March faculty and staff features

Cecil Drain, Ph.D., School of Allied Health Professions
Drain, dean of the School of Allied Health Professions, was recognized by the American Journal of Nursing for his 5th edition of the book “Perianesthesia Nursing: A Critical Care Approach.” The book was awarded the AJN Book of the Year Award, and is the last edition to be authored by Drain, who is turning over authorship to Jan Odom-Forren for future editions. Odom-Forren, a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and the co-editor of the Journal of Perianesthesia Nursing, is currently completing her Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky.

Evan Farmer, M.D., School of Medicine Department of Pathology
Farmer, clinical professor of dermatology and pathology in the School of Medicine, was elected vice-president of the American Academy of Dermatology. He assumed the office at the conclusion of the academy’s 67th Annual Meeting in San Francisco in March, and will hold office for one year. Farmer also will hold the same position for the American Academy of Dermatology Association.

The following VCU School of Medicine faculty members received recent honors:

Paul Dent, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, has been asked to chair a session on radiation signaling at the 2010 Gordon Research Conference on Radiation Biology.

Charles Chalfant, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, received a highly competitive Research Career Scientist Award from the Veterans Administration.

Marcella Fierro, M.D., adjunct professor in the Department of Pathology, was presented the Milton Helpern Award at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences Annual Meeting in Denver. She also authored a section of the recently released “NAS Study Death Investigation and Forensic Pathology.”

Susan G. Kornstein, M.D., professor of psychiatry and obstetrics/gynecology and executive director of the Institute for Women's Health and the Mood Disorders Institute, has been elected president of the North American Society for Psychosocial Obstetrics and Gynecology. The society serves clinicians and researchers who work on disorders such as PMS, perinatal depression, infertility, mood and menopause.

Alex H. Krist, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine; Resa M. Jones, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Community Health; Steven H. Woolf, M.D., professor in the Department of Family Medicine; Paul Jackson, M.D., an affiliate in the Department of Family Medicine, and colleagues are recipients of this year’s Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Research Paper Award, one of the most prestigious awards in family medicine research, for their paper “Timing of Repeat Colonoscopy: Disparity Between Guidelines and Endoscopists Recommendations,” which was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine in December 2007.

Steven Grant, M.D., professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, has been elected to a five-year term as associate editor of the journal Blood.

Dennis Ohman, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, has been selected president of the American Medical School Microbiology and Immunology Chairs Association for 2009-2010.

Alphonse Sirica, Ph.D., division chair of the Department of Pathology, was inducted as a Fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association.

Celeste N. Powers, M.D., division chair of the Division of Anatomic Pathology, has been named editor in chief of the Cancer Cytopathology journal.