A bumper crop of top women scientists
News from Boston's medical and scientific community
Four months after the president of Harvard University triggered a debate on whether women had the right stuff to make it in science, the National Academy of Science has an answer: Yes. The prestigious science organization this year chose a record number of women among the 72 scientists invited to join the academy because of the quality of their research.
The 19 new female members -- including Christine E. Seidman of Harvard Medical School and Nancy G. Kanwisher of MIT -- account for 25 percent of the new academy members, while woman make up just 9 percent of the overall 2,062 members. This year's class topped the record set just last year when 17 of the 72 new members were women.
The burgeoning number of women, however, is neither a diversity campaign nor a reaction to Harvard president Lawrence H. Summers' January speech about obstacles women face in science, according to an academy spokesman. Existing members began selecting this year's class by secret ballot last September, long before Summers' speech.
''The number of women here doesn't reflect pressure from society. It reflects excellence in the scientific work they've done," said Maureen O'Leary, director of broadcast and special projects at the National Academies, which are frequently tapped by government to provide guidance on scientific issues.
The membership also reflects well on Massachusetts, which has 290 academy members, more than any state but California. Harvard has the most academy members of any one institution with 158; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ranks fourth with 104 members.
SCOTT ALLEN
Harvard names leader for history museum
The Harvard Museum of Natural History's 21-million specimen collection soon will have a new chief to watch over it. In July, Boston native Elisabeth Werby of the American Museum of Natural History will become executive director of the Cambridge museum, which hosts a garden of glass flowers and a Kronosaurus -- a 42-foot-long prehistoric marine reptile. Werby grew up in West Roxbury and Brookline, and graduated from Harvard with a degree in anthropology in 1972 before going on to receive a law degree. She's currently the senior director of government relations and strategic project development at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
BETH DALEY
A big night for nurses
More than 900 nurses and their supporters raised $750,000 to finance nursing education at a dinner sponsored by
More than 6 percent of nursing jobs nationwide are vacant and the US Department of Labor forecasts more demand for registered nurses than any other job through 2012 as the baby boom population ages. But Curt Selquist, company group chairman for Johnson & Johnson, said he sees signs that the gap is closing: Enrollment in US nursing schools has increased by more than 10 percent in each of the last three years, while the number of nurses between 21 and 34 is at its highest level since 1987.
The Promise of Nursing for Massachusetts dinner was mainly a celebration of a profession that often feels taken for granted, featuring a succession of nurses telling stories about their work and its importance. ''At the end of the night, there were people who were standing on their chairs and waving napkins," said Andrea Higham, director of Johnson & Johnson's Campaign for Nurses, which features prominent pronurse television ads.
SCOTT ALLEN
New guide for those living with AIDS
Every year, about 1,000 people in Massachusetts are diagnosed with the AIDS virus. Now, the state Department of Public Health wants to make sure those patients and their doctors have the latest information about where to turn for help. The agency is releasing a guide called ''Now That You Know: A Guide to Living with HIV" that provides information designed to help the newly infected pick a doctor, locate support groups, and enlist specialists who can work with patients to manage their care. The 28-page guide is available in four languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French -- and may be ordered free of charge at www.maclearinghouse.com or at 1-800-952-6637.
STEPHEN SMITH
