Contact: Ellen Bank
843.792.2626
March 29,2000
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., will be formally installed as president of the Medical University of South Carolina at an inauguration ceremony beginning at 4 p.m., March 30 at Gaillard Municipal Auditorium.
Greenberg, who assumed the presidency of the university early in January, succeeded James B. Edwards, D.M.D.
Thomas C. Rowland Jr., M.D., chairman of the Medical University Board of Trustees and an obstetrician/gynecologist from Columbia, S.C., will preside over the installation ceremony. Assistant Secretary of Health and U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., will deliver the keynote address.
A special inaugural symposium honoring Greenberg and entitled "A New Century of Public Health: Reducing Disparities" will precede the ceremony. It will be held Thursday, March 30, from noon to 2 p.m. in the Basic Science Auditorium of the Medical University of South Carolina.
"A symposium centering on reducing health disparities in the new century is an appropriate prelude to the inauguration of Dr. Greenberg," said Barbara C. Tilley, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Biometry and Epidemiology and coordinator for the symposium. "Dr. Greenberg has dedicated himself to optimizing the health of all South Carolinians, and he has made this a goal of his presidency."
In choosing participants for the seminar, we emphasized individuals with expertise in the diseases adversely affecting many underserved South Carolinians * hypertension, cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes, noted Tilley. The speakers are leaders in their fields and include representatives of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the University of South Carolina and Howard University.
Harris Pastides, Ph.D., dean of the University of South Carolina School of Public Health and a longtime colleague of Greenberg's will moderate the panel discussion. Pastides said that "Dr. Greenberg's appointment as president of MUSC presents a momentous opportunity in the history of South Carolina public health. In cooperation with the public health workforce and with other leaders, we will become better equipped to reverse many of the unfortunate indicators pertaining to the health of our citizens." He said that there is great disparity in health among South Carolinians based on racial, ethnic and economic lines. "Having a nationally renowned public health leader at the helm of the Medical University will be a major step forward in promoting collaboration with MUSC and USC and ultimately in advancing the health status of all South Carolinians."
Pastides will begin the symposium with an introductory talk entitled "Health of South Carolina: Current and Future." He will briefly discuss the chronic diseases plaguing South Carolinians. But his message will
emphasize the future and how the academic community and professional public health community is poised to make
significant changes. He will emphasize the need for population-based approaches and collaboration aimed at breaking artificial barriers among the academic, public health and private health sectors.
Dean of the University of South Carolina School of Public Health, Pastides' major research interest is in the fields of occupational and environmental epidemiology as applied to cancer and reproductive disorders. He currently has two co-authored books in press: An Introduction to Cancer Epidemiology and Environmental Epidemiology. He has extensive field experience in international environmental health and is an advisor to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the World Health Organization. He received his MPH and Ph.D. degrees in epidemiology from Yale University.
Other participants in the symposium are:
Lucile L. Adams-Campbell, Ph.D., is currently director of the Howard University Cancer Center. When she received her Ph.D. in epidemiology from the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh in 1983, she became the first African-American female to receive a Ph.D. in epidemiology in the country. Adam-Campbell's research focuses on women's health issues and cancer prevention and control in the African Diaspora.
Darwin R. Labarthe, M.D., Ph.D. is associate director for cardiovascular health policy and research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His research interests focus on cardiovascular disease and hypertension. A member of the World Health Organization Expert Advisory Panel on Cardiovascular Diseases, Labarthe serves on the editorial board of Cardiovascular Risk Factors and is editor-in-chief of CVD Prevention..
Frank Vinicor, M.D., is a division director at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on Diabetes Mellitus. A former president of the American Diabetes Association, Vinicor is interested in cardiovascular disease and diabetes as well as the linkage of epidemiologic science to public health care policy as it relates to diabetes.
Michael D. Walker, M.D., was director of the Division of Stroke and Trauma at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and currently serves in the division's Neuroscience Center. His research interests lie in the treatment of malignant brain tumors, the management of stroke, the pharmacology of the blood brain barrier, and the design of major clinical trials in neurological disorders. Walker's academic background includes appointments at Harvard Medical School and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He was founding editor of the Journal of Neuro-Oncology.
A poster session highlighting the projects of the Healthy South Carolina Initiative will follow the symposium. Displays will be on the first and second floor lobbies of the MUSC Library/Administration Building, beginning at 2 p.m.
On Friday, March 31 (11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., with a special ceremony at noon) a campuswide celebration honoring Greenberg will be held on the horseshoe. It will feature live music and an ultimate celebration cake.
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