Notable

Two noted physician-scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College have been elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences. They are Dr. Flint Beal, chair 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 and director of the Cornell University Infectious Diseases Research and Training Unit in Haiti. The Institute of Medicine, established by the National Academy of Sciences in 1970, is recognized as 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.

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 is the author or co-author of more than 300 scientific articles and over 100 books, book chapters and reviews. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Neurochemistry, the Annals of Neurology, the Journal of Molecular Neuroscience, Experimental Neurology and Neurobiology of Disease. He 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.

Pape, an internationally recognized infectious disease expert, born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, established the Cornell 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 percent to less than 1 percent within two years. Expansion of the program throughout Haiti resulted in a 50 percent decrease in national infant mortality. 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. 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 more than 20,000 persons annually. Pape was a founder of the Haitian National AIDS Commission in 1986.