Monday, September 17, 2007

MGH names patient-care institute head

Gaurdia E. Banister (left) has been named the first executive director of The Institute for Patient Care at Massachusetts General Hospital, which includes centers for nursing research and professional development.

A registered nurse with a doctorate in psychiatric/mental health nursing, she had been senior vice president for patient care services at Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C., part of the Ascension Health System.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 11:16 AM

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Thursday, September 13, 2007

BU names NIH official to major biolab post

By Stephen Smith, Globe Staff

Boston University today named a federal scientist who specializes in the study of the Ebola and Marburg viruses to the number two position at its controversial high-security laboratory being built in Boston's South End.

Thomas W. Geisbert will become associate director of the Biosafety Level-4 Laboratory and related facilities already rising on Albany Street. The high-security lab will allow scientists to work with the world's deadliest germs, including Ebola, anthrax, and plague.

Geisbert comes to BU from a similar position at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, where he helps preside over that agency's Biosafety Level-4 lab. When Geisbert joins BU on Oct. 1, he will also have direct responsibility for overseeing the handling and analysis of specimens generated by research projects in the facility, which is underwritten by a $128 million grant from the US government.

BU also announced today that Joan Geisbert, who is married to Thomas W. Geisbert, has been hired to help run the specimen lab. Joan Geisbert, who begins her job at BU on Feb. 1, has worked in Biosafety Level-4 labs for 26 years and most recently has supervised high-security labs at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Maryland.

The BU lab, which is being built on the university's medical school campus, has generated lawsuits and street protests by opponents, who maintain that the facility has no place in a congested urban neighborhood. Foes of the lab have also charged that locating it in the South End imposes an unfair burden on a community with a significant segment of poor and minority residents.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 01:37 PM

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Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Partners doctors group names chief medical officer

By Jeffrey Krasner, Globe Staff

Partners Community HealthCare Inc. chose Dr. Jennifer Daley (left) as its new chief medical officer, filling a key position that has been vacant since February. Daley, 57, served most recently as chief medical officer for Tenet Healthcare, the large for-profit health system.

A specialist in internal medicine, Daley has deep roots in the Boston area. She trained at New England Medical Center and completed a fellowship in medicine at Harvard Medical School in 1987. She worked at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the Brockton-West Roxbury Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Massachusetts General Hospital and is a graduate of Tufts School of Medicine.

Partners Community HealthCare is the physicians group for doctors that work for Partners HealthCare. Daley will head medical affairs for the group, and will work to improve quality, safety and efficiency provided by the 4,900 Partners doctors.

Posted by Gideon Gil at 02:34 PM

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Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Another Harvard bioinformatics leader leaving

By Elizabeth Cooney, Globe Correspondent

Another biomedical informatics leader is leaving Harvard to head a new department in the Sun Belt.

Dr. Robert A. Greenes (left), a Harvard Medical School radiology professor and program director of a Harvard-MIT training program in medical informatics, is joining Arizona State University, whose faculty teaches medical students at the new Phoenix branch of the University of Arizona College of Medicine.

He will chair the Phoenix-based department of biomedical informatics in ASU's School of Computing and Informatics, which was founded last year as part of the School of Engineering.

Greenes is leaving Brigham and Women's Hospital, where in 1980 he established the Decision Systems Group.

His departure follows the move in July by Stephen Wong, who took about 20 researchers with him when he left for The Methodist Hospital Research Institute in Houston to create a bioinformatics program there.

"Bob got a wonderful professional opportunity," Dr. Steven Seltzer, chief of radiology at the Brigham, said in an interview today. "They have money and they have space, so it's exciting."

The departures by Greenes and Wong are "bittersweet" transitions that Harvard monitors, he said.

"Our institution is blessed with more than its fair share of resources and part of our mission in life is to help populate the world with folks who are leaders in American medicine," Seltzer said. "Having said that, we still need to retain our highly qualified faculty and when we lose any faculty member, even if for a unique opportunity, it is a bittersweet outcome for us. We monitor as carefully as we can with any faculty attrition we have, how much is for, a 'good' reason, like moving to a nice opportunity, and how much is for a bad reason, that we are not competitive [in] either compensation or other resources."

In a statement from ASU announcing his appointment, Greenes said he was influenced by "the substantial planning efforts and resources already devoted to ASU's biomedical informatics program."

"I'm impressed by the eagerness at all levels of the university, especially its leadership, and among its partners, the University of Arizona, and other Arizona health and biomedical science institutions, to create a top-notch biomedical informatics program," Greenes said. He was traveling today and did not immediately return calls or e-mails seeking comment.

Greenes is not taking members of the Decision Systems Group with him to Arizona, Seltzer said. Dr. Lucila Ohno-Machado will succeed him as director of the group.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 02:44 PM

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Monday, August 27, 2007

Harvard leader named dean of Duke medical school

A Harvard Medical School physician-scientist has been named dean of the Duke University School of Medicine, the North Carolina school announced today.

Dr. Nancy C. Andrews (left), dean for basic sciences and graduate studies at Harvard Medical School, is the first woman to fill the position, Duke said. She will succeed Dr. R. Sanders Williams, who was promoted to senior vice chancellor for academic affairs at Duke.

Andrews, 48, is a pediatric hematologist/oncologist at Children's Hospital Boston and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She previously directed the Harvard/MIT MD/PhD program. A member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, she was a Howard Hughes Investigator from 1993 to 2006.

Andrews earned bachelor's and master's degrees in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University, a Ph.D. in biology from MIT, and an MD from Harvard Medical School. She completed her residency at Children's and a fellowship in pediatric hematology/oncology at Children's and Dana-Farber.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 02:51 PM

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Thursday, August 9, 2007

Beth Israel Deaconess names research operations head

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has named Randy Mason (left) vice president of research operations, the hospital said today.

