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Photonics Center director to receive 2003 Roosevelt Gold Medal for Science
Donald Fraser, an ENG professor and the director of the Photonics
Center, will be awarded the 2003 Roosevelt Gold Medal for Science from
the Navy League of the United States on November 12 at a league dinner
in New York City. Fraser is being honored for his contributions to the
creation and development of public and private sector enterprises exploiting
the technology of light. In his current position and previously with the
U.S. Department of Defense and Draper Laboratories, Fraser has had a distinguished
career managing the development of high-technology and photonics-based
enterprises.
CAS chemistry prof elected chairman of ACS division
Morton Hoffman, a CAS professor of chemistry, has been elected chairman of the Division of Chemical Education of the American Chemical Society (ACS). He will serve as chairman-elect in 2004 and assume the duties of chairman on January 1, 2005. The 6,000-member division is one of the largest and most active ACS groups and includes chemistry educators from high schools, colleges, and universities as well as individuals from industry and government interested in chemical education. The division publishes the Journal of Chemical Education and oversees the ACS Examinations Institute, which develops and provides standardized chemistry exams to educators. As chairman, Hoffman hopes to reach out more to high school chemistry teachers, improve divisional programming at the eight or more ACS regional meetings held annually, and upgrade the division’s Web site with useful, current information needed by today’s chemical educators.
BUMC program to benefit youth with disabilities
MED’s department of family medicine has developed a unique community-based research project aimed at improving the independence of young people with cognitive and motor disabilities. Mary Cerreto, an associate professor of family medicine and director of Boston Medical Center’s Center on Self-Determination and Health, is principal investigator of a project entitled Making Healthy Connections: Mentoring, Monitoring, and Measuring. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently awarded Cerreto more than $1 million for the project. “Of all individuals with mental disabilities, adolescents with disabilities represent the single most underserved age group,” says Cerreto. “Youth with disabilities in Massachusetts face significant challenges — their high school dropout rate is three times the statewide average for nondisabled students, many live in poverty, and many are of minority status.” Department of family medicine staff will work with the local organization Partners for Youth with Disabilities and community agencies to motivate young people ages 14 to 22 with disabilities to stay healthy and to make their transition into the complex world of adult health-care services as informed and well-planned as possible. Opportunities still exist, says Cerrato, for medical students, residents, and fellows in family medicine, pediatrics, and internal medicine to participate. For more information, e-mail mary.cerrato@bmc.org.
MED students educate public about heart disease and stroke
MED students have teamed up with the American Heart Association (AHA) to educate the community about heart disease and stroke, the leading causes of death in the United States. The project, called Save a Life, Heart and Stroke Community Education, was created by the AHA as a collaborative effort to reduce disability and death from coronary heart disease and stroke in New England by 25 percent by 2010. The association enlisted the help of MED students to provide free, one-hour informational sessions on heart disease and stroke to businesses, schools, churches, community associations, and other interested groups. To date, 46 students have undergone AHA training, where they learn talking points on cardiovascular disease and stroke. They then instruct groups about the risk factors, warning signs, and treatments for these diseases and offer action plans for recognizing their symptoms. In some cases, they also provide free blood pressure screenings. “The program is especially beneficial to the students as it helps them recognize the importance of connecting with their communities now and in their future practice,” said George Philippides, a MED assistant professor of medicine, director of the Coronary Care Unit at BMC, and chairman of the AHA’s Prevention and Community Outreach Committee. “By offering free, short on-site sessions, the American Heart Association has created a program that, with the students’ help, will eliminate some of the barriers that limit the public’s access to basic heart and stroke information.”
7
November 2003
Boston University
Office of University Relations