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The Yale Alumni Magazine is owned and operated by Yale Alumni Publications, Inc., a nonprofit corporation independent of Yale University. The content of the magazine and its website is the responsibility of the editors and does not necessarily reflect the views of Yale or its officers. |
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Comment on this article School Notes School of Architecture Art & Architecture Building reopens The rededication of the newly renovated A&A Building, now named Paul Rudolph Hall in honor of the building's architect, was the highlight of a three-day celebration in November that featured panel discussions, lectures, and an exhibition on Rudolph's New Haven works. Peter Eisenman, the Louis I. Kahn Visiting Professor of Architectural Design at Yale, lectured on "Rudolph Then and Now"; and Timothy Rohan, associate professor of art and art history at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, spoke on "The Enigmatic Architecture of Paul Rudolph." Rohan called Rudolph's architecture a turning point in modernism, saying he focused on the relationship between the environment and the building and "introduced regionalism with a focus on locale and identity." Rohan also curated the exhibition "Model City: Buildings and Projects by Paul Rudolph for Yale and New Haven." Exhibition highlights Rudolph's New Haven portfolio An exhibition on Rudolph's New Haven works highlights 13 of Rudolph's projects envisioned in the 1950s and 1960s under the auspices of New Haven mayor Richard C. Lee and Yale president A. Whitney Griswold '29. Included are original drawings, prints, and photographs; newly created architectural models; and a documentary video focusing on Rudolph's urban renewal projects in New Haven. A banner suspended over the exhibit space proclaims, "In contrast to the tabula rasa favored by many advocates of urbanism and modernism, Rudolph advocated weaving new and existing buildings into a tightly integrated whole." "Model City: Buildings and Projects by Paul Rudolph for Yale and New Haven" is on view in the Architecture Gallery through February 6. Alumni honored for achievements in green design Two prestigious organizations—the U.S. Green Building Council and the American Institute of Architects (AIA)—have recognized three Yale architecture alumni for their roles in the founding of green design in the United States. The alumni—Donald Watson '62BArch, '69MED; William McDonough '76MArch; and Paul Bierman-Lytle '78MArch—were honored at the U.S. Green Building Council's 15th annual international conference in Boston this past November, before a record number of 27,000 attendees. The U.S. Green Building Council presented its Leadership Award to Watson, McDonough, and Bierman-Lytle, while the AIA awarded them its Presidential Citation, naming them "founders of green design in the United States" and recognizing their "courage of commitment to advocate for environmental stewardship … in a way that clarified and expanded for others a vision of a better future.
School of Art New gallery will focus on international artists The School of Art's new exhibition gallery at 36 Edgewood will highlight trends in art from around the world, and will "break out of the North American/East Coast-centered view of the art world," according to Dean Robert Storr. "The art world is no longer centered in New York or, for that matter, anywhere in particular," he added. "This is but one example of the ways in which the school is forging active links with cultural centers from Sao Paulo to Beijing, Moscow to Johannesburg, and Madrid to Istanbul." The gallery will open on January 20 and its first exhibition, featuring recent works by artists from India, will be on view during the month of February. The school hopes to mount four exhibitions each year. In addition to its purpose as an exhibition space, the new gallery will also act as a classroom in which students will assist in all aspects of organizing exhibitions. Students will be involved in selecting and installing the works; they will write about the works and publish brochures; and they will learn firsthand how exhibitions are conceived and produced, how art occupies space, and how context informs content.
