Making a better place Tournament for the cure Two endowments encourage excellence Through the eyes of a child All in the family Tree farmer harvests funds for breast cancer Preventing blindness, one grant at a time

 

Jeff Beckman, 99M Marisa Rogers, 99M

ith Jeff Beckman and Marisa Rogers, it's hard to know where to begin. Both of these fourth-year medical students have not only excelled in their academic studies but also contributed so much to their school and the community. Between them, they've served as class officer, taught elementary and middle school children about AIDS, volunteered at a clinic that treats homeless patients, organized fundraising campaigns for the American Cancer Society, served as mentors for children in the Boys' and Girls' Club, raised issues of racial awareness on campus, and chaired an organization that gives medical students an opportunity to volunteer in the Atlanta area. That abbreviated list of their activities shows why Beckman and Rogers are the 1998-1999 recipients of the Gaston Service Award at the School of Medicine. The award, which recognizes outstanding community service as well as accomplishments in scholarship and leadership, is named for J. Harper Gaston and his wife, Anne Elizabeth Gaston, themselves lifelong volunteers. Beckman, a native of Lawrenceville, Georgia, says scheduling is the key to fitting his volunteer activities around medical studies. At the medical school, he has been active in student government, serving as freshman class treasurer, sophomore class president, and as a representative for the class on the Medical School Advisory Council. He's tried to make the entrance to medical school an easier transition by organizing a roommate weekend before orientation that allows incoming Emory students to meet current students. He's also worked as a mentor with the school's Big Sib program, which pairs second- and first-year students for guidance. Beckman also has been an active participant in the student-run Health Outreach Program, which Rogers co-chaired during her sophomore year. The group creates and organizes opportunities for students to get involved in their community, for example, offering chances to teach at local school and community programs as well as to work in clinics that serve the homeless. In fact, Rogers became so committed to one such clinic that she took on the role of clinic manager at the Open Door Community. She recruits and schedules volunteer physicians to staff the clinic, and she's found a job for first-year medical students: taking patient histories. "This experience has been the most worthwhile service I've ever performed," she says. Both Beckman and Rogers believe that service not only enhances the lives of those they serve but also enriches their own lives. Beckman describes his service activities as "humbling and rewarding at the same time." He believes community service sensitizes him to the needs of others and will make him a better physician. For example, on a recent visit with a homeless patient, Beckman took longer than usual to carefully stitch up the man's lacerated leg. When he finished the stitching, the very quiet patient rummaged in his bag to retrieve the only thing of value he owned to thank Beckman: a pair of jumper cables, a gift that still touches the young physician. Rogers has made a lifelong commitment to service. "True leadership comes from dedicating yourself to ideals that you believe will improve the well-being of those in your community," she says. "I feel we all have a responsibility to leave this world a better place."

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Renee Alterman (right), of Horseradish Grill, and Nancy Panoz (center), of Chateau Elan, combined forces with surgeon William C. Wood to raise money for breast cancer research.

ot a golfer herself, Renee Alterman nevertheless has learned quite a lot about the sport as the chair of the second annual Tournament for the Cure. The event, which drew more than 125 golfers, including many Emory physicians, raised more than $38,000 for research on breast cancer genetics in Emory's Division of Surgical Oncology. Alterman has raised money for breast cancer all four years that her restaurant, Horseradish Grill, has been open. "As a woman, I am very sensitive to this particular cause," says Alterman, whose mother-in-law and sister-in-law both have breast cancer. Teaming up with Emory and with Nancy Panoz from Chateau Elan, Horseradish Grill put on the event at Chateau Elan's Legends and Woodlands golf course. Good food, good wine, and a good game of golf were accompanied by donations from Atlanta's business community (including a limited edition Tiger Woods watch) that were auctioned off for the cause. Organizers hope to double the number of participants and amount of money raised at next year's May 25, 1999, event to make Tournament for the Cure Atlanta's premier golf fundraiser to benefit breast cancer research.

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ttracting and keeping the most talented students and faculty is the goal of two new endowments recently established at Emory by the Carl J. Herzog Foundation of Greenwich, Connecticut. A $1 million grant matched by Emory will establish an endowed chair in the Department of Dermatology. Another $1 million matching grant will establish a scholarship endowment to help attract excellent students unable to afford the high cost of a medical education. Dean Thomas J. Lawley says the scholarship fund will allow Emory to draw from a wider pool of students. "Emory's doors must be open to all talented students regardless of income," Lawley says. "We have far too little scholarship money available to our medical students, and this money will be targeted to economically disadvantaged students who show academic excellence." Carl Herzog was a medicinal chemist who founded a pharmaceutical company that developed dermatologic products. The Herzog Foundation, created by his estate, gives financial awards to departments of dermatology at many medical schools across the country each year.

