Mayo Clinic Trustees Welcome New Member, Honor New Named Professors

Friday, May 09, 2008

ROCHESTER, Minn. — The Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees today welcomed Purdue University President France Córdova, Ph.D., as a new member and recognized four awardees of Mayo Clinic named professorships.

Dr. Córdova became the 11th president of Purdue University on July 16, 2007, having previously served as chancellor at the University of California (UC) Riverside from 2002 to 2007. She also was Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy at UC Riverside. An internationally recognized astrophysicist, Dr. Córdova has also served as professor of physics and vice-chancellor for research at UC Santa Barbara. Before joining UC Santa Barbara in 1996, she was chief scientist at NASA from 1993 to 1996, where she was the primary scientific adviser to the NASA administrator and the principal interface between NASA headquarters and the broader scientific community.

Dr. Córdova's scientific career contributions have been in the areas of observational and experimental astrophysics, multispectral research on X-ray and gamma ray sources, and spaceborne instrumentation. She won NASA's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal and was recognized as a 2000 Kilby Laureate, for "contributions to society through science, technology, innovation, invention and education." She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Association for Women in Science. In September 2007, she was named to the board of directors of BioCrossroads, Indiana's initiative to grow the life sciences through a public-private collaboration that supports the region's research and corporate strengths while encouraging new business development.

Michael Jensen, M.D., the chair/director of the Obesity Treatment Clinic and endocrinology research at Mayo Clinic Rochester, is the recipient of the Tyson Family Endocrinology Clinical Professorship in Honor of Vahab Fatourechi, M.D. The Tyson family has had a relationship with Mayo Clinic for more than 60 years, and established this professorship to honor their physician for his compassionate and skilled care. Tyson Foods Inc. is the premier protein provider in the United States, selling 1 out of every 4 pounds of beef, pork and chicken.

Dr. Jensen's clinical interests are primarily focused on obesity and diabetes. His research involves the study of obesity, body fat distribution and fatty acid/energy metabolism, and has identified the relative contributions of different fat deposits to lipid fuel metabolism, including the role of intra-abdominal fat. Dr. Jensen received a MERIT award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue his studies in this area. His laboratory stimulated the renewed interest in non-exercise activity as an important physiologic regulator of weight, beginning with a publication in the journal Science.

Dr. Jensen has consulted for government agencies regarding obesity policy and has contributed to many professional associations by committee work and in elected office. He has published more than 150 original research articles, together with over 50 invited papers and book chapters. He has mentored more than 25 fellows, students and visiting scientists, many of whom have gone on to prominent clinical, academic and research careers.

William Sandborn, M.D., a consultant and vice chair in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, received the Dorothy A. Adair Professorship in Gastrointestinal Research, which was established in 2008 through an estate gift. Robert and Dorothy Adair met at the University of Oklahoma in Norman after he returned from Navy duty in World War II. The Adairs purchased real estate and leased the mineral rights to oil exploration companies.

Dr. Sandborn completed a fellowship in gastroenterology at Mayo Clinic and was appointed to the staff in 1993. His research focuses on the pharmacologic treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases. He has helped design and lead numerous international clinical trials, some of which resulted in Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of treatments for ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. He chairs the American Gastroenterological Association's Immunology, Microbiology and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Section and the International Organization for Inflammatory Bowel Disease. He is the past chair of the clinical trials network for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America and also has chaired numerous other committees in that organization. Dr. Sandborn is the co-editor-in-chief of the medical textbook, Kirsner's Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, and has served as an associate editor for several scholarly journals.

Dr. Sandborn is associate director of research for Mayo Clinic, responsible for the Research Translation Program collaboration with the Office of Intellectual Property. He also directs the Center for Translational Science Activities (CTSA) Office of Industry Alliances and is associate director of the CTSA Clinical Research Unit, responsible for industry-sponsored clinical trials. Dr. Sandborn is a member of the Mayo Clinic Research Committee and the Mayo Clinic Rochester Research and Research Executive committees.

Barry Gilbert, Ph.D., a consultant in the Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering, received the Rose M. and Morris Eisenberg Professorship, which was established in 1986 to recognize George M. Eisenberg, a loyal Mayo Clinic patient and benefactor. Mr. Eisenberg, founder of American

Decal and Manufacturing in Chicago, named this professorship in honor of his parents. Dr. Gilbert began his career at Mayo Clinic as a predoctoral fellow and then served as a research associate and associate consultant, joining the Mayo Clinic staff as a consultant in the Biodynamics Research Unit in 1978. His major research interest is the application of engineering, computational and physical methods to the processing and analysis of signal and imagery data for medical and military applications.

Dr. Gilbert has worked with the U.S. Department of Defense since 1978, serving on several of its technical committees and as a neutral-party reviewer on grant requests submitted to the department by academic and corporate researchers. In addition to reviewing manuscripts for scholarly journals and serving on editorial boards, he is a member of several scientific research societies, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physiological Society and American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

Dr. Gilbert has introduced and subsequently managed several major new technical innovations to support the Mayo Clinic practice. These include, in 1989, the world's first navigation system for civilian and military medical evacuation helicopters based on the Global Positioning System and electronic moving map displays. In 1993, he led the first-ever demonstration of new technology NASA/Defense Department satellites for telemedicine outreach to underserved regions in North and South America. In 1997, Dr. Gilbert spearheaded the privately owned, encrypted, fiber-optic video conferencing landline network among Mayo Clinic's campuses in Jacksonville, Arizona and Rochester. He holds multiple patents and has served for 20 years on various Mayo Clinic technical committees, most recently the Mayo-Rochester Information Technology Committee.

Peter Gloviczki, M.D., chair of the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, received the Joe M. and Ruth Roberts Professorship in Surgery, which was established by Mr. and Mrs. Roberts in 1977. Roberts was a leader in the telephone industry. He built the Missouri Telephone Company into one of the most respected independent telephone companies in the United States.

Dr. Gloviczki, the director of the Gonda Vascular Center, completed his internship and residency in Hungary, where he was born, and additional residencies in Paris and at Mayo Clinic. He served as a fellow at Mayo Graduate School of Medicine in the divisions of Vascular and Cardiovascular Surgery.

Dr. Gloviczki is a leader in many professional societies. He is president of the World Federation of Vascular Societies and past president of the Society of Clinical Vascular Surgery, the American Venous Forum, the Midwestern Vascular Surgical Society and the International Union of Angiology. Currently, he is secretary and executive committee member for the Society for Vascular Surgery, and is editor-in-chief of Perspectives in Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy and Vascular and Endovascular Surgery and editor of the Handbook of Venous Disorders.

Named professorships at Mayo Clinic represent the highest academic distinction for a faculty member. Faculty are appointed to a professorship through nomination and endorsement of their peers and then confirmed by Mayo Clinic senior leadership. Appointed individuals are recognized for distinguished achievement in their specialty areas and service to the institution.

These professorships are named in honor of the benefactors. The gift funds, which may be unrestricted or focused on a specific medical area, are held in endowment. All income from the endowed professorships supports Mayo Clinic programs in medical education and research.

The Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees, a 30-member group of public representatives and Mayo physicians and administrators, is responsible for patient care, medical education and research activities at Mayo Clinic's sites in Jacksonville, Fla.; Rochester, Minn.; and Scottsdale and Phoenix, Ariz.

###

To obtain the latest news releases from Mayo Clinic, go to www.mayoclinic.org/news. MayoClinic.com is available as a resource for your health stories.