Alumni honored for achievements and service at reunion weekend ceremonies

The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry cited alumni for career achievements and service in ceremonies during the October Meliora Weekend.

Paul F. Griner, M.D. (M ’59) received the Distinguished Alumnus Award, which recognizes outstanding and widely recognized achievement, particularly by one who exemplifies the standards and objectives of the School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Robert M. Sutherland, Ph.D. (PhD ’66) was awarded the Dean’s Medal, which recognizes extraordinary service, philanthropy, and leadership to the School, and dedication and commitment that inspire others to take leadership roles at the University. It is among the highest honors given by the School.

The Alumni Service Award, which recognizes a graduate who has furthered the interests of the School of Medicine and Dentistry through significant support, commitment, and service to the School, was presented to Frank W. LoGerfo, M.D. (M ’66).

John E. Brewer, M.D. (M ’74) received the Humanitarian Award, which recognizes graduates of the School of Medicine and Dentistry who have contributed to the betterment of the world by their selfless alleviation of suffering among those in need.

The John N. Wilder Award, which honors an individual, family, association, corporation, or foundation whose philanthropy inspires others in support of an “Ever Better” University, was presented to Barbara A. Simms, a former teacher who has become an active standardized patient and supporter of the School.

Griner, a University trustee and professor emeritus of medicine at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, began his career at the Medical Center in 1964 as chief resident in medicine and as fellow in hematology. That same year, he was named an instructor of medicine at the School of Medicine and Dentistry where he remained on the faculty for 31 years, holding the Samuel E. Durand Chair of Medicine from 1973 to 1995. He was head of general medicine from 1976 to 1984. He became general director and CEO of Strong Memorial Hospital in 1984 and held that position until 1995.

Griner then served as vice president and director of the Center for the Assessment and Management of Change in Academic Medicine at the Association of American Medical Colleges, a post he held until 2000. He was senior fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement from 2002 to 2008, and senior lecturer in medicine at Harvard Medical School from 2007 until July 2011.  

A resident of New Preston, Conn., and Boston, Griner chairs the School of Medicine and Dentistry National Council and is a member of the University of Rochester Medical Center Capital Campaign and the University’s Boston Regional Cabinet. A mentor to medical students, residents, and faculty throughout his career, he established the Paul F. Griner, M.D. Merit Scholarship in 2007.

Sutherland is a former University of Rochester faculty member and retired researcher who focused on the development of cancer therapies and the mechanisms of resistance of cancer to therapy. His early advocacy and vision for support of technology transfer led to the founding of the University of Rochester’s Technology Development Fund.

He served as a faculty member in biophysics and radiation oncology at the University of Western Ontario from 1967 to 1976, at the University of Rochester from 1976 to 1988, and at Stanford University from 1998 to 2006. At Rochester, he was a founding faculty member and associate director for experimental therapeutics in the Cancer Center.

Sutherland also served as president of Varian Biosynergy and as a vice president of Varian Medical Systems from 1995 until 2006. In 2007, he was named vice president, commercialization, at the Ontario Institute of Cancer Research and today serves as senior investment officer for the Institute and as a consultant. He is a founding board member of the Canadian Cancer Stem Cell Consortium. He is also chair of the Centre for Imaging Probe Development and Commercialization, a Canadian Centre of Excellence.

A resident of Menlo Park, Calif., Sutherland is a member of the School of Medicine and Dentistry National Council and the University’s San Francisco Bay Area Regional Cabinet. He and his wife recently established the Karen Webb Sutherland and Robert M. Sutherland Endowed Nursing Scholarship Fund and the Robert M. Sutherland ’66M (PhD), P’85 and Karen Webb Sutherland ’61N, P’85 Endowed Medical Technology Development Fund.

LoGerfo is the retired chief of vascular surgery and chair of the Department of Surgery at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, where he serves as the William V. McDermott Distinguished Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. He is nationally recognized for his research on vascular bypass grafts and the development of novel techniques to treat patients with diabetes.

He has authored more than 240 peer-reviewed publications and 55 book chapters. The recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Harold Bengloff Award for Humanism in Teaching in 2000 from the Department of Surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess, he received an honorary degree from Harvard University in 1992. In 2010, the American College of Surgeons dedicated its annual scientific session to LoGerfo in honor of his innovative leadership and distinguished surgical career. 

An advocate and volunteer for the University, LoGerfo also provided strategic direction on key School of Medicine and Dentistry councils and committees. A former member of the School of Medicine and Dentistry Alumni Council, he continues to help shape the University’s future through his service on the University’s Boston Regional Cabinet. Known for his mentoring of young surgeons, LoGerfo is also deeply committed to supporting the financial needs of the School’s promising medical students. He and his wife established the Frank W. and Judith M. LoGerfo Scholarship Fund in 2004.

Brewer has done volunteer work at Chicuque Rural Hospital in Mozambique, directed a student-run summer migrant clinic in Michigan, and participated in clinics for the homeless. A family practitioner for more than 30 years, he has developed and taught courses in international health, caring for the underserved, rural health, and health disparities.

After he completed his residency, Brewer served for two years as a missionary physician at Bambur General Hospital in Gongola State, Nigeria. From 1980 to 1984, he was a family physician at Laurel Fork-Clear Fork Health Centers in Clairfield, Tenn., an area known for coal mining, where he provided care for a rural population at three mountain clinics.

In 1984, Brewer joined the Academic Family Practice at Michigan State University/Saint Lawrence Family Health Center. He managed that University’s urban family medicine residency program until 1993. When he and his wife relocated to Buffalo, he accepted a teaching position in the Department of Family Medicine at State University of New York at Buffalo and a clinical practice and medical director position at the Upper Westside Family Health Center. For the past nine years, Brewer was Medical Director and physician at Niagara Family Health Center, an urban family practice in Buffalo. Earlier this year, he discontinued his clinical practice to develop a new palliative medicine consultation service for non-hospitalized patients.

For most of her education career, Simms worked in the Penfield Central School District in the Rochester suburbs, where she served as the reading specialist at Indian Landing School. Over the course of her 32-year career, she helped hundreds of children overcome their challenges and learn to read and flourish as students.

For the past four years, she has played the role of a patient presenting to physicians-in-training, helping them sharpen their diagnostic abilities. Through her service, Simms helps enhance medical students’ skills in the areas of interviewing, history taking, diagnosing, performing physical exams, and counseling.

Simms made a generous commitment in 2009 to establish the Barbara A. Simms Endowed Scholarship, based on the premise that “helping one doctor could affect thousands of people and their health.”

In addition to School of Medicine and Dentistry programs, Simms supports programs at the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center and the University.