August 24, 1998
Volume 51, No. 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CAMPUS NEWS Emory College administrators make room for largest freshman class in history with 1,347 U.S. News & World Report ranks Emory 16th-best national university 'Emory West' offers relief from parking headaches Technology: LEO implementation moving along; hospital HR piece 'goes live' in October Noted immunologist medicine's new research dean Robert Rich has been named executive associate dean of research at the School of Medicine. He will join the Emory faculty in September. Rich will be responsible for basic science and clinical research programs at the medical school and will guide implementation of the school's new strategic plan for research. He currently is vice president and dean of research at Baylor College of Medicine, where he is also distinguished service professor of microbiology & immunology and medicine. "When recently we set ambitious goals for the direction medical research at Emory will take in the next millennium, we knew the school would need an equally ambitious research leader to ensure attainment of these goals; Robert Rich is just such a person," medical school dean Thomas Lawley said. "He is recognized internationally for his contributions to immunology research; he has been called upon by public and private institutions to help guide national science policy, and as vice president and dean of research at Baylor College of Medicine, he has proven himself a supportive and inspirational leader to academic medical researchers." Rich has received continuous research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) since 1974. He is a recipient of an NIH MERIT award and serves as program director on an NIH training grant in immunology. His research has focused on the biology and genetics of T-cell function, and he has published more than 180 papers and book chapters in the medical literature on these topics. "Emory's School of Medicine is perceived around the country as a school 'on the move,' and indeed it is," Rich said. "It's now in the Top 20 U.S. medical schools for federal research funding, and I'm impressed with the strategic plan to continue its upward movement into the Top 10. I'll be coming to Atlanta eager to add my efforts to the realization of that goal." Rich received his bachelor's of arts from Oberlin College and a medical degree in his home state of Kansas at the University of Kansas Medical School. He completed graduate medical training at the University of Washington, and postdoctoral fellowships at the NIH and Harvard Medical School. Since joining the Baylor faculty in 1973, he has held a number of administrative and leadership positions both inside and outside the school. Tutu arrives at Emory for year in residence Archbishop Desmond Tutu arrived on campus last week for his year in residence at the Candler School as Woodruff Visiting Professor of Theology. The South African Nobel laureate will spend fall semester speaking both on campus and off, and he also will be working on a book. In the spring Tutu will teach two courses in the theology school, according to Dean Kevin LaGree. Tutu's affiliations with Emory go back a decade. He received an honorary degree from the University in 1988 and spent several months here on sabbatical in 1992. Tutu also has spoken at several Emory events, including an international conference on Christianity and democracy in 1991 and one on religious human rights in 1994. Originally scheduled to be a visiting professor in 1996, Tutu's arrival was delayed by his appointment as chairman of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which is completing its final report. Choral group holding auditions Collegium Vocale, a 50-voice classical choral ensemble directed by Katherine Murray, will hold auditions for new members Aug. 25 and Sept. 1. The group seeks new members in all voice parts. Rehearsals are Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. on the Emory campus, and the group performs twice per year at Glenn Auditorium as part of Music at Emory. Membership includes faculty, staff, students, alumni and neighbors. To schedule an audition, call 404-321-4580. Tournaments inspire disabled athletes Ever try to drive a golf ball 300 yards with one arm? Or volley a tennis ball while sitting down? Golfers and tennis players will overcome these and other challenges at the 1998 Emory Tennis and Golf Challenge. Participants in the tournament, many of whom are current or former patients of the Center for Rehabilitation Medicine, destroy myths about the physically disabled on a daily, monthly and annual basis. Coordinators of the Emory Challenge, the only tournament of its kind in Georgia, pair physically challenged players with those challenged only by the game itself to compete. The golf competition will be held at The Orchard in Clarksville, Ga., on Sept. 3, and the tennis event will be at The Standard Club in Duluth on Sept. 11. Emory also offers the Adaptive Golf Workshop at River Pines in Alpharetta on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, where disabled golfers and instructors can hone their skills. Honorary tournament chairman is Falcons head coach Dan Reeves. For information, call Ginger Moore at 404-712-7593.

Annual 10K Classic set for Labor Day Emory Healthcare is sponsoring the fifth annual U.S. 10K Classic on Labor Day, Sept. 7. The race is open to all walkers, runners, in-line skaters, qualified wheelchair athletes and cyclists. The race begins at Cumberland Mall/Cobb Galleria Center on Cobb Parkway and finishes at the White Water/ American Adventures amusement parks. Start times are 7:15 a.m. for cyclers, 7:30 a.m. for skaters, 7:45 a.m. for wheelchair athletes and 8 a.m. for runners/walkers. The race entry fee is $20. Checking the "corporate chase" box on the entry form will qualify employees for the Emory Healthcare group entry and a discounted fee of $17.50. Racers interested in joining the Blomeyer Fitness Center will have the center's $25 initiation fee waived if their race forms and fees are submitted through the center. Forms are available at the Blomeyer Center, in Human Resources and at Publix stores. Entry forms are due Aug. 28. For more information, call Jane Alexander at 404-778-2858 or the Blomeyer Center at 404-727-4600. Elkin series speakers announced Edison Liu, director of the National Cancer Institute's Division of Clinical Sciences, will be the first speaker in this year's Elkin Distinguished Investigators Lecture Series. He will speak on "Protein Kinases in Breast Cancer" Wednesday, Sept. 2, at 4 p.m. in the Emory Hospital auditorium. The remainder of the series will be announced in upcoming issues of Emory Report. All lectures are CME accredited and open to the public. For more information, call 404-778-5195. New NIH awards increase access to Clinical Research Center A greater breadth of investigators may conduct patient-oriented research at Emory's General Clinical Research Center (GCRC), thanks to new clinical research funding opportunities from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). New investigator-initiated, hypothesis-driven clinical research grants may be applied for at the entry, mid-career and institutional levels. In addition, "A awards" are available for some industry-sponsored research. The submission deadline is Oct. 1. Young investigators as well as nonclinicians in Emory disciplines such as public health, psychology, nursing and anthropology may apply for grants at the center, as long as a physician with admitting privileges to Emory Hospital is listed as a collaborator. "This is a good time for clinical investigators," said Laurence Harker, director of the GCRC and a professor of medicine. "For the first time, a career track is available in clinical research." Located in the H-wing of Emory Hospital, the GCRC was one of eight originally established by the NIH in 1960 and has received continuous funding since then. The federal support means clinical researchers have free access to beds, staff (including biostatisticians, research nurses, nutritionists and others), laboratory and other diagnostic services, including nine fully equipped, private inpatient rooms, two treatment/procedure rooms, two outpatient beds, a core clinical chemistry laboratory, a gene therapy unit, a molecular cell biology laboratory, a calorimetry laboratory, a nutrition research unit and a metabolic kitchen as well as a computerized data management and analysis system. A surgical suite will be added to the center within a year. For further information on the GCRC or new federal grants, call 404/712-7258 or visit the center's web site at: <www.emory.edu/WHSC/ MED/RESEARCH/GCRC/ crcindex.htm>.