Yale College Junior faculty members honored Every year, the college dean's office honors outstanding junior faculty members with its academic awards. Each prize carries an award of funding to support further research. This year's recipients were honored at a dinner in New Haven in November. The Arthur Greer Memorial Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Publication or Research was granted to Laurie Santos, Department of Psychology, for her pioneering research on primate cognition. Santos is widely recognized as an emerging leader in the field for her work exploring the evolution and origins of the human mind. The Samuel and Ronnie Heyman Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Publication or Research was awarded to three faculty members in recognition of their recently published works: Christopher L. Hill, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, for National History and the World of Nations: Capital, State, and the Rhetoric of History in Japan, France, and the United States; Colleen Manassa, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, for The Late Egyptian Underworld and The Great Karnak Inscription of Merneptah: Grand Strategy in the 13th Century BC; and Marci Shore, Department of History, for Caviar and Ashes: A Warsaw Generation's Life and Death in Marxism, 1918-1968. The PoorvuFamily Award for Inter-disciplinary Teaching went to three faculty members whose teaching and research span the boundaries of traditional scholarly fields: Justin Fox, Department of Political Science, for his contributions to the ethics, politics, and economics (EP&E) program; Bryan Garsten, Department of Political Science, for his teaching in the history and politics division of the interdisciplinary Directed Studies program; and Alondra Nelson, who holds appointments in several departments, for such interdisciplinary courses as Genealogy and the Politics of Family; Health Social Movements; and Technology, Identity, and Culture. Student-faculty connection inspires anonymous gift An anonymous $1 million gift to Yale College has established a fund in honor of Sharon Oster, the Frederic D. Wolfe Professor of Management and dean of the Yale School of Management. Inspired by Professor Oster's longstanding commitment to working with undergraduates, the Sharon Oster Resource Fund for Undergraduate Teaching and Engagement will provide support to faculty members who have made exceptional efforts to engage undergraduates. The donor, who worked with Professor Oster as a student and research assistant while at Yale, made the gift to recognize Oster's "enormous contributions to generations of undergraduates." Professor Oster has worked closely with Yale College students since she joined the faculty as assistant professor in the Department of Economics in 1974. She received her BA from Hofstra University and her PhD in economics from Harvard. In 1983, she joined the Yale School of Management as professor of economics and management.
Divinity School Speaker argues for more diverse church Renita Weems, a widely sought-after lecturer and Beliefnet columnist, delivered the three-part 2008 Beecher lectures during the October 13-16 convocation and reunions. Her topic was "Preaching Against the Grain: Recovering the Voices of Those from the Underside of History." Arguing forcefully for a model of church that follows the example set by Jesus in choosing disciples from a wide range of backgrounds, Weems said, "These two disciples, Matthew the tax collector and Simon the zealot, represented both ends of the political spectrum of the day. … Yes, eleven o'clock [Sunday morning] remains the most segregated hour in America. … But how different would the church look today if we realized that Jesus called the modern equivalent of the most right-wing Republican and the most left-wing Democrat to come together and be his disciples." Tony Blair on a two-way street with students Former British prime minister Tony Blair was the guest of honor at an October 23 luncheon of the Yale Divinity School Board of Advisors, hosted by President Levin. Blair, who is co-teaching the course Faith and Globalization this semester with YDS professor Miroslav Volf, opened with a compliment to his students. "On the basis of [the] teaching I've done so far," quipped Blair, "I am learning a lot more from those that I am teaching than they are learning from me." Describing globalization as a process that is "pushing people together" globally, Blair observed, "Religious faith can play one of two roles: Either it can help humanize that process … or, alternatively, it can become a reactionary force that pulls people apart." (For a Yale Alumni Magazine report, see "God and Tony Blair.") The wider academy: "often hostile, condescending, and magnificently ignorant of the religious" As outgoing president of the American Academy of Religion, Emilie M. Townes, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of African American Religion and Theology, delivered the presidential address at the academy's annual meeting in Chicago on November 1. Said Townes, "I am passionate about this because we live in times where our country needs those of us trained in the religious disciplines to speak up and into and with the public realm. . . . We live in an increasingly polarized world in which religion matters as beliefs and practices and is a key element in identity formation and meaning-making and sometimes nation-building for people. We also must engage a larger academic community that can often be hostile, condescending, and magnificently ignorant of the religious."
