Catalog

 

Special Academic Units of the University

Center for Law and Health Sciences

The Center for Law and Health Sciences, a component of the School of Law, organizes and conducts research and educational programs that examine selected relationships between the legal and health care systems. The center provides the School of Law with a vehicle for focusing research on interactions between law and health care. Center staff accomplish this function by providing consulting and guest-lecture services to other Schools of the University; performing research into selected health/law issues; contributing articles, reports, and other writings to scholarly publications of the center, the University, and other organizations; and organizing and conducting conferences and symposia on current medical/legal topics. Most current activities concern rights of individuals with mental or physical disabilities. Further information is available from the director, Patricia Freedman, School of Law, 765 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215; 617/353-2904.

Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation

The Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, a part of Sargent College, conducts research relevant to the rehabilitation of persons with psychiatric disabilities and develops and disseminates preservice and in-service training programs. A workshop series occurs each spring and fall along with Web broadcasts and Web-based training courses for professional development. Jointly funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research and the Center for Mental Health Services, the center provides technical assistance, consultation, and evaluation services for professionals and agencies around the world. The Center is designated as a World Health Organization (W.H.O.) collaborator. Further information is available from Kathleen Furlong-Norman, Director, Resource Information Service, Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, 940 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215; 617/353-3549; www.bu.edu/sarpsychkfurlong@bu.edu.

Gerontology Center

The Boston University Gerontology Center's focus is on research, consultation, and education in all aspects of the aging process and the health and welfare of older persons. The center is Universitywide, coordinating efforts to promote understanding and professional competence in the biological, medical, and social aspects of aging.

In addition to sponsoring lectures, workshops, and conferences, the center awards the Louis Lowy Certificate in Gerontological Studies to students in any University degree program who have completed a specified number of approved courses focusing on gerontology. The center awards the Certificate of Recognition for the Study of Aging to nondegree students wishing to increase their knowledge and skills through academic work in gerontology. The Center also provides a limited number of federally funded pre- and postdoctoral traineeships for research training on the sociobehavioral aspects of aging.

The annual Summer Institute in Gerontology offers academic courses and continuing education workshops on a variety of timely topics pertaining to aging. A Certificate of Continuing Education in Gerontology is available to practicing professionals taking continuing education courses in the summer institute.

The Gerontology Center Library, at 53 Bay State Road, houses more than 3,000 books, periodicals, newsletters, government documents, reports, statistical data, and training aids. The library is open to the public by appointment Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Another integral part of the training and research capability of the Gerontology Center is the Boston University Geriatrics Service providing comprehensive health care to approximately 700 of Boston's homebound inner-city elders. For further information on medical programs, contact Dr. Patricia Barry, Geriatrics, F-4, Preston Family Building, Boston, MA 02118. For more information on educational and certificate programs, contact Karen Johnston, Educational Coordinator, Boston University Gerontology Center, 53 Bay State Road, Boston, MA, 02215; 617/353-5045.

Health Policy Institute

The Boston University Health Policy Institute (HPI) brings together scholars, policymakers, corporate and health institution managers, and health professionals to address some of the most critical health care challenges of our times. The HPI is made up of the Health Care Entrepreneurship Program, the Center for Educational Development in Health, and the Gerontology Center. Through its director, the Health Policy Institute is linked with the School of Management, the School of Medicine, and the School of Public Health. For more information, write the director, Richard H. Egdahl, MD, 53 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215

Humanities Foundation

The Humanities Foundation administers special humanities programs and activities through a major National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant awarded in 1981. The Humanities Foundation consists of several endowments to support graduate and undergraduate scholarships, visiting faculty, conferences, colloquia, lecture series, library acquisitions, and general program enrichment. It serves as a forum for discussing and shaping the future of the humanities at Boston University. Among its most important programs is the Society of Fellows, which makes it possible for junior faculty to have released time for research and provides a structure in which both junior and senior faculty can present and discuss research in progress. For further information, call or write Katherine T. O'Connor, Director, The Humanities Foundation, 718 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215; 617/353-6253.

Center for the Study of Communication and the Deaf

The Center for the Study of Communication and the Deaf is directed by Dr. Robert Hoffmeister. It was established in 1982 to conduct research in parent-child interaction, the assessment of American Sign Language (ASL) in Deaf children, and the acquisition and use of ASL by Deaf children. The goal of the Center is to assist parents and professionals concerned with the education of the Deaf. Currently the Center has four ongoing projects: 1) an examination of the role of language on the thinking of Deaf children (Theory of Mind), 2) the learning of ASL as a second language in hearing persons, 3) the relationship of ASL to literacy and reading development in Deaf children, and 4) the development of an ASL/English curriculum for preschool through grade 8. Further information is available from Dr. Hoffmeister at the School of Education, 605 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215.

Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law

Established in the School of Law in 1978, the Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law administers the School of Law's graduate programs in American banking law studies and in international banking law studies. These unique multidisciplinary programs, leading to the Master of Laws degree, train lawyers in the full range of banking law subjects as well as the economic and managerial aspects of the domestic and international financial services industry. The center also sponsors the Annual Review of Banking Law, a scholarly publication edited by JD students, and conducts a lecture series in the legal areas affecting financial institutions. Information is available from the director, Professor John S. Baerst, Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law, 765 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215; 617/353-3023; E-mail: banklaw@bu.edu.

