Progress Notes

Joseph Loscalzo, Ph.D. ’76, M.D. ’78, is one of this year’s recipients of the Perelman School’s Distin­guished Graduate Award. He is a cardiovascular specialist re­nowned for his work in vascular biology, thrombosis, atheroscle­rosis, and systems biology. His most recent work has established the field of network medicine, which uses systems biology and network science to redefine dis­ease and therapeutics from an in­tegrated perspective. Loscalzo has also written or co-written more than 800 scientific publica­tions, has written or edited 40 books, and holds 31 patents for his work in the field of nitric ox­ide and redox biology.

The Hersey Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Lo­scalzo is also physician-in-chief at Brigham and Women’s Hospi­tal and chair of its Department of Medicine. He has also been chair of the research committee of the American Heart Association and chair of the board of scien­tific counselors of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. A recipient of the NIH MERIT Award, he is editor-in-chief of Circulation.

Among his numerous honors is membership in the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has received the George W. Thorn Award for Excellence in Teaching at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The American Heart Associa­tion has recognized Loscalzo with its Distinguished Scientist Award and its Research Achieve­ment Award.

Verdi J. DiSesa, M.D. ’76, G.M.E. ’83, was named president and chief executive officer of Temple University Hospital. He has been at Temple since 2011 and will remain chief operating officer of Temple’s health system and senior vice dean for clinical affairs in the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple Univer­sity. He is board certified in in­ternal medicine, general surgery, and thoracic surgery.

Steven A. Fischkoff, M.D. ’76, has been appointed chief medical officer of Lion Biotechnologies, Inc., which is developing novel cancer immunotherapies based on tumor-infiltrating lympho­cytes. With 25 years of biophar­maceutical experience, Fischkoff most recently served as vice president of clinical and medical affairs at Celgene Cellular Thera­peutics, where his responsibilities included the development of cell-based products for treating ma­lignant and non-malignant dis­eases. Previously, he was vice president of clinical development at Palatin Technologies. Before joining the industry, Fischkoff spent 15 years in academic posi­tions at the National Cancer In­stitute and the medical schools of the University of Maryland and the University of Pennsylvania. 

Raymond C. Roy, M.D., G.M.E ’78, former chair of the Depart­ment of Anesthesiology at Wake Forest School of Medicine, was named an emeritus professor of anesthesiology. After serving on the Wake Forest faculty from 1978 to 1992, he left to become chair of anesthesiology at the Medical University of South Car­olina and at the University of Virginia. Returning to Wake For­est, he served as department chair 1998-2008 and 2014-15. Under his leadership, the patient simulation laboratory was estab­lished. A director of the Ameri­can Board of Anesthesiology from 1993 to 2005, he served also as its president. Roy contin­ues as an editor for the journals Anesthesia and Analgesia and Journal of Anesthesia History.

1980s

Jason S. Fisherman, M.D. ’82, was appointed chief executive of­ficer and a member of the board of C4 Therapeutics. The new company, launched from Dana- Farber Cancer Institute, will develop novel treatments in the field of targeted protein deg­radation using proprietary De­gronimid technology. Fisherman was a venture investor at Synthe­sis Capital and Advent Interna­tional, where his team led or managed more than 35 invest­ments. Before joining Advent In­ternational, he conducted drug research and had clinical devel­opment experience in biophar­maceutical companies, in aca­demia, and at the National Can­cer Institute. 

Diana F. Hausman, M.D. ’89, was appointed chief medical offi­cer of Zymeworks, Inc., a com­pany that develops bi-specific and multi-specific antibodies. Hausman brings more than 15 years of clinical drug develop­ment experience to the manage­ment team at Zymeworks. Most recently, she was chief medical officer at Oncothyreon, where she oversaw its Phase 2 targeted anti-HER2 cancer therapy. She has also held positions at Zymo­genetics, Berlex, and Immunex. 