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Images of the retina provided by the RetCam help Emory ophthalmologists make earlier diagnosis of eye disorders such as retinoblastoma. (Courtesy, Massey Labs)

hile waiting to see his doctor at the Emory Eye Center one recent day, Bernard Kline sat down next to a mother and child. The two-year-old suffered from retinoblastoma, the mother said, and the entire eye would have to be removed. Kline, who suffers from macular degeneration, was so stricken by their story that he asked his doctor if the child's eye could be saved. Probably not, the doctor replied, but a new kind of camera may have helped diagnose his condition earlier. It also could help physicians diagnose retinopathy and other problems in premature infants. Unfortunately, Emory didn't have this expensive piece of equipment. So Kline and his wife, Sarah, decided to change that. They paid for a new camera that provides a much clearer, more precise view of the retina's periphery. "I have five children of my own," says Kline, the CEO and president of Kline Construction in Columbia, South Carolina. "Because of my own problems, I know what that child is facing. I did this with that child in mind." Thomas Aaberg Jr., director of the Eye Center, is now using the camera to evaluate patients. Because it is digital, the camera can send images to other doctors electronically, allowing Emory physicians to participate more easily in nationwide clinical trials.

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Cy Strickler Jr. Cy Strickler Sr.

yrus W. Strickler Jr., 31M, thought his father was someone worth remembering. Before the younger Strickler died earlier this year, he gave $275,000 to an endowment established at Emory in his father's memory in 1954. He also transferred a pooled income fund to the Cyrus W. Strickler Sr. Memorial Scholarship Fund, bringing its total worth to $1 million. Cyrus Jr. followed in his father's footsteps for much of his career, practicing internal medicine in Atlanta and serving in the Emory unit at a US Army hospital during wartime. Father served during World War I, and son served in World War II. Income from the endowment, which began at $30,000, supported five students during the 1997-1998 academic year. The amount offered to each student will continue to grow, thanks to this recent gift. The elder Strickler, a professor emeritus in clinical medicine at Emory, began teaching in 1899 at the Atlanta College of Physicians and Surgeons, which later became part of the Emory School of Medicine. He helped the school through many tumultuous times, devoting much of his career to Emory without compensation. During his career, he contributed much to medical research, practice, and education, authoring many scientific papers and introducing bedside teaching to medical students. Like his father, the younger Strickler was an eminent presence in the Atlanta medical community, serving as president of the Emory University Hospital staff and chairman of the board of the Fulton County Medical Society.

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illiam Buie is one grateful man. The tree farmer from Rentz, Georgia, was so impressed by the care he received at Emory while undergoing a thyroidectomy several years ago, he wanted to give something back. A $500,000 charitable trust to fund breast cancer research at Emory is his way of saying thank you. It's also a way for him to memorialize a niece who died of breast cancer while in her 40s. "There are so many wonderful and very smart people that I met during my hospital stay," he says. "I've only been in the hospital once in my life, so I've been very fortunate. You never know when something terrible like cancer will affect your family. I wanted to do anything I could do to help." When Buie isn't working his trees or on a good cause, he's traveling the world. His favorite destination is Antarctica, which he has visited twice. "There's something serene about the place - nothing but beautiful icebergs and millions of penguins," he says. "It's so very different and totally peaceful."

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he Research to Prevent Blindness Foundation, the world's leading philanthropic organization supporting eye research, has awarded Emory a total of $1,757,600 in grants, including a recent grant of $100,000 to support scientific investigations into the causes, treatment, and prevention of blinding diseases. "This grant will help us continue our ongoing research until we can obtain further federal or private funding," says Thomas Aaberg, professor and chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology and director of the Eye Center. "RPB grants also help us purchase new research instruments needed for our investigations. They take over where other grants leave off." Henry Edelhauser, director of ophthalmic research at the Eye Center says that "RPB grants also serve an important need in eye research by funding pilot studies. There are not many sources in our department and in the United States for pilot studies, which are necessary to obtain the data we need to apply for major research grants." The RPB support fills that gap.

Copyright © Emory University. All Rights Reserved. Web version by Jaime Henriquez.