EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE CHOOSES NEW CHAIR OF PATHOLOGY AND LABORATORY MEDICINE

April 16, 1997

Media Contacts: Sarah Goodwin, 404/727-3366 - sgoodwi@emory.edu
Kathi Ovnic, 404/727-9371 - covnic@emory.edu
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James L. Madara, M.D., professor of pathology and director of the division of gastrointestinal pathology at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, has been named chairman of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine effective July 1, 1997.

Dr. Madara is a nationally recognized scientific investigator in the area of epithelial cell biology. As director of the Harvard Digestive Diseases Center, he is responsible for directing, organizing, and budgeting an NIH-funded center involving investigators at Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham and Womenês Hospital, Beth Israel Hospital, Children's Hospital, New England Deaconess Hospital, and the Dana Farber Cancer Center.

He currently is principal investigator for four National Institutes of Health grants focusing on interactions between epithelial cells, the cells lining our organs, and neighboring cells, including other epithelial cells, environmental pathogens, and inflammatory cells.

After earning his bachelors degree from Juniata College in 1971, Dr. Madara received his M.D. degree from Hahnemann Medical College in 1975. He completed his internship and residency at New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston and served as a research fellow in the departments of medicine, pathology and anatomy and cell biology at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Madara was attracted to Emory, he says, because of its outstanding reputation and its strong leadership committed to academic development and scholarly activities. One of his first responsibilities as new chairman will be to build a research group focusing on the area of epithelial pathobiology.

"My goal is to continue the development of the pathology department into one in which clinical activities interface synergistically with biomedical research activities. I hope to further develop the already formidable research activities of the department while also enhancing the key clinical components which are so crucial to the outstanding patient care for which Emory has become known."

Dr. Madara notes that there are two major challenges facing academic pathology departments today. These include avoiding becoming two separate departments, clinical and research, which are non-interacting, and protecting the careers of outstanding young faculty members as well as established investigators at a time of shrinking resources.

"We are very pleased that Dr. Madara will be joining Emory," said School of Medicine Dean Thomas J. Lawley, M.D. "I believe that his proven clinical leadership and research capabilities will add immensely to our effort to continue developing the already strong clinical and research activities of our Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine."

Emory's Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine is responsible for clinical and anatomic pathology laboratories at five clinical sites, including Emory University Hospital, Crawford Long Hospital of Emory University, Grady Memorial Hospital, the Atlanta Veteran's Affairs Medical Center, and Wesley Woods Geriatric Hospital at Emory University, as well as The Emory Clinic and outpatient clinics located at each hospital. The department maintains a broad-based basic and immunological research program and is one of the largest centers for graduate and post-graduate training of pathology residents and fellows.

Dr. Madara is the author of more than 100 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals and nearly 30 book chapters. He is a member of the editorial boards of The American Journal of Pathology, The American Journal of Physiology: Cell Physiology, The American Journal of Physiology: Gastrointestinal and Liver, and is associate editor of Gastroenterology.

His recognitions include the Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Award for Experimental Pathology and the Physician-Scientist Award of the American Gastroenterological Association and Gastroenterology Research Group.

He was the first annual Dharmsathaphorn Memorial Lecturer in 1993 at the University of California/San Diego, the British Society of Gastroenterology International State-of-the-Art Lecturer in 1994, and the Wellcome Visiting Professor in the Basic Medical Sciences in 1995. In 1993 he was awarded an honorary master of science degree from Harvard University, and in 1995 was an invited nominator for the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.

Dr. Madara will be moving to Atlanta with his wife, Vicki, and their two children, Max and Alexis, ages 11 and 6.

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