He comes to Beth Israel Deaconess from Partners HealthCare, where he was chief of staff to the chief academic officer and director of research operations. Before that he had been chief administrative officer for the Harvard/Partners Center for Genetics and Genomics and budget director and comptroller for Partners Corporate.

Mason will be responsible for research administration functions, including grant administration, research facilities and clinical trial operations. He received a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Albany and an MBA in health care administration from the Baruch College Zicklin School of Business/Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 05:40 PM

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Thursday, August 2, 2007

Partners executive to lead New York foundation

By Elizabeth Cooney, Globe Correspondent

Dr. George E. Thibault (left), a leader at Partners HealthCare hospitals and Harvard Medical School, is leaving Boston to become president of a New York foundation devoted to improving health care.

Currently vice president of clinical affairs for Partners and professor of medicine and medical education at Harvard, he will become president of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation in January. The philanthropy supports programs to improve the education of health professionals and to increase the representation of minorities in medicine.

"It’s a very exciting opportunity to influence medical education nationally," Thibault said in an interview. "These are things that I’ve been interested in all my career, but now I can do them on a national scale."

Thibault, 63, had previously been chief medical officer at Brigham and Women's Hospital and chief of medical services at Brockton/West Roxbury VA Medical Center. Earlier in his career he was the first director of the Medical Practices Evaluation Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital and director of the medical intensive care unit and coronary care unit at MGH.

"The integrity, wisdom, and experience that George has brought to this position have allowed him to play a very important 'honest broker' role in working with physicians across the Partners system," Partners president and CEO Dr. James J. Mongan said in a message to staff today. "During George's tenure as Vice President of Clinical Affairs, he has improved physician relationships and cooperation across Partners."

Posted by Gideon Gil at 04:46 PM

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Monday, July 30, 2007

Bigby names new DMH commissioner

JudyAnn Bigby, state secretary of Health and Human Services, today named new commissioners of the Department of Mental Health and the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind and a new director of Medicaid.

Barbara Leadholm will return to the mental health agency after 10 years in the private sector as a vice president at Magellan Health Services, a company that manages behavioral health care for large health plans. At the Department of Mental Health, she was assistant commissioner for policy and planning from 1990 to 1993 and then Metro South Area director until 1996.

In a joint interview, Bigby and Leadholm sounded the same theme of integrating services for medical and behavioral health – a term Leadholm said she prefers to "mental health" because it includes problems such as substance abuse. They also said distinctions between private and public insurance are not as important as building a coherent system of care.

"Barbara’s background brings a special combination of experience that will serve us and the Department of Mental Health well as we look at strategies for optimizing services and ensuring quality, looking at the type of outcomes that we want to see that really focus on the individual, not just on mental illness," Bigby said. "We want to ensure that we have a unified set of standards and principles."

Leadholm had previously worked at the former Department of Welfare as director of chronic and specialty hospitals, director of CommonHealth and special populations, and provider manager for mental health and mental retardation. She holds a master's degree in psychiatric nursing from Boston College and an MBA from Boston University.

"I’ve got about 30 years of experience working both in the public sector as well as the private sector. That allows me to have a broad perspective," Leadholm said. "We want to look at how we can work together to make sure the system makes sense for more people. It’s very confusing for anyone who has a child with a serious emotional issue or a family facing schizophrenia for the first time. I don’t think it matters whether you have private insurance or whether you look to the state for assistance."

Bigby also appointed Janet LaBreck head of the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, where she has worked for 22 years, the last six as regional director for Central Massachusetts. Before then she was a vocational rehabilitation counselor and an independent living coordinator. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts-Boston and a master's in education at Springfield College.

Thomas Dehner, who has been acting director of Medicaid since January 2006, has been named director. He is responsible for MassHealth, the state's Medicaid plan, and its $8 billion budget.

He had been deputy Medicaid director and before that chief of staff for the state Division of Medical Assistance. From 1999 through 2003 he was deputy general counsel for the Senate Committee on Ways and Means.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 05:07 PM

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Harvard leader named president of Texas Tech Health Sciences Center

Dr. John C. Baldwin (left), a Harvard professor of surgery and head of the CBR Biomedical Institute affiliated with Harvard Medical School, has been named president of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, the university's chancellor announced today.

A fifth-generation Texan, Baldwin graduated from Harvard College and Stanford University School of Medicine and completed his internship and residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was chief of cardiovascular surgery at Yale University, head of surgical programs at Baylor College of Medicine, dean of Dartmouth Medical School and associate provost of Dartmouth College before returning to Harvard to become president and CEO of the CBR Institute for Biomedical Research, which is in the process of changing its name to the Immune Disease Institute.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 02:37 PM

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Friday, July 20, 2007

Beth Israel Deaconess makes leadership changes

By Liz Kowalczyk, Globe Staff

Curious changes are afoot among department heads at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Dr. Carol Warfield, chief of anesthesia, sent an e-mail to colleagues on Wednesday, saying that hospital chief executive Paul Levy had dismissed her as chair effective immediately.

"To say the least, I was shocked," Warfield wrote. She said that she was planning to return from sabbatical in two weeks and that Levy, whom she said notified her by e-mail, gave her no reason for the dismissal.

She took over eight years ago when the department was in turmoil, and said in her e-mail that it is in "excellent financial health" today.

"After being here for 30 years, I hope to continue as a member of the department," Warfield wrote, "but since this was so sudden I have no specific plans right now."

Warfield could not be reached for comment. Hospital spokeswoman Judy Glasser said Warfield has stepped down, but she couldn't say more.

"We can't comment on personnel issues," she said.

The change in the anesthesiology department comes a week after Dr. Josef Fischer, chairman of surgery, wrote a letter to surgeons, saying that he is so busy he needs help running the department. Since October, Fischer has served as chairman of the Board of Regents for the American College of Surgeons.

