medical director of the

MGH Be Fit employee wellness program, and I will be analyzing the program to determine the effectiveness of the program in modifying risk factorsand preventing chronic disease. We are currently designing a trial for a Be Fitmaintenance program using a web-based intervention as well as personal contact.I continue my primary care practice in Women’s Health Associates, and I have alsobegun working in the Metabolic Syndrome Clinic at the Cardiac Prevention Center.

Adele C. Viguera, MD, MPH Department of PsychiatryAwarded 2004Update unavailable

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Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH Department of Medicine/Infectious DiseaseAwarded 2002

Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor ofMedicine, is Associate Director of the Program inEpidemiology and Outcomes Research at the Harvard

Center for AIDS Research. Her research interests include the promotion ofroutine HIV counseling, testing and referral and the economic evaluationof alternative HIV testing and treatment policies. Dr. Walensky has published work on enumerating the years of life saved from AIDS therapies(nominated as one of the “Top 10” papers of 2006 at NIAID), on the clinicaland cost-effectiveness of HIV testing strategies (used to motivate changesin CDC HIV testing guidelines) and is currently evaluating the impact ofalternative antiretroviral roll-out programs in South Africa.

As I reflect on the past year, I am especially appreciative of Mrs. JaneClaflin, the Claflin Award, and the Office of Women’s Careers for earlysupport in my research – support that came at a vulnerable period in mycareer when I had two children under 3 years old and no other independentgrant funding. The OWC saw potential in my work and the Claflin Awardprovided me with both the emotional and financial backing to allow forpursuit of a successful NIH Award. I am deeply appreciative.

Wilma M. Wasco, PhD Department of NeurologyAwarded 2000

Wilma Wasco, PhD is an Associate Professor of Neurologywho received an award in 2000 for her project entitled“Functional significance of post-translational modifications

of calsenilin, a novel calcium-binding protein that interacts with the Alzheimer’sassociated presenilin proteins.” Today, Dr. Wasco’s laboratory continues tofocus on calsenilin and has expanded these studies to include an evaluationof the roles that this interestign protein plays in transcriptional regulation inthe nucleus as well as in the function of potassium channels in the cytoplasm.Most recently, Dr. Wasco and her lab have taken an interest in understandingthe role that calsenilin plays in synaptic transmission. In addition to her

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research activities, Dr. Wasco is an active member of the HarvardMedical/Dental School Joint Committee on the Status of Women and isexcited about the the opportunity this affords her to contribute to enhancingand improving the opportunities for the contribution of women at the medical school as well as at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Corrine K. Welt, MD Department of Medicine/Reproductive EndocrineAwarded 2001

Dr. Welt received funding from the Claflin award in 2001to study “Prolactin: Effects on Lactation, Reproductionand Bone Turnover.” These studies have produced very

interesting results. In women with regular menstrual cycles, recombinanthuman prolactin (r-hPRL) was demonstrated to have a suppressive effecton GnRH secretion after 7 days, as marked by decreased LH pulse frequencymeasured in the serum. In contrast, prolactin had no effect on TSH secretion.Taken together with evidence that prolactin exerts its effect on TSH via adopamine feedback loop, these findings suggest that the effect of prolactinon GnRH neurons is direct and not mediated by dopamine, as previously suggested.[1] In additional studies, r-hPRL did not appear to have a detrimental effect on bone turnover during short-term, 7 day administration.However, r-hPRL did cause galactorrhea in non-postpartum women, provingits biological activity for use in lactating women.

The lactation studies using r-hPRL are now ongoing with funding from theFDA and March of Dimes. The goal of the study is to examine the safetyand efficacy of r-hPRL for mothers of premature infants with insufficientbreast milk production. The study is a randomized, placebo-controlledphase 2 trial. Preliminary data from the study suggests that r-hPRL will beeffective in increasing breast milk volume for mothers of premature infants.These studies will be important for premature infants who derive thegreatest benefit from breast milk through the decreased rate of infection,necrotizing enterocolitis, improved feeding and other advantages it provides.

Reference List1. Page-Wilson G, Smith PC, Welt CK: Prolactin Suppresses GnRH but NotTSH Secretion. Horm Res 2006, 65: 31-38.

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Vanessa Wheeler, PhDDepartment of Neurology/Center for Human Genetic ResearchAwarded 2007

Having received a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistryfrom the University of Cambridge and a PhD in

Molecular Genetics from the Imperial College of Science, Technology andMedicine, University of London, I developed an interest in neurodegenerativedisease and decided to carry out my postdoctoral training in the Huntington’sdisease field in the laboratory of Dr. Marcy MacDonald at the MassachusettsGeneral Hospital. Huntington’s disease grabbed my attention and I amcurrently Assistant Professor of Neurology in the Center for HumanGenetic Research directing a research program that uses genetic approachesto understand the molecular basis of this disease. I am delighted to be therecipient of a Claflin Award at this early stage in my career as I try to strikea balance between my research and spending time with my son.

