Convocation to Honor Two President’s Scholars

Event Oct. 6 recognizes faculty for national and international awards

Two members of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston faculty will receive 2004 President’s Scholar Awards, one each for research and teaching. James T. Willerson, M.D., president, will present the awards, the highest faculty recognition given by the institution, at the Faculty Honors Convocation beginning at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 6, in the Texas Medical Center’s Edwin Hornberger Conference Center.

“These faculty honors are meaningful not only because they recognize outstanding scholarly accomplishment, but also because they are awarded to deserving individuals who are nominated by their peers,”

Willerson said.

The research award will go to Barry R. Davis, M.D., Ph.D., professor and director of the Division of Biostatistics at the UT School of Public Health at Houston. The teaching award will go to Catherine M. Flaitz, D.D.S., dean of the UT Dental Branch at Houston.

Each President’s Scholar Award carries a $5,000 prize, and the honorees will give brief remarks during the afternoon program.

“These faculty honors are meaningful not only because they recognize outstanding scholarly accomplishment, but also because they are awarded to deserving individuals who are nominated by their peers,” Willerson said. “This is a unique occasion for faculty from across our campus to gather in celebration of academic excellence.”

In addition to the President’s Scholar Awards, individual faculty members receiving national and international awards over the past year will be recognized in person and in the commemorative printed program. A reception will follow at 5:30 p.m.

Excellence in Research

Results of clinical research coordinated by Barry R. Davis, M.D., Ph.D., professor and director of the Division of Biostatistics at the UT School of Public Health at Houston, have stimulated a world-wide discussion on treatment of hypertension and prevention of cardiovascular disease, still the number one cause of death in the United States.

Barry R. Davis, M.D., Ph.D.

As principal investigator and director of the Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT) Clinical Trials Center, Davis and his research team coordinated the single largest clinical trial ever conducted related to hypertension, involving more than 42,000 participants.

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a key risk factor for heart disease and stroke, and some 24 million people in the United States take blood pressure-lowering medications at an annual cost of more than $15 billion. The ALLHAT study demonstrated that diuretics – less expensive than newer medications – are the drug of choice in initial treatment of hypertension.

These results are changing the way that people with hypertension are treated and have the potential for reducing illness and deaths and for saving billions of dollars, said Craig Hanis, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health, in a nomination letter for the award.

Davis earned his bachelor’s degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his medical degree at the University of California at San Diego. His training in internal medicine followed by a Ph.D. in applied mathematics at Brown University prepared him for his roles as professor of biostatistics and director of the Coordinating Center for Clinical Trials at the School of Public Health.

In addition to ALLHAT, which was selected by the American Heart Association as one of the top 10 achievements in cardiovascular diseases in 2002, Davis has been principal investigator in two more large clinical trials and has contributed to several others.

Recognized for his statistical, medical and clinical trials expertise, Davis has served as president of the Society for Clinical Trials (SCT) and as chair of the Biometrics Section of the American Statistical Association (ASA). He is a fellow of the ASA, the American Heart Association and the American College of Preventive Medicine. He was an associate editor of Controlled Clinical Trials, the journal of the SCT, and serves as a reviewer for such prestigious journals as the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association and Lancet.

He serves on the Data Safety and Monitoring Boards for 10 different clinical trials. “Many of these trials have made important contributions to the treatment of cardiovascular diseases,” said Guy S. Parcel, Ph.D., executive dean at the School of Public Health.

Since joining the faculty at the School of Public Health in 1983, Davis has won numerous awards as an outstanding faculty member and teacher. He has served as chair of several faculty committees and as convener of the Disease Control Module and the Biometry Discipline.

“Dr. Davis’ research has had a major impact on medicine, particularly in the treatment of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol), and on the statistical design of clinical trials,” Parcel said. “His former doctoral advisees have distinguished themselves in the fields of statistics and public health. Through these, and future, students his impact on research will continue beyond his own career.”

Excellence in Teaching

Catherine M. Flaitz, D.D.S., dean of the UT Dental Branch at Houston, is known in local, national and international arenas as an expert in the full spectrum of dentistry, from clinical practice to research.

But her extraordinary ability to understand and relay complex information to students, specifically about oral and maxillofacial pathology and pediatric dentistry, prompted her selection as this year’s teaching honoree.

“Dr. Flaitz repeatedly brings a high level of enthusiasm to her teaching,” said Michael Shannon, D.D.S., in a nomination letter written while he was a pediatric dental resident. “It is easy to see that she truly loves her field.”

Her lectures are packed with personal accounts, numerous visual examples and clinical relevancy, said Shannon, now an assistant professor of pediatric dentistry on a part-time basis. He credited Flaitz with an ability to connect with individuals on all educational levels – predoctoral students, postdoctoral residents and faculty colleagues – while keeping the primary focus on quality oral health care for improved general health.

Catherine M. Flaitz, D.D.S.

Peter T. Triolo Jr., D.D.S., chair of the Department of Restorative Dentistry and Biomaterials and newly appointed associate dean for patient care, said, “I have rarely experienced a dental educator who has the combination of traits including enthusiasm, innovation, clear communication style and solid research background that Dr. Flaitz clearly exhibits as a role model for excellence in teaching.”

Flaitz came to the Dental Branch faculty in 1990 from the University of Colorado Health Science Center. She has served as the chair of the Department of Diagnostic Sciences, director of the oral and maxillofacial residency program, and director of the surgical oral and maxillofacial pathology service. She was appointed Dental Branch dean in July 2004 after having served as interim dean since September 2002.

Her work has yielded major grants for clinical research, specifically diagnostic techniques and approaches to treating oral lesions in healthy and HIVpositive patients. She also has remained committed to her annual Romania mission, where she and selected dental students travel to provide care for HIV-infected orphans. Her commitment to quality care for those infected with HIV has sparked her involvement in the Bering-Omega Foundation Dental Clinic, which serves indigent adults who carry the virus.

Flaitz is no stranger to awards. She received the Dean’s Teaching Excellence Award 10 years straight from 1993 to 2002, the Alumni Teaching Excellence Award in 1997 and Spirit Teaching Award in 1995.

Her interest in clinical research has been recognized by the Student Research Mentor of the Year Award she received from the UT Dental Branch Student Research Group in 2001 and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Foundation Research Award she received every year since 1993.

In another dimension of professionalism, her writing ability was applauded by the American Society of Dentistry for Children for outstanding dental journalism four times.

She received her undergraduate degrees and D.D.S. from Creighton University in Nebraska. She earned her master’s degree in pediatric dentistry from the University of Iowa and specialty training and certifi- cation in oral pathology at the same institution.

“Dr. Flaitz is an educator par excellence,” said Antonio J. Moretti, D.D.S., assistant professor of periodontics, for whom she has been an unofficial mentor. “She is demanding, thorough, supportive and compassionate. She is a committed professional who has a positively contagious way of touching people’s lives.”