Weill Cornell Faculty Elected to Institute
of Medicine
Two outstanding physician-scientists at Weill Cornell Medical
College have been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the
National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors bestowed
by the scientific community. They are Dr. Flint Beal, Chairman
and Anne Parish Titzell Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience
and Dr. Jean Pape, Professor of Medicine in the Division of
International Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Weill Cornell
Medical College. Dr. Pape serves as Director of the Cornell
University Infectious Diseases Research and Training Unit in
Haiti.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM), established by the National
Academy of Sciences in 1970, is a national resource for independent,
scientifically informed analysis and recommendations on issues
related to human health. With their election into the Institute,
members make a commitment to devote a significant amount of
volunteer time to IOM committees, which engage in a broad range
of studies on health-policy issues.
Born in London, Dr. Beal has earned international recognition
as a specialist in the research and treatment of neurodegenerative
disorders and is Neurologist-in-Chief at NewYork-Presbyterian
Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He received his medical
degree from the University of Virginia in 1976, and trained
at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital before completing his residency
in Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Beal joined
the neurology faculty at Harvard in 1983, and was a Professor
of Neurology at the Harvard Medical School and Chief of the
Neurochemistry Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital
before coming to Weill Cornell Medical College in 1998.
Dr. Beal's research has focused on the mechanism of neuronal
degeneration in Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease,
Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
He has authored over 300 scientific articles and over 100 books
and serves on the editorial boards of several neurological
journals.
Dr. Beal is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honorary
Society and was a recipient of the Derek Denny-Brown Neurological
Scholar Award of the American Neurological Association. He
has served on the Council of the American Neurological Association
and on the Science Advisory Committees of the Hereditary Disease
Foundation, Huntington's Disease Society of America, Parkinson's
Disease Study Group, Parkinson's Disease Foundation, the Bachman-Strauss
Foundation, The ALS Foundation, and the American Health Assistance
Foundation.
Dr. Jean W. Pape, an internationally recognized infectious
disease expert, was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He is a
graduate of Columbia (BS, 1971) and Cornell (MD, 1975) Universities.
Upon completion of his postdoctoral training, he joined the
Cornell faculty and returned to his native Haiti to establish
the Cornell University Infectious Diseases Research and Training
Unit. Subsequently, he defined the etiology of diarrhea in
infants and introduced oral rehydration therapy into Haiti,
decreasing the rate of hospital infant mortality from more
than 40% to less than 1% within two years. Expansion of the
program throughout Haiti resulted in a 50% decrease in national
infant mortality.
Dr. Pape's most important scientific accomplishment is the
recognition and first comprehensive description of AIDS in
the developing world. He assumed an international leadership
role and has been unrelenting in his efforts to implement programs
for the prevention and control of AIDS and tuberculosis in
Haiti and other resource-poor countries.
Dr. Pape established the first study group on AIDS in Haiti
in 1982 (GHESKIO) and continues as its Director. Two decades
later, GHESKIO provides free testing, counseling, and care
for HIV infection and tuberculosis to over 20,000 persons annually.
Dr. Pape was a founder of the Haitian National AIDS Commission
in 1986.
Despite Haiti's ongoing political turmoil and deteriorating
economic conditions, GHESKIO continues to provide uninterrupted
care and training, and to conduct translational research. New
therapies and management strategies for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis,
and diarrhea have been validated and implemented. A world-class
vaccine and clinical trials unit has been established with
NIAID support, and major funding from the UN Global Fund will
expand the GHESKIO comprehensive care paradigm to 27 sites
throughout the country.
Dr. Pape and his team have been
credited with slowing the epidemic of AIDS in Haiti and serving
as a model for how poor countries with few resources can
combat AIDS, tuberculosis, and diarrhea. Dr. Pape was awarded
the LÎgion d'honneur
in 2002 by the President of France, Jacques Chirac, for his "contribution
to the improvement of the health of the Haitian people and
that of people in the world."#
