Cardiovascular Medicine

Dr. Richard W. Smalling, Cyberounds^® Cardiovascular Medicine moderator, is the Jay Brent Sterling Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Director of Interventional Cardiovascular Medicine, Division of Cardiology, University of Texas Medical School at Houston and the Memorial Hermann Heart and Vascular Institute. A native Texan, Dr. Smalling received his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, M.S. in Bio-Medical Engineering, M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Texas and did his residency training and cardiology fellowship at UCSD. Board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular medicine, and interventional cardiology, Richard is the author of over 200 peer-reviewed articles and more than a dozen textbook chapters. He is on the editorial board of several cardiovascular journals. Dr. Smalling is an active investigator in clinical cardiology in the areas of thrombolysis and facilitated PCI for AMI, new interventional devices and percutaneous left ventricular assist devices. In addition to his clinical duties as an interventional cardiologist in patients with coronary, valvular adult congenital and peripheral vascular disease, Richard has an active animal physiology laboratory engaged in evaluation of mechanisms for prevention of reperfusion injury as well as new device development for coronary interventions and left ventricular assist.

Within the past 12 months, Dr. Smalling has received grant support from Boston Scientific, Cordis, DataScope and PDL BioPharma.

Emergency Medicine

Dr. Martin J. Carey, Cyberounds^® Emergency Medicine co-moderator, is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Director of Emergency Medicine Research at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Dr. Carey received his M.B., B.Ch. from Welsh National School of Medicine, his M.P.H. from the University of Washington and is board certified in emergency medicine in both the U.S. and Australia. Trained in the U.K in family medicine, Dr. Carey practiced emergency medicine in New Zealand where he helped establish a major emergency medicine training program in Auckland. Martin's academic activities concern the delivery of care and outcomes research.

Dr. Carey reports no conflict of interest.

Endocrinology

Dr. Eli Ipp, Cyberounds^® Endocrinology moderator, is Professor of Medicine at the UCLA School of Medicine, Head of the Section of Diabetes and Metabolism at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and Associate Director of its General Clinical Research Center. Eli is a graduate of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa and completed his training at the Sheba Medical Center in Israel and the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical School. Board certified in internal medicine and endocrinology, Eli has held faculty positions at the Hebrew University and the University of Chicago. His major areas of research interest are islet physiology and its relationship to the pathogenesis of diabetes and hypoglycemia.

In the past three years, Dr. Ipp has received grant/research support from Pfizer, Inc., R.W. Johnson, and Novo-Nordisk. He has served as a consultant for Novo-Nordisk, SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceutical and Hoechst Marion Roussel. Dr Ipp has also served on the Speakers' Bureau for Novo-Nordisk.

Gastroenterology

Dr. Gary M. Gray, Cyberounds^® Gastroenterology Moderator, is Professor of Medicine and Director, NIH Digestive Disease Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, where he previously served as division chief for many years. Dr. Gray received his B.S. in chemistry and mathematics with honors from Seattle University, his M.D. from the University of Washington, and completed his postgraduate medical training at Bellevue(Cornell), University Hospitals, Cleveland, and Boston University, where he was a gastroenterology fellow under Dr. F.J. Ingelfinger. Board certified in internal medicine, he is the author of more than 140 peer-reviewed articles and textbook chapters, and has been the major contributor to the gastroenterology sections in Scientific American Medicine. Formerly on the editorial board of Gastroenterology and Viewpoints on Gastroenterology, and the American Gastroenterological Association's governing board, Gary has been a visiting professor at many universities, including Harvard, Yale, University of Florida, University of Michigan, and Yamagata, Tohoku and Keio in Japan. His medical research focuses on intestinal function, particularly the molecular events involved in the regulation and modulation of the intestinal disaccharidases, lactase and sucrase.

Dr. Gray reports no commercial conflict of interest.

Geriatrics

Dr. John E. Morley, M.B., B.Ch., Cyberounds^® Geriatrics moderator, is Dammert Professor of Gerontology, Saint Louis University Medical School and Director of the Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center at the St. Louis V.A. Medical Center. Educated at the University of Witwatersrand in his native South Africa, John received his postgraduate training at UCLA and is board certified in endocrinology and geriatrics. The author of numerous papers and 14 texts, including Geriatric Nutrition, Second Edition (1995), Memory Function and Aging Related Disorders (1992), Medical Care in the Nursing Home, Second Edition (1996), Frailty in Older Individuals (1993), and As We Age (1996), John serves on the editorial board of Peptides, Journal of Nutritional Medicine, Age & Nutrition and Clinical Geriatrics. In 1985 he received the Mead Johnson Award of the American Institute of Nutrition and in 1990 he was included among the 100 Most-Cited Scientists in the World from 1981-1988. His current research investigates memory function, nutrition and the endocrinology of the elderly.