Sabine Wilhelm, PhD Department of PsychiatryAwarded 2002Update unavailable

Janet R. Wozniak, MD Department of PsychiatryAwarded 2000

Since receiving the Claflin Award in 2001, I applied forand was awarded an R01 research grant from the NIMHto continue research into the longitudinal course of

pediatric-onset bipolar disorder. I have been recognized with a LeadershipAward for this research by the STEP Up for Kids parent advocacy groupand am sought out as a national expert on the topic for clinical evaluationsand research presentations. Since receiving the Claflin award, I haveauthored or co-authored over 20 additional scientific papers on the topicand have presented research findings at national meetings yearly. TheClaflin Award was instrumental in keeping me in my research career during

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a vulnerable time in my career when I had 3 young children under the ageof 6 years and was facing the end of the financial support associated with acareer development award. I am extremely grateful for the support of theClaflin Award which allowed me needed support at a time when leavingresearch was a very real option. I will apply soon for the next level of promotion to the Associate Professor rank and have plans to publish abook for parents on pediatric bipolar disorder.

Lei Xu, MD, PhD Department of Radiation OncologyAwarded 2005

The Claflin Award allowed me to hire a research technician,which enabled me to spend less time on laboratory routine tasks, and more time on my research. During

the first award year, I published 1 paper in Cancer Research (65:5711-9,2005). I presented my work in ‘Anti-Angiogenesis and Drug Delivery toTumor: Bench to Bedside’ conference and the ‘Cancer Protease andMetastasis’ conferences in 2005. Because of this award, I can spend moretime acquiring independent research funding. I have submitted tworesearch proposals earlier this year, and currently, I am preparing anotherone. The Claflin Award will enable my career to progress as I worktowards advancing our understanding of tumor biology.

Xu Yu, MD, MScDepartment of MedicineAwarded 2007

Dr. Yu has been at the AIDS Research Center of MGHfor the last seven years, where she is currently leading a research group that focuses on the investigation of

HIV-specific immune responses. She has made major contributions to theanalysis of how the immune system is able to respond to HIV infection,and on how strategies for the manipulation of HIV-specific immuneresponses by vaccines and immunogens can be designed. Dr. Yu is themother of her 9 month old daughter Sophia, and the support from theClaflin Foundation will give her the opportunity to continue her scientificwork during the exciting time of raising her daughter.

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Thoughts

“This program was a bold initiative to support

women faculty, and its success speaks volumes

about the MGH’s leadership in this critical issue”

– Nancy J. Tarbell, MD

“Beyond financial support, through the years the

Claflin award and being part of the ‘Claflin Family’

was a much appreciated support network, source of

inspiration and motivation and seemed to represent

a banner of the MGH commitment to the advancement

of women in academia.”

– Marylyn M. Addo, MD, PhD

“I am deeply indebted to the generosity and vision of

Mrs. Claflin and the many people that made this

award possible.”

– Paola Arlotta, PhD

“The Claflin has made an enormous difference:

It not only paid for staff to help on my research, it

gave me the positive feedback you need when

you’re overworked and exhausted to kind of

keep in the game.”

– P. Ellen Grant, MD

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Articles about the Claflin Awards Claflin Award Helps Women Establish Scientific Careers. MGH Hotline 2007 March 16. http://www.massgeneral.org/pubaffairs/Issues2007/ 031607claflin.htm

Barrier breakers. Mass. General grants to women scientists helpplug ‘leaky pipeline’ between grad school and tenure. The Boston Globe 2007 March 5. By Carey Goldberg, Globe Staffhttp://www.boston.com/ news/science/articles/2007/03/05/barrier_breakers/

Brief Report: A Targeted Intervention for the Career Developmentof Women in Academic Medicine. Archives of Internal Medicine2007 Feb 26; 167:343-345. By Reshma Jagsi, Joan R. Butterton,Rebecca Starr, Nancy J. Tarbell.

Claflin Awards Support Women’s Developing Research Careers.MGH Hotline 2000 May 19. http://www.massgeneral.org/pubaffairs/Issues/ 051900claflin.htm

Special ThanksExecutive Committee on Research (ECOR)

Women in Academic Medicine Committee (WAM)

and to the following individuals:

Lynn A. DaleDirector, Bicentennial Planning, Programming & Special Events

Arch MacInnesPublications Director

Public Affairs

Edie SinagraStaff Assistant

Office of Women’s Careers

Brenda I. VegaAdministrative Coordinator, Office for Women’s Careers