Faculty News and Notes
SEPTEMBER 21, 2006
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News
Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, Assistant Professor of Dermatology and Epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania SOM, Associate Scholar, Clinical Epidemiology Unit of the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania, was quoted in the July 19th edition of The Washington Post in the article "Smartest Are Most Often Dumb About Sunburns regarding his recent report on sunburns (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/18/AR2006071801303.html) regarding a report by his team that appeared online on July 16th and is currently in press (Brown TT, Quain RD, Troxel AB, Gelfand JM. The epidemiology of sunburn in the U.S. population in 2003. J Am Acad Dermatol, in press). Dr. Gelfand was also interviewed by local CBS affiliate channel 3 on July 19th on the same topic.
The July 12th issue of
the American Journal of Managed Care includes the editorial "Defending
computerized physician order entry from its supporters" by Ross Koppel, PhD, [BS1] Professor
of Sociology and Affiliate Member of the
Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania
SOM. The article (http://www.ajmc.com/Article.cfm?Menu=1&ID=3159)
is a follow-up to a paper published last year, and cited below, on computerized
physician order entry (CPOE) and refers to another article published in the
July 12th issue. See the UPENN Communications Department press
release by Karen Kreeger for additional information (http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-07/uops-dtl071306.php).
In
an August 7th article in modernhealthcare.com entitled, "The Limits
of Technology: Far from a panacea, IT is merely a tool for solving problems,"
Dr. Koppel was cited for his study conducted in 2005 (Koppel R,
Metlay JP,
Cohen A,
Abaluck B,
Localio AR,
Kimmel SE,
Strom BL.
Role of computerized physician order entry systems in facilitating medication
errors. JAMA.
2005 Mar 9;293(10):1197-203) that identified
22 situations in which a CPOE system increased the probability of medication
errors occurring (http://www.modernhealthcare.com/storyPreview.cms?articleId=40947&archive=N).
Timothy Rebbeck, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania SOM, Senior Scholar, Clinical Epidemiology Unit of the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania was recently quoted in three articles. In the first, Dr. Rebbeck is quoted and featured in the June 25th issue of Oncology Times. His research focusing on prostate and colorectal cancers was discussed during a news conference and highlighted at the American Association for Cancer Research 97th Annual Meeting in Washington, DC in April (http://www.oncology-times.com/pt/pt-core/template-journal/oncotimes/media/RTuma-AACR-MolecularSignatures-OT-June252006.pdf).
In
the second, headlined "Risk of Ovarian Cancer Remains in Women Who Have Ovaries
Removed: Study," which appeared on July 11th in the Canadian
Broadcast Corporation online news (CBCNews), Dr. Rebbeck noted that
oophorectomies reduce the risk of breast cancer among women with the BRCA1 or
BRCA1 genetic mutations by 50% (http://www.cbc.ca/cp/health/060711/x071134.html).
Dr.
Rebbeck's editorial "Inherited Genetic Markers and Cancer Outcomes:
Personalized Medicine in the Postgenome Era," which appeared in the May 1
edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology (Rebbeck TR. Inherited
genetic markers and cancer outcomes: personalized medicine in the postgenome
era. J Clin Oncol. 2006 May 1;24(13):1972-4) was cited by Reuters Health in the
article "Polymorphisms May Influence Survival in Prostate Cancer," which appeared
on the cancerpage.com on July 13th (http://www.cancerpage.com/news/article.asp?id=9812).
Brian Strom, MD, MPH, Director of the CCEB, Associate Vice Dean, Penn SOM, was interviewed and quoted in the article "Sanofi, Drugmakers Fail on Promise to Study Medicines' Effects," which appeared online in Bloomberg.com on June 12th. Dr. Strom is given the final word in this report on post-approval monitoring by the FDA of the safety of drugs already on the market (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=a.9xSzcrZbLs&refer=Europe).
Dr. Strom was also cited in the foodconsumer.org website article entitled "The Science of Soy: What Do We Really Know?" by Julia R. Barrett. The article, which appeared online on June 26th (http://www.foodconsumer.org/777/8/The_Science_of_Soy_What_Do_We_Really_Know_.shtml) reviews the evolving use, benefits, and health effects of soy products. Dr. Strom led one of the few human studies involving soy, which was published in 2001 (Strom BL, Schinnar R, Ziegler EE, Barnhart KT, Sammel MD, Macones GA, Stallings VA, Drulis JM, Nelson SE, Hanson SA. Exposure to soy-based formula in infancy and endocrinological and reproductive outcomes in young adulthood. JAMA. 2001 Aug 15;286(7):807-14) and briefly summarized in the foodconsumer.org story.
Notes
Stephen Kimmel, MD, MSCE, Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, has been appointed Deputy Director of the Clinical Epidemiology Unit (CEU) of the CCEB and the Epidemiology Division of the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology. Dr. Kimmel has been a Senior Scholar of the CCEB since 1994 after having completed his cardiology and epidemiology training at Penn. He is internationally renowned for his outstanding contributions to the pharmacoepidemiology of cardiovascular disease, and has already served in several leadership roles in the CCEB's graduate education programs. In this new role, Dr. Kimmel will be participating in all aspects of CEU leadership, working closely with Dr. Feldman and the epidemiology faculty on the research and educational efforts of the Division and Unit.
Brian Strom, MD, MPH, received the Sustained Scientific Excellence Award from the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology at a ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal in August. This award, presented on an occasional basis, recognizes an investigator for sustained scientific excellence in the field of pharmacoepidemiology as well as for active engagement in state-of-the-art pharmacoepidemiologic research. Dr. Strom gave an address to the Society, and received a plaque and a $1000 award. He donated the award and the associated travel reimbursement back to the Society, for use for student scholarships.
Shiriki Kumanyika, PhD, MPH, Associate
Dean for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Founding Director of the
Graduate Program in Public Health Studies; Professor of Epidemiology in
Biostatistics and Epidemiology and in Pediatrics (Nutrition); and Senior
Scholar in the Clinical Epidemiology Unit of the Center for Clinical
Epidemiology and Biostatistics, all at the University of Pennsylvania SOM, was notified
at the end of June that she had won the 2006 Robert F. Allen Symbol of
H.O.P.E. (Helping Other People through Empowerment) Award, which is presented
annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to serving
the health promotion needs of underserved populations or to promoting cultural
diversity in health promotion. The award, presented at the National Wellness
(Institute) conference on July 17th in Stevens Point, WI, is named
in honor of one of the founding editors of the American Journal of Health Promotion who devoted his life to
helping people empower themselves through harnessing cultural norms.
Dr. Kumanyika strives to reduce
health disparities affecting ethnic minority and socially disadvantaged
communities by applying cultural knowledge to develop and implement various
initiatives, devoting particular energy to environmental and behavioral
strategies to reduce obesity and related disorders in the African American
population.
The winner of the Robert F. Allen Symbol of H.O.P.E.
Award, presented annually by the American
Journal of Health Promotion, receives $3,500 and a sculptured crystal
statue. The cash award is made possible through grants provided by the
California Wellness Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and individual
donors. For more information on the award and past winners, go to: .
