Nearly 200 HSPH graduates from several countries and from states as far away as Alaska gathered at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown Hotel for an alumni reception at the APHA meeting on December 12. The event was hosted by the Office of Alumni Programs and the Alumni Council.
Dean Barry Bloom welcomed attendees and thanked them for their continuing support of the School. He highlighted several achievements at HSPH over the past year. Associate Professor Sue Goldie received a MacArthur “genius” grant for her work on cervical cancer and decision science. Professor Walter Willett, who has led the charge to remove trans fat from foods, received the Bristol-Myers Squibb/Mead Johnson Freedom to Discover Award for Distinguished Achievement in Nutrition Research. Professor Meir Stampfer was ranked the number one most-cited scientist in clinical medicine for the last decade, according to ESI-Essential Science Indicators.
The School has placed its highest priority on getting the best students in the world, said Dean Bloom. The current student population represents more than 50 countries, many of them within the developing world. “We have a challenge not so much to get the interest of the brightest students in the U.S. and in the world, but to make it possible for them to come,” said Dean Bloom before introducing a poignant new video that was shot at HSPH and at other locations.
What Are You Going to Do About It? tells the story of several HSPH students. Lulu Oguda, a trained physician, describes working in a Nairobi hospital on Christmas Eve and realizing that 60 out of 75 patients in the ward had HIV or HIV-related illness. Marcelo Targino is pursuing an MPH while working part-time as a physician. Xuefen Su, a doctoral student in epidemiology, plans to return to China, where she says public health is underdeveloped. Research fellow Michael Bank is examining sediment cores from Boston Harbor, which at one time was considered one of the most polluted harbors in the country.
At the reception, Barry Levy, MD, MPH ‘70, former Alumni Council President, thanked attendees and welcomed the new president, J. Jacques Carter, MPH ‘83. Levy acknowledged the work of Margaret Loret, director of Alumni Programs, and her staff. The day before the reception, Levy had received the 2005 Sedgwick Memorial Medal, APHA’s oldest and most prestigious award. For more information, visit http://www.apha.org/news/press/2005/levySedgwickM edal.htm.
Carter described upcoming goals for the Alumni Council, including increasing the interaction between current students and alumni and reaching out to graduates in other countries. Already, there have been teleconferences in Turkey, Mexico, and Iran, and a meeting is scheduled to take place in India in March 2006.
Carter announced the results of the most recent Alumni Council election. The new members are:
- President-Elect: Mark Clanton, MD, MPH ’90, who will take office in November 2007
- Secretary: Elsbeth Kalenderian, DDS, MPH ‘89
- Alumni Councilors: Marise Gottlieb, MD, MPH ’66; Bethania Blanco, MD, SM ’73; and Bernard Olayo, MD, MPH ‘05
For more information about Alumni Programs, visit http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/alumni/
Carmon Davis, MD ‘90, MPH ‘94, (left) member of the HSPH Alumni Council and a pediatrician at Children's Hospital, laughs with Jeanine Boyle, MPH ‘94, director, State Health Policy, AstraZeneca, Wilmington, Delaware.
Leslie Hsu, SM ‘98, traveled from Alaska with her husband and baby.
J. Jacques Carter, MPH ‘83, President of the Alumni Council, speaks with Immediate Past President Barry Levy, MD, MPH ‘70.
Warren Berggren, MPH ‘63, DPH ‘67, with his wife, Gretchen Berggren, SM ‘66
Copyright, 2009, President and Fellows of Harvard College