Arthritis Center

The Boston University Arthritis Center coordinates the arthritis-related activities of the professional schools of the University, including the School of Medicine and Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. These activities include basic science research, health services research, patient care, arthritis education, and community outreach. The professional staff of the Arthritis Center includes 13 full-time faculty: seven physicians, five PhD basic science investigators, one nurse investigator, one epidemiologist, and one statistician. Of the physicians, three are engaged primarily in basic research, three in epidemiology, and one in a variety of clinical research endeavors. In addition, several full-time doctoral-level researchers, a research nurse coordinator, and more than 20 support staff contribute to the overall program. Work is supported by NIH, government, and foundation grants.

The Arthritis Center provides continuing consultative and experimental therapeutics programs for a broad range of rheumatic diseases. The unit is responsible for over 8,000 patient visits at various care sites including Boston Medical Center and the Boston VA. The population base ranges from inner city Boston to tertiary care referrals coming from a regional and national base. In two diseases, scleroderma and amyloidosis, Boston University is a major referral center attracting patients from throughout the U.S. and abroad.

Basic research programs in the Arthritis Center are directed at the understanding of the molecular basis of disease. During the past year this work was supported by four NIH grants and grants from the Arthritis Foundation, the Scleroderma Foundation, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, and other sources. The faculty published over 50 research papers, presented some 50 research seminars, and had 20 visiting professorships or grand rounds presentations. The faculty serve on five different review panels for grants, on seven editorial boards, and various advisory committees.

Specific areas of investigation include research in molecular biology, immunology, inflammation and repair, mechanisms of autoimmunity and the pathogenesis of scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis, and amyloidosis. There is a major clinical and basic research program in scleroderma, an autoimmune connective tissue disease. Amyloidosis is an uncommon disorder which has been a focus of both basic and clinical investigation at the Arthritis Center for over 25 years. The Arthritis Center also has a nationally recognized program in epidemiology, health services research and health economics. Members of this program have carried out important studies in osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and the effects of therapeutic agents on outcomes in rheumatic disease.

The Scleroderma Program was established at Boston University in 1994. The program is an interdisciplinary program of basic research, clinical research, and patient care. Since its inception, over 450 patients have been referred for evaluation, making it the largest program of its kind in New England. Basic research in scleroderma focuses on molecular genetics and cell biology of fibroblasts, the key cell in overproduction of collagen in this disease. Clinical Research programs include novel biologic agents for skin disease, evaluation of cyclophosphamide treatment for lung disease, and treatment of pulmonary hypertension.

The amyloid clinical program, directed by Dr. Martha Skinner, is a worldwide referral center for patients with amyloidosis. Pioneering therapeutic programs including bone marrow ablation and stem cell transplant and liver transplantation were developed. The program serves as a valuable patient and physician resource for information. Research in amyloid has focused on identifying genetic defects in hereditary amyloid and on determining why amyloid precursor proteins form amyloid fibrils.

In epidemiology, a program led by Dr. David Felson, Boston University Medical Center, is a leading center in studies of osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Important areas of investigation include the potential protective role of nutritional factors in osteoarthritis, the role of estrogens in development of osteoarthritis, and internet-based clinical trials. The program maintains an important link with the Framingham study and database which has been important in many of the published studies.

The faculty of the section are responsible for a substantial amount of medical student, resident, and postgraduate education. In addition to formal lectures for students, the faculty give many formal teaching conferences at Boston University and dozens of regional and national presentations.

Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute

The Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute of the School of Medicine, founded in 1974, stimulates, conducts, and coordinates research and training related to the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Under the leadership of Joseph Loscalzo, MD, PhD, the institute assists in formulating research projects, developing grant applications, providing information on sources of funding, and critically reviewing grant and contract proposals in the cardiovascular area. Over the past two decades, distinguished research advances in the area of hypertension, lipid physical chemistry, atherogenesis, endothelial function, thrombosis, nitric oxide and free radical biology, and gene therapy have been carried out by the institute's researchers, who have been singled out by the National Institutes of Health by the award of notable grant programs, including Specialized Centers of Research in both hypertension and ischemic heart disease.

The breadth and depth of programs is exemplified by a few examples of current research topics: the effect of hypertension on the blood vessel wall; molecular markers for cholesterol transport in the blood; lipoproteins and atherosclerosis; molecular mechanisms involved in arterial injury, cardiac ischemia, and infarction; inhibition of experimental atherosclerosis by antihypertensive drugs; role of thrombotic determinants in atherosclerosis; oxidative stress in atherosclerosis; gene therapy of vascular diseases; gene regulation in megakaryocytes; determinants of vascular function; gene regulation of apoproteins; endothelial function and dysfunction; studies on arterial elasticity in peripheral vascular disease; clinical trials of renin inhibitors and of antiarrhythmic drugs; investigation into the comparative benefits of therapies for coronary artery disease; the role of nitric oxide in vascular disease; and the benefit of ACE inhibitors and of inotropic agents in congestive heart failure. Other research areas include the Framingham Heart Study, the most highly regarded epidemiological study of cardiovascular disease in the world.

For further information, write to Director, Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute, Boston University School of Medicine, 700 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118; 617/638-4018.

Affiliated Institutions

Cooperative Agreements

Students may receive credit for certain courses at Hebrew College of Brookline, which offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Hebrew and Jewish Studies. Consortium arrangements permit cross-registration with Boston College, Brandeis University, and Tufts University.