Alumni News

What happens in Vegas . . . comes to Northwestern

Keeping a low profile suits Las Vegas-based internist Stephen H. Miller, MD ’82, just fine. His accomplishments, however, and some of his patients have gotten his name out before the public in ways he hasn’t always anticipated.

“About five years ago I got a call from my medical school classmate Kenny Heiferman [MD ’82, GME ’88],” recalls Dr. Miller. “He said that he saw my name in People magazine. I was quoted discussing the health of Roy [Horn of entertainment duo Siegfried and Roy].” In 2003 a tiger severely wounded the famed magician during a show at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas. As Horn’s longtime physician at that time, Dr. Miller provided his expert opinion on his celebrity patient’s prognosis.

Since 1985 Dr. Miller has practiced medicine in Las Vegas, where he has built a diversified practice by coordinating physical exams for the Nevada Federal Bureau of Investigation, conducting numerous clinical drug studies, and developing strong and close bonds with his patients. Some of these individuals, grateful for the care and personal attention Dr. Miller has provided them, also have boosted this medical school alum’s profile—especially at his alma mater.

Although this native of Cleveland has only been back to the Chicago campus once since graduating, Dr. Miller thought of Northwestern when one of his patients wanted to express his gratitude through a generous gift. In 2006 Sidney Kramer, who passed away earlier this year, helped to establish the Stephen H. Miller, MD, Scholarship with a $100,000 gift in recognition of Dr. Miller’s compassionate and excellent care. Since its inception, several medical students have benefited from the Miller scholarship during their first and second years in school.

“I have a passion and great amount of respect for Northwestern,” says Dr. Miller, who is one of five siblings in his family of six to become a physician. “It wasn’t a hard decision to direct the funds to the medical school to support the education of students.”

Other patients of Dr. Miller have also donated to the scholarship fund, which has grown to about $120,000 to date. Dr. Miller hopes that one day the scholarship will cover a year’s tuition for a single medical student.

For a recent holder of the Miller scholarship, Northwestern’s influence on Dr. Miller lifted a weight off this now third-year student’s shoulders. “Receiving the scholarship meant that I didn’t have to try and work during my first two years of medical school,” shares Emily C. Zander of Cupertino, California, who initially had considered finding a part-time job. “[Not having to work] made it so much easier to focus on my studies.”

Fortunately for Zander and other Miller scholars, including the current scholarship holder, Alexander Kieger, who just completed his first year of medical school, what happened in Vegas didn’t necessarily stay there thanks to one alum’s fond memories of his medical school days.

Cheryl SooHoo

Alumni awards honor contributions, service

Alumni Weekend 2009 provided the perfect opportunity to recognize Northwestern alumni for their outstanding contributions to medicine and society at an awards presentation held at the sesquicentennial ball the evening of April 25.

Charles S. Modlin Jr., MD ’87, received the first annual Daniel Hale Williams Award for Meritorious Service to Underserved Communities. A transplant surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Modlin has long had a passion for eliminating health care disparities, expanding community outreach, and enhancing the health care and education of minority patients. Starting an annual Minority Men’s Health Fair seven years ago that now draws more than 2,000 participants, he also is founder and director of the clinic’s Minority Men’s Health Center in the Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute.

The award that Northwestern bestowed upon Dr. Modlin bears the name of the medical school’s first African American graduate from the Class of 1883. Dr. Williams, a pioneer surgeon, founded Chicago’s Provident Hospital—one of the first to welcome African American and other minority patients.

The medical school’s Distinguished Alumni Award went to David J. Skorton, MD ’74, who has served as president of Cornell University since July 1, 2006. An experienced administrator, cardiologist, musician, biomedical researcher, and national leader in research ethics, Dr. Skorton honed his leadership skills at the University of Iowa (UI) where he joined the faculty in 1980. In 2002 he was appointed vice president for research and external relations and was selected as UI president the following year. While at UI, he continued to study and play saxophone and flute and hosted a weekly jazz program on the university’s public FM radio station.