With Levy's "approval and encouragement," Fischer said, he has formed an executive committee of four doctors to help run the department -- an unusual arrangement at an academic medical center.

Fischer continued to say that since he would be away a lot over the next year, a member of the executive committee will accompany him to all major meetings "so there is no loss of continuity of conversation, analysis or decision-making."

Levy and Fischer, through a hospital spokeswoman, both declined to comment on the new arrangement.

Posted by Gideon Gil at 04:25 PM

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Monday, July 2, 2007

Mental health provider group names CEO

Vicker DiGravio III (left) has been named president and CEO of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Corporations of Massachusetts Inc.

DiGravio had been chief of staff to state Senate majority leader Frederick E. Berry before joining the trade association in October. The statewide association of community-based mental health and substance abuse service provider organizations is based in Natick.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 03:53 PM

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Friday, June 15, 2007

MGH Institute picks president

Janis P. Bellack (left) has been named president of the MGH Institute of Health Professions, an independent graduate school and academic affiliate of the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Bellack had been vice president for academic affairs/provost and professor of nursing and health sciences at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. She will succeed Ann W. Caldwell, who announced in September that she would step down after 10 years as president.

Bellack earned a bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of Virginia, a master’s degree in pediatric nursing from the University of Florida, and a Ph.D. in educational policy studies and evaluation from the University of Kentucky.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 11:15 AM

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Thursday, June 14, 2007

Hospital Association chairman takes gavel

Robert G. Norton, president and CEO of North Shore Medical Center in Salem, became chairman of the Massachusetts Hospital Association's board of trustees today, the group said.

Norton came to the Partners HealthCare hospital from Shands Jacksonville Medical Center in Florida after being executive vice president at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Other MHA officers are Winchester Hospital president and CEO Dale M. Lodge, chairman elect; Tufts-New England Medical Center president and CEO Ellen M. Zane, treasurer; and Cambridge Health Alliance president and CEO Dennis Keefe, secretary.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 04:07 PM

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Monday, June 11, 2007

Harvard names acting medical school dean

Harvard has named an acting dean for the medical school in a move that means a permanent appointment will not be made before the current dean leaves.

Dr. Barbara J. McNeil (left), chair of health care policy and professor of radiology, will assume the interim position after retiring dean Dr. Joseph B. Martin steps down June 30. A 1966 graduate of Harvard Medical School, McNeil has been a member of the faculty since 1983.

In a statement from Harvard last week, incoming President Drew Gilpin Faust said it did not seem feasible for a permanent dean to be appointed or to start as dean by July 1.

"We have made good progress in the search for a new dean and identified some very promising candidates," Faust said in the statement.

The Globe reported on May 24 that nationally known cardiologist Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and leading Harvard diabetes researcher Dr. Jeffrey Flier were among the finalists, according to several Harvard doctors and officials with knowledge of the search.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 11:11 AM

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Monday, June 4, 2007

Harvard bioinformatics team leaving for Houston

A leading scientist who directed research programs at Harvard Medical School and at Brigham and Women’s Hospital is leaving Boston and taking about 20 researchers with him to develop a bioinformatics program in Houston.

Stephen Wong (left) is leaving his posts as director of the Center for Bioinformatics in the Harvard Center for Neurodegeneration and Repair at Harvard Medical School and executive director of the Functional and Molecular Imaging Center at Brigham and Women’s. He has been an associate professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School and part of the neuro-oncology and cancer imaging programs at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

On July 1 he will become chief of medical physics and vice chair of radiology at The Methodist Hospital and director of the bioinformatics program at The Methodist Hospital Research Institute. He will join the faculty at Weill Cornell Medical College, which became the hospital’s academic affiliate after it dissolved ties with Baylor University three years ago.

"This was not an easy decision to make. I think Harvard is wonderful," Wong said in an interview today. "I do think the opportunity in Houston is big. It’s a fantastic opportunity to be in on the infrastructure."

Wong said he was drawn to Methodist by Dr. King Li, with whom he had worked on molecular imaging. Li was the chief of diagnostic radiology at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center before becoming chair of radiology at Methodist last year.

At Methodist, Wong will build a program to use information that comes from imaging and other biomedical technologies to devise diagnostic tests and treatments. He said he envisions a sort of human GPS system for interventional medicine, in which imaging guides individualized treatments.

Wong has a background in business that includes working for computer company HP and developing the online trading arm of stock broker Charles Schwab. He also worked on a digital image archive system at the University of California at San Francisco. He was recruited from industry three years ago to create the functional and molecular imaging center at the Brigham, Dr. Steven Seltzer, chair of radiology, said in an interview today.

"Steve’s a very talented Ph.D. scientist," he said. "As disappointed as we are to lose him, it’s a very exciting opportunity for Steve and for them."

Seltzer said the number of people transferring with Wong is "on the large side," calling it a testament to the resources Methodist has been able to put together. He said all but one of the Brigham people leaving with Wong are graduate students or postdoctoral fellows. Wong said the total number of people moving south with him is about 20. He will also take with him $4 million in NIH grants.

"Our backfill strategy is that talented folks are still here and some will be promoted into positions of new responsibility," Seltzer said. "We will in turn be looking at graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. We have the richness of the intellectual capital in the Boston area."

Wong said he will maintain the collaborations he has with 25 different labs in Boston.

"Science has no boundaries, so physical location doesn’t matter," he said.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 06:50 PM

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Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Harvard close to hiring medical school dean

By Liz Kowalczyk, Globe Staff

Harvard University's incoming president, Drew Gilpin Faust, is close to making a key hire, dean of Harvard Medical School, and the finalists include a nationally-known cardiologist and a leading Harvard diabetes researcher, according to several Harvard doctors and officials with knowledge of the search.

Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, a cardiologist who trained at Brigham and Women's Hospital and is director of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, is a top finalist for the position, according to two of the sources.

Nabel and the agency's spokeswoman did not return calls asking for comment. While at the University of Michigan during the 1980s and 1990s, she rose to chief of the Division of Cardiology and became known for her research into the molecular genetics of cardiovascular diseases, according to the institute's website.

The sources said that Dr. Jeffrey Flier, chief academic officer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a nationally-known researcher on diabetes and obesity, also is a serious contender for the job. He said through a spokeswoman that he would not comment on the search.

Harvard University spokesman John Longbrake said the university would not comment on the search until it is completed.

The next dean of Harvard Medical School will replace Dr. Joseph Martin, who steps down next month, ending a 10-year tenure during which he oversaw dramatic changes to the school's curriculum. Martin, a neurologist, plans to take a sabbatical for one year and then increase his work with the Harvard Center for Neurodegeneration & Repair, a group that is trying to develop new drugs for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease and other neurological disorders.

Interim Harvard University president Derek Bok convened a faculty search committee to recommend potential replacements for Martin. But he left the final decision to Faust, partly because of the medical school's importance -- it has 11,000 faculty members and $1.2 billion in National Institutes of Health research grants awarded to the medical school and its affiliated hospitals. The medical school dean also will have a key role in the development of Harvard's new Allston campus, where a major stem cell research institute and other scientific laboratories will be located.

The search committee evaluated an initial list of several hundred candidates, the sources said, but the committee is advisory; Faust conducts the final interviews, makes the ultimate decision, and negotiates the new dean's salary, resources, and fund-raising responsibilities.

Posted by Gideon Gil at 06:50 PM

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Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Sen. Barrios to head BCBS of Mass. Foundation

Senator Jarrett Barrios, a Cambridge Democrat who has been an outspoken advocate for minorities and gay marriage, confirmed today that he will leave office in early July to become the president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. He will replace Nancy Turnbull, now an associate dean at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Posted by Gideon Gil at 03:43 PM

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Friday, May 18, 2007

Holzman to lead state psychiatry group

Dr. Todd F. Holzman (left), a pediatric psychiatrist at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, has been named president-elect of the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society. He is also an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 05:07 PM

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Monday, April 30, 2007

University of Miami luring top researchers

The University of Miami medical school has embarked on a billion-dollar campaign to become a top research center and create the conditions for biotech success seen in places like Boston and Cambridge and Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, a story in today's Miami Herald says.

The school, led by university president and Clinton administration Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, has hired away 51 of the 180 researchers at the Duke University Center for Human Genetics over the past year, the story says. Miami is pouring money into new research centers, but it's also helping with housing costs, the school told the paper.

Within the past six months, the story says, Miami's medical school has brought these researchers on board, along with about $70 million in multiyear grants from the National Institutes of Health:

Dr. Joshua M. Hare, a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, and seven colleagues.

Dr. Marc Estes Lippman, a breast-cancer researcher at the University of Michigan, and 30 colleagues.

Dr. Ralph Sacco, a Columbia University stroke expert, and 10 colleagues.

Dr. Julio Licinio, professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine, and 20 colleagues.

Miami spokesman Omar Montejo told the Globe today that no Boston researchers are among the scientists recently recruited to the medical school.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 10:48 AM

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Thursday, April 26, 2007

Newton-Wellesley opens joint reconstruction center

Newton-Wellesley Hospital has opened a new center for joint reconstruction surgery in collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Joseph C. McCarthy (left), who came to Newton-Wellesley from New England Baptist Hospital in September, was named director of the Jim and Ellen Kaplan Center for Joint Reconstruction Surgery when it opened Monday. A $1 million gift from the Kaplans will help fund three new operating rooms in the center.

McCarthy was also appointed vice chair for program development in orthopedic surgery at Mass. General.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 01:47 PM

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Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Cambridge names new chief public health officer

Cambridge has named Claude-Alix Jacob (left) chief public health officer for the city and director of the Cambridge Public Health Department.

Jacob had been deputy director of the Office of Health Promotion at the Illinois Department of Public Health and before that he was chief of the Bureau of Disease Prevention and Control at the Baltimore City Health Department. He earned a master’s degree in public health from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Jacob will take over from interim health director Dr. Karen Hacker, who was appointed in July after Harold D. Cox stepped down to become associate dean for public health practice at Boston University's School of Public Health.

The Cambridge Public Health Department is a municipal health agency operated by Cambridge Health Alliance through a contract with the City of Cambridge.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 11:03 AM

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Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Feldman leaving as leader of Worcester health center

Zoila Torres Feldman, an ardent advocate for expanding access to high-quality health care, is leaving as chief executive officer of Great Brook Valley Health Center in Worcester after 26 years.

Zoila Torres Feldman

Feldman, 62, said her Oct. 1 departure is "absolutely not" a retirement. She has accepted no specific position but said she is passionate about addressing the ethnic and racial disparities that persist in health care.

"There are too many challenges in health care I’d like to participate in," she said in an interview. "I’d like to do some new things."

Her influence has been felt beyond Worcester, where the health center grew from an apartment in a housing complex to a free-standing clinic with an annual budget of $23 million and 140,000 patients a year. Another health center opened in Framingham last year, despite anti-immigrant opposition.

Feldman, who lives in Newton, is a native of Ecuador and a graduate of Boston University and the Harvard School of Public Health. She worked as a nurse for 12 years at Tufts-New England Medical Center.

"I think there is no more talented and respected community health leader in the commonwealth than Zoila," Andrew Dreyfus, executive vice president of health care services at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, said in an interview. "Her center was a kind of magnet for innovation in community health delivery. She was always a thought leader in the kind of public policy issues that surround the community health movement."

