UW News

December 5, 2002

Health Sciences News Briefs

Dr. Robert Sawin, professor of surgery, has been named surgeon in chief and director of the Department of Surgery at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center. He had been chief of Children’s Division of General and Thoracic Surgery and recently served as interim director of the surgery department, following the death of Dr. David Tapper in July. Sawin, who has also been named a vice chair of the UW Department of Surgery, has been at the UW and Children’s since 1987.


Lisa Oberg, head of information services for the Health Sciences Library and Information Center, has been appointed to a two-year term on the Library Council of Washington as a representative for special libraries. The Council advises the Washington State Library and the Office of the Secretary of State on areas of need for library services and use of Library Services and Technology Act funding.


The latest findings on risks and benefits of hormone replacement therapy are addressed by Dr. Nancy Woods, dean of the School of Nursing and a leading expert on women’s health research, in a streaming video now available at the Center for Women’s Health Research Web site. Woods is one of the investigators for the Women’s Health Initiative and for the Decision-Support for Preventive Hormone Therapy study. The Web site includes links to other resources. See the one-hour presentation at http://www.uw-cwhr.org/health-topics2.asp


Dr. Eric Chudler, research associate professor of anesthesiology, has received the 2002 Educator of the Year honor from the Society of Neuroscience. Among other educational efforts, which include organizing a Brain Awareness Day at the UW each spring, Chudler maintains the “Neuroscience for Kids” site, supported by a Science Education Partnerships Award from the National Center of Research Resources. That site, and other resources, are accessible from Chulder’s site at http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/ehc.html


Dr. Eugene Nester, professor and former chair of the Department of Microbiology, and Dr. Thomas Fritsche, associate professor of laboratory medicine and microbiolgy, and head of the Clinical Microbiology Division in laboratory medicine, were invited speakers for a symposium held in Wuerzburg, Germany, celebrating the 350th anniversary of the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina. The Academy was founded in the Free Imperial City of Schweinfurt in 1652 by a group of physicians who were interested in studying natural sciences that could be applied to human medicine. The symposium focused on parasitism; Nester and Fritsche were among 31 speakers from arounnd the world.


Joseph Marotta, administrative director of the Radiology Department at Harborview Medical Center, has received the Regents Award for senior-level executives from the American College of Healthcare Executives. He was honored for significant contributions to the goals of the ACHE and the advancement of health-care management excellence. He is also a fellow of the group and a founding member of the Puget Sound Healthcare Executives Forum.


Phi Betta Kappa’s 2002 Book Award in Science is being awarded to Dr. William Calvin’s A Brain for All Seasons: Human Evolution and Abrupt Climate Change, published by University of Chicago Press. Calvin, a UW affiliate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, will recieve the award at the Phi Beta Kappa Senate dinner in Washington, D. C., Friday, Dec. 6.


Lois Fink, administrative coordinator for UW construction management, is both the author and the subject of one of 15 profiles included in a recently published book, Great Comebacks from Ostomy Surgery, by Rolf Benirschke with Elaine Minamide. The book is available from University Book Store and other outlets. Fink has worked at the UW since 1990, in the English department and transportation administration as well as her current position.