During the last three years, Dr. Morley has received grant/research support from Vivus, Merck & Co., Upjohn, B.Braun McGaw, Bayer Corp and Nestec, Ltd. He has also served on the Speakers' Bureau for LXN, Organon, Ross, Pharmacia & Upjohn, Glaxo Wellcome, Hoechst Marion Roussel, Searle, Merck & Co., Roche, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis, Pratt, B.Braun McGaw, Pfizer and Parke-Davis.

Health Law/Bioethics

Maxwell J. Mehlman, J.D., Cyberounds^® Health Law and Bioethics moderator, is Arthur E. Petersilge Professor of Law and Director of the Law-Medicine Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1975, and holds two bachelor's degrees, one from Reed College and one from Oxford University, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar. Prior to joining the faculty at CWRU, Professor Mehlman practiced law with Arnold & Porter in Washington D.C., where he specialized in federal regulation of medical technology. Professor Mehlman writes and lectures on a number of issues in health law and bioethics, including the just allocation of scarce resources; ethical, legal and social implications of new discoveries in human genetics; assuring the quality of medical care; and the role of the health professional under managed care.

Mr. Mehlman reports no commercial conflict of interest.

Hematology/Oncology

Dr. Robert G. Lerner, Cyberounds^® Hematology/Oncology moderator, is Professor and Vice Chairman, Department of Medicine and Professor of Pathology at New York Medical College and is board certified in both hematology and medical oncology. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of NYU and its medical school, Bob did his postgraduate training at Bellevue, Montefiore Hospital and USC. He is a recipient of an NIH Research Career Development Award and is Chief, Hematology, Westchester County Medical Center. Thromboembolic disease and the control of coagulation are Dr. Lerner's major areas of research interest.

Within the past 12 months, Dr. Lerner has received research funds and/or been on the Speakers Bureau for AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eisai, Sanofi Aventis, Pharmion, GlaxoSmithKline and Berlex.

Medical Genetics

Dr. James R. Lupski, Cyberounds^® Medical Genetics moderator, is Cullen Professor of Molecular and Human Genetics and Professor of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Lupski received his B.A., M.S., Ph.D., and M.D. from New York University and is board certified in pediatrics and medical genetics. Jim holds several United States patents in genetics, serves on the editorial board of The American Journal of Human Genetics and is the director of Baylor's NIH Medical Scientist Training Program. From 1990-1994 Jim was a PEW Scholar in Human Genetics. His research interests include: inherited peripheral neuropathies, DNA fingerprinting of pathogenic microorganisms, Smith-Magenis syndrome associated with del 17p11.2, and recessively inherited eye disorders.

In the last three years, Dr. Lupski has received grant/research support from WIH, MDA, FFB and Merck & Co., Inc. He has also served as a consultant for Athena Diagnostics.

Nephrology

Dr. Eli A. Friedman, the moderator for Cyberounds^® Nephrology, is Distinguished Teaching Professor at SUNY Health Science Center Brooklyn. Dr. Friedman received his undergraduate degree from Brooklyn College, his M.D. from Downstate and his internal medicine and nephrology training at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. After epidemiologic service at the CDC, Eli returned to his alma mater and established the first federally funded dialysis facility, which continues to provide hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and kidney transplantation to an inner city population. The recipient of many awards and the author of hundreds of peer-reviewed articles and textbook chapters, Eli was recently designated a Master of the American College of Physicians. Past president of both the American and International Societies for Artificial Organs, Eli's current clinical research emphasis is diabetic nephropathy. Dr. Friedman is a consultant to Alteon Inc.

Dr. Friedman has received grant/research support from Alteon within the past three years.

Nutrition

Dr. Robert M. Russell, Cyberounds^® Nutrition co-moderator, is Professor of Medicine and Nutrition at Tufts University School of Medicine; and Director of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging. Dr. Russell received his B.S. from Harvard and his M.D. from Columbia. As a senior scientist at Jean Mayer, Dr. Russell's primary work involves studying the effects of aging on gastrointestinal absorptive function as well as retinoid/carotenoid metabolism. Rob has served on many national and international advisory boards, where he has focussed on international nutrition programs in several countries including: Vietnam, Iran, Iraq, Guatemala, China and the Philippines. Dr. Russell, who is a Staff Gastroenterologist at the New England Medical Center Hospitals, is the co-author of the standards for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition to be used in long-term care facilities and serves on the editorial boards of five professional journals.

In the last three years, Dr. Russell has received grant/research support from BASF and Roche Vitamins. Dr. Russell has also served as a consultant for Whitehall Robbins-Quaker.

Dr. Joel B. Mason, M.D., Cyberounds^® Nutrition co-moderator, received his bachelor's degree in general biology from the University of Illinois-Urbana in 1977, and his medical diploma from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine in 1981. He completed postdoctoral training at the University of Iowa and the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics and is triple-boarded (internal medicine, gastroenterology, clinical nutrition). Currently, Joel is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Nutrition and Director of Vitamins and Carcinogenesis Laboratory, U.S.D.A. Human Nutrition Research Center at Tufts University. He is also Staff Gastroenterologist at New England Medical Center.