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 01:37 PM

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Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Former Brigham doctor to head NJ medical school

Dr. William F. Owen Jr., formerly of Brigham and Women's Hospital, has been named president of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, the school said today.

Owen is the chancellor of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis and vice president for health affairs at the University of Tennessee. Before that he had been chief scientist for Baxter Healthcare Corp.'s renal division while an adjunct professor at Duke University School of Medicine.

Owen graduated from Brown University and Tufts University School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency in medicine as well as fellowships in nephrology, transplantation and immunology at Brigham and Women's.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 07:40 PM

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Friday, March 23, 2007

Harvard scientist to lead Stanford's Bio-X program

Harvard neurobiologist Carla Shatz will move to Stanford this summer to lead the university's Bio-X program, a bioscience effort that promotes collaborations between wide-ranging fields of scientists, the San Jose Mercury News reported this week.

Carla Shatz

The Stanford Report, quoting a Harvard alumni publication, said that in 1976 Shatz became the first woman to receive a doctorate in neurobiology from Harvard, and in 2000, the first woman to chair Harvard's neurobiology department and the second woman in the history of Harvard Medical School to chair a basic science department.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 09:00 AM

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Thursday, March 22, 2007

Boston oncologist picked to lead Fox Chase

Dr. Michael V. Seiden, a leading cancer clinician and researcher, is leaving Boston to become president and CEO of Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, the center announced today.

Seiden, 48, is head of the gynecological cancer program at the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and chief of clinical research in cancer medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. An associate professor of medicine at Harvard, his research focuses on ovarian cancer tumor biology. He is the physician coordinator of the cancer stem cell project at the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center.

On June 1 he will succeed Dr. Robert C. Young, 67, who is retiring from Fox Chase, which treats about 6,500 new patients a year and employs about 2,500 people.

Seiden is a graduate of Oberlin College and earned his M.D. and Ph.D. at Washington University in St. Louis. He completed his internship and residency at Mass. General, was a fellow in medicine at Harvard, did a three-year clinical fellowship in medical oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and was a postdoctoral fellow in molecular pathology at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 05:55 PM

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Monday, March 19, 2007

Three more public health officials will shift from Boston to state

By Stephen Smith, Globe Staff

The winds of change are already blowing down Washington Street.

Boston health chief John Auerbach, named earlier this month to be Massachusetts's public health commissioner, is taking three of his top lieutenants with him when he moves to the state agency's headquarters in Downtown Crossing. All three will occupy the same roles at the state Department of Public Health that they held at the Boston Public Health Commission.

Monica Valdes Lupi will be chief of staff; Kristin Golden will be director of policy and planning; and Tom Lyons will direct the communications office.

The moves had been widely anticipated; leaders of state agencies frequently choose to surround themselves with trusted allies, and Auerbach has long-standing relationships with all three of the officials who will join him at the Department of Public Health April 2.

Posted by Karen Weintraub at 03:59 PM

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Partners names new VP for research administration

Geoffrey Grant has been appointed vice president for research administration at Partners HealthCare, the hospital system said today.

Partners, which includes Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, has a $1 billion research program and receives the most funding for a hospital from the National Institutes of Health, it said in a statment.

Grant is the former director of the Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration. In 2003 he was assigned by the National Science Foundation to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. From 1998 to 2003 he was associate vice president for research administration at Stanford University.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 03:28 PM

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Friday, March 16, 2007

Shannon hired as new HHS policy director

Massachusetts Secretary of Health and Human Services JudyAnn Bigby has appointed Melissa Shannon director of policy for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the agency announced today.

Shannon comes from the advocacy group Health Care for All, where she was director of government affairs. She
was responsible for the organization’s legislative and regulatory agenda and worked on implementation of the new healthcare law with the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority.

Before joining Health Care For All in 2005, Shannon was associate counsel to the Senate Ways and Means Committee under Chairman Mark Montigny and later his general counsel and legislative director, working on issues realted to healthcare access.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 03:50 PM

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Thursday, March 15, 2007

Emergency medicine chief named at Cambridge Hospital

Dr. Luis F. Lobón has been named chief of emergency medicine at The Cambridge Hospital campus of Cambridge Health Alliance. Lobón comes to CHA from Caritas Carney Hospital in Dorchester, where he was chief of emergency medicine.

Lobón received his MD from the University of Cantabria Faculty of Medicine in Spain and performed his internship and residencies in emergency medicine in New York City at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Beth Israel Medical Center and Elmhurst Hospital Center. He received a master’s degree in health management and finance from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 03:24 PM

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Chancellor of UMass Medical School steps down

Dr. Aaron Lazare stepped down as chancellor and dean of University of Massachusetts Medical School today because he has developed a cardiac arrhythmia, the medical school announced.

Dr. Aaron Lazare

Lazare, 71, has headed the state's medical school since 1991, presiding over a complicated merger between its hospital and the private Memorial Health Care that was completed in 1998, as well as an expansion of research reflected in a $100 million laboratory building that bears his name.

"This is a bittersweet moment for me," Lazare said in a memo sent to faculty, staff and students this morning. "I have had an extraordinary vantage point as this institution has grown into a role as a health sciences campus of international distinction. To say that my work over the years has been professionally and personally rewarding is an utter understatement: It has been a privilege."

Feeling fatigue and an abnormal heart rhythm a few weeks ago, Lazare went to Newton-Wellesley Hospital and was diagnosed with atrial flutter, he said in an interview today. He's taking medication to regulate his heart beat and trying to cut back on the demands on his time.

"I began to think with this carrying two jobs for all this time, it might be time to step down from these very heavy responsibilities," he said. "I expect to return to health, but diminishing stress is part of the treatment."

