The Association of American Physicians (AAP) and the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) held a joint meeting in Chicago and inducted several new members from Duke University Medical Center into their prestigious groups.
The AAP welcomed Robert Harrington, MD, who directs the Duke Clinical Research Institute and is a professor of medicine in cardiology; Laura Svetkey, MD, director of clinical research at the Sarah W. Stedman Nutrition and Metabolism Center and a professor of medicine in nephrology; and Mariano Garcia-Blanco, MD, a professor of molecular genetics and microbiology and medicine, and director of the new Center for RNA Biology.
Robert Lefkowitz, MD won the AAP’s highest honor, the Kober Medal, for his lifetime of achievement in medical science (see related post).
At the same meeting, the ASCI inducted four researchers from Duke University Medical Center, out of the field of 70 2011 winners.
Andrew Alspaugh, MD, associate professor of medicine (Infectious Diseases), is working to understand the molecular mechanisms by which microbial pathogens adapt to the host (human or other animal) environment and uses the model fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans.
Ashley Jen-Tsan Chi, MD, PhD, is exploring genomic approaches to understand two important areas of human disease: tumor microenvironmental stresses and erythrocyte microRNAs, which can inform us about the processes in many human diseases affecting erythrocytes (red blood cells). He is an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology.
Paul Rosenberg, MD, assistant professor of medicine (Cardiology), has developed an overall goal for his calcium signaling work -- to identify novel therapeutic strategies for muscle disease including skeletal myopathies, heart failure and insulin resistance.
Michelle Winn, MD, associate professor of medicine (Nephrology), works to learn more about the genetic basis of hereditary focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) and her team recently discovered the transient receptor potential cation channel, type 6 (TRPC6) as a cause for hereditary FSGS.
The Association of American Physicians is a nonprofit, professional organization founded in 1885 by seven physicians, including Dr. William Osler, for “the advancement of scientific and practical medicine.”
The ASCI is dedicated to the advancement of research that extends understanding and improves the treatment of human diseases, and members are committed to mentoring future generations of physician-scientists. Because members must be 45 years of age or younger at the time of their election, membership reflects accomplishments by its members relatively early in their careers.