Findings
Houston, Texas
Volume 4, Issue 8
September 2006

Briefs

Bowers professorship to attract new faculty

The Ruth McLean Bowman Bowers Professorship in the Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Baylor College of Medicine has been created by her family's foundation to go to an outstanding scientist, researcher and educator who is new to the department's faculty.

The gift from the Ruth McLean Bowman Bowers Foundation and the Marrs and Verna McLean Foundation Discretionary Section permanently endows the professorship, which is restricted to new faculty members in the department who have been at BCM no longer than one year.

Bowers has served on the board of trustees for St. Mary's Hall for 40 years, reaching the status of Trustee Emeritus in 1960 and receiving the school's Distinguished Alumna Medal in 1986. She has also served on the board of regents for Texas Women's University and the board of Trinity University in San Antonio. She has also contributed to The University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. A strong advocate for women's rights, Bower received the Woman of the Year award in 1990 from the Texas Women's Political Caucus and has been a member of the Governor's Commission for Women.

Chan receives $500,000 from Iacocca Foundation for diabetes research

A $500,000 grant from the Iacocca Foundation will support diabetes research conducted by Lawrence Chan, M.D., D.Sc., professor of medicine-endocrinology at Baylor College of Medicine.

Chan will use the grant to fund a project involving mice with type I diabetes caused by autoimmune attacks on islet cells, more similar to the cause of type I diabetes in humans than his previous studies.

"The vast majority of people with type I diabetes develop the disease because of autoimmune destruction of their islets – their immune system malfunctions and attacks its own beta cells, cells in the islets that produce insulin," said Chan.

The Iacocca Foundation, founded in 1984, is devoted to finding a cure for diabetes and has committed $12 million to six institutions for diabetes research, including Chan's lab at BCM.

Greenberg named dean of medical education at BCM

Stephen Greenberg, M.D., has been named senior vice president and dean of medical education by the Baylor College of Medicine board of trustees.

Greenberg succeeds Major Bradshaw, M.D., who is serving as the interim founding dean of the University of Botswana School of Medicine.

Prior to this appointment, Greenberg served as chair of medicine at BCM. He will continue to serve as chief of medicine at Ben Taub General Hospital.

Greenberg first joined BCM in 1972 for a fellowship in infectious diseases. At the completion of the fellowship, he became an assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at BCM. He has served in various positions at BCM in both microbiology and immunology and medicine.

He also served as associate dean of graduate education at BCM and as a consultant and attending physician for the Infectious Diseases Section of the medical service at the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center.