Lazare will remain on the faculty as a professor of medical education and psychiatry, continuing his research and writing. His latest book, "On Apology," was published in 2004. His next topic is humiliation.

"I love writing and I believe I have some ideas that are worth passing on," he said.

He also hopes to spend more time with his seven children and 11 grandchildren, most of whom live near his Newton home.

Lazare joined UMass as a professor of psychiatry and chair of the department in 1982 after 14 years at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he led its outpatient psychiatry department, among other services.

A search for a successor to one of his UMass roles is already underway. In June the jobs of chancellor and dean were separated and recruitment for a dean and executive deputy chancellor was begun, leaving Lazare to focus on relationships with UMass trustees, donors and the community.

The heart condition is not the first health problem for Lazare. He had a kidney removed after he was diagnosed with renal cancer.

UMass president Jack M. Wilson accepted his resignation with sadness, he said in a statement.

"As a colleague and friend, Aaron’s well-being is of greatest importance to me, and I know that the entire University of Massachusetts community joins me in wishing him a very speedy recovery," he said. "Because the circumstances that have caused Aaron to step aside arose without warning, I will work with the campus leadership in the coming days to make arrangements for interim appointments, and will in due course define a search process for a Chancellor."

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 10:53 AM

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Tuesday, March 13, 2007

UMass Memorial hires new chief nursing officer

Nancy R. Kruger has been appointed senior vice president and chief nursing officer at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, the hospital said.

Kruger had been chief nursing officer and vice president of patient care services at Brigham and Women’s Hospital for five years. Before that she was chief nursing officer at Hershey Medical Center, the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine’s academic medical center.

She received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Skidmore College, completed a graduate degree in nursing from New York University and earned a doctorate in nursing science from the University of Pennsylvania.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 10:37 AM

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Thursday, March 8, 2007

Beth Israel Deaconess hires new COO

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has named Eric Buehrens its new chief operating officer, the hospital said today.

Buehrens has been the deputy provost for administration at Harvard University. Before that he was executive dean for administration at Harvard Medical School, and associate dean for planning and facilities at HMS.

He will succeed Dr. Michael F. Epstein, who said last month he would be leaving May 1.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 07:05 PM

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Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Beth Israel hires spine neurosurgery chief

Dr. Michael W. Groff has been named chief of the neurosurgical spine service and co-director of the Spine Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

He comes to BIDMC from Indiana University School of Medicine, where he was director of spinal surgery and co-director of the spinal cord injury center.

Groff received his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pittsburgh, and completed intern and residency training at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, and fellowship training at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 03:53 PM

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Monday, March 5, 2007

New chief chosen for Department of Public Health

By Stephen Smith, Globe Staff

The Patrick administration today named John Auerbach, the veteran chief of Boston's health department, as the state's new public health commissioner, placing a familiar face in a high-profile job.

For Auerbach, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission for nine years, the appointment marks a return to state government, where he once served as director of the HIV/AIDS Bureau as well as chief of staff of the Department of Public Health.

The announcement was made by Dr. JudyAnn Bigby, health secretary under Governor Deval Patrick. Bigby and Auerbach have a long-standing working relationship: Bigby served on the volunteer board that sets health policy in Boston throughout Auerbach's tenure.

John Auerbach

Bigby announced in January that she was replacing the current public health commissioner, Paul J. Cote, who had been appointed by Mitt Romney while he was governor. As rumors about potential successors circulated at the health agency's headquarters, Auerbach's name immediately ascended to the top of the list.

He had gained national prominence in public health circles by championing sometimes-controversial causes such as banning smoking in bars and restaurants and, more recently, reviewing whether the city should ban trans-fats from restaurants and bakeries. Auerbach also directed a groundbreaking campaign to address ethnic and racial disparities in healthcare, which his boss, Mayor Thomas M. Menino, declared as the most pressing medical issue in the city.

Auerbach's appointment arrives a week after Patrick announced a $72 million increase in public health spending, with the money being used to expand childhood vaccinations and disease-prevention campaigns.

Posted by Karen Weintraub at 03:23 PM

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Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Floating Hospital hires pediatrician-in-chief

Dr. John Schreiber has been named pediatrician-in-chief and chief administrative officer of Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts-New England Medical Center, as well as chairman of the department of pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine.

Dr. John Schreiber

Schreiber, who will step into his new role in July, is coming from the University of Minnesota Medical School, where he was pediatrician-in-chief of the University of Minnesota’s Children’s Hospital.

Schreiber received a masters degree in public health and a medical degree from Tulane University. He completed pediatric residency and clinical and research fellowships in infectious diseases at Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School. He was in the United States Air Force Reserves for 11 years, serving during Desert Storm as a flight surgeon with the 757 Airlift Squadron at Scott Air Force Base.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 10:48 AM

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Friday, February 23, 2007

Three CHA physicians promoted at Harvard

Three Cambridge Health Alliance physicians have earned academic promotions from Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Jean A. Frazier, director of the Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatric Research Program at CHA and co-director of CHA’s Center for Child and Adolescent Development, has been named associate professor of psychiatry at the medical school.

Dr. Elizabeth H. Gaufberg, an internist and a psychiatrist at CHA, has been named assistant professor of medicine and assistant professor of psychiatry.

Dr. Cynthia J. Telingator, training director of CHA’s Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, has been named assistant professor of psychiatry.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 09:13 AM

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Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Joslin doctor joins state's new Asian American Commission

Dr. George L. King, director of research at Joslin Diabetes Center and co-director of Joslin's Asian American Diabetes Initiative, was sworn in today as a member of the state's new Asian American Commission in a State House ceremony.