School of Drama Schools collaborate to establish music theater institute The School of Drama has teamed up with the School of Music to create the Yale Institute for Music Theatre, which seeks to identify distinctive and original music theater works by emerging writers and composers and match those writers with directors, music directors, and actors/singers who can help them further develop their work. Under the leadership of artistic director Mark Brokaw '86MFA and producer Beth Morrison '05MFA, the Yale Institute for Music Theatre will review applications to the institute and will select three original music theater works to receive a two-week workshop in New Haven in June. Faculty named Theatre Arts fellows Jennifer Tipton, professor (adjunct) of lighting design, and Bill Rauch, associate artist at the Yale Repertory Theatre, have been named 2008 Theater Arts USA fellows by United States Artists, a grant-making artist advocacy organization dedicated to supporting America's finest artists working across diverse disciplines. Each will receive an unrestricted award of $50,000. Tipton, who has won two Tony awards, has designed lighting for numerous dance performances and theatrical productions. In 2008, she was named a MacArthur Fellow by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Rauch has directed numerous productions at theaters across the country, and is the recipient of an assortment of theater awards. He currently serves as artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
School of Engineering & Applied Science Benefits of using compact fluorescents may depend on where you live Incandescent light bulbs across the country are being replaced by energy-efficient compact fluorescent lighting (CFL), a positive step in the fight against global climate change. But, is the switch truly a boost for the environment? Yale researchers say the answer may depend on where you live. While widespread use of CFLs dramatically reduces energy consumption, a trade-off may come in the form of an increase in mercury emissions. Researchers Matthew J. Eckelman, Paul T. Anastas, and Julie B. Zimmerman looked at 50 states and 130 countries to determine the impact of CFLs on total mercury emissions in those areas. The study found that regions relying heavily on coal-fired power plants, the primary source of atmospheric mercury pollution, have the most to gain from CFL use, seeing reductions in both energy demand and mercury emissions. Those regions not reliant on coal-fired power, however, could actually see increased mercury emissions with the switch to CFLs. This is no simple assessment; the results depend on myriad factors, including the amount of coal-fired power generation, chemical makeup of the coal, and existing recycling programs for CFLs. The bottom line? "All sustainability issues are local," says Zimmerman, assistant professor of chemical engineering. "We need to ask if we should be making decisions on a national level, or if this is something better left to local governments." The study was published in the October 1 issue of Environmental Science & Technology. Nanowire sensors for disease diagnosis The labs of Mark Reed, professor of electrical engineering, and Tarek Fahmy, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, have teamed up to develop cutting-edge diagnostic technology that could be used to accurately diagnose disease, from a strain of flu to cancer, within minutes in a clinical setting. The novel technology combines nanowire sensors with simple microprocessor electronics. "We simply took direction from Mother Nature and used the exquisitely sensitive and flexible detection of the immune system as the detector, and a basic physiological response of immune cells as the reporter," said biomedical engineering postdoctoral fellow and lead author, Eric Stern. The researchers recognize huge potential in areas where healthcare facilities lack diagnostic resources and misdiagnosis is a real concern. The research was published in the October issue of Nano Letters. Professor honored for engineering achievements The American Institute of Chemical Engineers has granted the 2008 Lawrence K. Cecil Award in Environmental Chemical Engineering to Menachem Elimelech, the Roberto Goizueta Professor of Environmental and Chemical Engineering. This prestigious award recognizes Elimelech for his "outstanding chemical engineering contribution and achievement in the preservation or improvement of the environment." Elimelech focuses on problems involving physicochemical and biophysical processes in engineered and natural environmental systems. He founded Yale's environmental engineering program in 1998 and continues to serve as its director.
School of Forestry & Environmental Studies United States needs to adapt to climate change While some influential studies suggest that moderate climate change will not be very damaging to the United States as a whole and will bring some benefits, a new report published by the environment school maintains that organizations, firms, and households in the United States that are at the highest risk of sustaining damage from climate change are not adapting enough to the dangers posed by rising temperatures. Retired professor Robert Repetto, author of "The Climate Crisis and the Adaptation Myth," and a senior fellow at the United Nations Foundation, says that private- and public-sector organizations face significant obstacles to adaptation because of uncertainties over the occurrence of climate change at the regional and local levels, over the future frequency of extreme weather events, and over the ecological, economic, and other impacts of climate change. "To say that the United States has the technological, economic, and human capacity to adapt to climate change does not imply that the United States will adapt," said Repetto. "Without national leadership and concerted efforts to remove these barriers and obstacles, adaptation to climate change is likely to continue to lag." The report is available for download at the environment school's website. Yale conference explores sustainability of biofuels Biofuels tend to be thought of as eco-friendly alternatives to gasoline and diesel, but there is growing concern that the biofuel industry could be causing adverse impacts on the environment. A December conference cosponsored by the environment school and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute explored the impacts of biofuel production on the environment, and covered such topics as the social implications of biofuel production on indigenous communities; whether biofuels increase greenhouse gas emissions; and the economic implications of the expanding biofuel industry for tropical forests and rural communities in parts of Mexico and Central America. The bilingual conference, "Biofuels and Neotropical Forests: Trends, Implications, and Emerging Alternatives," took place in Panama City, Panama. Carbon finance market may have environmental impact The emerging carbon finance market is poised to play a critical role in addressing the problem of climate change, according to a report issued by the Center for Business and the Environment at Yale (CBEY). The book, Carbon Finance: Environmental Market Solutions to Climate Change, grew out of a carbon finance speaker series sponsored by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation and organized by the CBEY, in which corporate leaders and investors from around the world discussed how financial markets are playing a major, positive role in providing solutions to environmental problems. The publication is available at the environment school's website.
Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Alumni lead university administration With the appointment of art historian Mary Miller this past fall as dean of Yale College, alumni of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences now hold three of the four top positions in academic administration at Yale. Heading the list is President Richard C. Levin, who earned his PhD in economics from Yale in 1974. Levin is the longest-serving Ivy League president and one of the world's preeminent leaders in higher education. Prior to becoming president in 1993, he was dean of the Graduate School. A distinguished economist, he has been a member of the faculty since 1974. Second in rank at the university is provost Peter Salovey '86PhD, the Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology. He joined the faculty in 1986 after earning his PhD from Yale's Department of Psychology. Like President Levin before him, Salovey served as dean of the Graduate School, after which he was named dean of Yale College. He became provost in October 2008. Miller, Sterling Professor of the History of Art, earned her doctorate at Yale in 1981 and immediately joined the faculty. She is a specialist on Mesoamerican art and is known for her scholarship on Mayan art and architecture. The fourth top academic position at Yale is dean of the Graduate School, currently held by Jon Butler, the Howard R. Lamar Professor of American Studies and professor of history and religious studies. He is a proud alumnus of the University of Minnesota. Just write it Dissertation Boot Camp is an interruption-free writing marathon that takes place over a weekend. In October, 28 students sat at their laptops and worked for eight hours straight, two days in a row, with breaks to eat, stretch, and take care of nature. The boot camp was so successful that an abbreviated version was held in November, organized by McDougal Academic Writing fellows Stephanie Scarmo (epidemiology and public health) and Gina Sherriff (Spanish and Portuguese), with assistance from the Graduate School Writing Consultant Elena Kallestinova. The mini-boot camps ran for four hours at a time, almost every day of the month. At both the long- and short-form boot camps, cell phones, text messaging, chatting, and surfing the web were forbidden. Because they were held in HGS, there was no temptation to do the laundry, watch TV, or run errands. The only thing to do was sit, think, and write. "I was hoping for uninterrupted, dedicated, and supported time to work on my dissertation," said one boot camp participant, Anna-leila Williams (nursing). "I definitely made more progress than I would have on my own." Two full-scale dissertation boot camps are planned for spring term, and more mini-boot camps are under discussion.
