newsbriefs

Schwartz tapped to lead NIEHS in 2005

Dr. David Schwartz, a professor of medicine, was named Monday to head the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a branch of the National Institutes of Health located in Research Triangle Park. Schwartz, who is also vice chair of research and director of the pulmonary, allergy and critical care division of medicine, will take the helm as NIEHS director in April 2005. He is replacing Kenneth Olden, who has been director since 1991 and was former professor and chair of oncology at Howard University Medical School.

The purpose of NIEHS is to study and help minimize the contributions of environmental conditions to human diseases. Schwartz said he hopes to develop a deeper understanding of why people have different reactions when exposed to the same toxin, as well as expand NIEHS’ interdisciplinary work by focusing on asthma and Alzheimer’s disease.

Schwartz has done research for the past 14 years on the genetic and biological causes of environmental lung disease and on the genetic regulation of environmental asthma.

He will continue to see patients several times per week at Duke while working for NIEHS.

Frush named DUHS patient safety officer

Duke University Health System named Karen Frush, chief medical director for children’s services at Duke University Hospital, as its chief patient safety officer.

Duke Children’s Hospital and Health Center’s National Board of Advisors has selected three new members: Earle Finley of Raleigh, Richard Lake of Pinehurst, N.C., and S. Scott Edwards of Rogers, Ark. The new members begin their terms Oct. 22.

The primary purpose of the Board of Advisors is to oversee and promote activities intended to secure philanthropic support for Duke Children’s, including philanthropy development, advocacy and outreach and strategic planning in development and marketing.

Finley, a Baltimore native, is a graduate of Western Maryland College. After working in the construction equipment business in sales and management for 10 years, he founded Finley Realty and later Evergreen Properties. He now serves as a member of the board of directors for the A.E. Finley Foundation in Raleigh.

Lake, a graduate of Marshall University, recently retired from his position as chief executive officer of National Welders Supply Company. He has been a long-time supporter of Duke Children’s Hospital.

Edwards is a regional vice president with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., where he started as an hourly associate in receiving 18 years ago.

Petes named MGM chair

Thomas Petes, a professor in the department of biology and a member of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been named the new chair of the molecular genetics and microbiology department for DUMC, Duke officials announced Thursday.

Pending approval by the provost, president and board of trustees, Petes will begin his duties at Duke this month and expects to have his laboratory up and running by 2005.

Petes specializes in the study of yeast as a model for understanding genomic instability and chromosomal aberrations commonly found in cancer cells, which has yielded new insight into genetic defects underlying cancer.

“New technology has opened the door to questions in genetics that couldn’t be asked just a few years ago,” Petes said. “As a result, we are on the cusp of discoveries that promise to establish a whole new set of scientific principles. It is my goal for Duke to play a central role in that discovery process.”