News Makers

• MCG President Daniel W. Rahn has received the 2007 Georgia Hospital Association Workforce Leadership Award, honoring outstanding contributions to addressing Georgia’s health care workforce needs. In addition to his MCG role, Dr. Rahn is senior vice chancellor for health and medical programs for the University System of Georgia.

• Dr. Jeannette Andrews, chair of the Department of Biobehavioral Nursing, has been named a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow. The fellowship, an advanced leadership program for nurses in senior executive roles, offers insights, experiences, competencies and skills to advance in leadership positions in health care systems.

• Dr. Sunita Dodani, assistant dean of research in the School of Nursing, has been appointed to a National Institutes of Health committee that will make recommendations about the organization’s peer review system for grant funding. The Peer Review Working Group of the Advisory Committee to the Director consists of NIH institute directors, university deans and scientific leaders.

• Dr. Janie Heath, associate dean for academic affairs in the School of Nursing, has been named a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. Fellowship is based on contributions to the nursing profession and health care. Dr. Heath is a nurse practitioner with over 30 years
  of experience.

• Drs. Anand Jillella, David Lind, David Terris and Martha Kennedy Terris are the only Augusta-area physicians included in the third edition of America’s Top Doctors for Cancer, compiled by Castle Connolly.

• Dr. Gaston K. Kapuku, associate professor of cardiology and pediatrics, has been appointed to a four-year term on the Biobehavioral Mechanisms of Emotion, Stress and Health Study Section of the National Institutes of Health. The study section reviews grant proposals for research on basic biobehavioral, psychological, social and cultural processes governing emotion, mood
  and stress.

• Dr. Jill Lewis, associate professor of oral biology and maxillofacial pathology, has received the School of Dentistry’s 2007 Teaching Excellence Award. She directs the first-year biochemistry course and the school’s graduate programs and has taught all years of the dental curriculum at nearly every level. Her research includes studying cell-signaling pathways in inflammation.

• Dr. James V. Rawson, Warren Professor and chair of the Department of Diagnostic, Therapeutic and Interventional Radiology, has been named chair of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Packaging Subcommittee. The subcommittee provides ongoing review of medical services paid for as a group by Medicare and Medicaid.

• Pat Sodomka, senior vice president of patient- and family-centered care at MCG Health, Inc., and director of MCG’s Center for Patient- and Family-Centered Care, has been named to the Advisory Group on Patient-Centered Care for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

• Dr. Max Stachura, director of the Center for Telehealth, and Dr. Elena Khasanshina, the center’s associate director for research and technology, made presentations at the Ninth Annual International Telemedicine School and the Second International Moscow Conference: International and Telemedical Technologies in October.

• Wilma Sykes-Brown, assistant dean for Educational Outreach and Partnerships in the School of Medicine, has been elected president of the National Association of Medical Minority Educators Inc. She will serve through 2009. The group develops programs that ensure racial and ethnic diversity in health professions.

• Dr. David J. Terris, Porubsky Professor and chair of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, has received the 2007 American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Distinguished Services Award. The award recognizes contributions to the academy and its foundation.

• Dr. Stuart A. Thompson, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, has been appointed to a four-year term on the National Institutes of Health Bacterial Pathogenesis Study Section. The study section reviews grant proposals on the molecular mechanisms of how bacteria cause disease.

• Dr. Martha S. Tingen, associate professor at the Georgia Prevention Institute and interim program leader of the Cancer Prevention Control Program of the MCG Cancer Center, has been elected vice chair of the MCG Academic Council. The council represents all MCG faculty in areas including promotion, tenure, junior faculty mentoring, development and grievances.

• Dr. Hadyn T. Williams, chief of nuclear medicine, has received the 2007 Fred C. Davison Distinguished Scientist Award from Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness. Dr. Williams researches the use of clinical trials to determine the efficacy of nuclear medicine to diagnose disease, predict prognoses, evaluate responses to treatment and predict recurrence and progression
  of disease.