King also heads vascular cell biology at Joslin and is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 02:45 PM

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Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Brigham names two leaders of technology initiative

Dr. Joseph V. Bonventre and Dr. Frederick J. Schoen have been named directors of the new Technology in Medicine Initiative at Brigham and Women's Hospital's Biomedical Research Institute, the hospital has announced.

They also will serve as liaisons between the hospital and the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology, a consortium of area teaching hospitals, universities and research laboratories that develops medical devices.

Bonventre is a professor of medicine and health sciences and technology at Harvard Medical School, director of the renal division at Brigham and Women's and co-director of the BRI Stem Cell, Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering Center.

Schoen is professor of pathology and health sciences and technology at Harvard Medical School, director of cardiac pathology and executive vice-chairman of the Brigham and Women's department of pathology.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 05:48 PM

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Friday, February 16, 2007

Brigham doctor named to Boston health board

By Stephen Smith, Globe staff

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino today appointed a specialist in women's medical issues and healthcare disparities to the city's health board.

Dr. Paula A. Johnson, chief of the women's health division at Brigham and Women's Hospital, will replace Dr. JudyAnn Bigby on the board of the Boston Public Health Commission. Bigby, who also was a top physician at the Brigham, is the new health secretary in the administration of Governor Deval Patrick.

Dr. Paula A. Johnson

The commission board approves major public health initiatives in the city, voting in the past, for example, to ban smoking in restaurants and bars. Boston has the nation's oldest public health agency.

Johnson is a participant in Menino's ongoing Disparities Project, which aims to bridge persistent gaps in health status that exist between racial and ethnic groups in the city. Menino has said that healthcare disparities are the city's most pressing medical issue.

Posted by Gideon Gil at 05:54 PM

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Beth Israel Deaconess lures hot-shot cancer geneticist

By Scott Allen, Globe Staff

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has successfully lured one of the most promising young cancer geneticists away from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, making Dr. Pier Paolo Pandolfi the director of its newly created cancer genetics program.

Dr. Pier Paolo Pandolfi

The Italian-born Pandolfi, 43, already has won a slew of awards for his research into the molecular and genetic causes of leukemia, lymphoma and other cancers. His work has led to new treatments for a form of blood cancer, acute promyelocytic leukemia.

As both a professor at Cornell University's Weill Medical College and a researcher at the world's largest cancer center, Pandolfi was positioned for a long run in New York. But Beth Israel Deaconess, eager to play a bigger role in the most dynamic area of cancer research, attracted Pandolfi to Boston with the promise of a new program where he will attempt to develop individualized treatments for cancer patients. Pandolfi also will become a professor at Harvard Medical School, for which Beth Israel Deaconess is a major teaching hospital.

In an interview, Pandolfi said he was attracted by the idea of working in Boston's storied Longwood Medical Area, adding that he dreamed of becoming a Harvard professor when he was a boy growing up in Rome. "I have a very good job. Sloan-Kettering is a top institution, but I'm sure we can do as well or better here," he said.

Senior Beth Israel Deaconess officials were full of praise for their new rising star, and one official couldn't resist a little Boston-bests-New York ribbing. "Now they can keep Johnny Damon," he joked.

Posted by Gideon Gil at 02:57 PM

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Thursday, February 15, 2007

UMass doctor to lead geriatric psychiatry group

Dr. Gary S. Moak, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, next month will become president of the 2,000-member American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, the organization said.

Dr. Gary S. Moak

He is director of the Moak Center for Healthy Aging, a geriatric psychiatry group practice in Westborough.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 02:54 PM

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Monday, February 12, 2007

Beth Israel Deaconess radiology chief to edit journal

Dr. Herbert Y. Kressel, radiologist-in-chief at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, will step down at the end of the year to become editor-in-chief for the journal Radiology, the hospital said today.

Kressel will stay on staff one day a week in the radiology department and he will keep his appointment as a professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Vassilios Raptopoulos, who was recently named vice chair of clinical services in radiology, will serve as interim chief if needed. A search committee is being formed to appoint a new chief.

Kressel joined Beth Israel Hospital as radiologist-in-chief in 1993. He was chief medical officer and president for BIDMC until 2000.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 04:40 PM

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Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Birkett to lead state chapter of surgeons group

Dr. Desmond H. Birkett of Lahey Clinic has been named president-elect for 2007 of the Massachusetts chapter of the American College of Surgeons.

Birkett is the chair of general surgery at Lahey and a clinical professor of surgery at Tufts University School of Medicine.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 06:05 PM

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Monday, February 5, 2007

Chief neurosurgeon leaves void at Springfield hospital

Baystate Medical Center in Springfield is losing its chief neurosurgeon, creating a critical void at Western Massachusetts' major trauma center, the Republican reports today.

Dr. Paul M. Kanev has resigned, effective in March, to become joint neurosurgical chief of Hartford Hospital and its affiliated Children's Medical Center of Connecticut.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 05:58 AM

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Tuesday, January 30, 2007

After loss of heart docs, Brigham recruits replacements

Brigham and Women's Hospital is trying to replenish its cardiology staff, after outside recruiters raided the department last year. The Brigham, which particularly needs a strong cardiology department as it prepares to open a $350 million cardiovascular wing next year, lost six, or 10 percent, of its 50 cardiologists last year.

They were lured away by private medical companies and by Case Western Reserve University Medical School and its affiliated University Hospitals of Cleveland, which are trying to compete with the Cleveland Clinic -- world renowned for its heart care and research.

In response, Brigham executives have gone on their own head-hunting spree, hiring three cardiologists who will start their new jobs in the next few months.

The Brigham hired two doctors from Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center -- Dr. Frederick Welt, director of St. Elizabeth's cardiac catheterization lab, and Dr. Pinak Shah -- and Dr. Judy Mangion from Hartford Hospital in Connecticut.

Caritas fired back, hiring away Dr. Jeffrey Popma, director of interventional cardiology at the Brigham.