Law School U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals hears cases at Law School The Yale Law School community and public were privileged to see an esteemed federal appeals court in action just before Thanksgiving. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit came to the Law School on November 25 for a rare sitting outside Manhattan. Yale Law School professor Daniel Markovits '91, '00JD, former law clerk to Second Circuit Court of Appeals judge Guido Calabresi '53, '58LLB, gave opening remarks on the historical connection between Yale Law School and the Second Circuit, and the nature of the Second Circuit as a court. Oral arguments in six cases followed, with judges Calabresi and John M. Walker Jr., and Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs presiding. Dean Harold Hongju Koh said, "This is a true occasion for thanksgiving: the first time in memory that this storied court has heard argument at a law school where it has myriad ties." Law School mourns loss of professor Yale Law School professor emeritus Jay Katz died November 17, 2008, at age 86. Katz was the Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor Emeritus of Law, Medicine, and Psychiatry and the Harvey L. Karp Professorial Lecturer in Law and Psychoanalysis at Yale Law School. Professor Katz made profound contributions in the area of law, medicine, and ethics. He was a member of a committee that prepared the 1961 Connecticut law governing the privilege between patient and psychotherapist. He also served on the national panel that studied the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, which denied syphilis treatment to black men in order to study the illness. He was an outspoken opponent of the use of data obtained from Nazi experimentation. "As a doctor steeped in the law, Jay Katz illuminated better than anyone has, before or since, the complexity of medical, legal, and ethical choices that haunt the silent world of doctor and patient," said Dean Koh. Professors receive named appointments Yale law professor Akhil Reed Amar '80, '84JD, has been appointed Sterling Professor of Law. Amar is a scholar of constitutional law, the Bill of Rights, and criminal procedure. He is co-editor of a leading law casebook, Processes of Constitutional Decisionmaking, and is the author of several books, including, most recently, America's Constitution: A Biography. He has written widely on constitutional issues for such publications as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal, and he has testified before Congress on a wide range of constitutional issues. A 1980 graduate of Yale College, Amar earned his JD in 1984 from Yale Law School, where he was editor of the Yale Law Journal. Yale law professor Heather Gerken has been named the inaugural J. Skelly Wright Professor of Law. Gerken is one of the country's leading experts on voting rights and election law, the role of groups in the democratic process, and the relationship between diversity and democracy. Her proposed "Democracy Index," calling for states to be ranked based on how well they run their election systems, served as the inspiration for election reform bills introduced by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton '73JD. Professor Gerken holds a BA from Princeton University and a JD from the University of Michigan Law School.
School of Management Technion and Yale SOM partner to research counterterrorism A three-year partnership between Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and the Yale School of Management will bring together top researchers to explore strategic, tactical, and operational problems arising in the areas of homeland security and counterterrorism, with the intent of developing new tools for decision-making and policy analysis. The initiative is made possible by a gift from Daniel Rose '51, chairman of Rose Associates Inc. Two of the principal investigators—Edward Kaplan, the William N. and Marie A. Beach Professor of Management Sciences at SOM, and Boaz Golany, the Dean and Samuel Gorney Professor of Engineering in the William Davidson Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management at the Technion—recently described how they apply the tools of operations research to security problems, in an interview available at mba.yale.edu/kaplangolany. SOM student wins major business competition in India Roberto Jimenez '09 recently won a grueling three-day-long contest to find India's "next CEO." The Numero Uno competition, held October 10-12, 2008, in Bangalore, pitted 20 top students from Indian business schools plus three international students against each other in a series of trials of leadership, strategy, finance, entrepreneurship, marketing, sales, athletics, and presentation skills. Jimenez spent the fall studying in India as part of SOM's international exchange program. "The fact that I won this competition is another example of how the new SOM curriculum is preparing us in a well-rounded manner," he said. "It is teaching us to think like a CEO, with a clear view from the top." Symposium honors business leaders Five graduates of the Yale School of Management who had followed divergent career paths returned to SOM to address students about how their SOM experiences helped shape their careers, as part of the Donaldson Fellows Program. The five alumni were nominated by their fellow graduates and selected by a committee of faculty, students, and staff based on how they exemplified the school's mission to educate leaders for business and society. The fellows were Adam Blumenthal '89MPPM, managing general partner, Blue Wolf Capital Management; Laszlo Bock '99MBA, vice president, people operations, Google Inc.; Andrea Levere '83MPPM, president, Corporation for Enterprise Development; James Levitt '76, '80MPPM, director, Program on Conservation Innovation at the Harvard Forest, Harvard University, and president, Levitt & Company Inc.; and Elizabeth Serlemitsos '93MBA, chief advisor, National AIDS Council, Zambia. Over two days, the fellows met with student groups, recorded interviews, and participated in a panel discussion that all first-year students were required to attend. Learn more at mba.yale.edu/alumni/donaldsonfellows.
