Rathmell Joins BWHC as Chair of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

James Rathmell, MD, MS, has been named chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at BWHC. He will begin on June 1.

Rathmell joins BWHC from Massachusetts General Hospital, where he is executive vice chair and chief of the Division of Pain Medicine and the Henry Knowles Beecher Professor of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School. He also serves as director for the American Board of Anesthesiology and recently served on the National Institutes of Health’s Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee’s National Pain Strategy Task Force.

A deeply devoted clinician, Rathmell has been at the forefront of outstanding patient care. He directs much of his time to the care of patients with acute, chronic and cancer-related pain. His research focus has been in the area of emerging treatments for pain and his scientific publications have involved critical appraisal of the safety and effectiveness of specific interventions used in pain medicine.

As a leader in anesthesia training with the goal of improving the care of patients with painful disorders, Rathmell has been recognized for enhancing medical education for physicians and trainees through direct teaching in the classroom, strengthening continual medical education activities around the world, and publishing original research and textbooks.

He’s the recipient of several awards for excellence in teaching and exceptional care delivery.

Rathmell received his masters in biochemistry and his medical degree from Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, NC. He completed his internship, residency and research fellowship at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

“We are delighted that Dr. Rathmell will join BWHC to lead the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine,” said BWHC President Betsy Nabel, MD. “A thoughtful and collaborative leader, he brings a depth of experience that will enrich our anesthesiology service and benefit the patients we serve.”

Tulsky to Serve as Leader of Palliative Care and Psychosocial Oncology Programs

James Tulsky, MD, has been appointed the chair of the Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, director of Palliative Care at Brigham and Women’s Health Care (Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, and ambulatory care sites), and will serve as the inaugural chief of the Division of Palliative Care in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Starting September 1, 2015, Tulsky will be the overall leader of the palliative care and psychosocial oncology programs and efforts at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, BWHC and Boston Children’s Hospital.

Prior to this role, Tulsky served as a professor of Medicine and Nursing at Duke School of Medicine and senior fellow at its Center for the study of Aging and Human Development. “We are extraordinarily fortunate to have attracted Tulsky and his inspiring vision to our community,” said BWHC President Betsy Nabel, MD.

Tulsky received his medical degree from University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago and trained as a resident in Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. He joined the Duke faculty in 1993. He is also the recipient of numerous awards for his accomplishments, including the 2002 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, and the 2013 George L. Engel Award from the American Academy on Communication in Healthcare for “outstanding research contributing to the theory, practice and teaching of effective healthcare communication and related skills.” He is the author of 160 peer-reviewed publications and a book, Mastering Communication with Seriously Ill Patients.

Benz to Step Down as CEO of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Edward Benz Jr., MD, announced he will be stepping down as president and chief executive office of the Dana-Faber Cancer Institute early next summer. Benz’s tenure as chief executive began in 2000. Prior to this role, he served as a chair of the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Under his 16 years of leadership, the institute increased its fundraising to $200 million and developed a donor network of about 300,000 members. In 2011, Dana-Farber opened a new Yawkey Center for Cancer Care, which created new partnerships with other Boston area hospitals.

“He’s out and about promoting the institution all the time,” said Michael J. Zinner, MD, clinical director of the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center. “We are a nationally recognized brand name now. It happened through his leadership.”

Even as Dana-Faber expanded, Benz ensured that focus was always kept on patient care and cutting-edge research. Benz plans on stepping down from his position June 2016, but will continue teaching at Harvard Medical School and return to his research as a hematologist full time.

“Of all the fabulous jobs that I have been lucky to have, this one has definitely been the best,” Benz said. “I remain energized about the great work that we do, and am as optimistic as ever about our future.”

Four New Members Join Brigham Research Institute’s Research Oversight Committee

Elected members represent basic, clinical and population science research

The Brigham Research Institute (BRI) has announced that four new members have been elected to the Research Oversight Committee (ROC):

• Basic Science Senior Faculty
  • David E. Cohen, MD, PhD, Director of Hepatology, Division of Gastroenterology
• Clinical Research Junior Faculty
  • Seoyoung C. Kim, MD, ScD, MSCE, Department of Medicine, Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, and Division of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy
• Clinical Research Senior Faculty
  • Daniel Muehlschlegel, MD, MMSc, Director of Cardiovascular Anesthesia Research, Department of Anesthesiology, Preoperative and Pain Medicine
• Population Science Junior Faculty
  • Jessica Savage, MD, MHS, Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy, Director of Population Studies in Allergy

The ROC is made up of the BRI Executive Committee, department chairs or designees, BRI center and program co-chairs, elected members and ad hoc members. The BRI 2015 directors are Richard Blumberg, MD, chief of BWH’s Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endoscopy, who assumed the mantle of director in October 2014 with Elizabeth Henske, MD, of BWH’s Pulmonary Division, as co-director and Christine Seidman, MD, Cardiovascular Division, as immediate past director.The ROC was established to foster transparency and accountability in the decision making process for the research enterprise and to plan new strategic initiatives. There are six senior and junior faculty representatives (spanning basic research, clinical research and population science research) as well as two post-doc representatives for a total of eight elected representatives.