University Times

Ilan Grave, assistant professor of electrical engineering, received the 1995 Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from the Oak Ridge Associated Universities, a private nonprofit consortium of colleges and universities. Susan R. Sesack, assistant professor of behavioral neuroscience, received honorable mention in the Life Sciences category.

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Harry Samuel Wieand has been named director of the biostatistical center for the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project, headquartered at Pitt. NSABP, the nation's largest clinical trials cooperative group, has led fundamental advances in the treatment of breast and colorectal cancers.

Wieand returns to Pittsburgh after working for 10 years at the Mayo Clinic, where he was most recently director of Cancer Center Statistics. From 1974 to 1985, Wieand held several faculty appointments at Pitt.

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David Rosenberg, director of child and adolescent neurobehavioral studies and assistant professor of psychiatry at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, has received the 1994 Robinson-Cunningham Award from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the 1994 Young Investigator Award from the International Conference on Schizophrenia Research.

The Robinson-Cunningham award is given for the best original research paper of the year. Rosenberg received the Young Investigator Award for superior research entitled, "Eye Tracking Dysfunction in Offspring from the New York High Risk Project: Diagnostic Specificity and the Role of Attention."

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The American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training awarded its 1994 Peter Henderson, M.D., Memorial Award to Chris Kye, a fifth-year resident in child and adolescent psychiatry at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.

Kye's paper, "Amitriptyline in the Treatment of Depressed Adolescents: A Double-blind Controlled Trial," was cited as the year's best paper submitted by a resident in the area of child and adolescent psychiatry.

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University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute Fellow Bachar Kassem has been selected as a 1995 Merit Award Recipient by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

The selection of recipients was based upon the highest rating of abstracts submitted by young physicians for the annual ASCO meeting. Kassem's abstract is entitled "Phase I Study of Gemcitabine Given Weekly as Short Infusion." Sebastian Ciacchella, medical director of Pitt's Occupational and Environmental Program, was among 61 physicians selected for the 1995 Class of Fellows by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

ACOEM recognizes individuals who have practiced occupational medicine for a long time, have achieved a significant position of expertise, and are certified by a medical specialty board acceptable to ACOEM.

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Gary Guixiong Shen, assistant professor of radiology, received one of 42 grants awarded by The Whitaker Foundation for basic and applied research that combines engineering and medicine to improve health care.

The goal of Shen's research is to improve magnetic imaging as a tool for detecting breast cancer. The three-year grant is for $180,000.

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The Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America (RESNA) has awarded a Certificate of Appreciation to Rory A. Cooper, associate professor in the departments of rehabilitation and technology, mechanical engineering and bioengineering, and medicine.

The award was given to Cooper for his outstanding contributions to the association and the field of assistive technology.

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Stephen J. Bagnato of pediatrics recently received a federal grant, a foundation grant and a national research award.

The federal Department of Education's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services awarded Bagnato a three-year, $522,000 research and program development grant for The Child Health Resources Partnership: Collaborative Health Interventions for Learners With Disabilities (Project CHILD).

The Jewish Healthcare Foundation awarded Bagnato a $60,000 grant for Early CHILD, a consultative, training and technical assistance initiative designed to help early intervention programs in Allegheny and surrounding counties to serve infants and young children with physical and mental health problems and developmental delays.

Bagnato also received a 1995 national research award from the American Psychological Association for an article on the serious problems evident in the use of intelligence tests with infants and young children with developmental disabilities.