Dr. Mason reports no commercial conflict of interest.

Ophthalmology

Gary M. Levin, M.D., Cyberounds^® Ophthalmology Moderator, is Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology Loma Linda University. He graduated from George Washington University School of Medicine and received his postgraduate training at Henry Ford Hospital and Albany Medical Center. A board-certified ophthalmologist, Dr. Levin is a Fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons. Previously, Dr. Levin was an adjunct clinical instructor at Doheny Eye Institute and at Emory University. Gary has had a comprehensive ophthalmology practice during his career, treating many patients with advanced glaucoma, cataract and retinal disease. His interests have also included medical education and the effects of public policy making on the practice of medicine. An initial proponent of phacoemulsification, small incision intraocular lenses, refractive surgery, Gary assisted in developing early LASIK procedures. He currently teaches and attends patients at the Veterans Administration Loma Linda.

Within the past three years, Dr. Levin reports no commercial conflict of interest.

Psychiatry/Neuroscience

Dr. Bruce S. McEwen, Cyberounds^® Psychiatry/Neuroscience co-moderator, is professor and head of the Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology at The Rockefeller University. Dr. McEwen received his A.B. from Oberlin in chemistry, summa cum laude, his Ph.D. from Rockefeller in cell biology and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute of Neurobiology in Goteborg, Sweden. Past president of the International Society of Neuroendocrinology, Bruce is currently president of the Society for Neuroscience and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The author of numerous peer-reviewed articles and the co-author of The Hostage Brain (1994), the studies by Dr. McEwen and his research team continue to elucidate the impact of stress on brain structure and neurochemistry as well as to define sex differences in the brain.

Within the past 12 months, Dr. McEwen has received grant support from Sepracor and been a consultant to Helicor, Merck and Servier.

Public Health

Dr. David Sencer, Cyberounds^® Public Health moderator, received his M.D. from the University of Michigan in 1951 and his M.P.H. from Harvard in 1958. He was in the Public Health Service from 1955-1977. His early assignments were in a county health department as a tuberculosis epidemiologist and in 1960 he became Assistant Director of the Communicable Disease Center. He became Director of the newly renamed Center for Disease Control in 1966 and served in that capacity until 1977. He was Senior Vice President for Medical and Scientific Affairs of Becton Dickenson and Company from 1977-1981 and became Commissioner of Health in New York City in 1982, serving four years in that capacity. He was a consultant for international health activities from 1986-93 and retired at that time. In retirement he has been involved in problems of the aged and is a Volunteer Ombudsman for residents in long term care facilities. He serves on a variety of ethics committees at Emory University and teaches freshmen medical students.

Pulmonary Medicine

Dr. Neil Schachter, Cyberounds^® Pulmonary Medicine moderator, is Dr. Maurice Hexter Professor of Medicine and Professor of Community Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, where he is also the Associate Director of the Pulmonary Division. After studying mathematics at Columbia, he received his M.D. from NYU and completed postgraduate medical training at Bellevue Hospital. Before coming to Mt. Sinai, Neil was an Associate Professor of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine. He has been the editor of several professional journals, written nearly 200 original peer-reviewed papers and has also authored/edited several textbooks, including Respiratory Pharmacology and the NAMDRC Handbook. An authority on byssinosis and an advocate for clean indoor air, Neil's current research focuses on the treatment of asthma and chronic bronchitis.

Dr. Schachter reports no commercial conflict of interest.

Rhuematology

Peter Barland, M.D., Cyberounds^® Rheumatology moderator, is Professor of Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Director of Rheumatology for Montefiore Hospital in New York. He is also the director of Montefiore's Immunodiagnostic Laboratory. A graduate of Einstein, where he also trained, Peter was the recipient of the Arthritis Foundation's four year Research Training Fellowship. In recognition of his contributions to rheumatology, the Arthritis Foundation (New York Chapter) honored Dr. Barland in 1996 with its prestigious Charles M. Plotz Award.

Dr. Barland reports no commercial conflict of interest.

Women's Health

Susan Cobb Stewart, M.D., the Cyberounds^® Women's Health moderator, graduated Smith College, received her medical degree from Cornell and is board certified in internal medicine and gastroenterology. A past president of the American Medical Women's Association, Susan is co-editor of the encyclopedic Women's Complete Healthbook published in 1995. Dr. Stewart has participated in five AMWA Master Faculties in Women's Health: Tobacco, Coronary Heart Disease, Breast Cancer, Arthritis and Incontinence. She is, currently, the chair of AMWA's Women's Health Committee and is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine, New York Medical College.

Dr. Stewart reports no commercial conflict of interest.