Accepting his award at the podium from Dean Larry Jameson, Dr. Skorton looked out into the audience and asked, “Where are you, Class of 1974?” As his classmates cheered at a nearby table, he turned to them and said, “You really helped me through school to first become a doctor and then a bureaucrat. This is a huge day for me, and it is wonderful to see so many of my old friends.”

Three other alumni were applauded for their service and contributions to their alma mater. Lee F. Rogers, MD ’59, received the Dean’s Award, given for outstanding contributions by an alumnus/a faculty member. Dr. Rogers served as professor and chair of radiology at Northwestern from 1974 to 1995. Alumni service awards went to Walter W. Huurman, MD ’62, and Paul D. Urnes, MD ’59, who received the same honor in 1989.

Out of this world

When astronaut Michael R. Barratt, MD ’85, GME ’89, packed for his trip to the International Space Station (ISS) in March he carried with him the essentials, which included a special banner commemorating the medical school’s 150th anniversary.

Dr. Barratt requested a “flying memento” from his alma mater in August 2008. “I wish to take this opportunity to honor my past involvement in your school,” he wrote in a letter to Northwestern. “I plan to unpack the item and take photographs within the setting of the ISS, then return the item to you after the flight.”

Carrying the purple and white banner in his official flight kit, Dr. Barratt made good on his promise by sending Ward Rounds a photo from out of this world.

On May 29 three new members joined Dr. Barratt and the crew of Expedition 19, who have been in space since March 26. This addition to the group marks the beginning of Expedition 20 and six-person crew operations. For the first time, all five of the international partner agencies are represented on the ISS. They are NASA, the Russian Federal Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency.

In addition to helping advance the ISS’ mission of “extending the permanent human presence in space,” Dr. Barratt got the opportunity to watch on his laptop computer the new Star Trek movie. Paramount Pictures transferred the movie—released in early May—to NASA’s Mission Control in Houston, which then uplinked the film to the space station, according to NASA.

In an interview with Ward Rounds in 2007, Dr. Barratt shared with readers that one of his childhood heroes was Dr. “Bones” McCoy from the Star Trek television series.

RIC president and CEO highlights hospital’s past, present, future

The medical school’s not the only institution on campus with a rich history. Providing an overview of the past, present, and future direction of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC), guest speaker Joanne C. Smith, MD, MBA, GME ’92, RIC president and CEO, spoke at the April 25 meeting of the Alumni Association National Board held during Alumni Weekend 2009.

Dr. Smith’s presentation followed the organization’s progression from its humble beginnings in a renovated warehouse on Ohio Street in 1952 to its present 20-story flagship center on the Northwestern campus. Designated as the #1 rehabilitation hospital in the country by U.S. News & World Report every year since 1991, the RIC’s evolution as the leader in physical medicine and rehabilitation has reflected, in part, society’s changing view of people with disabilities.

The RIC traces its roots back to Paul B. Magnuson, MD, former chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the medical school. Dr. Magnuson helped establish rehabilitation medicine as a specialty after World War II by founding the first school of physical therapy in the country at Wesley Memorial Hospital. In 1952 the RIC was incorporated, and its doors opened two years later thanks to Dr. Magnuson’s successful fundraising efforts.

“The steps are so interesting!” said Dr. Smith, showing the group of alumni board members a photo of the first RIC building where patients entering the front doors encountered an intimidating flight of stairs. Beginning as an outpatient center, the facility eventually started taking in those individuals who needed more intensive care.

The 1970s brought not only the creation of today’s RIC hospital on Superior Street, but also a change in attitude toward individuals learning to cope and live with disabilities thanks to the leadership of Henry B. Betts, MD, former chair of physical medicine and rehabilitation as well as president and CEO of the RIC and chair of its foundation. Remarked Dr. Smith, “Our product back then was to graduate patients who became productive and contributing members of society.” For many decades Dr. Betts, who remains on faculty as a professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation, and his patients lobbied national and local government to allow greater access and fewer societal barriers.