School of Medicine Genetics researcher recognized for trailblazing work Arthur L. Horwich, Sterling Professor of Genetics and Pediatrics and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, received two prestigious honors in a single week this past fall. First he was elected to the prestigious Institute of Medicine (IOM) by the National Academy of Sciences. The IOM is a resource for independent, scientifically informed analysis and recommendations on human health issues. Later in the week he was awarded the 2008 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize by Columbia University for outstanding contributions in biology and biochemistry. Horwich is an expert on the molecular mechanisms of protein folding, a process crucial to the maintenance of life. When proteins misfold, it can lead to disease. More than 20 diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's, have been linked to misfolded proteins. Autism researchers focus on how toddlers look at faces Using eye-tracking technology to quantify the visual fixations of two-year-olds, medical school researchers found that toddlers with autism looked more at the mouths of others, and less at their eyes, than normal children do. This abnormality could help predict the child's level of social disability, according to study results published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. After the first few weeks of life, infants look into the eyes of others, setting processes of socialization in motion. The Yale scientists found that the amount of time toddlers with autism spent focused on the eyes of others predicted their level of social disability. These results may offer a useful biomarker for quantifying the presence and severity of autism early in life, as well as a potential autism screen for infants. Ami J. Klin, director of the autism program at the Yale Child Study Center, says researchers are now using the technology in a study of the younger siblings of children with autism, who are at greater risk of developing the condition. Nuclear medicine programs at Yale earn peer approval Two nuclear medicine programs at Yale–New Haven Hospital received accreditations from the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Nuclear Medicine Laboratories, a peer-review mechanism for recognizing quality nuclear medicine diagnostic evaluations. The cardiac PET imaging program was one of the first high-energy, nuclear medicine imaging programs in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico to be accredited for cardiac PET imaging. PET (positron emission tomography) is a technique that produces a three-dimensional image of processes in the body. Meanwhile, the nuclear cardiology laboratory, one of the first of its kind in the U.S., was reaccredited. Using data collected during a stress test, the lab detects blockages helpful in diagnosing cardiovascular disease.
School of Music Schools collaborate to create music theater institute The School of Music has joined forces with the School of Drama to establish the Yale Institute for Music Theatre, which seeks to identify distinctive and original music theater works by emerging writers and composers and to serve those writers by matching them with directors, music directors, and actors/singers who can help them develop their work. Under the leadership of artistic director Mark Brokaw '86MFA and producer Beth Morrison '05MFA, the Yale Institute for Music Theatre will select three original music theater works to receive a two-week workshop in New Haven in June. School mourns longtime professor Jesse Levine, professor in the practice of viola and chamber music and coordinator of the string department since 1983, died in November after a long fight with pancreatic cancer. In addition to his teaching he was an accomplished violist and conductor, and performed in Europe, South America, Israel, Australia, Mexico, and throughout the United States. At different times he was principal violist or music director of several symphony orchestras, and served as guest conductor of numerous other ensembles in the United States and abroad. Dean Robert Blocker said of Levine, "His major contribution to the School of Music was inspiring his students to discover their distinct musical voice, and his influence will be felt for generations." Alumnus wins prestigious conducting competition Shizuo Kuwahara '01MusM has won first prize in the fourth Sir Georg Solti International Conductors' Competition, which was held in Frankfurt, Germany, last November. The 32-year-old Kuwahara was awarded a cash prize and received invitations to conduct the Frankfurt Museum Orchestra and other German and international orchestras. More than 500 young conductors from 70 countries applied to participate in this year's competition; 24 were chosen to perform in Frankfurt and three finalists were selected from the group.
