NYU school of medicine honors school legends

New York, NY - The Department of Medicine at NYU School of Medicine paid tribute to eight legendary figures from the department's history by naming its 'Firms' in their honor. Students in the department are assigned to one of eight small groups-known as Firms-that allow them to receive more personal attention during their studies from senior members of the faculty. Each firm is headed by a Firm Chief from the department's faculty who meets with the students weekly in a teaching session, organizes journal clubs, and oversees their progress throughout core clerkship in medicine.

In a ceremony held at the NYU School of Medicine, Martin Blaser, M.D., Frederick H. King Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medicine, explained why it was important to honor the eight former faculty members, three of whom are still living.

"These outstanding NYU physicians played a critical role in building the School of Medicine into the wonderful institution that it is today," Blaser said. "Through their research, teaching, and clinical practice, the men and women we honor have had an enormous influence on our understanding of diseases and how we treat our patients."

The department's 'firms' were named in honor of the following NYU physicians:

• Saul J. Farber, M.D. - A graduate of the School of Medicine, Dr. Farber was Chairman of the Department of Medicine from 1966 until 2000. He served as Dean of the NYU School of Medicine and Provost of the NYU Medical Center from 1987-1998. His research activities focused on renal and cardiac physiology, and he was a pioneer in the understanding of the differences between renal and cardiac causes of the congested state.

• Austin Flint, M.D. -From 1868 until his death in 1886, he served as Professor of Principles and Practice of Internal Medicine and the first Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Bellevue Hospital Medical College, from which NYU School of Medicine had its origins. Among his many accomplishments, Dr. Flint is credited with the original descriptions of abnormal breath sounds. Two signs are familiarly identified with his name: Flint's Law and the Austin Flint murmur.

• Edward C. Franklin, M.D. - Dr. Franklin received his medical degree from the School of Medicine in 1950 and went on to conduct significant scientific research in the then- newly developing field of molecular immunology. Dr. Franklin also made significant contributions to clarifying the fundamental structure of antibodies, as well as to our understanding of specific clinical syndromes. He died in 1982, aged 53.

• Ira M. Goldstein, M.D. - After receiving his M.D. from the School of Medicine and training at the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Goldstein returned to NYU, where he completed a fellowship in Rheumatology. He was the first to show that ceruloplasmin was the major extracelluar scavenger of free radicals. He died in 1992, aged 50

• Linda J. Laubenstein, M.D. - At age five, Dr. Laubenstein contracted paralytic poliomyelitis. After being confined to an iron lung for three months, she remained functionally paraplegic and participated in elementary school via an intercom from her home to the classroom. In 1973, she earned her M.D. from the School of Medicine. In 1980, Dr. Laubenstein was involved in publishing the first paper on the relationship between Kaposi's Sarcoma and homosexual males in The Lancet. This was the first clinical recognition of what later came to be known as AIDS. She died in 1992, aged 45.

• H. Sherwood Lawrence, M.D. - After receiving his medical degree from the School of Medicine in 1943 and serving in as a medical officer in the U.S. Navy. He joined the faculty at the School in 1947 and, over the years, served in many senior positions, including Co-Director of medical Services at Bellevue Hospital and University Hospital, Director of the NYU Cancer Center, and Director the Center for AIDS Research. Dr. Lawrence was one of the founding father of the field of cellular immunology. He conducted some of the earliest research on mechanisms of tissue damage and homograft rejection in man, as well as the discovery of Transfer Factor. He retired in 2000.

• Bertha Rader, M.D. - After serving as an EKG technician at Bellevue Hospital, Dr. Rader earned her medical degree from the School of Medicine in 1945 and later joined the faculty. She worked with pioneer electrocardiographers and spent several years performing cardiac catherizations. Dr. Rader went on to devote herself to patient care and teaching internal medicine and cardiology at Bellevue. She retired in 2000.

• Lewis Thomas, M.D. - Dr. Thomas joined the School's faculty in 1954 as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Pathology, and in 1958 became Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medicine. From 1966 to 1969, he served as Dean of the School of Medicine. A gifted writer and poet, he initiated a column in the New England of Medicine and won a National Book award for his collection of essays. As a scientist, Dr. Thomas was a pioneer in the field of immunopathology. Among his many research contributions included his finding leukocytes were important mediators of fever and shock brought about by bacterial ednotoxins, which taught us how microbes can kill humans if the microbes are not killed first. He died in 1993.

In addition to honoring eight faculty members from the School's past, the department honored eight current faculty members by naming them as Chiefs of the Firms. Those who were selected as Firm Chiefs are: Martin L. Kahn, M.D. (Dr. Saul J. Farber Firim), Sandra Kammerman, M.D. (Dr. Austin Flint Firm), Jerome Lowenstein, M.D. (Dr. Edward C. Franklin Firm), Elizabeth Weinshel, M.D. (Dr. Ira M. Goldstein Firm), Michael L. Freedman, M.D. (Dr. Linda j. Laubenstein Firm), Anthony J. Grieco, M.D. (dr. H. Sherwood Lawrence Firm), Mitchell Charap, M.D. (Dr. Bertha Rader Firm), and Adina Kalet, M.D., M.P.H. (Dr. Lewis Thomas Firm).