1990s

Richard A. Feifer, M.D. ’92, has been named chief medical officer of Genesis Physician Services, which is part of Genesis Health­Care, one of the nation’s largest providers of post-acute rehabili­tation. Before joining Genesis, Feifer served as Aetna’s chief medical officer of national ac­counts and was vice president of clinical program innovation and evaluation at Medco, where he was responsible for the organiza­tion’s portfolio of care-enhance­ment programs. He is currently an assistant clinical professor at the University of Connecticut.

T. Sloane Guy IV, M.D. ’94, was recruited to lead the new robotic cardiac surgery program at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Weill Cor­nell Medicine. He joins the insti­tutions from Temple University, where he served as chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Sur­gery, program director for the thoracic surgery residency, and chief of robotic surgery. Guy also served as an active-duty U.S. Army surgeon for nine years, completing three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

2000s

Joshua B. Resnick, M.D. ’01, has been appointed a partner of SV Life Sciences. He will be based in Boston and join the biotech in­vestment team, which partners with entrepreneurs and manage­ment teams to develop innova­tive medicines, technologies, and diagnostics. Before joining SVLS, Resnick was president and man­aging partner at MRL Ventures Fund. Earlier, he was a venture partner with Atlas Venture. During his tenure there, he was also the founder and CEO of two start-ups in the immuno-oncol­ogy and neuro fields. He is also an attending physician at Massa­chusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Andrew C. Krakowski, M.D. ’03, has joined DermOne, a Con­shohocken network of compre­hensive dermatology practices, as chief medical officer. Previously, he served as director of medical innovation for Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego.

2010s

Deborah Hemel, M.D. ’10, has joined Scarsdale Medical Group, a multi-specialty practice serving Westchester and Fairfield coun­ties and the surrounding Hudson Valley area. She had been an aca­demic hospitalist at Montefiore Medical Center and an instructor of medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

OBITUARIES

1940s

Frank H. Rittenhouse, M.D. ’42, Crafton, Pa.; October 3, 2015. A veteran of World War II, serving as a captain in the U.S. Army and as a doctor in a Portable Surgical Hospital Unit, he also had his own medical practice in Crafton for many years. 

Isidore Cohn Jr., M.D. ’45, G.M.E. ’52, Gr.M. ’55, emeritus chairman of the Department of Surgery at Louisiana State Uni­versity; October 14, 2015. Raised in New Orleans and named for his father, who was also a promi­nent surgeon, Cohn returned to the city of his birth after his stud­ies at Penn. Having joined the LSU School of Medicine faculty in 1952, he succeeded his prede­cessor, James D. Rives, M.D., as chair of the department in 1962 and held that position for 27 years. He served concurrently as surgeon-in-chief of the LSU Ser­vice at Charity Hospital and was responsible for introducing thou­sands of medical students to gen­eral surgery and directing the training of more than 300 surgi­cal residents. In 1987, in recogni­tion of his mentoring, a group of former surgical residents funded the Isidore Cohn Jr. Professorship of Surgery, the first million-dollar chair at the LSU School of Medi­cine. In 2002, former surgical residents and The James D. Rives Surgical Society (subsequently renamed the Isidore Cohn Jr. – James D. Rives Surgical Society) were the major donors for the Isidore Cohn Jr., M.D., Student Learning Center, a surgical train­ing facility at LSU. 

Cohn published 358 articles in peer-reviewed medical journals and served as editor of ten, in­cluding The American Surgeon, Cancer, and the American Jour­nal of Surgery. He was president of the New Orleans Surgical Society and the Surgical Associa­tion of Louisiana, and was named 1st Vice President of the American College of Surgeons in 1993. From 1975 to 1984, he served as director of the National Pancreatic Cancer Project of the National Institutes of Health. He also served on many civic and artistic associations, and the Cohns’ Steuben glass collection was exhibited at the New Orle­ans Museum of Art in 2004. Among his many honors are the Spirit of Charity award from the Medical Center of Louisiana and an honorary doctorate from the University of South Carolina.