“We’ve come a long way,” said Dr. Smith, noting the flap over sprinter Oscar Pistorius’ tryout for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Some argued that his two carbon fiber prosthetic legs gave him an unfair advantage. Today modern technology has allowed the creation of bionic arms, and now with robot-assisted therapy, patients can increase the frequency and duration of their therapy sessions to achieve greater and faster improvement and recovery. Dr. Smith added, “Impossible is no longer a part of our medical lexicon.”

Currently there are some 52 million Americans living with disability. As the U.S. population grows older and lives longer, the demand for advances in rehabilitation medicine will increase substantially, according to Dr. Smith. Driven by these demographic as well as market forces reshaping the field, the RIC plans to reinvent itself with the creation of a new building either on or near the medical center complex.

Future expansion will allow for additional care discoveries based on the institute’s research initiatives. They will be influenced by new findings in bionic medicine, nanotechnology, brain-machine interfaces, and the use of smart devices, to name a few. Dr. Smith shared that the RIC of tomorrow will continue to meld the best of clinical care with the best of science. As the hospital moves forward, it plans to support a wide range of clinical trials, measure outcomes, and innovate new standards in care, among them a cutting-edge physical plant that will allow laboratories to coexist with patient care to quickly bring scientific discoveries to the bedside.

J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD, vice president for medical affairs and Lewis Landsberg Dean of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, also spoke to the group about the state of the school. He noted that the nation’s economic downturn has had an impact on the medical school and that some belt tightening is inevitable.

Dean Jameson has made scholarships and financial aid one of his priorities to help decrease student debt and give Northwestern a more competitive edge in attracting students. He also highlighted the school’s move from 20th to 19th place in the May release of the 2009 U.S. News & World Report rankings. “The question is whether this is a fluctuation or a trend,” said the dean, noting that the school has held steady at a ranking of 20 or 21 for nearly a decade. Sharing with the national board the school’s goal to move into the top 10 of medical schools by 2020, Dr. Jameson expressed some concern over the flattening of research dollars and its impact on Northwestern.

In closing, the dean said that donations from alumni provide a “key fuel for the medical center,” but that activities such as mentoring existing students and helping to attract top students are also invaluable.

Ginny Darakjian, assistant dean for alumni affairs, reported that this year’s Alumni Weekend was the best attended to date, with nearly 700 alumni, faculty, students, guests, and staff participating in 31 events. During the reunion weekend, incoming alumni board president F. Douglas Carr, MD ’78, replaced Bonnie L. Typlin, MD ’74, with James A. Hill, MD ’74, professor of orthopaedic surgery at Northwestern, becoming president-elect. The next meeting of the National Alumni Association Board will be held October 24.

Janet DeRaleau

Spring PT reunion highlights anniversary year

Celebrating the medical school’s sesquicentennial, the Northwestern University Physical Therapy (NUPT) Association departed from its traditional fall Alumni Weekend schedule this year by holding its reunion April 24–25. The NUPT reunion attracted 68 alumni and guests who participated in their department’s continuing education activities and social events, which included the medical alumni Sesquicentennial Ball held at the Ritz-Carlton hotel.

The NUPT Alumni Weekend kicked off its festivities with the Sally Edelsberg Student Scholarship reception hosted by alumnus Peter McMenamin, PT ’79, MS ’87, at his Chicago-area home. The reunion also featured three continuing education courses as well as a research poster presentation. During the weekend, the NUPT presented the 2009 Distinguished Alumnus award to Sharon Konecne, PT ’64, and the 2009 Distinguished Young Alumnus award to Nelson Liu, PT ’06.

Continuing to “spring” forward, the NUPT Alumni Weekend 2010 is scheduled for April 9–10.