May faculty and staff features

Michael Weaver, M.D., Department of Internal Medicine
Weaver, associate professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine, is among the first physicians in the United States certified by the American Board of Addiction Medicine, a new independent medical specialty board. ABAM has begun to certify addiction medicine physicians from several specialties, including internal medicine.  There was previously only addiction-related board certification for psychiatrists. ABAM sets standards for physician education, assesses physicians’ knowledge and requires and tracks life-long continuing education.

Terri Fauber, Ed.D., Department of Radiation Sciences
Fauber, associate professor and radiography program director in the School of Allied Health Professions’ Department of Radiation Sciences, is the winner of the 2008-2009 Jean I. Widger Distinguished Author Award for her article “Exposure Variability and Image Quality in Computed Radiography.” The Widger Award recognizes the "article of the year" for Radiologic Technology, the major journal for radiation sciences. This is the third time Fauber has won the award as an author or co-author.

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

Harry D. Bear, M.D., Ph.D., Walter Lawrence Jr. Distinguished Professor in Oncology and chair, Division of Surgical Oncology, has been awarded the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project Distinguished Investigator Lifetime Achievement Award.

Michael Czekajlo, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, received an award from the VCU Council for Community Engagement for training Henrico County high school students in basic CPR.

Robin Foster, M.D., associate professor of emergency medicine and director of pediatric emergency services, received the State of Virginia Child Champion Award from Prevent Child Abuse Virginia for child advocacy.

Jerome F. Strauss III, M.D., Ph.D., dean, was appointed to the External Clinical Advisory Council of the National institute of Environmental Health Sciences. He also received an award from the March of Dimes at the 57th Annual Clinical Meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists for his research on preterm birth.

Isaac Wood, M.D., senior associate dean for medical education and student affairs, has been appointed chair of the National Board of Medical Examiners, Test Material Development Committee, Step 1, Behavioral Sciences.

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Leah Bush, M.D., chair, Department of Legal Medicine, School of Medicine
Bush, chief medical examiner for the Commonwealth of Virginia, has been appointed chair of the Department of Legal Medicine in the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. She succeeds Marcello Fierro, M.D.

Bush, a School of Medicine alumna, completed a forensic pathology fellowship at the Medical Examiner’s Office in Richmond. She has been a medical examiner for the commonwealth since 1986, and has been chief medical examiner since 2008.

Cathy J. Bradley, Ph.D., professor of Health Administration and co-leader of Cancer Prevention and Control at the Massey Cancer Center
Bradley has been named interim chair of the Department of Public Health Management and Policy in the emerging School of Public Health. The Department of Public Health Management and Policy is a new initiative that will strengthen health services research at Virginia Commonwealth University, benefiting all health science schools.

Over the past 12 years, Bradley has developed a research agenda that examines the economic aspects of cancer diagnosis, treatment and survivorship. Her groundbreaking work has received both national and international recognition. She has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society, the Commonwealth Fund, Michigan Department of Community Health and the HRB of the Republic of Ireland where her research on employment and cancer is being replicated.

Most recently, the National Cancer Institute selected Bradley’s research for inclusion in its Grantee Research Highlights — selected highlights of the research conducted by the NCI’s Applied Research Program grantees. The program supports research grants that examine how and why cancer care and control activities in the United States influence patterns of care and trends in cancer incidence, morbidity, mortality and survival.

Robert L. Balster, Ph.D., Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies 
Balster, institute director, Luther A. Butler Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology and research professor of psychology and psychiatry, has been selected to receive the Nathan B. Eddy Memorial Award for outstanding research that has advanced knowledge in the field of addiction research and treatment.

Balster is the editor in chief of Drug and Alcohol Dependence and president-elect of the International Society of Addiction Journal Editors. Balster has edited two books, authored more than 270 papers in scientific journals and written 46 book chapters.

The principal areas of Balster’s research include behavioral pharmacology, drug abuse potential assessment, inhalant abuse and regulatory policy. His research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1976.

The award will be presented at the 71st Scientific Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence in June in Reno, Nev.

Gerald Miller, Ph.D., Department of Biomedical Engineering

Gerald Miller, professor and chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, has been named an Outstanding Engineering Alumnus by the Penn State College of Engineering. The honor recognizes graduates who have reached exceptional levels of professional achievement. Miller’s research interests include rehabilitation engineering, physiological fluid mechanics, artificial internal organs, epilepsy genesis and the use of physiological signals in the control of mechanical systems. He has developed a multiple disk centrifugal artificial ventricle, an early-warning detection system for epileptic seizures and a protocol for the prevention and treatment of decubitus ulcers. Miller also created a real-time, hands-on PC-based voice controller with infrared activated grippers for robots that can easily be implemented by disabled individuals. Miller received a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Penn State in 1971. He received master’s and doctoral degrees in bioengineering from Penn State in 1975 and 1978, respectively. Miller also serves as co-editor of Journal of Medical Devices. 

Judy VanSlyke Turk, Ph.D, director, School of Mass Communications
Turk was re-elected to a second three-year term on the Accrediting Committee of the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) at its May 1-2 meeting in Portland, Ore. The ACEJMC accredits 114 schools in the United States and internationally. The council conducts voluntary reviews for schools with professional journalism and mass communications programs.