Marvin H. Terry Grody, M.D. ’46, Philadelphia, a retired gyne­cologist; July 7, 2015. He served as an officer in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in occupied Ger­many after World War II. On his return, he began his career as an OB/GYN in private practice in Hartford, Conn. After many years of practice, in 1986 he was appointed to the OB/GYN fac­ulty of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia Uni­versity and the associated posi­tion of director of gynecologic surgery at the Presbyterian Hos­pital Medical Center in New York. From 1990 to 2001, he was a professor of OB/GYN at the Temple University School of Medicine and the director of gy­necology at the Temple Univer­sity Hospital. Later, he worked as a professor of OB/GYN at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and as senior gynecologic consultant at the Cooper Univer­sity Hospital-UMDNJ. 

Grody published dozens of sci­entific manuscripts and appeared as a guest speaker around the world. He was also a pioneer in producing videos that taught gy­necological surgery procedures. He was recognized as a Distin­guished Surgeon of 2001 by the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons. He received ACOG Presidential Medals in 1995 for outstanding continued educational activity and in 1997 for district educa­tional audiovisual contributions. He was honored by medical stu­dents as Best Clinical Teacher at Temple University School of Medicine in 1997. In 2000, he appeared on NBC’s Today show with Katie Couric to discuss pel­vic organ prolapse. Grody also published two books: Benign Postoperative Gynecologic Surgery and Rx for Happiness: An OB/GYN’s Story.

Joseph K. Corson, M.D. ’47, G.M. ’50, Plymouth Meeting, Pa., a retired dermatologist who practiced in Chestnut Hill for half a century; May 10, 2015. Corson came from a long line of Quaker physicians, one of whom was decorated for bravery while serving as an assistant surgeon in the Union Army during the Civil War in 1863. Corson had served as chief of dermatology at Chest­nut Hill Hospital and as associate clinical professor of dermatology and cutaneous biology at Jeffer­son Medical College. According to his daughter, Anna F. Corson, M.D. ’82, Corson’s father, Dr. Ed­ward F. Corson, had been a der­matology professor at Jefferson. She also noted that her father was the 17th member of the Cor­son family in five generations to obtain a medical degree from Penn. Corson also followed the pattern of the Corson doctors of accepting 10 percent of his cases as charity care. A skilled cabinet­maker, he built many pieces of furniture for family and friends. These included grandfather clocks, dressing tables, and pieces in the Chippendale style.

1950s

Theodore B. Cohen, M.D. ’51, Narberth, Pa., a psychoanalyst who had been associated with the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia for more than 60 years; April 22, 2015. Known for his focus on what he called “the vulnerable child,” he was deeply committed to understanding children, how they learned, and how their mental health issues could be overcome. In 1976, he organized the first international meeting centered on children and adolescents, held in Philadel­phia. For many years he led an important discussion and study group on the vulnerable child. Later, along with his colleagues Hossein Etezady and Bernard Pa­cella, Cohen used the substance of the discussions to edit three volumes of studies, published in 1993, 1995, and 1999. The vol­umes dealt with such topics as developmental disabilities, young children and violence, prenatal cocaine exposure, and problems with foster and day care.

After majoring in psychology at Brooklyn College, Cohen was drafted into the U.S. Army and served during World War II. Ac­cording to his family, because of his undergraduate training, he was chosen to lead surviving children from the Dachau con­centration camp so they could be cared for by the Red Cross.

Cohen was an avid sportsman, playing tennis and also table ten­nis. He advised the U.S. Olympic table-tennis team at the Seoul Games in 1988. 

Richard C. Goos, M.D., G.M.E. ’51, Whiting, N.J., a retired anes­thesiologist; July 12, 2015. After earning his medical degree, from 1955 to 1957, he fulfilled his mili­tary obligation by working as a physician for the U.S. Public Health Service, at a military hos­pital on Staten Island, N.Y. The military service interrupted his career with West Jersey Anesthe­siology Associates, which began in the firm’s offices at West Jersey Hospital in 1952 and continued until he retired in 1983 from the firm’s office in Marlton. Goos was a member of the New Jersey Anesthesiology Society.

