Rafael Campo, M.D., professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and director of employee health, and Michele Morris, M.D., assistant professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, have been elected as new fellows in the Infectious Diseases Society of America. The fellow category of membership recognizes and honors those who have achieved professional excellence in infectious diseases and related fields. The two will be inducted as fellows at the society's annual meeting in Philadelphia at the end of October.

Kerry Burnstein, Ph.D., professor of molecular and cellular pharmacology, has been selected by the NIH to join the Center for Scientific Review's Tumor Cell Biology Study Section. Her appointment as a member of this study section reflects her specific expertise in defining signaling mechanisms that govern prostate cancer cell cycle and steroid hormone responsiveness.

Richard Rotundo, Ph.D., professor of cell biology and anatomy, has been selected by the NIH to join the Center for Scientific Review's Neurodifferentiation, Plasticity, and Regeneration Study Section. The study section appointment reflects the accomplishments of Dr. Rotundo's lab and his commitment to advancing national biomedical research efforts.

Michael C. Lewis, M.D., professor of clinical anesthesiology and assistant dean for international graduate medical education, has been inducted as president of the Florida Society of Anesthesiologists. During his induction ceremony in Palm Beach, Dr. Lewis spoke about the anesthesiologist's responsibility to patient safety and the future of the profession.

UM Pathology Specialty Services has been awarded accreditation by the Accreditation Committee of the College of American Pathologists based on the results of a recent onsite inspection. The reference laboratory is a key component of the Miller School's Department of Pathology and is one of nearly 7,000 accredited laboratories nationwide.

Mary Bartlett Bunge, Ph.D., was recently honored by the University of Würzburg (Germany) by being asked to give the V. Hamburger Lecture at a research symposium funded by the German Research Foundation. She also served as faculty for the Ege University 5th Biennial International Neuroscience Graduate Summer School in Izmir, Turkey. Students were from Azerbaijan, Greece, Iran, Romania, Tunisia, Turkey, and the Ukraine. The summer school was supported by the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey, the National Academy of Sciences Committee for the International Brain Research Organization, the Society for Neuroscience, and Ege University.

Albert J. Varon, M.D., professor of anesthesiology and vice chair for education, recently completed a Master of Health Professions Education (MHPE) program at the University of Illinois in Chicago. The mission of the MHPE program is to produce exemplary leaders and scholars who will advance the field of health professions education in order to improve health care locally, regionally, and internationally. Dr. Varon's MHPE training was sponsored by the Miller School's Educational Development Office which is directed by Richard Tiberius, Ph.D., who served as one of his thesis committee advisors.

Christian Faul, Ph.D., and Kirk Campbell, M.D., both assistant professors of medicine, have received young investigator grants from the NephCure Foundation. The foundation's grant program supports basic, transitional and clinical research initiatives to understand the cause and identify treatment for primary focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and nephrotic syndrome.

Ewald Horwath, M.D., professor and interim chairman of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, has been elected president of the South Florida chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. He has served on the organization's board of directors for the past year, and was also co-chair of the foundation-sponsored "Miami Out of the Darkness Walk," an important educational and fundraising event. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is the leading national not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to understanding and preventing suicide through research, education and advocacy, and to reaching out to people with mental disorders and those impacted by suicide.

Erin N. Marcus, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of clinical medicine, received a $300,000 American Cancer Society Cancer Control Career Development Award for Primary Care Physicians. The award will enable her to conduct research on ways mammography centers can improve how they communicate results to underserved patients. She will conduct her research under the mentorship of Drs. Bernard Roos of geriatrics, Lee Sanders of pediatrics, and Beth Jones of the Yale School of Public Health, and will work closely with the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center's Disparities and Community Outreach Core in the completion of her project.

Anne E. Burdick, M.D., M.P.H., professor of dermatology and cutaneous surgery and associate dean for telehealth and clinical outreach, has received a career development award from the Women's Dermatologic Society to allow her to attend the AAMC Executive Development Seminar for associate deans and chairs taking place this month in Fort Lauderdale.

Daniel Lichtstein, M.D., professor of clinical medicine and senior associate dean for medical education at the Miller School at Florida Atlantic University, has received the "William Dock, M.D., Master Teacher Award in Medicine" from his alma mater, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center. The award is named for the late Dr. William Dock, a medical innovator, cardiologist and long-time faculty member at Downstate Medical Center.

Jay Skyler, M.D., professor of medicine and associate director of the Diabetes Research Institute, delivered one of three keynote addresses at the 36th annual American Association of Diabetes Educators meeting in Atlanta in August. His presentation was titled "Beta Cell Replacement: Regeneration and Cellular Strategies."

Keith A. Webster, Ph.D., professor of molecular and cellular pharmacology and director of the Vascular Biology Institute, recently delivered a series of invited lectures on gene and engineered stem cell therapy for the treatment of peripheral and coronary artery disease. Several plenary lectures took place at the Universities of Cardiff and Swansea in Wales, the National University of Singapore, the Mahidol University in Bangkok, and the University of the Philippines in Manila, where he received a visiting professorship.

Kathy Hebert, M.D., M.M.M., M.P.H., associate professor of medicine and director of disease management and outcomes research, recently presented Grand Rounds at the Vilnius Heart and Surgical Center in Lithuania. Her presentation was titled "Cost-Effective Care in Heart Failure Disease."

Ross J. Scalese, M.D., associate professor of medicine and assistant director of the Research and Technology Division at the Gordon Center for Research in Medical Education, recently gave presentations at several national-level health care education meetings. He joined prominent nursing educators to run a half-day workshop on simulation-based education at the annual meeting of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Scalese also conducted a full-day education pre-course as part of the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine annual spring meeting in Dallas. Both presentations featured "Harvey," the cardiopulmonary patient simulator.

Wasif N. Khan, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and immunology, was the senior author of a study published in the Journal of Immunology. The article reported on novel research findings that B cell receptor promotes B lymphocyte survival by way of enhancing the function of a B cell activating factor (BAFF) receptor. These findings are highly pertinent to the understanding of how autoimmune diseases develop because increased levels of the cytokine that binds the BAFF receptor are often associated with autoimmune diseases including lupus and type 1 diabetes. The study was highlighted in MDLinx, an online newspaper for physicians.