Brigham executives say they don't need to replace all the doctors who left, because the new physicians will spend more of their time seeing patients, and a little less on research, and because of a slight slowdown in cardiac catheterization cases.

Case Western last year recruited Dr. Daniel Simon as its new chief of cardiology. Dr. Mukesh Jain and Dr. James Fang also signed on for high-level positions, and three Brigham cardiology fellows headed west as well.

At Case Western, the Harvard doctors have made a big splash. Overnight patients in the hospitals' cardiac services have jumped 25 percent, Simon said. The Brigham doctors also brought a significant amount of research funding with them -- about $4.5 million -- most of which they brought from the Brigham.

Simon said he left the Brigham not because of dissatisfaction with his employer, but because of the tremendous opportunity offered by Case Western's new medical school dean and the hospital system's new chief executive, who promised $20 million to hire doctors and researchers for a new cardiovascular institute.

-- Liz Kowalczyk

Posted by Gideon Gil at 02:15 PM

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Monday, January 29, 2007

New CMO for HealthOne

Dr. Jeffrey Levin-Scherz is the new chief medical officer for the 700-physician HealthOne Care System, which includes Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates.

He'll also oversee Dedham Medical Associates, Granite Medical, Southboro Medical Group and South Shore Medical Center.

Levin-Scherz comes from Partners Community Healthcare, where he was CMO for the physician network of Partners Healthcare. He'd previously been vice president and corporate medical director for Tufts Health Plan.

HealthOne's acting CMO Dr. Richard Lopez will continue as deputy medical director.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 12:44 PM

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Friday, January 26, 2007

A non-MD, new Joslin CEO suits tight times, scientists say

Research money isn't what it used to be. Neither is the leadership of the Joslin Diabetes Center.

But Ranch C. Kimball, Joslin's first non-physician president and CEO, won "surprisingly positive" reviews from scientists when he made the rounds at the Harvard affiliate before being named. A memo summarizing the scientists' impressions of Kimball also said he had "obvious intellectual gifts and understood researchers' needs."

Kimball comes from the Romney administration, where he was secretary of economic development. He takes over from Dr. C. Ronald Kahn, who returned to full-time research in September.

"We realize this is probably an unusual choice of a president," said Dr. Steven E. Shoelson, a Joslin researcher and clinician. "I think it relates to the specific demands of the time. With NIH funding going down and more and more competition for research dollars, the board felt a specific need to strengthen our ability to compete for development dollars."

Joslin's outpatient clinic, run jointly with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, loses money because that kind of primary care -- unlike surgery -- isn't reimbursed very well.

Total revenues and expenses both grew a little over 1 percent from fiscal 2004 to 2005. Its surplus was about $4.6 million both years. Philanthropy has averaged about $12 million over the last four years.

Paul Levy, president and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess, was on the search committee that nominated Kimball for the Joslin job. Business leaders bubbled to the top, he said.

Joslin holds its own getting NIH funds, said Shoelson, who is associate director of research. Grant support was about the same from 2004 to 2005, but belt-tightening has chilled Joslin and other research centers as fewer proposals survive.

One researcher who asked not to be named said he's getting only 80 percent of the money he used to pull in from NIH.

"I wake up and think, my God, with a 20 percent cut, how can I manage the salaries of my post-docs or my fellows? How do I manage my funds for experiments?"

Kahn did well to combine fund-raising with research, the scientist said, but a single focus on money will be better.

"I think the critical thing for us is to have a happy marriage between the business side and the research side."

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 10:08 PM

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A hand for former hospital association head

Ousted Massachusetts Hospital Association head Ron Hollander was warmly applauded at a forum Friday on affordable health care. MHA chairman Daniel P. Moen thanked him for his 12 years as president. Hollander was forced to resign because of perceived weakness on Beacon Hill, board members told the Globe two weeks ago.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 10:08 PM

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Two new deans bring Lahey, Tufts closer

Lahey Clinic's ties to Tufts University School of Medicine just got stronger through the appointments of two new deans.

Dr. David J. Schoetz, a colon and rectal surgeon, is the first Tufts academic dean at Lahey in Burlington. Dr. David A. Neumeyer is the new dean of admissions at Tufts, chairing the admissions committee he has been on for five years. At Lahey he is co-director of the Sleep Disorders Center.

The relationship between Tufts and Lahey began only about six years ago, said Schoetz, who looks for Lahey's 200 doctors with Tufts faculty appointments to become more closely integrated with the medical school and increase Lahey's research projects.

Tufts has similar posts at its other major academic affiliates, including New England Medical Center, Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center and Baystate Medical Center.

"These appointments more formally reflect a long-standing and important relationship with Lahey Clinic," Dr. Jeffrey Glassroth, vice dean for academic and clinical affairs at Tufts School of Medicine, wrote in an email.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 09:58 PM

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Exodus from news media to hospital marketing

Longtime Boston television health reporter and producer Rhonda L. Mann is Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's new director of marketing communications.

Rhonda L. Mann

Mann previously managed the health news division at WCVB-Channel 5, doing on-air reporting and producing segments for medical editor Dr. Timothy Johnson.

The hospital said her appointment to fill an open position recognized her gifts as a storyteller. Another television figure turned hospital marketing professional is Peter R. Brown, vice president of public affairs and communications at Brigham and Women's Hospital, who two years ago left a 22-year career at WBZ-Channel 4.

Zineb Marchoudi, who was a writer and producer for Channel 5's 11 p.m. news, will join Mann's department at Beth Israel Deaconess as a media relations specialist. Senior editor Michael Keating is the third member of the department. He had been managing editor/features for Seacoast Media Group in Portsmouth, N.H., which publishes the Portsmouth Herald and Seacoastonline.com.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 09:41 PM

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