Ray G. Sarver, M.D. ’54, La­trobe, Pa., a retired pediatrician who had maintained a practice there for 47 years; January 16, 2015. He was a veteran of the Air Force, attaining the rank of ma­jor, and served in the Reserves as chief of pediatrics at the Amarillo Air Force Base Hospital in Ama­rillo, Texas. He had full pediatric privileges at the Latrobe Area Hospital, where he also served as associate medical director. 

David Babbott, M.D. ’55, Shel­burne, Vt., an emeritus professor of medicine at the University of Vermont; August 23, 2015. In 1946, he was inducted into the U.S. Army and served at Fort Richardson, Alaska. After gradu­ating cum laude from Amherst College, he entered Penn’s medi­cal school. He completed his graduate medical education at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Conn., and at New England Med­ical Center in Boston. Following three years spent practicing inter­nal medicine, he served as assis­tant director of medical educa­tion at Hartford Hospital, begin­ning what would become a ca­reer-long focus on the art of teaching patient care. In 1967, Babbott was appointed assistant dean and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Vermont College of Medicine. From 1971 to 1993 he was on the full-time faculty in the Depart­ment of Medicine and was direc­tor of medical education for 18 years. He served as a role model, mentor, and advocate for hun­dreds of medical students, resi­dents, and junior colleagues. On the occasion of his retirement as emeritus professor in 1993, the Medical Residents’ Library was named and endowed in his honor.

Babbott was elected a fellow of the American College of Physi­cians and served as governor of its Vermont Chapter from 1991 to 1995. A volunteer at King Street Youth Center, Babbott had also been a board member of the Lake Champlain Land Trust and of Patient Choices Vermont.

Harrison M. Dickson, M.D. ’58, Lancaster, Pa., a retired surgeon; February 1, 2015. After gradua­tion from high school, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II with the medical battalion of the 84th Infantry. He survived the Battle of the Bulge, receiving three Bronze Stars during his tour. After earning his medical degree, he completed a surgical residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. He practiced surgery with his cousin, James Dickson, for seven years in Chambersburg. He left to serve as a deputy chief surgeon for Project Hope while in Maceio, Brazil, aboard the U.S.S. Hope. The vessel was refitted and equipped as a peacetime hospital ship to serve developing nations with training and teaching.

1960s

Patrick S. Pasquariello Jr., M.D., G.M.E. ’63, Bala Cynwyd, Pa., and Longport, N.J., a pedia­trician who worked at the Chil­dren’s Hospital of Philadelphia for 54 years; August 29, 2015. He earned his bachelor’s degree from St. Joseph’s University be­fore receiving his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College. He also served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. In 1961, he be­came an intern at CHOP and served as chief resident under C. Everett Koop, M.D., who later became Surgeon General of the United States. Pasquariello joined the Penn Med faculty in 1962. Promoted to professor of pediat­rics in 1990, he became emeritus professor in 2005.

Throughout his career at Chil­dren’s Hospital, he held many leadership roles, including direc­tor of the Office of Continuing Medical Education, interim chief of the Division of General Pediat­rics, director of the spina bifida program, and general pediatric consultant for the “22q and you” center and the cranial-facial re­construction clinic. In 1989, Pasquariello created CHOP’s di­agnostic and complex care cen­ter, designed to help children with problems that are difficult to diagnose. The center was named in his honor in 2009.

Edward J. Zobian, M.D. ’66, Wyomissing, Pa.; November 18, 2015. He served as a battalion surgeon with the U.S. Army’s 19th Combat Engineer Battalion in Vietnam. There, he was deco­rated twice for heroism, and when he returned home in Au­gust 1968, he was promoted to major and appointed chief of the Department of Hospital Clinics at Kirk U.S. Army Health Clinic. In 1973, he began practicing ophthalmology with West Read­ing Ophthalmic Associates (now Eye Consultants of Pennsylva­nia). Zobian’s specialty was cata­ract surgery. He was an innovator in intraocular lens implantation, small incision sutureless cataract surgery, and no-injection local anesthesia; he performed more than 20,000 cataract operations in his career. A fellow of the American College of Surgeons, he was certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and served as an attending surgeon at several Pennsylvania hospitals. He also volunteered in the Phil­ippines, performing free eye surgeries on the country’s blind population.

