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June 14, 2007

PEOPLE OF THE TIMES

Linda Winkler, professor of biology and anthropology at Pitt-Titusville, has been named vice president for academic affairs at UPT. Winkler will assume her new duties on Aug. 1.

Winkler joined the UPT faculty as an instructor in biology and anthropology in 1983. Since that time, she has served as a faculty member during the summer months from 1998 to 2004 in La Suerte Biological Field Station in Costa Rica and Ometepe Biological Field Station in Nicaragua researching howling monkeys.

During summer 2006, she had an adjunct appointment in the Amizade Service Learning Institute at West Virginia University.

Winkler has served on a number of committees during her tenure at UPT. She was a member of the Faculty Senate from 1984 through 2005. She also has served as a member of the nursing admissions committee. Currently, she is an honor’s thesis committee member and on the study abroad advisory committee.

Winkler’s research focuses on ecological and conservation issues related to human and non-human primates, monkey biology and behavior, anthropoid dental and skeletal development, human growth and development, primate functional anatomy and human health and disease.

She has received grants and awards from the National Science Foundation, the Mellon Predoctoral Fellowship, the Leakey Foundation, Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society and Pitt for her research on the craniofacial anatomy of the orangutan.

Winkler’s research has been published in numerous publications including the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Folia Primatologica, Orang-utan Biology, American Journal of Primatology and the International Journal of Primatology.

In 2005 she received the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award.

Winkler was integral in developing a community health course raising awareness of public health and AIDS in rural Tanzania while working as an Amizade project leader. She has been involved in creating a children’s AIDS book series in Swahili, which was developed for use in East Africa.

In addition, Winkler has served as a member of the executive board for the Dental Anthropology Association and the education committee for both the American Society of Primatologists and the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.

Winkler earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology and religion, a master’s degree in anthropology, a PhD in physical anthropology, and completed a Master’s in Public Health in 2001.

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Patricia Beeson, vice provost for graduate studies and interim vice provost for undergraduate studies, has been named vice provost for graduate and undergraduate studies.

Beeson is a professor of economics in the School of Arts and Sciences with a joint appointment in public policy in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. Previously, she served as associate dean for undergraduate studies in Arts and Sciences.

Beeson will be responsible for the encouragement of high-quality graduate and undergraduate programs throughout the University, Provost James V. Maher said in making the announcement.

Beeson has been vice provost for graduate studies since May 2004 and has served as interim vice provost for undergraduate studies since January 2006.

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Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Economics and Latin American Studies Carmelo Mesa-Lago has been named a recipient of the inaugural International Labour Organization (ILO) Decent Work Research Prize, which he shares with Nobel Peace Laureate Nelson Mandela, former president of the Republic of South Africa.

The prize for extraordinary lifetime contribution to knowledge, understanding and advocacy on the central concerns of the ILO was awarded to Mesa-Lago in recognition of his major scholarly contributions to the analysis of socio-economic relationships and policy instruments for the advancement of decent work.

The prize, created by the ILO’s International Institute for Labour Studies, will be awarded June 15 at the ILO’s International Labour Conference in Geneva.

Mesa-Lago, a Pitt faculty member since 1967, is a former director of the Center for Latin American Studies, where he founded and edited the journal Cuban Studies.

He is the author of more than 60 books and more than 200 articles published in eight languages in 33 countries.

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Constance R. Chu, assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery, is the recipient of this year’s American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeon’s Kappa Delta Young Investigator Award. This award is considered to be the highest recognition of excellence and promise in orthopaedic research.

The awards are bestowed for outstanding manuscripts that focus on basic and/or clinical research related to the musculoskeletal system.

Chu’s winning research paper, entitled “Integrating Bench to Operating Room: Journey of a Clinician-Scientist,” explains how her efforts have had an impact on the clinical practice of orthopaedic surgery, particularly in the identification and treatment of osteochondral defects.

Chu sees the potential of reversing early cartilage degenerative metabolic changes as a result of her studies on arthroscopic diagnosis of early cartilage degenerative processes in the clinical setting.

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Angus Thomson, professor of surgery, immunology and molecular genetics and biochemistry at the School of Medicine, and director of transplant immunology at the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, recently was elected into membership of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland’s National Academy of Science and Letters and a sister society to the Royal Society of London.

Election into this society, which has only 1,280 members, is by peer review.

Thomson’s research interests include understanding the role of dendritic cells in liver transplant tolerance; genetic engineering of dendritic cells for transplantation tolerance, and monitoring tolerance in human transplant recipients.

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Kristine Schonder, assistant professor of pharmacy and therapeutics, has joined the steering committee and technical advisory panel for the National Quality Forum to develop national voluntary consensus standards for end-stage renal disease care.

The purpose of the project, funded by the centers for Medicare and Medicaid, is to identify and endorse measures for public accountability and quality improvement related to end-stage renal disease care at both the facility and physician levels.

The steering committee consists of 22 health care professionals, most of whom are physicians and policy leaders involved in end-stage renal disease care. Schonder is the only pharmacist on the committee.

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Dawn Marcus, associate professor of anesthesiology, has received the Media Excellence Award from the National Headache Foundation.

This award honors the role she played in calling attention to the widespread problem of headache and, in particular, migraine. Her book, “10 Simple Solutions to Migraine,” aims to increase public awareness and education about this life-altering disease.

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Robert Boretsky has been named chief of anesthesiology at UPMC Shadyside.

Boretsky is a 1987 graduate of Mercy Hospital’s anesthesiology residency. He was fellowship-trained in cardiac anesthesiology at the University of Pennsylvania and joined Pitt’s anesthesiology faculty briefly in 1988-1989 before joining the Mercy Hospital anesthesiology group.

While at Mercy he served as chief of cardiovascular anesthesiology and vice chair of the Mercy Heart Institute.

Boretsky rejoined the University’s anesthesiology faculty at UPMC Shadyside Hospital in 2000. He has served as vice-chair and director of quality assurance for the anesthesiology department at UPMC Shadyside since 2001.

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Jacques E. Chelly has been appointed to the newly created position of director, Division of Regional Anesthesia and Acute Interventional Perioperative Pain, part of the University of Pittsburgh Physicians Practice Plan.

Chelly’s expanded duties include management of the Pitt medical school Department of Anesthesiology’s responsibilities for evidence-based clinical care, consistent documentation and billing practices and quality assurance for the division.

Chelly came to Pitt in 2002. He was professor of anesthesiology and orthopaedic surgery at University of Texas-Houston and the director of regional anesthesia and acute pain from 1998 to 2002. He is the author of two textbooks on peripheral nerve block techniques.

Chelly joined UPMC Shadyside Hospital in 2002 as director of orthopaedic anesthesia and the acute interventional perioperative pain service and was instrumental in developing one of the most active acute interventional services in the country.

In 2006, he took over the directorship of the acute pain service at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital.


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