School of Nursing YSN mourns loss of nursing icon Florence S. Wald '41MN, '56MS, dean emerita of the School of Nursing and the founder of hospice in the United States, died November 8 at her home in Branford, Connecticut, at the age of 91. Wald served as the fourth dean of YSN, from 1959 to 1966. She is credited with bringing the hospice movement to the United States from England and establishing the first American hospice unit in Branford, Connecticut, in 1971. This hospice became a model for hospice care in the United States and abroad. Her role in reshaping nursing education to focus on patients and their families has changed the perception of care for the dying in this country. (For a Yale Alumni Magazine report, see Milestones.) YSN faculty inducted into American Academy of Nursing Three members of the School of Nursing faculty were recently inducted into the American Academy of Nursing as new fellows. Angela Crowley, Nancy S. Redeker, and Martha Swartz were formally inducted as fellows with 92 other nurse leaders during the academy's annual awards ceremony and induction banquet on November 8 in Scottsdale, Arizona. New American Academy of Nursing fellows are nominated for this honor by two current fellows and then selected by the 15-member selection committee for their outstanding achievements in the nursing profession. The academy's mission is to serve the public and nursing profession by advancing health policy and practice through the generation, synthesis, and dissemination of nursing knowledge. Associate dean named fellow of American Heart Association YSN professor and associate dean for scholarly affairs Nancy S. Redeker was recently inducted as a Fellow of the American Heart Association, and was presented as a new fellow of the AHA's Council on Cardiovascular Nursing at the council's annual reception. Fellowship recognizes leadership within the AHA relative to cardiovascular nursing and health. Fellows are an identifiable, knowledgeable group of cardiovascular nurse leaders with specialized expertise who may be called upon to develop scientific and position papers and educational programs. New AHA fellows are nominated and elected by active council members. Dr. Redeker's scholarship bridges the interdisciplinary specialties of cardiovascular health and sleep disorders. She is developing sleep promotion strategies for people with heart disease. Her research addresses the contributions of sleep disorders to symptoms and functioning of people with heart disease within the dynamic context of the trajectory of chronic illness. She has addressed clinical, demographic, and environmental factors associated with variations in sleep.
School of Public Health Mental health intervention urged for heart patients Heart patients are particularly vulnerable to depression and should be screened—and, if necessary, treated—to improve their recovery and overall health, according to a scientific advisory issued by the American Heart Association and co-authored by a Yale School of Public Health researcher. "Depression and heart disease seem to be very much intertwined," said Judith H. Lichtman '88MPH, '96PhD, coauthor of the statement and associate professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health. "You can't treat the heart in isolation from the patient's mental health," she added. The American Psychiatric Association has endorsed the statement—the first of its kind on the link between heart disease and depression. Recommendations for patients with chronic heart disease include routine and frequent screening for depression in a variety of settings, such as the hospital, physician's office, and cardiac rehabilitation center, and helping patients with positive screening results to find a professional qualified to diagnose and manage treatment for depression. Grant expands Yale's participation in national study on child development The Yale School of Public Health has received a $10.7 million federal grant to expand its participation in a national study that will follow 100,000 children from before birth to age 21 to understand factors that contribute to their health and development. Last year, Yale was awarded $15 million to start the work in New Haven County. With this additional grant, mothers and children from Litchfield County, Connecticut, will be included in the project. The study—believed to be the largest of its kind ever undertaken—seeks information that can be used to prevent and treat some of the nation's most pressing health problems, including autism, birth defects, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. The study in Connecticut is under the direction of principal investigator Michael B. Bracken '70MPH, '74PhD, the Susan Dwight Bliss Professor of Epidemiology. Insight into insect symbiosis could help humans The gut of just about any organism is surely an unpleasant place, often teeming with a battery of hostile enzymes, yet such places in animals often harbor multiple species of bacteria. The exact physiological processes that allow some of these bacteria to thrive, while others perish, are not fully understood. A group of researchers headed by Serap Aksoy, professor of epidemiology and public health, is moving closer to explaining this dichotomy. They used the tsetse fly to understand processes that allow some bacteria to live in harmony with their host. The Yale team discovered a mechanism that is at least partially responsible for the successful relationship between the tsetse fly and its symbiotic bacterium, Sodalis glossinidius. Sodalis, which is related to some important human microbes such as E. coli, Salmonella, and Yersinia, likely benefits the fly by increasing its longevity and possibly modulating immunity. A better understanding of the nature of symbiotic relationships—which abound in nature and are crucial to the survival of most species—could eventually have implications for people suffering from degenerative bowel diseases, such as Crohn's.
Regarding "Insight into insect symbiosis could help humans" (School of Public Health), it's hopeful that academia should better understand the good, the bad, and the ugly gut bacteria, of which the average human harbors 2-3 pounds numbering in the trillions—more than the number of cells in the body. This, coupled with the gut's forming approximately 80% of the body's immune system, suggests that it's work well conceived to better understand these bugs' central role in human life, as well as the corollary implications for nutrition (and the lack thereof in most processed foods). Samuel Butler observed, "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg." We might well ponder whether a human is simply bacteria's way of creating more bacteria. Symbiosis, indeed. Recalling a mantra of our youth, we are what we eat.
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