1970s

Arnold W. Klein, M.D. ’71, Palm Springs, Calif.; October 22, 2015. He served as dermatologist to the late Michael Jackson, Eliza­beth Taylor, and several other Hollywood celebrities. After he opened a private practice in Bev­erly Hills, his career got an early boost when Merv Griffin invited him to appear on his television talk show. His medical specialty was the use of injectable drugs such as Botox and Restylane to ease wrinkles and sagging skin. In fact, Vanity Fair described him as “the Father of Botox.” His expertise in lip augmentation was confirmed when a region of the upper lip – the Glogau-Klein point – was named for him and fellow dermatologist Richard Glogau. Klein was also an early advocate and fundraiser for AIDS research.

2000s

Lisa Marino, D.O., G.M.E. ’07, Southampton County, N.J., a physician at the Rothman Institute; April 13, 2015. Born with cystic fibrosis, Marino had to undergo rigorous physical therapy every morning and eve­ning. According to her husband, Sean Sanford, she had never been in serious condition until being hospitalized in January, 2015. From 1997 to 1999, she was a chemist at Rohm & Haas Co., then earned a doctorate at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathy in 2003. She was an intern at what is now the Frank­ford campus of Aria Health and then chief resident in physical medicine and rehabilitation at HUP. She also did a fellowship there in spinal intervention and spine pain management.

FACULTY

Patrick S. Pasquariello Jr., M.D. See Class of 1963.

Elaine Catherine Pierson-Mas­troianni, M.D., Bryn Mawr, Pa., emeritus clinical associate pro­fessor of obstetrics and gynecol­ogy and former head of student health at Penn; October 3, 2015. She attended the University of Michigan on a full scholarship, earning her B.A. degree in zool­ogy and then her medical degree. In 1957, she joined the faculty at Yale University as a resident in OB/GYN. In the mid-1960s, she moved to Philadelphia with her husband, Luigi Mastroianni Jr., M.D., who became chair of the Department of Obstetrics & Gy­necology at Penn, and their three children. (Dr. Mastroianni died In November 2008.) In 1968, she joined Penn as a staff physician in OB/GYN for the student health clinic. A year later, she also joined the faculty as an instructor. 

She had also begun to write ar­ticles for The Daily Pennsylva­nian about sex and contracep­tion, under a pseudonym. In 1971, she published Sex is Never an Emergency: A Candid Guide for College Students, which cost only $1 and was given to every incoming student at Penn. More than 200,000 copies were sold. She also wrote Female and Male: Dimensions on Human Sexuality (1974) with sociologist William V. D’Antonio, Ph.D. In 1979, she was promoted to clinical associ­ate professor. She was accorded emeritus status in 1992.

Francis H. Sterling, M.D., Havertown, Pa., emeritus profes­sor of medicine; January 18, 2015. A graduate of Jefferson Medical College, he served in the Army Medical Corps and was honorably discharged with the rank of major. After an intern­ship at Misericordia Hospital, in 1967 he was appointed assistant professor of medicine at Penn as well as chief of the endocrinology section – University of Pennsyl­vania Service at the VA Hospital. His teaching abilities were leg­endary. Using a Socratic style that was both rigorous and en­dearing, he integrated clinical phenomena and basic science into his teaching of biochemistry and endocrinology to preclinical medical students. Among his teaching honors were the Uni­versity’s Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching and the Donna McCurdy Award 
for Distinguished Teaching of Medical Housestaff. In addition, the Philadelphia VA Medical Center created the Francis H. Sterling Award for Educational Excellence.